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The 1999 Arlington Chess Club Championship was won by Marvin
Lazo. David Sterner won the Amateur title with a perfect
4-0. Marvin dispatched with everyone placed before him and deserves congratulations
as 1999 Club Champion. Co-champion Larry Kaufman scored 3.5 and lost the plaque on
tiebreaks to Marvin. Boris Reichstein of Baltimore also scored 3.5 to tie for first but as
a non-club member wasn't eligible for the championship plaque.
The first round was marked by an incredible number of upsets and after two rounds there
were six perfect scores which is accelerated pairings doings its job. Because of the
upsets (Meyer draws with Peters, Burnett draws with Fink, Greanias loses to Schadler,
Barash loses to Fletcher, Shibut draws with R. Kaufman, Mazock loses to Nekvasil, Figler
loses to Bush, Collier loses to Fletcher, Hamilton loses to Lazo)the six perfect scores
were rated 2276, 2017, 2002, 2000, 1905 and 1753 instead of the expected 2500, 2443, 2417,
2343 and 2319.
The three IMs, Meyer, Kaufman and Burnett had 1.5 after two rounds and were faced with the
possibility that the six 2-0's could produce 2-3 perfect 4-0's who would win the
tournament without having faced them. The third round pairings were Reichstein-Yavari,
Fletcher-Boshkin, and Nekvasil-Lazo. Reichstein defeated Yavari in a long game where he
had the advantage the whole game. Fletcher-Boshkin was a quieter type of draw and
Lazo-Nekvasil was a long long game which ended in a wild Q+P sequence where Nekvasil was
facing mate in one but had managed to catch Lazo's King in the open. After 6-8 repitions
of position through a perpetual check sequence, a claim was finally made and confirmed.
The third round ended with Reichstein sitting alone at top with 3-0 and facing IM Meyer in
the last round, so the perfect 4-0 would have to be earned the hard way.
Meyer-Reichstein was a fascinating game in which Meyer sacrificed a peice for pawns and
positional considerations. The game eventually ground down to a draw creating the
possibility of multiple 3.5 winners. Kaufman defeated Boshkin and Lazo defeated Fletcher,
while Burnett was drawing with Nekvasil to produce a trio of winners at 3.5 - Reichstein,
Kaufman, and Lazo. Boris Reichstein was not a club member so the champion would be decided
with tiebreaks among Lazo and Kaufman. Lazo's tiebreaks were better in every system and so
was awarded the title - congrats again to Marvin Lazo, 1999 Arlington Chess CLub Champion.
One of the more interesting upsets occurred in round ones Chris Bush defeating Ilye
Figler. Figler had moved his king twice early, capturing a traded queen and returning back
to the home E8 square. Several moves later he castled, which was pointed out as illegal.
Having to move his king, he was forced to play the only legal move to F8 which produced a
mate in one.Speaking of Bush, he was the lone non-FIDE rated player to earn a FIDE
rateable performance in this FIDE rated tournament. He scored a win and a draw against
FIDE ratings of 2384,2420, 2417 and 2284.
David Sterner, ranked third in the 24 player field, dominated with a perfect 4-0 score.
After three rounds, he and William Carroll had perfect 3-0 scores and Sterner seemed
determined to win after refusing several early draw offers.
The Conference rooms of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association were amazing,
and received nothing but wonderous comments from the players. Perhaps the perfect playing
site, it was spacious, well-lit, quiet, and elegant. We hope to have more future
tournaments here. An additional $360 was added to the prize fund to thank all who came and
played.
Comments from people who played:
"But I wanted to
congratulate you on the excellent job you did. These were the best conditions for a chess
tournament that I can imagine possible!"
"this was one of the
best tournaments i've ever attended (i say this despite getting creamed.) the location off
a major artery, the excellent playing hall with parking, the terrific time controls (i
loved the up-front think time of 30/100. most games only last 40-ish moves anyway.), the
nearby food court, the easy access to the skittles room, bathroom, bookseller and admin
area all combined to make it a delight. thanks for hosting/sponsoring/directing such a
wonderful tournament"
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