Thursday, February 26, 2009

Round 2 Lakdawala Championships

Here are the results for Rd 2, on 3/04/09

Club Championship

Bd 1  David Hart (1) - Bruce Baker (1)  1/2-1/2

Bd 2  Ignacio Sainz (1) - Peter Graves (1)  1/2-1/2  Notes by Ignacio

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.c4 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nf4 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Ne8 10.Be3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.b4?! (13.c5) Rf6!? 14.c5 Rh6 15.Rc1 Nf6 16.cxd6 cxd6 17.Nb5 g4!? 18.Nc7 g3 19.hxg3 Nh5 20.Nxa8 fxg3 21.Nd3!? gxf2+ 22.Kxf2 Ng6 23.Rh1 Bd7 24.Rc7?! (24.Nc7 Qg5 25.Ne6 Qg3+ 26.Ke3) 24...Bb5?! (...Nf6 25.g4=) 25.Qc1! Qf6 26.Rc8+ Nf8 27.g4 Ng3 28.Kxg3 Bxd3 29.Bxd3 Rxh1 30.Qxh1 Qf4+ 31.Kg2 (31.Kf2 Qd2+ 32.Be2+-) 31...Qd2+ 32.Kg3 Qxd3 33.Qh5? (Qc1+-) Qe3 34.Qf5? (g5+-) Qg1+ 35.Kh3 Qh1+  1/2-1/2 

Bd 3  Carl Wagner (1) - Ben Barquin (1)  1-0 

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Bc5 4.Nc3 h6 5.f4 d6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Na4 Bb6 8.Nxb6 axb6 9.a3 Bg4 10.0-0 Qe7 11.h3 Be6 12.Bb5 Bd7 13.f5 Na5 14.Bxd7+ Qxd7 15.c4 c5 16.Be3 Nc6 17.Qe1 Qe7 18.Qf2 Kd7 19.Kh1 Ra6 20.g4 Raa8 21.Qg2 Rh7 22.Kg1 Nd4 23.Bxd4 cxd4 24.Rfc1 Rhh8 25.Qd2 Ra5 26.Kg2 Rha8 27.Kg3 Rc8 28.Rc2 Rac5 29.Rac1 Ke8 30.Qb4 b5= (Fritz) 31.Nd2 Nd7 32.h4 bxc4 33.Rxc4 Rxc4 34.Rxc4 Rxc4 (Nc5!?=) 35.Nxc4 (adv to White) Nc5 (...d5) 36.Qb5+ (36.Qb6 Nxd3 37.Nxd6+ Kf8 38.Nxb7+-) Qd7? (Kf8=) 37.Nxd6+! Ke7 38.Qxc5 Qxd6 39.Qxd6+ Kxd6 40.Kf3 Kc5 41.Ke2 b5 42.b4+ and the rest is easy...Kd6 43.h5 Ke7 44.Kd2 f6 45.Kc2 Kd6 46.Kb3 Kc6 47.a4 bxa4+ 48.Kxa4 Kb6 49.b5 Kb7 50.Ka5 Ka7 51.b6+ Kb7 52.Kb5 Kb8 53.Kc6 Kc8 54.b7+ Kb8 55.Kb6 1-0     

Bd 4  Ron Bruno (1/2) - Dimitry Kishinevsky (0)  1-0

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be2 Nd7 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bg5 Ne7 7.Qd2 h6 8.Be3 a6 9.a4 b6 10.0-0 Bb7 11.d5 e5 12.Ne1 g5 13.g3 Ng6 14.Nd3 Nf4 15.Bd1 Rg8 16.f3 Bh8 17.Kh1 Ng6 18.Nb4 Qe7 19.Be2 (adv to White) Qf8 20.a5 b5 21.Bxb5! axb5 22.Nxb5 (or also a6!) Ke7 23.a6 Bxa6 24.Nxa6 Kf6 25.Naxc7 Rxa1 26.Rxa1 Kg7 27.Qb4 g4 28.fxg4 Kh7 29.Qxd6 Qxd6 30.Nxd6 Black is lost but grimly fights on Nf6 31.h3 Rd8 32.Ncb5 Rd7 33.Ra7 Rxa7 34.Nxa7 Bg7 35.c4 Bf8 36.Nac8 Kg7 37.g5 hxg5 38.Bxg5 Bxd6 39.Bxf6+ Kxf6 40.Nxd6 Ke7 41.Nf5+ Kd7 42.c5 1-0

Bd 5  Alejandro Garamendi (0) - John Funderburg (1/2)  0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd7 7.Nxc6 Bxc6 8.Bd3 Bc5 9.0-0 Ne7 10.c3 Ng6 11.b4 Bb6 12.Qh5 Qd7 13.Na3 a6 14.Nc2 Bb5 15.Bxb5 Qxb5 16.Be3 Bxe3 17.Nxe3 Rc8 18.a4 Qd3 19.Rad1 Qxc3 20.Rc1?! Qxc1 21.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 22.Nf1 0-0 23.g3 Re1 24.Kg2 Rxe5 25.Qd1 Re4 26.Qd2 Ne5 27.f3 Nc4 28.Qd3 Re1 29.Nd2? Rd1! 0-1

Bd 6  Carey Milton (0) - Tom Fries (0)  1-0

Carey proves he does know some endgame technique and wins a Rook and pawn ending in 72 moves...

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 cxd4 6.cxd4 Nge7 7.Bd3 Qb6 8.0-0 Bd7 9.Be3 Nf5 10.Bxf5 exf5 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Qe2 Be7 13.Na4 Qc7 14.Rac1 0-0 15.Rfd1 Rac8 16.Nc5 b6 17.Nd3 Qd7 18.Nf4 h6 19.h4 Qd8 20.h5 Bg5 21.Nxg5 hxg5 22.Nxe6 fxe6 23.Qb5 a6 24.Qa4 Qe8 25.Bxg5 Qxh5= 26.f4 Na5 27.Qd7 Qe8 28.Qa7 Nc4 29.Qe7 Qxe7 30.Bxe7 Rfe8 31.Ba3 Nxa3 32.bxa3 b5 33.Rc5 Rxc5 34.dxc5 Rc8 35.Rc1 Rc6 36.Kf2 Kf7 37.Ke3 Ke7 38.Kd4 Kd7 39.Rh1 Rc8= 40.Rh3 Rg8 41.Rg3 g6 42.Rh3 g5 43.Rh7+ Kc6 44.Re7 gxf4?! 45.Rxe6+ +- Kb7 46.Kxd5 Rxg2 47.Re7+ Kc8 48.Kc6 Kd8 49.Rd7+ (Rf7!) Ke8 50.Rd4 f3 51.Rf4 f2 52.Kd6 Rg6+ 53.e6 Rg1 54.Rxf2 Rd1+ 55.Ke5 Ke7 56.Rxf5 Re1+ 57.Kd5 Rd1+ 58.Kc6 Kxe6 59.Rf3 Ke7 60.Kb6 Rc1 61.Rd3 Rc4 62.c6 b4 63.a4 Rc3 64.Rd2 b3 65.axb3 Rxb3+ 66.Kxa6 Rc3 67.Kb7 Rb3+ 68.Kc8 Rb4 69.Kc7 Rxa4 70.Re2+ Kf7 71.Kc8 Ra8+ 72.Kd7 1-0   

