USCF National Event / 2012 U.S. Open
Circulo Perfecto
The 2012 U.S. Open completed the circle to a long-ago Mexican champion
By AL LAWRENCE W
hen you drill down into what seems like historical coin- cidence, you often find cause and effect at work. This year at the U.S. Open, when the last chess piece was pushed— in this case, slapped down in an exciting Armageddon playoff match—, GM Manuel Leon Hoyos became only the second Mexican player in the 113-year history of the event to win the U.S. Open. To find the previous winner from Mexico, we have to go back to 1924, when the great Carlos Torre Repetto (famous for his windmill combi- nation against Emanuel Lasker), won the event in Detroit. In itself, it’s notable, given our shared border, that only two Mexicans have ever won. But what’s the coincidence? Both Torre and Hoyos were born in the city of Merida, Yucatan.
The unmysterious cause of this partic- ular effect is a man named Alejandro Preve, a Merida native who was inspired by Torre’s famous victories. Long before he earned his wealth with success in business, Preve struggled to found a chess academy in Merida, paying play- ers’ expenses out of his own half-empty pockets. Hoyos grew his chess in the garden cultivated by Preve. Unfortunately, Preve is now too ill to comment on the perfect circle that Hoyos’ Open victory completes. But Hoyos,
who reigns now as champion of both Mexico and the U.S. Open, has often made Merida proud with his victories.
Hoyos was one of seven grandmasters and five international masters who topped the list of 517 players that made the Vancouver, Washington, U.S. Open one of the best-attended ever. The event offered three different starting dates, a four-day, six-day, and nine-day schedule with staggered starting times. For the first five rounds, Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan, the region’s favorite son, sat undefeated on board one in the nightly round. Seirawan had been honorary co- chair, with Arthur Dake, of the organizing committee of the U.S. Open held 25 years ago and eight miles distant across the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon. (“Yaz” was unable to participate because he was playing in the Interzonal tournament in Yugoslavia. GM Lev Alburt won the event.)
In round six, Yaz drew with Yaacov Norowitz, an untitled player from New Jersey with a rating of 2574. GM Dmitry Gurevich had fallen off pace after draw-
ing in rounds three and five. His game against Steven Breckenridge of Oregon was one reason the young national master was getting noticed.
www.uschess.org 21
PHOTO: POLLY WRIGHT
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