Tournament Reports

November 21-22, Stillwater, Oklahoma

$$ Prizes: Pan wins $200 1st place having gone from his first rating 1582 two months ago to 2164 today by winning 15 straight games vs Oklahoma players! Justin Ballard and Jason W. split the $100 2nd place ($50 apiece); $80 for Class A was split by 4 players: Acon, Temple, Schuller and Crockett; $75 Class B won by Montero; $75 Class C was won by Baxter; $125 Class D + below split by Chen and Tuttle.

Unofficial Cross Table here.

November 7th, View Acres Baptist Church, Berryhill

We were pleased with the large turn out that we had for this final TCS tournament of the year. Since many of the series prizes had already been decided, we anticipated a drop in attendance. That did not happen, and we thank you all for showing up and continuing to support this tournament. We had 24 players this month and a rather large representation of players came from out of state. Six from Arkansas and one from Kansas.

For this series event, we had a three-way tie for 1st place. Tom Braunlich, Shi Tian Yu Pan, and Jason Wawrzaszek each scored 3-zip and won $57 for First place & Class A/Above. In Class B & C there was a four-way tie with 2 pts each. Stephem Gehly, Richard Ravits, David McCann, and Mark Anderson each won $17.50. Class D & Below was won by a new Unrated player Mambwe Mumba playing in his first USCF event. Mambwe scored 2 pts and won $70 all to himself. His performance rating came in at about 1750. Very impressive!

Of course with this being the final series event of the year, we can also report the results for the series prize. The total series prize money for the year was $1,405. This was distributed 20% over five prizes or $281 each. The Series winners were: Tom Braunlich (Expert), Steve Wharry (Class A), Bran Whitcomb (Class B), Stephen Gehly (Class C), Judson Temple (Top out of Town). Congratulations!

In a recent email, Tom Braunlich concluded:
"The crosstable clearly shows the importance of "just showing up". Whitcomb and Gehly both gained over 200 points this year, and both played in 8 TCS events. Coincidence? I think not! One funny thing is that since Steve Wharry didn't play the final event, if Anthony Paolercio had played and scored 2 or more points he would have tied or won the A prize. Same goes for Chuck Johnson, although he has the excuse that he moved to Oregon. Had he not done that he likely would have won the A prize.

More details on the plans for 2010 will be announced later after the details have been finalized.

Unofficial Cross Table here.

October 10th, First Presbyterian Church, Ada

Shi Tian Yu Pan did it again! After a slow start in TCS #8, and a tie for first in TCS #9 he has now racked up a 1st place 4-0 finish in the 2nd Ada Open with a provisional rating of 2011P10. Congratulations Yu Pan!

The $100 guaranteed first place went into Yu Pan's pockets. The Under 1500 prize, $60 1st & $40 2nd was split 50-50 by Skip Frtze & Erik Nickels. Triplett, Yu Pan, and Crockett were from Tulsa. Temple and Jones were from OKC. David & Sam Mc Cann are from Ada. Nickels from Newcastle. Simpson from So. Okla. Sam Mc Cann is a Sopohomore in high school and Erik is an 8th grader.

2nd Ada Open - 1st row (L-R): Skip Fritze, Tommy Simpson, Judson Temple, Mike Nickels
2nd row: Bill Triplett, David Mc Cann, Samuel Mc Cann, Erik Nickels, Shi Tian Yu Pan, Frank Berry

Official Cross Table here.

October 3rd, View Acres Baptist Church, Berryhill

All I can say is "Wow! What a tournament!". While we had a low turnout this month, the tournament seemed top heavy in Class A, all competing for a single 1st place prize. The big surprise though was our newest addition! The unrated underdog, Shi Tian Yu Pan, plowed past Bill Sparks, Jim Berry and Anthony Paolercio for a share of first place overall with Bran Whitcomb. Both Bran & Yu Pan finished 3-0 undefeated and split $85 1st place. Mark Anderson won 1st class B and $40. Yu Pan was also clear 1st in Class C & Below.