Bd 7  Brad Salz (0) - Raoul Crisologo (0)  0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c5 d5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 e5 5.e4 Na6 6.Bd3 Be7 7.Nge2 0-0 8.a3 Nc7 9.b4 Nd7 10.Rb1 cxb4 11.axb4 12.b5 Nc5 13.Na4 Nxa4 14.Qxa4 b6 15.0-0 Bd7 16.Qc2 Rc8 17.Nc3 Bg5 18.Ba3 Be8 19.g3 g6 20.Kh1 Be7 21.f4 Bf6 22.f5 Bg5 23.Qf2 Na8 24.Ne2 f6 25.g4 Bh6 26.Rg1 Rc7 27.Rg2 Qe7 28.Rbg1 Kh8 29.h4 gxf5 30.gxf5 Bf7 31.Nc3 Rcc8 32.Na4 Qc7 33.Bc1 Bxc1 34.Rxc1 Rg8 35.Rcg1 Bh5 36.Kh2 Rxg2+ 37.Rxg2 Rg8 38.Rxg8+ Kxg8 39.Qe3 Kg7 40.Kg2 Bd1 41.Nb2 Bb3 42.Be2 a4 43.h5 Qa7 44.h6+ Kf8 45.Qc1 a3 46.Qa1 Qa5 47.Nd1 Bxd1 48.Qxd1 a2 49.Qa1 Qa3 50.Bd1 Nc7 51.c5 dxc5 52.Be2 Ne8 53.d6 Nxd6 54.Qd1 Nf7 55.Qd7 Qa8 56.Bh5 Qxe4+ 57.Bf3 Qd4 58.Bd5 Qxd5+ 59.Qxd5 a1Q 60.Qe6 Qa8+ 61.Kf2 Qd8 62.Qc6 Nxh6 63.Qb7 Nf7 64.Qh1 Qd2+ 65.Kg3 Qf4+ 0-1   

Bd 8  Pejman Sagart (0) - Manuel Herrera (0)  0-1

Bye: Todd Smith (1)

Womens Championship

Bd 9  Maria Elena Villarreal (1) - Mayra Murra (1)  1-0

Bd 10  Carolina Villarreal (0) - Maria Murra (1/2)  1-0

Bd 11  Karen Kaufman (0) - Rocio Murra (0)  0-1

Bye: Monica Ness (1)

Reserve Championship

Bd 12  Brian Kelly (1) - William Wijaya (1)  0-1

Bd 13  Fawsi Jose Murra (1) - Donald Klaas (1)  0-1

Bd 14  Anthony Harbone (1) - Jerry Soelberg (1)  0-1

Bd 15  Datris Robinson (1/2) - Tom Kuhn (1/2)  0F-1F

Bd 16  Larry Vikander (1/2) - Steve Perry (0)  1-0

Bd 17  Hector Gonzalez (0) - Michael Ryan (0)  0-1

Bd 18  Morgan Fox (0) - Steve Gordon (0)  0-1

Bd 19  Caley Anderson (1/2) - Phil Skiba (0)  0-1  

Bye: Mike Friedel (0)

Fred Borges Open

Bd 20  Lennart Mathe (1) - Robert Draper (1)  1/2-1/2

Bd 21  Fausto Robles (1) - Paul Agron (1)  1-0

Bd 22  David Delgadillo (1) - Jeff Turner (1)  1/2-1/2

Bd 23  Alfredo Deleon (1/2) - Joseph McDougall (1/2)  0-1

Bd 24  Marty Lower (1/2) - Alejandrino Baluran (1/2)  1-0

Bd 25  Buddy Morris (1/2) - James Mahooti (1/2)  1-0 

Bd 26  Ron Rezendes (1/2) - Dayne Freitag (1/2)  0-1

Bd 27  Jason Qu (1/2) - Chuck Ensey (1/2)  1-0 

Bd 28  Mario Amodeo (0) - Jens Lundell (0)  1-0

Bd 29  Damani Fair (0) - Erik Marquis (0)  1-0

Bd 30  Fawsi Murra Jr (1/2) - Marlon Icban (1/2)  1-0

Bye: Saeid Abdoli (0)

Fred Borges Reserve

Bd 31  Fred Borges (1) - Michael Wang (1)  1-0

Bd 32  David Tagatac (1) - Mark Lawless (1)  1-0

Bd 33  Robert Samuel (1/2) - Roger Wathen (1/2)  0-1

Bd 34  James Coulston (1/2) - Arnold Berlin (1/2)  1-0

Bd 35  Bryan Harms (1/2) - Darryl Woodson (1/2)  1/2-1/2

Bd 36  Helmut Keil (1/2) - Tom Lavoy (0)  1-0 

Bd 36  Patrick Edwards (0) - Cristhian Garcia (0)  0-1 

Bye: Glenn Rose (1/2), Matt Souza (1/2)

Match Play

Bd 38  Joel Batchelor (0) - Shaun Sweitzer (1)  1-0

     

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Robert Samuel Swiss Rd 2

Start:     Apr 29, '09 6:00p

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Gambito #410, 409 & 408

Gambito #410  2/28/09

17 players today, a little light, there were a lot of regular players missing, but then we always seem to get a few we haven't seen for a while that help bring up the numbers at bit. Surprise visitors today were Chris Wonnell and Simone Liao, plus Nikolay Arutyunov, who is now becoming a regular. We used our usual McMahon pairings with M/E=2, A=1, B/C=0. Note that Paul Agron is now an Expert. He beat Varun Krishnan in a very close game where both players had only seconds left when Varun finally lost on time. Bruce once again drew with Cyrus and raised his rating back up to 2343. Nikolay Arutyunov appeared to be lost and living only on his 5 second delay against young star Simone Liao of Los Angeles (Agoura) when suddenly he lined up his Queen and Bishop for an unstoppable mating attack. Simone is the 4th highest rated 9 year old in the USA (now at 1781) and she is also a very active player. This is her 3rd time playing in a Gambito Open. She beat Mike Friedel and Pejman Sagart before the tough loss to Nikolay and in the last round she lost to Madhavan Vajapeyam. Still she gained 4 rating points and is close to regaining her Class A rating (last year she got as high as 1846). Mike Friedel won the U1600 once again, he has won that almost everytime he has played this year and is now #3 on the 2009 top money winners list, right behind Cyrus and Bruce. He is the "new" Tom Kuhn of 2009, Tom always placed high on the money list last year due to his frequently winning the U1600 prize. Mike is trying to get his rating over 1600, but can't seem to break that barrier. It is tough, but I am sure he will get there soon. 

