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!

Grandmaster Mesgen Amanov (playing black) is now among the leaders of the B-Group after holding a draw agaisnt GM Daniel Fridman -- a draw which he followed up with a victory of IM Bercys...

Mesgen also took on all comers (including IM Pruess captured here) in an all out water fight on Saturday! Many of the players gathered at John Lalonde's (Abstrax owner) home for a BBQ and Pool Party. See our gallery at the end of this article for more pictures!

When the players did get back to playing chess we saw two incredible upsets from young FM Conrad Holt (now nickname in Daniel Rensch’s Chess.com/TV coverage as “Thunder-Holt”). After taking down the reigning champion of Serbia, GM Nikola Sedlak, in round three, Conrand beat GM Kacheishvili with the black pieces. “Thunder-Holt’s” run did finally come to an end when he met up with Fridman in round five. Also in the B-Group and in search of his last IM-Norm is FM Robby Adamson. He heads into round six against GM Kekelidze of Georgia having scored three and a half out of his last four games, including a victory of IM Drasko Boskovic and a draw agaisnt GM Sedlak. Stay tuned to their live games tonight at this link.

Back in the A-Group we have seen many ups and downs, and it doesn’t seem like a clear leader wants to break free of the pack just yet. GM Alejandro Ramirez of Costa Rica has played the most consistent chess, and leads the field with three and a half out of five.

GM Ramirez prepares to make his move agaisnt International Master Irina Krush...

On the flip side, IM Jacek Stopa (many people’s top pick to earn a GM-Norm) got off to a very rough start, scoring  just a half point out of his first four games. However, his first victory of the tournament did finally come, and it came in brilliant fashion against IM John Bartholomew. Check out the game for yourself by going to this link, and clicking on the replay games drop down (see Round 5).

IM John Bartholomew (white hat) faces off against Sam Shankland, while Mackenzie Molner (playing white) battles Jacek Stopa in the background...

To see the full standings click here, and be sure to check out IM Rensch’s live broadcast of round six on Chess.com/TV!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The opening ceremony was a wonderful experience for all who attended. As players from the A-Group “drew kings” to decide their pairing # destinies, spectators from the B-Group waited eagerly for their own first round pairings to post.

IM Jacek Stopa leads the way...

IM Irina Krush draws her king and her pairing # for the A-Group...

Dean Ippolito Draws his King, and with it his pairing # and A-Group fate...

Owner of our presenting sponsor company, John Lalonde, flips a coin to determine the "color fates" of our top seeds in round 1...

Notable from the first round of play was a huge upset between two local Arizona chess stars, when young David Adelberg beat IM and reigning Arizona State Champion, Levon Altounian. NM Kayden Troff also managed a draw against Grandmaster Alex Yermolinsky.

In round 2, the A-Group was treated to a dose of the “Killer Opening” when local favorite IM Nikolay Andrianov smashed IM Jacek Stopa in 23 moves of a Reti Attack. Upon reviewing the game with IM Daniel Rensch for Chess.com/TV’s live broadcast, Nikolay dedicated the game to the late — former world chess champion — Vassily Smyslov, who was a good friend and former colleague of Andrianov.  Nikolay is off to a great start with 1.5 points out of 2.

So much more to come, and we encourage everyone to come down to Abstrax tomorrow (Saturday) for GM Alejandro Ramirez’s lecture and/or Timur Gareev’s Simultaneous Exhibition — both starting at 1pm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

So, the 2000 and Up Section was probably the strongest tournament Arizona will have this year. Seriously… No joke. IMs Dionisio Aldama and Daniel Rensch (rated #s 2 and 3 amongst active players in the state, in that order respectively) competed along side FM Pedram Atoufi and and NM Joel Johnson. Several other strong experts competed in the top section as well, and the final standings shaped up with Daniel Rensch in first, Eric Qi and Dionisio Aldama tied for second and third, Andrew Lebovitz in fourth and Jon Dussik (who played up all four rounds) in fifth.

The 1700-1999 Section belonged to the “Ole Red Dog” as I am now calling him… Tom Mayka played like a beast, and took home first place honors! Congrats to him! Peter Fenger finished in clear second with three points, Daniel Pecherski and “the Fairy’s Nemesis” finished tied for third and fourth with two and a half points each, while Richard Cowan grabbed fifth (to his own surprise) with two points. Great section to all!

The 1400-1699 Section saw first place come down to two players who both seemed driven to win that “Full Ride” trip to Nationals! This time though, Soren Alethia-Zomlefer got the best of his rivalry with Noah Raskin, and finished with a perfect 4-0 SCORE. I put that phrase in all caps because Noah also finished “undefeated”, but came up a little short with just three and a half points out of four. Wow, this should be fun down the stretch! Third through fifth place was a three way tie of three points a piece: Jeffrey Poppell, Michael Prem, and Richard Qi finished in that order respectively.