Yu Pan's performance rating was well over 2200 for this event. Very impressive for an unrated player and has proven by his success that he needs to be watched closely to see if he can sustain this level of play.

On a side note, Tom Braunlich, our Tulsa Chess Series organizer was unable to attend this tournament due to a sudden illness in his family. We wish his father well and look forward to Tom's return in November. Thanks to Steve Wharry for stepping in to help during this time of need.

Unofficial Cross Table here.

September 19th, View Acres Baptist Church, Berryhill

We had a surprisingly good turn out for the TCS this month. We had expected a drop in attendence due to all the Okie Chess Festival activity earlier this month. We had 19 players and one new USCF member - Shi Tian Yu Pan who is a student from China playing here in his first USCF event. Welcome!

It was also good to see David Zelnick again after his return from hiking the Appalachian Trail this summer. I'm sure he has quite a story to tell about his adventures. From what I heard, he took his pocket set with him and remained undefeated during his entire journey.

This month's 1st place finish was won by Anthony Paolercio, with three wins, one of which was against Tom Braunlich. Anthony took home $100 for his efforts. Bran Whitcomb is proving to be a consistent contender and has seen a marked improvement in his play over this last year. Bran took 1st class A and $40. Richard Ravits and Bill Sparks split class B and took $22.50. Stephen Gehly & young Srikar Chikkala from Arkansas split class C and also won $22.50 as well.

Tournament wise - things ran fairly smoothly with no incidents until the third round. While trying to pair the 3rd round, Mike had a computer glitch that required an emergency reconstruction of the previous rounds in the event. After fumbling a bit, we got back on track but the 3rd round kicked off later than expected. I didn't hear any compliants and I wanted to express my appreciation for everyone's patience while Tom and I worked to recover from the problem.

Unofficial Cross Table here.

September 5th-7th, Trade Winds Central, Tulsa Oklahoma

This year four events drew over 120 players for the Okie Chess Festival, U.S. Senior Open, and U.S. Women's Open

GM Larry Christiansen topped the 54-player field with 5.5/6 and thereby won the U.S. Senior title along with a slot in next year's U.S. Championship. GM Larry Kaufman was sole 2nd with 5/6, and apparently wins the slot in the World Senior from the USCF (for players over 60).

The 1st U.S. Women's Open featured a strong field of 20 players, 10 rated expert or above. Saheli Nath, and Indian player attending University of Texas at Dallas, won with 5/6. NM Iryna Zenyuk (2280) was clear second with 4.5, and as the top American wins a slot in the 2010 U.S. Women's Championship.

This year's traditional open was won by IM Michael Brooks, whose 6/7 score bested a strong field. There was a big tie for 2nd at 5/7 among Tim Steiner, Sergey Galant, Bran Whitcomb, Chris Niggel, Nathaniel Fast, Raymond Griffin, and Terry Wright.

August 1st, View Acres Baptist Church, Berryhill

The 7th Tulsa Chess Series continued with several new players and 21 players overall. This month’s winners were Tom Braunlich and Jacob Berger, who split 1st and Top A for $72.50 each.

Top Class B prize of $40 was split between Bran Whitcomb, David McCann, and Richard Ravits. Stephen Gehly won Class C ($40), and Frank Smentkowski and Charles Covington split the $45 prize for D/below.

The overall Series Prize Fund is now well over $1000. Since your Series score is your best 7 of 10 results, from now on the standings will reflect your “best seven”. Time to get those scores up!

Official Cross Table here.

