Ronit Rolls at Summer Slam Bash

By Mike Kummer

The Summer Slam Bash kicked off the Chess Club’s Summer Scholastic Tournament Series. A total of 22 kids in grades K-8 competed for the nine different trophies.  When No. 1-ranked Ronit Kirumaki arrived at the tournament Hall late, a murmur rolled through the tournament playing hall. “There goes my chance at first place,” whispered one student.Others just begrudgingly cried, “Not Ronit!”  Ronit’s first victim of the day was Alexander Lundy. Alexander objected to how fast Ronit was moving. So Ronit played it cool, and took his time in carving out the victory. But Ronit wasn't the only oen who came to play. Kids’ Beginner winner Charlie Pitt had so many pieces surrounding his opponents’ king when checkmate occurred, it was comical.  Ben Liu crushed his round 1 opponent, and Aaradhya Diwan scored the only upset of the first round.

In round 2, Ronit marched on, Ben defeated the youngest player in the field, Alexander got on the scoreboard, and Charlie  came through in the endgame. Aaradhya took down another higher-rated player to score a second staright upset. 

In round 3, Ronit put an end to Charlie’s dreams of the championship.  Ben advanced to 3-0, and Alexander  got the better of the youngest student this time around. The only question was, could Aaradhya keep his upset streak alive against a player rated 400 points higher?  The game went down to the wire.  Aaradhya had no winning chances as he had just a bishop vs. his opponent’s lone rook.  But Aaradhya ran his king to the corner, so whenever his opponent checked him he would just block with the bishop. It sounds like a strange strategy, but it worked. His opponent couldn’t break through the little defense set-up and a draw was agreed.

In round 4, Ronit  took on Ben, who repeatedly asked for a draw, but Ronit just kept pressing and won.  “Rocket” Ronit took home the Championship.  Before the tournament, he joked that he would gain four points from the tournament but instead only got one improving his rating to a robust 1822.  It’s no surprise that Ronit won: He takes full advantage of living in the Chess Capital of the United States. Ronit plays in every adult tournament at the club and all the Friday Action Quads. He's also very active on the Chess Club Ladder, and regularly attends the Grandmaster lectures. That’s the reason “Rocket” Ronit’s rating has blasted from 764 to a whopping 1822 in 15 months.

Aaradhya took clear second place (3.5/4) after scoring another upset victory, this time agaisnt Charlie . He increased his rating from 350 to 730. Aaradhya has been taking Grandmaster lessons to get better and is a regular at the Friday Action Quads.  

Alexander continued his surge to finish with 3 points.  He took home the Top U800 prize despite being rated just 384. He improved his rating to 608.

The next scholastic tournament, The Royal Rumble Bash, is Saturday, July 5.  The Friday Action Quads are every Friday night from 7-9:30.  The entry fee is just $10 and the winner of each Quad earns $36.  Players are seeded into their four-player section by rating.  The three rounds are USCF quick rated as each side has 20 minutes to start. 

The Chess Club offers plenty of opportunites to keep those studetns sharp throughout the summer. Come on by to see all of our great summer programming!

SwissSys Standings. Summer Slam Bash: Open