3/6/2005 The scholastics were fun, and there was no pressure on me to win since I didn't play, a relieving experience. Though, when I saw Nelson Lopez lift the trophy for K-12 champion I did feel genuine nostalgia. Probably because I feel my scholastic career was unfulfilled, and also fear of having to compete on higher levels. The K-12 section was won, as stated previously, by Nelson Lopez II, though there were a handful of players over 1800 he didn't have to play a single one since they all eliminated themselves by losing or drawing in the earlier rounds; he had to play a 1470 in the last round. Congratulations to Nelson Lopez, he becomes the first non-Charlottean to win it since.... I don't really know but it's been a long time. There was a 400 who finished with three points(!), he lost to Laura Lee in the last round. That is quite impressive, and he should've gotten some recognition but unfortunately the system doesn't work that way.
The K-8 section was huge, and yet it only had five rounds. There was a big tie for first, I expected Paradis and Huang to be in the top but it wasn't meant to be. It's hard playing a tournament when you're wearing a huge target. The K-5 was won by none other than the perennial favorite, Joshua W. Mu. He beat Sammy Xin and Chang Sun to win the title. And I believe he went 7-0. The K-3 was won by Hubert Song, I believe another 7-0. Ken Chu, who I thought would be in the mix to win it all, blundered and lost a rook in a winning position in the early rounds and was knocked out of contention early. He bounced back though and won the rest of his games to finish with 6/7.
Overall
the tournament was great, it was in a nice hotel with a tournament hall
that was well-lit. This tournament was the biggest turnout 'states has
ever gotten, though this may sound ludacris I think it would be an
interesting idea to allow South Carolinians to participate, I don't
know if it's prohibited. I would also not be opposed to holding it in
Charlotte every year since it's more or less in the middle of the
Carolinas. And making it a three day tournament would be interesting
since there could be more rounds and less ties and a few fun events
like a Bughouse tournament, a Bltiz like they already have now, a
coaches challenge, a simul (perhaps tandem) just to vary the tournament
and most importantly for kids they would miss a day of school. It's not
practical and most parents would be opposed to it but it would be fun
and make it more prestigous like the national tournies. NM Daniel Tapia