Southern California Chess Federation
News & Notes

May 21, 2024

Checkmate! Local High Schools Clash in 2024 San Diego Regional Chess Championship
Months of anticipation culminated in a thrilling showdown this past Sunday, May 19th, as the 1st Annual Regional High School Chess Team Championship took place at the San Diego Chess Club in Balboa Park. The event brought together high schools from across Southern California in a thrilling display of intellectual prowess and school team spirit. Read more here.


May 8, 2024

Click here for How L.A. Chess Club has become the queen of Thursday nights.


Dec. 1, 2023

Click here for Dylan Quercia's interview of IM John Daniel Bryant.


Dec. 27, 2020

Danial Asaria won the 2020 North American Junior (U20) Chess Championships (December 19-23, 2020 Charlotte, NC). Results here. This earned him the Internation Master title and a GM norm.


June 8, 2020

Column: San Diego Chess Club made all the right moves here.


Jan. 22, 2019

About 15 years ago, I touched my first chess piece. I immediately fell in love with the game: its complexity, its competitiveness. It appealed to the inner competitor and perfectionist within me when I was only 6.

I still love the game now.

When deciding where to go to college, I factored in my chess goal of becoming a Grandmaster as a huge component. Today, that decision paid off.

More/less...

At the Winter 2019 CCCSA GM Norm Invitational in Charlotte, NC, I got my final GM norm. Words cannot express the elation I feel right now as I know that in just a couple of months, I will receive the Grandmaster title. But it's not just elation I'm feeling: it's also gratitude. 

First I want to thank the So Cal chess community for being so vibrant and supportive of aspiring young chess players and for giving them the chance to focus on their talent in chess. I was always with a group of fellow chess peers who were both rivals and very good friends to this day.

Second, I want to thank all the players who were willing to train with me while I went off to college. Those sessions helped keep me sharp and looking for new ways to play chess that even now leaves me in awe. There's so many of them that I don't want to list them all here, but you know who you are 😉

A huge thanks goes to my former coach Armen Ambartsoumian; he was there during some of my most difficult times in chess, and was one of the first to suggest my potential to become a Grandmaster. For all of the support he's given me over the years, I can't thank him enough. He revolutionized my chess goals.

And of course, a big thanks to my family for supporting me throughout my entire chess career. Chess can be expensive, and they were willing to invest in my hobby so that I could play and improve over 15 years. Not everyone gets the same opportunities I did for having that supportive relationship for a board game, but it truly was the foundation for my chess career.

Thanks to all the other friends and peers who encouraged me to continue throughout the years; your words truly meant something to me. Becoming a Grandmaster is the ultimate aspiration of any ambitious chess player, and also looks good on a resume 😏. 

Now on to the next step in life!

Michael W. Brown


Dec. 13, 2017

The San Diego Surfers is a chess team competing in the PRO Chess League. The next season begins in January 2018 and its matches are played on www.chess.com. For more information about the Surfers, visit its team website. The team is seeking sponsorship via a gofundme page, and welcomes your support! 100% of donations go to its players. Anyone who donates $100 or more gets a free copy of Surfers manager IM Keaton Kiewra's book.


Aug. 18, 2014

The annual SCCF membership meeting will occur during the Southern California Open, at 3 p.m. Sunday, August 31. The location will be the Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center, 500 Hotel Circle North, San Diego. All members are welcome to attend.

July 12, 2014

The Hawaii Chess Festival will be on the beautiful island of Oahu from March 14-22, 2015. Flyer here. Of particular interest is the "Hawaii Chess Flyaway" where the event is giving away a flight to the Festival! The entry form to that is here. For questions or info about the festival go to www.hawaiichess.com or contact Beau Mueller at 808.321.1594.


Aug. 18, 2013 

The 4SS San Luis Obispo County Championship will be held in Morro Bay on October 19. TLA here. A 5SS scholastic tournament will be held concurrently. For more nfo, see www.slochess.com or contact Michael McCreary at 805.441.7210.

