Results April-August 2010

The Asheboro Open 60 - 7 August 2010

LM Chis Mabe wins TAO 60

"I'm not sure what it is about 33 players, but we seem to draw that number every month! Our goal is to average 36 players, or three dozen (either will do). Asheboro turned into chess talent central for our Dog Day Event, however, with former NC Champions LM Chris Mabe and FM Ron Simpson headlining. The Championship Section was so strong that last month's Grand Champion Kevin Chen found himself exiled to the Candidate's Section, which he won handily."

Read the complete report with pictures and games at Asheboro Chess.

LM Chris Mabe
First - Championship Section
(photo credit Tom Hales)
Kevin Chen
First - Candidates Section
(photo credit Tom Hales)
David Blair
First - Club Section
(photo credit Tom Hales)

Reverse Angle 19 - 24 July 2010

Myers has the “Right Angle”

A grand total of 65 players ascended on the Cone Center at UNC-Charlotte for the 19th running of the Reverse Angle tournament series. When the last pawn was pushed, recent Charlotte high school graduate ( and soon to be Liberty College freshman ) Dominique Myers came through with the only perfect score in the top section, defeating SC chess icon Klaus Pohl in the last round.

In the U1800 section, a three way tie ensued among the QCCA’s Mike Eberhardinger and Mark Biernacki, along with Zachary High of Chapel Hill.

North Carolinians John Xia and Andrew Austin both came through with perfect scores in the U1400.

The U1100 was won by Nicholas Miklaucic with a 3-0 score. Ishaan Maitra and James Chapman tied for 2nd with 2.5.

A grand total of $1040 in cash prizes was awarded. In addition, the QCCA gave a free entry to the NC Open to the winner (on tiebreaks if necessary). With this the QCCA gave away exactly 100% of entries in prizex. The entry fees were won by Dominique Myers, Mike Eberhardinger, John Xia and Nick Miklaucic.

TACO LXIV - 17 July 2010

Click here for more information on the Triangle Area Chess Open

33 players entered TACO LXIV on July 17th, 2010 at Caraleigh Fellowship Hall in Raleigh.

The Open table saw Adam Holmes and Oliver Fernando enter and even endgame on the top board in the last round. The game ended in a draw and pushed Holmes to his sixth TACO title, making him third in series history behind FM Ron Simpson and NM John Bidwell. Fernando joined Felix McCain among the ranks of recent first-time player winners of a TACO.

William LeFew claimed his second straight U1800 section title with a clear first 2½-point effort.

Once again the U1400 saw two players share top honors as Andrew Austin went 3-0 for the second straight TACO. Michael Fussell joined him with the tournament's only perfect score.

Jeff Jones served as chief TD on behalf of the Raleigh Tournament Chess Club, with Dr. Walter High serving as assistant director.

TAO 59 - 7 July 2010

"Turnout this month was average at 33 players, but the talent on hand was far from average. It was a special treat to see NM Robin Cunningham in action at his first Asheboro Open. Once one of North Carolina's top players, Robin currently resides in California with his family. The top section was top-heavy with talent, and an average rating of over 1900. These included NM Dan Liu, a former NC Champion, and Charlotte Expert Patrick McCartney. I would be remiss if I didn't mention longsuffering James Watson, who we shall refer to henceforth as NM James Watson. For more on this, enter the Asheboro Hall of Champions. Last but not least, we were honored to host Statesville's Statesman of Chess Mike Williams, a strong player and fine addition to our lineup."

Kevin Chen - First - Championship Section (photo credit Tom Hales)
Adam Clontz - First - Candidates Section (photo credit Tom Hales)
Shawn Spencer (L) and Supradeep Madduri First Place Tie - Club Section (photo credit Tom Hales)

TACO LXIII - 26 June 2010

Click here for more information on the Triangle Area Chess Open

Thirty-Four players converged on south Raleigh for TACO LXIII on 26 June, 2010. The fourteen-player "En Fuego" section saw quite a few surprises as the top two boards were draws in each of the first two rounds. The final round was more decisive as FM Ron Simpson, Adam Holmes, and Eugene Cloete each were victorious in their final round games to share first prize.

The nine-player "Picante" section saw the only clear winner as William Lefew emerged as the winner despite spotting the field with a first-round bye. Gary Maltzman, Michale Tedder, and Kevin Tie all split second.

With eleven participants, the "Moderado" section witnessed two perfect scores with Derek Shepherd and Andrew Austin conquering all of their opponents.

