Southern Arizona Chess Association

9 Queens - Free Chess Seminar

2012-01-16T21:22:00.000-07:00

Are you interested in teaching chess? Good news! You don’t need to be Bobby Fischer to be an effective chess teacher or coach. 9 Queens is offering a free training seminar for anyone interested in starting a chess club, working as a chess instructor or developing chess teaching skills.

Date: January 28, 2012

Time: 10 am - 2:30 pm (30 minute lunch break)

Place: Tucson Main Library, 101 N. Stone

Topics to be covered include:

Planning a lesson
Teaching strategies for instructors with limited chess experience
How to keep students engaged
Teaching the basics of chess
Hands on exercises
Making chess fun

9 Queens is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to extending the benefits of chess to under-served and under-represented populations. If you would like to attend this seminar, please send an email to jhoffman@9queens.org. You must pre-register to attend; space is limited.

International School of Tucson Chess Scholarships

2012-01-06T17:24:00.004-07:00

The International School of Tucson is offering the Jessica E Martin chess scholarship.

To learn more about the scholarship, visit their webpage at: http://internationalschooloftucson.org/content/scholarships

Click here to view the scholarship form.

The application deadline has been extended to February 28, 2012.

US Amateur West this weekend

2011-05-25T09:10:00.002-07:00

Just a reminder to everyone that the US Amateur West is this weekend, May 28-30, at the Holiday Inn - Palo Verde. The tournament is open to all players rated under 2200 (May Suppliment). Today is the last day to register before the $10 late fee goes into effect!!

The available sections include:

Championship (U2200)
Reserve (U1600)
Booster (U1200)
Scholastic I (K-6/U1000) *
Scholastic II (K-6/U600) *

* The scholastic sections are three 1-day tournaments (Saturday, Sunday and Monday). Players can play one, two or all three days.

This year's chess celebrity is IM Levon Altounian who will be available each round to analyze your games with you. Additionally, he'll give a simul on Sunday for anyone (tournament and non-tournament players welcome!) who wants to challenge him.

The chess weekend starts off with a Blitz tournament on Friday night at 7:00pm. Registration for that event starts at 6:00pm. EF is $10 ($15 for non-tournament players). Prizes are ($b/20) $75-$45 and Top U1600 $30. There are also prizes for Top K-12, K-8 and K-6 players.

17th AZ State Grade Championships

2010-11-20T09:34:00.002-07:00

The flyer for the 17th Annual AZ State Grade Championships has been posted on the events page. The event is January 8, 2011 in Flagstaff, AZ.

Meal coupons for the Little America Hotel can be downloaded from the following link:

http://sazchess.org/ej_temp/455a.pdf

Enjoy the event!

League Match #2

2010-10-27T09:46:00.002-07:00

League Match #2 will be held at Sam Hughes Elementary on Nov. 6, 2010.

Description: USCF Rated. Open to students in Kindergarten through 8th grade. All players in the Elementary (K-6) and Junior High (K-8) sections must be USCF members.

Individual/Team format Swiss System with 3 divisions: Junior High (K-8), Elementary (K-6), and
Primary (K-3). This is not an elimination tournament, all players will play all rounds unless they withdraw from the tournament.

Entry Fee: $8 per player. Each school is responsible for paying the school’s total entry fee on Saturday morning before the end of Round 1. Bring chess clocks and sets, none provided.

A flier is available here.

Eastside Chess Club Resumes

2010-10-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

This is a reminder that the Eastside Chess Club will be meeting regularly once again starting tomorrow, Wednesday Oct. 6.

I look forward to seeing you there.

John Wright, Co-Manager
Eastside Chess Club

US Amateur West Concludes!

2010-06-05T15:10:00.005-07:00

Another US Amateur West has come to a close. 161 players played 499 games in 7 sections (not including the Blitz tournament) this past weekend. Congratulations to this year's winners!

Top Prizes
Championship

Andrew Lebovitz (5 - 1)
Joesph Kruml (5 - 1)
Bryan Hu (4.5 - 1.5)

Reserve

Raymond Tan (5.5 - 0.5)
Jeff Semmens (5 - 1)
Alek Pensky (4.5 - 1.5)

Booster

Evan Kuo (5 - 1)
Neal Schrodetzki (5 - 1)
Zac Smith (4.5 - 1.5)

Saturday Scholastic

Gabriel Gutierrez (4 - 0)
Dylan South (4 - 0)
Ivan Andreopoulos (3 - 1)

Sunday Scholastic

Alexander Vogel (3.5 - 0.5)
Gabriel Gutierrez (3 - 1)
Vishwa Srinivasan (3 - 1)

Monday Scholastic

Alexander Vogel (4 - 0)
Milind Jetty (4 - 0)
Ivan Andreopoulos (3 - 1)

A complete prize list is available here. The tournament has been rated.

Thank you to GM Alejandro Ramirez who was there all weekend to analyze the players' games and for his Sunday simultaneous exhibition. Thank you to Karen for organizing this year's event and to all the players for participating in it. See you all at the Ye Olde Pueblo!

Final Standings:
Championship
Reserve
Booster
Saturday scholastic tournament results
Sunday scholastic tournament results
Monday scholastic tournament results
Blitz results

US Amateur West Day 2 Update

2010-05-30T22:19:00.005-07:00

We have completed another day of the US Amateur West Championship. We have 160 players participating in 3 main sections, 3 scholastic tournaments and various other side events. But with just one more day, the games are starting to get more tense!

In the championship section, defending Amateur West champion, Joseph Kruml (2170) is the lone 4 - 0 in the field of forty-nine. But right behind him, with 3.5 - .5, are top seed Bryan Hu (2180) and Pavel Savine (2012), who drew each other in round 3. With two more rounds to go, the title is far from having been decided.

The reserve section, like the championship section, has one perfect 4 - 0 player remaining. Raymond Tan (1500) is half a point of ahead of close friend, and top seed, Jeff Semmens (1590) and brother Rex Tan (1391), each with a score of 3.5 - .5.

Evan Kuo (898) leads the booster section with a score of 3.5 - .5. He is followed by a pack of six players with 3 - 1 who intend to make his path to victory a bumpy one.

The scholastic section completed another 1-day event. Twenty-one players in the K-6/U1000 tournament participated. Leading the way was Alexander Vogel who scored 3.5 - .5 points.

GM Alejandro Ramirez has been here all weekend analyzing games for the players. This afternoon, he also put on a simultaneous exhibition back taking on 12 opponents at once. Derek Chen (1671) was the only blemish on Alejandro's record of 11 wins, 0 losses, and 1 draw. Derek received a complementary entry into the Ye Olde Pueblo for his effort.

Tomorrow is the final day as we wrap-up with rounds 5 and 6 in the main tournament and the final scholastic tournament of the weekend.

Current Standings:
Championship
Reserve
Booster
Saturday scholastic tournament results
Sunday scholastic tournament results

The Calm...

2010-05-30T08:40:00.008-07:00

The US Amateur West is underway! We have over 160 players signed up for this weekend's events. We started off with the Friday Night Blitz event. Ashu Thakur and IM Levon Altounian tied for first. There was even a rare Enrique Huerta sighting. Who knew he could play chess? (Editor's note: I saw his games, there's still debate as to whether he can play chess.)

The Storm...

Two rounds done and four to go. The first of three scholastic tournaments has completed. Gabriel Gutierrez and Dylan South finished tied for first with a score of 4 - 0. Today is round 3 and 4, the second scholastic tournament, and the GM Ramirez Simul.

Current Standings:
Championship
Reserve
Booster

US Amateur West this weekend!

2010-05-24T05:45:00.002-07:00

The US Amateur West is this weekend, May 29 - 31, at the Holiday Inn on Palo Verde. The tournament is a 6 round event open to players rated 2199 and below (USCF). There will also be three, 1-day scholastic tournaments (4 rounds) open to players in K-6 who are rated below 1000 USCF.

Prizes include:

Free entry to the National Open to 1st place in Championship and Reserve sections.

Championship Section: Chronos chess clock + plaque to 1st - 3rd Place.

Reserve Section: Chronos chess clock + plaque to 1st, Digital clock + plaque to 2nd, 3rd.

Booster Section: Chronos clock + trophy to 1st. Trophy to 2nd-5th.

Scholastic Sections: (each day) Digital clock + trophy to 1st. Trophy to 2nd-5th. Trophy to Top U800, U600, Unrated. Perfect scores that don’t win the clock will receive 1 yr. of USCF Membership.

Other Prizes: Top 2 Family Pair in the non-scholastic sections. Biggest Upset of each round (Championship, Reserve, or Booster only). Chronos clock to Scholastic player with highest combined score for all three 1-day tournaments.

Plus digital clocks and plaques to each rating group U1200 - 1999!

There is still time to register for the event. Just go to the SACA webstore and register there, or print out a flier and mail in your registration. But hurry! Because the entry fees go up on Wednesday!

Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez returns to analyze your games between rounds. Additionally, he will also give a simul on Sunday. The simul is open to all players, not just those playing in the event. Space is limited, so be sure to reserve your seat early.

The weekend begins Friday night with a blitz tournament. Like the simul, the blitz tournament is open to all players, not just those playing in the event.

Date: Friday 5/28/10; Location: Holiday Inn Palo Verde; Format: USCF Rated, G/5, 5 Rounds, Double SS; Entry Fee: $10 ($15 to non-tournament players); Reg.: 6:00–6:45pm at site; Rounds: begin at 7:00pm Prizes: ($$b/20) $75-$45, Top U1600 $30, Medallion to top K-12, K-8, K-6.

We look forward to see you this weekend!

Opryland Hotel filling with water

2010-05-05T16:15:00.003-07:00

For those of you that have been to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel for chess tournaments, this footage is shocking.

Many Tennessee counties are being declared disaster areas as rising flood water is causing damages estimated to be in the billions.

2010 State Scholastic Championship has concluded

2010-04-30T11:29:00.006-07:00

The 2010 Az State Scholastic Chess Championship was this past weekend at the Holiday Inn - Palo Verde in Tucson, Az. 568 students from all over that state participated in the 2-day event. Congratulations to all of the 2010 State Champions! Complete standings are available on the SACA website. The tournament has already been rated by USCF.

K - 1

1. Cayman Treptow (7.0 pts) *
2. Zachary Hauben (6.0 pts)
3. Conner Revak (6.0 pts)

1. St. Cyril School (18.5 pts) **
2. St. Michael's School (18.5 pts) **
3. Killip Elementary (18.0 pts)

Primary (K-3)

1. Richard Qi (7.0 pts) *
2. Thayer Aletheia-Zomlefer (6.0 pts)
3. Benjamin Hong (6.0 pts)

1. Killip Elementary (20.5 pts)
2. Harelson Elementary (20.0 pts)
3. Sam Hughes Elementary (20.0 pts)

Elementary (K-5)

1. Ethan Li (6.5 pts) **
2. Kendrick Nguyen (6.5 pts) **
3. Tony Yim (6.0 pts)

1. Manzanita Elementary (20.5 pts) *
2. Lineweaver Elementary (20.0 pts)
3. BASIS (Scottsdale) (16.0 pts)

Elementary (K-6)

1. Alec Andersen (6.0 pts) *
2. Thomas Mathine (5.5 pts)
3. Sumhith Aradhyula (5.5 pts)

1. Doolen Middle School (17.0 pts) **
2. Killip Elementary (17.0 pts) **
3. Orange Grove Middle School (16.5 pts)

Junior High (K-9)

1. Kinsleigh Wong (6.5 pts) *
2. Derek Chen (6.0 pts)
3. Tyler Sypherd (6.0 pts)

1. Esperero Canyon Middle School (20.0 pts) *
2. Orange Grove Middle School (19.0 pts)
3. Chandler Preparatory School (18.0 pts)

High School (K-12)

1. Kevin Zhang (6.0 pts) *
2. John Williams (5.0 pts)
3. Nick Thompson (5.0 pts)

1. Catalina Foothills High School (17.0 pts) *
2. Gilbert High School (16.5 pts)
3. Pinnacle High School (12.0 pts)

* - State Champion
** - State Co-Champions (trophies were awarded in tie-break order)

Complete standings for the Blitz tournament are also available.

Kevin Zhang will represent Arizona at the Denker Tournament of High School Champions which will be held this summer in Irvine, CA in conjunction with the 111th Annual US Open.

Thank you to the players, coaches, parents, and staff that made this year's event a complete pleasure and success!!!

Related:
KOLD news coverage of the tournament

Az State Scholastic Championship - In progress

2010-04-24T21:16:00.004-07:00

Over 560 players have stormed the Holiday Inn - Palo Verde in Tucson, AZ for this year's state scholastic chess championship. The participants will play 7-rounds (6 in high school) over the 2-day weekend to compete with players and schools from across the state for individual and team titles.

There are still 3 more rounds tomorrow and lots of chess to play!

Levon Advances to US Championship

2010-04-13T21:13:00.008-07:00

IM Levon Altounian has advanced to next month's US Championship. Levon won a spot in the tournament by defeating Damir Studen 1.5 - .5 in the finals of the ICC Champion of Champions tournament.

The US Championship will take place May 14 - 25 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The tournament will include 24 of the top players in the country competing for the title and share of the $170,000 prize fund.

The 24 invited players include:

The defending U.S. Champion - GM Hikaru Nakamura
The winner of the 2009 U.S. Senior Open Championship - GM Larry Christiansen
The winner of the 2009 U.S. Junior Championship - GM Ray Robson
The top five qualifiers from the 2009 U.S. Open Championship - GM-elect Alex Lenderman, GMs Sergey Kudrin, Alex Yermolinsky, Dmitry Gurevich, and Jesse Kraai
The winner of the 2010 ICC State Champion of Champions - IM Levon Altounian
The top 11 U.S. players by rating of the United States Chess Federation:

GM Gata Kamsky
GM Alexander Onischuk
GM Varuzhan Akobian
GM Yury Shulman
GM Jaan Ehlvest
GM Alexander Shabalov
GM Gregory Kaidanov
GM Robert Hess
GM Melikset Khachiyan
GM Joel Benjamin
GM Ben Finegold

Four wildcard spots - TBD

Congratulations, Levon and good luck!!!

Arizona State Scholastic Chess Championships

2010-04-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Arizona State Scholastic Chess Championships are being held in Tucson at the Holiday Inn - Palo Verde on April 23-25. A flier for the event with tournament details is available at the SACA website.

