Experts Win in Sacramento!

California's newest National Master: Uyanga Byambaa!

The 2014 Sacramento Chess Championship attracted 90 players old and young to the comfortable Holiday Inn Express on Auburn Blvd over the 4th of July weekend.  The weather outside was seasonably hot and the competition heated up as well, with a Sacramento area record $5000 up for grabs!  Naturally, the weekend saw plenty of fireworks, both on and off the chess boards.  Perhaps half of the participants psyched up for round 4 by watching the scintillating penalty shootout between the Netherlands and Costa Rica on a big screen in the spacious lounge.

The Open section drew 35 entries, including five rated 2200 or higher.  The conspicuous absence of defending champion IM Ricardo DeGuzman left the field wide open.  Top rated NM Jimmy Heiserman turned in a solid performance of 3 wins and 3 draws, but this proved insufficient for first place.  Congratulations to WFM Uyanga Byambaa and her boyfriend Byron Doyle for sharing top honors!  They took home $525 each, with Byron earning the trophy on tiebreaks (not that it mattered).  Officially rated as experts, both co-champions gained many rating points: Uyanga to 2206 and Byron to 2164.  Special kudos to Uyanga for earning the National Master title with her final round miniature against FM Kenan Zildzic!

Section Winners

• Master/Expert: Uyanga Byambaa and Byron Doyle
• Reserve (U2000): Bernie Lu, Ziad Baroudi and Bayaraa Bekhtur
• Amateur (U1600): Srinivas Susarla

National TD John McCumiskey capably organized this event, as he has done each year since 2001.  The location on Auburn Blvd offers a quiet and air conditioned playing hall with plenty of elbow room for all sections.  The skittles room includes tables, bar stools, sofas, large TV screens, and free wifi internet.  Great for chess players and parents alike.  Almost perfect--if you ask me.

Sacramento Team Champ Is Underway

(Left: Heiserman white against Lazetich. Right: Micah Cohen white against MacFarland. Photos taken by cell phone.)


The annual Team Championship at the Sacramento Chess Club began last week with nine teams and over 60 players. Each team fields six boards rated under 1750 average, with up to three alternates allowed. The premiere event of the club brings back folks who rarely attend the rest of the year. I counted 5 masters, another 5 experts and over a dozen experienced A players. No doubt the competition on the top three boards will be fierce! Round-robin play continues through March 24, although each team gets a bye.

The defending champions from UC Davis, named after the university mascot Gunrock, appear heavy favorites to repeat. NM Jim Heiserman, Phillip Seitzer, Valeriy Timofeyev and John Cohen give them four players rated above 1950 to fill the top three boards; the lower boards are manned by strong unrateds typically of class B or C strength, but who count as 1300 for the team average rating. Top challengers include Pinoy Destroyers (expert Joe Escoto plus his Filipino buddies) and 2-C (formerly called B-Nam, featuring NM Jim MacFarland on top board).

My own team, Russo's Rustlers captained by rapidly improving A player Joe Russo, might also finish in the top half of the field. (The photo at right shows Robert struggling as black against my student Nicholas Karas.) Unfortunately, we seriously got our bells rung in the first round by Gunrock's Heroes. I have never been on the wrong side of a 5.5-0.5 score before! I even lost to Phillip Seitzer due to tactical blindness and poor time management. Thanks to Marvin Gilbert for avoiding the shutout with a draw on board 4. Fortunately, the team bounced back 4-2 against King Hunters, with me sitting out.

Team Standings after round 2 (MP, GP, top board)

1. Gunrock's Heroes (2.0, 10.5, NM Jim Heiserman)
2. Pinoy Destroyers (2.0, 10.5, Joe Escoto)
   
3. 2-C (1.0, 5.5, NM Jim MacFarland)
4. Daze N' Knights (1.0, 5.0, Micah Cohen)
5. Russo's Rustlers (1.0, 4.5, NM Michael Aigner)
6. King Hunters (0.5, 5.0, Nicholas Karas)
7. Zoki (0.5, 3.5, Ted Xiao)
   
8. Zoka (0.0, 2.5, NM Zoran Lazetich)
9. Warriors (0.0, 1.0, NM Steve Ross)

Official team standings and individual results are posted at Sacramento Chess Club website.

Last Round of Sacramento Team Championship Tonight

(This photo of the UC Davis Chess Club is posted on their website.)

The Sacramento Chess Club Team Championship wraps up tonight. The scene will be a bit anticlimactic as the UC Davis Knights already clinched first place with a dominating 6-0 match score and 74% of all possible game points. Last week they defeated the Warriors, a team that many thought would compete for top honors, by a convincing 4.5-1.5 margin (Heiserman defeated Ross on board 1). Thanks to this victory, the Knights lead B-Nam by 1.5 match points heading into the final round. Three teams are tied for third place way back at 50%: the above mentioned Warriors, my squad from Elk Grove and the overachieving King Hunters.

TEAM STANDINGS (after round 6)

1. UC Davis Knights 6.0 MP, 26.5 GP
2. B-Nam 4.5 MP, 22.5 GP
3. Warriors 3.0 MP, 20.5 GP
4. Elk Grove 3.0 MP, 20.0 GP
5. King Hunters 3.0 MP, 15.5 GP
6. UC Davis Bishops 2.5 MP, 18.0 GP
7. Zoka Zoki Academy 1.0 MP, 12.0 GP
8. Daze Knights 1.0 MP, 8.0 GP

Kudos to the UC Davis Chess Club and the members of the mighty Knights: NM Jimmy Heiserman, club President Zach Han, Rohan Sathe, Anthony Blessing, Erik Friedlander, Marcus Langston, Brian Eller, Ryan Leung and David Whiteneck.