TACO LXIV will be July LXIV. In the meantime you can join the Raleigh Tournament Chess Club on Wednesday nights at the McDonald's off exit 291 of I-40 (about 3/4 miles from the exit.)

Asheboro 58 - 19 June 2010

FM Ron Simpson continued his domination in Asheboro

"FM Ron Simpson continued his domination in Asheboro this month, surviving a fierce Smith-Morra Gambit by James Watson in round three which nearly toppled his king. (According to Deep Rybka 4, Watson missed a decisive continuation during his brutal onslaught). The former NC Champion earned $140.00 for his efforts. As usual, Ron spent a good deal of time analyzing his own games, and helping others with theirs. Fayetteville's Paul King was undefeated after a half point bye for round one, earning clear second place and $65.00 worth of respect. Friend Larry Williams was awarded the $35.00 class prize with a solid 2-0 showing, despite a second round rook sac by Reynaldo Diaz that "swindled" him out of a clear win. Always a gentleman, Larry laughed it off and continued to play well."

Visit the Asheboro Chess Club's website for Tom's complete report, more pictures and the "floating head" tribute to NM Ron Simpson. Also, Tom has updated the site's games database.

Paul King
Second Place, Championship Section (photo credit Tom Hales)
Jordan Eliseo
First Place, Candidates Section (photo credit Tom Hales)
Derek Chen
First Place, Club Section (photo credit Tom Hales)

Statesville Skewer 2 - 19 June 2010

(l-r) Scott Baldwin and Chris Mabe in first round action (photo credit Mike Williams)

"A small but vibrant crowd of 24 players competed in the Statesville Skewer 2, held 6/19/2010 at Shiloh United Methodist Church in Statesville NC. Young and old, beginner and master and all skill levels in between, put their skills to the test in pursuit of cash or trophies."

"Chris Mabe started out by winning a red knight bag-tag in the door prize drawing. Perhaps being "up a knight" before the round began was an omen of things to come, as he won clear first place in the Alpha Section with a 2.5/3 score ($50)."

Read Mike's complete report and see all the pictures at the Statesville Area Chess Club's website.

NC Class Championship - 4-6 June 2010

RON SIMPSON TAKES THE N.C. CLASS OPEN TITLE

Ron Simpson definitely had “Georgia on his mind” as he survived an onslaught of highly rated players from Georgia to win the Open section of the North Carolina Class Championship on Sunday, June 6, 2010. Simpson finished with 4.5/5.0 and his last three games were against the Georgians. He beat Donnie Gray (2130), drew Damir Studen (2232), then clinched the title with a big win over Gabriel Battiglini (2427). Studen and Gray tied for 2nd place with 4.0 and North Carolina’s Chris Mabe took clear 4th with 3.5. NCCA President Gary Newsom, Patrick McCartney, and Shawn McIntosh all finished with 3.0 to tied Battiglini for 5th place.

Tianqi Wang rolled through the A section with a 4.5 score, making it look easy as he demolished the competition. Only the return of Thomas Paradis dented his attempt at a perfect score as Paradis fought him to a draw. Paradis was playing his first rated tournament since April of 2009, but he shook off the rust quickly to score 3.5 and tie Steve Abrahams and Henry White for 2nd place. Although Paradis had not played since he finished high school, he got through the tournament without a loss as two wins and three draws attested to his fortitude.

Another Georgian, Reece Thompson, took the B section with 4.5. His attempt at a perfect score was interrupted by North Carolina’s Ken Chu, a Charlotte 6th grader, who managed a draw. Chu’s rating is skyrocketing as he took clear 2nd with 4.0 and jumped well into the 1700s with a new rating of 1739.

Another major rating leap was accomplished by Jordan Eliseo in the C section as he scored 4.5. His only blemish was a loss to Michael Tedder in the last round. Eliseo’s rating went from 1405 to 1570. Adam Shaw and Bradley Fowler tied for second with 3.0 scores.

Shouri Gottiparthi won Class D with 4.0 and Tony Cato won Class E with 4.5. The only perfect score in the tournament was Class E victor Prabhath Kotha with his 5.0.

Everyone seemed to enjoy playing and having time to chat between rounds with their competitors. The presence of eight players from Georgia gave a challenge to the North Carolinians and made the tournament more interesting. Over the past several years, many more scholastic competitors have begun playing in the “adult” tournaments and the results are quite evident. The tougher competition has been good for both adults and kids and the quality of scholastic play has increased tremendously in North Carolina. The state is on the verge of having an onslaught of expert level scholastic players after years of only one or two at most. Josh Mu and Samuel Xin could quickly be joined by the likes of Will Campbell, Tianqi Wang, Kevin Huang, Allan Jiang, Robin Yopp, and David Spencer. Among this candidate group only Huang will be a senior next year. Mu and Xin who are already at the expert level will be in the 10th and 11th grades respectively.

