Rounds 4 & 5

Team results here

USCF results here

Ivan Wijetunge, Nolan Hendrickson, Kenneth Artz & Donald Briggs Jr

It's great when everything goes as planned!

Not only did we have a great time playing/analyzing/socializing together:

Our team won clear 1st U1900!

Nolan

    * Won the Board 1 prize! (Beating 2 FIDE Masters to go 4-1)

    * Got a Master rating!

    * Got his final FIDE rating norm

I got my USCF rating to a all time high (1915) and got my first FIDE rating norm.
 
Round 5
Ken and the Barbies (1899.5) vs University Texas Dallas C (2029.5)
Match tied 2-2

Bd	Black	White
1	Nolan Hendrickson (2110)	Tautvydas Vedrickas (2353)		1-0
2	Nath Saheli (2133)	Ivan Wijetunge (1909)		1-0
3	Kenneth Artz (1792)	Gerald E Roberts (1891)		0-1
4	Rheanna English (1741)	Donald Briggs (1787)		0-1

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Round 4
Ken and the Barbies (1899.5)   vs The A Team with one D (1643.0)
We won 3-1

Bd	Black	White
1	Nolan Hendrickson (2110)	Robert Sanchez (1956)		1-0
2	Jonathan F Allen (1883)	Ivan Wijetunge (1909)		1-0
3	Kenneth Artz (1792)	Doyle W Lobaugh (1559)		1-0
4	Sam Cassels (1174)	Donald Briggs (1787)		0-1

FIDE Rating Norms

I have my first FIDE rating norm.

1. Loss Feinstein, Michael 2261
2. Win Pamatmat, Jordan James 1702
3. Win Li, Zhichao 2176
4. Non FIDE
5. Loss Saheli, Nath 2123

http://ratings.fide.com/calculator_rp.phtml

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Nolan got his 3rd and final rating norm.

1. Win Langer, Michael 2261
2. Non FIDE
3. Loss Bercys, Salvijus 2460
4. Non FIDE
5. Win Vedrickas, Tautvydas 2324

Texas Team

There are 15 teams.

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Round 3 

University Texas Dallas B vs Ken and the Barbies (1899.5)

We lost 3-1 the only bright spot was my win against Zhichao Li (2179)

Bd	Black	White
1	Salvijus Bercys(2558)	Nolan Hendrickson (2110)	-448	1-0
2	Ivan Wijetunge (1909)	Zhichao Li (2179)	-270	1-0
3	John R Enderle (1740)	Kenneth Artz (1792)	+52	1-0
4	Donald Briggs (1787)	Tony Paul (1501)	+286	0-1

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Round 2 

Prodigy Knight 2 (1722.0) vs Ken and the Barbies (1899.5)

We shut em out 4-0!

Bd	Black	White
1	Samuel M Baker (1865)	Nolan Hendrickson (2110)	+245	0-1
2	Ivan Wijetunge (1909)	Jordan J Pamatmat (1772)	+137	1-0
3	Rae Crowe M (1679)	Kenneth Artz (1792)	+113	0-1
4	Donald Briggs (1787)	Parker McWatters (1572)	+215	1-0

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Round 1 

We went down 3-1 to the top seed(3-Day). Our lone victory was Nolan Hendrickson's upset of FM Michael Langer.

Ken and the Barbies (1899.5) vs WikiLeaks: Chess is a Draw (2195.3)

Bd	Black	White
1	Nolan Hendrickson (2110)	Michael Langer (2309)	-199	1-0
2	Michael Feinstein (2230)	Ivan Wijetunge (1909)	-321	1-0
3	Kenneth Artz (1792)	Drew J Sarkisian (2130)	-338	0-1
4	Joshua S Newsham (2112)	Donald Briggs (1787)	-325	1-0

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Round 1  Michael Feinstein (2230)  vs Ivan Wijetunge (1909)

Looks bad for Black, but Rybka found the remarkable 13...Qc7 and Black may be better.

