-
-
Dalton Seal
DaltonSealBlue
-
Dalton News
Another Banner Year in Chess
Story by David MacEnulty - Chess Program Director
Photos by Lawrence Freitag
Photos by Lawrence Freitag
Nashville, Tennessee may be the home of country music, but for three days in May it was also the site of one of the toughest scholastic chess tournaments this country has ever seen. Thirty-three members of the Dalton Tiger Chess Team descended on Nashville with the clear intention of proving that we belong at the top. They succeeded magnificently. When all the games were done and the tables cleared, Dalton stood at the pinnacle, winning three team trophies: third place in K-1, clear first in Primary, and co-champions in Elementary.
This was the most challenging national tournament I have seen in over twenty years. The level of play gets more and more sophisticated each year as students and coaches keep raising the bar. It is a major challenge to stay ahead of the curve, but the formula is quite simple: work harder and more effectively than everyone else, while remembering that these are still small children who need to have fun.
We had some stellar performances in Nashville. Ben Goldstein was ill for his last two games, but bravely continued, getting the points we needed to tie for the championship. Hudson Beaudoin finished in 8th place out of two hundred fifty-five players in Primary. On the way he had to face the three of the top five players in the section, winning an impressive point and a half out of the three games. Kindergartner Lucas Civantos won five points out of seven games in the K-1 section. To put this in proper perspective, out of the eighty-three kindergartners in K-1, only three garnered five points. Meanwhile,
Lucas’ brother, Nico, was also one of the top performers in the K-3 section, along with Hudson, Mateos Haile-Manas, Sam Posner and Atticus Lee.
We had solid performances from the whole team throughout the grueling three days of this event. Unfortunately it is not possible in this short write-up to recognize everyone individually. However, if there were an award for team depth, Dalton would surely walk away with the national title in that category as well.
I was also greatly impressed by our coaching staff, Grandmaster Miron Sher, Women’s Grandmaster Alla Grinfeld, Women’s International Master Beatriz Marinello, and Expert Nelson Dunn. Their analysis between rounds strengthened our players, helping them to get stronger and stronger as the tournament progressed.
Finally, a very big thank you to the chess parents, who continue to be the most supportive and enthusiastic chess parents in the country. Special recognition goes to Andra Ehrenkranz, who once again hosted a marvelous final banquet for the team. For several years now the Ehrenkranz family has given us a warm and wonderful conclusion to the demanding (and highly rewarding) national tournaments.
Our Dalton Tiger Chess Team brought the year to a triumphal close by amassing the best record of any elementary team in the country. In November at the National K-12 Scholastic Championships in Dallas we won first place in Fourth Grade, second place trophies in Kindergarten, First Grade and Third Grade, and placed fifth in Second Grade. In January we were New York City Champions in K-1 and Primary. In March we were New York State Champions in K-1 and Primary, and in May at Nashville we firmly established ourselves as National Champions as well.
From the Director of Communications - Parents authorized the use of all student names in this article.
Back
We had some stellar performances in Nashville. Ben Goldstein was ill for his last two games, but bravely continued, getting the points we needed to tie for the championship. Hudson Beaudoin finished in 8th place out of two hundred fifty-five players in Primary. On the way he had to face the three of the top five players in the section, winning an impressive point and a half out of the three games. Kindergartner Lucas Civantos won five points out of seven games in the K-1 section. To put this in proper perspective, out of the eighty-three kindergartners in K-1, only three garnered five points. Meanwhile,
Lucas’ brother, Nico, was also one of the top performers in the K-3 section, along with Hudson, Mateos Haile-Manas, Sam Posner and Atticus Lee.
We had solid performances from the whole team throughout the grueling three days of this event. Unfortunately it is not possible in this short write-up to recognize everyone individually. However, if there were an award for team depth, Dalton would surely walk away with the national title in that category as well.
I was also greatly impressed by our coaching staff, Grandmaster Miron Sher, Women’s Grandmaster Alla Grinfeld, Women’s International Master Beatriz Marinello, and Expert Nelson Dunn. Their analysis between rounds strengthened our players, helping them to get stronger and stronger as the tournament progressed.
Finally, a very big thank you to the chess parents, who continue to be the most supportive and enthusiastic chess parents in the country. Special recognition goes to Andra Ehrenkranz, who once again hosted a marvelous final banquet for the team. For several years now the Ehrenkranz family has given us a warm and wonderful conclusion to the demanding (and highly rewarding) national tournaments.
Our Dalton Tiger Chess Team brought the year to a triumphal close by amassing the best record of any elementary team in the country. In November at the National K-12 Scholastic Championships in Dallas we won first place in Fourth Grade, second place trophies in Kindergarten, First Grade and Third Grade, and placed fifth in Second Grade. In January we were New York City Champions in K-1 and Primary. In March we were New York State Champions in K-1 and Primary, and in May at Nashville we firmly established ourselves as National Champions as well.
From the Director of Communications - Parents authorized the use of all student names in this article.
Grades K-3
53 East 91st Street, New York, NY 10128
Grades 4-12
108 East 89th Street, New York, NY 10128
Physical Education Center
200 East 87th Street, New York, NY 10128