July 25

Antelope Valley's Summer newsletter is here. Please give us feedback on what's good (or not) by emailing me. ~ Daa Mahowald

June 3

The 2013 Candidates Tournament was held June 1 and 2 at Chess Headquarters, 443 West Garvey Ave, Monterey Park 91754. The tournament qualified FMs Kretchetov and Landaw who will join GMs Khachiyan and Sevillano and IMs Aldama, Matikozyan, and Yankovsky, and FM Bryant in the finals at the same location, June 20-23, 2013. Detail of the 25th Southern California Championship are here.

Feb. 19

IM Jack Peters will be giving a simul in West Los Angeles on Feb. 25th, details here.

Jan. 27

Video recap of Metropolitan Chess, Inc's Century West Open here.

Jan. 7, 2013

The SCCF Board has voted to hold the Southern California Championship, our invitational state championship, this summer. The dates will be announced soon by the organizer, IM Jack Peters, who has accepted responsibility for fundraising. He has set a goal of $4,000 to make the 2013 event, the 25th in the series, the best ever. The traditional SCCF Candidates tournament will select some of the players in the state championship. Qualifying tournaments are listed here (note that one qualification suffices!).


Nov. 18, 2012

With a score of 3½-½, Victor Hendriks became the 2012 San Luis Obispo County Chess Champion. More/Less...

The annual San Luis Obispo County Championsip tournament was held on Saturday, November 17, in scenic Morro Bay. It was co-hosted by the Morro Bay Recreation and Parks Department who provided the entire Morro Bay Community Center as a site for the 4-round Open tournament and a 5-round scholastic tournament.

The 24-player Open Section was won by Ray Kaufman and Victor Hendriks, 3½-½, who tied their game in the final round to share first and second place prize monies. Eduardo Ortiz and Solomon Ruddell tied for third place, 3-1; Taylor McCreary and George Miller shared the A prize, each scoring 2½-1½; Paul Bishop was Top B, 2½-1½; and Isaac Ruddell was Top U1600, 2-2.

The 12-player Reserve Section was won by Michael D'Acri, 4-0; Ashmeet Goraya and Morgan Sherman shared 2nd and 3rd place monies, 3-0; Jonathan Tribble was Top U1200, 2-2; and Taylor Nelson was Top Unrated, 2-2.

Victor Hendriks was awarded the trophy as San Luis Obispo County Champion for 2012.

Michael McCreary, SLO Chess Club Vice President, directed the tournament and design of the www.slochess.com web site; Secretary Fred Brown arranged for the co-sponsorship with the Morro Bay Recreation and Parks Department as well as discounts from local hotels; and treasurer Barbara McCaleb handled the finances.

Below is a game from board one in the last round.

[Event "SLO County Championship"] [Site "Morrow Bay, CA"] [Date "2012.11.17"] [Round "4"] [White "Kaufman, Ray"] [Black "Hendriks, Victor"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E18"] [WhiteElo "2422"] [BlackElo "2115"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2012.11.17"] [EventType "swiss"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. O-O Be7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. Ne5 Nbd7 10. Bf4 c6 11. Rc1 Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Nd7 13. Bf4 f5 14. f3 g5 15. Be3 f4 16. Bf2 Qe8 17. Re1 Qf7 18. e4 Bb4 19. Bh3 Rfe8 20. gxf4 gxf4 21. a3 Bxc3 22. Rxc3 Nf8 23. Kh1 Kh8 24. e5 Ng6 25. Rg1 Bc8 26. Bf1 Bd7 27. Bd3 Rg8 28. b4 b5 29. Qd2 a6 30. Rcc1 Rg7 31. Rg5 Rag8 32. Rcg1 Rf8 33. Qc2 Rfg8 34. Qc5 Nf8 35. Rxg7 Rxg7 36. Rxg7 Kxg7 37. Bh4 Ne6 38. Bf6%2B Kh6 39. Qc1 Qh5 40. Be2 Qf5 41. Qg1 Qg6 42. Qf2 Qb1%2B 43. Kg2 Qg6%2B 44. Kh1 Qb1%2B 45. Bf1 Qf5 {Both players had less then 5 minutes here. The queens got exchanged and then Black almost mated himself by walking to h4 with his king. With 30 seconds left White opted for repetition of moves.} 1/2-1/2

The club hopes to be able to hold the annual county championship at this great site again.