In order to play in the event, players much first qualify. Qualification requirements are as follows:

To play in the AZ State Scholastic Championships, a player must qualify a “slot” at a Regional Qualifier. A school may bring the number of players equal to the number of slots qualified at all regionals +1; a team qualifying exactly two in a section may bring 4 players in that section. Players in: K-1 who wish to qualify for the K-1 section do so by either playing four rounds OR by scoring three points, in any section of any qualifier; Primary, Elementary & Junior High must score at least 3 points at a qualifier; High School do not have to qualify.

The last remaining chance to qualify in Tucson is the Tucson Scholastics (RQ 2), being held March 27 at Harelson Elementary. There are other qualifiers being held throughout the state and players in the Southern Region are allowed to play in those events. Contact us if you need a list of other qualifiers being held in the state.

Registration for the event can be done online at the SACA website. Select the tournament in the left side bar and registration information will load in the main frame. USCF membership is required for this event. You can check the status of your USCF membership here. If you need to join USCF or renew your membership you can do it online at the USCF website.

The special room rate at the Holiday Inn is $69/night (single/double) and $89/night for a suite. Mention "SACA" or "chess tournament" when you reserve your rooms. The phone number for the hotel is (520) 746-1161. You can also book your rooms online.

This is also a Blitz tournament Friday, April 23. Registration for that event is also available at the SACA website. There are no qualification requirements. USCF membership is required as well.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this event.

Craig Jones wins 2010 US Masters

2010-03-31T21:03:00.003-07:00

National master Craig Jones won the 2010 US Masters tournament held March 13-21 in Hendersonville, NC. Craig finished with a score of 7/9. Craig Jones is a former Tucson resident who coached the Castlehill Country Day School to the National Elementary title in 2002.

Levon Altounian advances to finals of State CofC tournament

2010-03-31T19:31:00.007-07:00

IM Levon Altounian is one step away from winning the 2010 State Champion of Champions tournament and earning a bid into the US Championship. Levon won the Arizona State Championship last September in Scottsdale.

On March 24-25 the Internet Chess Club (ICC) hosted the Qualification Rounds of the Champion of Champions tournament. The qualification tournament was 17 rounds of 3-minutes Blitz against the other State Champions from the Western States. Levon took second place in the tournament with a score of 15 points (+14 =2 -1) out of 17. His only lost was to 1st place finisher IM Sam Shankland (16 pts.). (View Levon's games.)

On March 30 the top 2 finishers of each conference faced off in a 25-minute, 2-game playoff. Levon avenged his previous defeat but winning both games to advance to the finals. (View Levon's games.)

The finals will take place on April 11 at noon (Arizona time) on ICC.

Good luck to Levon!!

RQ1 and RQ2 Results Posted

2010-03-30T22:22:00.002-07:00

Results for RQ1 and RQ2 are now posted on the website at:

http://www.sazchess.org/events/events.php

Tucson Scholastics (RQ2) this weekend

2010-03-23T20:56:00.004-07:00

Just a reminder that the Tucson Scholastic (RQ2) is this weekend at Harelson Elementary. This is your last chance to qualify in Tucson for the Arizona State Scholastic Chess Championship. The State Scholastic Championship will be April 23-25 in Tucson at the Holiday Inn - Palo Verde.

The Tucson Scholastics (RQ 2) is a 5 round tournament with 6 sections.

K - 1 Qualifier
K - 3 Qualifer
K - 6 Qualifer
K - 9 Qualifer
K - 6 Championship *
K - 12 Championship *

* The Championship sections are NOT qualifers for the State Scholastic Championships. Players should not register for these sections if they're trying to qualify for the State Scholastic Championships.

USCF membership is required for this event. You can check the status of your USCF membership here. If you need to join USCF or renew your membership you can do it online at the USCF website.

Registration for the event can be done online at the SACA website. Select the tournament in the left side bar and registration information will load in the main frame.

Contact us if you have any questions.

2010 Tucson Open is complete

2010-01-27T16:32:00.003-07:00

The 2010 Tucson Open was this past weekend at the Holiday Inn - Palo Verde. We had 178 participants in the Open, Reserve (U1800), Booster (U1400), Saturday and Sunday scholastics sections. The event as already been rated.

Top Prizes:

Open Section
1-2. Levon Altounian and Jason Mueller [4.5 - .5]
3-4. Joseph Kruml and John Gurczak [4 - 1]

Reserve (U1800)
1. Nate Cromer [5 - 0]
2. Tony Yim [4.5 - .5]

Booster (U1400)
1. Jared Huggins [5- 0]
2. Alan Valenzuela [4 - 1]

Saturday scholastics
1. Jose Castillo [4 - 0]
2. Denham Carlisle [4 - 0]
3. Henry Wang [4 - 0]
4. Garrison Smith [4 - 0]

Sunday scholastics
1. Stephanie Burchard [4 - 0]
2. Jose Castillo [4 - 0]

A complete prize list is available on the SACA website.

Also, Steve Farmer has a video analysis (and tournament recap) of a Round 5 game between Bryan Hu and Jason Mueller.

The tournament was organized and run by Karen Pennock. Thank you to all who made this a wonderful event!!

NY Times article regarding chess in Tucson

2010-01-02T15:46:00.002-07:00

Enjoy this article found in the NY Times about woman playing chess in Tucson:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/us/25ladychess.html?_r=2&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Women's World Champion coming to Tucson

2009-12-17T12:49:00.004-07:00

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk is coming to Tucson this Sunday (Dec. 20) as part of her Christmas Goodwill offer. She will be attending the 9 Queens Chess Academy. Because of the addition of GM Kosteniuk, some details of the Chess Academy have been changed.

The 9 Queens Academy will be now be held at the Parasol Project Arts Space (located at 299 Park Avenue) from 2-4 pm on Sunday Dec 20, 2009.
Immediately following the Queens Academy, from 4-7 pm at MAST (a new boutique located directly next door to Parasol Projects), 9 Queens will host a reception and simultaneous chess exhibit featuring Ms. Kosteniuk.

All activities will be open to all chess enthusiasts (men and women) of all ages and abilities. For more information, visit the 9 Queens website or contact Jean Hoffman.

International School of Tucson - Jessica Martin Chess Scholarship

2009-11-29T21:21:00.001-07:00

The International School of Tucson is offering the Jessica Martin Chess Scholarship. Follow the link to learn more: http://internationalschooloftucson.org/content/scholarships

League Match #3 details

2009-11-27T09:12:00.007-07:00

Hello Everyone!

I hope you're all having a wonderful Thanksgiving. We're sorry for the late notice, but League Match 3 details have been finalized. A flyer is available with all the tournament information.

The tournament will be at Old Vail Middle School.

Directions:
13299 E. Colossal Cave Rd., Vail, AZ. 85641-9090 Take I-10 South to the exit past Houghton which is Vail/Wentworth Rd. Turn left and go across I-10 travel 2 miles. School is on the left across the railroad tracks and across from the water tower.

Description:
USCF or SACA Rated. Individual Format with 3 rounds. USCF membership is required if playing in the USCF rated sections. There may also be sections for the “Top 16” Junior High and Elementary players in the USCF rated sections if there are enough players.

♦ Junior High (K-8) A – USCF rated
♦ Elementary (K-6) A – USCF rated
♦ Primary (K-3) A – USCF rated
♦ Junior High (K-8) B – SACA rated
♦ Elementary (K-6) B – SACA rated
♦ Primary (K-3) B – SACA rated

Schedule: (note the different round times!)
Check-in is not required. Please declare player drops by 9:30 am. Pairings will be posted at 9:45 am. Announcements start at 9:55 am and play begins at 10:00 am! Coaches should seat players as soon as the pairings are posted. Round times are 10:00, 11:45, 1:30.

Information:
Phone: 520-975-3946
Email: scholastic@sazchess.org
SACA website: www.sazchess.org

Senior Open this weekend

2009-11-03T16:45:00.004-07:00

This is just a reminder that the Arizona Senior Open is this weekend (Nov. 7-8) at the Holiday Inn on Palo Verde. The Arizona Senior Open is open to all USCF members born on or before November 7, 1959. The highest finishing AZ Resident will win the title of Arizona Senior Champion.

The tournament will be 5 rounds. Rounds 1 and 2 will be GAME/90. Rounds 3, 4, and 5 will be 30/90, SD/1. Round times will be Sat: 10-1:30-5, Sun: 9-3. Half-point byes are available for each round, but must be requested prior to the start of Round 2. The entry fee is $40 if received by Nov. 4, $50 after Nov. 4.

A flyer and online registration is available on the SACA Webpage.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

IM Anna Zatonskih wins US Women's Championship

2009-10-14T13:16:00.005-07:00

IM Anna Zatonskih has defended her title with an impressive 8.5 points out of 9 game performance at this year's US Women's Chess Champion, hosted by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

Defending U.S. Champion Anna Zatonskih, of Long Island, N.Y., finished off the tournament in style with a positional crush of Yun Fan, of Greencastle, Ind. She won the record $15,000 first place prize fund. Zatonskih ended with eight wins and one draw in nine games, and her 8.5 points were tied for the best result in the championship in more than 20 years. She said the championship was the best performance of her career.

Camilla Baginskaite finished in 2nd place with 6.5/9.0 to earn $12,000. Both players earn automatic qualifiers for the next Women's World Championship to be held in Istanbul, Turkey.

USCF News Release (and video recap)
CCSCSL Press Release
Final Standings
All games (via Chessgames.com)

Energy drinks and chess

2009-10-13T11:51:00.001-07:00

I'm not saying energy drinks make you better at chess, but some energy drinks are actually pretty good. Enjoy!

National Chess Day

2009-10-09T13:22:00.005-07:00

Many of you may not know it, but today is "National Chess Day".

On October 9, 1976 President Gerald Ford declared a National Chess Day. As we approach that anniversary date, we encourage state and local clubs to commemorate the day in some way, perhaps with a tournament or an educational program about chess in their communities.

National Chess Day began in South Carolina. It was created by the late Bill Dodgen, who was president of the South Carolina Chess Association for a number of years. It was originally a state chess day in South Carolina, but Bill quickly expanded it to a nationwide effort and was appointed National Chess Day chairman.

I would like to thank all on our chess community for your participation in the game that we love. And I encourage (challenge) you to go out this weekend and play some chess! Teach someone how to play or play with someone who hasn't played in a long time. But remember, you don't have to just play chess on National Chess Day!

If you haven't been following along, the US Women's Championship is currently taking place in St. Louis, MO. Ten of the best females in the country are competing for a $64,000 ($15,000 for first) prize fund. Currently, current US Woman's Champion, Anna Zatonskih, leads with 4.5 points out of 5.

Chess in our community:

October 10 - Arizona Chess in Schools is hosting the Green Fields Open
October 14 - Arizona Scorpions vs. San Francisco Mechanics in the US Chess League
October 14 - Eastside Chess Club meets every Wednesday at the Jewish Community Center
October 17 - League Match #1 at St. Cyril School
October 18 - 9 Queens will host the All Queens Chess Day

SACA Scholastic Schedule

2009-09-16T13:50:00.003-07:00

There are still a few sites that need to be determined, but the dates for the 2009-2010 season are pretty set. Flyers will be available on the SACA website soon.

Oct 17 - League Match #1 @ St. Cyril's
Nov 14 - League Match #2 @ Sam Hughes
Dec 5 - League Match #3 @ TBD
Jan 22-24 - Tucson Open @ Holiday Inn - Palo Verde
Feb 6 - League Match #4 @ TBD
Feb 20 - League Championships @ Lineweaver
Mar 13 - Regional Championships (RQ1) @ Sierra MS
Mar 27 - Tucson Scholastic Championships (RQ2) @ Harelson
Apr 23-25 - State Scholastic Championships @ Holiday Inn - Palo Verde

If your school is interested in and able to host either League Match #3 or #4, please contact us.

Don't forget that this weekend is the Scholastic Warm-up! There is still plenty of time to register!

Arizona State Championship this weekend

2009-09-02T10:22:00.005-07:00

The Arizona State Championship is this weekend, September 5-7, in Scottsdale, AZ. Twelve of the state's top players are competing in the 6-round event being hosted at the Unity Chess Club.

The players invited include the current state champion (IM Levon Altounian), the winner of the Valley Chess Club Championship, and top rated players in the state. UPDATE: Joel Johnson is ill this week and has withdrawn from the tournament. Robert Tanner will take his place.

IM Levon Altounian (2536)
FM Daniel Rensch (2432)
FM Pedram Atoufi (2322)
Vaishnav Aradhyula (2232)
Spencer Lower (2218)
Leonardo Martinez (2215)
FM Robert Rowley (2200)
Ben Marmont (2126)
Jim Geary (2121)
David Adelberg (2095)
Robert Tanner (2071)
Dipro Chakraborty (2036)

The championship is being organized by Joel Johnson and the Valley Chess Club. The Chief TD is Rick Smouse.

Blindfold Chess wins Best Chess Book of 2009

2009-08-28T13:11:00.004-07:00

The USCF, Chess Journalists of America, and US Chess Trust have awarded Blindfold Chess, by Eliot Hearst and John Knott as the Best Chess Book 2009.

"We are pleased that the award committee thought our book qualified despite its rather unusual subject matter." Hearst said.

Arizona Scorpions are moving!

2009-08-26T10:57:00.006-07:00

The banner on their former blog says is all, "Our blog has moved."

The new season of the United States Chess League (USCL) begins next week. The Scorpions, in their second season, are sporting a new look. Not only in their new blog, but also in roster. Currently the top story is an interview with manager/player Leo Martinez about who's on this year's team.

The first match is Wednesday, September 2 against the Chicago Blaze. Come out and support Arizona's team taking on the some of the country's top players!

The Arizona Scorpions are a SACA special project for the promotion of high-level, adult chess in our community. Tax-deductible donations to SACA in support of the Scorpions are accepted on the Scorpions website.

Arizona Senior Open

2009-08-10T09:46:00.004-07:00

The Arizona Senior Open will be November 7 and 8 at the Holiday Inn - Palo Verde. The Arizona Senior Open is open to all USCF members born on or before November 7, 1959. The highest finishing AZ Residient will win the title of Arizona Senior Champion.

The tournament will be 5 rounds. Rounds 1 and 2 will be GAME/90. Rounds 3, 4, and 5 will be 30/90, SD/1. Round times will be Sat: 10-1:30-5, Sun: 9-3. Half-point byes are available for each round, but must be requested prior to the start of Round 2. The entry fee is $40 if received by Nov. 4, $50 after Nov. 4.

