PAIRINGS:

 1) International Master Shahin Mohandesi — USCF Rating  2618. IM Mohandesi recently took first place at the Tucson Open in January and at the ACE Chess Arizona State Championship in February. He is also working alongside IM Banawa and FM Atoufi for the Unity Chess Club. He was a team member of Belgium in the 1992 championship tournament of Europe. His full biography can be found here.

International Master Shahin Mohandesi

2) International Master Mackenzie Molner — USCF Rating  2530. Though new to the top ranks of the “Arizona Chess Scene”, Mackenzie Molner has been ranked amongst the top juniors in the United States for more than ten years. Originally, from New Jersey, “Mac” recently graduated from NYU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Romance Languages, with a specialty in Spanish (he also speaks German, French and Russian). Mac considers himself a Professional Chess Player/Coach.

International Master Mac Molner

3) International Master Joel Banawa — USCF Rating  2475. Joel was born in the Philippines, and he learned to play chess at the age of 7. Joel won his first National Championship in the Under-10 years division of the Philippine National Championships. He recently relocated from Southern California to Arizona, and is an active player in the Arizona Chess Scene.  You can read his entire biography here.

International Master Joel Banawa

4) International Master Daniel Rensch — USCF Rating  2479. Danny was born and raised in Arizona and is currently the only ever “Arizona born” International Master. Danny is the President of American Chess Events LLC, and the Director of Content and Professional Relations for Chess.com and ChessKid.com.

International Master Daniel Rensch

5) FIDE Master Joan Olivera– USCF Rating  2399. FM Joan Olivera is one of the lead instructors for the Chess Emporium and their scholastic enrichment programs. He is originally from Cuba, and is one of the highest rated players in the state of Arizona.

FIDE Master Joan Olivera

6) FIDE Master Pedram Atoufi– USCF Rating  2299. FM Atoufi is the founder of the Unity Chess Club. He is also won the 2005 World Open (U2300 Section) in 2005. A full bio and history of FM Atoufi can be found here.

FIDE Master Pedram Atoufi

Chess Emporium Owner Scott Freneaux and Steven Kamp

reunited for the betterment of chess in Arizona…

The event was also made possible by sponsors Chess.com LLC, ChessKid.com, Rensch Law, Meltmedia, and Karry’s Design — and American Chess Events LLC would like to extend its deepest appreciations. The tournament’s “top prize”, in addition to the $1000 purse, was the Norm Saba Trophy, named after long-time Arizona Chess Supportor, Dr. Norm Saba.

Dr. Norm Saba and Steven Kamp

The field was made up of both home grown Arizona chess players, as well as several “Arizona transplanted” — yet very strong — international chess professionals. Below you can see the entire field of players pictured with Dr. Saba:

From left to right: IM Joel Banawa, FM Pedram Atoufi, Dr. Norm Saba, IM Mark Ginsburg, IM Daniel Rensch, IM Mackenzie Molner, and IM Shahin Mohandesi…

On top of the field by rating, and finishing right where he belonged, was new Arizona resident International Master Shahin Mohandesi (originally from Iran). After suffering a tough last round loss to the second seeded IM Mackenzie Molner, he was caught by IM Joel Banawa — who won a nice game agaisnt FIDE Master Pedram Atoufi. The two (Mohandesi and Banawa) shared top honors of the event with three and a half points out of five each, but it was Mohandesi who won the Norm Saba Trophy out right in a late night Armageddon Blitz Playoff game. Mohandesi is pictured below with Dr. Saba:

On a personal note, your author truly enjoyed competing against so many strong players in his home town. Though it would have been nice to emerge victorious, I believe this event represents a good sign for Arizona’s chess future to see so many of the strongest players competing on the board, and not off the board! You can find the complete games list — all five rounds included — here, and you can check out my two mid-tourney blogs here.

