Spotlight: KC Coyotes Chess Champions – Henry Han, Eric Jiang, Andrew Li, and Serena Liu
Kids Connection is extremely proud of the KC Coyotes chess team which took first place as the top Elementary School team of the 2021 US Amateur Team West Online Scholastic Championship in February 2021. The team members were KC friends Henry Han (2nd grade), Eric Jiang (2nd grade), Andrew Li (3rd grade), and Serena Liu (3rd grade). These teammates found each other through family and a love of chess! Serena’s brother coaches both Henry and Eric in chess, which brought together three members for a team. Andrew, who is in the same chess club as Serena, then completed the team as the fourth member.
There were 27 four-person teams in total, spanning elementary school, middle school, and high school. The teams participated in five rounds of online play and were matched up based on the team average rating, which was required to be under 1400. What an amazing feat to win the top Elementary School category!
Serena Liu (3rd Grade)
“Kids Connection has influenced my chess skills by always encouraging me to ‘be extraordinary’ and do my best.“
Originally, Serena was not interested in chess! She admired the trophies her brother won from tournaments over the years, but ultimately her dad is the one who started her journey with chess by describing pieces and introducing the game… before she realized it, Serena was hooked.
Serena finds it exciting when her opponent falls into an opening trap and she is reassured that her correct play forced her opponent to miscalculate the variations. She enjoys improving by watching chess videos and it has paid off! In 2020, Serena participated in the California Girls Age-Level State Championship hosted by the Berkeley Chess School. Using her favorite gambit against an opponent 500 rating points above her, she trapped her opponent into a sneaky checkmate! Serena realized she could win against any opponent if she tried hard enough and she went on to win all five games and the State Championship for the “7 and under” section!
Andrew Li (3rd Grade)
“It is great that I have wonderful chess friends here in KC to keep me motivated to improve my chess skills!”
Andrew became interested in chess because of his older brother who also plays chess. While enjoying the game itself, he also enjoys the social aspect of meeting new friends when he participates in chess tournaments. When he was asked to join the chess team to play in the tournament, of course he agreed!
Andrew is grateful for the friends he has at KC who play chess and keep him motivated to always improve his own abilities. He is looking forward to more chess activities with his KC friends in the future!
Eric Jiang (2nd Grade)
“My KC teachers have told me that to be good at anything you need to keep practicing.”
Eric received a chess set as a Christmas present from his dad and he immediately found it to be a fun and interesting game! He finds it exciting to use winning tactics on his opponents and force them into a checkmate. He has such passion for chess that he and Henry study with a chess coach, who is Serena’s brother, which is how the quartet came together to form the chess team.
Eric has been playing chess for over two years and realizes that becoming a good chess player is very difficult. When he loses, he reviews his games so that he can study his moves and improve from his mistakes. He’s learned from his time at Kids Connection that in order to excel, practice is key to becoming the best you can be.
Henry Han (2nd Grade)
“I have lots of good friends at Kids Connection playing chess. I practice a lot by playing with friends during my free time.”
Henry became interested in chess in Kindergarten after watching a video on how to play chess. He really enjoys playing because while the rules are easy to learn, the game is difficult to master, which makes it even more interesting and challenging than other games.
Like every champion, Henry likes to win! But when he loses, he uses it as an opportunity to learn from his mistakes and improve on his game play. Henry also enjoys the social aspect of the game and making new friends who share a common love of chess.
We are very proud of Henry, Eric, Andrew, and Serena and look forward to more checkmates and chess wins in the future!