A flyer and online registration is available on the SACA Webpage.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Tucson Scholastic Warm-up

2009-08-10T09:24:00.003-07:00

The 2009 Scholastic Warm-up will be September 19 at St. Joseph's Catholic School. This is the unofficial kick-off to the SACA Scholastic League. Time to kick off the dust from the summer and get back into chess-playing form!

Players can choose to either play in the USCF section or in the non-USCF section. Within a section, players will be separated into smaller (12-16 player) groups based on rating. The tournament will be 4 rounds and, because of the smaller groups, players can expect good competition from the start. Trophies are awarded to the Top 4 players in each group.

A flyer and online registration is available on the SACA website.

Additionally, there will be a coaches' meeting from 10:00am - 1:00pm to discuss the upcoming league season. This meeting is especially helpful to new programs that may have questions about participation in the league or are looking for a coach to help them out.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

2009 - 2010 SACA Board Elections

2009-07-23T13:12:00.009-07:00

At the Ye Olde Pueblo this weekend, SACA elected their board members for the 2009-10 term. Your current SACA board members are:

President:									Karen Pennock
Vice President:									Enrique Huerta
Secretary:									Fritz Laos Sr.
Treasurer:									Cristy Ferrari
Directors-at-Large:									Robby Adamson, Satheesh Aradhyula, Jon Shacter, and John Wright

Anyone who wishes to get involved with chess in Southern Arizona we encouraged to contact us. If you have any questions or comments about chess in our community we look forward to hearing from you.

Ye Olde Pueblo wrap-up

2009-07-23T12:57:00.004-07:00

The 2009 Ye Olde Pueblo has completed. Congratulations to IM Dionisio Aldama and GM Alejandro Ramirez on their victory. IM Aldama defeated Kevin Zhang in the final round to score 4.5 / 5.0 points. GM Ramirez had the only perfect score going into Round 5 and drew GM Alex Yermolinsky to secure a share of 1st Place.

In the Reserve section, Matthew Noble took sole 1st place, also with a score of 4.5 / 5.0. He was followed by the pack of players: Richard Birberick, Carlos Boteo, Hector Martinez and Hunter Brogna.

Donald Belche, a Phoenix regular to SACA tournament, was the top finisher in the Booster section (4.5 / 5.0). Michael Wang and Brenton Begay followed with scores of 4.0 / 5.0. In the scholastic sections, Henry Learner finished the weekend with a perfect 4.0 / 4.0 both Saturday and Sunday to take 1st place in both events!

Complete standings will be available on the SACA website soon, but until then you can see the Open, Reserve, Booster, Saturday and Sunday final standings here, along with the final prize list.

UPDATE!
The tournament has been rated by USCF. Check out your new ratings!

Ye Olde Pueblo update

2009-07-19T15:35:00.007-07:00

The 2009 Ye Olde Pueblo is under way at the Holiday Inn - Palo Verde. This year's attendance is 158 players in the various sections. Currently there are 5 perfect scores* (2 GMs, 2 IMs and 1 FM) in the Open section.

Round 4 top pairings are:

1. GM Alejandro Ramirez (2585)	vs.	IM Levon Altounian (2538)	1 - 0
2. IM Dionisio Aldama (2507)	vs.	GM Alex Yermolinsky (2584)	1/2 - 1/2

* FM Danny Rensch has taken two half-point byes in the final rounds.

UPDATE for Round 5
Top Pairings

1. GM Alex Yermolinsky (2584)	vs.	GM Alejandro Ramirez (2585)	1/2 - 1/2
2. Kevin Zhang (2135)	vs.	IM Dionisio Aldama (2507)	0 - 1
3. IM Levon Altounian (2538)	vs.	Alexander Balkum (2111)	1 - 0

2009 Landon Brownell Memorial Scholarship winners

2009-07-19T11:23:00.002-07:00

Yesterday evening before the start of round 3 at the Ye Olde Pueblo, SACA announced this year's scholarship winners. SACA had recently renamed their merit scholarship in memory of Landon Brownell.

Scholarship Winners

Ethan Li (3rd Grade)
Bryan Hu (6th Grade)

Honorable Mention*

Kingsleigh Wong (6th Grade)
Andy Lin (9th Grade)
Kevin Zhang (10th Grade)
Ashu Thakur (11th Grade)

* The scholarship rules specify that a player may only be awarded the scholarship once every 2 years. These players would have otherwise received the scholarship this year as well.

Rules and previous years' winners are available on the SACA website.

Norman Gray Memorial & July Blitz G/5

2009-07-16T13:56:00.004-07:00

The Prizes and Standings are posted on the 'Events' page for the Norman Gray Memorial and the July Blitz G/5.

Ye Olde Pueblo

2009-07-16T07:40:00.003-07:00

UPDATED!

The Ye Olde Pueblo tournament is this weekend!

A pre-registration list (Friday, July 17 @ 7:00 am) is available online to see who's already in the tournament. It's not too late to still register. If you have already registered, please look at the list to confirm that your entry was processed correctly. If there are any questions or problems, please contact us as soon as possible.

US Amateur West has been rated

2009-05-26T14:03:00.003-07:00

The US Amateur West and Blitz tournaments from this weekend have been rated. A complete wrap-up with prize lists, photos, and games will be available soon.

UPDATE: Added links to the SACA Webpage.

US Amateur West this weekend

2009-05-20T09:43:00.002-07:00

Today is the last day to register for this weekend's US Amatuer West Championship without an additional late fee. Starting tomorrow the entry fee raises an additional $10 ($5 in Scholastic). So be sure to get your entry in!

A pre-registration list is available online (as of 9:30 pm Tuesday night). If you've already registered, please double-check your entry to make sure we have all the information correct and contact us if there needs to be any changes. Thank you.

Don't forget about the Blitz tournament on Friday night. No pre-registration or late fees for that one. Just show up and have some fun! The Blitz tournament is open to all players, not just those in the tournament.

U.S. Amateur West Blitz (Open to players of all ratings)
Date: Friday 5/22/09; Location: Holiday Inn Palo Verde; Format: USCF Rated, G/5, 5 Rounds, Double SS; Entry Fee: $10 ($15 to non-tournament players); Reg.: 6:00–6:45pm at site; Rounds: begin at 7:00pm Prizes: ($$b/20) $75-$45, Top U1600 $30, Medallion to top K-12, K-8, K-6.

Rybka 3 wins World Computer Chess Championship

2009-05-18T11:26:00.003-07:00

From Chessbase.com:

In the final round of the event, staged by the International Computer Games Association in Pamplona, Spain, the US-Czech program Rybka beat its closest rival, Junior from Israel, to take the title with a point and a half to spare. Junior, Shredder and Deep Sjeng shared 2-4th. Actually Rybka won three titles.

A total of three events were staged by the ICGA:
1. The 17th World Computer Chess Championship – all computers restricted to eight cores at the most
2. The 14th Computer Olympiad, Chess – no hardware limit
3. The 17th World Computer Chess Championship (Blitz)

All three titles were won by Rybka, the first on an eight-core system (obviously), the second on a 52-core cluster and the Blitz again on the eight-core system.

Nakamura wins US Championship

2009-05-18T10:05:00.014-07:00

GM Hikaru Nakamura won the US Championship this weekend in St. Louis, MO. Nakamura was tied with GM-elect Robert Hess going into the final round, but secured the title and $40,000 with a victory over GM Friedel and a draw between Hess and GM Akobian.

Hikaru Nakamura, 21, won the the 2009 US Chess Championship, after winning in the ninth and final round of the event. Second-seeded Nakamura, who also won the title in 2004, when he was just 16, took the venerable 164-year-old title and the first prize of $40,000 ($35,000, plus a $5,000 outright winner's bonus) after beating Josh Friedel of New Hampshire. Nakamura finished with seven points over nine games, and never lost a game. [Chessbase.com]

The tournament was May 9 - 17. 25 players from across the country competed for over $200,000 in prizes. The players played 1 game a day.

Final Standings:

Name	State	Rating	Points	Prize won
GM Nakamura, Hikaru (2)	NY	2757	7	$40,000.00
IM Hess, Robert (17)	NY	2545	6.5	$12,500.00
GM Onischuk, Alexander (3)	VA	2736	6.5	$12,500.00
GM Kamsky, Gata (1)	NY	2798	6	$7,500.00
GM Akobian, Varuzhan (7)	CA	2664	6	$7,500.00
GM Shulman, Yury (4)	IL	2697	5	$4,650.00
GM Friedel, Joshua (15)	NH	2568	5	$4,650.00
GM Ibragimov, Ildar (13)	CT	2628	5	$4,650.00
GM Christiansen, Larry (5)	MA	2681	5	$4,650.00
GM Ehlvest, Jaan (10)	NY	2649	4.5	$2,833.33
IM Robson, Ray (18)	FL	2542	4.5	$2,833.33
GM Kaidanov, Gregory (8)	KY	2662	4.5	$2,833.33
GM Benjamin, Joel (9)	NJ	2650	4.5	$2,833.33
GM Shabalov, Alexander (14)	PA	2620	4.5	$2,833.33
GM Gulko, Boris (12)	NJ	2631	4.5	$2,833.33
IM Brooks, Michael (22)	MO	2419	4	$2,375.00
Hughes, Tyler (24)	CO	2293	4	$2,375.00
IM Sevillano, Enrico (16)	CA	2549	4	$2,375.00
GM Becerra, Julio (6)	FL	2672	4	$2,375.00
IM Krush, Irina (20)	NY	2496	3.5	$2,000.00
IM Shankland, Samuel (21)	CA	2464	3	$2,000.00
GM Khachiyan, Melikset (11)	CA	2632	3	$2,000.00
FM Eckert, Doug D (25)	IL	2278	2	$2,000.00
Lawton, Charles (23)	MO	2350	1	$2,000.00
IM Zatonskih, Anna (19)	NY	2503	0.5	$2,000.00

The US Championship was hosted by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis which will also host the US Women's Championship on October 2-12.

All games are viewable on here.

US Amateur West

2009-05-15T10:28:00.006-07:00

The US Amateur West is 1 week away! The "Amateur" is May 23-25 at the Holiday Inn-Palo Verde. Only players below Master-level (under 2200) may play. It will be a 6-round event with time controls of 40/2, 25/1 (note the lack of "sudden death") separated in 4 sections: Championship, Reserve (U1600), Booster (U12oo) and Scholastic (K-8/U1000). The Scholastic section is actually 3 separate, 1-day events of 4 rounds each. You can play one, two, or all three days!

GM Alejandro Ramirez will be the chess celebrity this year. He'll be available all weekend to offer free chess analysis of your games between rounds. Additionally, he'll give a simul (seats are limited) on Sunday at 2:00 pm and a free lecture on Monday.

Prizes for the tournament include:

Free entry to the National Open for the winners of the Championship and Reserve sections.
Door prizes donated by GM Susan Polgar and the Susan Polgar Foundation.
Digital clocks added to all rating plaque prizes.
Family prizes for the Top 2 families.
Upset prizes each round (Championship, Reserve and Booster sections only).

The weekend starts off with a Blitz tourament Friday night.

U.S. Amateur West Blitz (Open to players of all ratings)
Date: Friday 5/22/09; Location: Holiday Inn Palo Verde; Format: USCF Rated, G/5, 5 Rounds, Double SS; Entry Fee: $10 ($15 to non-tournament players); Reg.: 6:00–6:45pm at site; Rounds: begin at 7:00pm Prizes: ($$b/20) $75-$45, Top U1600 $30, Medallion to top K-12, K-8, K-6.

Registration is available online or by postal mail (see flyer). Registration will also be available at the site the morning of Saturday, May 23 from 8:30 - 9:30. Get your registration in early and avoid a $10 late fee that starts on May 21. Those that have already registered should look at the pre-registration list to make sure all information is correct. Contact the Chief TD of there are any errors.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

US Championship begins today

2009-05-08T09:44:00.003-07:00

For the next week, 24 of the top players in the United States will compete for nearly $200,000 in prizes and the title US Champion. The tournament is 9 rounds and will last May 8 - 17. The event is being hosted by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

Round 1, Friday, May 8, 12:00 pm (Tucson time)

01. GM Ibragimov, Ildar (2628) - GM Kamsky, Gata (2798)
02. GM Nakamura, Hikaru (2757) - GM Shabalov, Alexander (2620)
03. GM Friedel, Joshua (2568) - GM Onischuk, Alexander (2736)
04. GM Shulman, Yury (2697) - IM Sevillano, Enrico (2549)
05. IM Hess, Robert (2545) - GM Christiansen, Larry (2681)
06. GM Becerra, Julio (2672) - IM Robson, Ray (2542)
07. IM Zatonskih, Anna (2503) - GM Akobian, Varuzhan (2664)
08. GM Kaidanov, Gregory (2662) - IM Krush, Irina (2496)
09. IM Shankland, Samuel (2464) - GM Benjamin, Joel (2650)
10. GM Ehlvest, Jaan (2649) - IM Brooks, Michael (2419)
11. Lawton, Charles (2350) - GM Khachiyan, Melikset (2632)
12. GM Gulko, Boris (2631) - Hughes, Tyler (2293)

The games are available though an online stream. Results will also be available here.

Discussion, news, and photos are available across the web.

Official Website
USCF Chess Life Online
ICC Chess.FM Blog
Susan Polgar Blog
ChessGames.com
Chess.com

Landon Brownell: As I remember him

2009-05-06T20:00:00.001-07:00

Landon Brownell: As I remember him.
by: IM Levon Altounian

I am deeply saddened by the tragic accident and the untimely departure of Landon. I met him on the very first tournament after I moved to Tucson in 2002. He was then a vibrant kid who always wore a dark suit at the tournaments. That always reminded me of an IM Ziatdinov, who was always true to his motto “chess is a profession, you need to look professional.” You could see Landon frequently outside playing “hacky-sack” with friends. I gradually got to know the Brownell family and I was deeply struck by how unique their view of life was and how talented they all were. I gathered the sense of “whatever is too normal is average and life is too short to be average” and saw everyone in the family strive for excellence and achievement. Quick wit is unique to the family and especially applied to Landon, his chess, and excellence in everything else he did. The Brownell family became an example of how to accomplish everything creatively and I always used Landon as a model for all my new chess students, players and their parents. He was very well rounded and had many other hobbies and interests. I bet many never knew that few years back he also won a Go championship that no other “Caucasian” has ever even come close to winning.

