Nevada Chess, Inc.

Las Vegas Open 2014

The third of the grand prix series was once again held at the

Las Vegas Chess Center and Timur Gareev won a thousand dollar

first prize with a 4.5/5 score. But Elliott Liu and Mike

Zaloznyy won on Grand prix points in the best two of three

tournament results. This writer has put together the point

totals for a later time. IM Dionosio Aldama and Mike Zaloznyy

took second with 4/5. Barry Lazarus and John Curcuru shared

the U2200 prize.
Paco Vela won the Under 2000 section with a nice clean score

of 5. He was never in any trouble in any of his games and

finally cracked the 2000 barrier. John Paul Baligad was second

with 4/5 and Jose Ramirez and Naomi Santiago took home money

for a tie at third place. Jonathon Luong won the Under 1600

section with a clean 5/5, and this is fresh from a victory in

the National Open. Diego Santiago took second place here, and

Audrey Grigore was third. Lucas Johnson won the U1400 prize.

In the U1200 section, David Soriano was first with 3.5 and

second tied were S. Gupta, Richard Zhou and John Duncombe.

There was lots of great chess! Gareev was in trouble in the

last round, yet won. Paco Vela never had a lost position. But

I was impressed with Mike Zaloznyy’s marathon game with what

looked like at one point, a lone queen versus 2 rooks and 2

pawns. It reminded me of a game this writer won with luck in a

1976 match game. And it is 50 moves without a capture to get

the draw as eventually, it was a queen versus 2 rooks.

Although I culled a lot of games, for now, enjoy these

nuggets.

[Event “Las Vegas Open”]
[Site “LV, NV”]
[Date “2014.08.24”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Baligad, John Paul”]
[Black “Vela, Francisco”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C01”]
[Annotator “trivett,John”]
[PlyCount “79”]
[TimeControl “900+5”]

{318MB, Fritz11.ctg, USER-BF45D6A2CE} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3.

exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 Bd6
5. Nf3 Ne7 6. O-O Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. c3 Nbc6 9. Be3 Qd7 10. Nbd2

O-O-O 11. b4 Nf5
12. Re1 Nxe3 13. Rxe3 Ne7 14. Qc2 Bg6 15. Ne5 Bxe5 16. Rxe5 f6

17. Re2 Bxd3 18.
Qxd3 Qf5 19. Qg3 Ng6 20. Rae1 h5 21. Qf3 Qxf3 22. Nxf3 Kd7 23.

g3 Rhe8 24. Kf1
Ne7 25. h4 Nf5 26. Rxe8 Rxe8 27. Rxe8 Kxe8 28. Ke2 Nd6 29. Ng1

Ne4 30. a3 Nxc3+
31. Kd3 Ne4 32. Nh3 g5 33. hxg5 fxg5 34. Ke3 Ke7 35. f3 Nxg3

36. Nxg5 Kf6 37.
f4 Ne4 38. Nf3 Kf5 39. Ne5 Nd6 40. a4 {and on for another 20

moves or so.} 0-1

[Event “Las Vegas Open”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2014.08.23”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Imada, Todd”]
[Black “Dease, Dan”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B18”]
[Annotator “Dan”]
[PlyCount “48”]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h5

7. Nf3 e6 8. Bd3
Bxd3 9. Qxd3 Nf6 10. Bd2 Nbd7 11. O-O Be7 12. Rfe1 Qc7 13. c4

O-O-O 14. Ng5 Ng4
15. Nxf7 Nxf2 16. Qg6 {?!} Ng4 17. Nxd8 {?} Qxg3 18. Nxe6 Qf2+

19. Kh1 Qxh4+
20. Kg1 Qh2+ 21. Kf1 Qh1+ 22. Ke2 Qxg2+ 23. Kd1 Nf2+ 24. Kc1

Qxg6 0-1

[Event “Las vegas Open”]
[Site “LV, NV”]
[Date “2014.08.24”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Zaloznyy, Mike”]
[Black “Lazarus , Barry”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B27”]
[Annotator “trivett,John”]
[PlyCount “25”]
[TimeControl “900+5”]

{318MB, Fritz11.ctg, USER-BF45D6A2CE} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4

cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Qa4 Bg7 7. e5 Ng8 8. Bf4 Nh6 9. h3 O-O 10. O-O-O

Qb6 11. Nd5 Qxf2
12. Be3 Qg3 13. Rd2 1-0

Event Summary
Event 2014 LAS VEGAS OPEN (201408246392)
Location LAS VEGAS, NV 89101
Event Date(s) 2014-08-22 thru 2014-08-24
Sponsoring Affiliate LAS VEGAS CHESS CENTER (A6035600)
Chief TD ALAN R LOSOFF (10311110)
Chf. Assist. TD JUAN PABLO JAUREGUI (13822398)
Processed Received: 2014-08-24 Entered: 2014-08-24 Rated:

2014-08-24
Stats 5 Section(s), 56 Players
The ratings shown on this page are not official published

ratings and may change from time to time. Using them for

pairing purposes in tournaments should only be done if this

has been advertised in all advance publicity and is announced

to all players at the tournament.

Sections
HINT: * Click on a Section Name to see the cross table for

that Section, or
* Click on “Show All Sections” to see the cross tables for

all sections at once.

