American Sunrise Chess Fiesta a resounding success

The inaugural American Sunrise Chess Fiesta drew 133 youngsters last weekend to compete at the Guadalupe Community Center in San Antonio's near West Side. The event highlighted the educational aspect of Americn Sunrise, which former mayor Henry Cisneros founded in 2001 as a nonprofit community redevelopment project for the Prospect Hill neighborhood where he grew up.

The high school division was won by Jesse Lozano of South San High School with a 5-0 score. Tied for second were Derrick Scott, Vicente Santos and Jeremy Salinas, each with 4-1 scores. The top team was from the Alekhin Chess Institute (13.0), with South San (10.0) in second place.

Matthew Morales from Uvalde won the middle school division, also with 5-0. Four players tied for second: Gilbert Perez, Neil Tobias, Shaq Longoria and Adam Santellian, each with 4.0. The top team was Uvalde with 15.5, followed by St. Pius X with 12.5.

Saul Flores of Keystone School won the 64-player elementary division with 5-0. Daniel Caldreon of Lackland was clear second with 4.5, and six players tied for third place with 4: Aaron Catlin, Justin Garg, Noah Cottrill, Marcus Langhan, Michael Galvan and John Williams. Lackland had the winning team with 15.5, followed by Dorie Miller with 11.0.

The primary section was won by Andrew Istafanous of Canyon Elementary with 4.5. Tied for second were Joanna Slusarewicz, Kent Leafstiedt and Armando Serna with 4.0 each. The top team was St. Pius X with 10.5.

Henry and Mary Alice Cisneros were on hand to kick off the event and to present trophies. The former mayor, US housing secretary and Univision president gave an uplifiting speech about the value of chess and other educational activities for young people, and the role of learning games such as chess and Scrabble in the American Sunrise learning center.

Two national chess masters, eight-time city champion Selby Anderson and current champ Jose Silva, gave simuls outside the playing hall, as did San Antonio Chess Club president Martin Gordon. The Guadalupe Center's tournament director Albert Vandvort ran the computer pairings, assisted by Martin Gordon.

Joe Granados of the American Sunrise Learning Center and Selby Anderson of the San Antonio Chess Club were co-organizers of the event, held Nov. 21.