I became Landon’s chess coach I in 2005. It was a pure pleasure being his teacher because nothing impresses me more than a student who grasps your concepts, interprets them and applies them in his own way to accomplish the best possible results. Very quickly he was able to surpass most of his peers. His ICC (Chessclub.com) rating was usually hovering at around 2400-2500, which is not an easy rating to accomplish. What was very interesting to me is that at the State level, Landon and Vaishnav Aradhyula as well as John Cox and Chris De Sa were of about even level, each winning those titles a couple of times, but at the National level Landon was probably the only Arizona high school person capable of beating much higher rated people and therefore usually getting higher scores. I attribute it to his aggressive and fearless style, tactical ingenious and overall creativity. Robby Adamson and I still recall his quick win over now GM Lenderman by memorizing a very complicated line in one of the openings and twice being instrumental in Foothills High School team National victory. I’ll miss one of the most talented students I have ever had who also had one of the most complex and unique minds I have ever encountered. My deepest condolences go to the Brownell family.

SACA Logo Contest

2009-05-06T10:14:00.003-07:00

SACA is holding a contest to find a new logo. Along with being immortalized for all time (or until we need a new logo again) the winner of the contest will also earn $150. We are looking for a logo that will "be the face of SACA". Something that can be usable on our website, fliers, trophies, t-shirts, chess boards, etc. (Rumor* has it that Robby is thinking of getting a tattoo.)

What we're looking for:

A maximum of 3 colors.
No shading/fading effects.
The bigger the better (pixel size, please don't paint the side of a building).
The higher the resolution the better.
The logo does not have to have "SACA" in it. Feel free to invent the next "Swoosh".

Other contest rules:

Deadline for submission is June 13, 2009.
All entries submitted to SACA will become the property of SACA with all rights for use granted.
The preferred file format is png (The winner may be requested to provide additional formats.).
Hand-drawn entries are accepted, but ultimately they'll have to be "digitized".

Send all questions and entries here. If you have a hand-drawn entry, contact SACA and we'll figure our a way to get your entry to us.

* There is no truth to this rumor at all. Robby is not thinking about getting a tattoo... it's actually Jon Shacter who's thinking about it. :-)

Jenelle Wallace wins National Merit Scholarship

2009-05-06T07:52:00.004-07:00

Congratulations to Jenelle Wallace! Jenelle, a senior member for the CFHS chess team, was one of 5 local high school students to be awarded a $2,500 National Merit Scholarship.

The winners were culled from 15,000 finalists by a committee of educators that looked at a host of factors, from academic records to standardized-test scores, teacher recommendations and community activities.

This is the second of four rounds of scholarships to be announced.

Jenelle will be attending Stanford next fall. Best of luck to Jenelle and all seniors wherever you're headed in life.

Source: Arizona Daily Star

Monday morning humor

2009-05-04T10:16:00.001-07:00

A little something to start off your week.

Traveling with Catalina Foothills - Part 4

2009-05-01T15:00:00.001-07:00

Paul Gold traveled with the Catalina Foothills High School chess team to the recent SuperNationals IV. After an exciting three days (1, 2, 3...) of chess, Paul wraps up the last day at the tournament.

Day Four – 5 April

Today Kevin and I had a discussion about whether it is harder to play kids or adults and the resounding answer was kids! I found myself thinking more and more that opponent ratings are a good thing to ignore altogether, but especially when playing young people. For instance, I don't think that Eli's loss to a 1300 player in round two would have happened if that player was an adult, and the same goes for Andy and Kevin’s troubles paired down. Darn kids! This morning for the third straight day I got going with a large cup of strong coffee and cream, provided by the Egyptian ladies set up near Chess Control. God bless them. The round six pairings had a promising look to them on paper, most everyone pairing down, and the varsity team scored well. Sometimes pokey Sam quickly scored the first point, followed by wins by Eli, Andy and Jenelle, with Kevin making a draw. This was another one of Kevin’s missed opportunities that made Robby howl with frustration, but it was indeed late in the event and fatigue was markedly evident in the faces of the players. It was not as happy for the rest of the team – Jacqui had another long game on the wrong side of things, as did Michael. In the JV sections, Hugh and Jacob lost but Sangeetha came through with a win, leaving her with trophy chances intact for the last round.

Scores after six rounds:

Andy: 4
Eli: 3
Hugh: 1
Jacob: 2
Jacquelyn: 2
Jenelle: 3
Kevin: 4
Michael: 1.5
Sam: 4
Sangeetha: 4

Apparently Gilbert had had a disastrous sixth round, falling from 8th to 13th place in the current team standings, so that was something to note in the race for top AZ team. Foothills' good scoring in round six moved them from 11th to 7th place, making some kind of an end run the topic for Robby’s buoyant words to the kids delivered before the round. There was more credence to the "rating means nothing" theory as Jacqui would be paired in the final round against a player rated 600. I’d not spent too much time looking at it because Andy was the only Cat Foot player to sit up there on the stage, but top-ranked IM Robert Hess seemed to be doing his thing, sporting a 6-0 score going into the last round; must be cool to be able to stay on board one throughout the event. Hess would go on to be champion – I am told that a perfect score is rather rare in the top section.

Erwin and I had helped again with the pairing posting before the round, but we had also unwittingly agreed to hand out participation medals (a nice touch by the organizers) and collect tournament sets and boards as the players completed their games. I later found myself thinking "doh!" – it is always fine with me to help, but we got to see nothing of the games in progress, having to rely on translating the favorability of Robby's body language and facial expressions. But our work was appreciated by the USCF. Thank you still goes a long way in my book. [Ed. note - Thank you, thank you, thank you!]

The first player to finish was a shock – Andy, paired down as White, had somehow lost, and in one of his favorite openings…how could this be? Robby later explained that Andy's opponent had pulled off some kind of tactic, although Andy later said that it was not that great and that he had just missed it. This was a heavy blow, as Robby was counting on that point in particular. Still, the show goes on. And at least Andy was not as despondent as he seemed in earlier round losses. Sam made a draw paired up, finishing up a pretty nice event, a run that was continuing from his last USCF adult event, where he gained nearly 100 points. Eli finished with a win, completing a mini-comeback on the last day. After that, a long time passed before I finally saw another Cat Foot player. Behold! I finally set eyes on Jacob, who won his game. Hugh’s game was in progress nearby, and we were impressed at how long the game went; he would eventually lose, but seemed to enjoy being in Nashville with the team. Hugh is often very quiet, at least around me, but I also know that he really just learned to play chess this year. Sangeetha came in with a big winner’s smile, finishing with 5/7, which would indeed qualify her for some hardware. After that there was another long gap; eventually Michael finished with a draw. Jacqui fought to the bitter end – she lost but her competitive spirit was intact, seething through her teeth that "that game was the stupidest game I ever played!" This would leave just Jenelle out there. Since Leland Sanson could not make the trip due to illness, Jenelle was the lone senior, playing her final competitive high school chess game. I gave her a lot of credit. Her deliberate nature often made her the last Foothills player to finish. She would lose this game but a lot of effort was expended, as I saw it – she never gave up. Perhaps a bigger battle looms in her first year at Stanford in the fall.

Cat Foot would indeed best Gilbert – they placed 7th in the final standings, a half point and two places above Michael Reading’s team from the Phoenix area. Robby calculated that one more point would have vaulted Foothills into 4th place, pretty amazing when you consider the number of freshman on the team; perhaps motivation for next year. Before going down to attend the awards ceremony, Robby and Erwin gave some words to the kids about teamwork and that they should hold their heads high, maintaining the Catalina Foothills class act. I was heartened to see that the players listened respectfully and attentively. There is no doubt that they learned something about themselves in the past several days. After the awards, we all trouped over to the mall for a dinner – everyone seemed lighthearted and enjoying themselves. I got to sit next to IM Lev Altounian, finally meeting him. He is a very perceptive person, noting many subtle and interesting things about players, coaches and the Tucson chess scene.

Foothills with the 7th place hardware

Final individual scores:

Andy: 4
Eli: 4
Hugh: 2
Jacob: 3
Jacquelyn: 2
Jenelle: 3
Kevin: 4.5
Michael: 2
Sam: 4.5

I truly enjoyed the entire SuperNationals experience – it actually made me feel like playing tournament chess again – very good for the soul. And the kids? They will all be going places. I'm sure of that.

Your author impersonates a famous swimmer

Thank you Paul for the articles. We hope to read more about your adventures either on vacation or at the board!

Landon featured in Arizona Daily Star

2009-05-01T08:17:00.003-07:00

An article about Landon's life is in today's Arizona Daily Star.

This feature chronicles the lives of recently deceased Tucsonans. Some were well-known across the community. Others had an impact on a smaller sphere of friends, family and acquaintances. Many of these people led interesting — and sometimes extraordinary — lives with little or no fanfare. Now you'll hear their stories.

Life stories : Catalina Foothills graduate was a master — at chess and life

Traveling with Catalina Foothills - Part 3

2009-05-01T07:00:00.006-07:00

Paul Gold traveled with the Catalina Foothills High School chess team to the recent SuperNationals IV. The tournament is in full swing and nearly half-way done. Be sure to review Parts 1 and 2 to catch up on the action.

Day Three – 4 April

Erwin wrote out all of the pairings and to me it looked like an opportunity for the team to do some bouncing back. Robby was fidgeting about…he so wants performance! And that is how he gets it. To me the kids looked like they were ready to play a little now – we shall see if this translated into points. I needed to remember today to get Joel Benjamin to sign my copy of his book American Grandmaster, which I lugged from Tucson.

This was the big day with three rounds to play, so with a 9:00 AM start, no time for breakfast out. Erwin to the rescue – we had all sorts of fruit and chips and pretzels and soda – woo-hoo! Kevin was paired way down and was the first to win, followed by an important first win for Eli. Jacqui sacrificed a piece out of the opening but could not make the attack work and went down in flames, but hey, she had been paired up in every round. Andy’s game worried me because although he was reported to be doing well, his body language from afar was not so Andy-esque; normally he’s up and wandering but in this game he stayed seated and his opponent looked rather unconcerned. Later on I would pass him in the stairwell and he would say “terrible!”, but we later learned that he won a rook early in the game and then gave it back; he would eventually notch the point but was upset at having been sloppy and having to work so hard. Sam drew in a worse position paired down – his dad, Tom, said he is competitive enough to hate giving anything away so even avoiding what might have been a loss was not optimal. Sangeetha drew in the U1200 section, looking good with 2.5/3. Michael also made a draw but in a crazy way. Paired up against a 1900 he quickly got a bad game but then fought back and got two rooks for his queen; Robby and I thought he might be winning at some point but the half point was good, all things considered. Jacob got his first win but I could not be sure because I had not yet actually seen him. Hugh also picked up a point, but in a very weird way – he made eight moves and then his opponent left the board and did not return…oh well, nice and short! Last to finish was Jenelle, opining just that; to make matters worse she lost and looked pretty drained, but it was not long before she had her mega-watt smile turned on again as we headed to lunch.

I got my wish at the book signing and Joel Benjamin inscribed my copy of his book brought from home plus two more I purchased on the spot. He brightened when I asked him to sign one for Tal Shaked. I also get one signed for Ross Colby, who so kindly let me peck away at my computer in the Philadelphia School’s team room that morning. After dropping off the books, I joined the team for yet another pedestrian repast at Paisano’s, where I got a crummy little packaged salad and a slice of pizza for $9. The large national events always have a feedback session and I had a feeling that food was going to be one of the major topics of scrutiny. During lunch, Andy announced that he was going to take a shower so that he would feel his best up on the stage playing one of the big gun masters next round. It turned out that he would be paired against phenom Alec Getz and Robby feverishly got to work preparing an opening for him. Andy and Robby went on in the room this way several minutes past the start of the round, sacrificing a bit of playing time for an edge in knowledge. We shall see how this all panned out.

Scores after three rounds:

Andy: 3
Eli: 1
Hugh: 1
Jacob: 1
Jacquelyn: 1
Jenelle: 1
Kevin: 2
Michael: 1.5
Sam: 1
Sangeetha: 2.5

Round four had more ups and downs. Kevin continued to play back into form with another win, albeit paired down. Andy had his big moment on the stage with a demo board and all the trimmings. Robby’s prep worked like a charm as Getz played right into the line of the Scandinavian in question for more than a dozen moves. Indeed, the middle game looked promising for Andy and Robby remarked that he thought Andy “should not lose this one”. Beside the online lookup of opponent opening repertoires, Robby had other knowledge in hand, remembering how Getz had given up a draw to a much lower player in a key scholastic event in the last year, something he mentioned to Andy to bolster his confidence. In the end it was not to be. Andy played so well only to make a rather inexplicable miscalculation that handed over the game easily, although Robby did comment that by that time the position did seem better for Black. I passed Andy in the stairwell with a black storm cloud over his head – he took one look at me and muttered “terrible”; and then “I made a move that looked great – he cannot take because it is mate but then I forgot that he has his rook on that square and then I am lost.” Eli’s not-so-lucky streak continued and he would remain with just one win through four rounds. Sam and Jenelle put up points and Sangeetha lost, but she still seemed to be having a good time.

Scores after four rounds:

Andy: 3
Eli: 1
Hugh: 2
Jacob: 1
Jacquelyn: 1
Jenelle: 1
Kevin: 3
Michael: 1.5
Sam: 2
Sangeetha: 2.5

Prior to round five, Erwin and I did a bit of volunteer work, helping post the pairings and standings on the large boards in the skittles area and in front of the playing areas. This was fun and was a big help to the tournament staff in its small way. The work required a fight through the throng into the hall to post the last pairing list for one of the championship sections, and you needed another person with you just for crowd control to have any hope of getting the information up for those trying to crush the messenger. After that Erwin and I had dinner at the pub, a much appreciated hour of respite from the thrash of the tournament.

The final round of day two got underway. The first game I spied was Andy’s (paired down against an 1800 player) and it looked bad early on – he had traded his queen for a rook, bishop and pawn, but there was his opponent’s passed pawn. After Andy lost I again ran into him in the hallway as he headed upstairs to the room. He was so down it made me feel terrible. “I got bored in that game and blitzed off a bunch of moves”, he said. “I think I might not be able to play tomorrow because I will just lose every game I play”. Ugh. Kevin’s game would be one of the last to finish and he would make a not-so-satisfying draw, but nevertheless a half point forward for the team. Eli bounced back with a win, and I hoped he might be starting a little streak. Sangeetha played to a draw, keeping her hopes for a high score in the JV section alive. Sam won his game to quietly move to 3/5. Jenelle lost paired up – when we looked at her game she seemed tired to me; tough to keep stoked for the duration. Jacqui is still learning her openings, and found herself in a bad way early on in her game, but fought back to a drawish position late in the game; then came The Miracle, courtesy of her opponent, who played the only move that handed over the gladly accepted goods.

