The annual National Junior High (K-9) Championship tournament was held in Grapevine, Texas on April 26-28, 2019. Four players, representing Norman Roosevelt Elementary School, won the national 5th place team award in section K-8 U750. The team included Leon Cai (1st grade), Charley Qiu (1st grade), Emily Cao (2nd grade), Olli Wang (3rd grade), and team coach, Zile Cao (Junior in NNHS). The team standing is posted by US Chess Federation at “http://www.uschess.org/results/2019/jhs/?page=TEAM&xsection=K8U750”
Club Annual Meeting — 2019
Norman Chess Club (NCC) held the 2019 annual meeting in Norman Public Library Central on April 20th, 2019. The club annual awards were announced.
The annual Most Improved Player (MIP) was awarded to Charley Qiu. Charley attended 7 tournaments this season and his rating increased by 399 points. He won the State Blitz Champion title in section K-6 U700 at Oklahoma Scholastic Blitz Champions Tournament. He also won the 1st place in section K-6 U600 in Central Oklahoma Scholastic Chess Open. Other MIP nominees included Aaron Lu, Olli Wang, Emily Cao, Michael Huang, and Kevin Chen.
The annual Most Valuable Player (MVP) was awarded to Lafayette Chen. He won the State Champion title in section Grade K-4 of 2019 Oklahoma State Scholastic Chess Championship tournament. He ranked the 1st place in Section K-6 U700 of Cheyenne K-12 Open, and the 1st place in Section U800 of Tulsa University School K-12 Open. He was also awarded the OSCO annual most improved player. Other MVP nominees included Ryan Chen and Miranda Huang.
During the lunch break, club members also had a good picnic and egg hunt at Andrews park.
Club Player Won K-4 Grade State Champion!
On Mar 9, 2019, the 22nd Annual Oklahoma State Scholastic Chess Championship was held at Carl Albert Field House in Midwest City. Norman Chess Club won the state team champion in grade K-4 section. Club player, Lafayette Chen, also won the state champion of grade K-4 section. Great jobs, Norman Chess Club players!
OSCO Most Improved Player Awards to Our Players
On March 6, 2019, Oklahoma Scholastic Chess Organization (OSCO) announced the most improved player (MIP) awards for season 2018-2019. Lafayette Chen from Norman Chess Club (NCC), who was the winner of MIP of section K-4 U500, was also the MIP of all sections. Another player from NCC, Olli Wang, was awarded the MIP of section K-6 U700. Congratulations to them!
State Champions Again!
Our club has state champions again for 2018-2019 season. At the 19th Albert Rine Memorial Oklahoma Grade Championship tournament held in Tulsa, OK on November 17th, 2018, Zile Cao (club president) won the 11th grade state champion and Aaron Lu (1st grade) won the K-1 grade state champion. This is an amazing achievement. Congratulations!
State Champions Of Our Club!
Our club did a great job in recent state chess champion tournaments. In the annual state scholastic champion tournament held last month, Ryan Chen (4th grade) ranked the second place in the K-4 section and our club team tied for 1st place against Tulsa University in the K-4 section. In the annual state blitz champion tournament held last week, Zile Cao (10th grade) won the state blitz champion title of K-12 section. Miranda Huang (4th grade) won the K-6 section champion. Emily Cao (first grade) won the co-champion of K-4 section. Other players also did great jobs in these two championship events. So impressive performance!
Norman Chess Club (NCC) Young Star Rising at Southwest Class Championship Tournament!
The 9th annual Southwest Class Championship tournament was held in Fort Worth, TX during Feb. 15-19. This is a nationwide tournament of United States Chess Federation (USCF). Our club player, Ryan Chen, participated in the competition of class E (U1200). This is his first time to attend formal non-scholastic tournament rated by USCF rating. He played very well in this tournament and got 5 points in total 7 rounds of games. He finally ranked the fourth place and won $100 prize. He gained his first USCF rating of 1197 points in this event. Congratulations to him!
Young players uprising in new year!