July 16

FM Yian Liou and NM Samuel Sevian tied for first in the 20th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational with a score of 7-2;. Both earned IM norms - this completes Sevian's 2nd IM norm, and Liou's 1st. More/less...

Metropolitan Chess, Inc. hosted an International Master norm round robin tournament from July 11th to July 15th, 2012. The tournament was sponsored by California Market Center, Fashion Business, Inc, MonRoi, Chess.com, LawyerFy, Law Offices of Steinfl & Bruno, and Betty Bottom Showroom.

This tournament was the 20th in its series and was held in Suite C855 of the California Market Center on 110 East 9th Street, Los Angeles 90079. The tournament was organized by Ankit Gupta, FA, IO. The participants included: IM Zhanibek Amanov (KAZ), IM Larry Remlinger (USA), IM Andranik Matikozyan (ARM), FM Yian Liou (USA), FM Mark Duckworth (USA), WGM Tatev Abrahamyan (USA), NM Garush Manukyan (ARM), NM Samuel Sevian (USA), Ignacio Sainz Aguirre (MEX) and Kesav Viswanadha (USA). The tournament was a 10 player round-robin (all play all), with rounds scheduled as follows – 11th: 7:00 PM, 12th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 13th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 14th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 15th: 10:00 AM & 4:00 PM.

Keep updated with events by Metropolitan Chess, Inc, by visiting www.metrochessla.com.

July 9

The winner of the Orange County Championship was Austin Hughes, with a score of 4½-½. Cross table here.

June 10

Chess at Thunder on the Lot was a Huge Success! Over 200 people learned and/or played chess at Thunder on the Lot’s Chess Attraction on Saturday, June 10. Read more here for AV Chess House's full report with pictures.

May 15

Coverage of the U.S. Chess Championship is here.
Coverage of the World Chess Championship is here and here.

May 15

Antelope Valley's June newsletter is here. Please give us feedback on what's good (or not) by emailing me. ~ Daa Mahowald

Apr. 24

Magnus Carlen on The Colbert Report, video here.

Apr. 17

IM Roman Yankovsky won the 18th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational with a score of 7½-1½. More/less...

Metropolitan Chess, Inc. hosted an International Master norm round robin tournament from April 11th to April 15th, 2012. The tournament was sponsored by California Market Center, Fashion Business, Inc, MonRoi, Chess.com, LawyerFy, Law Offices of Steinfl & Bruno, and Betty Bottom Showroom.

This tournament was the 18th in its series and was held in Suite C1002 of the California Market Center on 110 East 9th Street, Los Angeles 90079. The tournament was organized by Ankit Gupta, FA, IO and the chief arbiter was Randy Hough, IA. The participants included: IM Zhanibek Amanov (KAZ), IM Larry Remlinger (USA), IM Roman Yankovsky (RUS), FM Harutyun Akopyan (USA), FM Kameswaran Visweswaran (IND), FM Mark Duckworth (USA), NM Yian Liou (USA), NM Brendan Purcell (USA), FM Konstantin Kavutskiy (USA) and NM Garush Manukyan (ARM). The tournament was a 10 player round-robin (all play all), with rounds scheduled as follows – 11th: 7:00 PM, 12th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 13th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 14th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 15th: 10:00 AM & 4:00 PM.

The tournament was won clear 1st by IM Roman Yankovsky with a score of 7½-1½. This was the second tournament that IM Roman Yankovsky played with his IM title official -- the first being the last Metropolitan Invitational where he scored 7½-1½ as well.

No norms were achieved. NM Yian Liou came closest by maintaining IM norm chances going into the last day before being defeated by FM Mark Duckworth.

Keep updated with events by Metropolitan Chess, Inc, by visiting www.metrochessla.com.

April 15

Antelope Valley's May newsletter is here. Please give us feedback on what's good (or not) by emailing me. ~ Daa Mahowald

Apr. 9

Roman Yankovsky and Andranik Matikozyan tied for first place in Metropolitan Chess Club's 17th FIDE Invitational with 7½-1½. More/Less...

