3 more IMs enter Southwest Open

Three more International Masters have registered for next weekend's Southwest Open! IM Marko Zivanic (2544), IM Davorin Kuljasevic (2528), and IM Jacek Stopa (2507). In case you've lost count, we're now at 2 GMs and 4 IMs. :)

134 players have entered so far, but registration is open for 6 more days so look for that number to keep rising.

GM Annakov to play in Southwest Open

GM Babakuli Annakov (2510) will join GM Alejandro Ramirez and IM Puchen Wang in what is shaping up to be a strong tournament! Annakov will be looking for his third Southwest Open title, having won previously in 2001 and 2002. He's also a two-time Texas State Champion, winning in 2002 and 2003.

If you're thinking of playing, there's still plenty of time to register.

GM Ramirez, IM Wang to play in Southwest Open

With 8 days to go until the 2008 Southwest Open, we have confirmation that GM Alejandro Ramirez (2600) will be playing in the tournament. Ramirez is the highest rated player in Texas, and a member of the elite UTD chess team. His teammate, IM Puchen Wang, will also play in the event.

Online registration is available, and today (8/21) is the last day of reduced entry fees, so don't wait. Also, as of this morning, the $85 hotel rate is still available (ask for the Southwest Open chess rate).

Reminder: TCA membership is required for this event. Not sure if your membership has expired? Just check the membership list.

3-way tie for first at U.S. Open

GM Alexander Shabalov, IM Enrico Sevillano, and IM Rade Milovanovic tied for first at the U.S. Open in Dallas last weekend, each finishing with 8 out of 9 points. The final round saw plenty of fighting chess, with decisive results on 5 of the top six boards, including each of the three co-champions winning with Black. IM Doug Root, playing in his first tournament in eight years, finished half a point behind the leaders in 4th place.

The USCF website has a recap of the final round plus the final standings.

U.S. Open - Round 8 update

With one round to go at the U.S. Open, 6 players share the lead with 7 points. Texas continues to be well represented with IM Joe Bradford, IM Rade Milovanovic, and NM Chaitanya Vaidya occupying 3 of the top 6 spots. Vaidya scored an impressive win last night against GM Yermolinsky in round 8 (a 265-point upset with the Black pieces)! Some of you may remember Vaidya as the winner of the 2007 National Collegiate Championship.

[Event "U.S. Open"]
[Date "2008.08.09"]
[Round "8"]
[White "GM Alex Yermolinsky"]
[Black "Chaitanya Vaidya"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2589"]
[BlackElo "2324"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. cxd5 exd5 7. e3
Be7 8. Qc2 O-O 9. Bd3 Re8 10. h3 Nf8 11. Bf4 Ng6 12. Bg3 Bd6 13. Bxd6
Qxd6 14. O-O-O b6 15. g4 Qe7 16. Kb1 Bb7 17. Bf5 c5 18. h4 c4 19. h5
Nf8 20. g5 Ne4 21. g6 fxg6 22. hxg6 Nxc3+ 23. bxc3 h6 24. Rdg1 Bc8
25. Rh5 Nd7 26. Bxd7 Bxd7 27. Rxd5 Bc6 28. Re5 Qb7 29. Rxe8+ Rxe8
30. Nd2 Rf8 31. f3 Bxf3 32. Rf1 Qd5 33. e4 Qb5+ 34. Ka1 Be2 35. Rxf8+
Kxf8 36. Nb1 Qh5 37. e5 Bd3 38. Qg2 Qxg6 39. Qa8+ Qe8 40. Qxa7 Qc6
41. a4 Kg8 42. d5 Qxd5 43. Qxb6 Qxe5 44. a5 Qd5 45. a6 Be4 46. Kb2 Kh7
47. Kc1 Qd3 0-1

The final round is today at 3pm.

3 rounds to go at U.S. Open

With three rounds to go at the U.S. Open, no less than seven players are tied for the lead with 5.5/6. Among those leaders are three Texans: IM Doug Root, IM Joe Bradford, and IM Kirill Kuderinov. Round 7 begins at 7pm tonight, and should feature several tough matchups on the top boards. You can watch the games live on the Monroi website or at the Internet Chess Club.

This has turned out to be one of the largest and strongest tournaments ever held in Texas, with a total of 379 players, including 11 IMs and 2 GMs (Alexander Shabalov and Alex Yermolinsky).

Schedule for the final 3 rounds:

Rd 7 - Fri July 8, 7 pm
Rd 8 - Sat July 9, 7pm
Rd 9 - Sun July10, 3 pm

Check back this weekend for more updates!

6:30pm update: Pairings are up and it's Bradford-Yermolinsky on board 1!

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.