Here are the unofficial board prize standings. I listed all players who have scored at least 3.0 in the first 6 rounds, or are within a point of the leader. To be eligible for the board prize at the end of the tournament, the person must play 60% of the rounds at that board. Boards 1 and 2 are pretty close to being settled, but at least three players have a shot at winning each of the others. Look at board 5: even Mike Parmon has a shot!

BOARD 1

• 5.5 NM Zoran Lazetich (ZOKA) -- defeated MacFarland, Heiserman and Ross
  
• 4.5 NM James MacFarland (BNAM) -- defeated Aigner
  
• 4.5 NM Michael Aigner (EG) -- defeated Heiserman and Ross
  
• 3.5 NM Jimmy Heiserman (UCD-N) -- defeated Ross
  

BOARD 2

• 5.5 John Cohen (UCD-B)
• 3.0 Alonzo McCaulley (WAR)
• 3.0 Zach Han (UCD-N)
  

BOARD 3

• 4.5 Kevin Dooley (KING)
• 4.0 Joe Birt (WAR)
• 4.0 Romeo Pilar (EG)
• 3.0 Dalton Peterson (BNAM) -- 3 games on board 3 and 3 games on board 4
  

BOARD 4

• 4.5 Erik Friedlander (UCD-N)
  
• 4.5 Brady Hill (KING)
• 4.0 Nebojsa Gvozden (BNAM)
• 4.0 Bob Baker (WAR)
• 3.0 Robert Russo (EG)
  

BOARD 5

• 3.5 Everett Penn (WAR)
• 3.5 Michael Parmon (KING)
• 3.0 Brian Eller (UCD-N)
• 2.5 Marcus Langston (UCD-N)
  

BOARD 6

• 4.5 Ryan Leung (UCD-N) -- 3 games on board 6, 2 on board 5 and 1 on board 4
• 4.5 Donald Dixon (EG)
• 4.0 Joel Iniquez-Aguiar (BNAM)
• 3.0 Justin Garvin (WAR)

Sacramento Team Championship Round 5

The UC Davis Knights prevailed 3.5-2.5 in Wednesday's showdown against second place B-Nam. The match was tight throughout and it came down to the top board between NM Jimmy Heiserman and the multiple time Sacramento champion NM James MacFarland. The UCD freshman from Texas drew the game and now the Knights hold a nearly insurmountable 1.5 match lead with just two weeks to go. Congratulations!

While many had predicted a victory by the Knights, few people saw the low rated King Hunters defeating my Elk Grove squad by 4-2! When I looked up after winning a sloppy endgame on board 1, my teammates were literally staggering from a shutout on boards 2-5. I am sure to hear about this score for the rest of 2009. Big sigh!

TEAM STANDINGS (after round 5)

1. UC Davis Knights 5.0 MP, 22.0 GP
2. B-Nam 3.5 MP, 17.0 GP
3. Warriors 3.0 MP, 19.0 GP
4. UC Davis Bishops 2.5 MP, 15.5 GP
5. Elk Grove 2.0 MP, 16.5 GP
6. King Hunters 2.0 MP, 11.5 GP
7. Zoka Zoki Academy 1.0 MP, 10.0 GP
8. Daze Knights 1.0 MP, 7.5 GP

Captions for the photos, counterclockwise from top left:

• NM Jimmy Heiserman, board 1 for UCD Knights.
• NM James MacFarland, board 1 for B-Nam.
• NM Steven Ross (on left) and Alonzo McCaulley, boards 1 and 2 for Warriors.
• Mike Parmon, captain of the King Hunters, making a point to his students.
  
• Donald Dixon (on left) and William Lombard, Elk Grove team.
• Robert Russo (from left), Romeo Pilar and Bernie Lu, Elk Grove team.
  

Sacramento Team Championship Round 4

The Sacramento Chess Club Team Championship is the most popular event of the year, attracting some players on Wednesday nights who play in few other local tournaments. This year, there are eight teams of 6 players (plus 3 alternates) with an average rating under 1750 each week. The teams play a round-robin over seven weeks from February 4 until March 18.

The list of top board players is impressive: masters Zoran Lazetich, James MacFarland, Steven Ross, Jimmy Heiserman and your blogger are joined by three others rated above 2000. It is special to see so many of the active chess players in the Sacramento region turn out for this tournament.

After four rounds, two teams have separated themselves from the field. The UC Davis Knights are 4-0 with NM Heiserman and three other players rated over 1800. However, the strength of the Knights lies on the bottom boards, where they field several unrated players. Jamshid Alamehzadeh's B-Nam team trails close behind at 3.5-0.5, featuring NM MacFarland and two 1900s. Tied for third place at 2-2, but unfortunately well out of contention, are Elk Grove (my team) and Warriors (Joe Birt's team with NM Ross).

TEAM STANDINGS (after round 4)

1. UC Davis Knights 4.0 MP, 18.5 GP
2. B-Nam 3.5 MP, 14.5 GP
3. Elk Grove 2.0 MP, 14.5 GP
4. Warriors 2.0 MP, 14.0 GP
5. UC Davis Bishops 1.5 MP, 11.0 GP
6. Zoka Zoki Academy 1.0 MP, 9.0 GP
7. King Hunters 1.0 MP, 7.5 GP
8. Daze Knights 1.0 MP, 5.0 GP