Metropolitan Chess, Inc. hosted an International Master norm round robin tournament from March 28th to April 1st of 2012. The tournament was sponsored by California Market Center, Fashion Business, Inc, MonRoi, Chess.com, LawyerFy, Law Offices of Steinfl & Bruno, and Betty Bottom Showroom

This tournament was the 17th in its series and was held in Suite C1002 of the California Market Center on 110 East 9th Street, Los Angeles 90079. The tournament was organized by Ankit Gupta, FA, IO and the chief arbiter is Randy Hough, IA. The participants included: IM Zhanibek Amanov (KAZ), IM Andranik Matikozyan (ARM), IM Roman Yankovsky (RUS), FM Michael Casella (USA), FM Mark Duckworth (USA), FM Kameswaran Visweswaran (IND), Samuel Sevian (USA), Craig Clawitter (USA), Kofi Tatum (USA) and Robert Akopian (USA).

The tournament was a 10 player round-robin (all play all), with rounds scheduled as follows – 28th: 7:00 PM, 29th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 30th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 31st: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 1st: 10:00 AM & 4:00 PM. Spectators were welcome and encouraged to come to watch the games in person at the tournament site.

The standings can be found on the Metropolitan Chess, Inc. website here.

Mar. 28

Metropolitan Chess will host its 2nd Invitational Chess Camp featuring IGM Viswanathan Anand August 9th to 13th, 2012. For more info, see their site here or contact Ankit Gupta.

Mar. 15

Eight jam-packed pages of exciting and interesting Chess in the Antelope Valley news is here. Please give us feedback on what's good (or not) by emailing me. ~ Daa Mahowald

Mar. 14

An old video shows Mr. Hollander interviewing Max Euwe and Jose Capablanca here.

Mar. 9

Craig Faber won Arcadia CC's Winter Open with a score of 5½-½. Complete standings here. Click show/hide to see Ronald Morris' last round upset win over Dane Hinrichsen annotated by Morris and Rank & File Editor Larry Stevens.

[Event "Arcadia Winter Open"] [Site "?"]
[Date "2012.02.13"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Morris, Ronald A."]
[Black "Hinrichsen, Dane"]
[Result "1-0"] [ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "1774"]
[BlackElo "2000"]
[Annotator "Ronald Morris Larry Stevens"]
[PlyCount "135"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. b4 {The Wing Gambit to the Advance French Defense.} cxb4 5. a3 Nc6 6. axb4 Bxb4%2B 7. c3 Be7 8. Bd3 Bd7 9. Ne2 f5 10. O-O g5 11. g3 {Though ugly looking in nature, as White has created two big holes on h3 and f3 (without his light squared Bishop being Kingside fianchettoed), 11.g3 adheres to the position on the board.} g4 12. Nd2 h5 13. Nf4 a5 14. Qb3 b6 15. Bb2 (15. Bxf5 $142 exf5 16. Qxd5 {%2B- (2.29) Houdini 1.5}) 15... a4 16. Qc2 (16. Rxa4 {If} Rxa4 17. Qxa4 Nxe5) 16... Rh6 17. f3 Rc8 18. Qb1 Na5 19. Qa2 b5 20. fxg4 hxg4 21. Bxf5 exf5 22. Qxd5 Be6 23. Qxb5%2B Nc6 (23... Bd7 {= Houdini 1.5}) 24. Nxe6 Rxe6 25. d5 (25. Rxf5 $142 Rb8 26. Qc4 {- LS}) 25... Rxe5 (25... Rb8 $142 26. Qc4 Rxb2 {- LS -%2B (-3.95) Houdini 1.5}) 26. c4 Qd6 27. Ba3 (27. Bxe5 Qc5%2B 28. Qxc5 Bxc5%2B 29. Kg2 Nxe5 30. Rxf5 {- LS}) 27... Qh6 28. Rf2 Bxa3 29. Rxa3 Re1%2B 30. Nf1 Nge7 31. dxc6 (31. Qxa4) 31... Qxc6 32. Rxa4 Qxb5 33. cxb5 Rb1 34. Ra7 Kf8 ({If} 34... Rxb5 35. Re2 {%2B-}) 35. Rb7 Rc5 36. b6 Rc6 37. Rd2 Rbxb6 (37... Rcxb6 $143) 38. Rd8%2B Kf7 39. Ra7 Rd6 (39... Rb1 40. Rdd7 Re6 {- LS}) 40. Rh8 Ke6 $2 (40... Kf6 $142 $138 {Should hold a draw.} 41. Rh6%2B Ng6 {= Houdini 1.5}) 41. Rh6%2B Kd5 42. Ne3%2B Ke4 43. Rxe7%2B {%2B-} Kf3 44. Rxd6 Rxd6 45. Nf1 (45. Nc2 Rd1%2B 46. Ne1%2B Rxe1%2B $8 47. Rxe1 {%2B- LS}) 45... f4 46. gxf4 (46. Rf7) 46... Kxf4 47. Kg2 Rd3 48. Ng3 Rd2%2B 49. Ne2%2B Kg5 50. Re3 (50. Kg3 $143 Rd3%2B) 50... Rd5 51. Kg3 Rf5 52. Nd4 Ra5 53. Nc6 Rc5 54. Re5%2B Rxe5 55. Nxe5 Kf5 56. Nxg4 Kg5 57. h4%2B Kg6 58. Nh2 Kf6 59. Kg4 Kg6 60. Nf3 Kf6 61. h5 Kf7 62. Kg5 Kg7 63. Nd4 Kh7 64. Nf5 Kg8 65. Kg6 Kh8 66. Nd6 Kg8 67. Nf7 Kf8 68. h6 1-0

