Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/18/2013 --The 2012 Xinhang Chinese Chess Tournament has finally come to a close and what a record breaking year this has been! For the first time since the tournament's origin in 1999, the number of competitors surpassed five thousand and twenty seven states were represented. Although this is a huge milestone for Xinhang Chinese Chess, they hope to continue spreading the fun of Chinese Chess in the United States and aim to attract players from all fifty states by 2015. For more information about the tournament itself, interested folks may visit http://xinhangchess.com.

From the regional level to the national competition, players were linked through a secure electronic game system in which players could compete from their home. There were a few complaints that some games which had a bigger online audience began lagging, so Xinhang Chess has made an official announcement to fully advance their website and modernize the system to one fitting with the caliber this tournament is growing to have.

The top five winners for 2012 were: First place - Trevon J. Second place - Jackie Chu. Third place - Yuying Ho. Fourth Place - David Liu. Fifth Place - John Gasparini. We congratulate them for their excellence in Chinese Chess! Trevon J. has received a five thousand dollar prize for being the winner of the tournament and the other four who placed have received a thousand dollars each as well. Jackie Chu and John Gasparini are both college juniors and David Liu is a high school senior. It is rare that high school students place top five so we would also like to extend a special congratulations to him.

These five players have played an average of seven years of Chinese Chess, but something notable this past tournament is that none of them have had any formal training. In the 2011 tournament, four of the five placers had formal training, so we may be seeing a shift in how pros are made. 417 games were played in the 2012 tournament and Trevon J. had a record of 23-2. According to their website, only two players have ever gotten a perfect record in this tournament and the first player who had a perfect record played in 1999, when only a few Chinese chess players knew about the tournament. Back in those days, they also had to travel to regional hotspots and state/national conferences so many players were limited by that inconvenience. Considering the costs of travel and provisions during the trip, the prize money which has stayed constant through the years may not have been worth it to many players.

About The Xinhang Chinese Chess Tournament
The Xinhang Chinese Chess Tournament is the second biggest Chinese chess competition in the United States. The goal of Xinhang Chinese Chess is to expose the benefits of Chinese chess and share its culture throughout the US.

Now that 2013 is around, we encourage all to join the tournament and spread Chinese chess to all the folks around us who are missing out on an awesome strategy game full of culture and fun.

Media Contact:
James Hordi
xinhangcct@gmail.com
Los Angeles, California
http://xinhangchess.com