'08 Sr/Jr Open

2008 SCCF Senior/Junior Open  April 19-20th

$3,200 Prize Fund       

Time Control was G/90 minutes, plus 10 second time delay per move on Saturday (3 Games) and then on Sunday (2 games) it was G/120 with 10 sec delay. Rounds: 10 AM, 2 PM and 6 PM on Saturday, and then 10 AM and 3 PM on Sunday.

This event was well attended, with 53 players, up from 44 last year. This is the second year we had a "Junior" section to go along with the "Senior" section, and with better publicity this year and probably just worth of mouth from last year, both sections had a good turnout. True, we fell short of the hoped for 60 players to cover the prize fund, but thanks to some generous donations by several players and the SDCC itself, the full prize fund was paid anyway. All except for the Over 80 Years Old Prize, which went unclaimed again this year. I was hoping Fred Borges or Robert Samuel would be tempted to play, but they passed. But Anthony Harbone played and he is 79, so next year he will be eligible to win this prize, and he seems to be in great shape, so I am confident he will. 

The 6 age-based prizes made this event different from any other and I think everyone enjoyed it. With a large spread of ratings in each section, there were plenty of chances for upsets, and our players did not let us down. 

In Round 1 there were 3 upsets: Bill Conrad (1740) won against Leonard Sussman (2084), Ronaldo Salenga (1680) beat Ed Baluran (2012) and Arsenio Caccam (1500) upset Rick Dyberg (1891). Bill and Arsenio (also known as "Pan") went on to win prizes by the end of the event. Pan caused quite a stir by coming to the event in tap shoes which clicked loudly evertime he moved!! Several players were visibly upset with this weird distraction, in particular, the normally mild-mannered John Funderburg, who just about blew a gasket. Why anyone would do such a crazy thing as wear tap shoes is still a mystery. Eventually Pan was coerced to remove the offending shoes!

In Round 2 the only upset was when Ronaldo Salenga won against Tom Fries (1900). Then came Round 3, and three games in one day is too much for some players, so 7 out of the 28 players took byes. The top 2 boards saw upsets when Carey Milton (2010) won a fine game from Rick Aeria (2116) and then on board 2, Phil Roth (1975) knocked off John Rinaldo (2081). Phil went on to win the U2000 prize. Bill Conrad pulled off another upset, defeating the somewhat rusty Prisiliano Padilla (1890), who hadn't played in a few years. But chess is like riding a bicycle right? 

In Round 4, there were no true upsets, but Bill Conrad struck once again, earning a draw with David Delgadillo (1840). It was great to see Bill doing so well, he has been a big supporter of the Senior Open in the past, donating as much as $500 towards the prize fund in hopes of boosting attendance or getting more famous masters to play. The other "upset" in the fourth round was Daniel Collins (1875), who earned a draw with Leonard Sussman (2084). This was not Lenny's event, he was shut out of the prize fund this year.

In the last round Carey Milton, who had won 4 in a row, finally lost to NM Romeo Ignacio, who took home the First Place prize of $300. Rick Aeria lost the battle for the U2200 prize when he fumbled a won game to the always dangerous Ed Baluran. Dennis Saccuzzo drew with John Rinaldo and they ended up splitting the Third Place and Best Over 60 prize. Bill Conrad continued his amazing run and drew with Tom Fries. Tom split the Best Over 70 prize with his friend Tony Pabon of Northern California, who drew with Lenny Sussman in the last round. I, Chuck Ensey, got very lucky and got an upset win against Rick Dyberg when he hung his Queen in time trouble. I was winning earlier, but he fought back well and after a bad blunder by me, he was totally crushing me until he made his big mistake. Both blunders were made after moving way too fast, thinking only a few seconds. Isn't that when it is most likely to blunder?? Duh, but we players continue to make this mistake of moving way too fast over and over again... I am just as guilty as Rick and was very lucky in that game. I split the U1800 prize with Bill Conrad...See the complete prize list below...       

