Markowski 05 Rd 3

1/19/05, Markowski 2005 Qualifier, Round 3, Reported by Chuck Ensey

Round 3 At The Markowski Open

 

Alina Markowski lost to Tim McGuiness, Dimitry shrugs off his loss to Carey 

Also note the duel of hairstyles between Rodriguez & Tuttle -

Pompadour vs Ponytail! Gary won this one...

The leaders are stepping up, but of course the field is still wide open with only three rounds played so far out of a total of 7. But we now have only 4 undefeated players with 3 points, 8 players with 2 1/2 points, 21 players with 2 points, 8 with 1 1/2, a huge 24 players with just 1 point, 8 with only 1/2 and 5 more stragglers with zero so far (nothing, nada, zippo, goose eggs). Two Masters, Bruce Baker (3) and Dr. Carl Wagner (3) are at the top of the leader board, along with two "candidate masters", George Zeigler (3) and Carey Milton (3). So next week we will already be down to only two undefeated players as Bruce is due to play George and Carl plays Carey.

 

Carey Milton has really stepped up his game recently and has won numerous games from well respected (until now!) masters in the last few months. It is no surprise really, very few people are as serious about improving their game as Carey is - he devotes a lot of time to study, and also plays more rated games than just about anyone. Still, beating masters is no easy task, no matter who you are, or how much you study, so how does he do it? You'll have to ask his latest victims, for instance, Robert Richard (2), who han't played Carey in this tournament, but must be dreading it, because he has lost four games in a row to Carey at last count!!  Last night, it was the newly shaven Dimitry Kishinevsky (2), who succumbed to Carey's hypnotic suggestions and lost his way in the maze of 64 squares. 

Bruce Baker had to work very hard to squeeze out an endgame win from the stubborn and resourceful play of Ignacio Sainz (2). It was one of the longest games of the night and drew a big crowd of onloookers throughout the night.

 

Jerry Cupat and Ed Baluran Watch Franco Alejandrino & Carl Wagner  

Bruce Baker and Ignacio Sainz Play In The Background 

Dr. Carl Wagner had an easier time of it, quickly disposing of the mysterious Franco Alejandrino (2), who is unrated and of undetermined strength. Last week Franco beat the flamboyant Expert Ed Baluran (2), so we know Franco is probably at least a strong Class A player, but I guess only time will tell. George Zeigler also made fairly quick work of Buddy Morris (2), exploiting a few inaccurate opening moves by the Bud Man.

In other action on the top boards, Adam Corper (2 1/2) and Leonard Sussman (2 1/2) fought to a well played draw, one of only a few draws in the third round. Most games were still lopsided, as the rating differentials are still fairly large between the players, but now we are getting to the good part where more evenly matched games will be played in the next few weeks. NM Todd Smith (2 1/2) had a tough fight on his hands with Ron Soto (1 1/2), but the steady play of the master was too much for Ron in the ending.

 

Ron Soto Gets Very Low On Time Against Todd Smith Around Move 38

There were some upsets in the third round, and one big one was supplied by Dayne Freitag (2 1/2), our Class B trophy winner in December's Class Championships, who managed to knock off Jesus Orozco (1 1/2), a virtual Expert, in a long, but exciting game. Jesus is rated 1958, but often plays at Expert strength or better, and I believe he has a much higher rating in Mexico, in fact it is rumored that he walks on water down there! Rick Aeria (2 1/2) doesn't believe me, in fact, he calls him "The Chubby Cherubim" (as if Rick isn't also carrying a few extra pounds - like many of us are, myself included!), but I swear I have heard stories! 

 

Shomari & Mario, Dayne & Jesus, Khris & Bob, Marc & Tom in Round 3 

Another upset winner was Shomari Mosi (2 1/2), who took out Expert Mario Amodeo (1 1/2) even though Shomari is rated only 1334. I believe that must be a really old rating from his scholastic days, as Shomari also beat our esteemed President, and strong Class A player, Ron Rezendes (1) last week. This week Ron's opponent was a no show (PLEASE call in if you aren't going to be able to play!), but we put him with a very strong house player, John Perciballi, rated 1918, and Ron was still able to get a draw.

 

Damini Fair racks his brain to find an attack against Bill Murray while Ron Rezendes & John Perciballi play a Rook and pawn ending 

Ron Bruno (2 1/2) showed no mercy with our hard working Vice President and Scholastic Chairman, James Malowney (1 1/2). Don't forget there is a scholastic tournament this Sunday, we need volunteers throughout the day, so call the club to sign up, or just drop by to pitch in. Last time we had over 100 kids show up, so you can imagine what that's like!

 

Keith Wilson and Alex Betancourt Play On As The Crowd Thins Out

Alejandro Garcia-Betancourt (2) (you can call him Alex) has a very long name, but he plays like Larry Evans or Nigel Short. Last night he bested Keith Wilson (1) of Rancho Bernardo. Keith is a new club member, but a long time resident of San Diego, who often plays in our weekend events, like the San Diego County Championships, coming up on May 14-15th, or the SCCF Senior Open which will be on April 23-24th. We will have details on those events shortly, but they will be similar to last year in terms of round times and time controls. Anyway, Keith is a great guy, he always has a cheerful outlook and a quick smile.

