U.S. Open now at 322 advance entries

Advance entries for the U.S. Open keep pouring in! The current total is 322 players, and there are some exciting new names on the list, including IM Enrico Sevillano (2546) and IM Doug Root (2570). This is Root's first tournament appearance in 8 years!

One down, two to go

The first of the three big Texas summer tournaments is over, with IM Daniel Fernandez emerging as the winner of the U.S. Class Championships, held July 18-20 in Houston. The USCF website has pictures and an event recap. CajunChess has the final crosstables.

Next up is the 109th U.S. Open, in Dallas beginning August 2. Online registration is available. As of today, there are 268 advance entries, including IM Joe Bradford, IM Daniel Fernandez, and IM Rade Milovanovic.

Three major events in Texas this summer

This is shaping up to be a great summer for chess in Texas, with three major events on the tournament calendar:

July 18-20: U.S. Class Championships (Houston)

August 2-10: 109th annual U.S. Open (Dallas). One of the most prestigous events in the U.S. returns to Texas for the first time since 1984. Last year's event drew 414 players, including GMs Nakamura, Shabalov, Gulko, Kudrin, and Rohde. This year's prize fund is $40,000 guaranteed!

August 29 - Sept 1: Southwest Open (Fort Worth). The 74th edition of TCA's oldest event.

Warren Harper wins State Championship

Last year we reported on Warren Harper's victories at the 2007 Texas Scholastic Championships and the Denker Tournament of High School Champions. Recently Warren added the 2008 Texas State Championship to his resume, finishing in clear first with a 6/7 score. At 17 years old, Harper is one of the youngest State Champions ever (Igor Shtern was 16 in 1984, and GM Alejandro Ramirez was 17 in 2006). Harper clinched the title with a hard-fought final round draw against FM Michael Langer of Austin.

[Event "2008 Texas State Championship"]
[Date "2008.05.26"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Langer, Michael"]
[Black "Harper, Warren"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2319"]
[BlackElo "2330"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. Nb5 Bxe3 7. fxe3 Qh4+ 8. g3 Qd8 9. Qg4 Kf8 10. Qf4 d6 11. N1c3 Nf6 12. O-O-O Bg4 13. Rd2 Ne5 14. Be2 Bxe2 15. Rxe2 Nh5 16. Qf1 g6 17. Nd5 c6 18. Nd4 Kg8 19. Nf4 Nf6 20. Qg2 Qe7 21. g4 Ned7 22. g5 Nxe4 23. h4 d5 24. Rf1 Ne5 25. Rg1 a5 26. Qh2 a4 27. Nd3 Nc4 28. h5 Re8 29. Ree1 Ne5 30. Qf4 c5 31. Nf3 Nxf3 32. Qxf3 c4 33. Nf2 a3 34. Nxe4 dxe4 35. Qf6 axb2+ 36. Kxb2 gxh5 37. Rd1 c3+ 38. Qxc3 Qe5 39. Qxe5 Rxe5 40. Rd7 Rb5+ 41. Kc3 Kg7 42. Kd4 Rb4+ 43. Kd5 b5 44. Rf1 Rf8 1/2-1/2

Harper entered the 7th round with a half-point lead over the field, thanks to his 6th-round win where he took advantage of NM Nick Schoonmaker's bad bishop.

[Event "2008 Texas State Championship"]
[Date "2008.05.26"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Harper, Warren"]
[Black "Schoonmaker, Nicholas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2330"]
[BlackElo "2213"]
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. Nc3 a6 5. a4 b6 6. Bd3 e6 7. Bf4 Ne7 8. h4 h6 9. a5 b5 10. e5 d5 11. b4 Nbc6 12. Na2 Nf5 13. c3 h5 14. Nc1 Nb8 15. Nb3 Nd7 16. Bg5 f6 17. exf6 Bxf6 18. Qe2 Qe7 19. Bxf6 Qxf6 20. O-O-O O-O 21. Rde1 Re8 22. Bxf5 Qxf5 23. Ne5 Nxe5 24. Qxe5 Qxe5 25. Rxe5 c6 26. Kd2 Ra7 27. Rg5 Kh7 28. Nc5 Rf7 29. Nd3 Bd7 30. Ne5 Rg7 31. g4 hxg4 32. h5 Ree7 33. hxg6+ Kg8 34. Nxg4 Kf8 35. Nf6 Re8 36. Rh7 Rd8 37. Nh5 Rg8 38. Rf7+ 1-0