Here are the prize winners:

First Place (tie): Cyrus Lakdawala (5 1/2), $70   U2400/1st Place: Bruce Baker (5 1/2), $70

U2200/2nd Place (tie): Carey Milton (4), Leonard Sussman (4) and Paul Agron (4), $20 each

U2000 (tie): Roberto Aiello (3 1/2) and Chris Wonnell (3 1/2), $20 each

U1800 (tie): Madhavan Vajapeyam (3) and Anthony Harbone (3), $20

U1600: Mike Friedel (1 1/2), $30  

Total Prizes: $310   

 

Gambito #409  2/21/09

21 players today, good turnout. We used our standard Gambito McMahon bye points: M/E=2, A=1, B/C=0. Here are the prizes winners:

First Place/U2400 (tie): Cyrus Lakdawala (5 1/2) and Bruce Baker (5 1/2), $75 each

U2200: Carey Milton (4), $50

U2000/2nd Place: Jamieson Pryor (3 1/2) and Paul Agron (3 1/2), $40 each

U1800: Ken Hopper (3) and Datris Robinson (3), $25 each

U1600: Mike Friedel (2), $40

Biggest rating point gainers: Ken Hopper +32 (1741>1773), Dayne Freitag +31 (1922>1953), Paul Agron +23 (1993>2016)  This event is already rated! Thanks to Bruce Baker for getting this event rated in record speed. And congratulations to Paul Agron for attaining Expert Status!  

Total Prizes: $370 

 

Gambito #408  2/14/09

16 players, light turnout due to Amateur Team West event in LA.

Winners were:

1st Place: Cyrus Lakdawala (4), $80

U2400/U2200/U2000 (tie): Carey Milton (3), Hin Tsang (3) and Roberto Aiello (3), $43 each

U1800: William Delaney (2), $40

U1600: Fred Cleveland (1 1/2), $30

Total Prizes: $280  

Friday, February 20, 2009

Gambito # 416

Start:     Apr 11, '09 10:30a
Location:     2225 Sixth Avenue, San Diego

Super Gambito # 415

Start:     Apr 4, '09 10:30a
Location:     2225 Sixth Avenue, San Diego

Lakdawala Championships Round 7

Start:     Apr 8, '09 7:00p

Lakdawala Championships Round 6

Start:     Apr 1, '09 7:00p
Location:     2225 Sixth Avenue, San Diego

SCCF Scholastic Championship

Start:     Mar 14, '09
End:     Mar 15, '09
Location:     LAX Hilton 5711 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles
See http://westernchess.com/schol09/schol09.html for more details

7th Western Pacific Open

Start:     Mar 13, '09
End:     Mar 15, '09
Location:     LAX Hilton 5711 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles
See http://WesternChess.com/wpo09/wpo09.html for more details

Gambito # 414

Start:     Mar 28, '09 10:30a
Location:     2225 Sixth Avenue, San Diego

Gambito # 413

Start:     Mar 21, '09 10:30a

Lakdawala championships Round 5

Start:     Mar 25, '09 7:00p

Lakdawala Championships Round 4

Start:     Mar 18, '09 7:00p
Location:     2225 Sixth Avenue, San Diego

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Lakdawala Championships

This 7 round event starts on Wednesday, 2/25/09 at 7 PM, with 5 sections, plus at least one match. 2 half point byes are allowed, but no last round bye unless you notify TD by Rd 2 and then it would be irrevocable.  

Club Championship (16 players)Bruce Baker (2332), Ron Bruno (2307), Peter Graves (2252), Carl Wagner (2223), Todd Smith (2216), David Hart (2207), Dimitry Kishinevsky (2168), Ignacio Sainz (2095), Alejandro Garamendi (2092), John Funderburg (2080), Carey Milton (2065), Raoul Crisologo (2064), Brad Salz (2050), Manuel Herrera (2037),  Ben Barquin (2032)- Rd 1 bye, Thomas Fries (1985)  

6 Masters, 9 Experts, 1 Class A, who is almost an Expert. This is one of the strongest Club Championships we have ever had, it should be very exciting...All players have confirmed now, so this IS the final lineup.  

Reserve Championship (16 players)William Wijaya (1825), Fawsi Jose Murra (1744), Jerry Soelberg (1725), Datris Robinson (1720), Donald Klaas (1677), Brian Kelly (1676), Caley Anderson (1652), Anthony Harbone (1615), Hector Gonzalez (1613), Steve Perry (1582), Mike Friedel (1558), Tom Kuhn (1496), Morgan Fox (1489), Michael Ryan (1458), Larry Vikander (1450), Steve Gordon (1290),   

Women's Championship (6 players): Carolina Villarreal (1627), Rocio Murra (1607), Karen Kaufman (1556), Mayra Murra (1531), Maria Elena Villarreal (1445), Monica Ness (1214)

Fred Borges Open (21- players so far)Joseph McDougall (2113), Alejandrino Baluran (2048) -bye Rd 1, Lennart Mathe (2044), Paul Agron (2016), Mario Amodeo (2002), Fawsi Murra Jr (1987) bye Rd 1, Jeff Turner (1969), Dayne Freitag (1953), Jason Qu (1900)-Rd 1 bye,  Fausto Robles (1884), Fred Deleon (1871), Marty Lower (1865), Jens Lundell (1862), Damani Fair (1858), Robert Draper (1841), Saeid Abdoli (1818), David Delgadillo (1816), Buddy Morris (1814),  Ron Rezendes (1811), Chuck Ensey (1801), Erik Marquis (1587)  Plus Pejman Sagart (1958) is a house player

Fred Borges Reserve (14 players so far) (U1800): Fred Borges (1700),  Mark Lawless (1524), Robert Samuel (1500), James Coulston (1427) bye Rd 1, Michael Wang (1312), Fausto Robles Jr (1304),  Tom Lavoy (1303), Patrick Edwards (1233), Arnold Berlin (1214), Matt Souza (1190) bye Rd 1, David Tagatac (1032), Glenn Rose (983), Maria Murra (734), Alan Robles (unr)

Match Play (2 players): Joel Batchelor (1826) vs Shaun Sweitzer (1809)

Total # of Players so far: 75

Round 1 Results

Club Championship

Bd 1  Bruce Baker (2332) - Alejandro Garamendi (2092)  1-0

One of the better games in the Championship section. Alejandro was playing it close to the vest, parrying every one of Bruce's jabs, but towards the end he went astray as a Rook wandered too far from the the defence of his King in order to grab a pawn. I am not sure if Bruce set that pawn sac on purpose up as bait or not, but the end result was a brutal attack on the King that Alejandro could find no answer to. Returning to a boxing theme, it was as if Garamendi's hands were lowered to get in a body punch, but then his head was open for a haymaker from Bruce, who knows how to deliver a punch, he is one of the most dangerous attackers at the club as Rick has testified to many times.    