 

The Black King Falls & Gives Up The Fight Against Hopeless Odds 

Khris Juroshek (1 1/2) finally found someone he couldn't beat - NM Robert Richard! Khris is new to the club too, but seems to be fitting in very well. Our club membership is now back up to 200, so it is hard to know everyone, especially all the new members, but we will try to show pictures and profile new players when we can. That's Khris packing up his set above.

 

You Lookin' At Me?? Sagart Says...Go Play Your Own Game!

Perry won vs Brad Ross, next door Esteban Escobedo beat David Hall

Others winners last night who beat up on lower rated opponents were: Aaron Wooten (2), Ramin Sinaee (2), James Mahooti (2), Tim McGuiness (2), Pejman Sagart (2), Gary Tuttle (2), Tom Nelson (2), Shaun Sweitzer (2), Ed Baluran (2) and Thirunathan Sutharsan (2). 

 

Tom Nelson and Marc Adlam Are Just Getting Warmed Up... 

Marc Adlam (1) nearly got a draw with Expert Tom Nelson, but he botched the drawn ending (Rook vs Rook and pawn) when time got low at the end of the game, around 1 AM. Obviously, it was The Longest Game Of The Night. I guess they started late. Please try to be at the club on time (7 PM at the latest) so we don't have these all nighters. Marc also missed the win of a piece just before the first time control, when they were both scrambling. I know how it feels, Marc, those Experts are always swindling me too. But last night I was more fortunate, Chuck Ensey (2), was able to dodge a few bullets and hang on for a draw against Expert Dave Saponara (2).

 

Dave Saponara Looks For Cover For His King As My Rook and Bishop Held Off His Queen

The biggest upset of the night was when Patrick Edwards (2), rated 1327, was able to defeat Joel Batchelor (1), rated 1779. I didn't see or hear much about the game, but that was impressive. Patrick upset Fred Gerlach last week, so you have company Joel. Way to go Patrick, and sorry about that Joel, but I'm sure you'll bounce back, it is a long tourament.    

Several players did bounce back for wins in the third round after rough starts: Esteban Escobedo (1 1/2), Damani Fair (1 1/2), Sunny Chu (1 1/2), Fred Gerlach (1), Helmut Keil (1), Robert Samuel (1), James Coulston (1) and Reno Tyrell (1).   

 

Fred Gerlach and Mark De Yoe            plus Chris Borgan and Phil Skiba 

Tom Webb (1) drew with Parvis Soltan (1).    

I was surprised that we had no extra players joining the tournament this week. It is still not too late to join in, as you would start with 2 half point byes, so you'd have 1 point, and you would get easy pairings in the first few rounds if you are a strong player. Someone like Ruffo Orihuela or David Hart could come in, win four games and still qualify for the Club Championship! That tournamnent starts in five weeks (only the top 16 players advance to the finals - not a round robin this year, just a swiss) Or if you are under 1800 you could still qualify for the Reserve Championship, probably with just 3 wins out of the next 4, or possibly even a few draws would still get you in.

So based on ratings alone, who is favored to get in? The 16 highest rated players are: 1. Bruce Baker, 2. Todd Smith, 3. Robert Richard, 4. Carl Wagner, 5. Dimitry Kishinevsky, 6. Peter Bisgaard, 7. Ron Bruno, 8. Adam Corper, 9. Rick Aeria, 10. George Zeigler, 11. Carey Milton, 12. Tom Nelson, 13. Ignacio Sainz, 14. Leonard Sussman, 15. Ed Baluran and 16. David Saponara.  Trying to knock out some of these players will be 17. Mario Amodeo, 18. Aaron Wooten, 19. James Mahooti, 20. Jesus Orozco, 21. Tom Fries, 22. Thirunathan Sutharsan, plus Franco Alejandrino, Ron Soto, Ramin Sinaee, Jim Malowney, Chuck Ensey, Alex Betancourt, Buddy Morris, Ron Rezendes, Gary Tuttle, Esteban Escobedo, Dayne Freitag, Tim McGuiness and Shomaro Mosi. Several Class A players made it into the finals last year, so anything is possible.

Players who haven't joined yet, but who could still jump in with a chance to win would be Raoul Crisologo, Mark Brooks, Fred Zarse, Fidel Gonzalez, Tim Kasper, John Marberry, Eric Smith, Phil Roth, Alfredo DeLeon, Jim Patton and David Delgadillo.

As far as the Reserve Championship, we have 1. Shaun Sweitzer, 2. Joel Batchelor, 2. Pejman Sagart, 3. Damani Fair, 4. Marc Adlam, 5. Bob Draper, 6. Fred Gerlach, 7. Fred Borges, 8. Sunny Chu, 9. Tom Webb, 10. Chris Borgan, 11. Robert Henderson, 12. Roberto Mercado, 13. Stefan Boyland 14. Julian Rodriguez, 15. Keith Wilson and 16. Parvis Soltan. Trying to knock out some of these players are Khris Juroshek, Patrick Edwards, Brad Ross, Alina Markowski, Helmut Keil, Erik Marquis, Bill Murray and many others. Good luck everyone!

Players who haven't yet joined the tournament, but could still jump in with a good chance to qualify for the Reserve Championship would be Kim Ogden, Stewart Spada, Bob Defore, Rich Jensen, Jeff Monroe, Hector Gonzalez, Frank Arias, Juan Bogarin, Luis Castaneda, Jerry Kavanau and probably quite a few others I haven't thought of.