Mar. 5

A note to all SCCF members re Magazines In The Age Of The Internet from SCCF's President. More/Less...

We are living in an era where the printed page is gradually giving way to on-line alternatives. Cost considerations and many new features associated with virtual publications are driving this trend. Rank & File is an excellent magazine. However, we spend $18.36 per member to develop, print, and mail six issues each year. Since our dues are $18 per year for adults and $10 per year for students, we have a situation which can not be sustained. We need to either raise membership dues or reduce the cost of the magazine. Were we to reach the point where all issues are on-line only, we would have the option of proposing reductions in dues rather than increases. In addition to cost savings, an on-line publication would also offer a number of advantages for members. Elimination of printing and mailing time would make the magazine accessible weeks earlier. Additionally, the editor would no longer be restricted to a fixed number of pages, offering the ability to include more games and articles. Given the continuous improvements in on-line technology, it is reasonable to expect we could eventually offer additional options such as interactive games, tournament video clips and other features. Please feel free to provide the Board feedback on this topic. My e-mail address is garden909@aol.com. The addresses for the other board members can be found on the SCCF website here.

Steve Morford, SCCF President

Mar. 1

FM Philip Xiao Wang won Metropolitan Chess Club's 16th FIDE Invitational with 6½-2½. More/Less...

Metropolitan Chess, Inc. hosted an International Master norm round robin tournament on February 22nd to 26th 2012. The tournament was sponsored by California Market Center, Fashion Business, Inc, MonRoi, Chess.com, LawyerFy, and Betty Bottom Showroom

This tournament is the 16th in its series and was held in Suite C1002 of the California Market Center on 110 East 9th Street, Los Angeles 90089. The tournament was organized by Ankit Gupta, FA, IO and the chief arbiter was Randy Hough, IA. The participants included: IM Zhanibek Amanov (KAZ), IM Andranik Matikozyan (ARM), IM Larry Remlinger (USA), FM Alexander Kretchetov (RUS), FM Kayden Troff (USA), FM Konstantin Kavutskiy (USA), CM Giovanni Carreto (MEX), NM Michael Bodek (USA), FM Philip Xiao Wang (USA) and Alexander King (USA).

The tournament was a 10 player round-robin (all play all), with rounds scheduled as follows – 22nd: 7:00 PM, 23rd: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 24th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 25th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 26th: 10:00 AM & 4:00 PM.

The tournament was won by FM Philip Xiao Wang with a score of 6.5-2.5, who also secured his third and final IM norm. His final ninth round game, which ended in a draw against fellow FIDE Master Konstantin Kavutskiy is shown below.

