SACA Board Elections

The annual SACA members meeting will be held on Sunday, July 22 between the 4th and 5th round for the Ye Olde Pueblo Open at the Holiday Inn - Palo Verde. This is an opportunity for all to get information about the affiliate, to offer feedback, and to get involved. We will also be electing the SACA Board for the coming year.

Current individuals running for the SACA Board are as follows:

President
Troy Oberg

Vice President
Paul Mills
John Wright

Secretary
Martha Underwood

Treasurer
Daniel Katzel

Directors-at-Large (4 positions)
Robby Adamson
Levon Altounian
Sumhith Aradhyula
Valerie Cindrich
Ken Larsen
Michelle Martinez
Amanda Mateer

If anyone else wishes be on the SACA Board, please contact Enrique so that your name can be added to the ballot.

US Amateur West this weekend

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.

The Calm...

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

Levon Advances to US Championship

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!!!

Levon Altounian advances to finals of State CofC tournament

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!!

2010 Tucson Open is complete

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!!

Arizona State Championship this weekend

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.

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

Landon Brownell: As I remember him

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.

State Champion of Champions tournament this weekend

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.

2009 US Championship contenders announced

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.

IM Levon Altounian wins the 2009 Arizona State Championship.

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