Scores after five rounds:

Andy: 3
Eli: 2
Hugh: 2
Jacob: 2
Jacquelyn: 2
Jenelle: 2
Kevin: 3.5
Michael: 1.5
Sam: 3
Sangeetha: 3

I close the recounting of the second day of play reflecting on Robby’s team meeting in which he said to the players “Yeah, we are not where we would like to be. But we still need to push and do as well as we possibly can. And if we don’t do better, then we are going to lose to Gilbert, and we better not!” None of this was said with any malice – just a little in-state rivalry at work. I have to say that I loved this tack; reminded me of the scene from The Lord of the Rings, where the king accepts that his much smaller force cannot defeat the bad guys, and he says “True, we cannot defeat Sauron’s army (pregnant pause), but we will meet them in battle nonetheless!” At this point in our story, Gilbert was in 8th place with a one point team aggregate lead over Catalina Foothills, in 11th place.

Robby's Saturday team meeting

Join us for the exciting conclusion of Paul's trip to Nashville with the Catalina Foothills High School chess team.

Traveling with Catalina Foothills - Part 2

2009-04-30T09:24:00.004-07:00

Paul Gold traveled with the Catalina Foothills High School chess team to the recent SuperNationals IV. Paul continues his journey from Day 1 with this second installment of his recap from Nashville, TN.

Day Two – 3 April
As I wrote this on the morning prior to the opening ceremonies at the Grand Old Opry House, followed by the SuperNationals tournament proper, I thought I should say a few words about the site itself. The Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Resort was one of the largest hotels I had ever seen, with some 2800+ hotel rooms and seemingly endless conference space – perfect for this kind of event. The structure was a series of floors of sleeping rooms that face inward toward lush atriums, gardens and even an indoor waterway, capped by a glassed ceiling hundreds of feet above. This created a dramatic feeling when one first entered. The grounds were truly labyrinthine, although there were good maps everywhere…still, it was very easy to get turned around and lost – good thing we coordinated cell phones to stay connected. There were a number of eateries in the place but you could go to the Opryland Mall as well for a bite.

There is even an indoor boat ride.

On the way back from another breakfast/lunch at the mall, we stopped in at the Grand Old Opry building to catch the opening ceremony speeches, punctuated by some fine words from astronaut Greg Chamitoff. The main attraction was former World Champion Garry Kasparov, who remarked that he remembered being a scholastic player in large events and that the thing he hated the most was opening ceremonies (with respect to the organizers – big laughs). But truly he understood that the players come to play chess, as much and as soon as possible!

Before the opening round I dropped into the enormous bookseller and chess booth area, where I was delighted to locate Chess Life editor Dan Lucas by pure chance. Dan and I (and Robby) had carried on a lengthy running conversation for months as The Wavemaster article was generated and edited. I always imagine people as looking a certain way that is consistently incorrect, sometimes comically, though for some reason I had not developed a mental picture of Dan – perhaps this was because we never actually spoke, all of our contact being online. It turned out that Dan is a tennis player – he lives in Atlanta and was here with his son. Dan was articulate and a good listener and I found him to be immediately warm and accessible.

Today would be the start of the tournament, with rounds at 1:00 PM and 7:00 PM. It was expected that maybe 350 players (~50 teams) would compete in the K-12 Championship section and that the Foothills team would be challenged right off the bat – while Eli’s 1894 rating ranked him 95th, the accelerated pairings would likely pair him up in the first round – this is known as being “on the split”, in Swiss system terminology. This turned out to be true, Eli pairing up to play a 2200 player. At the end of the round, Jacquelyn led the charge with an upset over a 1600-rated player, while the rest of the player pairings held form, the exception being a tough loss for Kevin paired down. Robby worried this result a lot, tempered by the fact that Kevin did not make any really obvious mistakes and that his opponent played strongly. So the team got off to a not-so-roaring start, but not so bad either.

Between rounds I wandered over to visit GM Tal Shaked, a famous chess acquaintance from his playing days in Tucson – Tal is now a software engineer for Google, 31 years old and engaged to be married. He gave up his chess playing career at the age of 21; how many people can you think of that would eschew something they do at world class level at such an early age? I figured Tal must often be in some kind of a twilight zone, indelibly known for his GM status, however, inactive as a player. Tal was voluble, articulate and just downright friendly – I enjoyed talking with him very much. We had lunch together and shared a bit of catching up along with some editorializing commentary on the folks we know in common, critical but kindhearted.

We stopped by the team room in which Ross Colby was holding forth – Tal is here to help analyze games with Ross’ players. Ross is another old home Tucson favorite, now living in Philadelphia, teaching philosophy at the university level. Ross was busy with his kids but we had a few minutes to share and he quickly asked about his omission from the Wavemaster article – I hate having to miss important people – I knew we could not include everyone. But Ross was very kind and funny and knew all of that – still he got in a little dig about being a chess teacher long before Robby and to note that influence. Ross is a wonderful teacher with a razor sharp wit and intellect to boot.

Round two results were pretty grim for the Cat Foot team – not too many points to tally at the end; Robby would note that after this round the team was in 9th place. Kevin recovered nicely from his first round trouble with a hard fought win. The diagram below shows a critical position.

Kevin just played Re4. See how this wins?

Andy remained in the best form this round, winning quickly. Poor Eli suffered a loss paired way down – he is such a smart person that I could only attribute fatigue to his poor play. Sam lost paired down, holding a worse position for a long time – I believe this tenacity will pay dividends in his chess and life (he held a 2000 player to a draw in round 1). Jacquelyn’s upset streak would halt in this round, but she still stood well with 1 out of 2 paired up. Jenelle would hold out to the last paired up but also eventually lost. Michael won in round one but had an oversight or two that led to a loss in round two.

Scores after two rounds:

Andy: 2
Eli: 0
Hugh: 0
Jacob: 0
Jacquelyn: 1
Jenelle: 1
Kevin: 1
Michael: 1
Sam: ½
Sangeetha: 2

The first day at nationals was closed out with a sighting of Ed Friesen, an old friend of Ken Larsen’s and someone I knew when he lived in Tucson, 20 years ago. I just did not recognize him – we are all getting old! Ed and his wife are ministers in the Nashville area.

Join us again soon as Paul continues his adventure at SuperNationals IV with the Catalina Foothill High School chess team.

Chess Fest is Saturday May 2

2009-04-30T08:01:00.003-07:00

The 2nd Annual 9 Queens Chess Fest is this Saturday, downtown at the Hotel Congress. The Chess Fest is a nontraditional chess tournament that offers everyone, regardless of age or experience level, an opportunity to experience the benefits of chess. Activities will start at noon and will last until about 8:30 pm.

Activities include:

Blitz (G/5) tournament
Human Chess Match played out on a life-size board,
Blindfold chess exhibition provided by members of the Arizona Chess Team,
Free chess workshops and lessons taught by two-time national chess champions from Catalina Foothills High School,
Blitz chess tournament free for all children under age of 18
Chess and Hola Hooping Expo
"Honor the Queen" chess art exhibit featuring pieces renditions of the chess queen donated by local artists, chess players, and 9 Queens students

Registration for the blitz tournament is free to all if done by 8:00 pm on Friday. After that, kids are still free but adults will be charged a fee.

All proceeds from the Chess Fest will benefit 9 Queens, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering under-served and under-represented populations through chess.

Arizona Daily Star article on Chess Fest
Tucson Citizen article on Chess Fest

Danny Rensch featured on Chess Life Online

2009-04-30T01:17:00.002-07:00

FM Daniel Rensch writes about earning his second IM norm, and his plans to earn the Grandmaster title. He also gives us insight into an unexpected detour at the height of his confidence. Daniel is the president of American Chess Events, which is hosting the Cooper State International (Mesa, Arizona, May 29-June 3).

Honoring Landon

2009-04-29T14:00:00.002-07:00

The SACA Merit Scholarships were started in 2004. Their purpose "is to provide support to Southern Arizona scholastic chess players who have demonstrated excellence in chess and a desire to further their chess development." SACA wants to support the young chess players in our community so that they may develop not only as chess players, but also as young adults who'll help promote chess to the community.

Landon Brownell was a member of the 2004 inaugural class. An eighth-grader at the time, Landon's peak rating was 1821. By the next year, it was 2050. In 2006, he won the high school national title and achieved a master rating of 2265. Landon continued to excel and was awarded the scholarship every year through his senior year of high school.

Beyond playing chess very well, Landon was also an ambassador of the game. He was a leader to his teammates whom he helped encourage and improve. He was a sportsman to his opponents who could always expect a friendly, courteous game and even some of his time after the game to review it. But most importantly, Landon was a friend to all he came in contact with. When news of his passing came, heartfelt comments and cherished memories came from players, coaches and parents not only in Southern Arizona, but throughout the state and the country.

SACA would be hard-pressed to find another individual who is a better example of a scholastic player that we wish to support and encourage with the Merit Scholarships. It is for that reason, that SACA has decided to rename the SACA Merit Scholarships to the Landon Brownell Memorial Scholarships; in his memory and in the hope that others can still be encouraged by a light that was extinguished too soon.

Traveling with Catalina Foothills - Part 1

2009-04-29T10:44:00.007-07:00

Paul Gold traveled with the Catalina Foothills High School chess team to the recent SuperNationals IV. Here is Part 1 of his recap of that event through the eyes of a non-player, non-coach, non-parent, man on "vacation!"

Chaotic. That is the word I am able to summon to describe how I felt about accompanying the Catalina Foothills high school chess team to the SuperNationals, the granddaddy of all scholastic chess events. Coach Robby Adamson and his team from Tucson were the subjects of an article I wrote for the March issue of Chess Life magazine. This is the sequel, Wavemaster II, The Movie, if you will, the generation of which required a trip to Nashville to experience the frenetic excitement of 5000 kids ready to push wood for national hardware.

It is not like I had never been to an event like this before – I was a floor TD for the Kansas City version of this event in 2001. And I have organized a great number of large scholastic events over the years. But this year’s tournament just felt like a monster; again, kind of unexplainable because for the very first time I was not the organizer, TD or coach, nor did I hold any kind of position of any responsibility. I was (gulp) on vacation! And I was strenuously trying to avoid being myself for the next five days, because if I attend this event as me, I might just not have that much fun. So my goal was to unclench my fussy little fist for the next four days and just let it all happen. I wanted to observe everything and control nothing.

Robby had indeed made the necessary airline bookings and hotel reservations. And we were in the capable company of chess parent Erwin De Sa, veteran of numerous scholastic chess wars. I cannot tell you how invaluable he was, knowing this particular site and exactly how to handle the logistical eccentricities surrounding young chess players. We arrived as planned in Nashville on Wednesday night and by the time we had checked into the Gaylord Opryland Resort, it was about 12:30 AM. Robby accommodated me nicely, putting Kevin Zhang and Eli Alster (two of the more quiet players) into our room. Another room contained our female contingent (Jenelle Wallace, Sangeetha Pugazhendi, and Jacquelyn De Sa) and the final room was inhabited by the redoubtable Erwin plus Michael Reed, Hugh Chen and the one and only Andy Lin. Two more players would join us the next night (Sam Cotter and Jacob Kreiger); traveling and rooming with their respective parents.

Day One – 2 April
The rooming arrangement went swimmingly and I was pleasantly surprised to get in maybe 5 hours of sleep before I rose on Thursday morning. There would be two chess events that day – the bughouse tournament at 11:00 AM and the blitz at 5:00 PM, otherwise a nice day to acclimate and case the joint. In the end only Kevin played on a bug team, paired up with his friend Randel Eng from the Phoenix area. They would finish 17th, which was telling in respect to the strength of the field – Randel is rated 1950 and Kevin around 2150. They seemed to really enjoy playing, which was heartening in a national event where the kids, coaches and even parents can get mighty serious.

A number of the kids trouped with Erwin and I across the street to the Opryland Mall for some food before the bug. It was late by that time so we all ate lunch for breakfast. Then things seemed to open up for the rest of the day, the kids exploring the enormous hotel grounds, while Erwin went out for snacks. Then, just less than an hour before the start of the blitz tournament, we heard an announcement telling us to go to the nearest secure area because of a tornado warning. We all filed out of our rooms and huddled in a marked area, waiting for the all clear notification. Jenelle had brought her laptop and we were able to see the red zone on the map near Nashville on the National Weather Service site. We did not have that when I was a kid!

Along the way I had already encountered some of the chess folks to make this kind of an "old home week" for me. The very first people I saw manning the check-in table for the bug event were none other than Tucson chess organizers Kiki Huerta and Karen Pennock. I sidled up to the table and asked if I could be paired into the bug event and that I would need a partner. Kiki directed me to "the eighth grader in the suit" and I got my handshake and chat with Jon Shacter, now working at Raytheon, where both Erwin and I are employed in Tucson. Jon is one of those rare kids who became a tournament official – he also maintains the SACA website. A little hard for me to take the slight graying at the temples, I must say – was it not yesterday that he was 12 years old?! I got a really warm hug from Kim Cramer, the High Priestess of Chess Control, and my "evil twin" also stopped in with a grin, NTD Robert Tanner. I think I surprised Harry Sabine with my "remember me?" but he eventually did, though I noticed he was without his signature neon high-top sneakers. I spotted head NTD Robert Singletary busy on his cell phone, so I would have to get my salutation in with him a little later.

Kevin Zhang prior to the start of the Blitz tournament

Most of the Cat Foot kids entered into the blitz tournament – in fact, the pre-reg list was HUGE for a side event at 900 players. Unfortunately, the tornado warning delayed the start by some 40 minutes, time that would be needed in the end. Kevin, Andy, Eli, Michael, Sangeetha, Jacquelyn and Jenelle started their clocks, with me, Hugh, Erwin and Robby in the cheering section. The plan was for a six-round tournament, where you play two games (one White, one Black) for a total of 12 points possible. The team tally adds up the best four scores. Things went along more or less as one might guess until the second to last round when it was announced that the tournament would comply with the USCF rule that no final round can start later than 9:30 PM, a decision made years back when this kind of event went long into the night, tiring the players before the main event. So if the tournament runs late, the TDs can truncate the last round - you only play five rounds instead of six. Those of us watching figured there was no way we could get in that last round since we never recovered the lost time due to the weather. Michael was sure of this enough to head back to the room after his fifth round match…and then came the announcement that there would be a sixth round. Around 9:20 PM, Michael was still in his hotel room – he actually made it back to the tournament hall just in time to confirm his forfeiture (ouch). In the end the team scored very well anyway, placing second behind Thomas Jefferson, who lapped the field by three full points! Andy, Kevin and Eli all scored 9/12, with the surprising Jacquelyn contributing 6.5 points for the final tally.

