7/02/05, Gambito #229, Reported by Chuck Ensey, Photos by Rick Aeria & Chuck Ensey
SPECIAL SUMMER SUPER GAMBITO OPEN JULY 2, 2005
Enrico Wins $300 With 4 1/2 Point Score in New 5 Rd Event
Enrico Sevillano drew with Cyrus Lakdawala in Round 4 and beat the Killer B's - Baker, Bruno and Barquin, plus Sussman to win Gambito #229
WGM Anna Gershnik stopped by and watched a lot of the action
32 players attended this special Summer Gambito with an added twist of 5 rounds instead of the usual four and an enlarged prize fund of $1,500 in return for a $40 advanced entry fee, or $50 on game day. With just four more players the event would have broken even, so it was considered a success for the first time we have tried this. To squeeze in five rounds in one day, we had to start early at 10 AM instead of the usual 10:30. Also the time control was shortened slightly to 40 minutes for those players with an old style analog clock, but not for those players with the more modern time delay clocks, who got to play at their usual 40 minutes with a 5 second delay. We are trying to encourage the use of time delay which is the preferred method these days since it eliminates the messy "no losing chances" call by the TD and allows players to win won games instead of losing on time when they are a Queen up. Only three players took byes in the first round, and one player took a third round bye. And only four players withdrew early, so we had a full contingent of players most of the day.
Ron Bruno, one of the many strong Experts at Gambito #229, is rumored to have recently achieved a Master rating, although it is not on the USCF website yet. Last month he won the SCCF Candidates Tournament in Los Angeles to qualify for the Southern California State Championship. Good Luck, Ron!
We were hoping to draw 40 players or more over the long holiday weekend, but some players were at the World Open in Philadelphia (Arthur Taylor, for one), others went to the Pacific Southwest Open in Los Angeles (Hercules Madriaga, Gene Fernando), and still others had vacation or family commitments and couldn't make it. A couple players played in the Super Gambito on Saturday, and then played in the Pacific Southwest on Sunday and Monday on their two day schedule!! Wow, that's a lot of chess...I was even thinking of doing that, but Enrico and Rolando actually did!
A few players from the Macaspac club (Gimeno, Fragante?) played chess all night Friday and early Saturday morning were then too tired to play tournament chess on Saturday! What were they thinking?? We missed you guys!...Still, over the last few years we have found the 4th of July weekend to be a good one to draw players, which is why we chose this weekend instead of say, August. Next year we will have more time to advertise this event, and we may even try a repeat later this year (in October?) if there is enough demand. Please post any comments on what you think about the 5 round big prize event on our message board and we will see if there is interest in repeating this format.
Enrico Sevillano (4 1/2) made the long drive down to San Diego with time to spare this time; at the San Diego County Championships in May he was delayed by horrible traffic jams. He was the highest rated player at this event, so we expected him to do well, but no one gets a free pass at the rough and tumble Gambito Opens, and the local players gave him some stern tests. Bruce Baker (3 1/2), who won third place, said Enrico played a great game in their individual encounter. There were 5 Masters in the Open Section, but your best bet to beat a Master is with short time controls and in Round 2 the up-and-coming Class "A" player John Bryant (2) picked off Robert Richard (3 1/2), which was the second biggest upset of the tournament, narrowly missing the Biggest Upset Prize. Bob Richard also lost to Dimitry Kishinevsky (2 1/2) but hung in there and won his last two games. NM Romeo Ignacio (1/2) withdrew after losing to Dimitry and then Fidel Gonzalez (2 1/2).
Chris Wonnell watches Enrico & Bruce in Round 3 after taking a tough loss himself to Rolando Garciagutierrez in the Reserve Section. Cyrus Lakdawala and John Bryant play in the background.
