2009 - 2010 SACA Board Elections

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

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

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

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

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

Ye Olde Pueblo

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.