Section 1 OPEN
Section 2 UNDER 2000
Section 3 UNDER 1600
Section 4 UNDER 1200
Section 5 EXTRA GAMES

Section 1 – OPEN
Section Date(s) 2014-08-22 thru 2014-08-24
Processed Received: 2014-08-24 Entered: 2014-08-24

Rated: 2014-08-24 Re-Rated: 2014-08-26
Stats 5 Rounds, 20 Players; K Factor: F Rating Sys: R

Tnmt Type: S
Time Control: G/90;+30

————————————————————–

————–
* Click on a Pairing Number to see the Player’s Opponents.
* Click on a Player’s Name for more information about the

Player.
Crosstable data is NOT SHOWN in tiebreak order and does not

reflect any distribution of trophies or prize monies.
Crosstable data is shown as reported to the USCF by the

Tournament Director. Please contact the TD to report any

crosstable errors.
Note: The information below the “Total Pts” score shows the

highest norm earned in this event.For more information on

norms, see The USCF Title System.
————————————————————–

————–
Pair | Player Name

|Total|Round|Round|Round|Round|Round|
Num | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post) | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3

| 4 | 5 |
————————————————————–

————–
1 | TIMUR GAREYEV |4.5 |W 11|W 9|W

5|D 2|W 4|
NV | 13262157 / R: 2702 ->2704 | |W |B |W

|B |W |
————————————————————–

————–
2 | DIONISIO ALDAMA |4.0 |W 16|D 3|W

6|D 1|W 5|
CA | 13557810 / R: 2522 ->2528 | |B |W |B

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
3 | MIKE Y ZALOZNYY |4.0 |W 8|D 2|W

10|D 4|W 7|
NV | 12842929 / R: 2251 ->2274 | |W |B |W

|B |W |
————————————————————–

————–
4 | ELLIOTT JL LIU |3.0 |H |W 19|W

14|D 3|L 1|
NV | 12661521 / R: 2323 ->2326 | | |W |B

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
5 | DAN DURHAM |3.0 |W 12|W 7|L

1|W 11|L 2|
NV | 11326111 / R: 2312 ->2319 | |W |B |B

|W |W |
————————————————————–

————–
6 | GLENN CYRUS BIDARI |3.0 |D 13|W 18|L

2|D 9|W 10|
NV | 12580248 / R: 2205 ->2208 | |W |B |W

|B |W |
————————————————————–

————–
7 | BARRY J LAZARUS |3.0 |X |L 5|W

16|W 15|L 3|
NV | 12525897 / R: 2067 ->2081 | | |W |B

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
8 | JOHN MICHAEL CURCURU |3.0 |L 3|L 16|B

|W 19|W 14|
NV | 12659361 / R: 2000 ->2008 | |B |W |

|B |W |
————————————————————–

————–
9 | EDWARD WILLIAM FORMANEK |2.5 |X |L 1|D

15|D 6|D 11|
NV | 10349257 / R: 2237 ->2229 | | |W |B

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
10 | NACHUM SALMAN |2.5 |D 19|W 15|L

3|W 13|L 6|
NV | 11173764 / R: 2203 ->2200 | |B |W |B

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
11 | PATRICK LACEY |2.5 |L 1|W 12|W

17|L 5|D 9|
NV | 12758639 / R: 2146 ->2158 | |B |W |B

|B |W |
————————————————————–

————–
12 | HUGO OSMAR SANTIAGO |2.5 |L 5|L 11|D

19|B |W 17|
NV | 14842497 / R: 2110 ->2095 | |B |B |W

| |W |
————————————————————–

————–
13 | SCOTT GREGORY RAYMOND |2.5 |D 6|L 17|W

18|L 10|W 16|
FL | 13197836 / R: 1898 ->1928 | |B |W |W

|B |B |
————————————————————–

————–
14 | RONALD JOSEPH GROSS |2.0 |W 20|H |L

4|H |L 8|
NV | 10442435 / R: 2200 ->2200 | |B | |W

| |B |
————————————————————–

————–
15 | JOSHUA QUINT |1.5 |W 17|L 10|D

9|L 7|U |
ME | 12951914 / R: 2096 ->2089 | |W |B |W

|B | |
————————————————————–

————–
16 | VIRGILIO T REYES |1.5 |L 2|W 8|L

7|D 17|L 13|
NV | 12455050 / R: 2072 ->2052 | |W |B |W

|B |W |
————————————————————–

————–
17 | JUAN PABLO JAUREGUI |1.5 |L 15|W 13|L

11|D 16|L 12|
NV | 13822398 / R: 2066 ->2037 | |B |B |W

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
18 | JOHN TRIVETT |1.5 |H |L 6|L

13|H |D 19|
NV | 12530950 / R: 1827 ->1807 | | |W |B

| |W |
————————————————————–

————–
19 | JONATHAN C MIKOLIC |1.5 |D 10|L 4|D

12|L 8|D 18|
NV | 13973393 / R: 1661 ->1701 | |W |B |B

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
20 | JUAN PABLO JAUREGUI |0.0 |L 14|U |U

|U |U |
NV | 13822398 / R: 2066 ->2037 | |W | |

| | |
————————————————————–

————–
Note: Performances satisfying the requirements for norms are

now being shown for events in the *Total Pts* column.It may

take a week for a recently rated event to have norms computed

for it.

