Crossroads College Prep Chess                        2011-2012

Trivia Night is February 11
Trivia Night is less than two weeks away! Chess families can help in several ways: 1) help us run our event with setup or breakdown, by serving beverages, acting as a scorekeeper, or working at the silent auction table; 2) bring a table of friends and play in the event; or 3) help us secure auction items or advertisers. Please contact howard@crossroadscollegeprep.org for further details. You will receive an email with final information in a few days.

Trophy Bonanza at Lindbergh
Many Crossroads College Prep players finished near the top of their respective groups at the Gateway Team Tournament held January 28th at Lindbergh High School.  Although the team finished just out of trophy contention by tiebreaks, there were many fine efforts.  Reid Doctor took 1st place in the 8th grade section with 3.5/4 points.  Matthew Larson took 2nd place on board 2 in the high school section, and Armand Gauda,  August Gremaud, Ben Williams, and Curtis Mitchell each placed 3rd on their respective boards.  Noah Dromgoole, Andrew Kowalkowski, and Homer Dula earned medals.  The rest of the team, which included Benton Birch, Nick Kiehl, Flannery Allison, and Paul Watkins, also contributed.  Way to go, team!

Upcoming Saturday Tournaments
All tournaments indicated below are $12 and require current USCF membership (available on-site or in advance through http://www.uschess.org/.) Please note that USCF dues have gone up by $2.


February 25--Chaminade
March 10—Jefferson City, MO State Championships
April 12-16—National Scholastic Championships, Minneapolis, MN

Important: players must compete in three tournaments plus the Missouri State Championships to travel with the team to Minneapolis. Weekday matches count as 1/3 of a tournament.

Middle School Chess Continues
The Gateway Junior League continues each Thursday afternoon at Wydown Middle School. We will depart school at 4:00 p.m. There is no cost to play. Parent drivers kindly requested.

High School (Varsity) League Continues
Matches are home or away on Wednesdays. Play begins at 4 pm or earlier (if possible).

FEBRUARY 1 @ John Burroughs
FEBRUARY 8 Conference semifinals
FEBRUARY 15 Conference championships (if necessary)
FEBRUARY 22 League championships (if necessary)

Previous rounds:
Crossroads 26 Vianney(B) 4
Crossroads 23 Belleville West 7
Crossroads 30 Alton 0
Crossroads 30 Affton 0
Crossroads 30 St. Louis Univ. High 0
Crossroads 18 St. Louis Metro 12

Crossroads takes 3rd at Wydown

The Crossroads College Prep upper school chess team placed 3rd in the recent Chris Bollinger Memorial Tournament held December 3 at Wydown Middle School.  Senior Nick Kiehl went undefeated to win first place on board 4, and freshman Matthew Larson finished 2nd on board 1.  Benton Birch medaled on board 3.  The other high school players included: August Gremaud, Ben Williams, Flannery Allison, Noah Dromgoole, Paul Watkins, and Hana Mueller.

Reid Doctor, Kate Stujenske, and Homer Dula played in the 8th grade and under section.  Reid went 5-1, finishing in 4th place, and Homer medaled. 

Congratulations to all the players!

Crossroads wins Gateway Fall Open

Congratulations to the Crossroads College Prep Chess Team for winning the high school division of the Gateway Fall Open, held November 19 in Washington, Missouri.  The team finished ahead of rivals Vianney, Lindbergh, and Metro with an outstanding 13 out of 16 points, including going 8 for 8 in the last two rounds.  Matthew Larson finished with a perfect 4-0 record, winning first place in the high school division.  Ben Williams went 3-1 and took home 9th place, while Nick Kiehl and August Gremaud medaled.  The high school team was rounded out by Benton Birch, Noah Dromgoole, Flannery Allison, Andrew Kowalkowski, and Curtis Mitchell.

In the 8th grade and under division, Reid Doctor medaled and newcomer Katie Stujenske won two of her inaugural matches. 

Howard wishes to thank Michael Bartley for assistance with game analysis.

Crossroads College Prep Player wins at Thanksgiving Open

Congratulations to freshman Matt Larson for winning the U1800 division in the Thanksgiving Open, held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.  Matthew finished ahead of 20 other players to claim the top prize with a 4-1-1 record.  Way to go, Matt!

Middle School chess (Red Rook) Finishes December 13

There is one more week remaining in the fall middle school schedule.  Middle school chess leaves school at 3:45 for the matches at McKinley Classical Junior Academy.

Thanks to the following students for participating this season: Reid Doctor, Homer Dula, Alex Panchot, Kate Stujenske, Chip Daniel, and Ebonee Major.

Thanks to Rachel Farnham and Erika Doyle for driving.

High School (Varsity) League Play is underway. 

 

Order your chess gear!

We have about one week remaining for placing orders to arrive in January.  Please see the form for items and pricing.  The front design will be a lightning bolt and a knight, and the back design is the “Beware of Current” sign.  Thanks to Ben Birch for making these shirts available to us.

 

Chess players Matt Larson, Nick Kiehl, and Ben Williams joined coach Howard Granok at the 2nd annual United Way Chess Carnival held October 25th at the AT&T building downtown. The highlights of the event were two matches in which Grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura (the top-rated player in the United States and number 12 in the world) and Ben Finegold (from the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis) played against a total of 44 players from around St. Louis. Our players acquitted themselves well, outlasting over 2/3 of the registered players. All of our students entered the endgame roughly even in material with GM Nakamura.

Chess coach Howard also played Nakamura, along with Crossroads College Prep parent and assistant coach Ed Dromgoole (Noah, class of 2013) and assistant coach Michael Bartley. The results: Nakamura 7, Crossroads 0 (but we had a great time!).

Howard and the club wish to thank Michael Bartley and Cynthia Bakar of AT&T for this fantastic opportunity.

State Champs!

The Crossroads College Prep Chess Team won the Missouri State Championship in the 9th grade and under division in Jefferson City. The team finished ahead of second place Vianney by ½ point and third place Lindbergh by one point. Our team was comprised of: Ben Williams, Benton Birch, Armand Turner-Gauda, August Gremaud, and Matthew Larson. Matthew won 3rd place in the division, Benton took 6th, and Armand earned an 8th place trophy.

Crossroads College Prep previously won the division ten years ago. Two members of that team, Ben Russ and Basil Kincaid, joined the team in Jefferson City last weekend to help sponsor Howard Granok and assistant Michael Bartley coach the team to victory.

The chess team also had strong performances from its 8th grade and under team and its high school team. The 8th grade and under team finished fifth, led by Asaan Moore and Andrew Kowalkowski, both of whom medaled. Teammates Solomon Cooper and Reid Doctor both had strong tournaments, too. The high school team finished in 10th place. Will Dula won the 7th place trophy for board four, and Nick Kiehl earned a medal on board three. The rest of the team included: Alicia Brown, John Oliverio, Noah Dromgoole, Flannery Allison, Elijah Kessler, Hana Mueller, Paul Watkins, and Josh Taylor.

Howard would like to thank Jodi Granok, Ellen Birch, and Dahven White for help with all of the trip logistics this past weekend. Thanks also to Ben Russ '05, Basil Kincaid '05, and Mike Bartley, father of Jade Bartley '13, for the great job they did working with our players.