Cyrus Lakdawala (4) drew with both Enrico in Round 4 and Bruce in Round 5 to tie for second with the surprising Franco Alejandrino (4). Franco lost only to Bruce, and won games from Ron Bruno (3), Carey Milton (2), John Bryant and Dimitry Kishinevsky. The computer says Franco gained 60 rating points today to up his rating to 1988, a very impressive performance!
Carey Milton grimaces in this wild game with Franco Alejandrino where the lead changed hands so many times we lost count. The end was particularly crazy with surely won positions thrown away on both sides in the time scramble. Franco finally came out with the victory, but I am sure he felt that he dodged several bullets from the well known tactician and famous swindler!
Ben Barquin (3) once again found his way to the winner's circle, tying with Eric Smith (3) for Best Under 2000. The Open Section was quite strong with 5 Masters, 4 Experts and 10 Class A players, so winning the Best Under 2000 was no easy feat. The AVERAGE rating of the section was 2079!!
Fidel Gonzalez managed to win this tight ending down the Exchange, but up two pawns, with NM Romeo Ignacio. Two Bishops and two passed pawns can be tough to stop for the slightly clumsier Rook and Knight. Here it looks like Bc2 wins except for Nxf4+. But if Kd4 Nxf4, Kxf4 Rxd3 wins for Black. But wait, isn't there an intermezzo after Nxf4, Bc4+ saving the Bishop! But what if Kd4? Rxd3+ winning both Bishops! Hmmmm, I guess that's why Fidel is thinking...Isn't chess great?
Other players showing fighting chess spirit were John Milton (2), Alex Uyemura (2), Leonard Sussman (1 1/2), Felipe Camacho (1), Esteban Escobedo (1) and Richard Jensen (0). Dante Sarceno (1) and Kimberly Ogden (1) filled in as house players for one game each, and both got wins over the struggling Richard Jensen, the former King of the Reserve Section trying to find his way in the much tougher Open Section. Rich recently went over 1800 for the first time.
Reserve Section
Grandmaster Anna Gershnik watchs the action in Round 3. That's Chang Kim standing behind her in the black shirt.
There were only 13 players here, but they fought like tigers for the big prizes. Chang Kim (4 1/2) came in as the 8th rated player, but left with the $200 First Place Prize and a boost to his rating of 89 points!!
Rolando's only loss came in Round 4 against Chang Kim
Second Place was won by the ever improving Rolando Garciagutierrez (4), who lost only to Chang, and beat the #1 rated player in the section, that's me, Chuck Ensey (2). I had a rough day, also losing to Chang and Chris Wonnell (3), who had to leave early, missing the last round and a chance to win a prize. Marty Lower (3 1/2) had a good showing, but finished just out of the prize pool.
Sam Barboo (1 1/2) won the Best Under 1600 prize of $100. He upset Keith Breese (1) in the third round with a very quick win. Keith was another one who didn't get enough sleep in last night! You have to be well rested for this grueling 5 round battle! Second BU1600 was won by Gene Arnaiz (1), who beat Pejman Sagart (2) in Round 2. Perry also lost to Mark De Yoe (1 1/2), which allowed Mark to win the Biggest Upset Prize of $25, with a 392 point differential, just 20 points higher than John Bryant's upset of Bob Richard in the Open Section.
In an attempt to lure more lower rated players to the Gambito Open, we offered a Best Under 1400 prize of $100, and $50 for Second BU1400. Mark De Yoe and Tom Kuhn (1/2) were the only players rated Under 1400 who bothered to show up, so they were guaranteed to win at least $50 each. It turned out that they met in the last round and drew! Mark took the BU1400 prize, due to his earlier win over Pejman Sagart, while Tom had to settle for 2nd Place U1400. We were hoping some of the Jedi Knights or other scholastic players would show up, but apparently they didn't get enough advance notice, and many of them already had other weekend plans.
Remember to see the "Pictures" page for more photos of this event. The tournament is now rated, see wallcharts below, provided by Bruce Baker.
Best Game prize: Bruce Baker -- Franco Alejandrino
total prize fund: $1,500
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