Section 2 – UNDER 2000
Section Date(s) 2014-08-22 thru 2014-08-24
Processed Received: 2014-08-24 Entered: 2014-08-24

Rated: 2014-08-24 Re-Rated: 2014-08-26
Stats 5 Rounds, 19 Players; K Factor: F Rating Sys: R

Tnmt Type: S
Time Control: G/90;+30

————————————————————–

————–
* Click on a Pairing Number to see the Player’s Opponents.
* Click on a Player’s Name for more information about the

Player.
Crosstable data is NOT SHOWN in tiebreak order and does not

reflect any distribution of trophies or prize monies.
Crosstable data is shown as reported to the USCF by the

Tournament Director. Please contact the TD to report any

crosstable errors.
Note: The information below the “Total Pts” score shows the

highest norm earned in this event.For more information on

norms, see The USCF Title System.
————————————————————–

————–
Pair | Player Name

|Total|Round|Round|Round|Round|Round|
Num | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post) | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3

| 4 | 5 |
————————————————————–

————–
1 | FRANCISCO VELA |5.0 |W 14|W 10|W

5|W 2|W 6|
NV | 12736038 / R: 1968 ->2027 | |W |B |W

|B |B |
————————————————————–

————–
2 | JOHN PAUL BALIGAD |4.0 |W 6|W 3|W

9|L 1|W 5|
NV | 13320372 / R: 1809 ->1888 | |W |B |W

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
3 | JOSE E RAMIREZ |3.5 |W 17|L 2|D

13|W 8|W 9|
NV | 12747114 / R: 1837 ->1849 | |B |W |W

|B |W |
————————————————————–

————–
4 | NAOMI YOALI SANTIAGO |3.5 |D 18|W 7|W

11|L 6|W 12|
NV | 14940503 / R: 1648 ->1742 | |B |W |B

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
5 | JUAN S BALIGAD JR |3.0 |W 19|W 16|L

1|W 12|L 2|
NV | 12511221 / R: 1847 ->1853 | |W |B |B

|W |W |
————————————————————–

————–
6 | LARS PEDERSEN |3.0 |L 2|W 19|W

15|W 4|L 1|
CA | 11096182 / R: 1789 ->1806 | |B |W |B

|B |W |
————————————————————–

————–
7 | RICHARD D WADE |2.5 |D 9|L 4|L

8|W 15|W 17|
NV | 12484882 / R: 1844 ->1815 | |W |B |B

|W |W |
————————————————————–

————–
8 | MICHELANGELO BAROZZI |2.5 |H |L 11|W

7|L 3|W 10|
NV | 14310376 / R: 1800 ->1806 | | |B |W

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
9 | JOSE A LACSAMANA |2.5 |D 7|W 15|L

2|W 11|L 3|
NV | 12533325 / R: 1675 ->1714 | |B |W |B

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
10 | ANTHONY G MCCARTHY |2.0 |W 11|L 1|L

12|W 17|L 8|
NV | 12829865 / R: 1869 ->1839 | |W |W |B

|B |W |
————————————————————–

————–
11 | EDGAR KHACHATRYAN |2.0 |L 10|W 8|L

4|L 9|B |
NV | 15374041 / R: 1873 ->1829 | |B |W |W

|B | |
————————————————————–

————–
12 | DANIEL J DEASE |2.0 |L 16|W 14|W

10|L 5|L 4|
NV | 12745558 / R: 1751 ->1745 | |W |B |W

|B |W |
————————————————————–

————–
13 | KRIS P JUDKINS |1.5 |L 15|W 17|D

3|U |U |
NV | 12301170 / R: 1872 ->1850 | |B |W |B

| | |
————————————————————–

————–
14 | TODD IMADA |1.0 |L 1|L 12|U

|H |H |
NV | 12565658 / R: 1885 ->1854 | |B |W |

| | |
————————————————————–

————–
15 | EDDY D SCHUCK |1.0 |W 13|L 9|L

6|L 7|U |
NV | 12045320 / R: 1727 ->1706 | |W |B |W

|B | |
————————————————————–

————–
16 | JARED L RICH |1.0 |W 12|L 5|U

|U |U |
NV | 12902871 / R: 1683 ->1695 | |B |W |

| | |
————————————————————–

————–
17 | CHRISTOPHER JESNESS |1.0 |L 3|L 13|B

|L 10|L 7|
NV | 15485865 / R: Unrated->1300P4 | |W |B |

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
18 | MICHAEL TIMOTHY GRAVES ESQ |0.5 |D 4|U |U

|U |U |
NV | 12758314 / R: 1604 ->1613 | |W | |

| | |
————————————————————–

————–
19 | TIM C GALIMA |0.0 |L 5|L 6|U

|U |U |
NV | 12706608 / R: 1676 ->1653 | |B |B |

| | |
————————————————————–

————–
Note: Performances satisfying the requirements for norms are

now being shown for events in the *Total Pts* column.It may

take a week for a recently rated event to have norms computed

for it.