[Event "16th Metropolitan IM"] [Site "Los Angeles"] [Date "2012.02.26"] [Round "9"] [White "Kavutskiy, Konstantin"] [Black "Wang, Philip Xiao"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2315"] [BlackElo "2372"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2012.02.22"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [EventCategory "3"] [SourceDate "2012.02.24"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O Rb8 7. e3 b5 8. Qe2 Be7 9. Rd1 O-O 10. e4 Nb4 11. Ne1 Bb7 12. Nc3 Qe8 13. Bf4 Rc8 14. a3 Na6 15. Nc2 c6 16. h4 Qd7 17. Ne3 Rfd8 18. Bh3 Qe8 19. Bg5 h6 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. e5 Be7 22. f4 Rc7 23. f5 Bf8 24. fxe6 fxe6 25. Qg4 Bc8 26. Ne4 Kh8 27. Ng2 c5 28. Nf4 Kh7 29. Nh5 Qg6 30. Nhf6%2B gxf6 31. Nxf6%2B Kg7 32. Nh5%2B Kh7 33. Nf6%2B 1/2-1/2



The tournament was also notable for NM Alexander B King, who in just a short few months has seen his rating sky-rocket from around 2100 to over 2280. Through the Metropolitan Chess FIDE Qualifier series, he earned entry into the IM norm event, and ended with a respectable final score of 4.0 out of 9.0. Keep updated with events by Metropolitan Chess, Inc, by visiting www.metrochessla.com. You can view the complete standings are here.

Due to popular demand, we have changed the format of our schedule page to allow us to target specific tournaments in URLs, and allow easier access for users. Please let us know if there are any issues by writing to ankit.gupta@metrochessla.com.

Feb. 19

A 60 Minutes segment on GM Magnus Carlsen starts at 27:50 here.

Jan. 31

IM Enrico Sevillano wins Metropolitan Chess Club's 15th FIDE Invitational with 7½-1½. More/Less...

Metropolitan Chess, Inc. hosted an International Master norm round robin tournament on January 25th to 29th 2012. The tournament was sponsored by California Market Center, Fashion Business, Inc, MonRoi, Chess.com, LawyerFy, and Betty Bottom Showroom

This tournament is the 15th in its series and was held in Suite C1002 of the California Market Center on 110 East 9th Street, Los Angeles 90079. The tournament was organized by Ankit Gupta and the chief arbiter was Randy Hough. The participants included: IM Zhanibek Amanov (KAZ), IM Andranik Matikozyan (ARM), IM Enrico Sevillano (USA), FM Harutyan Akopyan (USA), FM Mark Duckworth (USA), FM Konstantin Kavutskiy (USA), Vadim Kudryavtsev (RUS), Garush Manukyan (ARM), and NM Craig Clawitter (USA).

The tournament was a 10 player round-robin (all play all), with rounds scheduled as follows – 25th: 7:00 PM, 26th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 27th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 28th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 29th: 10:00 AM & 4:00 PM. The tournament was won by IM Enrico Sevillano in a convincing fashion with a score of 7.5-1.5. No norms were achieved. The only non international master who was able to hold IM Sevillano to a draw -- FM Konstantin Kavutskiy -- came closest to an IM norm performance with a score of 5.5-3.5. 6.5 was necessary for the norm.

Keep updated with events by Metropolitan Chess, Inc, by visiting www.metrochessla.com and by visiting the standings page http://metrochessla.com/schedule.php


Jan. 22

ChessPalace edged La Palma CC, San Diego CC, and Hemet CC in this year's edition of the Club Match Championship. Details here.


Jan. 17, 2012

Golden State Open results from Concord, CA here.


Dec. 30, 2011

GM Vallejo Pons won clear first in the North American Open with a score of 6-1. Complete results and prizewinners here.

Dec. 12, 2011

GM Mikheil Kekelidze won Metropolitan Chess Club's 13th FIDE Invitational with 7-2. SM Faik Aleskerov won the 14th FIDE Invitational with 6½-2½. More/Less...

Metropolitan Chess, Inc. hosted an International Master norm and a International Grandmaster norm round robin tournament in tandem from December 7th to December 11th of 2011. The tournaments were sponsored by California Market Center, Fashion Business, Inc, MonRoi, Chess.com, LawyerFy, and Betty Bottom Showroom.

