Club Champs Rd 5

2008 Club Championship   Round 5 of 7  3/19/08  7:00 PM

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

Two half-point byes available, except for last round. Total players in this event = 65 so far...

Club Championship Section  (16 players)

Commentary by Rick Aeria

Here are the results from Rd 5. See current standings here.

In the battle for first place, Master Ron Bruno bested Master Todd Smith is a very close battle to stand unbeaten and alone in first place with 4 1/2 points out of 5.  The other masters also showed their mettle.  Master David Hart defeated Ignacio Sainz with technical finesse while Master Bruce Baker chose the bludgeon to dispose of Brad Salz.

Defending Champion John Funderburg wins an action packed thriller and ends George Zeigler's 19-game unbeaten streak!

The amazing Leonard Sussman showed that he is not ready to be 'put out to pasture' by dispatching young lion Mariano Lozano.

Jim Humphrey returned from a two-bye hiatus to shoot down Carey Milton.

Raoul Crisologo is having a hellish tournament.  This time he gets into difficulties against the alert Alejandro Garamendi and sheds material.  A long torturous resistance proves futile as Garamendi finally disposes of the proud Filipino.

There will be better days ahead for young Expert Eric Montany but the moment belongs to the the mysterious Phil Roth who is playing on a level that I have never seen him play at in the 35-odd  years that I have known him.

Board 1  Todd Smith (3) - Ron Bruno (3 1/2)  0-1

A tactical skirmish that had two calculating wizards go at each other. Ron eventually emerges with the smallest of advantages in a endgame that Todd should normally hold. Then tragedy strikes.  Todd blunders away a critical pawn and that is all that Ron needs to take the point and a commanding lead.

See game here.

Bd 2  John Funderburg (3) - George Zeigler (3)  1-0

This one was a shocker. Zeigler was throwing everything including the kitchen sink at the Thunderbird's position. To compound matters, the Thunderbird was very, very short on time and was heard talking to himself under stress from clock and position and then suddenly - Victory!

The Thunderbird writes, "George came out of the opening on top, but by playing e5 instead of Rfd8 he let his advantage slip.  Lots of exciting tactics ensued in a time pressure situation.  Both players made inaccuracies and the game toggled between winning for white and equal.  Eventually one player lost on time..."

See the game here with John Funderburg's annotations.

Also in ashes is Zeigler's unbeaten streak of nineteen games.  The Thunderbird trails Ron Bruno by only half-a-point but will need help in the last two rounds if he is to retain his crown. So who will stop the rain?

Bd 3  David Hart (2) - Ignacio Sainz (2 1/2)  1-0

This time Master David Hart did not disappoint his fans (I confess to be one of them) and took home a full point against a very dangerous opponent - the "Pride of Baja", Ignacio Sainz. Hart did this from a standard theoretical Tarrasch Defence to the Queen's Gambit and slowly outplayed Ignacio in the endgame. A complete game by the Regal One!

Ignacio Sainz has graciously submitted the game score. Here are his comments, "This is my game with David. 24 Kh7 was horrible, I lost all my time with that move . 24 Nf6 maybe is equal because 25 Bxh6 c5 ! "

See game here. Courtesy of Ignacio Sainz.

Bd 4  Bruce Baker (2) - Brad Salz (2 1/2)  1-0

It seems like Brad Salz provoked Bruce to awake from his torpor by playing a Classical Open Sicilian setup.  Brad did not react accurately/energetically enough and Bruce launched a violent (what else?) attack to devastate Brad's position.

Bruce took umbrage at my description of him being "ravenous". Please allow me to explain: In real life, Bruce is your (usually) mild-mannered Club Manager. However across the chessboard , in another dimension where conflict abounds and fantasy takes hold - Bruce is transformed into a Ravening Viking Berserker.  Terrible to behold and even more frightening to do battle with for he is uncompromising in his bloodlust to utterly smash your position. All this happens on another plane of existence, who can tell what is Real or not?

See for youself in the following game here.  Lightly annotated and furnished courtesy of Brad Salz.

EXTRA! EXTRA! EXTRA! Here is the game annotated by none other than Bruce Baker himself! See the game here.

Bd 5  Leonard Sussman (2) - Mariano Lozano (2)  1-0

Leonard Sussman was already an established master in New York in the 1960's when Mariano was just a gleam in his father's eye.  How the world has turned,  Sussy has lost his master's rating while young Mariano continues to improve by leaps and bounds.  This night, however, the world was as it once was.  The old master found his magic and outplayed the young expert.

See game here.  Courtesy of Mariano Lozano.

Bd 6  Alejandro Garamendi (1 1/2) - Raoul Crisologo (1)  1-0

Our High Plains Drifter (in this case, the Andean 'Altiplano') Garamendi was about to ice away Raoul Crisologo early but he let the hombre get enough counterplay so that Crisologo could drag the game out but finally succumb after a long struggle.

Game score forthcoming from Garamendi.

Bd 7  Jim Humphrey (1) - Carey Milton (1)  1-0

Jim Humphrey did the sensible thing. After a rotten winless start, Humphrey takes both his allocated byes. Recuperates and comes back just in time to slam the door on Carey Milton's comeback. 

Game here annotated and furnished courtesy of Jim Humphrey.

Bd 8  Eric Montany (1/2) - Phillip Roth (1)  0-1

The over-achieving house player is at it again! This time the mysterious one downs debutant Eric Montany who is having a nightmare tournament. House-players are like 'comforters', their role is to be convenient targets for the tail-enders to salve their egos on. Rule Number Two in the House-Players Handbook says, "Roll Over and Play Dead - After all, you are only a house player and not one of the finalists!"  Obviously, Phil Roth has not read the Handbook.

