CalChess Top 20 Adults -- December 2009

The December rating list is considered the 'annual' supplement by the US Chess Federation. With this in mind, I compiled the Top 20 chess players in CalChess, including both adults and elite juniors. Check out this link on the USCF website for a longer list of 200 players, dropping down into the 1800s.

The big mover this fall was 16 year old FM Steven Zierk (photo by Shorman at right), who jumped from 2312 over the summer to 2401 after the State Championship on Thanksgiving weekend. The bulk of the increase came at the Western States Open in Reno, where "Zkid" shocked GM Loek van Wely with this miniature, drew with two other Grandmasters and beat strong IM Enrico Sevillano. Another successful local player was GM Vinay Bhat (photo by Truong at top left), who gained 67 USCF and 36 FIDE rating points at two tournaments: the Montreal International and the SPICE Cup at Texas Tech University.

CalChess Top 20 Masters (USCF Rating, FIDE Rating)

1	GM Friedel, Josh	2609	2551
2	GM Bhat, Vinay	2566	2510
3	GM Kraai, Jesse	2545	2509
4	IM Shankland, Sam	2541	2486
5	IM Florean, Andrei	2484	2420
6	IM DeGuzman, Ricardo	2453	2404
7	IM Zilberstein, Dmitry	2432	2392
8	IM Pruess, David	2419	2389
9	FM Strugatsky, Vladimir	2414	2390
10	IM Donaldson, John	2390	2394
11	FM Zierk, Steven	2387	2306
12	FM Naroditsky, Danya	2375	2339
13	IM Mezentsev, Vladimir	2367	2383
14	FM Cusi, Ronald	2325	2322
15	IM Ganbold, Odondoo	2322	2346
16	NM Schwarz, Daniel	2313	2232
17	NM Lee, Andy	2305	2273
18	FM Evans, Bela	2282	2262
19	NM Pearson, Michael	2280	2167
20	FM Cunningham, Robin	2279	2302