Monday, February 09, 2009

U.S. Amateur Team - North

The Indiana quartet of "Jimmy Runs Deep" takes the North.

Open results here (tiebreaks here) USCF Results here
Scholastic results here
Blitz results here

Jim analyzing his last round draw with top seed FM Dennis Monokroussos



Amateur Team Winners

North 144 Players, 34 Teams
"Jimmy Runs Deep"
2219
JIM H DEAN
2132
GARRETT L SMITH
2083
DREW D HOLLINBERGER
1942
DANIEL GATER

South 121 Players, ~29 Teams
"My girl is pissed!"
2485 Bruci Lopez
2210 Ernesto Alvarez
2069 Gilberto Luna II
2009 Makaio W Krienke

East 1201 Players, 283 Teams
"Palin Gambit: I can see checkmate"
2320 Paul Mac Intyre
2210 Brian Hulse
2189 Libardo Rueda
2052 Alan Price

West 335 Players, ~79 Teams
"ACA BEASTS!"
2412 John Daniel Bryant
2147 Michael Yee
2158 Vincent Huang
2049
Santy Wong

65 comments:

  1. Let us get 40 teams in the Open section this year. And let's come up with some creative names!

    Alex Betaneli

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alex

    I had a couple of general questions:

    Is the 2008 Annual list the same as USCF December Supplement?

    Do players on the team have to play in ratings order?

    Scott

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  3. I don't see prizes mentioned for best name?

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  4. Why bother with best name... especially if someone who doesn't know anything about chess is the judge? Maybe it's mandated for this tournament by the USCF...

    Wouldn't prizes associated with chess like best recovery from a lost position, biggest team upset, best board upset. It you want to have funny prizes .. could be biggest blunder.

    Since Alex doesn't like anonymous posts... I guess I'll have to take the blame for this post.

    Scott

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  5. Scott,

    It was decided to have the best game prize instead this year. But "best blunder" sounds interesting!
    Alex

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  6. In noting the time controls, is there going to be a delay or increment? There should be one or the other.

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  7. Delay of 5 seconds is assumed unless ohterwise stated. :-)
    Alex

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  8. Two Teams of Juniors are in the OPEN section:

    1.Hongkai Pan/Neil Strugnell/Suhas Kodali/Tim Broman

    2.David Jin/Derek Sachs/Tim Zhang/Henry Vander Hill

    Erik Santarius and Trevor Magness will be "defending" the title from the previous year. They kicked Ashish and me off the team with the "you didn't get perfect scores" explanation. Ashish and I will just direct instead.

    Alex Betaneli

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  9. Who are the other 2 members of Satarius' team?

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  10. Biggest blunder prize is a horrible idea.
    Suppose player A is rated 2000, player B is 1800. Player A is up a pawn and has a commanding position. Player B will just sacrifice his queen, then resign and claim the biggest blunder prize.

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  11. Santarius,Velikanov,Luo,Magness

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  12. I talked to DAVID G PENKALSKI, he said he might be intereted in forming a team

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  13. Best Name has been a tradition in these events, and should be maintained to add a bit of fun.

    Chess Guy

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  14. Penkalski has been saying he might be interested in playing in a tournament for the last 7 years, LOL.

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  15. John Veech, Andrew Gorectke, Troy Zimmermann, and Tommy Schneider are forming a team for the Open Section

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  16. Where is Dave these days?

    Stan Garvin

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  17. Sure looks like the WCA is making things tough for the event to be successful with scheduling so many events so close together. They might even be all WCA tour events, but I haven't seen anything on that yet.

    Northeastern 1/24- 1/25
    Winter Open 2/7 -2/8
    US amatuer 2/13 -2/15
    WI Memorial 2/28

    Doesn't appear that they are any more WI adult tournaments until late April (Hales Corner Challenge). Doesn't seem very well coordinated or thought out. Did you try to work with the WCA/ Mike/Guy to try to spread out the events a little more? I have to believe it's to hurt attendence at all the events ... particularly in a difficult economy.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Click here for a list of tour events.