In the 1000-1399 Section it seemed that everyone who placed in the top 5 either lost to the players that finished 1 or 2. Well, except for #1! Prescott Ogden finished a perfect four wins and no losses on his way to first place. Adam Graunke, second place, Michael Sauer, third place, and Heinz Horner, fourth place, all finished with three points. Thayer Alethia-Zomlefer took clear fifth place with two and a half points.

Although the 500-999 Section was as small a section as we have had all year, it was the section with the most exciting finish! Zac Smith and Eric Hao finished tied for first, which obviously meant an Armageddon Blitz game for “Sudden Death Master Trek”: The most exciting happening in sports today!!! I even posted to my ACE Chess Twitter Account during the game. In the end, Eric Hao came away with the Grand Prix Points. Third place belonged to Jain Aakash, fourth to Stanley Wang, and fifth to Kalaan Chaliki.

OK Everyone, we will see you soon! Hope you enjoyed the Recap!

Soren Alethia-Zomlefer
1st Place - 1400-1699
Chandler Prep

Michael Prem
4th Place - 1400-1699

Aakash Jain
3rd Place - 500-999

Eric Qi
2nd Place - 2000 and Up

Richard Qi
5th Place - 1400-1699

Jeffrey Poppell
3rd Place - 1400-1699
Chevalier Noir

Peter Fenger
2nd Place - 1700-1999
Home School

Daniel Pecherski
3rd Place - 1700-1999

Prescott Ogden
1st Place - 1000-1399

Noah Raskin
2nd Place - 1400-1699

Richard Cowan
5th Place 1700-1999
Barry Goldwater

 

The largest group of the weekend was definitely the advanced group. Despite the somewhat large rating difference between the lowest and highest rating, I think that all players benefited plenty from the lectures. We spent most of day one looking at different pawn structures, specially the advantage of having the dark squared bishop when you are facing the c-d hanging pawn structure. The second day saw a lot of tactics, as some kids tried to solve their first composition ever. After that, it was back to the subtle play of endgames. Overall this group was also incredibly enthusiastic and seemed to have a great time.

For the master group, I had prepared about 12 games in the Najdorf to look at. On the first day, I was planning on showing a tactical game first and then looking at several English Attack Najdorfs to give examples of the power of initiative over material and the sharp qualities of these positions. However, we spent most of day one analyzing the complexities of only one game! The Morozevich vs. Vachier-Lagraeve game was so rich and complex that it took us a good three hours to finish. On the second day we settled down a little, and were able to look at many more games from this opening.

I had a great time at this strategy session and hope that my students did as well. I look forward to coming back to Phoenix, and thanks to Danny Rensch for hosting and organizing the event!

- Alejandro Ramirez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2000 and Up Section was dominated by the pros: FM Pedram Atoufi and NM Joel Johnson both went undefeated, scoring a perfect four wins and no losses. Generally, we try to avoid pairing our “hired guns” against one another, as they are playing to compete against the kids; however, we will be changing our Grand Prix Cup Point System for the 2000 and Up Section shortly… The rest of the section played out as follows: David Leinbach took third place with two and a half points; Roland Rodriguez, Joshua Zhu, Eric Qi, and Tom Mayka finished tied for fourth through seventh places.

The 1700-1999 Section finished with a massive tie for first place; however, as only one of those players was eligible to earn Grand Prix Cup Points, Shunta Hashimoto was awarded clear first (just to clear up controversy, he had the best tie-breaks too). Way to go Shunta! Co-Champions of the section were Jason Kammerdiner, Jeffrey Green, and Tom Mayka. They finished in that respective order on tie-breaks. Bill Pace finished in fifth, Daniel Bryant in sixth (his tear continues), and Daniel Pecherski in seventh. All of them scored two and a half points out of four.

The 1400-1699 Section saw two players go undefeated, although only one of them went four wins with no losses: Congratulations to Bohan Li from Tucson for his dominating performance. Michael Prem finished in clear second with three and a half points out of four, while David Godfrey, Tony Yim, and Luc Lalonde all finished tied for third through fifth place with three points. A large group of players finished with two and a half points and they finished, on tie-breaks, as follows: Soren Alethia-Zomlefer in sixth; Neil Talanki in seventh; Philip Godfrey in eighth; Joseph Hoffman in ninth; and Yaroslav Pilipenko in tenth.

