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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For full details, including the information needed to sign up please click here!

More details coming soon! For more information, including how you can be a part of a benefit for charity on June 8th with International Master Anna Zatonskih, please contact Alan Anderson!