    The Northeastern is not a tour event.

    You a right, too many events scheduled to gether.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Do you know if there are any plans for:

    Cedric thompson
    Arpad elo
    Western Open
    Roman Levit

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  20. Arlen Walker has retired click here for details.

    I think he used to organize the Cedric thompson, Western Open & Roman Levit

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  21. Stan,

    Are you talking about Dave Penkalski?

    I saw him at the Hales Corner Club on Dec. 18th. He said he may interetsted in playing in the Team Tournament.

    But acording to Alex, he has been saying this for years!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Please do not say "according to Alex" if you quote an anonymous post.:-) I always my name. That being said, Dave HAS been saying he wants to play for years. :-) His best chance to shine will be at WI STATE CLOSE over Labor Day: he can meet the old guard and the new strong players. I will personally buy Dave hot chocolate if he plays and holds on to his old rating. :-)

    I will be happy to organize the Western or the Levit in the middle of July.

    Alex Betaneli

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  23. The Southwest Chess Club has also been discussing holding the Western or Levit (or possibly a new named tournament). However, with the US Junior Open the second weekend of July and the Green Bay Open the last weekend of July, perhaps the second or third week of August would be a better time.

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  24. Well, we can have the Levit DURING the Junior Open: adults would love the idea I bet!!!

    Would Southwest CC be interest in co-sponsoring the event?

    Alex

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  25. I believe it would be better to have the Levit or another tournament separate (a different date) from the Junior Open, so as to give all the juniors an opportunity to play in it also. We do not have a large quantity of chess tournaments in Wisconsin to begin with, and if we combine two tournaments, we are depriving chess players of an opportunity to play. I will, however, bring it up at our next meeting at the Club for discussion among the Board Members; but, again, it would probably be better not to mix two tournaments, in my opinion.

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  26. I think this tournament is a not worth the entry fee?

    Who needs another clock?

    It would be much better to have much lower entry fees and give plaques as prizes.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Again, I prefer not to respond to anonymous comments, but here we go:
    1.we will be happy to get you a plaque instead of a clock; it can even have your name engraved
    2.the entries can also be lower, especially if you help paying for the expenses associated with the event

    We look forward to making this an annually held national event hosted in Wisconsin. Please support it and register!

    Alex

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  28. I agree with Alex. Having a National Tournament held annually in Wisconsin is wonderful. Please support the tournament and register early so it can continue to grow from year-to-year.

    It would be nice if players would put their name down when posting. I see no good reason to post as "anonymous" on a chess site. All the chess players in Wisconsin know each other.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Another Junior team is set for the Open section :

    John V, Andrew G, Troy Z and Tommy S. Team average 1595.. it's almost like they planned it.

    Several of John's other classmates may form a team for the scholastic section. I've talked with many other players/parents. Seems like there is good momentum for the event. I know that John and his friends had a great time at last years event. Alex is probably getting tired of me calling him from various tournaments relaying questions. To anyone needing help with questions or getting a team together, Alex is a big help. This event does pose a few more questions than most, but it can be a really fun event.

    Scott

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  30. Ashish is working on Q&A that addresses most common concerns. We really look forward to nice sunny weather without a snow storm. So far predictions are optimistic!

    Alex

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  31. Entries for the USAT North (Team Tournament) are posted. Go to www.VajaChess.com and click on the upcoming tournaments page, scroll to bottom.

    We are working on getting scholastic registration up as quickly as possible, it should be up soon.

    Ashish Vaja

    ReplyDelete
  32. Guys do not forget about the Midwest Blitz Championship, info can be found at www.wichessacademy.com or www.vajachess.com, entries for this tournament are also posted, go to www.VajaChess.com, click on upcoming tournaments, click on Blitz, scroll to bottom.

    Ashish Vaja

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  33. I am sorry to say that www.VajaChess.com is one of the crappiest sites I have ever visited.

    All those graphics are a big distractions.

    We just want to see simple infomation!!

