Two Nevadans Compete In National Scholastic Championships

Nevada was represented by two players at the National Scholastic Championships held in Atlanta, Georgia on December 13-15, 2002.  Michael Patraw played in the K-10 Championship, while Alan Amici played in the K-7 Championship.

Michael started off well and was on 2½/3 after beating Terrance Porter (463) and Michael Ross (1342), and drawing with Euphemia Mu (1578).  Unfortunately things didn't finish too well as defeats against Griffin Gibson (1845) and Ryan Fitch (1385) saw him drop to 2½/5.  A last round win against Peter Lafer (802) saw him finish in 23rd position out of 79, with a final score of 3½/6.

Alan faired slightly better in his section, going through the whole tournament undefeated.  He started off with two wins against Christopher Sacco (1202) and Lamel McBryde (1404) respectively.  Then followed two draws against Alexander Jofe (1484) and Bennett Pellows (1336) before a 5th round victory over Samuel Congiundi (1240) saw him in contention for a possible top 10 finish going into round 6.  A last round draw against Gabriel Frieden (1459) meant a final score of 4½/6 and he finished 18th out of 203 players.

Both players teamed up for the Bughouse Championship and they finished in 23rd out of 173 teams, with a score of 8/12.

Alan also decided to play in the K-12 Blitz Championship and he finished in 31st place out of 166 with a final score of 8/12.