Beginner's Tournament Draws Record Turnout

Two students battled it out over the board for a chance at glory at the most recent Unrated Beginner's Tournament.

A total of 40 players plunked down $5 for a chance at glory at the Unrated Beginner's Tourney. In the 11-player adult section, unrated Yakov Kauanovich was the clear favorite. Before the tournament, he outplayed expert Alex Marler, but since he had never participated in a United States Chess Federation (USCF) tourney, he was still considered eligible regardless of his strength.

Yakov breezed through his first two rounds and then had a round-three pairing against another unrated player, Mike Tabriz, who was also 2-0. Mike put up a tough fight and had two outside passed pawns, but his king was in severe danger. Fortunately for Mike, Yakov missed the combination that would have sealed the deal, and he outplayed Yakov from that time on take home the championship.

Mike won an annual membership to the Chess Club for his efforts. Also joining Mike in the winner's circle was Michael T. des los Reyes. He attends the Adult Beginner Class every Tuesday night, and he translated all of that hard work into success as he smoked his last round opponent to go 3-0 and win a membership to the USCF.

A record 29 students participated in the kid's section held immediately following the Kid's Class taught by GM Ben Finegold. The 4-year-old phenom, Miles Crawford, was randomly seeded on board one for the first round and proved he never wanted to relinquish that seat by winning his first game. Kid's Class regular John Smith barely held on for the win in the first round despite being up about about a million points, but he finally managed to checkmate his opponent instead of the dreaded stalemate.

In round 2, Miles successfully defended board one again. Derian Ryker was able to pull out a win with a rook and knight vs. his opponent's queen.  Up-and-comer Ben Liu, Spencer Finegold's newest pupil, played one good move after another until he finally banged out checkmate. After the game, his opponent squealed out, "You play too fast!" But when you are potentially the next Hikaru Nakamura, you can do that sort of thing.

In round 3, Miles outwitted his older opponent to ensure that he would go into the final round on board one. Shawn Pernik won on time in a complicated queen vs. queen and pawn endgame to bolster his score to 3-0. Miles was paired on board one against John Smith, and Ben Liu played Shawn Pernik on board two. All four were 3-0. Miles ended the day on a sour note as John got the better of him. Ben brought home the championship on tiebreaks by taking care of business against Shawn. Ben Liu's lessons with new teacher Expert Spencer Finegold are already paying dividends. John Smith has improved much since going to both Chess Club Summer Camps this year. Ben and John each won a great Tactics book "Chess Tactics for Students."

Stay tuned to find out when our next Beginner tournament will take place. Until then, keep on studying, and we'll see you at the club!

SwissSys Standings. Beginner's Tourney: Adult

SwissSys Standings. Beginner's Tourney: Adult