July 25-26th, Oklahoma City

Tulsa resident Tom Braunlich is the new Oklahoma State Champion repeating his victories of 1980 and 2006. He and Conrad Holt (Wichita) split 1st and 2nd ($500+300). 3rd place $200 was split by Kevin Cao and Maxx Coleman ea with 4 pts. The $200 Class prizes were to be paid 1st = $100 and 2nd = $100. Top “A“ $100 was won by Jason W with 4 pts. 2nd “A“ $100 was split by Devin, Jacob and Prez Jim Berry. Top “B“ $100 was won by Justin Hull with 3.5 pts. 2nd “B“ $100 was split by Bran and Mark A. 1st and 2nd “C” $200 was split 5 ways (Mike L, Doyle, Roger, Ernie Jr and Skip) ea with 2 pts. In the Reserve Section the $200 was claimed by Erik Nickels with a perfect 5-0 and he gained 220 rating pts. The 2nd place $100 was won by Jeremy Tuttle with a 4-1. It was good to see Allen Bell, Ross Carbonell and Wellington Lee back in action. We had 8 players down from Wichita finishing 3 in the top 4. 2 Cao brothers arrived from St Louis. Oklahoma City certainly turned out for the event as it had over 20 players. Tulsa furnished 10 players. This was the first event in a long time in which the OCF organizers broke about even! FIDE Rating Norms made: Henry Cao (3 games), Chris Purdy (4), Allen Bell (4), Mike Landolfi (3), Ernie M. Sr (3), Jeff Lloyd (4), Doyle Lobaugh (4), Charles Snap (4) and Skip Fritze (5).

Unofficial Cross Table here.

July 11th, View Acres Baptist Church, Berryhill

The Tulsa Chess Series continues, and as we start the 2nd half of the series, the tournament set a new attendance record of 31 players. We had several Stillwater & OKC boys try to steal the show, but Tulsans managed to hold their own. We also added two new USCF members this month, Balaji Pannerselvam and James Daven Wilhite. Welcome aboard!

This month winners were: 1st/Top A/Top B Wharry, Berger, Anderson each $83 Top C - Jack Bussert $75 Top D/Unr. - Paul Bussert $75

Tom Braunlich, our series leader, and fellow Tulsan, has allowed his lead to slip a bit finishing with 2 points this month. Steve Wharry, Jacob Berger and Mark Anderson all shared first place with 3 points each. Shaun Graham and Chuck Johnson scored 2.5 points. Chuck Johnson and Bran Whitcomb are Tom's closest rivals and are now tied at 10 each. Tom leads them by a comfortable 3 points. At this rate, a half point here, a half point there, it's doubtful they can catch Tom by the end of the series. They have to hope Tom stumbles badly or doesn't show up to play (fat chance!).

Official Cross Table here.

June 6th, View Acres Baptist Church, Berryhill

It was fun and fighting chess for the fifth Tulsa Chess Series. The event was again played at the new venue at View Acres Baptist Church in Berryhill. TCS attracted 24 players this month and the prizes were First = $100 $70 each for Class A, Class B/C, and Class D/below. The tournament was won by Movses Movsisyan and Mike Crockett, tied with 3 points each and taking home $85 for 1st place & Class A. In Class B/C, Bill Sparks took clear 1st and $70 with 2.5 points. Bill's last round game with Steve Wharry was the only draw of the tournament and cost Steve a possible three-way tie for 1st place. Stephen Gehly and Frank Smentowski split the Class D & Below prize taking home $35 with 2 points each.

Tom Braunlich, the current TCS series points leader, stumbled badly in rounds 1 & 2 with two upset losses to David Luscomb and Bran Whitcomb. Tom still retains the overall lead for the series at the half-way mark but the gap has narrowed a bit.

Unofficial Cross Table here.

May 25-27, 2009 Stillwater, Oklahoma

Unofficial Cross Table here.

May 2, View Acres Baptist Church, Berryhill

The popular Tulsa Chess Series moved to its new venue at View Acres Baptist Church in Berryhill. Thanks to Bill Triplett for helping us obtain access to this excellent playing site. Having the lunch catered was a novel feature and very much appreciated. TCS attracted 25 players this month, and the event would have had higher attendance if several people had managed to locate the new site. Despite this, we had several people join as new USCF members - Dan Bailey, Heidi Triplett and Kyzel Pizano. Welcome!

