Club Champs Rd 7

2008 Club Championship   Round 7 of 7  4/02/08  7:00 PM

Time control is 40/90, SD/60, w/ 5 sec delay

Total players in this event = 65 (not including house players)

Club Championship Section  (16 players)

Commentary by Rick Aeria .

Here are the results for Rd 7.  See Final Standings Table

The 2008 edition of the Club Championships have come to and end.  NM Ron Bruno emerged the winner with an undefeated 6-1 for the second time.  Expert John Funderburg who also played heroically finished a worthy second.  Tied for third with the durable NM Todd Smith are two players that have asserted excellence to be numbered amongst the club elite.  They are Ignancio Sainz of Mexico and Alejandro Garamendi who has come from distant Bolivia.  To the man, every finalist has conducted himself with dignity and honor in this contest and all have to be congratulated for their achievements.

Here are a few words from the winner of the event, Ron Bruno:

It's an honor to be this years club champion. I'd like to first give thanks to Chuck Ensey for his job managing it and also to Rick Aeria for all the colorful commentary that seemed to bring life into every round, no matter where one stood in the tournament. Also a big thanks to all the particpants this year that made the tournament so interesting, This competition ends up being so close its impossible to predict all the time, and "Lakdawala Labs Inc" (coined by Rick) adds just another dimension to the excitement.

 

As far as individual players, John Funderburg I think has had even a more impressive performance than I. His climb is symbolic of players who reach new plateaus in chess and is very inspiring. It's also inspiring to see the older generations keeping up the good fight.  I wish everyone the most from their chess experience, Thanks again! -Ron Bruno  ~April 3rd, 2008

 

Board 1  Ron Bruno (5) - George Zeigler (3 1/2)  1-0

This was a lot closer than the final result!  George Zeigler has a reputation as very dangerous player under any circumstances.  In fact, George Zeigler handed the Great One, IM Cyrus Lakdawala his only defeat in 2003 the last time Cyrus competed in the club championships.  The game, with Ron Bruno having the white pieces,  began with a Sicilian Defence 1. e4  c5  2.  Nf3  e6  The funny thing is that both players play the same move order.  Now Ron Bruno diverges from his known opening repertoire with 3. c3 Nf6  4. e5  Nd5  5.  d4  cxd4  Then an inexplicable move 6. Bc4 (?) Which was answered by 6.  ...  dxc3 7. Bxd5  cxb2  8. Bxb2  Qa5+  9.  Nc3  Bb4  10.  Qb3  Bxc3+  11. Bxc3  Qxd5  12.  Qxd5  exd5  13.  Bb4  Nc6  14.  Bd6  b6  15.  Rd1  Ba6  16.  Rxd5  f6  After the game Zeigler felt that this was incorrect and suggested 16. ...  0-0-0 but would not that allow 17. Ng5  Bc4  18. Rd2  ?  Anyway I am getting ahead of myself.  

See game here annotated by IM Cyrus Lakdawala..

Bd 2  David Hart (3 1/2) - John Funderburg (4 1/2)  0-1

Defending champion, John Funderburg, was not happy with the pairing that gave him the black pieces against the club's most well-rounded master, David Hart. Undeterred, the Thunderbird came out fighting.  Hart played a tad too solidly/passively and the initiative flowed to Funderburg who then upset the regal master.  All these heroics fell half a point short but nonetheless, the Thunderbird has earned the respect and admiration of many for his spirited drive to retain his crown.

Here are John's comments,

First of all I want to congratulate Ron on a fantastic tournament!  His championship title is well-deserved.  Also thanks to Chuck for running another great tournament, Rick for his colorful and thorough tournament reporting, and to my friend and chess coach Cyrus for helping me prepare psychologically and over-the-board.  I know I came close to defending my title and I can’t help thinking about lost opportunities (holding against Ron or beating Bruce) that would have given me a share of the title.  But I’m not disappointed at all.  I played some great chess and even finished clear second by a full point.   I’m already looking forward to next year’s championship!

Thank you, John.  You were an inspiration to us and we look forward to future contests.  What a classy guy!  See game here. Annotated by my favorite annotator - John Funderburg! [Posted 4/7/2008]

Bd 3  Brad Salz (3 1/2) - Todd Smith (3 1/2)  0-1 The Longest Game of the Night

Bd 4  Ignacio Sainz (3 1/2) - Raoul Crisologo (2)  1-0

The Pride of Baja California, Ignacio Sainz finished strongly to tie for third and to establish his status as not only the top Mexican player at the club but to be ranked as one of the SDCC elite!  Ignacio has played this entire tournament handicapped by a long commute from Tijuana but he overcame these difficulties with determination, good nerves and sound but aggressive positional play.  This time he beats the club's top Filipino expert, Raoul Crisologo by getting a spatial edge against Raoul's pet Modern Defence and then outplaying Raoul.

