2018 Houston Catholic School Tournament — Chess in Christian Schools Foundation

“The Tournament”

On May 5, 2018, St. Theresa Catholic School of Sugar Land, TX hosted the fifth annual Archdiocese of Galveston – Houston Catholic Schools Chess Championship Tournament

Dr. Mark Newcomb. St Theresa’s Principal, welcomes all the players, parents and coaches.

The Tournament is not a Chess in Christian Schools Foundation event., but Jim Marcely, CICSF President, has been involved since its inception five years ago as the Coordinator of the Tournament. The Coordinator is the one who gets the word out to all the schools, coordinates the time and place, and schedules the event with Jim Liptrap, the Tournament Organizer.

Jim Liptrap runs the best tournaments in the Houston area.

This year 183 chess players from sixteen K – 8 Catholic Schools and five high schools participated. It was the largest tournament yet; fifty more players than participated last year.

“Ready!” 183 players settling in the St. Theresa School gymnasium for the first round.

“Get set!” Players listen to final instructions from Tournament Director (TD)Tom Boone.

A TD is like a referee. He and his assistants ensure that the tournament adheres to U.S. Chess Federation standards and rules, and adjudicates any disputes among the players.

“Go!”

This is a photo of the miracle of chess. Here are 183 players from second grade to high school in one room, and NO ONE IS TALKING! Now that’s amazing!

The end of the round.

Each player has 30 minutes to make all their moves. In chess, the best players finish last.

Skittles

After the round is over, the players return to a common area, called “skittles” or to team rooms to await the pairings for the next round They play “fun” chess games or just decompress.

Here’s the chess team from Resurrection Catholic School.

They’re proud of their team banner and new team shirts. The Ethel and Albert Herzstein Foundation gave a grant to our foundation to support the chess program at Resurrection.

Three players from St. Jerome’s (standing) check out the latest computer game with the kids from St. Peter the Apostle. A while later they played “just for fun” chess games.

The kids love to go to inter-scholastic tournaments and play chess with kids from other schools. After a while, many become “chess buddies,” and develop enduring friendships. Both St. .Jerome and St. Peter the Apostle are CICSF-supported schools.

The Strake Jesuit Prep high school team at skittles.

Players and parents from St Cecelia’s, in the center and St. Mary’s (League City) in the right foreground.

St Mary’s is a CICSF supported chess program. We’re looking for funding for them for next year.

In the background are parents and players from St. Joseph’s (Baytown).

Some players in the St. Theresa team room, enjoying a fun game.

St Theresa has a very strong, self-sustaining program. They entered 46 players in the tournament! They have a great coach, Ben George, who is also a teacher at the school., and strong support for chess from Dr. Mark Newcomb, their principal. They have plenty of support from their parents. They don’t need CICSF support.

Here’s St Martha’s coach, Dave Norman, in the green jacket presiding in their team room.

Before CICSF was certified as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, we helped St. Martha’s get a grant from the Harris County Department of Education after school programs called CASE for Kids. The grant has been renewed twice. With its CASE for Kids grant, St Martha’s is currently self-sustaining. They won the Catholic Schools Championship in 2016 and are strong competitors in open scholastic tournaments in the Houston area. They entered 23 players in this tournament.

Chess games can break out anywhere. In this case, black is pink!

In this photo are players, parents and coaches from St. Thomas High School, Holy Rosary (Rosenburg), St. Helen (Pearland), St. Edward (Spring), and St. Thomas More schools.

Waiting for the trophy awards. The St. Clare of Assisi School team is to the right. This is their first tournament ever.

These are the trophies.

To the right on the ground are the individual trophies. Jim Liptrap, the Tournament Organizer, has divided the 183 competitors into seven skill groups of 23 to 28 players, according to their US Chess Federation (USCF) ratings and grade levels. Everyone plays five games. Winning players in each skill group are awarded trophies from first to tenth place.

To the left are the team trophies. There are trophies for the top three high schools, and the top ten K-8 schools. In determining the team scores, wins (1 point) and draws (a half point) of a team’s top four players that day are computed. In that way a team with only four players has a chance against large teams like St Martha and St. Theresa.

The large trophy on the left side of the table is the Cardinal DiNardo High School Chess Cup, and the one on the right the Cardinal DiNardo K-8 Chess Cup. The first place high school and K-8 teams capture the trophy for one year, until next year’s Catholic Schools Chess Championship Tournament. These two “traveling trophies” were built with CICSF funds and donated to the Archdiocese to encourage more Catholic schools to have competitive chess programs.

Ms Debra Haney, the Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese.

She talks to the waiting players, parents and coaches while the results are being tabulated. She will present the team trophies.

In high school competition ten trophies are awarded to individuals

This is David Parker* of Strake Jesuit. David wins all five games and is the Archdiocese of Galveston - Houston Catholic High School Chess Champion.

75 trophies were awarded to K – 8 players

Martin Casey* from St Peter the Apostle School wins all his five games in the highest K – 8 skill group. He’s the Catholic K-8 School Chess Champion.

