Gambito Info

     THE SUPER GAMBITO CHESS TOURNAMENT

THE FIRST SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH AT THE SDCC IN BEAUTIFUL BALBOA PARK, 2225 SIXTH AVE (AT IVY) 

   

                  

4 ROUNDS, G/45, or more preferably G/40 with 5 second time delay

ENTRY FEE: $25, NOTE NEW INCREASED PRIZE FUND AS OF 2008. We have added an U2400 category to encourage more masters to play.    

                                         $700 GUARANTEED PRIZE FUND!

OPEN SECTION              1st PLACE  $125            2nd PLACE  $75     

                                  1st UNDER 2400  $75       2nd U2400  $25 

                                  1st UNDER 2200  $75       2nd U2200  $25

                                  1st UNDER 2000  $75       2nd U2000  $25  

RESERVE SECTION (UNDER 1800 USCF RATING) 

                                 1st UNDER 1800  $75        2nd PLACE  $25

                                 1st UNDER 1600  $50        2nd PLACE  $20

Best Game Prize of $15 awarded in Open & Reserve Section at later date after being judged by Bruce Baker & Chuck Ensey, games are posted on Website & submitted to Rank & File. The $18 annual dues for SCCF will be deducted from your winnings if you are not already a member of the Southern California Chess Federation, but you are not required to join just to play. Once you win over $100, we also require you to join the San Diego Chess Club ($60 a year)  

For best parking arrive at 10:00 AM, registration ends at 10:20. Late arrivals may have to take a bye in the first round. Rounds are at 10:30 AM, 12:15 PM, 2:45 & 4:30 PM. There is a break for "lunch" between 1:45 and 2:45. You can also take a 1/2 point bye in Round 1, but please call in or show up before Noon to be paired for Rd 2. Pairings are based on latest ratings posted on USCF Website; unrated players are eligible for a book prize only. With the large number of high rated players that typically attend, you will have lots of chances to pull an upset, or at least learn from some of the best players around. Players rated Under 1800 don't have to worry about getting crushed by Masters and Experts (unless they want to play up in the Open Section) and can have lots of fun competing against players of their own strength in the Reserve Section, which still has very good prizes for such a low entry fee.

Regular Gambito tournaments have a variable prize fund based on the entry fees - the more players, the bigger the prize fund, so bring your friends and spread the word. Only the Super Gambito on the 1st Saturday of every month has the GUARANTEED PRIZE FUND OF $700.  Don't miss all the fun!! Try it, you'll like it. Or just come and watch the thrilling games.   

Masters who frequently attend: Bruce Baker, Ron Bruno, John Bryant, David Hart, Romeo Ignacio, Cyrus Lakdawala, and Enrico Sevillano. 

Experts: Rick Aeria, Jorge Balares, Adam Corper, Raoul Crisologo, John Funderburg, Dimitry Kishinevsky, Carey Milton, Alan Sebeckis and Leonard Sussman.                

Class A:  Roberto Aiello, Ed Baluran, Ben Barquin, Chris Borgan, Esteban Escobedo, Daniel Grazian, Peter Hodges, Richard Jensen, Varun Krishnan, James Mahooti, Jesse Orlowski, Jamieson Pryor, Jason Qu, Jerry Soelberg, Michael Taylor and Alan Tsoi 

Class B: Jason Arbeiter, Vincent Broman, Nestor Dagamat, William Delaney, Chuck Ensey, Kyron Griffith, Caleb Guy, Anthony Harbone, Aaron Ibarra, Kimberly Ogden, Bill Rhoads and Chris Wonnell. 

Class C and below: Gene Arnaiz, Aaron Chow, Darren Chow, Michael Chen, Fred Cleveland, Patrick Edwards, Aaron Householder, Scott Householder, Ryan Nichols and Tom Kuhn.  

The Gambito is named for Ron Gambito, the winner of the first Gambito tournament in November of 2000. Ron passed away in 2001, but his memory and fighting spirit lives on these weekly contests. The two section format began on a regular basis with Gambito #95; before that it was all one big section except for the special Gambitos #50 & #75. The Super Gambito was Rick Aeria's idea and started in late 2002. We often use the McMahon pairing system now for regular Gambito Opens (the most common variation used is M/E = 2 bye points, Class A = 1 and B/C = 0).  Call the club telephone at 619-239-7166, ask for Bruce Baker for more info if needed.                                                                                     

[It's an amazing coincidence that the first Gambito tournament was won by Ron Gambito, sort of like Lou Gehrig catching Lou Gehrig's disease, don't you think?  Actually, the first one was called "the saturday tournament" which Ron Gambito won.  He was bugging me about giving it an even catchier name, so I named it after him.  He was a modest individual and didn't approve of it, but it stuck.  Later on, I think he secretly liked the tournament being named after him.  I suppose now it is a sort of memorial.  I hope I didn't curse him or anything.  It was a sad day for me to hear of his entirely accidental death.  It was his fate to die young.  He believed in fate.  It was also his fate to come to our club every day.  He was a fun person to play chess with.  He was tireless in helping other players, even strangers.  If I saw a new player with Ron, I knew that person would come back. Gambito was one of the best people I've ever met, a really good person.  He was my best friend and the better man.    --- bruce baker]