Matthew Worley and Michael Sauer finished tied for first in the 1000-1399 Section; however Mr. Worley came away with first place in the end. Xiexin Wang, Rachael Eng, Troy Dennis, and Taylor Bader all finished with three points and finished tied for third through sixth in that order.

Finally, the 500-999 Section saw Kevin Poppell go undefeated and capture clear first! A HUGE group of players finished tied for second through eighth place, and they finished in the following order on tie-breaks: Zac Smith; Evan Hao; Michael Grasser; Stanley Wang; Kalyan Chaliki; Jeremy Deerman; and Eric Hao. Congratulations to all on a well played tournament!

Thanks to everyone again for your continued support. Hope you enjoy the pictures! We will see you on the 24th at ASU…

Starting at the top we saw the “freshest rating meat”, FM Pedram, hold par and “knock em’ down” one by one! Although Pedram settled on a draw against NM Leo Martinez in the last round, he was clearly the best player in the tournament. John Williams and Bryan Hu finished tied for second with three points out of four, Leo took clear fourth with two and a half points, while Eric Qi, Joel Johnson, and David Leinbach tied for 5-7th place with two points each.

It seems as though Daniel Bryant will not stand for our new rating requirements (the one that says you have to be within 50 points of the next class to play up)! After scoring three out of four in the first Master Trek of the season, Daniel went a perfect four wins and no losses on the 12th in the 1700-1999 Section. Look out Expert players, more “rating eaters” are coming! Chris Dussik took second with three points, Bill Pace and Kinsleigh Wong took third and fourth with two and a half points each, and Peter Fenger, Jason Kammerdiner and James Savage all tied for fifth place with two points respectively.

In the 1400-1699 Section, we saw a pretty balanced finish of players from all over the state: First place belonged to a long time Trek regular and valley resident, Kendrick Nguyen, second through fourth was Soren Alethia-Zomlefer Noah Raskin and Michael Prem in that order and all of them scored three out of four. Finally, Derek Chen and Cortez Schenck finish tied for fifth and sixth place with two and a half points each.

Rachael Eng, an All-Star in 2009 and a contender for the Cup down the stretch, has picked up right where she left off! After winning numerous 700-999 Sections last year, she took home first place in the 1000-1399 Section for the first time on the 12th! Congrats to her. Newcomer Todd Bryce and Chevalier’s AJ Anthony took second and third with three points each, while fourth and fifth place belonged to Justin Yu and reigning MVP Austen Fletcher in that order, both scoring two and a half points out of four.

We have all heard of the “Brother’s Grimm” but how about the “Brother’s Nehmeh”?! Both Paul and Adam spent last season “on again off again” when it came to competing in the Treks, but this year will surely be different after their great start! After taking a half point bye in the first round, both boys proceeded to win out and tie for first place. Adam, the older brother, won the Blitz Playoff and was therefore awarded the most Grand Prix Points, but both the “Brother’s Nehmeh” had a wonderful tournament experience.

The 2009 Grand Prix Cup Awards continued at the second Master Trek of the season. Here John Williams accepts his All-Star plaque!

Cortez Schenck, who wasn't present during the first Trek of the season, was also awarded his All-Star plaque on September 12th!

The MVP of the 1000-1299 Section receives his plaque, free entry certificate, and All-Star Jacket. Congrats to Jeffrey Poppell!

Bryan Hu
NA
3rd Place - 2000 & Up

Chris Dussik
Goldwater
2nd Place - 1700-1999

Kinsleigh Wong
ECMS
4th Place - 1700-1999

Kendrick Nguyen
WCCA
1st Place - 1400-1699

Soren Alethia-Zomlefer
WCCA
2nd Place - 1400-1699

Noah Raskin
Horizon
3rd Place - 1400-1699

Michael Prem
Pinnacle
4th Place - 1400-1699

Derek Chen
Orange
5th Place - 1400-1699

Rachael Eng
Desert Trails
1st Place - 1000-1399

AJ Anthony
Chevalier Noir 3rd Place - 1000-1399

Justin Yu
NA
4th Place - 1000-1399

Austen Fletcher
Basis
5th Place - 1000-1399

The Brothers Nehmeh! Paul and Adam were Co-Champions of the 500-999 Section!

Adam Nehmeh
Montessori
1st Place - 500-999

Paul Nehmeh
Montessori
2nd Place - 500-999

Kevin Poppell
Chevalier Noir
3rd Place - 500-999

Zac Smith
Edu-Prize
4th Place - 500-999

Pedram Atoufi and Leo Martinez analyze their final round game.

National Master Leo Martinez and FIDE Master Pedram Atoufi both joined Joel Johnson's in the battle against the kids on September 12th!