Section 3 – UNDER 1600
Section Date(s) 2014-08-22 thru 2014-08-24
Processed Received: 2014-08-24 Entered: 2014-08-24

Rated: 2014-08-24 Re-Rated: 2014-08-26
Stats 5 Rounds, 12 Players; K Factor: F Rating Sys: R

Tnmt Type: S
Time Control: G/90;+30

————————————————————–

————–
* Click on a Pairing Number to see the Player’s Opponents.
* Click on a Player’s Name for more information about the

Player.
Crosstable data is NOT SHOWN in tiebreak order and does not

reflect any distribution of trophies or prize monies.
Crosstable data is shown as reported to the USCF by the

Tournament Director. Please contact the TD to report any

crosstable errors.
Note: The information below the “Total Pts” score shows the

highest norm earned in this event.For more information on

norms, see The USCF Title System.
————————————————————–

————–
Pair | Player Name

|Total|Round|Round|Round|Round|Round|
Num | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post) | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3

| 4 | 5 |
————————————————————–

————–
1 | JONATHAN LUONG |5.0 |W 11|W 8|W

4|W 2|W 5|
NV | 14506182 / R: 1599 ->1690 | |B |W |B

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
2 | DIEGO AURI SANTIAGO |4.0 |W 10|W 3|W

7|L 1|W 4|
NV | 14940483 / R: 1510 ->1604 | |W |B |W

|B |B |
————————————————————–

————–
3 | AUDREY GABRIELLE GRIGORE |3.5 |H |L 2|X

|W 5|W 6|
NV | 14153905 / R: 1425 ->1443 | | |W |

|B |B |
————————————————————–

————–
4 | CODY WALL-EPSTEIN |3.0 |W 5|W 7|L

1|W 8|L 2|
NV | 13777934 / R: 1496 ->1519 | |W |B |W

|B |W |
————————————————————–

————–
5 | JEFFERY ADAM PATTERSON |2.0 |L 4|W 6|W

8|L 3|L 1|
NV | 13401783 / R: 1400 ->1390 | |B |W |B

|W |W |
————————————————————–

————–
6 | LUKAS JOHNSON |1.5 |L 9|L 5|H

|X |L 3|
NV | 12715818 / R: 1279P10->1205P13 | |B |B |

| |W |
————————————————————–

————–
7 | MARC DYLAN JOHNSON |1.0 |W 12|L 4|L

2|F |U |
NV | 13038428 / R: 1535 ->1511 | |B |W |B

| | |
————————————————————–

————–
8 | KEVIN GOLCHIN |1.0 |X |L 1|L

5|L 4|U |
CA | 15460081 / R: 1470P9 ->1385P12 | | |B |W

|W | |
————————————————————–

————–
9 | SOURAV GUPTA |1.0 |W 6|U |U

|U |U |
NV | 13371850 / R: 1193 ->1223 | |W | |

| | |
————————————————————–

————–
10 | ROBERT L TURNER |0.0 |L 2|F |F

|U |U |
NV | 12698895 / R: 1483 ->1467 | |B | |

| | |
————————————————————–

————–
11 | JOSEPH EUGENE WILLOUGHBY |0.0 |L 1|U |U

|U |U |
NV | 15213720 / R: 1469 ->1458 | |W | |

| | |
————————————————————–

————–
12 | YOSEPH G DEBESAI |0.0 |L 7|U |U

|U |U |
NV | 13656600 / R: 1444 ->1424 | |W | |

| | |
————————————————————–

————–
Note: Performances satisfying the requirements for norms are

now being shown for events in the *Total Pts* column.It may

take a week for a recently rated event to have norms computed

for it.

Section 4 – UNDER 1200
Section Date(s) 2014-08-22 thru 2014-08-24
Processed Received: 2014-08-24 Entered: 2014-08-24

Rated: 2014-08-24 Re-Rated: 2014-08-26
Stats 5 Rounds, 5 Players; K Factor: F Rating Sys: R

Tnmt Type: S
Time Control: G/90;+30

————————————————————–

————–
* Click on a Pairing Number to see the Player’s Opponents.
* Click on a Player’s Name for more information about the

Player.
Crosstable data is NOT SHOWN in tiebreak order and does not

reflect any distribution of trophies or prize monies.
Crosstable data is shown as reported to the USCF by the

Tournament Director. Please contact the TD to report any

crosstable errors.
Note: The information below the “Total Pts” score shows the

highest norm earned in this event.For more information on

norms, see The USCF Title System.
————————————————————–

————–
Pair | Player Name

|Total|Round|Round|Round|Round|Round|
Num | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post) | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3

| 4 | 5 |
————————————————————–

————–
1 | DAVID O SORIANO |3.5 |D 4|W 2|D

3|B |D 4|
ME | 15484966 / R: 1131P2 ->1169P6 | |B |W |W

| |W |
————————————————————–

————–
2 | SOURAV GUPTA |3.0 |B |L 1|W

5|L 4|W 3|
NV | 13371850 / R: 1223 ->1185 | | |B |W

|B |W |
————————————————————–

————–
3 | RICHARD ZHOU |3.0 |W 5|W 4|D

1|H |L 2|
NV | 14740430 / R: 1058 ->1106 | |B |W |B

| |B |
————————————————————–

————–
4 | JOHN DUNCOMBE |3.0 |D 1|L 3|B

|W 2|D 1|
NV | 14270075 / R: 879P12-> 993P16 | |W |B |

|W |B |
————————————————————–

————–
5 | RHOMER ANTHONY JOHNSON |2.0 |L 3|B |L

2|H |H |
NV | 12511853 / R: 1117 ->1065 | |W | |B

| | |
————————————————————–

————–
Note: Performances satisfying the requirements for norms are

now being shown for events in the *Total Pts* column.It may

take a week for a recently rated event to have norms computed

for it.