After a slice of pizza, the team dispersed, most for their rooms. Robby and I repaired to the Irish pub for a drink with Jon Shacter, where we philosophized on many subjects and of course, chess. We sat outside the pub and more familiar folks stopped by to say hello, most notably for me, Carol Jarecki, who had flown her own plane in, as she often does. I will also mention that during the blitz I did a small bit of work with Jon Shacter and Robert Singletary, setting up the Junior High ballroom for the start of the tournament the next day. During this time Robert told me what he is up to – still doing CPA work in Raleigh, NC, but he is also the CFO of the American Lung Association, where he lives in Ohio. Add to this his peripatetic chess work and his family life and you have a lot on the plate. Robert is truly a top-shelf act – not only ambitious and successful, but one of the really nice chess people. I always enjoy seeing him – I just wish he did not look so tired!

That wraps-up Day 2 and Part 1 of our series. Look for Part 2 to appear soon with Paul's continuing adventures on vacation.

Landon Brownell (1989 - 2009)

2009-04-22T09:27:00.007-07:00

It is with deep regret and sadness that we report the passing of Landon Brownell. We were informed yesterday by Landon's father, Roger Brownell, of his passing.

Landon Brownell passed away this morning in a single car accident as he was driving home from his brother Bryant's wedding. He will be remembered by all as a loving brother, son, grandson, and friend. Your prayers are welcome during this time. He is with the Lord.

Landon was a former scholastic player in our community. He participated on the Orange Grove middle school and Catalina Foothills high school teams during his time here in Tucson. He helped lead his teams to 4 National Championships in 5 years. Individually, Landon achieved a ranking of national master, he was the Arizona High School champion twice, and the National High School champion in 2006.

Beyond the individual honors however - and most importantly - Landon cared about others and was a dedicated member of the team. As his school coach at Catalina Foothills High School, I witnessed first-hand Landon embracing the team concept, often without prompting by anyone. To prepare for Nationals over the years, Landon and his father, Roger, would invite students from Foothills, regardless of their ability, over to their home on the weekends to play training games with each other. Landon would review the games with his teammates, always in a gentle and constructive manner, regardless of result. - Robby Adamson

Landon was more than just an accomplished chess player. He was an accomplished young man and a role model to people of all ages. Landon and his family have touched many lives in our community and he will always be remembered.

Donations, in memory of Landon, are being accepted by the Southern Arizona Chess Association (SACA), P.O. Box 42407, Tucson, AZ 85733.

Robby Adamson remembers on Landon Brownell
Michael Aigner remembers Landon Brownell

David Adelberg article in Arizona Republic

2009-04-14T10:56:00.003-07:00

One of Arizona's best juniors of all time, and SACA tournament regular, had a great piece about him written up in this weekend's Arizona Republic.

A chess prodigy, he is ranked fifth in the nation for his age. Adelberg, who already has had success in tournaments on national and international chess stages, is on the verge of breaking an Arizona record.

In the next months, Adelberg is expected to earn the status of National Master by the United States Chess Federation, a title previously held by Daniel Rensch at age 14. A National Master is someone who has a chess federation rating of 2200 and has demonstrated enough skill that they can usually beat chess experts and almost always prevail against amateurs.

Source: Arizona Republic

Eastside Chess Club visits IHOP

2009-04-06T10:20:00.003-07:00

The Eastside Chess Club will be visiting the International House of Pancakes, Grant & Rosemont, on April 8 and 15 during the holiday closure of the Jewish Community Center (JCC). There will be skittles and a free blitz event.

The Eastside Chess Club will resume at the JCC on April 22 to start off the Action G/30 event.

Also coming up May 13 is the anniversary party.

Please see the posted flyers for all upcoming events.

2008-2009 SACA All-Star Awards

2009-03-31T21:22:00.004-07:00

This weekend at the Tucson Scholastics (RQ2), SACA announced this year's recipients of the scholastic All-Star Awards. The awards are in recognition to the players who not only perform well at tournaments, but also those that compete at the highest levels against the toughest competition. Congratulations to the 2008-2009 All-Stars!

Primary:
1. Ethan Li (Lineweaver)
2. Sreekar Bommireddy (Lineweaver)
3. Benjamin Hall (St. Joseph)
4. Zak Cancio (Khalsa Montessori)
5. Shaun Brennan (Harelson)
6. Daniel Shevelev (Manzanita)
7. Leamon Crooms (Castlehill CDS)

Elementary:
1. Thomas Mathine (Greenfields CDS)
2. Derek Chen (Harelson)
3. Rohan Mittal (Harelson)
4. Sumhith Aradhyula (Canyon View)
5. Grayson Barnes (Greenfields CDS)
6. Dylan South (Corbett)
7. Xiexin Wang (Lineweaver)

Junior High:
1. Justin Arnold (Orange Grove)
2. Kinsleigh Wong (Esperero)
3. Bowen Wang (BASIS)
4. Kohta Isoe (Doolen)
5. Steven Pennock (Orange Grove)
6. Yurika Isoe (Doolen)
7. Jimmy Zipperian (St. Gregory)

Honorable Mention: Josh Pennock (Orange Grove)

Complete rules and previous years' recipients are available on the SACA website.

Tucson Scholastics (RQ2) wrap-up

2009-03-30T07:25:00.002-07:00

The Tucson Scholastics (RQ2) was this weekend at Harelson Elementary. Over 200 players participated in the final scholastic tournament of the SACA season.

Final standings are available for all seasons. The tournament has been rated, and players can see their new (unofficial) ratings.

K-1 Qualifier and K-1 Team
K-3 Qualifier and K-3 Team
K-6 Qualifier and K-6 Team
K-9 Qualifier and K-9 Team
K-6 Championship
K-12 Championship

It has been a great season, and we look forward to seeing everyone at the State Scholastic Championship. Thank you to all the players, parents, coaches, and tournament directors that made the season a great one.

Tucson Scholastics (RQ2) this weekend - UPDATED

2009-03-27T20:00:00.001-07:00

Don't miss out on the last scholastic tournament of the season!

This Saturday at Harelson Elementary is the Tucson Scholastic (RQ2) tournament. This will be the final scholastic tournament in Tucson for the season. This is also the last chance in Southern Arizona to qualify for the State Scholastic Championship being held in Gilbert, AZ on April 25-26.

All-star awards will be presented prior to Round 4.

Registration for RQ2 is available online at the SACA Website. If you have any questions, contact Enrique.

UPDATE: (Final pre-reg list is up!!!)
Here are the pre-registration lists for RQ2 sorted by player's name and by team name. Please check to see if your registration was received and if all information is correct. If there are any problems, please contact Enrique.

State Champion of Champions tournament this weekend

2009-03-27T15:42:00.002-07:00

Levon Altounian will represent Arizona this week on ICC for the State Champion of Champions tournament. Current state champions from around the country are separated into 4 "zones" (Ed: Don't ask me how South Carolina is in the same "zone" as Arizona.) with the winners of each zone facing off next weekend. Up for grabs is the final spot in the 2009 US Championship.

State champions from Alaska through California to Hawaii and from Maine through to New York and Florida will come together as one over the internet on Saturday, March 28th at chessclub.com for this unique online tournament, with the four qualifying conference winners going forward to the knockout finals on the weekend of April 4th-5th.

Apart from the attraction of one of the final spots up for grabs at what promises to be a memorable U.S. Chess Championship with a prize fund exceeding $130,000, the winner will also receive the title of State Champion of Champions, a round trip ticket to St. Louis and a glass trophy designed by The Stained Glass Store of Des Moines, Idaho.

You can watch the games online at the ICC.

Official website.

Aronian wins 2009 Amber tournament

2009-03-26T17:29:00.002-07:00

GM Levon Aronian defended his title by winning the 2009 Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament in Nice, France. Aronian finished with a combined score of 14 points to finish a half-point ahead of Anand and Kramnik.

The 18th Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament, organized by the Association Max Euwe in Monaco, is taking place from March 14 (first round) to March 26 (last round) at the Palais de la Mediterranée, splendidly located on the famous Promenade des Anglais in Nice. The total prize fund is € 216,000. The rate of play is 25 minutes per game per player. With every move made in the blindfold games 20 seconds is added to the clock, with every move made in the rapid games 10 seconds is added. Every day four sessions are played: two blindfold and two rapid games. The first session starts at 14.30h. The fourth session finishes around 20.00h. (Note: the final round on March 26 starts at 12.30h. March 18 and 23 are rest days).

A complete wrap-up is available on ChessBase.com.

All rapid and blindfold games are available on ChessGames.com.

9 Queens announces upcoming chess academy dates

2009-03-25T17:24:00.003-07:00

Jean Hoffman has announced dates for 9 Queens free Chess Academy. The Chess Academy is a free chess workshop for women and girls. All ages and abilities are welcome.

Dates:
Sunday April 19
Sunday May 10
Sunday June 14
Time: 2-4 pm
Location: Bookmans on Speedway (6230 E Speedway on
corner of Wilmot)

9 Queens is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering women and at-risk youths through chess. For more information, contact Jean.

2009 US Championship contenders announced

2009-03-24T15:00:00.004-07:00

USCF announced today 23 of the 24 players that will be participating in this year's US Championship. The US Championship will be held May 7-17, hosted by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The winner will receive $35,000 of the overall prize fund of $130,000.

The 24 players will include:

the top 12 American players by rating, using the April rating supplement;

Varuzhan Akobian, Julio Becerra, Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, Jaan Ehlvest, Boris Gulko, Ildar Ibragimov, Gregory Kaidanov, Gata Kamsky, Melikset Khachiyan, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Onischuk

the top two female players by rating, using the April rating supplement;

Irina Krush, Anna Zatonskih

the 2008 U.S. Junior Closed Champion;

Tyler Hughes

the 2008 U.S. Open Champion;

Enrico Sevillano

the 2009 U.S. State Champion of Champions;

the 2008 defending U.S. Chess Champion;

Yury Shulman

a total of six wild card spots.

Michael Brooks, Josh Friedel, Robert Hess, Charles Lawton, Ray Robson, Alexander Shabalov

The final spot will go to the winner of the Champion of Champions tournament, which pits all the state champions against each other on the Internet Chess Club.

State champions from Alaska through California to Hawaii and from Maine through to New York and Florida will come together as one over the internet on Saturday, March 28th at chessclub.com for this unique online tournament, with the four qualifying conference winners going forward to the knockout finals on the weekend of April 4th-5th.

IM Levon Altounian, who won the Tucson Open, will represent Arizona in this tournament.

Blitzing March (G/5) at Eastside Chess Club

2009-03-23T13:14:00.003-07:00

The Eastside Chess Club is hosting a Blitz tournament this Wednesday.

Description: 5 round double Swiss tournament in one section. Non-rated. Open to all. USCF membership not required. USCF regular ratings will be used for pairing purposes.

Schedule: Registration 6:15–7:00 PM on 3/25. First round begins at 7:15 PM. Other rounds as available. Time control G/5 minutes. Clock move. No delay. No byes.

Entry Fees: $5. JCC requires per night payment of $2 adults, $1 under 18 from non-JCC members. Free entry to players rated 2200 & above, along with the JCC fee waived.

A flier is available on the SACA website. For more information, contact John Wright.

The Eastside Chess Club meets Wednesday nights from 6:00pm to 10:00pm at the Tucson Jewish Community Center (JCC) located on River Rd. and Dodge Blvd.

West is Best in Amateur Team Playoffs

2009-03-23T10:52:00.004-07:00

Over the Valentine's Day weekend four (East, North, South, and West) national team tournaments were held. The top teams from each of the tournaments faced-off this weekend in a single elimination tournament played over the Internet. The team from the West "ACA Beasts" was led by 17-year-old NM John Daniel Bryant, talented young experts 14-year-old Michael Yee, 15-year-old Vincent Huang and Santy Wong.

The 2009 U.S. Amateur Team Playoffs held March 21 on World Chess Live were filled with excitement, drama and even a dose of madness that the month of March usually reserves for college basketball.

In the end, after a day of thrilling chess that included sudden death tiebreaker matches to decide the semi-final and championship rounds, the West team, "ACA Beasts!" came away with this year's U.S. Amateur Team National Championship by defeating the South team "My Girl Is Pissed!"!

Read the complete story at USCF.

Alien vs. Predator

2009-03-20T12:02:00.003-07:00

When you've directed as many tournaments as I have, you learn to spot a "trouble" match-up early on.

I don't care that the board is set up wrong, I'm not going over there!!!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Regional Championships

2009-03-19T13:07:00.003-07:00

This passed weekend at Sierra Middle School was the Regional Championships (RQ1) chess tournament. Over 220 players participated in the 5-round event in 4 sections based on grade (K-1, K-3, K-6 and K-9). This was also the first opportunity in Southern Arizona for players to try to qualify for the State Scholastic Championship which will be held April 25-26 in Gilbert, AZ.

Region Champions:

K-1 Individual:
1st Place - Kennan Gaibel (Harelson Elementary) 5-0
2nd Place - Davis Mullins (Hermosa Montessori) 4.5-.5
3rd Place - Kyle Plumb (Neely Elementary) 4-1

K-1 Teams:
1st Place - Hermosa Montessori 15 pts
2nd Place - Castlehill Country Day School 12.5 pts.
3rd Place - St. Cyril's 12 pts.

K-3 Individual:
1st Place - Sreekar Bommireddy (Lineweaver Elementary) 5-0
2nd Place - Daniel de la Fuente (Castlehill Country Day School) 4.5-.5
3rd Place - Jacob Vanderleeuw (St. Cyril's) 4-1

K-3 Teams:
1st Place - St. Cyril's 13.5 pts.
2nd Place - Lineweaver Elementary 12 pts.
3rd Place - St. Joseph's 11 pts.

K-5 Individual:
1st Place - Ethan Li (Lineweaver Elementary) 5-0
2nd Place - Rohan Mittal (Harelson Elementary) 4.5-.5
3rd Place - Bohan Li (Lineweaver Elementary) 4-1

K-5 Teams:
1st Place - BASIS 15 pts.
2nd Place - Lineweaver Elementary 14.5 pts.
3rd Place - Khlasa Montessori 13.5 pts.