To make things worst, Phil Roth has been conjuring up brilliancies and near-brilliancies in every game he has played thus far!

This time with black pieces, Phil defends his beloved King's Indian Defence against Eric's Samisch Variation. No 'brilliancy' this time but would you settle for a nice 'TN'?  This was definitely worth the price of admission!  Phil comes up with  a theoretical novelty 9. ... Re8 and then goes into the tank with his chronic time trouble but this time emerges victorious!

Here is the game, courtesy of Phil Roth.

Reserve Championship (U1800):  (16 players)   

Commentary by Chuck Ensey   

Bd 10  Fawsi Jose Murra (3 1/2) - Fred Borges (3)  0-1  See game here

Fred is now tied for 1st Place with Shaun, they meet next week. Fawsi slips into a tie for 3rd Place with Vincent Broman.... Could Fred, a man well over 80 years old actually win the Reserve Championship?? Yes he could, he is playing some of his best chess ever lately!  

Bd 11  Shaun Sweitzer (3) - Chuck Ensey (2 1/2)  1-0   See game here

I had a small advantage and a big lead in time over Shaun, but he fought back and in desperation I tried to complicate things, hoping he would make a mistake with only a few minutes on his clock, but instead I messed up and suddenly he played a move that won a clear Knight! Ouch!! Nice game Shaun, I will post it here as soon as I finish licking my wounds... 

Bd 12  Hector Gonzalez (2 1/2) - Vincent Broman (2 1/2)  0-1  See game here

Vincent says this was one of his better games... 

Bd 13  Robert Draper (2) - Erik Marquis (2)  1-0 

Erik can you send me this game?? Bob is not a computer person! And I didn't get a chance to ask for the scoresheet, being rather busy with Mr. Sweitzer, who was kicking my bu...umm, I mean behind...

Bd 14  Rocio Murra (1 1/2) - Ryan Nichols (2)  1-0   See game here

A fine game from the SDCC Women's Champion  

Bd 15  Mark Lawless (1 1/2) - Roger Wathen (0)  0-1

Roger filled in for Julian Rodriguez, who was MIA. Taking a cue from Phil Roth, Roger upset the higher rated Mark.

Bd 16  Tom Kuhn (1/2) - Morgan Fox (1)  1-0 See game here

Bd 17  Keith Wetterer (0) - William Murray (1)  0-1

Bye: David Hall (2)

Fred Borges Open  (20 players)

Bd 18  Mario Amodeo (3) - Dayne Freitag (3)  0-1

The Longest Game of the Night. An epic battle, it looked to me like Mario, who was down a pawn, might be able to force a draw with continual checks (Queens and 1 pair of rooks were on the board), but late into the night Mario somehow lost a Rook. Mario almost turned the game in, but then said, no, it was "a comedy of errors". That's OK Mario, many chess games are, unless you are a GM!

Bd 19  Jason Qu (3) - Lennart Mathe (3)  0-1

The second longest game of the night, it looked like Jason was winning, but something went wrong in the end...

Bd 20  Marty Lower (3) - Alfredo DeLeon (2 1/2)  1-0

I have told Marty in the past that I will always think of him as a Class B player, despite his going over 1800 once in a while, however after this event, where he has scored an impressive 4 out of 5 points, I may have to alter my view! Next week he faces the uncompromising style of Nate Plapp, another tough test for Marty.   

Bd 21  Ed Baluran (2 1/2) - Nathanael Plapp (2 1/2)  0-1

Ed wanted to play with his chess set, but was over-ruled by the TD - Black gets choice of equipment, as long as it is standard. Ed claimed that when he played in Los Angeles this was not the case, but sorry Ed, I don't know what they do in LA, but the rule is clearly stated in the USCF rulebook. Only if Black is late to the game does this rule not apply.  

Bd 22  David Delgadillo (2) - Roxas Acosta (2 1/2)  1/2-1/2

Roxas continues to prove that he should be rated as a Class A player... 

Bd 23  Fausto Robles (2) - Fawsi Murra Jr (2)  1-0

Fausto arrived extremely late and was lucky that I hadn't repaired Fawsi with someone else. I was going to have him play house player Theron Pummer, but they informed me they had already played in this event! Remember, if you arrive after 7:30 PM, and you haven't called in to let us know you are on the way, then your opponent will likely be paired with a house player. If you are more than 1 hour late, then it is a forfeit, even if you do call in (unless your opponent agrees to waive this rule).

Bd 24  Thirunathan Sutharsan (1 1/2) - Pejman Sagart (2)  1-0  

Bd 26  Ron Rezendes (1 1/2) - Richard Jensen (1 1/2)  1-0 

Bd 27  Caley Anderson (1/2) - Buddy Morris (1)  0-1

Withdraw: Damani Fair 

Fred Borges Reserve Section (U1800)  (13 players)

Bd 28  Andrew Sung (3) - Jerry Soelberg (3)  0-1

Bd 29  Michael Ryan (3) - Anthony Harbone (3)  1-0

Bd 31  Steve Perry (2 1/2) - Robert Samuel (2 1/2)  1-0

Bd 32  Patrick Edwards (2) - Arnold Berlin (1 1/2)  1-0

Patrick is having one of his better torunaments! A plus score!

Bd 32  Michael Wang (1) - Karen Kaufman (1)  1-0

Bye: Alan Rhoads (1)  Withdraw: Monica Ness, Pete Lill?? 

If you want to request a bye for Round 6, 1) just email me at chucnglo@aol.com before 4 PM on the night of the event, or 2) leave a message on the club phone (or speak to Bruce Baker) at 619-239-7166 before 6:30 PM on Wednesday.