1.d4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.dxc5 e6 5.Be3 Nh6 6.Nf3 Nf5 [6...Nd7 7.b4] 7.b4 Nxe3 8.fxe3 b6 [8...a5 9.c3 Nc6 (9...axb4 10.cxb4 b6 11.Bb5+ Bd7 12.Bxd7+ Nxd7 13.c6 -1.19/15  6:25 ) 10.b5 Ne7] 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Bxd7+ Qxd7 11.0-0 bxc5 12.Ng5 Be7 13.Rxf7 Bxg5 [13...Qc7 14.Qh5 (14.Rxg7 Qxe5 15.Qh5+ Kd7 16.Rxe7+ Kxe7 17.Qf7+ Kd6 18.bxc5+ Kc6 19.Qxe6+ Qxe6 20.Nxe6) 14...g6 15.Nxe6 gxh5 16.Nxc7+ Kxf7 17.b5 Bg5] 14.Rxd7 Bxe3+ 15.Kh1 Nxd7 16.Qg4 0-0 17.Qxe6+ Kh8 18.Na3 Nb6 19.Nb5 Rae8 20.Qd6 cxb4 21.Nc7 Rd8 22.Qxb4 0-1

Texas Team ChampionshipJanuary 21-23 or 22-23, 2011

If you have played in a team event you know how much fun it is. If not I strongly encourage you to give it a try. You have about a month to get a team together.

Tournament info here.

Pre-Entries here.

2010 results here.(18 teams)

The event being held in Dallas should help break the 2010 participation record.

History of Texas Team results here.

*If you are looking for a team click here (Facebook page)

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My team:

1. 2110 NOLAN R HENDRICKSON
2. 1909 IVAN WIJETUNGE
3. 1792 KENNETH CHARLES ARTZ
4. 1787 DONALD BRIGGS JR

Avg. rating = 1899.5

1st Annual Austin Chess Club Championship - Recap

Click here for final results.

Click here for USCF results

Congratulations to the Austin Chess Club for putting up such a great show.  135 players from all over Texas and other states/countries participated.  Even though a lot more players than expected showed up, the organizers did a great job and fun was had by all. They are already planning for a bigger and better 2012 event!

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I had a great time and was paired up every game!

1. Bye
2. Loss ERNESTO L MALAZARTE (2153)
3. Draw WILLIAM MOLINA (1971)
4. Win DREW J SARKISIAN (2120)
5. Loss BENJAMIN CORARETTI (2134)

A last round win would have given me clear first U2000, with a draw I would have tied for first. But it was not to be. I equalized as black, but blundered right after that!.

 

I was happy with my position as Black.  I was sure that I could take advantage of the White pawn structure in the end game.  I was behind on time and decided to play a few quick moves to gain some time (60 sec. increment) . Big mistake! I played Nb4?? which loses to Qb3.

Although I went 1-2=1, my rating should still get to 1911 which will be an all time high.

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There were many interesting people at the event.

22 year old Bulgarian GM Valentin Iotov (rated 2629!)

Serbian IM Goran Vojinovic (Winner of the event after he beat the GM in round 4)

Millionaire Poker Playing Chess Master Ylon Schwartz

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Interesting hair styles

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Irwin Philip's Chess tattoo. He plans to get another one of  Tal's staring eyes

1st Annual Austin Chess Club ChampionshipFri., Jan. 07, 2011 - Sun., Jan. 09, 2011

135 Players!

 Revised Prizes

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Round 5

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Round 4

The GM goes down to the IM

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Round 3

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Round 2

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2-Day Round 1

Board 1

 Board 2 (1-0)

Board 5 (1/2-1/2)

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3-day Round 1

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The top seed is 22 year old Bulgarian GM Valentin Iotov (rated 2629!)

USCF history for Valentin

2010 Interview with Valentin from www.onjk.nl

From the Texas Prison museum in Huntsville

Thanksgiving Benefit Nov. 27-28 San Antonio, TX.