K-9 Individual:
1st Place - Kinsleigh Wong (Esperero Middle School) 5-0
2nd Place - Peter Angeli (Orange Grove Middle School) 4.5-.5
3rd Place - Yurila Isoe (Doolen Middle School) 4-1

K-9 Teams:
1st Place - Orange Grove Middle School 15.5 pts.
2nd Place - Doolen Middle School 13 pts.
3rd Place - BASIS 11 pts.

A complete list of standings for all sections is available on the SACA website. The next chance to qualify for the State Scholastic Championship is the Tucson Scholastics (RQ2) on March 28. Register now!

GM Prasad and GM Panchanathan take on The Dragon

2009-03-19T12:58:00.003-07:00

Continuing with their weekly review of openings on Chess.com, GM Prasad and GM Panchanathan are reviewing the Sicilian Dragon variation this week with Karjakin - Radjabov (2008).

Being one of the riskiest of choices, the Dragon has never enjoyed a consistent popularity among the top grand masters. It was used only occasionaly as a surpise weapon at the top level. One of our all time chess greats, Garry Kasparov surprised our current world champion Viswanathan Anand in their PCA world championship match in 1995 by employing this opening with very good results. The Dragon, which has been dormant for a while now, has started resurfacing at the top level thanks to our young grand masters Magnus Carlsen and Teimour Rajdabov.

Previously they have looked at the Sicilian Najdorf and the Ruy Lopez. And don't forget, if you enjoy Chess.com and decide to join, don't forget to tell them that EJ sent you. :)

Chess as art

2009-03-18T13:30:00.002-07:00

Take a look at this YouTube clip! Someone created a stop motion animation of a very exciting game of chess. I hope you enjoy!

Trivia Bonus: Any movie buffs out there that recognize the game?

10-year old wins Utah State Chess Championship

2009-03-17T16:07:00.003-07:00

Media outlets from around the country are abuzz with news about Kayden Troff, just 10 years old, winning the Utah Game/60 Championship.

A 10-year-old West Jordan boy has won the 2009 Utah Game/60 Chess Championship — and he could be ranked first in the nation in his age group.

Kayden Troff won $120 in prize money Saturday and has been invited to attend U.S. Chess School this summer.

10-Year-Old Boy Wins Utah Chess Tournament [www.fox13now.com]
10-year-old West Jordan boy wins Utah chess tournament, has a bright future [Seattle Times]
10-year-old wins Utah State Chess Championship [www.ksl.com]

Complete Schedule for SuperNationals IV is posted

2009-03-16T15:51:00.000-07:00

USCF has posted the complete schedule of events for SuperNationals IV. Check it out to see when your favorite GM is doing a simul or there's a lecture you wish to attend.

SuperNationals is April 3-5 in Nashville, TN. Players can still register for the event. Hotel space is running out fast! (Note: There are parents here in Southern Arizona, that have extra room reservations available if anyone is interested. Contact Enrique.)

13-year old wins Western Chess Congress

2009-03-16T15:34:00.001-07:00

Michael Aigner writes about Daniel Naroditsky's impressive result in Concord. The Western Chess Congress was a 5 round "adult" tournament with a total prize fund of over $10,000.

However, one junior stood taller than all of the rest. Always short for his age, former World U12 champion FM Daniel Naroditsky, now 13 years old, has grown in more ways than one over the past year. In Concord, he proved that he was the man to beat, transforming from a shy player with a mid-2300 rating into a confident champion with the composure of a veteran professional.

IM Mark Ginsburg also attended the event and finisted tied for 2nd place. David Adelberg, rated 2122, turned in an impressive performance rating of 2438!

Read the complete article on the USCF website.

The Ruy Lopez by GM Prasad and GM Panchanathan

2009-03-13T14:22:00.003-07:00

GM Prasad and GM Panchanathan have written an article on Chess.com that gives a basic overview of one of the most popular openings of all time. They analyze the game Karpov-Unzicker (1974) to illustrate the common strategy of the Ruy Lopez.

Here it is, the Ruy Lopez opening for white. Other than white's direct threat of capturing the Knight on c6 and taking the e5 pawn, white in the long term decides to keep his bishop on the queen side. Notice that keeping the bishop on the queenside does not mean that it has nothing to do with the king side. White's light squared bishop is used along the a2-g8 diagonal as well as the b1-h7 diagonal defending against black's future f5 ideas.

One of the basic traits of this opening is the possibility to play on both sides of the board, particularly when the center gets closed.

This is the second article in their weekly series. They have also done a similar article for the Sicilian Najdorf.

Chess.com is a website that offers live as well as online (similar to correspondence chess) chess games. Additionally, they also offer news and other articles regarding chess from all over the world. Membership is free and there is a premium membership option (for a fee). Be sure to tell them that EJ sent you.

2009 U.S. Women's Chess Championship

2009-03-12T15:52:00.002-07:00

USCF has announced details on this year's US Women's Chess Championship. The tournament will be a held Oct. 2 - 12 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis in St. Louis, Missouri.

The U.S. Women's Chess Championship dates back to 1937. The tournament is a 9-round event using the Round Robin pairing system, in which every player plays every other player and the highest score wins. Time controls will be the classical 40 moves in two hours, with the remaining moves in one hour. There will also be a 5-second increment per move.

Invitations will be sent to the top nine U.S. women players by ranking based on the August 2009 United States Chess Federation rating list. An invitation will also be sent to the defending champion, Olympic gold medalist Anna Zatonskih. The championship will have a purse of $64,000, with $15,000 awarded to the winner, the highest first prize in its history. In case of even scores, prize funds will be evenly divided between winners.

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis also is the site of the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship, which will take place from May 7 through 17. The details of that tournament, including a $64,000 Fischer Memorial Prize, were announced earlier this year.

Regional Championship tournament is this weekend

2009-03-11T17:18:00.004-07:00

Just a reminder that the Regional Championship (RQ 1) is this weekend at Sierra Middle School. The tournament is 5 rounds and is SACA rated. There are 4 sections: K-1, K-3, K-6, and K-9. The first round is at 9:00am and the tournament should be over by 5:30pm.

Coaches need to register your teams by Thursday evening (or Friday is your team meets on Friday). Teams and players without a coach need to register by Thursday as well. Required information is player's name, school, grade and section; along with any .5 point bye requests.

The State Scholastic Championship is April 25-26 in Gilbert, AZ. In order to play at State, players must qualify at a Regional Qualifer. This tournament is the first Regional Qualifier in Southern Arizona this year. The next (last) one will be March 28 at Harelson Elementary.

If you have any questions, please contact Enrique.

Foothills Open Spring wrap-up

2009-03-11T14:30:00.006-07:00

The Foothills Open Spring tournament was held last Saturday at Manzanita Elementary. Robby Adamson reports that 50 players participated in the 4-round event. Players were separated into 5 sections (Championship, Reserve, Booster, K-6 and K-3).

Top Prizes:

Championship:
1 Reed, Michael S (4 pts.)
2 Li, Ethan (2.5 pts.)
3 Wong, Kinsleigh (2.5 pts.)
4 Arnold, Justin Way (2 pts.)
5 De Sa, Jacquelyn M (2 pts.)

Reserve:
1 Mittal, Rohan (3.5 pts.)
2 Quesada, Richard F (2 pts.)
3 Aradhyula, Sumhith (1.5 pts.)
4 Shevelev, Daniel (1 pt.)

Booster:
1 El-Kareh, Ardith (3.5 pts.)
2 Groh, Jacob (3 pts.)
3 Mulholland, Casper (2 pts.)
4 Castro, Francisco (2 pts.)
5 Fox, Hugh S (2 pts.)

K-6:
1 Bommireddy, Sreekar (3 pts.)
2 Calendine, Logan (3 pts.)
3 Cancio, Aiya (3 pts.)
4 Wood-Pavicich, Ben (3 pts.)
5 Cancio, Zak (2.5 pts.)

K-3:
1 Carlisle, Denham (4 pts.)
2 Azersky, Sadie (3 pts.)
3 Segal, Jeremy (3 pts.)
4 Patil, Ruturaj (3 pts.)
5 Merson, Samuel (2.5 pts.)

The next Foothills Open will be April 11 at Manzanita Elementary. Money from the Foothills Open goes to support the Catalina Foothills High School chess team. Information and an entry form is available at the Foothills Chess website.

GM Kiril Georgiev breaks Guinness Simul Record - Update

2009-03-11T14:00:00.001-07:00

After a month of training – mainly walking and saunas – Kiril Georgiev was ready to take the challenge and play a simultaneous exhibition against 360 opponents. For every move the Bulgarian GM had to walk half a kilometer, and after six hours of play had made only eight moves. After 14 hours it was over, he had scored 88% with 284 wins, 70 draws and 6 losses. The record was broken!

Report by GM Dejan Bojkov from ChessBase.com

UPDATE: Chessdom.com interviews GM Kiril Georgiev about his record-setting feat.

Chess, granddaughter inspire comic strip character

2009-03-11T09:11:00.003-07:00

An interesting article about the creator of the comic that appears in Chess Life for Kids.

Chess anyone? Which room would you like to play in? Rosalyn B. Katz's Rockaway condo has multiple chess sets in just about every room. Some are miniature, some micro-miniature, but many, too numerous to count, are set up for play.
Katz's love of chess and the birth of her first grandchild, Zaria Katz, were the impetus for the creation of the comic strip character "Zaria."
"Zaria is an 8-year-old chess player who is in love with the game and in love with life," Katz said. "Her overly enthusiastic way of engaging life gets her into difficulties, but she always lands on her feet."
While Katz writes the strip, Doina Paraschiv, an illustrator with 20 years' experience, draws the cartoons that bring "Zaria" to life. Paraschiv is also a chess player.
The strip was picked up by Chess Life magazine, a publication of the United States Chess Federation, with a circulation of 285,000. "Zaria" has been appearing every other month since July 2003.

The rest of the article is available at the Daily Record.

Simuls at SuperNationals IV

2009-03-10T14:37:00.002-07:00

Online registration for the GM Simuls at SuperNationals IV is now available online.

The schedule of simuls is as follows:

Thursday 6:30PM - GM Alexander Stripunsky, GM Alexander Shabalov, GM Maurice Ashley

Friday 9:00AM - US Champion IM Anna Zatonskih, Women's World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, GM Alexander Shabalov

Friday 8:00PM - GM Yuri Shulman

Saturday 4:00PM - US Champion IM Anna Zatonskih, GM Yuri Shulman

Sunday 3:30PM - Women's World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk

The cost for each simul is $29.

The Best come out to participate in the Amber tournament

2009-03-10T14:19:00.005-07:00

18th Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament
March 14-26, 2009 Nice, France

The 18th Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament, organized by the Association Max Euwe in Monaco, takes place from March 14 (first round) to March 26 (last round) at the Palais de la Mediterranée, splendidly located on the famous Promenade des Anglais in Nice. The total prize-fund is € 216,000 ($273,700).

This year’s field is stronger than ever with all the world’s best players taking part.

The twelve participants are (in alphabetical order): World Champion Viswanathan Anand (India), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Gata Kamsky (United States), Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Peter Leko (Hungary), Alexander Morozevich (Russia), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) and Wang Yue (China).

Every day four sessions will be played, two blindfold sessions and two rapid sessions. The first session starts at 2:30 pm. The fourth session finishes around 8:00 pm. (Note: the final round on March 26 starts at 12:30 pm. March 18 and 23 are rest days.)

Official tournament website

Anand/Topalov match postponed until 2010

2009-03-10T13:50:00.003-07:00

A FIDE Presidential Board meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, had decided to postpone the World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov until latest April 20th, 2010, and opened the bidding process. Originally the match was scheduled for September this year. [ChessBase]

The PB approved the new structure for FIDE Commissions and Committees the details of which will be announced on the FIDE website. The PB agreed on a commission to be set up to consider the zonal structure of FIDE. The PB approved changes in the Laws of Chess including that the default time would be zero unless otherwise specified in the regulations of the tournament. The PB finalized Title and Rating regulations and dealt with other matters left from the Dresden meetings. It agreed to postpone the World Championship Match between World Champion GM Anand and Challenger GM Topalov until the latest April 20th, 2010 and asked for bids for the match. The PB corrected the mistake done by the organizer of the World Senior Championship and announced GM Kaufmann and GM Suba as co-winners. The PB decided upon a commemoration schedule of the former world champions starting with W. Steinitz in 2009. [FIDE]

GM Anand is the current World Champion. He won the title in 2007 in Mexico City by placing first in an 8-player, double round-robin tournament. He defended his title against GM Kramnik in 2008 (Bonn, Germany) winning the 12-game match with a score of 6.5 in 11 games.

GM Topalov won the challengers match against GM Kamsky last month in Bulgaria with a score of 4.5 in 7 games. GM Topalov is currently the #1 rated player in the world.

Khalsa "Double-Fives" tournament wrap-up

2009-03-09T10:39:00.003-07:00

Josh Leonard reports that the Khalsa "Double-Fives" (Bughouse) tournament was a success. Fourteen teams participated in the event last Friday evening at Khalsa Montessori School.

Final Standings:

1. Noam/Ricky: 7 pts.

2. Daniel/Zak: 6 pts. (21 TB = TieBreaker points)
3. Aiya/Stephanie: 6 pts. (19 TB)

4. Hayden/Anderson: 5 pts. (18 TB)
5. Cepheus/Carlos: 5 pts.(16 TB)
6. Pablo/Matthew: 5 points (15 TB)

7. Joshua/Patrick K.: 4 pts. (20 TB)
8. Liam/Patrick F.: 4 pts. (14 TB)
9. Weston/Eli: 4 pts. (11 TB)

10. Lukas/Conrad: 3 pts

11. Spike/Santino: 2 pts.(16 TB)
12. Marirosa/Chloe: 2 pts. (14 TB)
13. Bernardo/Joseph: 2 pts. (10 TB)

14. Keenan/Preston: 0 pts.

Double-fives (more commonly called bughouse) is a popular chess variant played on two chessboards by four players in teams of two. Normal chess rules apply, except that captured pieces on one board are passed on to the players of the other board, who then have the option of putting these pieces on their board.

Khalsa plans on hosting another tournament in either April or May, so keep an eye out!

Touch move!

2009-03-06T16:49:00.002-07:00

He's really not that good, I won 5 out of 7 games against him.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

First Women Chess Grand Prix begins this weekend

2009-03-05T14:40:00.006-07:00

Chessbase.com and Chessdom.com report on the first Womens Chess Grand Prix tournament that starts this weekend in Turkey.