Movses Movsisyan and Chuck Unruh (also TCS first timers) joined Tom Braunlich as the heavy weights in this month’s event. Both Movses and Tom tied for first place with 3 points each and split the $100 first place prize. In Class A, Judson Temple & David Luscomb tied each winning $37.50 with 2 points. Omar Albakri won class B with 2-1/2 points for $75. Class C & Below was split three ways - Jack Bussert, Stephen Gehly and Bill Triplett won $25 each.

Unofficial Cross Table here.

April 19, Treasure Valley Casino, Davis OK

Congratulations goes to Texas who decisively won the 7th RRSO with a final score of 32.5 - 21.5. Texas now leads the annual series 5 to 2. Texas brought the big guns this year, namely IM Evgeny Matorin, FM Keith Hayward, CM Nick Schoonmaker and Austin Green all rated 2212 and higher. These players dominated the top four boards 6 to 2 versus FM Movsisyan, Galant, Braunlich and Hughes. However, despite being out gunned on the upper boards, Oklahoma had the team advantage in strength from board 6 on down. Many of our players (including your author) simply failed to score resulting in a rather lopsided win for Texas. So the rivalry continues! Everyone enjoyed themselves and we all left Davis with good memories, bragging rights or personal motivation for next year's opportunity for revenge. Congratulations Texas, but watch out for next year!

April 4, Hardesty Regional Library, Tulsa

The third event in the series grew again this month to 27 players, including two new members (Riordan Sarmento and Trevor Brunner). We are starting to outgrow the library, which is another reason why the move to a new site next month is a good thing!

Three players tied for first with 3-0 scores: rapidly-improving junior Ryan Farell, plus Wichita sharks John Schuller and Jason Wawrzaszek. They split $170 for 1st place combined with the Class A prize. Anthony Paolercio also had a good event finishing alone at 2.5. Advertisied prizes were $100 first, with class prizes per entries, which turned out at $70- A, $60-B, $60 - C/D, and $60 - E/UNR. Class prizes winners were: CLASS B: David McCann (1.5) $60, CLASS C/D: Istvan Szabad, Bill Triplett, Steve Gehly, all with 2.0, $20 each; and CLASS E/Below: Sam McCann and Jack Bussert, both with 2.0, $30 each.

Click on TCS Standings to see the current overall standings in the series.

March 14-15, Hotel Phillips, Bartlesville

The 24th annual Phillips 66 Chess Classic in Bartlesville was won by NM Bill Orton of Arkansas with a solid 4.5 score. He won $530 for his efforts. Congratulations Bill! This popular event at the comfortable Hotel Phillips, March 14-15, was again ably organized by Steve Wharry, who is looking to do something special for the 25th anniversary next year. (If you have any ideas, contact him!)

Juniors Devin Hughes and Ryan Farell had impressive scores, tying with Mike Crockett and David McCann at 4-1. Prize winners were: Class A - Ryan Farell, Devin Hughes & Mike Crockett $110 Ea, Class B - David McCann $215, Class C - Michelle Farell, Skip Fritze $90 Ea, Class D/E/U - Omar Albakri $150. Charlie Snap took the Upset Prize of $100 for his round 2 win over Anthony Paolercio.

March 7, Hardesty Regional Library, Tulsa

The Tulsa Chess Series #2 again was successful with 21 players, including 3 from Arkansas (Fort Smith area). Tom Braunlich and Bran Whitcomb tied for first with 3/3, winning $75 each. Whitcomb was top class B and gained 40 points (defeating Crockett and Wharry) and is now closing in on Class A. Advertisied prizes were $100 first, with class prizes per entries, which turned out at $50- A, $50-B, $50/$20 - C/below. Class prizes winners were: CLASS A (with 2/3 points): Steve Wharry, Anthony Paolercio, Chuck Johnson, Judson Temple. ($12.50 each). CLASS C/below (with 1/3) Istvan Szabad, Bill Triplett, Neil Schattin, Omar Albakri ($17.50 each).