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Bc4 Nxd4 7.Qxd4 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Re1 c6 10.a4 Kh8 11.Bg5 Ne8 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Rad1 Be6 14.e5 d5 15.Bd3 g6 16.a5 Ng7 17.Na4 Bf5 18.Qc3 Bxd3 19.Rxd3 Ne6 20.b4 Rae8 21.g3 Kg8 22.h4 f6 23.exf6 Rxf6 24.Nc5 Qf7 25.Nxe6 Rfxe6 26.Rxe6 Rxe6 27.Rf3 Qe7 28.h5 g5 29.Qd4 a6 30.Qg4 h6 31.Kg2 Kg7 32.c4 Re4? (...dxc4 33.Qxc4 Re4) 33.Qf5 Rxc4? 34.Qg6+ Kh8 35.Qxh6+ Kg8 36.Qg6+ Kh8 37.Qh6+ Kg8 38.Qg6+ Kh8 39.Rf5 Qe4+ 40. Kh2  1-0                              

Bd 2  John Funderburg (2080) - Ron Bruno (2307)  1/2-1/2

I don't have this game, maybe Ron, John or Cyrus (if he has it) can send it to me. It looked like a pretty cool game where each player had an advanced passed pawn deep the the other's territory. I am awarding a best game prize of $10 in each round, but I need to have the game for it to qualify.    

Bd 3  Peter Graves (2252) - Carey Milton (2065)  1-0

Carey lost a pawn early (move 17) and then another one on move 48. Normally this doesn't phase Carey at all, who often seems to have the attitude that "pawns just get in the way", but against a focused and determined County Champion, Carey could not get back in the game no matter what he tried. Last Saturday Carey won a game against Peter, who is well aware how dangerous Carey can be when given any chances. This time Peter traded down into a Rook ending and skillfully pressed the point home.   

Bd 4  Raoul Crisologo (2064) - Carl Wagner (2223)  0-1

The Longest Game of the Night (by far), Carl won with Bishops of opposite colors and extra two pawns. Sometimes that is still a draw, but the masters tell me if the pawns are separted by more than two files, it is a win. Both Carl and David Hart mentioned this "rule" to me separately, so I guess it is one of those "common" knowledge things that masters know cold and lower rated players like myself are a little unclear about. Raoul can be commended for fighting hard the whole game and Carl for squeezing out a technical win with precision. Carl played his beloved Benko Gambit and got a nice position from it.

Bd 5  Todd Smith (2216) - Brad Salz (2050)  1-0

Brad was doing OK, but in time pressure he overlooked a skewer that lost the exchange and it went downhill from there.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.Re1 a6 6.Bf1 g6 7.c3 Bg7 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 d5 10.e5 0-0 11.b3 Nf5 12.Bb2 f6 13.Na3 fxe5 14.dxe5 Bd7 15.Nc2 Re8 16.Ne3 Nxe3 17.Rxe3 Rc8 18.Re1 Ne7 19.Bd3 Nc6 20.h4 Ne7 21.h5 Nf5 22.hxg6 hxg6 23.Bc1 Rf8 24.Bg5 Qb6 25.Nh4 Be8 26.Qg4 Rc3 27.Rad1 Qa5? 28.Bd2 d4 29.Bxc3 dxc3 30.Nxg6 Bxg6 31.Qxg6 Qb6 32.Bc4 Qxf2+ 33.Kxf2 Nh4+ 34.Qf6 Bxf6 35.Bxe6+ Kg7 36.exf6+ Rxf6 1-0

Bd 6  Manuel Herrera (2049) - David Hart (2207)  0-1

Manuel could have possibly fought on a little longer in this game, but faced with material and positional weaknesses against a solid master, he showed respect and tipped his King over. 

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 Nf6 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.Nf3 dxc3 6.Nxc3 d6 7.0-0 g6 8.Qe2 Bg7 9.Rd1 Bg4 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 0-0 12.Qe2 Qa5 13.Be3 Ne5 14.Bc2 Rac8 15.Bb3 a6 16.a4 Qb4 17.Bd5 Nc4 18.Rac1?! (18.Bd4 would keep White alive according to Fritz 18...e5 19.Na2 Qxa4 20.b3) 18... Nxe3 19.fxe3 Nd7 20.Na2 Qb6 21.b4 Bh6 22.Kf2 Nf6 23.a5 Qa7 24.Rd3?! Rxc1 25.Nxc1 Nd7 26.Bb3 Ne5 0-1 

Bd 7  Dimitry Kishinevsky (2168) - Ben Barquin (2037) 0-1

This may have been the most interesting game, I am not sure if it is the best game yet, I am still looking them all over. It was the only true upset in this section. We can always count on Dimitry to play interesting games. The game went back and forth according to Fritz, but at one point Dimitry lost the thread and his game unravelled. Possibly he is a bit rusty from not playing in the Markowski, sort of like the football teams that get a pass in the first round of the playoffs are rusty while the wild card teams are, well, wild, energized and hungry.   

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.g3 e6 5.Bg2 dxc4 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.0-0 Be7 8.a4 0-0 9.e4 (last book move) Qa5 10.Bd2 Bb4 11.Qe2 e5 12.Qxc4 Re8 13.Ng5 Re7 14.Rfe1 exd4 15.Nd5?! (Fritz rec 15.Qxd4 Bc5 16.Nd1) 16.Nxd5 Bxd2? (16..Rxe1+ is better) 17.Rxe7 Bxg5 18.dxc6?? (18.Re8+ Nf8 19.b4 with solid plus for White) Bxe7 (the Bishop has captured a Bishop, a Knight and a Rook in the last 3 moves, not too shabby and it's still on the board) 19.cxb7 Bxb7 20.Bxb7 Rd8 21.Qxd4 Bf6 22.Qc4 Ne5 23.Qb5 Qd2! 24.Be4 g6 25.Kg2 Ng4 0-1

(25..Ng4 26.Rf1 Ne3+ 27.Kf3 Nxf1 28.Qxf1 Rd4 is one possible continuation) 

Bd 8  Tom Fries (1985) - Ignacio Sainz (2095)  0-1

Tom made a slightly passive move 22.Nc1 instead of trading Knights on c5 and Ignacio made him pay by move 33 when Rc3 won the pawn on c4. Then Ignacio proved that not all Rook endings are drawn by using his King to win another pawn. (Chuck's comment)

Notes by Ignacio... 

