Magnus League’s Sixth Season Begins With Rounds 1-2 On October 21^st!

Stuyvesant High Leads Team Competition With 6.5 Points;

Columbia Prep Holds Second With 6.0,

Berkeley Carrol Over Midwood High On Tiebreaks (Both Tied For Third With 4.5);

Hans Niemann, Arjun Rai, Harris Lencz and Calvin Yang Lead The Premier Section;

Dylan Singer, Jun Yan Li, Hwarin Zoh, Jorge Rivera and Jasmine Yang Top Under 1800;

Manuel Najera, Anontow Oritrow, Helen Pena, Marilyn Lucero, Cole Tambaro and Nikani Portalatin Head Under 1200 Section.

Jasmine Yang and Manuel Najera Lead The Mixed Doubles Team Competition!

By Steve Immitt, National Tournament Director

Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, 36 West 93rd Street, just west of Central Park West in Manhattan, was again the host for the first regular season match of the 2018-2019 Magnus High School Chess League Sixth Season, on October 21st. League Founder and Commissioner, International Organizer, International Arbiter and National Tournament Director Sophia Rohde, the 2018 US Chess Organizer Of The Year, provided her signature plentiful provender of snacks and refreshments to help start everyone’s Sunday morning, followed up by pizza in the afternoon!

Thanks again to Shaun Smith and Chess-In-The Schools, as the turnout for our first match date of our sixth season-- 65 players representing 35 schools from all five Boroughs of New York City, as well as Connecticut-- was a record for the Magnus League!

The Magnus League especially welcomes some new schools which have registered groups of players: the Berkeley Carroll School, Medger Evans College Preparatory School and Midwood High School in Brooklyn, Booker T Washington Junior High 54 in Manhattan and Susan E Wagner High School in Staten Island. Thank you all for joining the Magnus League!

The tournament is a 12-round event, with two games on each match date. The first two round’s results have now been totaled.

The three-section format resulted in another good distribution of players Sunday: 23 played in the Under 1200 Section, 33 more were in the Under 1800 Section, while 9 players, rated between 1805 and 2484, turned out for the Premier Section.

Each section follows a team and individual Swiss-System format. There are prizes for the both the top-scoring individuals in each section as well as the team of the four top-scoring players from the same school across all three sections.

Among the prizes we are awarding this season are free entries to specified Continental Chess tournaments, for the top-scorer in each section, for the four top-scoring players from the same school across all three sections, and for the winning Mixed Doubles Team!

In the Under 1800 Section, Jun Yan Li (1665) of Stuyvesant High School, Jorge Reyes (1326) of the High School For Energy And Technology, Dylan Singer (1690) and Hwarin Zoh (1538), both of Booker T Washington Junior High 54, and Jasmine Yang (1312) of Midwood High each won both their games Sunday.

In the Under 1200 Section, Marilyn Lucero (1079) of the Cinema School, Manuel Najera (1159) of Fort Hamilton High, Anontow Oritrow (1144) of Bard High School, Helen Pena (1117) of Mary Louis Academy, Nikani Portalatin (895) of Theatre Arts Production Company School and Cole Tambaro (1021) of Columbia Prep also each posted 2-0 sweeps.

Marilyn Lucero (1079) achieved her all-time peak rating on October 21^st of 1144! Nikani Portalatin (895) also climbed to a career high of 989. Diego Turturo (553) jumped his unofficial post-event rating to a high of 619.

In the Under 1800 Section, Chance Deas (1259) of Medgar Evers College Prep posted a career-high unofficial post-tournament rating of 1415. Kevin Feng (1333), last season’s Under 1200 Section winner, also peaked with a post-tournament high of 1357. Albert Franco (1230) of City Academy of the Arts likewise topped his unofficial rating at 1308.

In the Premier Section, International Master (IM) Hans Niemann (2484) of Weston (Connecticut) High School cracked the 2500 barrier! The Magnus League is very proud to watch its all-time highest-rated student player achieve his all-time highest rating Sunday! Arjun Rai (2039) of Stuyvesant High also rose his unofficial rating to its all-time high of 2045.

In the team competition, perennial powerhouse Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan was first out of the starting gate, racking up 6.5 out of possible 8 points. Columbia Grammar and Prep’s Lions, last season’s Champions, were right behind with 6 points. Two new schools, the Berkeley Carroll School and Midwood High School, both from Brooklyn, were tied for 3^rd-4^th place, with Berkeley Carroll ahead so far on tiebreaks.

We also have Mixed Doubles Team Bonus Prizes in the Magnus League! Mixed Doubles Teams consist of two players, one male and one female. The players do not need to attend the same school (but they can), and may be in the same or different sections; however the average team rating of both players must be Under 2200.

Thus far, six Mixed Doubles Teams competed for the Mixed Doubles prizes. The duo of Jasmine Yang (1312) of Midwood High School and Manuel Najera (1159) of Fort Hamilton High School roared into the lead with both of their perfect scores, to combine for a team total of 4 points after 4 games! Although they lead the field by a point, the deadline for signing up for Mixed Doubles Teams is not until January 27^th, so more teams may still enter the fray!

Between Rounds 1 and 2, we awarded some prizes from our Fifth Season which were not awarded at the New York State Scholastics in Saratoga Springs this past March, including the William Lombardy Brilliancy Prize to Calvin Yang, with Ella Moran receiving the Honorable Mention plaque. The complete updated list of prizewinners from our Fifth Season is posted at the Magnus League Website at: www.magnusleague.org.

Former New York State, Manhattan Chess Club, Marshall Chess Club, U.S. Open and National High School and National Junior High Champion Grandmaster Mike Rohde was once again on hand to review the players’ games and answer their questions. Mike will also be providing analysis and some annotations of selected games from previous rounds as well.

We will also be judging games for the 2^nd Annual William Lombardy Brilliancy Prize- if you have any good games from the Magnus League, please submit them for consideration!

Thanks also to Sarina Motwani from the Spence School for helping us with running the tournament!

The complete results from Rounds One and Two on October 21^st, along with the USCF-rated results, can be seen at the Magnus League webpage at www.magnusleague.org as well).

Players may now register for Rounds 3-4 (Round 3 is 10:00 am Sunday November 18^th)-- including players who missed Rounds 1-2! Register online at the Magnus League website at www.magnusleague.org through 6 pm Saturday November 17th!

Thank You Everyone for making such a promising and exciting Kickoff for our Sixth Magnus League season!