SENIOR (Over 50 years old) SECTION

1st Place, $300, Romeo Ignacio (4 1/2)

2nd Place/BU2200, $150 each, Carey Milton (4) and Ed Baluran (4)

1st Under 2000, $150, Phillip Roth (4)

3rd Place/Best Over 60 years old, $75 each, Dennis Saccuzzo (3 1/2) and John Rinaldo (3 1/2)

2nd U2200, $25 each, Rick Aeria (3) and Bob Defore (3)

2nd U2000, $25 each, Prisiliano Padilla (3) and Daniel Collins (3)

1st Under 1800, $100 each, Bill Conrad (3) and Chuck Ensey (3)  

Best over 70 years old, $50 each, Thomas Fries (2 1/2) and Tony Pabon (2 1/2)

1st Under 1600, $150, Arsenio Caccam (2)

2nd U1600 $50, Morgan Fox (1 1/2)  

"JUNIOR" (Under 50 years old)  SECTION

  

The big story here was the surprise appearance of GM Darwin Laylo of the Phillipines. And also the great performance by some of our younger players. There were no upsets in Round 1, but in the second round 10 year old Varun Krishan (1833) defeated Ignacio Sainz (2105). And 9 year old Michael Chen (1483) was beating Michael Taylor (1859) but fell for a spectacular stalemate ploy at the end of the game and had to accept a draw. In Round 3, only 3 players took the night off with a bye, so I guess the younger set is hardier than the old folks! There was only one minor upset in this round when Jesse Orlowski (1848) beat Michael Taylor (1859). In the next round the following morning, Jesse drew with the higher rated John Badger (1893). Another minor upset was Fausto Robles (1892) winning against Daniel Grazian (1918). Nathaniel Lagemann (1962) also drew with Ignacio Sainz (2105). But the big story was on the top 2 boards where John Bryant (2334) drew with GM Darwin Laylo (2443 USCF, I think he is higher in FIDE). I think John was actually winning the game, despite being very low on time, and Darwin was forced to keep perpetual checking John to stop two pawns from Queening. On board 2, Varun Krishnan defeated Giovanni Carreto (2095 - and think he is a Master in Mexico). 

 

 

So in the final round Varun played the GM! Wow, what a tournament for Varun, who came on Saturday, not even realizing there was a weekend event, so he wasn't prepared, but he played great! You can see some of his games on Cyrus Annotates. The only significant upset in the last round was Giovanni Carreto winning over John Funderburg (2151). Bruno and Bryant drew, so the GM took the top prize, but everyone was happy with the results, well almost everyone. There were so many prizes, it seemed like almost everybody won something! 

We hope that next year the event will be an even bigger success. Thanks to everyone for playing and showing good sportsmanship throughout the event. It's always great to see the playing room filled with happy chessplayers on a weekend. We missed a few of the usual seniors who couldn't make it this time for various reasons, such as past winners Carl Wagner, Bruce Baker and Mike Nagaran, but hopefully they can make it next year...  

1st Place, $300, Darwin Laylo (4 1/2)

2nd Place, $150, John Bryant (4)

1st Under 2200, $150, Giovanni Carreto (4)

3rd Place, $50, Ron Bruno (3 1/2)

1st Under 2000, $150, Varun Krishnan (3 1/2)

2nd U2200, $50, Ignacio Sainz (3 1/2)

2nd Under 2000, $17 each, Barry Lazarus (3), Esteban Escobedo (3) and John Badger (3)

Best Under 20 years old, $100, Nathaniel Lagemann (2 1/2)

Best Under 16 years old, $100, Jess Orlowski (2 1/2)

1st Under 1800, $133 (tie), Ariel Gerardo (2)

1st Under 1600, $133 (tie), Eric Yang (2)

Best Under 12 years old, $133 (tie), Yash Pershad (2)

2nd U1800, $50, Darren Chow (1)

2nd U1600, $50, Aaron Chow (1)

Players: 

28 "Seniors": Rick Aeria, Gene Arnaiz, Ed Baluran, Arsenio Caccam, Daniel Collins, Bill Conrad, Nestor Dagamat, Steven Dahl, Bob Defore, David Delgadillo, Rick Dyberg, Chuck Ensey, Morgan Fox, Tom Fries, Anthony Harbone, Robert Henderson, James Hillard, Romeo Ignacio, Carey Milton, Tony Pabon, Prisiliano Padilla, Steve Perry, John Rinaldo, Phillip Roth, Dennis Saccuzzo, Renaldo Salenga, Leonard Sussman, Darryl Woodson

25 "Juniors": Roxas Acosta, Roberto Aiello, John Badger, Ron Bruno, John Bryant, Giovanni Carreto, Michael Chen, Aaron Chow, Darren Chow, Esteban Escobedo, John Funderburg, Ariel Gerardo, Daniel Grazian, Richard Jensen, Varun Krishnan, Nathaniel Lagemann, Darwin Laylo, Warren Laylo, Barry Lazarus, Jesse Orlowski, Yash Pershad, Fausto Robles, Ignacio Sainz, Michael Taylor, Eric Yang

53 Total players