The tournaments were the 13th and 14th in the series and were being held in Suite C1002 of the California Market Center on 110 East 9th Street, Los Angeles 90079. The tournaments were both organized by Ankit Gupta, International FIDE Organizer. The arbiters for this event were both IA Randy Hough & IA Hal Bogner.

IM Enrico Sevillano scored 6½-2½ in the 13th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational to achieve his second GM norm. GM Mikheil Kekelidze scored 7-2 in the same event to win it outright.

SM Faik Aleskerov scored 6½-2½ in the 14th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational to achieve his final IM norm, making him IM-elect. He also outright won the event.

The participants in the 13th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational, a GM norm event, included: GM Georgiev, Vladimir (MKD), GM Kekelidze, Mikheil (GEO), GM Khachiyan, Melikset (USA), IM Molner, Mackenzie (USA), IM Arnold, Marc (USA), IM Matikozyan, Andranik (ARM), IM Sevillano, Enrico (USA), IM Ginsburg, Mark (USA), SM Yankovsky, Roman (RUS), and FM Kiewra, Keaton (USA).

The participants in the 14th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational, an IM norm event, included: IM Zhanibek, Amanov (KAZ), IM Stopa, Jacek (POL), IM Remlinger, Larry (USA), FM Kavutskiy, Konstantin (USA), WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev (USA), FM Akopyan, Harutyan (USA), CM Carreto, Giovanni (MEX), SM Aleskerov, Faik (AZE), NM Lee, Dan (USA), and NM Akopian, Robert (USA).

The tournaments were 10 player round-robin events (all play all), with rounds scheduled as follows – 7th: 7:00 PM, 8th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 9th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 10th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 11th: 10:00 AM & 4:00 PM. Spectators were welcome and encouraged to come to watch the games in person at the tournament site at the California Market Center.

The IM norm in the 14th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational was 6½/9 whereas the GM norm in the 13th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational was 6½/9 as well. The full standings can be found on the Metropolitan Chess, Inc. website here. Simply go to the schedule section, scroll down to the list of recent events, and click on the red bar titled '13th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational' or '14th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational' to view a complete crosstable with standings.

Dec. 5, 2011

Massachusetts CC Chess Horizons back issues here.

TLA for HCA's Weekly Saturday Night Swiss. Show/hide...

3SS, G/60 + 5 sec delay. USCF Rated.
One Section open to Adults and Youth Rated 1400 or Higher (As of start of tournament)
EF: $25 with optional $6 Pizza Dinner (Pizza, Drink, Chips, and Dessert)
Prizes: 50% of entry fees
Reg: Onsite each Saturday from 3:45pm-4pm.
Rds: 4pm, 6pm, and 8pm.
Byes: 1 allowed; however, not in the last round
Site: Hanley Chess Academy, 7390 Center Ave. Huntington Beach CA 92647. Map here.
Directions: If coming south, take 405 freeway to Beach Blvd exit. Go right from the off ramp (puts you on Center Avenue). Go two blocks to the corner of Gothard Street and Center Avenue and we are in business plaza. If coming north, take 405 freeway to Beach Blvd exit and go back under the freeway off the off ramp. On Center Avenue, turn right. Head two blocks and we are in business plaza on corner of Gothard Street and Center Avenue.
Info: Joe Hanley; 714-925-3195 or hanleychessacademy@gmail.com.
NS. NC.

Sept. 6, 2011

GM Akobian won clear first place in the Southern California Open with an undefeated score of 5½-½. SDCC report here. Games and pictures here.

Aug. 27, 2011

GM Gareev won the 11th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational (GM Round Robin) with a score of 7-2. IM Zhanibek Amanov, who needed to win the 9th round for his GM norm, lost to IM Mark Ginsburg. No GM or IM norms were achieved. GM Dejan Bojkov scored 2nd in the event. ~ Metropolitan Chess Club.

