Nevada Chess, Inc.

National Open 2013
With the 2013 National Open in the books, it is time for a small report on the performance of our local players. We had some big performances, and some even had a chance to play against some titled players.

On Thursday, June 6, there were two events. First, the simultaneous exhibition with GM Alexander Lenderman, last year’s National Open champion. In this event, our local players Jeff Gallegos, Stephen Barbre, Scott Raymond, and Karl Ulbrich participated, with Mr. Gallegos managing to score a draw.

The second Thursday event was the National Open Game in 10. The really nice part about this event is the opportunity of playing against titled players. Three of our local players participated: Ryan Phillips, Chad Badgett, and Royce Pereira.

Ryan’s performance was the most impressive. He scored 5 points in 8 games, and was tied for first on the U2100 prize. He would have most likely be the sole first place, but for a Fide Master forfeiting his last game, and thus allowing another player to tie Ryan. Also of note is that, Ryan played against not one, but two International Masters.

On the other hand, Chad played Israeli GM Victor Mikhalevski on the first round, and Royce played former U-12 World Champion, IM Daniel Naroditsky.

On the main event, we also had the participation of several local players. On the U2200 section, Jeff Gallegos, finished with 4 points out of 6. He tied 10th place to 14th, and earned a $97 prize. Also on the U2200 was Stephen Barbre, who scored 3.5 points out of 6.

The U2000 section had the biggest number of our local players. The best performance (again) came from Ryan Phillips. Ryan went undefeated, and scored 4.5 out of 6 points, good for a share of 7th to 12th place. For his performance, he earned a $234 prize.

Other players included, Jose Ramirez with 4 out of 6, shared 13th – 15th place, and a $40 prize; Francisco Vela, Todd Imada, and Cameron Patterson with a positive score of 3.5 out of 6. Scott Raymond also participated in this section.

On the U1800 section, we had John Paul Baligad, (Juan’s son), with 5 out of 6 points. This was good for a share of 3rd – 9th place, and a $400 prize. Participants also included Jonathan Zavala with 4.5 points, Rick Holden, and Neil Banerji, who scored a respectable 2.5 points while playing up a section.

On the U1600 section, we had Chris Reynolds with 4 points, Vivan Liu, Jonathan Mikolic with 3.5 points, Elliot Moskow, and Yoseph Debesai, who like Neil, played a section up.

On the U1400 section, local player Rocky Watson scored an even 3 out of 6, and so did Karl Ulbrich on the U1200 section.

In addition to the Game in 10, and the main event, local players also participated in other side events.On Saturday night, June 8, there was a Blitz sectional event. The 60 participants were divided in 5 sections, based on their highest rating.

On Section “A”, the highest in rating, included two Fide Masters, and a Woman Fide Master. Three local players participated. Patrick Lacey scored 9 out of 12 points, good for 3rd place. Paul Heinrich, and Hugo Santiago had even scores with 6 out of 12 points.

On the Section “C”, Royce Pereira was the winner with 10 out of 11 points.

The last event the Blitz Open, and U1900. This event took place on Sunday night, right after the main event.

On the Open section, local players Paul Heinrich scored a positive 8 points out of 14. Two of those games were against none other than the number 39 player in world Wesley So. Also in the Open section was Ryan Phillips, who also played IM Daniel Naroditsky.

In the U1900 section, local players Chad Badgett, and Royce Pereira fared quite well. There were 35 players in this section, and Chad came in 3rd place with 10 points out of 14, and Royce in 4th place with 9.5.

While the 2013 National Open is now over, do not forget that another big tournament is coming up. The Las Vegas Mind Sports International Festival will be held at the Palazzo Hotel on July 5 – July 7, and the Vegas Chess Club will organize the chess tournament.
By Liceu Pereira

The 2013 Annual Members Meeting for the state affliate Nevada Chess will be held at the Meadows School at 8601 Scholar Lane, 89128 on April 13 at about 4 p.m. The Agenda will be Minutes, tally ballots, election results, install officers, members issues, close members mtg, open directors mtg, financial report, issues for directors, closed directors mtg. The is an open meeting for all chess players to express their opinions on state affiliate policies.

