Harvard Chess Team
Come to chess club meetings to find out more about becoming a member of the Harvard Chess Team. Team members for the 2007-08 academic year include:| Name | Class | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Sebastian Predescu | '10 | 2236 FIDE |
| Arin Madenci | '08 | 2211 FIDE |
| Julian Arni | '10 | 2161 FIDE |
| Luke Calhoun | G2 (Div) | 2038 |
| Stephen Ho | '08 | 2008 |
| Annie Weiss | '08 | 1995 |
| Johnny Sadoff | G1 (Ed) | 1777 |
| Seth Bannon | ALB '09 | 1527P |
| Prithvi Shankar | '09 | 1502 |
| Matt Daniels | '08 | unr. |
| Justin Becker | '09 | unr. |
2007 Harvard-Yale Match (11-16-07)
Result: The Match ended in a tie.
| Board | Name | Rating | Result | Favorite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full results coming soon! |
2006 Pan American Intercollegiate Team Championship (12-27-06 to 12-30-06)
Result: Harvard finished 9th out of 24 teams.
| Board | Name | Rating | Result | Favorite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julian Arni | 2161 FIDE | 4.0/6.0 | |
| 2 | Danny Goodman | 2089 | 4.0/6.0 | |
| 3 | Albert Yeh | 2077 | 3.5/6.0 | REPLAY |
| 4 | Johnny Sadoff | 1777 | 2.0/6.0 |
2006 Harvard-Peking University Match, Cambridge MA (10-04-06 to 10-05-06)
Result: Peking University wins match, 6-4.
Day 1 (Peking wins, 3-2)
| White | - | Black | Result | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IM Desmond Wang (P, 2424 FIDE) | vs. | Sebastian Predescu (H, 2236 FIDE) | (.5-.5) | |
| Luke Calhoun (H, 2038) | vs. | Tony Chen (P, unr.) | (1-0) | REPLAY |
| Alex Li (P, unr.) | vs. | Julian Arni (H, 2161 FIDE) | (1-0) | |
| Prithvi Shankar (H, 1502) | vs. | Charles Chen (P, unr.) | (.5-.5) | |
| Lin Lin (P, unr.) | vs. | Annie Weiss (H, 1995) | (1-0) |
Day 2 (Peking wins, 3-2)
| White | - | Black | Result | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sebastian Predescu (H, 2236 FIDE) | vs. | IM Desmond Wang (P, 2424 FIDE) | (0-1) | |
| Tony Chen (P, unr.) | vs. | Luke Calhoun (H, 2038) | (0-1) | REPLAY |
| Julian Arni (H, 2161 FIDE) | vs. | Alex Li (P, unr.) | (0-1) | |
| Charles Chen (P, unr.) | vs. | Albert Yeh (H, 2077) | (0-1) | |
| Johnny Sadoff (H, 1777) | vs. | Lin Lin (P, unr.) | (0-1) |
2005 Pan American Intercollegiate Team Championship (12-27-05 to 12-30-05)
Result: Harvard finished 12th out of 26 teams.
| Board | Name | Rating | Result | Favorite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danny Goodman | 2054 | 2.5/6.0 | |
| 2 | Albert Yeh | 2082 | 3.0/6.0 | REPLAY |
| 3 | Luke Calhoun | 2015 | 4.5/6.0 | |
| 4 | Seth Bannon | 1473P | 3.0/6.0 |
2005-06 Harvard-Yale Match (11-19-05)
(Yale wins match: based on A team results)
A Team (2-3, Yale wins)
| White | - | Black | Result | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Wang (Y, 2376) | vs. | Arin Madenci (H, 2122) | (1-0) | |
| Daniel Thomas (H, 2169) | vs. | Matthew Traldi (Y, 2263) | (0-1) | |
| Pavel Kamyshev (Y, unr.) | vs. | Danny Goodman (H, 2054) | (0-1) | |
| Albert Yeh (H, 2080) | vs. | Scott Caplan (Y, 1941) | (1-0) | |
| David Lyons (Y, 1921) | vs. | Annie Weiss (H, 1995) | (1-0) |
B Team (3-2, Harvard wins)
| White | - | Black | Result | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karim Hakimzadeh (H, 1776) | vs. | Samuel Kahn (Y) | (0-1) | Game (pgn) |
| Daro Mott (Y, unr.) | vs. | Prithvi Shankar (H, 1502) | (1-0) | Game (pgn) |
| Matt Daniels (H, unr.) | vs. | Kathryn Au (Y, 1530) | (1-0) | Game (pgn) |
| Chris Hansen (Y, unr.) | vs. | Sam Lichenstein (H, unr.) | (0-1) | Game (pgn) |
| Erdin Beshimov (H, unr.) | vs. | Nicholas Lesieur (Y, unr.) | (1-0) | Game (pgn) |
2005-06 Harvard-Columbia Match (11-05-05)
(Harvard wins match: 2.5-1.5)
| White | - | Black | Result | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geoffrey Gelman (H, 2221) | vs. | Mikhail Sher (C, 1976) | (1-0) | Game |
| Nebojsa Stanic (C, unr.) | vs. | Albert Yeh (H, 2080) | (.5-.5) | |
| Luke Calhoun (H, 2015) | vs. | Matt Hassen (C, 1778) | (1-0) | Game |
| Charles McMillan (C, unr.) | vs. | Seth Bannon (H, 1473) | (1-0) | Game |
2005-06 Massachusetts Intercollegiate Championship (10-02-05)
A Team (finished 2nd out of 11 teams)
Albert Yeh (2080)
Luke Calhoun (2015)
Stephen Ho (2008)
Matt Daniels (unr.)