The young players of our club have made great progresses since 2017. Some of them began to attend formal tournaments in 2018 and have made great achievements. Aaron Lu (grade K), Charley Qiu (grade K), and Kevin Chen (1st grade) got impressive 300+ rating in their first formal tournament. Emily Cao (1st grade) won her first and second chess medals. Aaron Wang (4th grade) tied the second place in his third tournament and has won two medals so far. They are fresh blood for our competitive team. Their excellent performance may encourage other young players to join the competitive games too.
Another State Champion from NCC!
On Nov. 11, 2017, the top level scholastic chess tournament in Oklahoma, the 18th Annual Albert Rine Memorial Oklahoma State Grade Championship Tournament, was held in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Ryan Chen, the member of Norman Chess Club (NCC), won the state champion of the 4th grade. He defeated all five opponents with 5 points for the clear first place. What a great achievement, another state champion from NCC!
6th “Do or Do Not” Chess Tournament at OU.
OU chess club hosted the 6th “Do or Do Not” Chess Tournament in OU student union on Saturday, 10/21/17. Three young players from our club participated in this tournament and challenged older/stronger players. They played very well and had a great experience.
Good Experience in the 83rd Annual Southwest Open
The 83rd Annual Southwest Open was held in Irving, Texas on August 31–September 4, 2017. Our club player, Zile Cao, attended this nation-wide tournament. After 4 days, 7 rounds of long games, he won the first place of “Class B” with $300+ prize. This was a good experience for him to compete with strong players from other states. Playing the long games also improved his skills in deep thinking. Congratulations to him!
Oklahoma Chess Association Annual Championship Tournament
On 24-25 June 2017, Oklahoma Chess Association (OCA) held the 72nd Annual State Championship Tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma. National Master, Advait Patel, won the title of 2017 Oklahoma State Champion. The final results are posted in USCF website: http://www.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?201706257262.1-14749267
The new OCA board members were elected during the tournament. The 2017-2018 OCA board members include:
Learn Chess With the Steps Method
Are chess players still struggling to improve their chess skills? There is a good method recommended by experts for all the chess beginners and intermediate players. Please check out the Steps Method. Hopefully, the young players can find useful things to improve themselves in summer.
What a great season!
The 2016-2017 season is finally over for Norman Chess Club (NCC). The last club event of this season, 2017 Summer Tournament, was held in Norman Public Library Central on May 13, 2017. After the tournament, NCC announced the club annual awards for 2016-2017 season.
In 2016-2017 season, total 38 K-6 players participated in the activities of NCC. Players not only joined the regular weekly chess meeting, but also attended five Oklahoma Scholastic Chess Organization (OSCO) tournaments and three other tournaments. They won a lot of trophies and medals in these tournaments.
The great thanks should be first given to our primary sponsor, St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church. Without their support, our club would not have such a nice home base. We would also like to thank other organizations: Norman Public Library, OU Chess Club, Mathnasium of Norman, and Norman Chinese School. They provided us various helps in the whole season.
Our club would like to appreciate volunteer coaches, who have served for our club. They are Joshua Riesenberg (OU Junior and OU chess club vice president), Zile Cao (9th grade student in Norman North High), Ray Hoggard (7th grade student in Whittier Middle School), Jerry Dong (9th grade student in Community Christian School). Zile and Ray’s voluntary works were well qualified for the National Presidential Service Award. They were also granted the Outstanding Coach Award from NCC.
Zile Cao is currently the head coach of NCC. He has represented the club in 7 tournaments for this season. He won the 9th grade Oklahoma state champion in OSCO State Grade Champion Tournament (2016), the 6-9th grade Oklahoma state co-champion in OSCO annual State Scholastic Champion Tournament (2017), the second place in K-12 section in OSCO annual Blitz Champion Tournament (2017), and the open section champion in the 1st OU Junior Scholastic Chess Tournament (2016).