Section 5 – EXTRA GAMES
Section Date(s) 2014-08-22 thru 2014-08-24
Processed Received: 2014-08-24 Entered: 2014-08-24

Rated: 2014-08-24 Re-Rated: 2014-08-26
Stats 1 Rounds, 8 Players; K Factor: F Rating Sys: R

Tnmt Type: S
Time Control: G/90;+30

—————————————————-
* Click on a Pairing Number to see the Player’s Opponents.
* Click on a Player’s Name for more information about the

Player.
Crosstable data is NOT SHOWN in tiebreak order and does not

reflect any distribution of trophies or prize monies.
Crosstable data is shown as reported to the USCF by the

Tournament Director. Please contact the TD to report any

crosstable errors.
Note: The information below the “Total Pts” score shows the

highest norm earned in this event.For more information on

norms, see The USCF Title System.
—————————————————-
Pair | Player Name |Total|Round|
Num | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post) | Pts | 1 |
—————————————————-
1 | JOHN MICHAEL CURCURU |1.0 |W 6|
NV | 12659361 / R: 2008 ->2009 | |B |
—————————————————-
2 | LUKAS JOHNSON |1.0 |W 7|
NV | 12715818 / R: 1205P13->1227P14 | |W |
—————————————————-
3 | AIDAN JAMES MONAGHAN |1.0 |W 8|
NV | 12438296 / R: 1217 ->1226 | |B |
—————————————————-
4 | RHOMER ANTHONY JOHNSON |1.0 |W 5|
NV | 12511853 / R: 1065 ->1120 | |B |
—————————————————-
5 | ROBERT L TURNER |0.0 |L 4|
NV | 12698895 / R: 1467 ->1425 | |W |
—————————————————-
6 | CHRISTOPHER JESNESS |0.0 |L 1|
NV | 15485865 / R: 1300P4 ->1300P5 | |W |
—————————————————-
7 | DAVID O SORIANO |0.0 |L 2|
ME | 15484966 / R: 1169P6 ->1120P7 | |B |
—————————————————-
8 | DERREK, RAMON SPILSBURY |0.0 |L 3|
NV | 14885975 / R: 925P5 -> 908P6 | |W |
—————————————————-
Note: Performances satisfying the requirements for norms are

now being shown for events in the *Total Pts* column.It may

take a week for a recently rated event to have norms computed

for it.

Minutes of Nevada Chess Membership Meeting
Meadows School  4/26/2014

Present were Dan Conver, Gale Winds and Allen Magruder.  Due to lack of a quorum no official business was conducted but the ballots were counted.  Charles (Tony) Chinnici and Jerry Weikel won election to the board.

Minutes of Nevada Chess Board Meeting
Las Vegas Chess Center 4/27/2014

Board members present were Alan Losoff, Jon Trivet, Allen Magruder, Alan Losoff and Tom Brownscombe. Juan Jauregui was present as an observer.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

Election results were certified.  Motion: Defer election of officers until the new board members can be contacted.  Secretary Alan Losoff will manage the officer elections. Passed 5-0.

Jaun Jauregui is appointed the chair of the Nevada Clearing House. Passed 5-0. Alan Losoff will notify USCF.

Allen Magruder distributed the financial report. We have a balance of $5,500 with a net operating income for the year of $170.  A few items are still pending.

The $50 increase in TD fees that had been approved for the State Scholastic tournament was not included in the TD’s Checks. Those TDs present agreed to donate the $50 to Nevada Chess.  The tournament was financially about the same as last year: break even or slight loss.

Alan Losoff and Juan Jauregui would like to bid the 2015 State Scholastic at the Las Vegas Learning Center.  The following motion was made:  Nevada Chess will put the 2015 State Scholastic tournament up for bids with a bidding deadline of August 1, 2014.  Passed 4-0, Losoff abstaining. This will be posted on NevadaChess.org.

It was noted that the current state champion may not be a resident by the time of the play offs.  Motion: In the case of the Nevada Champion being ineligible or unable to defend the runner up is automatically seeded into the championship. Passed 5-0.

Tom Brownscombe reported on the Southern Nevada Qualifiers. Two have already been held, and the 3^rd will be the Las Vegas Open on August 22-24 at the Las Vegas Chess Center.  The 2 spots are still wide open.

The State Championship will be in Tonapah on September 27-28.  Jon will make arrangements with the hotel. Nevada Chess will pay for the rooms for the 4 qualifiers and a TD. Alan Losoff volunteered to be TD for no fee except expenses.  The team challenge will be on Saturday, and there will be a state Blitz,  Quick or Action Championship on Sunday.  It has yet to be decided. So far Blitz, G/15 and G25+5 have been suggested. In any case it will be an official Nevada Championship.  Approved 5-0.