4 way tie for first: (3.0/4.0)

SELBY K ANDERSON (2209   ->2207)

GREGG STANLY (2044   ->2052) 

ANDREW NATHANAEL LOZANO (1979   ->2006) 

ANDREW ISTAFANOUS (1855   ->1893)

Complete results here.

My last round opponent played way too fast and got mated in the middle of the board

 

Ernesto was upset in Rnd 3 by Martin

More info here.

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My results

1. Draw with White vs Selby Anderson(2205)
2. Draw with Black vs Daniel Lozano (1827)
3. Loss with White vs Andrew Lozano (1988)
4. Win with Black vs Zhaosu Ye(1770)

Recent W-end Open Events at the San Antonio Chess Club (Date/event/players/Winner(s)) 

2010-10-16 October Slammer 31 DANIEL FERNANDEZ(2450)

2010-07-17 2010 Summer Open 49 MICHAEL LANGER(2315), JU HYUNG AHN(2046)

2010-06-19 San Antonio City Chmpionship 53 PAUL ANDREW HANEY(2146)

FIDE Open at the Dallas Chess Club

GM Ioan Chirila wins clear first.

Click here for results

Dallas Chess Club

BBQ III

I clearly was not playing well yesterday, missing many things I would normally see.  I went 3-1.  I lost to  Christian Leos, who tied for first and will see a big rating jump.

I think I equalized easily, then made a mistake that gave White the advantage. White didn't make the best of it and we got to this position. Here I could have forced a draw with Rc8 (Qxa6 Ra8)

But I blundered horribly and played Qc8.  I had a losing position the rest of the game, but with 46 seconds left on my clock got a winning position, only to blunder a rook!.

Click here for cross-table.

2010 Pan American Events in Milwaukee Wisconsin

My friend Alex wanted me to let you all know about the following events:

Dec. 27-30 or 28-30   2010 Pan American Intercollegiate Team Championships

Dec. 28-30   2010 Pan American Open 

Dec. 28-30   2010 Pan American Scholastic  

1900 At last!!!

I should get to about 1910 when the tournament in the previous post gets rated.

Chess & Barbecue on National Chess Day

TD & GM Eddie Rios (Grill Master)

What : 4 rounds of G/60 5d

Where : Corpus Christi

Sections : 2 (Over 1300,  1300 or under)

Prizes : $45, $27, $17


The entry fee included a delicious barbecue meal.

There are 11 players in the over 1300 section. I was the #2 seed.

1. Bye
2. Win with Black vs Douglas Mc Coy (1427) 
3. Win with White vs Christian Leos (1685)
4. Win with White vs James Shaw (1872)

Phote Credit : Usman Qureshi

US Class Championship - Houston Oct. 1-3 or 2-3

234 players!

USCF results here
 
Results: Click here
 

Winners:
Master : GM Flores, Mauricio
Expert : Dejmek, Mark W
Class A : Brack, Frank Edward
Class B : Donald Briggs
Class C : Pruett, Josh
Class D:  Ingram, Ted
Class E:  Warren, John C   
Unrated:  Acero, Mario   

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GM Bachmann vs Safin (Rnd. 2)

  GM Gareeyev vs IM Bercys 3-day (Rnd.1)

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I broke even with a small rating gain. A last round win would have got me a rating of 1919, but that was one of the worst games I have played in a while. One can usually get away with making a few mistakes during a game, but I made one too many!

The round 2 loss was very instructive. My opponent Frank Brack  is a a former expert and sports a correspondence rating of 2372. He went on to win the Class A section.

I am playing Black, White's last move was 15. Re3.  Before White played Re3, my plan was to kick the pesky Knight on g5 with either h6 or Bh6, but I could not resist the gain of a tempo by playing 15...Ng4, But White replies 16.h3!, and I am the one who losses a very important tempo and my game falls apart.

I had to retreat with 16...Nf6, White follows with 17.Nh5 Ne4 18.Nxh7! Kxh7 19.Rxe4! and I am toast. Instead 15...Bh6 and I have a good game.

