Gambito #392

Gambito #392  10/18/08

Combined commentary by Chuck Ensey and Rick Aeria

Average turnout of 20 players for this Gambito. This time we played in two sections, over 1800 rating (Open) and under 1800 (Reserve). We usually use the McMahon pairing system, and it works very well most of the time, but I also like to mix it up once in a while and go old style with the standart Swiss pairing system. That way there is more variety in the players that you might be paired with instead of possibly facing the same players week after week. 

Open Section (13 players): 

A critical round one encounter between National Master Peter Graves and Chuck Ensey which ended as a draw.  I witnessed Chuck make a number of clever moves any expert would be proud of against the formidable San Diego County Champion to earn this draw.

Thanks Rick, it was an exciting game for me. Several times I thought I was done for, but somehow I managed to hang on for dear life (no doubt there were a few knockout punches that Peter missed) and eventually went into a Rook and pawn ending where I was one pawn down, but as we have noted on this website many times, "All rook and pawn endings are drawn!" Which  famous GM first made this joke?...  was it Tal? I think so, but I forget. The trivia experts Bruce or Rick would know for sure...[Rick told me it is just an old Russian proverb, not attributed to anyone]

 

 

 

A trimmer Cy Lakdawala we have yet to see!  Cy's new regime of diet and exercise seems to be paying off!  This is the slimmest I have seen Cy!

Open Section Biggest Rating Point gainers: Jason Arbeiter +22, 1686>1708 and Rick Aeria +14, 2085>2099

Cyrus went 4 and 0, beating Jensen, Milton, Baker and Aeria. Bruce was not "warmed up" enough to face Cyrus, he took a bye in round 1 and then had a forfeit win in round 2 when his opponent mysteriously disappeared! It's pretty tough to play Cy anytime of the day, but the first game of the day is never Bruce's best. Lately Bruce had been holding his own against Cyrus, but in this game he was ushered right off the board by the IM. And usually when Bruce has that bad of a game, he is not in the mood to continue on, figuring it's just not his day...Bruce takes his losses harder than anyone I know. But he does know how to bounce back, it just takes a little time.      

Carey continues on his hot streak. I had my chances for an upset, but as usual Carey crushed me. The man has a very difficult style to deal with, he plays very provocatively, sometimes even unsoundly, but in the messy and complicated positions he enjoys, he always seems to find a move that saves the day and often, unless you are extremely careful, you find out that the move is a dagger in your back. He is the master of the amazing hidden resource, very cloak and dagger... James Bond would be proud. And so would former World Champion Emanuel Lasker, who also liked to create unbalanced and risky positions, figuring he could navigate the dangerous rapids and shoals better than his opponent, and thereby increase his winning chances as compared to the calm waters of tamer positions...      

Open Section Wall Chart

	Name/Rtng/ID	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4
1	IM Cyrus Lakdawala	W 9	B 4	W 2	B 6
	2500 2507  1st Place $100	1	2	3	4
4	Carey Milton	W 11	W 1	B 10	B 8
	2126 2134  U2400 $50	1	1	2	3
6	Rick Aeria	bye	B 13	W 3	W 1
	2085 2099  U2200 $50	쩍	1쩍	2쩍	2쩍
3	Peter Graves	B 10	W 7	B 6	W 5
	2249 2239  2nd $20	쩍	1쩍	1쩍	2쩍
8	Roberto Aiello	B 12	W 9	B 11	W 4
	1959 1954  U2000 $50	0	1	2	2
5	Leonard Sussman	bye	W 10	B 12	B 3
	2105 2098	쩍	1	2	2
10	Chuck Ensey	W 3	B 5	W 4	B 13
	1880 1888	쩍	1	1	1쩍
11	Thomas Victory	B 4	W 15	W 8	B 7
	1829 1825	0	1	1	1쩍
7	Daniel Grazian	bye	B 3	W 13	W 11
	2003 1990	쩍	쩍	1	1쩍
13	Paul Agron	bye	W 6	B 7	W 10
	1780 1806	쩍	쩍	1	1쩍
2	Bruce Baker	bye	- 12	B 1	----
	2296 2292	쩍	X 1쩍	1쩍	1쩍
9	Richard Jensen	B 1	B 8	W 14	W 12
	1887 1871	0	0	0	1
12	Marlon Icban	W 8	- 2	W 5	B 9
	1800 1812	1	F 1	1	1
14	Jason Arbeiter	----	----	B 9	----
	1686 1708     (house)	0	0	1	1
15	Albert Alvarez	----	B 11	----	----
	1402 1431 (house)	0	0	0	0

Reserve Section (7 players):

Reserve Section Biggest Rating gainers: Edgardo Navera +86, 1529>1615 and Albert Alvarez +29, 1402>1431 

An great performance by Edgardo, playing the #1, 2, 3 and 4 rated players and scoring 2 wins and 2 draws.

Thanks to house players Albert Alvarez (3 games, one in the Open), Helmut Keil, Jason Arbeiter and Jason Ma. Both sections had an odd number, but thanks to these guys it worked out OK...

Reserve Section Wall Chart

	Name/Rtng/ID	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4
2	Nestor Dagamat	W 5	W 4	B 7	B 1
	1697 1708 1st Place (tie) $45	0	1	2	3
5	Edgardo Navera	B 2	B 3	W 1	W 4
	1529 1529  1st Place/ U1600 $45	1	2	2쩍	3
3	Anthony Harbone	B 7	W 5	B 8	W 10
	1600 1600	1	1	1	2
4	Tom Kuhn	W 1	B 2	W 10	B 5
	1539 1543	쩍	쩍	1쩍	2
7	David Whitten	W 3	B 10	W 2	B 9
	1446 1445	0	1	1	2
8	Albert Alvarez	B 10	----	W 3	----
	1402 1431     (house)	1	1	2	2
1	Ken Hopper	B 4	W 6	B 5	W 2
	1748 1716	쩍	1	1쩍	1쩍
6	Helmut Keil	----	B 1	----	----
	1500 1513    (house)	0	쩍	쩍	쩍
10	Fred Cleveland	W 8	W 7	B 4	B 3
	1033 1020	0	0	0	0
9	Jason Ma	----	----	----	W 7
	1398 1380  (house)	0	0	0	0

Total Prizes $360