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.Nf3 Ne4 7.0-0 Bxd2 8.Nbxd2 Nxd2 9.Qxd2 d6 10.e4 e5 11.d5 Nb8 12.Ne1!? 0-0 13.Nd3 a5 14.f4 Nd7 15.Rac1 b6 16.b4?! (16.f5 f6=) axb4 17.Nxb4 (17.Nc5 Nc6 18.Qe8 f5 19.f6)  Bb7 18.Nd3 Ra5 19.Rc2 Rfa8 20.fxe5 dxe5 21.h4 Nc5 22.Nc1 (22.Nxc5 Rxc5) Bc8 23.Kh2 Bd7 24.Qe3 f6 25.Rc3 Bg4 26.Bf3 Qd7 27.Qe2 h5 28.Bxg4 Qxg4 29.Qxg4 hxg4 30.Re1 Ra3 31.Rxa3 (31.Rc2 Kf7) Rxa3 32.Re2 Rc3 33.Nb3 Rxc4 34.Nxc5 Rxc5 35.Kg2 Kf7 36.Kf2 Ke7 37.Rb2 Rc4 38.Re2 Kd6 39. Ke1 Rc3 40.Kf2 Kc5 41.Rd2 Rf3+ 42.Kg2 Re3 43.Rc2+ Kd6 44.h5 Rxe4 45.h6 gxh6 26.Rc6+ Kxd5 0-1

Womens Championship

Bd 9  Mayra Murra (1513) - Carolina Villarreal (1627)  1-0

Bd 10  Rocio Murra (1607) - Maria Elena Villarreal (1445)  0-1  

Bd 11  Monica Ness (1214) - Karen Kaufman (1556)  1-0

Bye:  Maria Murra (1531)

Reserve Championship  

Bd 13  William Wijaya (1825) - Hector Gonzalez (1613)  1-0

Bd 14  Steve Perry (1582) - Fawsi Jose Murra (1744)  0-1

Bd 15  Jerry Soelberg (1725) - Mike Friedel (1558)  1-0

Bd 16  Tom Kuhn (1496) - Larry Vikander (1450)  1/2-1/2 

Bd 17  Donald Klaas (1677) - Morgan Fox (1489)  1-0

Bd 18  Michael Ryan (1458) - Brian Kelly (1676)  0-1

Bd 20  Steve Gordon (1290) - Anthony Harbone  (1615) 0-1

Bye: Datris Robinson (1720), Caley Anderson (1652) [or Julian Rodriguez (1656)??]  

Fred Borges Open Section

Bd 21  Joseph McDougall (2113) - Marty Lower (1865)  1/2-1/2

Bd 22  Jens Lundell (1862) - Lennart Mathe (2044)  0-1

Bd 23  Paul Agron (2016) - Damani Fair (1858)  1-0

Bd 24  Robert Draper (1841) - Mario Amodeo (2002)  1-0

Here was a fabulous game and a nice upset by Bob. We start with a "boring" Caro-Kann, but it doesn't stay that way very long! And the game has a beautiful ending...Mario was very impressed with Bob's play, he said he hasn't been crushed like this in years!

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 dxe4 4.Nc3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Nf6 6.Bd3 Bg4 (last book move) 7.Be3 e6 8.0-0 Be7 9.Qe1 Nbd7 10.Qh4 Bxf3 11.Rxf3 Nd5 12.Qh3 Nxe3 (Black has the advantage here) 13.Rxe3 Nf6 14.Ne2 c5 15.Bb5+ Nd7 (15...Kf8 was better and mentioned by both players after the game. Mario didn't realize how much trouble about to rain down on his King) 16.d5! exd5 17.Nf4 a6? (after this move Black is lost...so better was 17...d4 18.Re4 a6 19.Bxd7+ Qxd7 but still with big advantage for White) 18.Nxd5 axb5 19.Rae1 0-0 20.Nxe7+ Kh8 21.Qxh7+!! Kxh7 22.Rh3#       

Bd 25  Jeff Turner (1969) - Saeid Abdoli (1818)  1-0 

Bd 26  David Delgadillo (1816) - Pejman Sagart (1958)  1-0

Bd 27  Dayne Freitag (1953) - Buddy Morris (1814)  1/2-1/2

Bd 28  Erik Marquis (1587) - Fausto Robles (1884)  0-1

Byes: Alejandrino Baluran (2048), Fawsi Murra Jr?? (1987), Jason Qu (1900), Alfredo Deleon (1871), Ron Rezendes (1811), Chuck Ensey (1801)    

Fred Borges Reserve Section

Bd 30  Tom Lavoy (1303) - Fred Borges (1700)  0-1

Bd 31  Mark Lawless (1524) - Patrick Edwards (1233)  1-0

Bd 32  Arnold Berlin (1214)  - Robert Samuel (1500)  1/2-1/2

Bd 33  Michael Wang (1312) - Alan Robles (unr)  1-0

Bd 34  David Tagatac (1032) - Fausto Robles Jr (1304)  1-0

Bd 35  Glenn Rose (980) - Maria Murra (934)  1/2-1/2        

Byes: James Coulston (1427), Matt Souza (1190)

Match Play:  Shaun Sweitzer (1809) - Joel Batchelor (1826)  1-0  

      

USATW-Jesse Orlowski & Kyron Griffith




SDCC Juniors Jesse Orlowski & Kyron Griffith are a study of contrasts. Jesse sits "Botvinnik-like" while Kyron looks happy with his position and stretches out.

USATW-Opening Day




Scene from the first round of the opening day of the US Amateur Team West (Region) at the Marriott Hotel in Woodland Hills, CA. We were in the smaller "Hidden Hills" meeting room with the rest of the field in another room.

