The 55th annual New York State Scholastic Championships took place on March 11th and 12th, 2023, in Saratoga Hilton located in Saratoga Springs. 11 players from Q300 attended the tournament with Coach Ivan and his team from New York Chess Academy. 

Registration to the tournament opened in December 2022, and the hotel rooms with conference rate were sold out within a few days. If you are considering attending the tournament next year, it is highly recommended you book the hotel room as soon as the registration opens. The hotel room can be canceled free of charge until one week before the tournament, so you can always change your mind later on. In case you are not able to book the hotel, you can check back one week before the tournament starts when the free cancellation ends. 

Day 0 (Friday)

  • We drove from NYC to Saratoga. It is about 180 miles, which takes about 3 hours if there is no traffic. It could take an additional 1-2 hours since Friday night is busy.

Day 1 (Saturday)

  • Three rounds were played on Saturday starting at 11am, 2pm, 5pm
  • Coach Ivan and his team occupied a few tables for the Q300 team in the main meeting room before the first round starts. If we have more players joining next time, we can reserve a team room.
  • Kids having fun playing with each other

Before the first round starts, Coach Mark reminded all the players of the general rules

Our players are ready to roll

We had a group dinner with all the coaches at the Wasabi Restaurant. Food was very nice, and everyone had great fun.

Day 2 (Sunday)

  • Three rounds were played on Sunday as well, starting at 9am, 12pm, 3pm
  • Again, Coach Ivan and his team helped secure tables for the team
  • Kids had a great time playing in the snow between rounds

Award Ceremony

The award ceremony started around 6pm, and the Q300 team had a great performance. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Elliot Huang, Max Baker, Blaise Resing, Savannah Lin, Daniel Keating took 4th place team trophy in K-5 U600
  • Tyler Horiuchi took 3rd place in K-8 U1600
  • Elliot Huang took 17th place in K-5 U600 out of 236 players
  • August Prasertsom took 15th place in K-5 U1000

Jenny shared the following: 

  • Places to eat:
    • Uncommon Grounds for breakfast and great coffee
    • Compton’s for simple delicious breakfast and lunch
    • Karavalli for indian food
    • Wasabi for sushi ( they have an all you can eat time) 
    • Wheatfields restaurant for a nice dining experience
  • To Do
    • Northshire books
    • G Williker’s toystore
    • Walk in Congress Park
  • Drive to: ( about 5 minutes from hotel)
    • Visit Skidmore College Campus (they have an art museum  The Tang) 

Other activities:

  • People can go skiing during the day!!! There is a ski resort called West Mountain, about 25 minutes drive from the hotel. 
  • There was a side chess event for parents and friends on Sunday. It is four rounds of USCF rated games, with a limit of 10 entries. USCF membership is required. The rounds started at 10:30am, 12:00pm, 1:30pm, 3:00pm. 

Author of this post: Rongrong Ma