Tucson's "Asian Gang" continues to infiltrate the top ranks of the Master Treks!

 

Starting in the top section (2000 and Up) we had five players rated over 2150! Even FM Daniel Rensch got in on the action, and after barely holding off young Eric Qi in round two, Danny went on to win the remainder of his games to take first. Performing at a very high level was Tucson’s Bryan Hu, and if not for a loss to fellow Tucsonan NM Leo Martinez in the final round, Bryan would have had a perfect day. Rounding out the top five was Hu in second, Martinez in third, NM Joel Johnson in fourth, and John Gurczak in fifth.

In 1700-1999 Section we saw the triumphant return of an Arizona Veteran (this guy used to beat Danny Rensch when he was just a kid): Bill Pace. Congrats to Mr. Pace on a perfect day that saw him gain almost forty rating points. The rest of the section was a pure battle of wits between several young players who feel they should already be in the 2000 and Up Section: Daniel Bryant too second place with three points; Daniel Pecherski and Tom Mayka captured third and fourth places in that order, each finishing with two and a half points; while fifth through eighth place belonged to Isaac Martinez (who made the trip down from Las Vegas), Kinsleigh Wong, Yash Pershad, and Peter Fenger in that order respectively.

The 1400-1699 Section saw the emergence of a player who is sure to become a regular Trekker over the coming months (and a possible “Dark Horse” pick for the MVP of that Section): Noah Raskin had a perfect day and finished with a four wins and no losses score. Truth be told, his only close game came in round one when he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Soren Alethia-Zomlefer. Thomas Mathine continues to make great strides, and he finished in clear second with three and a half points out of four. Third place belonged to Kendrick Nguyen, fourth to Neil Talanki, and fifth to Soren-Alethia Zomlefer. Sixth through ninth all finished with two and a half points out of four, and will all receive Grand Prix Points for their tie for fifth place.

In the 1000-1399 Section, Nicolas Johnston tried to get me to “bend the new rules” and allow him to play up in the 1400-1699 Section. I politely refused and said, “Just win all your games and you will be in that section next time”! Well, win all his games he did, and sure enough, he gained over one hundred rating points and will be competing in the 1400-1699 Section for the remainder of the season. Congrats to Nic! Joshua Perkins, A.J. Anthony, Todd Bryce, and Michael Sauer rounded out the top five.

Finally, the 500-999 Section saw several first time Trekkers not only “jump into the waters”, but “make some splashes” doing it! Taylor Bader, Eric Nelson, Gage Reitzel, and Javi Urcuyo all competed in a Master Trek for the first time, and they all finished in the top ten. Although, first place was left to a Trek veteran: Nathaniel Schmidt went perfect with four wins and no losses. Bader, Smith, Alethia-Zomlefer, and Wang rounded out the top five, and all scored at least three points out of four.

Thanks again to all for coming! We will see you back at ASU on September 12th for the second Master Trek Grand Prix Cup tournament of the season. Let us know what you think by making a comment or two below!

Bryan Hu
OGMS
2nd Place - 2000 & Up

Noah Raskin
Horizon
1st Place - 1400-1699

Thomas Mathine
GFCD
2nd Place - 1400-1699

Soren Alethia-Zomlefer
WCCA
5th Place - 1400-1699

Nicolas Johnston
NA
1st Place - 1000-1399

Joshua Perkins
Tri-City
2nd Place - 1000-1399

AJ Anthony
Chevalier Noir
3rd Place - 1000-1399

Michale Sauer
NEWVIS
5th Place - 1000-1399

Nathaniel Schmidt
Home School
1st Place - 500-999

Taylor Bader
Kingdom
2nd Place - 500-999

Zac Smith
Edu-Prize
3rd Place - 500-999

Thayer Alethia-Zomlefer
WCCA
4th Place - 500-999

Stanley Wang
WCCA
5th Place - 500-999

Gage Reitzel
Summit
8th Place - 500-999

 

Although the 2008-2009 Race for the Cup started off like all the rest (everyone had a chance) it became obvious even before January ’09 who the guy to beat was. Matthew Hoffman placed in the top five a record (believe me, I checked) eight times in a row! During this stretch, Matthew gained over 150 rating points, and captured first place twice. Heading into the final two Master Treks of the season, Matthew had a startling 15 point lead on the field, and bonus points just begging to be awarded upon season’s completion.

But as so many of the old clichés tell, just pick one about the fat lady or something and you’ll know what I mean, it wasn’t over yet… As heart-breaking as it is to describe what happened next for some, it is uplifting for others, and an undeniably bizarre tale for the rest of us. So bizarre in fact, I thought my excel program had miscalculated the standings several times, and I only realized exactly what had transpired when I added the points by hand late last night.