The final standings (in pairing number order) were:

Finally, some more pictures with descriptions:

My two longest/biggest supporters:

My father, Steve Rensch, to the left and

my grandpa, Steven Kamp to the right…

The “Mac Attack”, wearing an excellent looking shirt I might add,

considers his next move…

International Master and Co-Champion, Joel Banawa…

FIDE Master Pedram Atoufi mentally prepares himself…

Former Arizona State Champion, International master Mark Ginsburg…

1) International Master Mackenzie Molner — USCF Rating  2520. Though new to the top ranks of the “Arizona Chess Scene”, Mackenzie Molner has been ranked amongst the top juniors in the United States for more than ten years. Originally, from New Jersey, “Mac” recently graduated from NYU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Romance Languages, with a specialty in Spanish (he also speaks German, French and Russian). Mac considers himself a Professional Chess Player/Coach.

International Master Mackenzie Molner

2) International Master Daniel Rensch — USCF Rating  2479. Danny was born and raised in Arizona and is currently the only ever “Arizona born” International Master. Danny is the President of American Chess Events LLC, and the Director of Content and Professional Relations for Chess.com and ChessKid.com. He lives with his wife and three children in Tonto Village, Arizona where he hopes to rebuild the Shelby School (his Alma mater) back to the top ranks in the Arizona Scholastic Chess Scene.

International Master Daniel Rensch

3) International Master Joel Banawa — USCF Rating  2444. Joel was born in the Philippines, and he learned to play chess at the age of 7. Joel won his first National Championship in the Under-10 years division of the Philippine National Championships. He recently relocated from Southern California to Arizona, and is an active player in the Arizona Chess Scene.  You can read his entire biography here.

International Master Joel Banawa

4) International Master Mark Ginsburg — USCF Rating  2406. Mark Ginsburg has been an International Master since 1982.   He won the Manhattan Chess Club Championship in 1988 and 1990 and has tied for first place in the Arizona State Championship three times. Recently he has been doing video lectures on Chess.com (click here to check those out) and also has been working on an iPhone educational chess application called “Chess U”.  Chess U is available on iTunes for free at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chess-u/id416507647?mt=8 

International Master Mark Ginsburg

 5) International Master Shahin Mohandesi — USCF Rating  2365. IM Mohandesi recently took first place at the Tucson Open in January, and is also working alongside IM Banawa and FM Atoufi. He was a team member of Belgium in the 1992 championship tournament of Europe. His full biography can be found here.

International Master Shahin Mohandesi

6) FIDE Master Pedram Atoufi– USCF Rating  2299. FM Atoufi is the founder of the Unity Chess Club. He is also won the 2005 World Open (U2300 Section) in 2005. A full bio and history of FM Atoufi can be found here.

FIDE Master Pedram Atoufi

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The 2010 Copper State International, presented by Abstrax Inc Tournament Hall

GM Giorgi Kacheishvili enjoys a composition, setup by IM Stopa, during the opening ceremony...

It was our goal from the outset to create the highest quality chess environment, both over the board and “in the halls”; so the fact that every player completed the event was not a mew point at all — it was a big deal! How did we attempt to ensure this?  First and foremost, we asked for a commitment from the players: For many of our participants, we added an extra fee — required up front  — that was only to be reimbursed upon completion of the event. We did this not to demand or control anyone’s ability to leave the field if they were unhappy, but simply to make clear “before kick-off”, exactly what we expected from each player during the tournament.

With the Copper State International, we believe that when you enter a tournament you are making a commitment to not only fight hard for your own goals, but to compete your hardest amongst your peers as they try to achieve theirs. We founded the tournament on this ideal, and we intend to hold to it.  As organizers and hosts, we also made a pledge to the players: To do our absolute best in providing a completely comfortable, cooperative, and productive atmosphere that would guarantee a high level of chess to be played. We tried to do this in any way we could before, during, and after the event — and we will only try to get better with every year…

Owner of Abstrax, Inc - John Lalonde - and IM Danny Rensch caught on camera during the event

Even Super-GMs (Daniel Fridman) enjoy a little Bug-House!

Now, onto the chess! In the top section (A-Group) last year’s “Sole” Champion was this year’s Co-Champion. GM Timur Gareev (who at this point has already gone onto win the National Open) tied for first place with IM (now with two GM Norms) Mackenzie Molner. Pictures of both are below. Each player finished with six points out of nine.