Omar Albakri, a new USCF member at this event, is in the military and recently returned from several years in Iraq where he served as a translator. He did well and earned a 1408 provisional rating. We look forward to seeing him in future chess events.

GM Alex Yermolinsky headed the field and gave a lecture before round 1 to inspire the 54 players. Yermo was defeated by Honorary Okie FM Michael Langer in round 5, in a spectacular game. Conrad Holt beat Langer in the last round to create a 3-way tie for first with 5.5 between Langer, Holt, and Richard Ding. (Yermolinsky had to leave the event early and took a bye in the last round, finishing with 5.0.)

Official Crosstable here.

More details from Frank K. Berry:

$$ Prizes $ 600, 400, 300, 200 and for each Class X, A, B, C and D-under $600 split $300-200-100 There were 6 experts, 18 A’s, 9 B’s, 7 C’s, 8 d->below and 6 masters. Used to be “C” was the largest class. The three 5 1/2s (Langer, Ding and Holt) split top 3 Prizes for $435 each and Ding was no longer eligible for Expert $$; The two 5.5s (the WGM and the GM) split 4th place for $100 ea; 1st Expert was David Adelberg with 5.5 pts and $300 followed by a 3 way tie (4.5 pts) for 2-3rd place: Galant, Braunlich and Cao> each got $100; Class A $$ was split 3 ways (4.5 pts) by Williams, Wright and Temple - each got $200; Class B $$ was won by Stepp (4.5 pts) clear 1st with a respectable 4.5 followed by Lin in 2nd place (4 pts) $200 and then Eberhard picked up 3rd place $100 with 3.5 pts; Class C $$ was claimed by Margaret Hua $300 with 3.5 pts. 2nd-3rd $$ had 3 players tied on 3: Landolfi, Maldonado Jr and Griffin each got $100; Class D + below $$ had a two way split for top prizes with Triplett and Neveu each picking up $250 with 3 pts. Dan Adelberg (father of David) claimed the $100 third place with 2.5 pts. The four amigos from Arizona won a combined total of over $1,000…. but only gained 60 rating pts as a team.

RE: BYES in Res 6 + 7: If the players wanted a half pt bye in the last two rounds they had to commit before end of round # 4.

Notes: 27 players (or half the total of 54 starters) had FIDE ratings. Rating norms were gained by Williams (5), Widener (5), Swinger (5), Masuhud (5), Glassman (5), Blair (4), Smith (5), Baxter (5), Young (4) London (4) and maybe Phillips (3) and Landolfi (3) depending on if ½ pt FIDE totals count… or not

The first TCS was successful, with 22 players. Devin Hughes defeated Fred Roper in the last round to win the tourney and take the lead in the Series standings after 1 of the 10 events. The library location was good, but the schedule was too tight and the play went overtime, to the consternation of the librarians. For TCS#2 we will either shorten the time controls a bit or find a different venue. Please check the upcoming tournaments list for the latest info. (Tom B.)

Official crosstable here.

Congratulations to Sergey Galant for his first place finish in the 18th Holiday Open. Click here for the unofficial cross-table for this event.

$$ Prizes $200 first to Sergey, Senor Montero won the $50 B class $$. $100 2nd and $50 A class money combined and split 5 ways so both Tom Braunlich, Tom Patton, Mike Crockett, Jason Wawrzaszek and Devin Hughes split $30 each. Jamal El Chamieh took the $50 D + unrated prize. Jeff Lloyd and Duane Tate Sr split the $50 class C;

Notes: Braunlich only needed to draw in the last round to win the tourney but lost on time. Jamal is an officer in the Army of Lebanon studying artillery at Ft Sill for a few months. Jason Wawrzaszek is a newlywed and brought along his new spouse Kristin. This is the first time we have seen Tostenson, Young and Unruh in an OCF event. Inshakov is a student at UTD and is from the same home town in Russia as Sergey who talked him into playing in his first ever chess tourney. House Photographer was Mike Tubbs who has lots of images to send to you upon request.

Official crosstable here.