TACO LXII - 22 May 2010

Click here for more information on the Triangle Area Chess Open

Simpson laps the field at TACO LXII

FM Ron Simpson has officially lapped the field claiming his 18th TACO title on May 22nd. This title doubles the nine titles that the next most prolific champion NM John Bidwell picked up before moving to Ohio. Kevin Chen claimed top honors in the under 1800 division and Peter Schoots triumphed in the under 1400 division. 28 players participated in the event which was directed by Jeff Jones and Daniel Solarez. Here is a full list of champions.

Cornerstone Summer Scholastic - 31 July 2010

A full report can be found on the Statesville Area Chess Club website. You will find more and larger pictures.

l-r: Keezer, E. Tran, Joseph, Maitra, D. Tran
(photo credit Mike Willliams)
l-r: Shepherd, D. Williams, M. Williams, McCoy, O'Tuel
(photo credit Mike Willliams)

Turner Creek in Cary - Spring 2010 Unrated

"Thirty-one students participated in Turner Creek Elementary School's first chess tournament."

Turner Creek Complete Results

HS Class Chess Championship - 22 May 2010

The Flyers were sent to approximately 392 high schools in North Carolina.
There were 7 schools and 26 players at Saturday's event.
The tournament was very well directed by Denver Owens (Wilkes Chess Club)
and Randy Lovelace (Taylorsville)

Here is a complete list of winners:
First Place At Large Team:  Thomas Jefferson Charter School
First Place  1A Team:  Thomas Jefferson Charter School
First Place 2A Team:  Newton Conover High School
First Place Overall Team:  Newton Conover High School
First Place 2AA Team:  West Caldwell High School
First Place 3A Team:  Hunter Huss High School and Hibriten High School
First Place 4A Team:  Alexander Central High School
First Place At Large Individual:  Alex Harrelson
First Place 1A Individual:  Joshua Bemper
First Place 2A Individual:  Jordan Joseph and Scott McLaughlin
Third Place 2A Individual:  Gabriel Crider
First Place Overall Individual Champion:  Matt Embler
Second Place 2AA Individual:  Alejandro Bosshart
First Place 3A Individual:  Josh McMenemy and Douglas Terry
Third Place 3A Individual:  Jeremy Glenn and Randy Nguyen
First Place 4A Individual:  David Bolick, Michael Garvin and Justin Hampton
click for a larger image

Pictured are team members Alex Harrelson and Jacob Whiteside of Thomas Jefferson Grammar as they are presented the First Place Team Award in the At Large Class at the NC HS Class Chess Championship held Saturday at Newton-Conover HS. Also pictured are Tournament Director Mr. Denver Owens, Mr. Scott Beck of Newton-Conover HS and Mr. Lovett, team advisor at Thomas Jefferson.

click for a larger image

Pictured is Alexander Central's David Bolick as he is presented the award as the First Place 4A Student at the NC HS Class Chess Championship held Saturday at Newton-Conover HS. In addition to the individual award he also won the First Place Award in the 4A Class. He is pictured with Tournament Director Mr. Denver Owens, Mr. Scott Beck of Newton-Conover, and Chess Club Advisor Mr. Juan Sierra. Not pictured are team members Mackenez Dougherty, Michael Garvin (1st 4A), Justin Hampton (1st 4A), and Ricky Rodriquez.

click for a larger image

Pictured are Newton-Conover's Chess Team as they are presented the award as the First PLace Team in the 2A Class at the NC HS Class Chess Championship held Saturday at Newton-Conover HS. The team was also the top scoring team recording 13 team points. Team members were: Gabriel Crider (3rd 2A), Jordan Joseph (1st 2A), Mark Keezer (4th 2A), Scott McLaughlin (1st 2A), Rob Rowe, Quinton Schleyer (4th 2A), and Tin Tompkins( 4th 2A). They are pictured with Tournament Director Mr. Denver Owens and Mr. Scott Beck (Faculty Advisor) of Newton-Conover.

click for a larger image

Pictured is West Caldwell's Matt Embler as he thinks about his next move at the NC HS Class Chess Championship held Saturday at Newton-Conover HS. Matt was the only student to win all 5 games and won the award for First Place Overall as well as First Place in the 2AA Class.