    BTW. I design websites for fortune 100 companies

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  34. I am sorry that you do not like the website, while I do want the site to be professional, I am not Larry Ellison and probably cannot afford your services.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I just spoke to GM Yermolinsky, he is thinking of forming a team!
    Alex

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  36. To Vaja

    Did you pay any one for what you have now?

    You can do a much better job yourself.

    People like to see information quickly.
    Less key strokes!!

    Get rid of all those graphics.

    One has to press a key to get rid of a stupid intro.

    All those sounds???

    I have to turn of my sound before I go to your site. How ridiculous is that?

    What is that picture of a woman doing on the right?

    You only have 6 entries for the team tournament, but I can't see all of them because so much space is wasted???

    I could go on, but will stop now

    -Website developer

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  37. Dear Website Developer,

    Thanks for your input, if you would like to help me with my website please kindly email me at Ashish@VajaChess.com and we can discuss how to do this in more detail. I have limited time as my main job is to make sure my students improve and study chess so I can improve. Any help or advice would be greatly appericated!

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  38. Muskego 5th grade players are forming a team for the scholastic section.

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  39. The Scholastic Registration for this event is now up and running.

    Both Teams and Individuals looking to join a team can register at: www.wscachess.org by clicking on the "Tournaments" button on the bar at the top of the home page.

    This takes you to a page where you can choose to register as a team or individual.

    To see who is pre-registered in the scholastic section, click on the event name on this second screen.

    Snail/Email registration and FAQ's are in the side-bar at the left on the home page.

    Gregory Reese, Sr.
    Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Association

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  40. Any updates on how many teams are pre-registered so far? Thanks.

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  41. Message from Ashish:

    **TEAM TOURNAMENT UPDATE**

    Some of you tried to get rooms last week and were told that all the rooms in the block were taken. I have spoken to the hotel and they have increased the number of rooms in the block, everyone should get the $85/night rate. Please email me at Ashish@VajaChess.com if you have any trouble. Sorry for the inconevnience.

    Ashish Vaja

    ReplyDelete
  42. How about a recent/current update of Entries for the Team tournament??

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  43. If someone need a board 1 . I'm available .

    Please email me at: tmchesscenter@hotmail.com

    There will be an appearance fee:

    Thank you!

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  44. What is your appearance fee?

    Jason

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  45. Current Open Entries are posted at:
    www.VajaChess.com

    Click on the Tournaments button
    then click on USATN and scroll to the bottom

    Ashish Vaja

    ReplyDelete
  46. Last year the tournament was well-run and I enjoyed it very much. It will be hard to improve on last year's tournament, but if that can be done, I know you'll find a way!

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  47. We expect several improvements, the main one being the playing site! And having 3-day/2-day schedule for the open while converting Scholastic into a one day event should help.

    Just bring your clocks please!

    Alex

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  48. Looks like quite a few teams from IL this year. Where are all the WI teams.... it's not too late to get one together.

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  49. Another improvement - No crazy TD :)

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  50. There were 20 teams last year, looks like we may have less this year.

    Jason

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  51. ***UPDATE***
    At this point we have 18 pre-registered teams in the Open section, so it's not too likely that won't match last year's attendance. The teams are quite a bit stronger overall, so comptetition should be fierce!

    Scholastic section has more than 12 teams and they keey registering!

    Good chess to everyone this weekend. As always, a private email to Ashish with suggestions for future improvements is appreciated. :-)

    Thanks,
    Alex Betaneli

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  52. What is the break down on the teams playing the 2-day schedule versus the 3-day schedule?

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  53. We have 4 teams in the 3-day schedule: that's enough even without on-site entries.
    Alex

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  54. What time do you expect the Blitz side event to start Sat night?

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  55. Late registration begins at 9:15 pm.

    C.M.

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  56. Alex,

    which four teams are on the 3-day schedule?

    Allen

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  57. Looks like another Becker vs Veech matchup

    My money is on Veech

    G.C.

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  58. Is it possible for this site to post the most recent comments on the top of the page, rather than the bottom?

    ReplyDelete