USATW-Clawitter vs Joel Banawa




Craig Clawitter battles Joel Banawa

USATW-Reynaldo del Pilar vs Enrico Sevillano




Enrico looks somewhat distracted in this short video

USATW-Kretchetov vs Abrahamyan




Here is a short clip of the Orange County Chess Club top board, Senior Master Alexandre Kretchetov playing WFM Tatev Abrahamyan

26th USATW




The 26th United States Amateur Team West (Regional) at Woodland Hills, CA on President Day Weekend February 14th-16th

Markowski Final Results

Here are the 12 qualifiers for the Club Championship, who will join with Ron Bruno, Felix Villarreal, Peter Graves and Dimitry Kishinevsky to make up the 16 player top section... Players are listed in tie break order:  

1. Bruce Baker (6)

2. Carl Wagner (5 1/2)  3. Alejandro Garamendi (5 1/2)  4. Carey Milton (5 1/2)  5. Ben Barquin (5 1/2)  6. Todd Smith (5 1/2)  

7. Brad Salz (5)  8. Ignacio Sainz (5)  9. David Hart (5)  10. Manuel Herrera (5)  11. Thomas Fries (5)  12. Raoul Crisologo (5)

The one player with 5 points who didn't get in due to owning the lowest tie break score was John Funderburg (5). However if Felix Villarreal (I don't have a firm confirmation yet from Felix, but he did indicate earlier in the year that he wanted to play), or someone else decides not to play, John is the first alternate. If we needed someone else it would be Lennart Mathe (4 1/2), the player scoring 4 1/2 with the best tie breaks...  

Here are the 16 qualifiers for the Reserve Championship (U1800), again in tie break order:

1. Buddy Morris (4) 2. William Wijaya (4) 3. Larry Vikander (4)

4. Tom Kuhn (3 1/2), 5. Fawsi Jose Murra (3 1/2), 6. Jerry Soelberg (3 1/2), 7. Datris Robinson (3 1/2), [Karen Kaufman and Mayra Murra also scored 3 1/2, but they will be in the Women's Championship]

8. Jerry Kavanu (3), 9. Julian Rodriguez (3), 10. Donald Klaas (3), 11. Morgan Fox (3), 12. Anthony Harbone (3), 13. Brian Kelly (3) 14. Steve Perry (3) 15. Hector Gonzalez (3) and 16. Michael Ryan (3)

Some of these players may not be willing or able to play, so here are the next few players in line. Please email me at chucnglo@aol.com to confirm that you are going to play, I don't have as many firm committments as I do in the Club Championship.

Alternates: 17. Michael Friedel (3) 18. Steve Gordon (3) 19. Caley Anderson (3) 20. Michael Wang (3)    

Everyone else who didn't qualify can play in the Fred Borges Open (2 sections, more details soon).      

Here are the results of the last round:

Bd 1  Carey Milton (5 1/2) - Bruce Baker (5)  0-1

Bd 2  Carl Wagner (5) - David Hart (4 1/2)  1/2-1/2

Bd 3  Todd Smith (4 1/2) - James Mahooti (4 1/2)  1-0

Bd 4  Paul Agron (4 1/2) - Alejandro Garamendi (4 1/2)  0-1

Bd 5  Brad Salz (4 1/2) - John Funderburg (4 1/2)  1/2-1/2 

Bd 6  Leonard Sussman (4) - Lennart Mathe (4)  1/2-1/2

Bd 7  Ignacio Sainz (4) - Jamieson Pryor (4)  1-0

Bd 8  Raoul Crisologo (4) - Mariano Lozano (4)  1-0

Bd 9  Thomas Fries (4) - Alejandrino Baluran (4)  1-0

Bd 10  Fawsi Murra Jr (4) - Manuel Herrera (4)  0-1

Bd 11  Robert Richard (3 1/2) - Pejman Sagart (4)  1-0

Bd 12  Peter Bisgaard (3 1/2) - Robert Draper (3 1/2)  1-0

Bd 13  Jens Lundell (3 1/2) - Jeff Turner (3 1/2)  0-1 

Bd 14  Fausto Robles (3 1/2) - William Wijaya (3 1/2)  1/2-1/2

Bd 15  Roberto Aiello (3) - Kirk Branner (2 1/2)  0-1 Kirk filled in as a replacement for Datris Robinson, who called in a little too late (after 6:30) for me to redo the pairings, and Kirk was a suitable replacement. Kirk said he was losing badly but Roberto just blundered in the end. As we have noted many times, as long as they can move the pieces around, anyone can be dangerous...   

Bd 16  Dayne Freitag (3) - Fawsi Jose Murra (3)  1/2-1/2

Bd 17  Alfredo Deleon (3) - Brian Kelly (3)  1-0

Bd 18  Marty Lower (3) - Steve Perry (3)  1-0

Bd 19  Julian Rodriguez (3) - Damani Fair (3)  0-1

Bd 20  Chuck Ensey (3) - Larry Vikander (3)  0-1 This was a big upset for Larry, in fact by points (683!) this was the biggest upset of the tournament! What can I say, he played well, didn't fall for any of my traps and hung on to a sacrificed pawn and won the ending.

Bd 21  Michael Friedel (3) - Buddy Morris (3)  0-1

Bd 22  David Delgadillo (2 1/2) - Mario Amodeo (3)  0-1

Bd 23  James Coulston (3) - Jerry Soelberg (2 1/2)  0-1    

Bd 24  Rocio Murra (2 1/2) - Tom Kuhn (2 1/2)  0-1

Bd 25  Hector Gonzalez (2 1/2) - Jerry Kavanau (2 1/2)  1/2-1/2

Bd 26  Shaun Sweitzer (2) - Mayra Murra (2 1/2)  0-1

Bd 27  Maria Murra (0) - Morgan Fox (2)  0-1  Maria filled in for Nestor Dagamat, who was nowhere to be found... 

Bd 28  Bill Murray (2) - Donald Klaas (2)  0-1

Bd 29  Michael Ryan (2) - Erik Marquis (2)  1-0

Bd 30  Anthony Harbone (2) -  Helmut Keil (1)  1-0

Bd 31  Michael Wang (2) - Mark Lawless (2)  1-0

Bd 32  Fred Borges (1 1/2) - Steve Gordon (2)  0-1

Bd 33  Matt Souza (1 1/2) - Patrick Edwards (1 1/2)  1-0 

Bd 34  Darryl Woodson (1 1/2) - Robert Samuel (1)  1-0 A nice win for Darryl...

Bd 35  Tom Lavoy (1) - Cristhian Garcia  1/2-1/2

Bd 36  Glenn Rose (0) - Keith Wetterer (1)  1-0 I was glad to see no one ended with a goose egg!

