Nevada Chess, Inc.

After three rounds of play

No. Name Rate Pts Rnd1 Rnd2 Rnd3 Rnd4 Rnd5 Rnd6
1 Lucky, David 2339 2.5 W16 W7 D2 -U- -U- -U-
2 Gallegos, Jeffery 2090 2.5 W20 W10 D1 -U- -U- -U-
3 Phillips, Ryan 1997 2.5 W22 W13 -H- -U- -U- -U-
4 Reyes, Virgilio T 1990 2.5 W12 W5 -H- -U- -U- -U-
5 Bidari, Glenn 2149 2.0 W17 L4 W6 -U- -U- -U-
6 Pendergast, David 2040 2.0 W18 W11 L5 -U- -U- -U-
7 Jauregui, Juan Pab 1938 2.0 W14 L1 W16 -U- -U- -U-
8 Walter, Kenneth 1925 2.0 L13 W15 W19 -U- -H- -H-
9 Imada, Todd 1856 2.0 L11 W20 W18 -U- -H- -U-
10 Ramirez, Jose E 1900 1.5 W21 L2 D11 -U- -U- -U-
11 Santiago, Hugo 1682 1.5 W9 L6 D10 -U- -U- -U-
12 McDonald, Monte 1624 1.5 L4 -H- W21 -U- -U- -U-
13 Pereira, Royce Tre 1615 1.5 W8 L3 D15 -U- -U- -U-
14 Banerji, Neil 1303 1.5 L7 -B- -H- -U- -U- -U-
15 Vela, Francisco 1899 1.0 D19 L8 D13 -U- -U- -U-
16 Teves, Reymundo 1855 1.0 L1 -X- L7 -U- -U- -U-
17 Trivett, John 1800 1.0 L5 L18 W22 -U- -U- -U-
18 Galima, Tim 1742 1.0 L6 W17 L9 -U- -U- -U-
19 Rosten, Marshall L. 1434 1.0 D15 -H- L8 -U- -U- -U-
20 Leung, Eric 1781 0.5 L2 L9 -H- -U- -U- -U-
21 Pendergraft, Christopher 1145 0.5 L10 -H- L12 -U- -U- -U-
22 Orozco, Emmanuel 1626 0.0 L3 -F- L17 -U- -U- -U-

Finally, Las Vegas players scored big at the National Open and the International Chess Festival June 14-17. Check out your results at www.vegaschessfestival.com/

The Southern Nevada Qualifer will begin July 12th at the Clark County Chess Club at 5160 South Valley Suite 110 through July and August.  the entry fee is $20. It will be a 7 round Swiss, with 2- 1/2 point byes available. Prizes to be anounced. The winner will play in  the State Championship in Tonopah against the Northern Nevada champion  in late Sept or early October. Time control will be G/90 d5      Info email jon_trivett@yahoo.com or phone 7028067410

Board Members elected were Mike Filapas, Francisco Vela and Gail Winds.  Remaining on the board are Dan Conver, Alan Losoff, Allen Magruder and John Trivett.  Mike Filipas resigned due to a conflict of interest and the board appointed Tom Brownscombe to take his place.

Officers elected were Allen Magruder, President, Alan Losoff, Vice President, John Trivett, Secretary and Tom Brownscombe, Treasurer.

John has agreed to maintain this web site, and more will be posted soon.

In a city flush with jobs, students can land lucrative gigs to pay for their education. They park cars, dance, serve cocktails and otherwise contribute to the 24-hour economy.Ryan Phillips, 23, is pursuing a less orthodox way of paying for law school at UNLV.

Phillips, an aspiring corporate attorney, happens to be a competitive chess player. And he’s hoping that teaching chess for $30 an hour will allow him eventually to drop his other gigs tutoring math for about 10 hours a week.

Phillips, who won the under-2000 Western States Open in 2006 and tied for second in the North American Open’s under-1800 in 2004, learned to play chess at age 8 from his dad. (“Under-2000” and “under-1800” refer to the U.S. Chess Federation’s ratings for players.)