B Team
Brian Young (1673)
Sam Lichenstein (unr.)
Anna Chen (unr.)
Seth Bannon (1473P)
Zheng Xu (unr.)
2004 Harvard-Peking University Match, Beijing, China (03-27-04 to 04-03-04)
(Harvard University wins match, 5-3)
Day 1 (Harvard wins, 3.5-0.5)
| White | - | Black | Result | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WGM Xu Yuhua (P, 2489 FIDE) | vs. | Marc Esserman (H, 2265 FIDE) | (0-1) | |
| Daniel Benjamin (H, 2280 FIDE) | vs. | Xiaopeng Li (P, unr.) | (1-0) | |
| Tong Cheng (P, unr.) | vs. | Daniel Thomas (H, 2163) | (0-1) | |
| Albert Yeh (H, 2089) | vs. | Alex Ting (P, unr.) | (.5-.5) | REPLAY |
Day 2 (Peking wins, 2.5-1.5)
| White | - | Black | Result | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marc Esserman (H, 2265 FIDE) | vs. | WGM Xu Yuhua (P, 2489 FIDE) | (0-1) | |
| Xiaopeng Li (P, unr.) | vs. | Daniel Benjamin (H, 2280 FIDE) | (.5-.5) | |
| Daniel Thomas (H, 2163) | vs. | Tong Cheng (P, unr.) | (0-1) | |
| Alex Ting (P, unr.) | vs. | Danny Goodman (H, 2024) | (0-1) |
2004-05 Team members, USCF ratings, and bios
Board One: Marc Esserman - 2294
Board Two: Daniel Thomas - 2169
Daniel Thomas was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1983. After moving to Huntsville, Alabama, home of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, he started playingplaying chess with his elementary school chess team. He played in his first chess tournament when he was 9 years old and became Alabama 3rd Grade State Champion. His natural talent was nurtured with coaching from experienced players in Huntsville, and he eventually earned a position on the All America Chess Team in 1995. In the same year, he placed first in the kindergarten through sixth grade division of the National Elementary School Chess Championships. With continued success, he achieved the title Chess Master in 1998, and that Summer he helped the US Junior Chess Team defeat teams from England, South Africa, and Yugoslavia in a tournament held in England. The next summer, Daniel tied for third in the Under 16 US Championship. Since then Daniel has pursued other interests including academics, snowboarding, and running. Now, aside from being a member of the Harvard Chess Team, Daniel is a member of the Harvard Boxing Team.
Board Three: Daniel Benjamin - 2253
Dan Benjamin began playing competitive chess at age 11. He became a National Master before age 14. Dan won 2 gold medals and 1 bronze medal for chess in the 1991 International Maccabi Youth Games, and he won the Pennsylvania High School Championship both years he played (1991, 1993). His team of high school-aged chess players won the U.S. Amateur Team Championship in 1991, and he tied for second in the 1992 National High School Championship. Dan became FIDE rated in 1991. He served as President of Harvard's Chess Club during 1996-98. As a Ph.D. student in economics, he continues to play on Harvard's Chess Team.
Board Four: Albert Yeh - 2089
Alternate: Dan Goodman - 2029