Bye: Ben Barquin (5) and Robert Defore (3)

Withdraw: Rick Aeria, Caley Anderson, Esteban Escobedo, Karen Kaufman,  Eric Montany, Ron Rezendes, Ron Soto, Yair Soto    

Prize winners:

1st Place: Bruce Baker (6), $120

2nd/3rd Place: Carl Wagner (5 1/2) and Todd Smith (5 1/2), $55 each

BU2200: Carey Milton (5 1/2) and Alejandro Garamendi (5 1/2), $75 each

3rd U2200: Ignacio Sainz (5), Manuel Herrera (5), Raoul Crisologo (5) and John Funderburg (5), $7 each  

BU2000: Ben Barquin (5 1/2), $100

2nd/3rd U2000: Brad Salz (5) and Tom Fries (5), $45 each 

4th U2000: Paul Agron (4 1/2) and Jeff Turner (4 1/2), $15 each

BU1800: Buddy Morris (4) and William Wijaya (4), $75 each

3rd U1800: Fawsi Jose Murra (3 1/2) and Jerry Soelberg (3 1/2), $15 each

BU1600: Larry Vikander (4), $80

2nd/3rd U1600: Tom Kuhn (3 1/2), Datris Robinson (3 1/2) and Mayra Murra (3 1/2), $27 each

BU1400: Karen Kaufman (3 1/2), $60

2nd U1400/BU1200/2nd U1200: Mike Friedel (3), Steve Gordon (3) and Michael Wang (3), $37 each

Total Prizes: $1,140 class prizes based on the number of players in each section. 

90 Total players, not including house players   

 

 

 

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Monday, February 9, 2009

Special Gambito # 407


The winner of Gambito # 407

Arguably, Special Gambito # 407 will go down as the STRONGEST Gambito ever! With Grandmaster Khachiyan, International Masters Enrico Sevillano and Cyrus Lakdawala plus masters John Bryant, Bruce Baker, Ron Bruno, Garoush Manoukian, Peter Graves, Romeo Ignacio and Avram Zaydenberg. The closest comparable Gambito was the one at the NTC Promenade where GM Aleks Wojtkiewcz won with IM's Lakadawala and Sevillano

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Grandmaster Melikset Khachiyan




Winner of Special Super Gambito # 407, arguably the STRONGEST Gambito ever with GM Khachiyan, IM Enrico Sevillano and IM Cy Lakdawala with a formidable support cast of masters including John Daniel Bryant, Bruce Baker, Garoush Manoukian, Ron Bruno, Romeo Ignacio, Peter Graves and Avram Zaydenberg. Grandmaster Khachiyan is the consummate professional and deserved his victory fully. Here we see the grandmaster under pressure from Cy Lakdawala but the grandmaster extricated himself safely, drew the game and collected undivided first place.

GM Khachyian v IM Cy Lakdawala (Opening Sequence)




Final round at Special Super Gambito # 407. The Great One trailing by a point and needing a win with black pieces made a good run at it but Grandmaster Khachyian was about to hold the point which was enough for undivided first place. Note the background announcements. These two were so eager to mix it up that they started BEFORE the round began!

John Daniel Bryant at Super Gambito # 407




A short snippert of young teenage phenom John Daniel Bryant, 17, at Special Super Gambito # 407 when he finished second at 4-1

Friday, February 6, 2009

Markowski Open Rd 6 on 2/11/09

Here are the RESULTS of Rd 6:

Bd 1  Paul Agron (4 1/2) - Carey Milton (4 1/2)  0-1

This was a dead draw (R & N vs R with no pawns left), but Carey worked his magic and tricked Paul into a fork when Paul was low on time. 

Bd 2  Alejandrino Baluran (4) - Bruce Baker (4)  0-1

Bd 3  Lennart Mathe (4) - Carl Wagner (4)  0-1

Bd 4  Alejandro Garamendi (4) - Brad Salz (4)  1/2-1/2

Bd 5  Ben Barquin (4) - Raoul Crisologo (4)  1-0

Bd 6  Jamieson Pryor (4) - Todd Smith (3 1/2)  0-1

Bd 7  David Hart (3 1/2) - Ronald Soto (3 1/2)  1-0

Bd 8  John Funderburg (3 1/2) - Peter Bisgaard (3 1/2)  1-0

Bd 9  James Mahooti (3 1/2) - Eric Montany (3 1/2)  1-0

Bd 10  Pejman Sagart (3 1/2) - Ignacio Sainz (3 1/2)  1/2-1/2

Bd 11  Jeff Turner (3) - Robert Richard (3)  1/2-1/2 

Bd 12  Thomas Fries (3) - Rick Aeria (3)  1-0

Bd 13  Leonard Sussman (3) - Roberto Aiello (3)  1-0

Bd 14  Manuel Herrera (3) - Dayne Freitag (3)  1-0

Bd 15  Esteban Escobedo (3) - Fawsi Murra Jr (3)  0-1

Bd 16  Mariano Lozano (3) - Julian Rodriguez (3)  1-0

Bd 17  Fawsi Jose Murra (2 1/2) - Mario Amodeo (2 1/2)  1/2-1/2

Bd 18  Steve Perry (2 1/2) - Alfredo Deleon (2 1/2)  1/2-1/2

Bd 19  Tom Kuhn (2 1/2) - Jens Lundell (2 1/2)  0-1

Bd 20  Damani Fair (2 1/2) - Caley Anderson (2 1/2)  1/2-1/2

Bd 21  Karen Kaufman (2 1/2) - David Delgadillo (2 1/2)  1-0

Bd 22  William Wijaya (2 1/2) - Hector Gonzalez (2 1/2)  1-0

Bd 23  Marty Lower (2) - Nestor Dagamat (2)  1-0

Bd 24  Ron Rezendes (2) - Brian Kelly (2)  0-1    

Bd 25  Chuck Ensey (2) - Erik Marquis (2)  1-0

Bd 26  Buddy Morris (2) - Anthony Harbone (2)  1-0

Bd 27  Jerry Soelberg (2) - Jerry Kavanau (2)  1/2-1/2

Bd 28  Mark Lawless (2) - John Falchi (0)  0-1

John filled in a house player for Fred Borges (MIA, hope he is OK; he probably just forgot to tell us he was playing table tennis as he has done before)

Bd 30  Patrick Edwards (1 1/2) - Rocio Murra (1 1/2)  0-1

Bd 31  Mayra Murra (1 1/2) - Darryl Woodson (1 1/2)  1-0

Bd 32  Steve Gordon (1 1/2) - Bill Murray (1 1/2)  1/2-1/2

Bd 33  Donald Klaas (1) - Tom Lavoy (1)  1-0

Bd 34  Keith Wetterer (1) - James Coulston (1 1/2)  0-1

Bd 35  Robert Samuel (1) - Michael Ryan (1)  0-1

Bd 36  Morgan Fox (1) - Cristhian Garcia (1)  1-0

Bd 37  Glenn Rose (0) - Matt Souza (1/2)  0-1

Byes: Joel Batchelor (3), Fausto Robles (3), Robert Draper (3),  Datris Robinson (3), Michael Friedel (2 1/2), Larry Vikander (2 1/2), Robert Defore (2 1/2), Michael Wang (1 1/2), Shaun Sweitzer (1 1/2), Fausto Robles Jr (1 1/2), Shaun Sweitzer (1 1/2) 

No Show: Fred Borges, Anthony Arciga

Withdraw: Bassam Shammas (3), Phillip Roth (3)

Pairings for the last round (Rd 7) will be posted Thurs night... 

