Southwest Open - another strong field

We're less than two weeks away from the 76th annual Southwest Open and several strong players have already confirmed their participation, including GM Alejandro Ramirez, fresh off his win at the US Open.

GM Alejandro Ramirez 2647
GM Ioan Cristian Chirila 2561
IM Marko Zivanic 2583
IM Puchen Wang 2550
IM Salvijus Bercys 2507
IM Julio Sadorra 2451

2010 Texas Girls Championship

Corpus Christi, the site of the upcoming Southwest Open, will play host to another TCA event in October - the Texas Girls Scholastic Championship.

NM Deepyaman Datta wins US Junior Open

Congratulations to NM Deepyaman Datta, winner of the 2010 US Junior Open, held last weekend in Houston.

A record-setting 243 players from 10 states competed in the event. For games and pictures, read the detailed report on the USCF website.

The event crosstable is also online.

US Junior Open - advance entry deadline

Just a reminder that the advance entry deadline for the 2010 US Junior Open is tomorrow (July 9)!

Tournament website
USCF press release

GM Zviad Izoria wins State Championship

GM Zviad Izoria won the 65th annual Texas State Championship, finishing one-point ahead of second-place finisher Alex Chua. In the Amateur section, Mario Marshall notched an impressive 6.5/7 score to win first place by a full point.


GM Zviad Izoria - 2010 Texas State Champion



Mario Marshall - 2010 Texas Amateur Champion

Texas Action Championship

Jeffrey De Jesus from Houston won the 2010 Texas Action Championship (San Antonio, Apr. 24) with 4.5 out of 5. Tied for 2nd+U2100 with 4 were Selby Anderson, Ernesto Malazarte, Matthew Liu and Ju Hyung Ahn. Andrew Istafanous was top U1900 with 3.5, and Louis Rimpel won U1700 with 2.5. Tied for U1700+U1300 were David Pacheco and Ross Leone with 2. Martin Gordon directed a field of 34 players. Prizes totaled $750, or 75% of the amount based on 40 full entries.

Texas beats Oklahoma 38-22

That's not a football score! It's the result of the 8th Red River Shootout, a team match between chess players from Texas and Oklahoma. Congrats to the Texas team for posting the largest margin of victory in the history of the event. Read the detailed recap at Texas Chess Reporter.

Texas Knights in PDF format

The last 20 issues (2007-current) of Texas Knights are now online in PDF format. A special thanks to Selby Anderson for his excellent work on the magazine.

Red River Shootout VIII

No, I'm not talking about the UT-OU football game. :) The 8th annual Red River Shootout pits chess players from Texas and Oklahoma against each other in a team format. This year's match is scheduled for April 18th in Davis, Oklahoma. The 2009 match featured 54 players competed on 27 boards, with the Texas team emerging victorious. James Hollingsworth is looking for players to represent the 2010 Texas team. Email him at texaschessteam@yahoo.com if you're interested.

State Championship - more info

Official site
Online registration