Aug. 29, 2011

Southern California's round-robin state championship invitational ended in a close finish at the Beverly Hills Chess Club August 28. Eighteen-year-old IM-elect (he has three norms) Roman Yankovsky, a Russian currently living in California, scored 5½-1½, finishing a half-point ahead of IM Tim Taylor in an exciting finish. IM Jack Peters and FM Eugene Yanayt were on 4½-2½.  Wall chart here, games here.

Aug. 29, 2011

Senior Master Andrey Chumachenko wins SLO County Championship with perfect score. More/Less...

SLO CC had a nice turnout for is SLO County Championship with 22 players in the Open section and 10 in the Reserve section. Taking first place in the Open Section with a perfect score was Senior Master Andrey Chumachenko 4-0. Second place was both Master Eduardo Ortiz 3-1, losing only to Chumachenko, and Michael D'Acri, 3-1. The "A" prize was shared by Solomon Ruddell and Taylor McCreary, each scoring 2½-1½. The Top "B" player was Mark Donovan, 2½-1½, and the Top C-D-E prize went to Michael D'Acri. Two players shared First and Second place prizes in the Reserve Section, Robert Jertberg and Stan Liao, each scoring 3½-½. Mike Bess and Will Bensky each scored 2-2 to share the Top U1000 prize, and Saul Lopez Monzon was the Unrated winner at 2-2. Michael D'Acri became the San Luis Obispo County Champion for 2011. Two players qualified for the next State Championship: Eduardo Ortiz of Santa Maria, and Michael D'Acri of San Luis Obispo.

Aug. 22, 2011

GM Michael Adams of England won clear first place with 7½-1½ in the 1st Metropolitan Chess FIDE International. Video Update of 8 & 9 here, and rounds 5-7 here. Articles here and here. Complete standings here.

Aug. 17, 2011

Chess Palace celebrated its 21st Anniversary on Sunday August 14th, 2011. More/Less...

Ever since its establishment in 1990 the chess club marches on with regular friendly play and competitive tournaments. During the Anniversary, both strong players and strong supporters alike enjoyed the five round tournament filled with raffles and prizes. In a scholastic section, a group of young players joined the crowd for lunch with Italian sandwiches, salads, and Asian cuisines. The winner in the end is none other than IM Zhanibek Amanov with 4½ points. The IM's draw was against the Jeff Phillips who tied for second with FM Ortiz and experts Alex King and Nicanor Navarro. In the kid's section, Siddarth went undefeated, followed by Justin Kao for second and Jacob Wiczyk for third. The club looks forward to an upcoming innovative 4-round and two-man team tournament, the Double Header on August 28th.

Aug. 8, 2011

IM Dionisio Aldama of Arizona won the San Diego County Championships with a perfect score of 5-0. Bruce Baker, Peter Graves and Shirin Navabi scored 3½-1½ each. On tie breaks, Bruce Baker becomes San Diego County Champion.

Aug. 8, 2011

Leo Kamgar and Dylan Quercia placed first and second, respectively, in the 9th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Qualifier. Both posted performances well above 2200 USCF, and both have projected USCF point gains in excess of 70 points each. See www.metrochessla.com for more details.

Aug. 1, 2011

IM Zhanibek won the 9th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational with 7.0-2.0. Yusheng Xia and Alejandro Ruiz Jr won the qualification spots in the 8th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Qualifier. See www.metrochessla.com for more details. Games in java and pgm here.

July 25, 2011

IM Andranik Matikozyan won the 8th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational named the Landon Brownell Memorial. Tied for first was IM-elect Joel Banawa. The 7th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Qualifier was won by National Master Jeff Phillips. In second place in the qualifier was Expert Kofi Tatum. See www.metrochessla.com for more details. Games in java and pgm here.

July 17, 2011

The Pacific Coast Open finished in a 4-way tie at 4½-1½, with Sevillano, Khachiyan, Matikozyan and Howard Chen (from Washington State) each winning $1,120. This year Sevillano squeaked by on Median tiebreaks, 20 to 19½ over Khachiyan, to capture the additional $80 bonus prize while successfully defending his coveted Pacific Coast Open Championship title for the second year in a row. The Under 2300 prize money, $640 per player, went to Konstantin Kovutskiy, Steven Breckenridge and America’ youngest Master, Samuel Sevian of Santa Clara. Complete standings and prizes here.