See game here courtesy of Ignacio Sainz.

Bd 5  Leonard Sussman (3) - Alejandro Garamendi (3 1/2)  0-1

Garamendi is playing with great verve to be able to beat Sussman with the black pieces in a bishop endgame.  I tried to reconstruct the game from Garamendi's scoresheet but have been unsuccessful, thus far.

Bd 6  Mariano Lozano (2) - Jim Humphrey (2)  0-1

Withdraw:  Carey Milton, Bruce Baker

Reserve Championship (U1800):  (16 players)      

Commentary by Chuck Ensey 

Bd 9  Shaun Sweitzer (5) - Rocio Murra (3 1/2)  1-0   See game here

Congratulations to Shaun for winning the Reserve Championship with an excellent 6 out 7 score. He lost only to the Second Place winner Fawsi Jose Murra in Round 4, so Shaun had 3 wins, a loss and then 3 more wins. Great job! Trophies will be presented at Round 1 of the next event - The Bob Samuel Open.    

Bd 10  Hector Gonzalez (3 1/2) - Fawsi Jose Murra (4 1/2)  0-1

Bd 11  Chuck Ensey (3) - Fred Borges (4)  0-1   See game here

Fred said it best - "you played terrible!" Yes I did, I made one bad move after another. I have lots of excuses - lack of sleep the night before, a long day at work, a headache, the dog ate my preparation, etc, etc, but fact is I just got my head handed to me - I played too fast and didn't look seriously at any threats my opponent may or may not have had. Sometimes I over think positional considerations and end up completely missing tactical shots. This is one of my main weaknesses and games like this one really bring home the point. The truth is painful, but that is what chess is all about - you make the moves, there is no one else to blame! 

Bd 12  Ryan Nichols (3) - Vincent Broman (3 1/2)  1/2-1/2   See game here

Bd 13  David Hall (3) - Tom Kuhn (2 1/2)  0-1

Bd 14  Erik Marquis (2) - Julian Rodriguez (2)  1-0    See game here

This was a swashbuckling game from the romantic era of chess - The King's Gambit AND the Muzio Gambit, no less! Both sides had lots of chances and mistakes were made in a tough hand-to-hand combat kind of game. 24 moves and it was all over, with Erik holding a mate in one in his pocket when Julian resigned.

Bd 15  Morgan Fox (2) - William Murray (2)  1-0

Bd 16  Damani Fair (house) - Mark Lawless (1 1/2)  1-0 

Withdraw: Robert Draper

Fred Borges Open  (20 players)

Bd 17  Dayne Freitag (5) - Marty Lower (4 1/2)  1/-1/2

Bd 18  Lennart Mathe (4) - Nathanael Plapp (4)  1-0

Bd 19  Roxas Acosta (4) - Fausto Robles (4)  0-1

Bd 20  Thirunathan Sutharsan (3 1/2) - Ed Baluran (3 1/2)  0-1

Bd 21  David Delgadillo (3 1/2) - Mario Amodeo (3)  1-0

Bd 22  Jason Qu (3) - Buddy Morris (3)  1-0

Bd 23  Richard Jensen (2 1/2) - Alfredo DeLeon (2 1/2)  0-1

Bd 24  Theron Pummer (2 1/2) - Ron Rezendes (2 1/2)  0-1 

Bd 25  Caley Anderson (1) - Fawsi Murra Jr (2)  0-1

Fred Borges Reserve Section (U1800)  (13 players)

Bd 27  Robert Samuel (2 1/2) - Jerry Soelberg (5)  0-1

Bd 28  Arnold Berlin (2 1/2) - Michael Ryan (5)  0-1

Bd 29  Patrick Edwards (3) - Anthony Harbone (4)  0-1

Bd 30  Steve Perry (3 1/2) - Karen Kaufman (2)  1/2-1/2

Bd 31  Michael Wang (2 1/2) - Alan Rhoads (1 1/2)  1/2-1/2

Bd 32  Keith Wetterer (0) - Brian Kelly (0)  0-1

Next week Simul by Club Champ Ron Bruno at 7 PM - there will be pizza and other free food

see Prize Page for Final Standings & Prizes