Ryan Chen, the 3rd grade student in Roosevelt Elementary School, won the K-6th state blitz champion in the OSCO annual Blitz Champion Tournament (2017). He also tied the second place with Melody Chen, another 3rd grade student in Roosevelt Elementary School, for the section one of 1st OU Junior Scholastic Chess Tournament (2016).
The chess team, consisting of our club players from Roosevelt Elementary School, ranked the second place in the Ida Freeman K-12 Winter Open (2016).
The club annual awards for student players include:
- Outstanding Player Awards: Ryan Chen (3rd grade), Andrew Wang (3rd grade)
- Most Improved Player Awards: Olli Wang (1st grade), Alice Cai (4th grade), Matthew Zhao (3rd grade), Jace Grimes (1st grade)
- Best Participation Awards: Melody Chen (3rd grade), Daniel Wang (2nd grade), Patrick Nguyen (3rd grade)
- Annual Achievement Awards: Aurora Cai (K), Emily Cao (K), Timothy Chang (6), Aswath Rajesh(2), Jaron Webb (4), Jake Wedge (3), Chris Willert (1), Sophia Zhao (2)
What a great season! Congratulations to all these players! Their hard work and excellent performance deserve the awards. I can not wait for the commence of 2017-2018 season. Have a great summer break and see you all in new semester!
Qing Cao
President, Norman Chess Club
Club Players Performed Excellence in Recent Two Tournaments!
In the past three weeks, nine players of our club performed excellence in two OSCO tournaments held in Edmond and Midwest City, respectively. They are the Ida Freeman K-12 Winter Open On Feb. 18th, 2017 and the 21st Annual Oklahoma State Scholastic Chess Championship on March 4th., 2017. The team, consists of players from Roosevelt elementary school, ranked the second and fifth places in these two tournaments. Zile Cao, the 9th grade student, won the second place trophy of premier section and the individual co-champion of grade 6-9 section, respectively. Their excellent performance represents the progress they have made this school year. Congratulations to them!
3rd Norman Chess Festival.
The 3rd Norman Chess Festival was held in University of Oklahoma Memorial Student Union on Jan 28-29, 2017. The two-day tournament applied 5 round Swiss rule with the game of 90 minutes plus 30 second increment. The slow game might not be a fun for scholastic players but absolutely helps to improve their skills. Our club had several members participating in this tournament. Zile won the second place of section B. Good job!
State Champion!
Norman chess club attended the 17th annual Oklahoma State Grade Championship tournament held in Tulsa on Nov. 12th, 2016. Zile Cao won the 9th grade Oklahoma State Champion. Ryan Chen ranked top 5 in the 3rd grade section. Ray Hoggard ranked top 6 in the 7th grade section. Patrick Nguyen also played well in the 3rd grade section. He defeated 2 players and drew one. Congratulations to them! Thanks go to all the parents and players who supported this club activity!
Norman Chess Club Stood Out at the 1st OU Junior Scholastic Chess Tournament!
Norman Chess Club showed up at the 1st OU Junior Scholastic Chess Tournament in Sooner Legends Hotel (Norman) on Saturday November 5th, 2016. Thirteen club players attended this tournament and performed very well. Zile Cao won the first place trophy of the open section. Ryan Chen and Melody Chen tied for the second place of U500 section. Ryan won the trophy through a tie break. Everybody showed a great progress after the hard practice for a couple of months.
Good jobs at Carl Albert H.S. K-12 Open!
Congratulations to our players who won trophy and medals at Carl Albert H.S. K-12 Open held in Midwest City on September 24, 2016. This is the first OSCO tournament for this school year. Our players are all looking forward to the next big OSCO tournament, Oklahoma State Grade Championship, held in Tulsa on November 12, 2016. Go NCC!
Chess Activities for New School Year Start!
Wow! Can not believe the new semester has already begun. Our club’s regular weekly meeting also started tonight. Look at the new place for our club’s activities, so spacious and comfortable! Thanks a lot for our partner, St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church! Young chess lovers are welcome to join us. They will find a great fun in our club.