Alan Losoff will attempt to schedule an election meeting for Thursday 5/1/2014 with the Las Vegas members meeting at Clark County Chess Club and the Northern Nevada members joining us by phone or Skype.

The meeting was adjourned.

On the weekend of April 25-27, 48 chess players came to the Learning Village, located at the corner of Fremont Street and 8th Street in downtown Las Vegas, to compete in the Mantis Downtown Chess Fest. This five round swiss system chess tournament was named in honor of the fire breathing preying mantis sculpture located next door at the entrance to Container Park. The tournament had four rating based sections and featured four chess masters playing in the open section: Tom Brownscombe, Ronald Gross, Rockwell Shah, and Mike Zaloznyy.

After two rounds, the masters were leading the tournament. So in round three they started playing each other. The board one game between Rockwell Shah and Mike Zaloznyy was a very close affair that turned into a rook and pawn ending that featured competing passed pawns on opposite sides of the board. Shah was able to stop Zaloznyy’s passer, but an inaccurate king move by Zaloznyy allowed Shah’s passed pawn duo to go all the way for the win. On board two, the game between Brownscombe and Gross was even closer. Brownscombe pressed on the kingside, but he was not able to break through. Gross had some space on the queen side, but he was not able to create a breakthrough. So the board two game ended in a draw, leaving Shah in clear first place after three rounds. And then this confrontation occurred on board one in the fourth round:

FM Brownscombe,Tom (2221) – Shah,Rockwell (2344) [B01]
Mantis Open (4.1), 27.04.2014
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Be2 Nf6 5.0–0 Nbd7 6.h3 Bh5 7.d4 Qd6 8.c4 c6 9.Nc3 a6 10.a4 e6 11.Be3 Qb4 12.d5 exd5 13.cxd5 Bc5 14.dxc6 bxc6 15.Nd4 15…Qxb2 16.Bxh5 Qxc3 17.Rc1 Qa3 18.Nc2 Qxa4 19.Bxc5 Nxc5 20.Re1+ Nce4 21.Qd6 Rd8 22.Qe6+ Kf8 23.Qxf7# 1–0

In the fifth round, Brownscombe sacrificed a bishop on h2 against Hugo Santiago. But he was only able to get a perpetual check. The draw on board one gave the players on boards two and three an opportunity to compete for first place. On board three, Earl Salazar developed a powerful attack against the exposed king of Ron Gross. Salazar was on the verge of achieving a checkmate or winning Ron’s queen. But Gross generated enough counter play to stave off defeat and turn the tide in his favor. When the dust settled, Gross had an extra bishop and an easily won endgame. On board two, Shah won a pawn and converted his extra material into an endgame victory. This left a four way tie for first place in the open section with Tom Brownscombe, Ronald Gross, Hugo Santiago, and Rockwell Shah sharing first place with 3.5 points each and splitting the prize money equally. Juan Jauregui and Jonathan Mikolic split the prize for the top scoring player rated under 2000 in the open section with 2 points each.

The Mantis Downtown Chess Fest was the second tournament in the southern Nevada state championship qualifier series. The first tournament was the Presidents’ Day Open, and the final tournament will be held in the summer. Players who play in the open section of two or more of these tournaments can combine their scores to create a qualifying score. The two players with the top qualifying scores will be invited to represent southern Nevada in the 2014 Nevada State Chess Championship. After two tournaments, Tom Brownscombe and Hugo Santiago have the top two qualifying scores with 6.5 points each. But with another qualifying tournament still to be played, any player who has scored at least two points in either of the first two qualifying tournaments has a chance to surpass Brownscombe and Santiago. Here is the list of players who are in contention (with their best score from either of the first two qualifying tournaments):

Elliot Liu 5; Patrick Lacey 4; Virgilio Reyes, Rockwell Shah, Ronald Gross 3.5; Mike Zaloznyy, Joshua Quint, Barry Lazarus 3; Damir Trtanj, Juan Jauregui, Glenn Bidari, Earl Salazar, Ryan Phillips 2.5; Scott Raymond, John Trivett, Jeffery Gallegos, Alejandrino Baluran, Jonathan Mikolic 2.

In the under 1900 section, Edgar Khachatryan had a strong start with four straight victories. This was enough for Edgar to secure clear first place, even though Jason Cruz defeated Khachatryan in the final round. Cruz tied for second place in the under 1900 section with Alan Losoff, who is best known in the chess world as the lead organizer of the Las Vegas International Chess Festival. Losoff had a rough day on Saturday, drawing with Cruz and losing to Khachatryan. He was so discouraged by these results that he almost withdrew from the tournament. But Losoff’s perseverance led to fourth and fifth round wins against John Currell and Todd Imada and an equal share of the second and third place prize money with 3.5 points.

In the under 1600 section, the ladies showed their mettle. Vivian Liu started the tournament with a half point bye in the Friday night round. She then proceeded to win four straight games to secure first place in the under 1600 section. Audrey Grigore continued to demonstrate the ladies’ superiority in the under 1600 section by scoring 3.5 points to take second place. Antonio Artuz rounded out the list of prize winners in the under 1600 section by taking third place with 3 points. Jonathan Luong won the under 1300 section with 4 points. Max Jackel took second place in the under 1300 section with 3.5 points, and Rhomer Johnson was third with 3 points.