* CICSF uses pseudonyms for players for all its internet postings.

And the 2018 Catholic High School Chess Team Champion is . . .

Strake Jesuit!

They successfully defend the Cardinal Dinardo High School Chess Cup and bring it back to Strake for another year. And, they get to keep their First Place Trophy forever.

Frasatti Catholic High School of Spring captures the Second Place HS trophy.

Frasatti HS received some emergency support from CICSF tutor Jon Santos for the Catholic Schools tournament. We hope we can find funding to sustain Jon at Frasatti’s for the entire entire school year 18 – 19.

The Third Place trophy winners from St. Thomas High School.

Coach Phil Cuneo is also a teacher at St. Thomas. He would like a CICSF tutor to take his team beyond his own chess prowess.

Christo Rey Jesuit High School and two high school students from a Catholic Home School program also compete in the tournament.

Sixteen K – 8 teams participate. And the K-8 Champion Team is . . .

St Martha Catholic School!

St Martha’s scores 17 points, wins the First Place trophy, and brings home the Cardinal DiNardo K-8 Chess Cup for the coming school year. The maximum possible score with the top four players each winning all five games is 20 points.

St. Theresa Catholic School won the Second Place Team K–8 trophy with 16 points.

St Theresa held the Cardinal Dinardo K-8 Chess Cup last year (2017)

The Third Place Team trophy goes to St Peter the Apostle Catholic School with 15 points.

St Peter the Apostle is the flagship CICSF school. They won the Texas State Seventh Grade Championship in 2013, and were the Houston area Catholic Schools K-8 Champions in 2014 and 2015. Their CICSF tutor is Andrew Koenigsberg.

St Cecilia Catholic School wins the Fourth Place trophy with 14.5 points.

This is remarkable! This is St Cecilia’s first year having a chess program, and their first tournament. Only four players participated. Two of them won all five games in their respective skill groups. Bryant Crawford is their coach. They appear to be self-sustaining.

Three teams tied for Fifth Place with 14 points! In these situations a tie-break computation kicks in. The computer takes the top four players for each team, and totals the games won by their opponents. The teams whose opponents won more games presumably played tougher opponents that day. The team whose opponents won the most games gets the larger trophy.

St Helen’s Catholic School of Pearland wins the tie-break, and the Fifth Place Trophy.

Coach Alex Enano is a teacher at the school, and runs a very strong program. In the past three years St Helen’s has placed in the top five at the Catholic Tournament. CICSF would like to be able to provide them a tutor to work with their stronger players.

St. Thomas More Catholic School wins the Sixth Place Team trophy on the 14 point tie-break.

This is a surprising good result from a declining program. St Thomas More has finished in the top three for the past three years at the Catholic Schools tournament.. However their splendid coach, Paul Seymour (also a teacher), retired last year, and their chess club is moribund. Greg Griffin, a team dad, got four players signed up a few days before the tournament, and, on the pure momentum of their previous strength, they were able to take sixth place. St Thomas More Catholic School urgently needs CICSF help in reviving their chess program.

St Edward’s takes home the Seventh Place trophy on the 14 point tie-break.

St Edward’s has solid chess program because of a great team mom/coach, Michelle Eisterhold. However, her son graduates this year, and they may need a CICSF tutor next year.

There is another tiebreak at 13 points for eighth place

St Joseph Catholic School (Baytown) wins the Eighth Place trophy on the tie-break with 13 points.

St Joseph’s is at the eastern edge of the archdiocese and the Houston metropolitan area. Maybe because of the distance, they have not been active in Houston area scholastic chess tournaments during the year, except for the Catholic Championship, where they show up, make their mark, and take some metal home. They won the eighth place trophy last year, too.

St Clare of Assisi Catholic School captures the Ninth Place trophy with 13 points.

Coach Dave Mitchell has had a chess club at the school for several years. CICSF provided some instructional materials. This was St. Clare’s first venture into tournament chess. Their surprising success in this tournament indicates a solid chess program that is probably self-sustaining.

Holy Rosary Catholic School of Rosenburg wins the Tenth Place Team trophy with 12 points.

Three of the five players had to leave before the team trophy awards. Teacher and chess coach Matt Gubbles has requested a CICSF tutor to take his stronger players to a higher level of play.

St. Mary Magdalene (Humble), Resurrection, St Mary’s (League City), St. Jerome, Our Lady Queen of Peace (Richwood) and St. John Paul II Catholic Schools also competed.

There are other Catholic Schools,and non-Catholic Christian Schools that do not have chess programs, because they do not have a volunteer coach, and do not have discretionary funding to afford a tutor, or even the cost of the equipment. Chess in Christian Schools hopes to find donors to “adopt a school” and get them involved in the challenge and excitement of scholastic chess. If you would like to see how chess can transform the lives of kids in even the most desperate circumstances, watch the docudrama, Queen of Katwe, and the documentary Brooklyn Castle.