Berkeley Bishops vs. Norcal House of Chess
Being part of the Berkeley Bishops requires players to play against other strong players from rival schools. Last Saturday, The Berkeley Bishops, the Berkeley Chess School's elite traveling chess team, played in its first match of 2012 against Norcal House of Chess!
In total, thirteen players from each team played in one match against another player of generally the same rating. The match was two games, one as white, the other as black. While the Berkeley Bishops proved strong in the first round, going 8.5 - 4.5, the Norcal House of Chess team rallied in the second round and finished on top with a final score of 13.5 - 12.5! Edging out the Berkeley Bishops by a single point!
William Li, one the the Bishops, was interviewed about what it was like playing against one of the top students from a rival school:
“I feel happy because we played in the State Championship. I beat him barely but he had a way to draw, so I felt so lucky to win. But I won surely today, so I was happy.”
“I was also kind of scared because I was afraid he was going to get revenge against me.”
His strategy: “We weren’t really used to the time control: It was really low. I just wanted to attack and attack and attack.”
Here are the pairings and results from the match:
Pairings for Round 1. Bishops v Norcal Match Jan 2012: Master
| Bd | Res | White | Res | Black |
| 1 | 1 | JOSIAH P STEARMAN | 0 | GANESH MURUGAPPAN |
| 2 | 1 | BEN ROOD | 0 | ANTHONY ZHOU |
| 3 | 1 | WILLIAM LI JR | 0 | SEAVER DAHLGREN |
| 4 | 1 | DAVID DENG | 0 | CALVIN TAM |
| 5 | 0 | MAX STORCH MANGA | 1 | PRAN SENTHILKUMAR |
| 6 | 0 | ISHAAN DAS | 1 | SETH CASTRO |
| 7 | 0 | BRANDON W CHEN | 1 | SIDDHA SRINIVASAN |
| 8 | 1 | VARUN RAJPUT | 0 | SURYATEJA MANDADI |
| 9 | 1 | SEAN DONOVAN | 0 | ADITYA TADIMETI |
| 10 | 0 | ANNA ZHU | 1 | VITTAL THIRUMALAI |
| 11 | ½ | MILES OLIVER MANGA | ½ | RISHABH RAJ |
| 12 | 1 | HARI STOYANOV | 0 | WILLIAM SARTORIO |
| 13 | 1 | JADE KESSINGER | 0 | ANTARA GARAI |
Pairings for Round 2. Bishops v Norcal Match Jan 2012: Master
| Bd | Res | White | Res | Black |
| 1 | 0 | GANESH MURUGAPPAN | 1 | JOSIAH P STEARMAN |
| 2 | 1 | ANTHONY ZHOU | 0 | BEN ROOD |
| 3 | 0 | SEAVER DAHLGREN | 1 | WILLIAM LI JR |
| 4 | 0 | CALVIN TAM | 1 | DAVID DENG |
| 5 | ½ | PRAN SENTHILKUMAR | ½ | MAX STORCH MANGA |
| 6 | 1 | SETH CASTRO | 0 | ISHAAN DAS |
| 7 | 1 | ADITYA TADIMETI | 0 | SEAN DONOVAN |
| 8 | 1 | SIDDHA SRINIVASAN | 0 | BRANDON W CHEN |
| 9 | 1 | VITTAL THIRUMALAI | 0 | ANNA ZHU |
| 10 | 1 | RISHABH RAJ | 0 | MILES OLIVER MANGA |
| 11 | 1 | SURYATEJA MANDADI | 0 | VARUN RAJPUT |
| 12 | 1 | WILLIAM SARTORIO | 0 | HARI STOYANOV |
| 13 | ½ | ANTARA GARAI | ½ | JADE KESSINGER |
Congratulations to the Norcal House of Chess for winning! The rematch for the Bishops against Norcal House of Chess is coming up in March, so Bishops, keep your eyes open!
*Looking fly Max!