Raleigh Russian School Znaika Scholastic Quads - 22 May 2010

Individual Section Winners:
Anish Kottu 3-0
Dani Chertock 3-0
Jesse Tymas 2.5-.5
Samuel Chow 3-0
Tristan McNish 2.5-.5
Eric Feigin 3-0

Team:
1st place: Durham Academy K-5
2nd place: New School Montessori Center K-5
3rd place: Znaika K-5
4th place: Znaika 6-8

Asheboro Open 57 - 9 May 2010

"This month had me again wondering about turnout with Mother's Day celebrations at hand. While we didn't match the record-breaking numbers from April, The Asheboro Open 57 more than made up for it in star power."

Read Tom's full report at the Asheboro Chess Club Website

NM Ron Simpson
1st Championship Section
(photo credit Tom Hales)
Grace Campbell
2nd Championship Section
(photo credit Tom Hales)
l-r Ricky Sabhikhi and Jeff Schneider
joint first Candidates Section
(photo credit Tom Hales)

Reverse Angle 18 - 1 May 2010

Saturday saw 59 players comming together at UNCC to compete in four sections at the Reverse Angle 18 allowing for a prize fund of $1088, over 50% higher than the advertised amount.

Tough games were held at every level with Gary Newsom taking a clear first place in the Open section, Chad Eller and Joshua Taylor sharing the top spot in the Under 1800 section. Suraj Madiraju took a clear 1st in the Under 1400 and Kireet Panugant and James Lee sharing the top spot in the Under 1100 section.

The other prize winners were:

Open
1st - Gary Newsom
2nd - 3rd   Klaus Pohl, Stephen Maynard
Under -  Patrick McCartney, Scott Baldwin, Steve Wang

Under 1800
1st - 2nd   --  Chad Eller & Joshua Taylor
3rd - Under --  Lendel Robinson & Erik Murrah

Under 1400
1st --  Suraj Madiraju
2nd -- 3rd - Under - S. Balasubramanian, Craig Patton,
                        Alexander Tong, Daniel Smith

Under 1100
1st - 2nd -- Kireet Panugant & James Lee
3rd - Under -- Shawn Miklaucic, Jack Miklaucic,
                    Nicholas Mikaucic, Suhas Madiraju

2010 NC Invitational - 23-25 April 2010

back row: (l-r) NM Jones, Expert Timmel, NM Mabe
front row: (l-r) NM Agner, NM Dana, NM Simpson
photo by Walter High

"In an exciting down-to-the-wire finish, Craig Jones dominated a strong field in the 2010 North Carolina Chess Invitational at Durham Academy, winning his fourth title in the last six years." This report continues at 2010 NC Invitational.

See also: Tim Rankin's page at the Duke/Durham Chess Club.

TACO LXI - 24 April 2010

33 Players met up in Raleigh for TACO LXI on April 24th, 2010. TACO LXI marked the return to competetive chess of NCCA Hall of Famer Greg Samsa, who shared first with Forest, VA's Felix McCain in the EN FUEGO (Open) section. Josh Taylor joined another Virginian, Robert Day on top of the PICANTE (u1800) section. Click here for more information on the Triangle Area Chess Open Michael Jones of Jacksonville and newcomer Antonio Jackson of Camp Lejeune shared top honors in the MODERADO (u1400) section. This event was special for Jones as it was his first USCF rated tournament in 32 YEARS!!! The director's chair also had a new look as Jon Achelpohl served as chief TD for the first time. Jon was assisted by Daniel Solarez who was making his debut as a director.

TACO LXII will be May 22nd at Caraleigh Fellowship Hall in Raleigh, NC

(lr) Michael Jones, Antonio Jackson joint first U1400.
TD Jon Achelpohl
NM Greg Samsa
shared first in the Open Section.
Felix McCain
shared first in the Open Section.

Border Battle - 10-11 April 2010

The North Carolina Team

"The annual match up between the Great State of North Carolina and our friendly neighbors to the south took place on the weekend of April 10-11. The venue was the Hampton Inn in the lovely little town of Travelers Rest, South Carolina."

Don't miss Gary's full report

The Asheboro Open 56 - 3 April 2010

(l-r) NM Ron Simpson, Patrick McCartney
joint 1st in Open Section
(photo by Tom Hales)

"Forty-five serious competitors gathered to compete for $960.00 in cash prizes--a payout of over 85%. For more information and photos, enter the hallowed Asheboro Hall of Champions."

Results from Recent years

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