Master Trek Recap - May 9, 2009

The 2008-2009 Master Trek Grand Prix Cup season has finally come to a close. It was a great year where we saw many young players find their stride and make quantum leaps toward their quest for chess perfection. It was unfortunate that the last Trek of the season fell as the third tournament of what were back-to-back-to-back weekends for chess in Arizona; otherwise, we might not have had our lowest turnout in over 6 months (plus our tournament was competing with Mother's Day weekend, and even though I was taught as a young chess player that 'the King is more important than your mother' apparently, this new generation of chess players didn't get the same memo :) ). Nonetheless, the chess that was played on May 9th was as tough and exciting as any Master Trek to date, and we were perhaps given a small glimpse into what we can expect next season in the Race for the Cup'

The top section was fully loaded and as strong a section as we have ever seen at a Master Trek. The 1900 and Up Section had sixteen players, and the Adult Participation was fierce! FM Pedram Atoufi and NM Joel Johnson led the way, and they were followed by a group of hungry 'rating point seeking' youngsters nipping at their heels. When the smoke cleared from the battle fields at the end of the day, NM Joel Johnson and his prot'g', Josh Zhu, finished tied for first place with three and a half points out of four. Trek regulars Eric Qi, Dipro Chakraborty, and Randel Eng finished in third through fifth place respectively. FM Pedram Atoufi finished in sixth, John Williams in seventh and Tom Mayka in eighth.

The 1600-1899 Section was an 'everybody beat everybody' affair. Ethan Morgan and Alec Andersen tied for first place with three points out of four each, but neither player got through the tournament unscathed by the competition. Vincent Nguyen and Shunta Hashimoto placed third and fourth place, and the results amongst the top four places saw Morgan beat Hashimoto (down a queen, but finding a tricky mate in two), Andersen beat Morgan, Nguyen beat Andersen, and Hashimoto beat Nguyen. Woo, that was intense!

The 1300-1599 Section wasn't quite as complicated as the former; however, we did see three, yes three, players go undefeated! Dominating and scoring perfectly was Jonathan Booher who had four wins and no losses or draws to speak of. Tying for second and third place though were Kendrick Nguyen and Nathan Ogata, who both finished unbeaten with three and a half points out of four. Rounding out the top five were two Trekkers who boosted their own chances of finishing well in the Race for the Cup (Article still to come, but click here for the final standings before Rating Point Bonuses): Cortez Schenck took fourth with three points, and Jeffrey Poppell took fifth with two points.

Our small turnout was due in large part to the lack of players in the bottom two sections (the sections where we normally see the biggest numbers). In fact, we were forced to merge the 1000-1299 and 700-999 Sections for pairings; however, we did award the prizes and Grand Prix Points based on each player's final standing in his or her 'actual' rating class. Taking first place overall with an incredible performance was Alek Pensky. Alek finished perfect with four points, and 'got on the board' in the Race for the Cup. First time Trekker Noah Raskin and long time Trekker Steven Adelberg finished in second and third place respectively, each scoring three points out of four. Ben Braaksma and Thayer Alethia-Zomlefer finished with two and a half points each, and captured fourth and fifth place in that order.

Thank you so much to everyone who supported us this year! Please stay tuned for the final Recap and Standings from this year's Grand Prix Cup. Also, check back and watch your email updates for the next Let's Get Together: ACE Chess Letter, which will include some very special announcements regarding next year's Race for the Cup.

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