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 UPDATE: Joel Johnson is ill this week and has withdrawn from the tournament.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.

Annotated game from Ben Marmont

Ben Marmont from the 2008 US Amateur Team West Champions has annotated one of his games from the tournament for us. Take a look at it and let us know what you think. Thank you, Ben!


Also, the West Champions will be facing off against the other Team Champions (East, North, and South) on April 12-13 on ICC. We'll have more information soon on the details when they become available.