More than 440 players competed at the U.S. Amateur Team West Championships at the Santa Clara Convention Center on President’s Day Weekend , February 17-19, 2018. There were 2 sections: an Open and a Scholastic. In the Open Section, out of 66 strong teams, NorCal House of Chess came out on top! Two teams tied for 1st place, NorCal House of Chess and the Fire Breathing Duckies. Before the last round, Fire Breathing Duckies and NHC Warriors , three time Champs, had 5.0 apiece and should have played against each other. The Fire Breathing Duckies , however, before the tournament got underway, requested a half-point bye. NHC Warriors drew their last game against Piece of Mind which gave them the win based on tie-breaks.
NorCal House of Chess has won this tournament 4 times! They won it 3 years in a row in 2013, 2014 & 2015. Their unprecedented success takes them to the playoffs again where they will compete against the winners of the USAT North. Hopefully, the NHC Warriors will make it to the Finals. The NHC team won the USAT Nationals 3 years in a row--a record!
Over the years the NHC Team was comprised of veteran players from the Philippines. Ted Castro, Owner-Manager of the popular NorCal House of Chess in Fremont, had the inspiration to field an all-Filipino roster. Ted, himself, played in previous years.
This year on Board 1, Olympian veteran IM Omar Cartagena scored 5 points out of 6 games (which was good enough for 2nd place in Board 1). On board 2, IM Angelo Young (1982 Philippine junior champion and 8-time Illinois State Champion) went undefeated with a 4.0/6. IM Angelo Young, when in Illinois, was a part of a team that won the USAT North twice. His team lost to NHC in 2015. Manning Board 3 is another Olympian veteran FM Ronald Cusi finished with 3.5/6.0. Interestingly, FM Cusi, who was part of previous NHC teams, only lost for the 3rd time in the past 6 years that he has participated in this event. On Board 4, former businessman & street blitz champion Guerrero Silvestre proved that he can play long games. He helped the team by scoring 5.0 out of 6 games, losing only in the last round.
Seeded number 5 in the 2-day event, the team blanked their opponents (4-0) in rounds 1 and 2. In the 3rd round, they were paired against a dangerous UC Berkeley team who was also undefeated. On Board 1, IM Cartagena led the team by beating IM Kesav Viswanadha. On Board 2, IM Young held FM Teemu Virtanin to a draw while FM Cusi lost against NM Arjun Bharat on board 3. Luckily, Guerrero Silvestre won a tactical game on board 4 which was good enough for the team to win with 2.5 points.
On round 4, the team continued their winning streak outlclassing the Bay Area Chess San Jose Hackers led by IM Konstan Kavutskiy. One of NorCal's former students, FM Balaji Daguppati was actually part of Hackers. All the boards drew and the team scored on board 4 edging them with 2.5-1.5. Round 5 was an interesting round since NHC warriors faced a well-balanced team headed by GM Enrico Sevillano, a previous player on the NHC team.
In the final round, NHC Warriors were paired up against Piece of Mind which was piloted by 2 former students of NHC coach Ted Castro: IM Vignesh Panchanatham and Michael Tang. They put up a good fight. Despite losing on board 1, Piece of Mind scored on board 4 and drew on boards 2 & 3 which ended up with 2-2 score. In the end. As mentioned earlier, the NHC warriors now had a total score of 5.5 points, same with Duckies and so they on tie-breaks!
In the scholastic division, out of 41 teams, NorCal House of Chess also won 1st place! They scored 4.5/5.0 and tied with 2 other teams (Fallon Mustangs & Cardinal Knights). Once again they won on tie-breaks and swept the USATW tournament by winning in both sections! The scholastic team of NorCal House of Chess Warriors was composed of Samik Pattanayak, Priyadarsi Mishra, Arvind Ignatius & Adit Saxena. All students and members of NorCal House of Chess.
In the awards ceremony, when they called NorCal House of Chess Warriors to accept their plaque and prizes, everyone on the team was wearing a red hoody that read 2018 USAT West Champions! Everyone asked how did they know they would win or when did they have their jackets printed out. Coach Ted Castro said, “We had it made when we entered the tournament! He was confident that his team would deliver the goods.” Ted emphasized that what spells the difference is team play. It's not your typical type of tournament and according to him, the veteran players knew when to draw and when a team needs a win.
The NorCal House of Chess team is preparing for their battle against the USAT North. The playoffs will be in April. If they win, they will play against the winner of East vs. South. They're going for another record-breaking feat of 4-time USAT National Champions!
I asked Ted Castro, their coach, if he would have winner hoodies printed again before that match. He was non-committal.
Links and sources:
USAT West Results -
USAT West Scholastic Results -
USCF Rating results -
NorCal House of Chess Threepeat in US Amateur Playoffs
NorCal House of Chess Threepeat
Philippine Inquirer Article on NorCal House of Chess
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