All members and prospective members are encouraged to attend.

By Tom Brownscombe

One hundred eighty young chess players came to the Las Vegas Day School on Saturday, March 16^th to compete in the 2013 Nevada State Scholastic Chess Championships.  Third grader Carson Abbott won the individual title in the K-3 section with a perfect 6-0 score.  The home team almost won the team title in the K-3 section, scoring 16 points.  But Saint Viator also scored 16 points, and the tie breaks were in Saint Viator’s favor.  So Saint Viator won the K-3 team title, while Las Vegas Day School (LVDS) received the second place team trophy.

Fifth grader Michelangelo Barozzi was the pre-tournament favorite in the K-5 section with a rating of 1754.  And he lived up to all expectations by winning the individual title with a perfect 6-0 score and also leading his team, the Meadows School, to a team championship in the K-5 section with a team score of 19 points.  Four players tied for 2^nd with 5 points, Reece Iriye, Alexander Ballin, Kian David Samra and Mark Bernales, and were awarded on tiebreak points the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th & 5^th place trophies resp.   The home team, LVDS, took the second place team trophy in the K-5 section with 17 team points.

Hyde Park Middle School dominated the team competition in the K-8 section with an impressive team score of 17 points.  The K-8 and K-12 sections had only five rounds, so this score is just 3 points shy of perfect.  Hyde Park was led by the highest rated player in the section, defending K-8 state champion Royce Pereira.  In round 3 Royce had a very tough game against Saint Viator’s David Tegtmeyer.  Some inaccurate play left Pereira a pawn down with an exposed king.  But Royce’s active defense was rewarded when Tegtmeyer missed the winning lines, allowing Pereira to claim victory from the jaws of defeat.  In round four the Hyde Park Team was so far ahead of all of the other teams that Pereira had to play his teammate, seventh grader Naomi Santiago.  Naomi seemed to have a slight edge in the middle game, but Royce was able to secure the win in the endgame with some well calculated knight maneuvers.  In the final round Pereira had to face another of his teammates, sixth grader Benjamin Ballin, because all of the tournament leaders were from Hyde Park.  Pereira earned a quick win against Ballin to repeat as Nevada state K-8 champion.  Seventh grader Royce Pereira will once again represent the state of Nevada at the Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions in Madison Wisconsin in July.  Sixth grader Shivam Saran of Hyde Park MS earned the second place individual trophy with 4.5 points, and Our Lady of Las Vegas earned the second place team trophy with 9 team points.

There was a new prize in the K-12 section.  The US Chess Federation has announced that the first annual National Girls Invitational Championship will be held this year in Madison, Wisconsin.  So the top scoring girl in the K-12 section won more than just a trophy this year.  She earned the right to represent Nevada in this new tournament.  The girls’ title came down to a final round game between two eleventh graders from Cheyenne High School: Nisha Uy and Rozzele Cruz.  Nisha won the game as well as the opportunity to represent the state of Nevada in the first annual National Girls Invitational Tournament.

The title of 2013 Nevada State High School Champion came down to a final round confrontation between the two highest rated players in the tournament: tenth grader Hugo Santiago and eleventh grader Raymond Seid.  Santiago and Seid were still battling after all of the other tournament games had finished.  Seid offered a draw in an equal ending, but Santiago declined the draw offer and pressed for the win.  Santiago did manage to win a pawn.  But while doing so, he put his rook out of play and left his king trapped on the edge of the board.  Seid used his superior piece placement to create an unbeatable mate threat.  So Santiago, facing mate in one, resigned.  Cimarron High school won the K-12 team title with 14.5 points, and Cheyenne High school took second place in the team competition with 13 points.

Congratulations and best of luck to Raymond Seid, Nisha Uy, and Royce Pereira as they represent Nevada in the Denker Tournament of High School Champions, the National Girls Invitational Tournament, and the Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions, respectively.   Gale Winds served as chief tournament organizer on behalf of Nevada Chess, Inc. and the Las Vegas Day School.  The tournament was directed by Nevada Chess, Inc. board members Tom Brownscombe, Al Losoff, Allen Magruder, Dan Conver, and John Trivett.  We hope that all of the players enjoyed the tournament and that we will see even more competitors at the 2014 Nevada State Scholastic Chess Championship.  We would also like to thank the LVDS staff and the many people who helped make this tournament a success.