In the 107-player Amateur section, Jonathan Allen scored a perfect 7/7 to win first place by a full point. Here's his final-round game:

[Event "2008 Texas State Championship"]
[Date "2008.05.26"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Croson, David"]
[Black "Allen, Jonathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1884"]
[BlackElo "1915"]
1. c4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Be2 dxc4 8. O-O e6 9. Qa4 Qa5 10. Qxa5 Nxa5 11. Ne5 Bxe2 12. Nxe2 Rc8 13. Bg5 Nd5 14. Bd2 Nc6 15. Rac1 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Bb4 17. Rfd1 Bxd2 18. Rxd2 Nb4 19. b3 Nd3 20. Rxd3 cxd3 21. Rxc8+ Kd7 22. Rc1 dxe2 23. f4 Rc8 24. Re1 Rc2 25. a3 Kc6 26. Kf2 Ra2 27. Rc1+ Kb6 28. b4 e1=Q+ 29. Kxe1 Rxg2 30. h4 Rg1+ 31. Kd2 Rxc1 32. Kxc1 Kb5 33. Kd2 Ka4 34. Kc3 Kxa3 35. Kc4 b6 36. Kb5 Kb3 37. h5 g5 38. fxg5 a5 39. bxa5 bxa5 40. Kxa5 Kc4 41. Kb6 Kd5 42. Kc7 Kxe5 43. Kd7 Kf5 44. Ke7 Kxg5 45. Kxf7 e5 46. h6 Kxh6 0-1

Special thanks go out to Francisco Guadalupe and Luis Salinas, who organized and directed the tournament.

Texas Knights puzzle correction

Oops! The puzzle on the back cover of the March-April 2008 issue of Texas Knights is missing a white Bishop on g7. Here's the correct position. White to move, mate in 2.



To see the solution, place your mouse pointer at the end of this sentence, and then click and drag to the right. Qd5!

2008 Texas Scholastic Championship

The 2008 Texas Scholastic Championship will be held in Houston on March 8-9. Last year's event drew 1,479 players, making it by far the biggest TCA event of the year and one of the largest in the country. Make your hotel reservations now, while space is still available! You can use the links below to register for the tournament:

High School Championship
Middle School Championship
Elementary Championship
Primary Championship

TCA will hold a Chess in Education workshop Mar. 8 from 1-5 p.m. at the tournament site. (Agenda and list of presenters). Fees: $15 advance, $20 at door. Send payment to TCA Treasurer Barb Swafford, 2709 Longhorn Trail, Crowley, TX 76036-4719.

Texas Knights Magazine - Online!

Several back issues of Texas Knights Magazine are now available for download.

2008
Jan - Feb
March - April
May-June
July-August
September-October
November-December

2007
Jan - Feb
March - April
May - June
July - August
September - October
November - December

To view the chessboard diagrams, you must install the DiagramTTFritz font. (If you're a ChessBase user, you may already have this font installed.) If you need help installing the font, read these instructions.

TCA members receive 6 issues of Texas Knights per year. If you aren't a member, sign up now!

Minutes from the Fall 2007 TCA Business Meeting

TCA held a business meeting at the recent Southwest Open in Brownsville. The meeting minutes are now available online.

2008 Texas Scholastic Championships - early info

For those of you who are already planning for next year's Texas Scholastic Chess Championships, the event will be held in Houston on March 7-9, 2008 at the Hilton Americas hotel. (800-774-1500 or 713-739-8000. HR $104.) I'll post more info as soon as it becomes available.

Five-way tie for first at Southwest Open

The 73rd annual Southwest Open was held in Brownsville over Labor Day weekend. The remote location hurt attendance - only 76 players competed, roughly half as many as in previous years. What the event lacked in size, it made up for in strength, with 7 IMs in the field.

Five players tied for first with 5.5/7 - IM Salvijus Bercys, IM Axel Bachmann, IM Daniel Fernandez, Tautvydas Vedrickas, and IM Alfonso Almeida. In the Reserve section, Victor A. Flores won clear first with 6/7. See the crosstables for all the results. In the one-day scholastic event, Kristin Ramos and Jorge Hernandez both notch perfect 5-0 scores to win their respective sections.

Duplicate scoresheets were not provided to the players, and as a result, very few games scores were submitted. Please email your games to Texas Knights editor Selby Anderson at schachlied@yahoo.com.


Victor A. Flores, winner of the Reserve Section.



Nelly Estrada & Janeth Moreno ponder their next move.