As it turned out, the combination of a few bumps in the road down the stretch for Matthew, and two incredibly strong finishing performances by Philip Godfrey and Austen Fletcher, were just enough for Matthew to lose his claim on the Cup in the closing days of the 2008-2009 Season. Anyone who has taken the time to understand our Bonus Point system will be able to take a look at the details and see just how close it was; however, to explain it simply: Matthew’s great year (and it was great) lost its hold over the MVP prize by one rating point. That’s right, if his June 1st rating supplement had read 1696 instead of 1695, we would be talking about his “dominance during the season”, and that “even though it got a little tight towards the end, there was no way anyone really had a chance to beat him out”. But it didn’t happen that way, and apparently, it wasn’t meant to be…

With the recognition of Matthew’s year out of the way (which was still good enough to land him first place in the 1600-1899 section, and a nice new ACE Chess All-Star jacket) let’s move onto the two players who actually finished with the most Grand Prix Points. Austen Fletcher, of Sonoran Sky, and last year’s MVP Philip Godfrey, of Chevalier Noir, both ended with 33 Grand Prix Points each (1 point ahead of Chevalier Noir’s Hoffman and Poppell). In a perfect world there could be a tie for the MVP prize; however, in anticipation for this exact scenario ACE Chess implemented a tie-break system before the start of the 2008-2009 season. The criteria were simple and designed to take a closer look at just who might have had the “better year”:

1. Tie-breaker 1: How many times was each player the champion of their section?
2. Tie-breaker 2: How many times was each player consistently in the top five of their section?
3. Tie-breaker 3: How many rating points did each player gain during the year of competition?

After checking, double checking, and doing it again, I was finally sure that there indeed had been a tie, and the Tie-breakers were necessary. When calculating the above mentioned Tie-breakers it became clear to me that both players had arrived at the impressive score of 33 points in very different ways.

For our reigning champion, it was simply a case of shampoo: “rinse and repeat”. Philip knew what being the Grand Prix Cup Champion felt like, and he didn’t miss a single chance to defend his crown. He competed in every single Master Trek! (Yup, all ten. By my count, only four other players did this: Matthew Hoffman, Jeffrey Poppell, Cortez Schenck, and Jonathan Booher. Oh by the way, all five players finished in the top ten over all, and all five will receive ACE Chess All-Star awards). Philip gained another two hundred and forty rating points on his way to a near perfect season.

For our new champion Austen Fletcher, (oops I spoiled it, but you probably already knew) it took a jump of over 325 rating points, participation in the last eight Treks of the season, and winning a trophy in five of the final six Master Treks. Although Austen’s consistency wasn’t as impressive as the three runner-ups (Chevalier’s Godfrey, Hoffman, and Poppell) his over all improvement as a player during the marathon that was the 2008-2009 season is what told the story in the end: His rating point bonuses received some of the highest marks (eclipsed only by Jeffrey Poppell and Cortez Schenck), while his strong finish at the Treks themselves clinched the title. Congratulations to young Mr. Fletcher, and good luck next year!

Of course there is a slew of ACE Chess All-Stars deserving mention for the performances throughout this past year. All of them showed consistency and improvement of the highest level. The full list of All-Stars is below, while the complete final standings can be found by clicking here!

1900 and Up Section

• 1st place – David Adelberg
• 2nd place – Randel Eng
• 3rd place – John Williams

1600-1899 Section

• 1st place – Matthew Hoffman
• 2nd place – Dipro Chakraborty
• 3rd place – Daniel Pecherski

1300-1599 Section

• 1st place – Philip Godfrey
• 2nd place – Jon Booher
• 3rd place – David Godfrey

1000-1299 Section

• 1st place – Jeffrey Poppell
• 2nd place – Rachael Eng
• 3rd place – Cortez Schenck

700-999 Section

• 1st place – Austen Fletcher (MVP)
• 2nd place – Thayer Alethia-Zomlefer
• 3rd place – A.J. Anthony

The Grand Prix Cup

Daniel Rensch

Matthew Hoffman
1st Place - 1600-1899

Jeffrey Poppell
1st Place - 1000-1299

Philip Godfrey
1st Place - 1300-1599

David Godfrey
3rd Place - 1300-1599

Dipro Chakraborty
2nd Place - 1600-1899

David Adelberg
1st Place - 1900 & Up

Jon Booher
3rd Place - 1300-1599

Cortez Schenck
3rd Place - 1000-1299

Thayer Alethia-Zomlefer
2nd Place - 700-999

Austen Fletcher
1st Place - 700-999 MVP