Team and individual results are posted here.

Saturday, March 16, 2013 – Las Vegas Day School

3275 Red Rock, 89146 -on the corner of Desert Inn and Jones Blvd.

K-3 & K-5 (6 rounds)   K-8 & K-12 (5 rounds)

Individual and Team Trophies will be awarded and every player who scores 3 or more points will win a medal or trophy!

Entry Fee: $30. postmarked by March 4 or online by March 8,  $40 if received by March 15. On site registration  8:00-8:30 a.m. $60. March 16.  Players who register after 8:30 a.m.   may not be paired in round 1.

USCF Membership required: $20 for new or renewing members.

Download Flyer and Entry Form or Enter On Line.

Advance Entries are posted here.

The 22nd Annual North American Open was held at

Bally’s Casino Resort, 3645 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las

Vegas, Nevada Dec.26-30, 2012.

GM Timur Gareev finished with an undefeated 8/9, a

full point ahead of his nearest rival, to

convincingly claim the title of North American Open

Champion along with a prize of nearly $10,000 for

his efforts throughout the week. FM John Bryant

finished in 2nd place with 7/9, scoring a GM norm in

the process, to claim a prize of $4704.

IM Zhanibek Amanov also scored a GM norm, finishing

in a group of four players with 6.5/9, as well as

taking the Under 2500 prize. FMs Yian Liou and

Michael Bodek both scored IM norms

Gordon Barrett Cup after 6 round, lots of great

chess of the resourceful type! Jeff G. is the

leading opportunist! and Paco is just on fire! Marc J.
Vivian impress! next week dec 20th, christmas

party and rd 7 of the gordon barrett cup everyone is

welcome I will have pizza there. thank you all for

coming to the clark county chess club.

The Gordon Barrett Cup is over…Jeff Gallegos won

it with a round to spare with 6.5-.5 and he was

awarded the Gordon Barrett Cup for 2012 and

proclaimed CCCC champion. Vivian Liu won the other

Gordon Barrett Cup for 2012 in her division and she

is the CCCC U1600 champion. We had a swell party

with pizza and pop and stuff.

No. Name Rate Pts Rnd1 Rnd2 Rnd3 Rnd4 Rnd5 Rnd6 Rnd7
1 Gallegos, Jeffery 2090 6.5 W8 W3 W2 W5 -X- W7 D4
2 Pendergast, David 2040 4.5 W9 W11 L1 W6 D5 D3 D7
3 Vela, Francisco 1899 4.5 W10 L1 W11 W4 W8 D2 L5
4 Raymond, Scott Gre 1732 4.5 -H- -H- W10 L3 W14 W5 D1
5 Santiago, Hugo 1982 4.0 D6 W7 -X- L1 D2 L4 W3
6 Liu, Vivian Xiao 1268 4.0 D5 D8 W12 L2 L7 W14 -X-
7 Reyes, Virgilio T 1990 3.5 -H- L5 W9 D8 W6 L1 D2
8 Trivett, John 1800 3.5 L1 D6 D15 D7 L3 W11 -X-
9 Pereira, Royce Tre 1693 3.0 L2 -H- L7 -B- W15 D10 -F-
10 Johnson, Marc D 1197 3.0 L3 W14 L4 W11 -H- D9 L12
11 Lucero,Robert 1189 3.0 W14 L2 L3 L10 W12 L8 W15
12 Johnson, Rhomer 1161 3.0 -H- -H- L6 L14 L11 W15 W10
13 Phillips, Ryan 1997 2.0 W15 -H- -F- -H- -F- -U- -U-
14 Mesa,Nelson 1323 2.0 L11 L10 -B- W12 L4 L6 -F-
15 Watson, Rockford 1302 1.5 L13 -H- D8 -H- L9 L12 L11

The Vegas Chess Club has re-opened at the City of

the World Art gallery at 1229 South Casino Center

Blvd on the first Saturdays of the month and the

second, third and fourth Fridays of the month at

6:00 p.m.for tournament and casual chess. Two bucks

to play.