When & Where:

August 24th-26th, 2012. Chess Emporium, 1835 E Elliot Rd Suite 103-104 Tempe Arizona 85284

Tournament Details:

1 Section — 2000 USCF minimum Rating required as of June 1st 2012 USCF Official Supplement. No exceptions! 

Round Times:

• Round 1 – 10am, Saturday August 25th
• Round 2 – 4pm, Saturday  August 25th
• Round 3 – 10am, Sunday  August 26th
• Round 4 – 3:30pm, Sunday  August 26th

Time control: Game in 90 minutes with a 30 second increment throughout.

Sets provided. Clocks not provided, please bring your own!

Entry Fee:

$75 by July 1st 2012; $100 by August 21st 2012.

Registration for this tournament is closed on August 22nd 2012!

Awards:

All players will be competing for 3 spots – with FREE Entry – to the August International Master Trek Challenge! Qualifying players will be competing against 3 International Masters in a Double Round Robin, Scheveningen Team Match.

 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

For information on how you could qualify to play in the International “Master Trek” Challenge, click here and register for the August International Master Trek Challenge Qualifier!

The final details for the International “Master Trek” Challenge are not complete and may be subject to change. The final field will not be set until the completion of the August International Master Trek Challenge Qualifier.

When & Where:

September 14th-16th, 2012. Chess Emporium, 1835 E Elliot Rd Suite 103-104 Tempe Arizona 85284

Tournament Details:

• 6 Players
• 5 Rounds
• Double Round Robin — Scheveningen Style Team Match Play — NOTE: with one less game against one of the International Masters (chosen randomly).
• Invitation Only
• The three International Masters below will take on 3 “Challengers” (Qualified Players from the July International Master Trek Challenge tournament). Each challenger will play two rated games, one with each color, against each International Master (except for the “NOTE” above)

The June International “Master Trek” Showdown is sponsored by the Chess Emporium, Steven Kamp and the Unity Chess Club.

When & Where:

June 8th-10th, 2012. Chess Emporium, 1835 E Elliot Rd Suite 103-104 Tempe Arizona 85284

Tournament Details:

6 Players. 5 Rounds, Single Round Robin. Invitation Only. Player’s List and Pairings:

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…

Steven Kamp

Other Spsonors:

Rensch Law, KarrysDesign, Meltmedia, Chess.com LLC, and ChessKid.com.

When & Where:

March 2nd-4th, 2012. Chess Emporium, 1835 E Elliot Rd Suite 103-104 Tempe Arizona 85284

Tournament Details:

6 Players. 5 Rounds, Single Round Robin. Invitation Only. Player’s List and Pairings:

Schedule:

• Round 1 Friday, March 2nd 6pm
• Round 2 Saturday, March 3rd 10am
• Round 3 Saturday, March 3rd 5pm
• Round 4 Sunday, March 4th 10am
• Round 5 Sunday, March 4th 4:30pm

Prize Fund & Awards:

First Place: The Norm Saba Trophy and $1,000
Second Place: $300
Third Place: $200

Spectators welcome!