Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Wisconsin players at major Christmas events

ERIK F SANTARIUS was the most successful. He picked up $1000 in the Under 2200 section of the Eastern Open.

In the Open section, ALEXANDER BETANELI finished with 5.5/8.0 and tied for 4th (~$250). ASHISH VAJA had 3.5/7.0 (did not play last round) . It is interesting that they were paired against each other in round 3!(Alex won). Maybe they forgot to put themselves on the same team or that was not an option.



A last round win would have given JAYNE, RYAN D about $500 at the North American Open, but the pressure got to him.

13 comments:

  1. Seems Alexa is close to be in 2300 bracket now. Wish him all the best for 2008.

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  2. Congratulations to Erik!

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  3. It is too bad that Alex and Ashish had to be paired against each other, especially so early in the tournament.

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  4. Guys, actually Alex drew his last round and got a share of the money the USCF site is wrong. Erik had a monsterous tournamnet, he will be a master very soon. Unfortunately my tournament fell apart after, a tough loss to IM Del Mundo where I was winning and then relaxed. Thanks for all the support and Happy New Year!

    Ashish Vaja

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  5. Many thanks for the support of our little WI crew. I was unfortunate with pairings: aside from Ashish, I also had to play (and beat) the only other WI player Dane Mattson in round one. I guess they really wanted to avoid a "Wisconsin collusion" later in the tournament. :-)

    Indeed I didn't lose last round and finished tied for 4th place with 5.5/8 only losing to GM Alex Ivanov in a tough struggle. To the well-wishers, I promise to be solidly into 2300's soon, but this may require playing in WI much less than I normally do. :-) Unless of course someone can have Jeff, Bill, Sheldon and other relatively inactive master come out of chess retirement!

    Let the 2008 begin. Ashish and Erik are off to a strong event in Iowa in ten days.

    Please everyone, be sure to have a team for the 2008 US Team North tournament in Milwaukee!

    Alex Betaneli

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  6. Alex,
    If this player:
    http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlRtgSupp.php?13070811

    plays in the 2008 US Team North tournament.

    What rating would be used?

    He does not have a December 2007 rating (don't know why)

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  7. Ivan,

    Looks like it is 1697 rating: last rating that makes to December supplement.

    Alex

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  8. How is the avarage rating computed when using an alternate:

    Lets say a team has 5 members, and one player sits out each round.

    Is the avarage rating used for prizes :

    Round 1 team +.....Round 5 team / 5

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  9. I believe it is the average rating of the 4 highest rated players on the team (if you have an alternate player).

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  10. Robin is correct: the top four ratings make the team's official rating.

    Alex

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  11. Ivan,

    Jeremy Kane had a fine tournament in Miami. He led his team of University of Chicago at the Pan Am's with a very respectable score and a gain of rating.

    Alex

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  12. I am very glad to see Jeremy doing so well. He is the leader of the young brigade in Wisconsin. With Brian and Sasha also playing so well, it seems Wisconsin has a great chess future.

    I must say that Alex Betanali has a important role to play. I wish I would have been in Madison and could spend some time with his group !

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