CHESS
The U.S. Amateur Team Championship took place in four locations last weekend. Our region was represented by the USAT West at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. A total of 249 players, including six IMs, competed on 59 teams.
Evil Samaritans (Levon Altounian, Karl Yee, Andrew Krasnov and Mario de la Victoria) edged Nilpferd (Olav Richter, Volkher Storing, Sam Hamilton, David Saponara and Kevin Matthews) on tiebreak for first place. Each team scored 5 1/2- 1/2. Evil Samaritans planned to overpower the opposition with strong masters on the top three boards, but they needed an upset of an expert (rated 2011) by their fourth board (a Class C player, rated 1527) to win their last-round match. Nilpferd actually won all five of their matches, but accepted a team bye (which counts as 1/2 match point) in the third round.
Third at 5-1 was Hurdle’s Team (Robert Hurdle, John Wilson, John Williams, Matt Robertson and Robert Bryan).
Board prizes went to Harutyun Akopyan and Valdis Saulespurens, each 6-0 on Board One; state champion Mladen Vucic, 5 1/2- 1/2 on Board Two; Krasnov, 5-1 on Board Three; and Craig Faber, 6-0 on Board Four. For the fourth consecutive year, Robert Bryan, 3-1, won the prize for best-scoring alternate.
Blackstone’s Magicians (Earl Pruner, Stan Vaughn, John Blackstone, Greg Niemi and Thomas Klem), a team from Nevada who dressed in gaudily decorated top hats and capes, won a special prize. The competition for best team name included many references to political affairs, and the players selected Foreplayers in Search of an Intern as the winner.
The USAT East, in Parsippany, N.J., attracted a record 268 teams. The center of attention was FIDE world champion Anatoly Karpov, who won all six of his games. His team (GM Ron Henley, 5 1/2- 1/2; master Irina Krush, 5 1/2- 1/2; and 11-year-old Albert Pinnella, 1 1/2-4 1/2) compiled a perfect 6-0 score, but did not take first place. That honor went to Light Blue (Dylan McClain, Nathan Resika, Brian Hulse and Alan Price), a more balanced team that also scored 6-0. Light Blue’s team members ranged in rating from 2288 to 2063.
LOCAL NEWS
Harutyun Akopyan, Ron Hermansen and Karl Yee scored 4 1/2-1 1/2 to split first prize in the Tim Pellant Memorial, a tournament of 16 masters at the Pasadena Chess Club. Yee upset top-rated Levon Altounian in the final round, then teamed with him the next day in the USAT West. Peterson Durias won the concurrent 41-player event for non-masters.
The Pasadena Chess Club meets Friday evenings in the Pasadena Senior Center, 85 E. Holly St. in Pasadena. The club will begin its six-round club championship on Feb. 27. Call Neil Hultgren at (818) 243-3809 for more information.
The Linklater Memorial, a masters round robin, finished last weekend at the Mechanics Institute Chess Club in San Francisco. Omar Cartagena, Ronald Cusi and IM Guillermo Rey tied for first place with scores of 6-3. Next, at 4 1/2-4 1/2, were IM Walter Shipman and former Southern California champion Thomas Wolski. Other scores: Craig Mar, Alan Stein and Dmitry Zilberstein, 4-5; IM John Grefe, 3 1/2-5 1/2; and Richard Lobo, 2 1/2-6 1/2.
Although all of the players are longtime California residents, four count as foreigners, which makes the tournament an official international title event. Cartagena and Cusi achieved norms toward the title of International Master. Cartagena, who made his third IM norm, should receive the IM title later this year.
Donald Danlag, John Skratulia and Lawrence Stevens tied for first place in the 50-player Arcadia Winter tournament. Robert Goldberg, Jeff Schroeder, Harry Gaul and Mar Buendia won class prizes. The next Arcadia Chess Club event, the six-round club championship, begins Feb. 23. For details, call Fred Brock at (626) 331-1638.
The Santa Monica Bay Chess Club, which meets Monday evenings in Joslyn Park, 633 Kensington Rd. in Santa Monica, will start its eight-round club championship on Feb. 23. Call Mike White at (310) 446-3044 for information.
By the March Hair, a six-round tournament at the La Habra Chess Club, begins Feb. 27. The club meets Friday evenings in the Veterans Memorial Hall, Orange at Erna in La Habra. For more information, call Jerry Schain at (562) 691-2393 or Bob Goulet at (562) 947-6739.