Grandmaster Timur Gareev celebrates his "Armageddon Blitz" win -- and therefore the right to take home the trophy -- as Co-Champion Mac Molner looks on.

Mackenzie Molnar receives his "GM-Norm Congratulations certificate" from Arbiter, Jon Haskel, as Danny Rensch looks on.

Also in the A-Group, IM Sam Shankland (who missed out on his final GM Norm by a half point) and GM Alejandro Ramirez tied for 3rd place:

Please ignore Alejandro's Shirt!

There were several other great players competing in the A-Group. Placing tied for 5th-8th place were GM Alex Lenderman, IM Nikolay Andrianov, IM Irina Krush, and IM Dean Ippolito — all finishing with four points. 9th and 10th places were shared between IM John Bartholomew and IM Jacek Stopa.  Although there were many incredible battles, IM Nikolay Andrianov (featured below) took home the Best Game Prize for his 2nd round win over IM Jacek Stopa.

IM Nikolay Andrianov (white pieces) dedicated his win to the late former World Champion, Vassily Smyslov.

Just the A-Group...

All Participants of the 2010 Copper State International, presented by Abstrax Inc!!!

In the B-Group (which it should be noted was not the “B” Group because of the caliber of players, but simply because it wasn’t a Round Robin. In fact, the average rating of the top ten players would have surpassed those in the “A”) we saw a three way tie for first place between GM Daniel Fridman (the tournament’s strongest player at #84 in the world), Giorgi Kacheishvili, and Mikhail Kekelidze.

Left to right: IM Rensch, GM Kacheishvili, GM Fridman, GM Kekelidze, and John Lalonde.

Grandmaster Fridman lead the field by a full point heading into the last round, and had apparently already played all of his “tough” competition. He was forced with a pairing a full point and a half out of his score group against IM David Pruess. Well Mr. Pruess, who had gotten off to a slow start, had finally found his stride… GM Fridman felt the wraith of David’s aggressive style and lost in 26 moves!

IM David Pruess delivers a crushing blow to GM Daniel Fridman in the final round!

This startling result threw the B-Group final standings for a loop, and so an Armageddon Blitz Match between our three Co-Champions would have to decide the clear winner. GM Fridman made quick work of his competitors however, beating both Kacheishvili and Kekelidze 2-0 each, to take clear first.

Splitting fourth, fifth and U2500 FIDE honors were GM Mesgen Amanov, Siddharth Ravichandran, and IM David Pruess.

Left to Right: IM Daniel Rensch, IM Pruess, Ravichandran, GM Amanov, and John Lalonde

Capturing prize money and an IM-Norm each were Conrad “Thunder-Holt” and Keaton “Special K” Kiewra!

"Thunder-Holt" and "Special K" were quite the dynamic duo as far as attacking chess goes in this year's tournament!

Arizona’s own, FM Robby Adamson, reached a long time goal by earning his final IM-Norm. Robby showed great perseverance by rebounding from a tough Chicago Open result. His tournament was so strong in fact, he was among the leaders throughout and even had chances for a GM-Norm heading into the final rounds.

FM (or should we say IM-Elect) Robby Adamson was all smiles after his big achievement.

Taking first place in this year's Qualifier was local expert John M Williams. John will join the main event next year...

Click here to view the complete final standings.

Although we believe all the participants enjoyed the tournament, perhaps no one more than Daniel Fridman. Daniel and his wife, Anna Zatonskih, even made a donation in support of the tournament and of American Chess Events LLC’s goal to raise $2,000.00 — to be donated directly to the Cardon Children’s Medical Center — during the Copper State. A goal which we reached!

Daniel Rensch, on behalf of all the sponsors of the 2010 Copper State International, presents Cardon Children's Medical Center with a check for $2,000.00! We did it!!!

Final thanks from ACE Chess to Abstrax Inc, and to all those who helped make this event possible. See you next year, June 2nd-9th 2011 in Arizona!