Since childhood, Phillips has taught himself more about chess by practicing, reading books on tactics and studying other players’ games.

“I liked the logic of it,” he said. “It’s a beautiful game to me aesthetically also. The patterns, the way the pieces move, there’s a logic and a symmetry to the game.”

So far, Phillips is finding that entrepreneurship isn’t easy.

He’s started his chess business with one student a 6-year-old who has taken hourly lessons once a week for the past 2

A book by Las Vegas Chess History Collector, Lawrence Totaro

In this new, fully-colored book, Las Vegas collector and researcher, Lawrence Totaro, put together material that consists of pre-prints, authentic autographs, and high-priced forgeries seen on eBay. In this small but informative book, there includes a Bobby Fischer table, compare/contrast chart, and graphological analysis from Sheila Lowe, author of Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis.

To view more information regarding this book, please visit the Fisching for Forgeries website at http://www.fischingforforgeries.com/home.html.

(Thanks to Tom Thrush for providing this information.)

Up against tough competition from schools with a long tradition for playing the game, nine pupils from The Meadows School held their own at the U.S. Chess Federation 2005 National K-12/Collegiate Championship Dec. 2-4 in Houston.The five-member second-grade team finished second in the nation for its grade level, in a field that boasted 21 teams. In the team competition, the three highest scores determine the team’s score. The Southern Nevada team finished a half-point behind the 11-member second-grade team from New York City’s Dalton School, where Josh Waitzkin was once a student. Waitzkin’s journey to his first national championship was portrayed in the 1993 movie “Searching for Bobby Fischer.” The Meadows team also finished ahead of Hunter College Elementary School in New York, which offers a chess course as part of its curriculum.

The second-grade team members are Michael Baldyga, Alex Agrawal, Parker Sachs, Beau Capanna and Asia Thomas.

In addition to the second-grade team trophy, several other pupils from The Meadows School achieved individual accomplishments at the tournament. The individual competition consisted of each player competing in seven rounds, one game per round.

Michael Baldyga, 8, won the second-grade championship, which had 116 entrants. He was the first pupil from The Meadows School to win a national title in chess since Patrick Hummel won his fifth straight championship in 1999. Michael’s brother, Alexander, also finished first in the under 1,000 (points) kindergarten level and 12th in the nation in the overall kindergarten level.

Alex Agrawal also did well in the second-grade level, tying for 11th in the nation.

Richard Lee, 12, tied for second in the sixth-grade level competition, which had 166 players.

Dan Conver, The Meadows chess team coach, began coaching children at the school 10 years ago. Conver said chess players Richard and Michael, in particular, have “unlimited potential.”

Christina Baldyga, Michael and Alexander’s mother, credits Conver for the chess team’s success. “He is a really amazing coach,” Christina said. “He spends so many hours with the kids and gets them motivated.”

Richard, who began playing chess four years ago after it was suggested to him by his parents, Duncan and Irene Lee, plays because he finds it fun and “I like to win.”

The Lees thought their son might be interested in chess because it would be a challenge.

Michael has been playing chess for almost three years, ever since Christina and Mark Baldyga signed him up for the chess program at The Meadows School.

“I am really happy for Michael,” Christina said. “He works very hard.”

In addition to their coaching sessions with Conver, both Michael and Richard play chess against adults with the Clark County Chess Club that meets at University Medical Center.

“Richard has been playing there for eight or nine months, and he is not intimidated,” his father said.

Richard enjoys playing against the adult chess players in the club.

“It’s fun because sometimes I beat them, and they’re better than me,” Richard said. He will compete in the North American Open tournament at Bally’s at the end of this month.

Michael’s mother believes he also has benefited from the experience against adult players.

“The time playing with the adults has taught him to take his time and think of his strategies,” Christina said.

Other Meadows School pupils who participated in the tournament were Cameron Brown, who competed in the seventh-grade level, and Kathryn Gibson, who competed in the fourth-grade level.

Report by Madelon Hynes, Las Vegas Review Journal, December 20th, 2005