The Turkish Chess Federation in collaboration with FIDE and Global Chess is organising the first event for the new Women Grand Prix series 2009/2010. The tournament will be held in Istanbul, Turkey beginning on the 6th of March 2009. It will also be the second in a series organised by the Turkish Chess Federation commemorating the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
The FIDE Women Grand Prix is a new series of elite tournaments which will be organised by FIDE and Global Chess. There will be 6 legs over two years in various countries around the world with three tournaments every year. The next tournament is planned in Nanjing, China at the end of September.

The winner of each tournament will win 6,500 euros ($8,151) out of a prize fund of 40,000 euros ($50,199) and the overall winner of the series will win a further 15,000 euros ($15,825) at the end of the series.
This will be one of the strongest women tournaments of all times and it is important to point out that there are three ex-world Champions taking part as well as the highest ranked women players in the world.

The final participant list is:
GM Humpy Koneru 2621
GM Yifan Hou 2571
GM Antoaneta Stefanova 2557
GM Pia Cramling 2548
GM Marie Sebag 2529
GM Maia Chiburdanidze 2516
GM Zhao Xue 2508
IM Elina Danielian 2496
WGM Shen Yang 2448
IM Martha Fierro 2403
WGM Zeinab Mamedjarova 2362
WIM Betül Cemre Yıldız 2214

IM Martha Fierro was a last minute replacement for GM Zhu Chen. The tournament average rating is 2481.3 and will include the #2-#5 rated females (Judit Polgar is #1) in the world. Round 1 is Saturday, March 7 at 6:00 am (Tucson time).

Official Tournament Website

ESCC Championship wrap-up

2009-03-05T11:45:00.005-07:00

The East Side Chess Club has completed its annual club championship tournament. FIDE Master Ken Larsen takes top honors with a score of 4.5 - .5. Steven Pennock, also went undefeated (2 draws), to take clear 2nd Place.

1st Place - Kenneth Larsen - $100
2nd Place - Steven Pennock - $60
Best Class B - Fred Duren - $40
Best Class C/below - Carlos Boteo - $40
Best K-8 - Justin Arnold
Best K-6 - Derek Chen
Best K-3 - Ethan Li

John Wright and Satheesh Aradhyula organized and ran the event. 18 players participated in the 5-week tournament, playing 1 round each week. The next event will be a Blitz tournament on March 25.

The Eastside Chess Club meets Wednesday nights from 6:00pm to 10:00pm at the Tucson Jewish Community Center (JCC) located on River Rd. and Dodge Blvd. For more information, please contact John Wright.

First payment deadline for SuperNationals is TODAY!

2009-03-05T11:13:00.003-07:00

After today, the Entry Fee for SuperNationalsIV will rise from $40 to $60. Be sure to register soon!

SuperNationals are just a few weeks away! The excitement is building as the list of special guest continues to grow. Former World Champion Garry Kasparov is appearing. The current Women’s World Champion, the current US Men’s and Women’s champions, and four other GM’s are all offering simuls at the event. And that’s not counting the other titled players and coaches you will see in team rooms and roaming the halls. You may never have this kind of opportunity to meet this many top names in the chess world!

USCF is also looking for volunteers (score keepers and runners) to help with the event. If you have free time and are interested in helping, please contact Tom Nelson (USCF Volunteer Coordinator). USCF will compensate you with food vouchers and, depending on how much you work, provide you 1/2 a hotel room. Contact Tom for more details.

Bobby Fischer movie in the works

2009-03-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

U.S. producer-director Damian Chapa is set to begin shooting his new Bobby Fischer bio-picture next month, Amadeus Pictures announced.

"Bobby Fischer Live," a movie featuring Chapa as the U.S. chess champion, is to be filmed in Los Angeles, New York, Russia and Iceland.

"Bobby Fischer is considered to be the greatest chess player of all time," the production company said in a news release Thursday.

The company said Fischer's victory over Soviet champion Boris Spassky in 1972 "was historical in bringing relations between the (United States) and (the Soviet Union) to a more calm and cordial state, as well as elevating chess to a much more mainstream and 'cooler' status."

Fischer won a rematch with Spassky in 1992, in a match played in what was then Yugoslavia, which was under a strict U.N. sanction. After the match, Fischer never returned to the United States.

Source: United Press International

Robby Adamson on the cover Chess Life

2009-03-03T09:36:00.006-07:00

The March issue of Chess Life has a cover story on local master, Robby Adamson.

Paul Gold, a master in his own right, has written a piece that covers the coach, the players, and a brief history of Southern Arizona chess that has help make Catalina Foothills HS one of the dominate chess programs in the country that is a perennial national title contender and winner, year after year.

The year was 1978, my last of high school, thank God. I attended chess club back then to play blitz. One night I battled this little kid, an eight-year old boy wonder—bright-eyed, hair combed back, fidgeting all over the place; boy, was he obnoxious! After every move he hit my clock harder and harder, while I pleaded with him to go easy on the timepiece. Finally the plastic clock face fell off and the thing was broken, and that was my first contact with Robby Adamson. It was the end of my clock but the beginning of a long and wonderful relationship.

The March issue of Chess Life will be arriving in the mail this week (if it isn't in your mailbox already). Those of you that can't wait can read the article online at the USCF website. USCF members are also able to download the PDF version of Chess Life.

Scholastic League Championship wrap-up

2009-03-02T10:36:00.002-07:00

The team-vs.-team season for the 2008-09 SACA Scholastic League has come to an end. The annual League Championship was held at Lineweaver Elementary on Saturday, February 21. Unlike the previous League Match #4, the League Championship is formatted differently.

Instead of 3 rounds, the tournament is 4 rounds
Each school may only bring 1 team (their "best") per division - Junior High, Elementary, Primary
All teams compete in 1 section per division for the title of League Champion

Over 125 players from 23 different schools in the region participated in the event. Trophies were handed out to top schools in each division, with individual players also earning trophies and medallions for their efforts.

2008-09 League Champions:
Primary: 1st Place - St. Joseph's, 2nd Place - Castlehill CDS
Elementary: 1st Place - Lineweaver, 2nd Place - Greenfields CDS
Junior High: 1st Place - BASIS, 2nd Place - Doolen

A complete list of trophy winners (school and individuals) is available at the SACA website.

Next on the schedule is the Regional Championship (RQ1) on Saturday, March 14 at Sierra MS. See you all there!

IM Levon Altounian wins the 2009 Arizona State Championship.

2009-02-08T21:08:00.005-07:00

Tucson Open is one of my favorite competitions in Arizona to participate in. The tournament is one of the three adult tournaments held in Tucson each year and therefore attracts many adults from all over, while younger players have many more opportunities to compete during the chess year. The tournament is traditionally held on the January of each year and usually attracts lot of players not only different in age but in strength too. It is not uncommon to see most of the Arizona highest rated and titled players compete here along with some masters from New Mexico and California. With the recent addition of the “Scholastic” sections, the tournament also greatly gained in overall popularity. By my calculations there were 253 participants overall, with great many prizes, trophies and plaques for the winners in each section. I was amazed to see how many players (some actually really strong) from Mexico and Nogales were present this time. I don’t think I’ll be far off attributing the popularity of the tournament to the pleasant environment, its location (usually the Palo Verde Holliday Inn) and the professionalism of the organizers Enrique Huerta and Karen Pennock in running this tournament.

That might be one of the reasons that the Tucson Open has become the official Arizona State Championship battleground for the second year in a row. Last year the ACFI and SACA jointly decided that the Open section is perfect to also serve the purpose of deciding who the Arizona State Champion will be for that year. Unless the winner of the tournament is from another State, the Tucson Open Champion is also the Arizona State Champion for that year. I was able to win it last year and was looking forward to defending the title this year. It is never easy with so many strong and titled players participating along with many young and upcoming masters. However this year I had another reason to be there: my 4-years old daughter Ani was participating in the Scholastic section and as I unfortunately found out during the course of the tournament, being a chess parent and a tournament participant do not bode well.

I started the tournament with a very tough game with an expert Danny Schucker, who moved here from Gilbert, AZ to attend the U of A. To be perfectly honest, before the 1st round I was hoping to win the game fairly fast and spend the evening at home watching a movie we rented. That plan was not to become a reality, as the game took about 5 hours to complete and along the way I was very close to drawing the game. After coming home at 1 AM, I hoped the next day would be easier. In the round two I faced Master Nick Thompson, also from the Phoenix area. That was no better, as constantly checking out the situation with Ani and solving few problems along the way, I found myself both in a better position and in a time pressure. Missing several easy wins and winning only after a very long and tough battle, I started seriously wondering if this is an indication that my tournament strength is in a downward spiral, the chess is becoming harder or if the young Arizona players are seriously getting better. It was a weird feeling to both want to win the games and at the same time being proud of my opponents when they played strong moves. Round 3 found me facing my usual opponent, teammate and Foothills High School Coach Robby Adamson. We have played so many games against each other in all these years that for me it was hard to figure out even my very first move. Curiously we repeated the same line as we played about a decade ago with a slight deviation. The opening worked very well for me at the end and after a long and grueling fight, I won the game despite the usual very tough defense that Robby is well known for. In the next game I faced another very strong player and another teammate: Danny Rensch. Danny is a very charismatic character with a great desire to win every game he plays. Just ask the Grandmasters that lost to him recently. He is also the organizer of the widely popular Master Treks in Phoenix and was the Guest Instructor at the June Western Alliance Summer Chess Camp in Tucson. I was in an unusually peaceful mood that morning and once again was running around watching my daughter’s games. At some point the unclear game we had tilted in my favor, but when in my time pressure (once again) my opponent offered a draw, I decided not to temp the fate and accepted it. However, if the tournament had ended in a different way, I would probably regret my decision. Now I had to win my last game. I faced a very strong master Ben Marmont (also from the Phoenix area and now at the U of A) and played an opening I usually do not use. It did indeed work out well as on move 15 we reached the position I had on my laptop before going to the game but once again it was far from being an easy win and once again I was low on time.

The tournament ended with me winning the 2009 Tucson Open and therefore defending my Arizona State Championship title from the last year. Perhaps it is symbolic that the 2nd place winners were both young and very talented players ( Leo Martinez, David Adelberg ) followed by more talented and strong youth immediately after. Seeing that makes me very hopeful of the chess prospects in Arizona.

I would like to personally thank everyone for participating, making this event such a great success and hope to see everyone at many more chess tournaments and events here in Tucson.

IM Levon Altounian
Arizona Chess For Schools
(520) 891-3632

SACA scholastic ratings updated

2009-02-05T09:13:00.002-07:00

Hello All!!

I just wanted to let you all know that SACA ratings have been updated and posted to the webpage. Please be sure to use updated ratings for your registration for League Match #4.

There are still some "new players" that are not yet in the database, but Dave Bell is working on it. If you don't see your player when you need to register your team, remember that new K-3 players are rated 250 and new 4-8 grade players are rated 300.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Enrique.

Tucson Open - Late Fees

2009-01-21T21:05:00.003-07:00

Effective Thursday, Jan 22 the Tucson Open late fees will go into effect. Make sure to get your entry in before then!

Tucson Open less than 2 weeks away!

2009-01-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

Don't forget that the Tucson Open is just around the corner. Registration for the Tucson Open and Scholastics can be done online at the new SACA Store. Fast and convenient and you don't have to worry about sending in the entry through the mail.

Also new for this year's Tucson Open, is discounted entry fees for Seniors (age 50+). As a thank you to the die-hard veterans who help make our tournaments they wonderful events that they are, we are offering a $10 discount on the Open and Reserve sections entry fees. (The same discount we offer Juniors age under 20.)

The ACFI (the USCF recognized State Chapter) has deemed that the highest placing AZ resident in the Tucson Open will be the 2008 State Champion. SACA and ACFI have donated extra money to this year's prize fund for the tournament. The Tucson Open total prize fund is $2,550 and is worth 40 World Chess Live Grand Prix points.

Eliot Hearst, author of Blindfold Chess: History, Psychology, Techniques, Champions, World Records and Important Games, will provide a guest lecture and book signing at 2:30 pm on Sunday, January 25 at the tournament. His new book is currently available and he'll be happy to sign your copy at the tournament. (A limited quantity will be available for purchase at the tournament as well.)

The special "chess" hotel rates are available up to January 11. The hotel does not have to offer that cheaper rate on reservations made after January 11.

Masters already confirmed for this year's Tucson Open (Arizona State Championship):
IM Levon Altounian
FM Danny Rensch
FM Robby Adamson

ChessBase.com reviews local author's book.

2009-01-12T11:12:00.003-07:00

Eliot Hearst is a former captain of the U.S. Olympic team and one of the few Americans to win a rated game from Bobby Fischer after he became a strong master. Mr. Hearst is a distinguished professor of psychology emeritus from Indiana University and now an adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Arizona.

Eliot has co-authored the new book Blindfold Chess, which was recently reviewed on ChessBase.com. ChessBase.com is one of the leading chess news website in the world!

08.01.2009 – Just occasionally a new book on our game turns up which is likely to be of widespread interest throughout all parts of the chess world. Blindfold Chess by Eliot Hearst and John Knott (McFarland, 2009), hot off the press, is definitely a volume not to be missed, as it is by far the most detailed study ever made of this fascinating subject. We take an early dip into it.

Eliot Hearst is giving a free lecture and book signing on Sunday at the Tucson Open. Bring in your copy to have it signed! A limited number of books will also be available for purchase at the tournament. Blindfold Chess is currently available on Amazon.com or directly from publisher.

SACA Store up and running

2009-01-05T21:01:00.003-07:00

Thank you to Jonathan Shacter (SACA webmaster) for all the hard work he's put in on the SACA webpage. Jon's goal for the SACA site is to make it one of the premier chess websites in the country. (Personally, I think we're already there, but Jon always believes we can do better.)

The latest feature he's developed is the SACA Store. The new SACA Store will allow players to enter and pay online for SACA tournaments and pay for SACA membership. Additionally, there is a convienent link for joining or renewing USCF membership. Be one of the first to register for the Tucson Open or Tucson Open Scholastics!

Currently, purchasing of chess equipment is not available, but we are looking into it for the future. The SACA Store lists equipment that SACA does sell but you'll have to contact Jennifer Shacter to set up a purchase. Also listed are chess books available through Amazon.com that various chess instructors within the SACA community have highly recommended for players wishing to improve their chess.

Please take a look and let us know what you think of the new SACA Store. Thank you again to Jonathan Shacter!!