Alex compiled a list of GM Hikaru Nakamura’s greatest games, and he displayed exactly how “Naka” wins in the Opening, the Middlegame, and the Endgame. Here is an excerpt of what GM Yermolisnky covered, and we hope that all those present enjoyed the lecture. Thanks for coming…

The players kick off their 1st Round games, as Dan Adelberg, left, looks on...

To ensure that the field of players would be worthy of the challenges GM Yermolinsky and the other titled players would present, the minimum rating bar was set at 1800 USCF. Although this kept the field of participants rather small, what the tournament lacked in size it made up for in strength. The pairings were done in the “Scheveningen” format to prevent the players  from competing against those within their own rating class. Four teams, A, B, C, and D were created,  and the pairings were then done accordingly. In this way, all the players were given their “guaranteed number of games against 2200+ competition”, without the need of pairing(s) manipulations out of score group.

GM Alex Yermolinsky (far left) plays black against Arizona State High School Champion, John Williams. David Adelberg also squares off against Daniel Pecherski.

The pairings were done on Friday afternoon, and the cross-table was then emailed out to all the participants to allow time for preparation for their opponents. When everyone arrived on Saturday morning, a few opening statements were made by Daniel Rensch, and the games began. We will be posting most (if not all) the games from the tournament in our Featured Games section of the web site. Check em out, and leave your thoughts too!

After making a few opening statements, Danny had to sit down and play chess just like the rest!

International Master, Mark Ginsburg, was among the titled players set to "take on the challengers"...

The final standings turned out almost all decisive results! “Team A” finished in the top three places as expected, but fourth place belonged to Dipro Chakraborty of Group C! Dipro had the upset of the tournament when he took down IM Daniel Rensch in round 4, and he finished strongly with a draw against GM Alex Yermolinsky. Perhaps the tournament of Dipro’s young career, and well deserved was his 1st place prize of $200 for Best Under 2200!

Daniel Rensch presents Dipro Chakraborty with his 1st place, Under 2200, prize of $2 Million Dollars!!! Just joking, $200 bucks...

Leave your comments and questions if any… Stay tuned for details on how you can participate in one of GM Alejandro Ramirez’s many events taking place from February 26th-March 7th! Thanks to everyone who participated, and we will see many of you on the 13th of February for the Master Trek Grand Prix Cup tournament at ASU.

Yermo, Rensch, and Jonathan Booher analyze Booher's only loss of the tournament.

Over the next couple of days I am going to be posting some pictures, each with a quick description, from the Tucson Open last weekend. In Tucson, GM Yermolinsky and I helped a small team of 6 players during the tournament. Game Review as well as Game Preparation for the upcoming rounds is where Alex and I focused with the students.

Most of the participants of “Team Yermo” finished with great tournaments. Their results were as follows:

• John Gurczak had a great tournament in the Open Section (gaining over 30 rating points) and finished with 4 out of 5.
• Fitch (Tiger) Rensch, also playing the Open Section, finished with 2.5 points out of 5. Only Tiger’s 5th tournament in 5 years!
• Bill Pace had a rough go, but enjoyed the analysis and “prep” as he was trying out new openings. Finished with half a point.
• Jonathan Booher finished with 3.5 out of 5 in the Reserve, and gained over 40 rating points! Great tournament for him…
• Soren Alethia-Zomlefer also faired well in the Reserve Section, finishing with 3 points out of 5, despite a tough start.
• Finally, Thayer-Alethia-Zomlefer also finished with 3 points in the Booster Section and gained a coupe points along the way.

Despite the small group of participants, I believe the “event” was a real success. For those involved, receiving several hours of analysis and preparation, certainly made the trip worth it. Yermo and I were able to give valuable insight and advice to each student immediately following their games. I believe this was very effective, because their ideas and plans were “still fresh in their heads”. We hope those involved enjoyed the experience. Comments, critiques, and ideas are always appreciated… For a full list of the Tucson Open Results, click here.

UPDATE: Master Level Players confirmed for ACE Showdown on January 30th-31st: GM Alex Yermolinsky, IM Dionisio Aldama, FM Pedram Atoufi, NM Leo Martinez, and NM David Adelberg! Sign up by clicking here (registration closed to players rated 1700 + USCF).