Gambito #598 Feb Super Gambito

Gambito Open #598  February Super Gambito  2/02/13

31 players, a litlle below average for a Super Gambito. Here are the players in pre-event rating order:

Open Section (17 players):
4 Masters: Dionisio Aldama, Cyrus Lakdawala, Kyron Griffith and Bruce Baker
7 Experts: Venkat Iyer, Aaron Wooten, Leonard Sussman, Bud Stamper, Jeff Turner, Chris Wonnell and Elkaei Rivera
3 Class A: Daniel Zhu, Jay Choi and Pejman Sagart
3 Class B playing up in the Open: Jerry Qu, Chuck Ensey and Albert Dumaran.
Also B players John Donahoo (2 games) and Brian Kelly (1 game) filled in as house players.

Reserve Section (14 players):
8 Class B: Gurveer Singh, Daniel Cook, Fawsi Jose Murra, Alex Costello, Anand Mehta, Stephen Zhu, Ben Keltner and Anthony Harbone
2 Class C: Thomas Diem and Anthony Trujillo
4 Class D and below: Tygan Zeng, Luis Valencia, Patrick Edwards and Christopher Martin (unr)

Here are the prize winners:
Open Section:
First Place: Dionisio Aldama (4), $125
Second Place: Kyron Griffith (3) and Cyrus Lakdawala (3), $37 each
BU2400: Venkat Iyer (3), $75
BU2200: Bud Stamper (3), $75
2nd U2400: Leonard Sussman (2 1/2), $25
2nd U2200: Elkaei Rivera (2) and Chris Wonnell (2), $12 each
BU2000: Daniel Zhu (2) and Pejman Sagart (2), $50 each

Dionisio beat all 3 of the other masters, plus Jeff Turner in round 1. He gained about 30 points, once again putting him close to 2600 at about 2592. Exactly where Cyrus would like to be, but it will be tough for Cy as long as the new top dog in town is around. Venkat and Bud Stamper each gained about 20 points, and almost everyone else lost rating points or gained only a few.

Reserve Section:
First Place: Anand Mehta (3 1/2), $75
BU1600: Thomas Diem (3), $50
2nd Place: Anthony Harbone (3) and Alex Costello (3), $12 each
2nd U1600: Tygan Zeng (1), Luis Valencia (1) and Anthony Trujillo (1), $7 each

Anand was visiting from Seattle WA and was just looking for some casual games, but ended up playing in the Gambito. He enjoyed it and says he will be back several times a year. Thomas Diem pushed his rating over 1600 with 3 wins today (gaining aprox 81 points to 1634) , losing only to Gurveer Singh. This event won't count for the Recession Buster though, as we are using the February Supplement ratings which are already established.  Alex Costello couldn't play the last round or he might have finished higher in the standings.  Anthony Harbone also had a good day, gaining 59 points to bounce off his floor of 1600.

Best Games to be announced here later
Total Prizes: $700