1. Win White vs Jonathan Allen (1917)
2. Loss Black vs Frank Brack (1951)
3. Win Randall Schwarz (1905)
4. Draw Black vs James Ukoli (1951)
5. Loss White vs Samuel Baker (1813)

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Bloggers at the Class Championship

Left to right:

Don Putnam: Rocky Rook

Donald Briggs: Liquid egg product (Winner of the Class B Section!)

Timothy Stewart: TBD

Me: Getting to 2000

 

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Year	City	Master	Expert	Class A	Class B	Class C	Class D	Class E	Total
2010	Houston, TX	21	20	36	46	44	33	30	234
2009	Boca Raton, FL	20	17	34	28	22	12	18	151
2008	Houston, TX	18	8	36	37	40	30	31	193
2007	Houston, TX	11	17	30	24	35	24	32	173

76th Annual Southwest Open

Click here for final standings

Click here for USCF results

More pictures here

Sadorra vs GM Ramirez (Round 7) 1/2-1/2

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GM Ramirez vs GM Ioan (Rnd 6) 1-0

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Langer vs Ortiz (Rnd 4) 1/2-1/2

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Ramirez vs Cornejo (Rnd 4) 1/2 - 1/2

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Sadorra vs Ioan (Rnd 4) 0-1

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WIM Ortiz vs Zivanic after White played Nd7 (Rnd 1.) 0-1

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View from the playing hall on the 11th floor.

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In the 5th round after getting to this position, my brain took leave of it's senses, and I played Rb1+???, which looses to Rb4. [ ...g3 or Kh3 draws].

1. Win Black vs Henry Velasquez (1500)
2. Win White vs Christian Leos (1718)
3. Win Black vs Alok Kumar (1930)
4. Win White vs James Ukoli (1940)
5. Loss Black vs Clement Rendon (1916)
6. Win White vs Alexander Jiang (1886)
7. Draw White vs vs Rizal Abarientos (1884)

Rizal wins clear 1st ($500), Alok, Austin Jiang, and me split 2nd-3rd. ($120). My rating should go up from 1800 to about 1880

Nerves got the better of me in the last round. A win would have given me clear first($500) and a rating of over 1900. My last round opponent had only played in 2 previous events. The first in 1995 and the second this year. I also noticed that he had a Master level correspondence rating. I decided to stay away from main line openings, but he still played the best moves! But I had a chance to get an advantage in the following position.
Here I should have played Qd4, when black is forced to exchange queens, I should then be able to win the c pawn and have a very comfortable game. I played f3 instead which is also good, but later lost my way.

Maybe I should only play in Southwest Opens! My record for the last two events is 8-1=4.

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The SWO returned to Corpus Christi. It was last held here in 1945! For a history of past winners click here

Top seeds this year:

GM Ramirez, Alejandro 2645 (Costa Rica)
IM Zivanic, Marko 2571 (Serbia)
GM Ioan, Cristian 2561 (Romania)
IM Wang, Puchen 2533 (New Zealand)
IM Sadorra, Julio 2471 (Philippines)
IM Bercys, Salvijus 2467 (USA)

Report on the 2009 event here

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2010 Corpus Christi 35+51+25 = 109 (Open+Reserve+Novice)
Open: ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ, MAX CORNEJO
Reserve: RIZAL ABARIENTOS

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2009 Ft. Worth 49+82+29 = 160 (Open+Reserve+Novice)
Open: G ANTAL
Reserve: P NGUYEN

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2008 Houston 62+94 = 156 (Open+Reserve)
Open: A RAMIREZ, J STOPA, P WANG, S BERCYS
Reserve: E LU

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2007 Brownsville 43+33 = 76
Open: A BACHMANN, S BERCYS, A ALMEIDA, D FERNANDEZ, T VEDRICKAS
Reserve: V FLORES

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2006 Ft. Worth 42+105 = 126
Open: D BOSKOVIC
Reserve : T GWAZE

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2005 Dallas 55+101 = 156
Open: M ZIVANIC, J BRADFORD
Reserve : J CRAWFORD, F BRACK, K WANG