USCF National Championship / 2012 U.S. Amateur East


Youth Triumphant 13-Year-Old Michael Lim is 2012 U.S. Amateur Champ


By AL LAWRENCE


dently fought off both new and old guard, including a troop of former champions, to win the 2012 title. Lim won five straight and then drew fellow New Jerseyan Michael Goeller in the final round. Goeller took sec- ond place on tiebreaks over top-seeded former champ Sandi Hutama, New Jersey (NJ), who this year had to settle for the third-place trophy. Kimberly Ding (NJ) and Michael Yen (NJ),


as well as Hanon Russell, Connecticut (CT), another former U.S. amateur champion— who fought his way back after a tough first day—tied for 4-6 with 41


⁄2 points. Vinko C


ompeting in the U.S. Amateur East, or one of its sibling regionals, is a great way to get to play future champs. For Michael Lim’s oppo-


nents, that was the bright side at the Memorial Day event in Somerset, New Jersey. The 13-year-old youth champion entered as the sixth seed of 40 players but confi-


Rutar, Pennsylvania (PA), became Senior champion by scoring 4 points. Jeffrey La Comb, New York (NY), won the Under 2000 prize with 4 points; Walter De Jong (NY), was best Under 1900 with 4 points. Also at 4 points, Maryia Oreshko (NJ), and Alex Wlezien (PA), shared the top Under-16 hon- ors. Alan Gu (NJ), was best Under-13. Fred Ivens (NJ), produced the tourna-


ment’s only perfect 6-0 score to win the 44-player Under 1800 section. Joseph Holmok (NJ), Elizabeth Lakata (PA), and Leon Wu (NJ), were a distant second-fourth


THE U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP’S RICH TRADITION The tournament for chess lovers deserves a bit more affection in return


The chess pro is as rare as the two-bishop sacrifice. Almost all of us USCF


members are amateurs. Most often, we dwell on how that “title” pegs us as duffers who hang pieces and double our pawns. So it’s hackneyed but help- ful to recall that, derivationally, the word amateur hardly means bumbler. It means a true lover of a pursuit, as in the Spanish amante. Amateurs, regard- less of their choice of passions—from archaeology and astronomy to world history and zoology—have contributed meaningfully to fields we think of as highly technical, and chess is no exception. And amateurs make up the admiring base that makes it possible for those wizards at the peak to prac- tice their magic. The prestigious title of “U.S. Amateur” has a rich tradition, but nowadays, its regional winners are no longer offered a playoff, and the event often hasn’t rated


a Chess Life story. The tournament goes back to the war year of 1942 and has been held every


single year since then. You can’t say that about the U.S. Championship or the National Open. At least one winner of the U.S. Amateur, Charles Weldon, in 1970, was featured on the cover of Chess Life. Then in 1992, when USCF “regionalized” a number of championships, the Amateur was divided into East and West branches. In 1994, a North and a South version were added as well, and a play- off was organized. USCF trivia buffs should note that between that year and 1999 were crowned


the only playoff National Amateur champions. Drilling down deeper into eso- teria subterrania, you see that only the South failed to win during the six playoff years, and the East won more than any of the others. Here’s the list:


with 41 ⁄2 points. A half-point back, Mike


McCaffery (NJ), was 5th. Andy Lindstrom (NJ), was best Under 1600; Joseph Prentice (NJ), won best Under 1500; Michael Polito (NJ), was top Senior with . Jason Yan (NJ), was top Under Age 16,


31 ⁄2


and Edwin Jin (NY), best Under Age 13. Zehao Shen (NJ) and Nelson Lin (NJ)


drew each other and won the rest of their games to become co-champions in the 26- player Under-1400 section. Ashley Jiang (NJ) and Marko Van (NJ) tied for third- fourth. Stan Rydz (NJ) took fifth. Steven Danko (NY), was best Senior. Ryan Feng (NY), took best Under Age 13. Jonathan Chin (NJ), was top Under 1200; Husband John Cook (NJ), was top Under 1100 and his wife Ellexis Cook (NJ) was top Under 1000. Sarah Yen (NJ) won the Under 900 prize, and Claire Cao (PA), was top Under 800. Despite his youth, the new Amateur East


champion navigated with a deft positional touch. In round five, Vinko Rutar, an expe- rienced over-the-board warrior who has come very close to winning the title in past years, rolled out a strategically tricky version of the English.


34 August 2012 | Chess Life


PHOTO: AL LAWRENCE


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