All of the players would like to thank the Las Vegas Downtown Project for supporting this event. Juan and Sabrina Jauregui organized the tournament on behalf of the Las Vegas Chess Center. Tom Brownscombe and Juan Jauregui directed the tournament. For complete tournament results for all players, including all rating changes, please visit the member services area of the US Chess Federation website. And for more information about other Las Vegas Chess Center events, please browse the Las Vegas Chess Center website.

190 players competed in the Nevada Scholastic Championships on Saturday, March 22nd.

In the High School Section, Cameron Patterson took the 1st place trophy on tie break over co-champion Raymond Seid.  Cameron qualifies to represent Nevada at the Denker Tournamet of High School Champions in August.  Naomi Santiago was the as the highest scoring girl (and only 1/2 point behind the winners) will represent Nevada in the National Girls Invitational Championship.  Advanced Technologies Academy was the top Team.

The K-8 Championship was shared between Michelangelo Barozzi and Royce Pereira, with Michelango taking the 1st place trophy and the invitation to the Barber Tournament of Elementary School Champions on tie break. Amber Hankins was the top girl with 4 points. Hyde Park Middle School took the team honors.

Diego Santiago and Alexander Wong are the K-5 co-champions, each with 5 wins and 1 draw. Liberty Leano, who was leading the tournament going into the last round was the highest finishing girl.  The Meadows School won the team trophy.

Elora Palacio was the only clear winner with a perfect 6-0 result in the K-3 section.  She lead the Saint Viator Catholic School to the team championship.

Complete results are posted here.

FIDE Master Elliott Liu played five rounds of consistently strong chess to win the open section of the Presidents’ Day Open with a perfect 5-0 score. The Presidents’ Day Open was a five round swiss system tournament played at the Las Vegas Chess Center at the Learning Village on Fremont Street during the Presidents’ Day weekend on February 14-16. The tournament had four sections with a total of 69 competitors and a total prize fund of $2,000. Patrick Lacey lost to Liu but defeated all other opponents to finish in clear second place in the open section with a 4-1 record. Professional chess teacher Virgilio Reyes finished in clear third place in the open section with 3.5 points. Chad Badgett won the under 1900 section with 4.5 points. Eric Leung and Anthony McCarthy tied for second place in the under 1900 section with 3.5 points each.

Edgar Khachatryan entered the under 1400 section as an unrated player with absolutely no experience in US Chess Federation sanctioned tournaments. But that didn’t stop him from playing excellent chess and winning the under 1400 section with 4.5 points. Yosef Debesai, Diego Santiago, Daniel Bohnett, and Stephen McGrew shared second through fifth place honors in the under 1400 section with 3-2 scores. Like Edgar Khachatryan, the appropriately named Knight Fevella-Postes also started the tournament as an unrated player with no US Chess Federation sanctioned chess tournament experience. And just like Khachatryan, he won the scholastic section with four wins and a draw. Amber Haskins and Arturo Simon tied for second and third place in the scholastic section with 4 points each.

This tournament was the first in a series of three southern Nevada qualifying tournaments for the 2014 Nevada State Chess Championship. Liu’s perfect 5-0 score makes him the favorite to be the top qualifier from southern Nevada. But qualification is based upon a player’s top two scores from the three qualifying tournaments. So Liu will need one more strong result to qualify. The next southern Nevada qualifying tournament is scheduled for the final weekend of April. For more information about upcoming state championship qualifying tournaments in southern Nevada, please visit the Las Vegas Chess Center website.

Juan and Sabrina Jauregui organized the tournament, and Tom Brownscombe and Juan Jauregui served as the tournament directors. To see a complete crosstable for the tournament, including results and rating changes for all players, please visit the member services area of the United States Chess Federation website.

Attention scholastic chess players! The 2014 Nevada State Scholastic Chess Championship will be held Saturday, March 22 at the Las Vegas Day School. For more information, click here. If you would like to register for the tournament online, please visit our registration page.

23rd Annual North American Open
December 26-30, 2013
The 23rd Annual North American Open was held at Bally’s Casino Resort, 3645 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, Nevada.

GM Giorgi Kacheishvili had the best tie-breaks out of 8 players who finished tied 1st-8th in the Open Section with 6½ points to claim the title of North American Open Champion and take his winnings to nearly $3,000. GMs Yi Wei, Sergey Erenburg, Timur Gareev, Alex Shimanov, Varuzhan Akobian and Alex Lenderman, along with IM Chen Wang completed the group at the top. Along with his top place finish, Wang’s performance was also good enough for a GM norm.

IM norms were achieved by Ryan Goldenberg, FM Razvan Preotu, FM Roman Sapozhnikov, FM Arthur Shen and Gregory Young.

As usual, this writer was a spectator, and I saw as well as our resident, GM Timur Gareev, Ryan Phillips, Juan Jauregui, Raymond Seid, John Currell, Vivian Liu, Karl Ulbrich playing in this event. Juan finished with a great 4.5/7, and commented it was a hard event.

The final standings for all sections and the prizes are posted at http//www.northamericanopen.com for all those who played in this annual event.

here are a couple games from one of the winners, Timur Gareev and another themetic game where Larry Christiansen pitches his queen away.