  

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Gambito # 412

Start:     Mar 14, '09 10:30a
Location:     2225 Sixth Avenue, San Diego

Chess Robot The Turk




Baron von Kempelen's famous chess playing automaton, The Turk. Even before the advent of digital computers the human imagination sought frontiers in technology to solve the game of chess.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Lakdawala Championships Round 3

Start:     Mar 11, '09 7:00p
Location:     2225 Sixth Avenue, San Diego

Super Gambito #411

Start:     Mar 7, '09 10:30a
Location:     2225 Sixth Avenue, San Diego
Super Gambitos with guaranteed enhanced prize funds are very popular with everyone.
4 Rounds and time control of 40 minutes and 5 second time delay make for an exciting day of chess in beautiful Balboa Park!

Gambito # 410

Start:     Feb 28, '09 10:30a
Location:     2225 Sixth Avenue, San Diego
Time control: 40 minutes with 5 second delay
4 Games in beautiful Balboa Park and anything is possible!

Gambito # 409

Start:     Feb 21, '09 10:30a
Location:     2225 Sixth Avenue, San Diego
The most exciting chess tournament series continues....
Time control: 40 minutes with 5 second delay
Here is your chance to catch a master or expert at his most vunerable moment with the clocking ticking away!

Jesse Orlowski: Player of the Month for January '09

YOUNG TEEN PHENOM JESSE ORLOWSKI, 14, ACHIEVES EXPERT STATUS

Jesse Orlowski, 14, is the San Diego Chess Club's January Player of the Month.  Jesse wins this honor over a star-studded field which includes Pejman Sagart, Karen Kaufman and the incomparable Carey Milton all of which finished high in the polling for the title.

Jesse has an original and unique style of play where he makes up his own 'opening theory' then plays and adjusts his openings to the degree of success (or failure) as he sees fit.  This undoiubtedly under the tutelage of his long-time coach and mentor Master Bruce Baker.

Like his mentor, Jesse also plays each game with incredible intensity seeking victory but more importantly, finding the truth of the position.  At one recent Gambito, Jesse took a hard loss to one of our higher ranked experts, veteran Raoul Crisologo.  Jesse was hunched quietly over the position for many minutes after the game ended. If you witnessed that scene you could sense the commitment that Jesse puts into his game and it sends a cold shiver down your spine.

Our young player of the month may be headed for Los Angeles for the US Amateur Team West  with a junior team probably comprising of Kyron Griffith, Daniel Grazian and Alan Tsoi this February 14-16.  This means that there will be at least two SDCC teams and possibly a third team.  My advice to the youngsters is:  Take a reserve player, just in case.

An anonymous donor has put up $25 for Jesse's winning the player of the month award and this will be presented to him at the next Gambito # 407!

Congratulations to Jesse Orlowski - SDCC's Player of the Month for January '09.

 

 

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Special Super Gambito Open Feb 7th

Gambito #407  2/07/09

Special 5 round event, starts early at 10 AM instead of the usual 10:30.

$2,050 in prizes In 2 Sections    

44 players today, great turnout, including 10 Masters and 10 Experts, 9 Class A: 

OPEN SECTION (29 players): Nikolay Arutyunov (1921), Bruce Baker (2285), Alejandrino Baluran (2028), Ben Barquin (1980), Andrew Bell (1898), Ronald Bruno (2310), John Bryant (2412), Chuck Ensey (1820), Peter Graves (2279), Joshua Gutman (2194), Marlon Icban (1886), Romeo Ignacio (2207), GM Melikset Khachiyan (2619), Dimitry Kishinevsky (2134), Surya Kotha (2114), Varun Krishnan (2035), IM Cyrus Lakdawala (2525), Barry Lazarus (2077), James Mahooti (2008), Garush Manukyan (2354), Carey Milton (2035), Jesse Orlowski (2029),  Jamieson Pryor (1939), Fausto Robles (1892), IM Enrico Sevillano (2550), Leonard Sussman (2087), Shaun Sweitzer (1859), Alan Tsoi (1986), Avram Zaydenberg (2219)

RESERVE SECTION (15 players): Jason Arbeiter (1782), Michael Chen (1563), Fred Cleveland (1079), Nestor Dagamat (1700), Gene Fernando (1459), Mike Friedel (1339), Anthony Harbone (1600), Vish Krishnan (745), Tom Kuhn (1570), Edgardo Navera (1727), Prisiliano Padilla (1742), Ronaldo Salenga (1682), Madhavan Vajapeyam (1709), William Wijaya (1750), Winston Zeng (1553)

And the winners were:

Open Section:

1st Place: Melikset Khachiyan (4 1/2), $300

2nd Place: John Bryant (4), U2400: Bruce Baker (4), 2nd U2400: Ron Bruno (4), $153 each 

3rd Place: Cyrus Lakdawala (3 1/2) and Romeo Ignacio (3 1/2), $25 each 

U2200: Joshua Gutman (3), Dimitry Kishinevsky (3), Varun Krishnan (3), Alejandrino Baluran (3), $60 each

U2000: Alan Tsoi (3) and Nikolay Arutyunov (3), $120 each

Biggest Upset Prize, $20, Alan Tsoi, for win over Peter Graves, 293 points higher

Biggest rating point gainer (estimated): Bruce Baker +22, 2285>2307 

Reserve Section:

1st Place: Prisilano Padilla (5), $200

2nd/3rd Place: William Wijaya (3 1/2) and Mahhaven Vajapeyam (3 1/2), $75 each

U1600: Gene Fernando (3), $125  U1400: Mike Friedel (3), $125

2nd U1600: Winston Zeng (2 1/2), $50   2nd U1400: Vish Krishnan (1), $30

Biggest Upset Prize, $20, Mike Friedel for win over Anthony Harbone, 276 points higher

Biggest rating point gainer (estimated): +126, Mike Friedel 1339>1465

Best game prizes of $20 each were won by James Mahooti in the Open Section and Anthony Harbone in the Reserve Section...