[Event “Las Vegas, NV”]
[Site “Las Vegas, NV”]
[Date “2013.12.26”]
[Round “2.1”]
[White “Mulyar, Michael”]
[Black “Gareev, Timur”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “A46”]
[WhiteElo “2423”]
[BlackElo “2650”]
[PlyCount “106”]
[EventDate “2013.12.??”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[Source “MonRoi”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 b5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O Be7 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. c4 a6 8. b3
c5 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Bb2 d6 11. Qc2 Nbd7 12. Rad1 Rc8 13. Qb1 Rc7 14. b4 Bb6 15.
cxb5 axb5 16. Qd3 Qa8 17. a3 Qa6 18. e3 Ba7 19. Rc1 Rfc8 20. Rxc7 Rxc7 21. Rc1
Rxc1+ 22. Bxc1 Bd5 23. Bb2 Qb7 24. Ne1 Bxg2 25. Nxg2 d5 26. Ne1 Ne8 27. Nef3
Nd6 28. Qc3 f6 29. Nd4 Bxd4 30. Qxd4 e5 31. Qd3 Nb6 32. Nb3 Na4 33. Na5 Qf7 34.
Bc1 Nb6 35. Nb3 Nbc4 36. Nc5 e4 37. Qd1 Ne5 38. h4 Nf3+ 39. Kf1 g5 40. hxg5
fxg5 41. Bb2 Nc4 42. Bc3 h5 43. Kg2 h4 44. Nxe4 h3+ 45. Kh1 dxe4 46. Qd8+ Kh7
47. Qh8+ Kg6 48. g4 Nfe5 49. Qh5+ Kf6 50. Qh6+ Ke7 51. Qxg5+ Ke6 52. Qh6+ Kd5
53. f4 exf3 0-1

[Event “Las Vegas, NV”]
[Site “Las Vegas, NV”]
[Date “2013.12.29”]
[Round “7.2”]
[White “Gareev, Timur”]
[Black “Yermolinsky, Alex”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D90”]
[WhiteElo “2650”]
[BlackElo “2510”]
[PlyCount “79”]
[EventDate “2013.12.??”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[Source “MonRoi”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. h4 c6 6. Bg5 O-O 7. Bxf6 Bxf6 8. h5
g5 9. h6 Bf5 10. e3 e6 11. Bd3 Bg6 12. Qe2 Nd7 13. Rd1 Re8 14. Kf1 a6 15. g3 b5
16. cxd5 cxd5 17. a3 Nb6 18. Kg2 Rc8 19. Bxg6 hxg6 20. e4 Kh7 21. Rd3 Nc4 22.
e5 Be7 23. a4 bxa4 24. Nxa4 Rb8 25. b3 Na5 26. Qe3 Rb4 27. Rc3 Nxb3 28. Rxb3
Rxa4 29. Rb7 a5 30. Qd3 Rf8 31. Nh2 Rb4 32. Ra7 Kxh6 33. Ng4+ Kg7 34. Qf3 Rg8
35. Nf6 Rh8 36. Rd7 Qf8 37. Rc1 Rc4 38. Rxc4 dxc4 39. d5 c3 40. Qxc3 1-0

[Event “Las Vegas, NV”]
[Site “Las Vegas, NV”]
[Date “2013.12.29”]
[Round “7.17”]
[White “Sapozhnikov, Roman”]
[Black “Christiansen, Larry”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “E43”]
[WhiteElo “2293”]
[BlackElo “2582”]
[PlyCount “129”]
[EventDate “2013.12.??”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[Source “MonRoi”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. a3
Bxc3 9. bxc3 Be4 10. Be2 Nc6 11. Ng5 Bg6 12. f3 d5 13. Bd2 cxd4 14. cxd4 dxc4
15. Bxc4 Nxd4 16. Rc1 b5 17. Ba2 Nf5 18. Qe2 Qb6 19. g4 Nd6 20. h4 h6 21. Nh3
Nc4 22. Nf4 Nd5 23. Nxg6 fxg6 24. Bxc4 bxc4 25. Rxc4 Rad8 26. Rf2 Qd6 27. f4
Qxa3 28. Bc1 Qe7 29. g5 h5 30. Qc2 Kh7 31. Qe4 Nb6 32. Rc6 Rfe8 33. Rfc2 Rd1+
34. Kh2 Nd5 35. Qf3 Rd3 36. Qe4 Rb3 37. Qe5 Qd7 38. Rc7 Nxc7 39. Rxc7 Qxc7 40.
Qxc7 Reb8 41. Kg3 R8b7 42. Qe5 R7b6 43. Bd2 Rc6 44. Kf3 a6 45. Qe4 Rd6 46. Bb4
Rd1 47. Bc5 Rf1+ 48. Ke2 Rbb1 49. Qe5 Rbe1+ 50. Kd3 Rd1+ 51. Ke4 Rd5 52. Qc3
Rb1 53. Bd4 Rb7 54. Qc6 Rdd7 55. Qxa6 Re7 56. Be5 Rb4+ 57. Kf3 Rbb7 58. Bd6
Red7 59. Qc6 Ra7 60. Ke4 Rdb7 61. Ke5 Rb3 62. Bc5 Ra5 63. Kxe6 Rc3 64. Kd6 Ra2
65. Qb7 1-0