USCF National Events / 2012 U.S. Open
A SMORGASBORD OF CHESS For participants that just couldn’t get enough chess, or players who couldn’t fit the main tournament into their schedules, the U.S. Open smorgasbord offered endless opportunities in half a dozen formats.
U.S. OPEN WEEKEND SWISS
The first weekend offered a daytime event that didn’t conflict with the evening round of the U.S. Open—a five-round Swiss, Game/60, with a $1,000 prize fund that attracted 41 players. Nick Raptis of Oregon tied for first with Francisco Guadalupe II of Texas. Yogi Saputra and Takum (what a wonderful first name for a chessplayer!) Sato-Duncan, both of Ore- gon, tied for Under 2200/Under 1800 class prizes.
U.S. OPEN SCHOLASTIC
Seventh-grader Nathaniel Yee and eighth-grader Masayuki Nagase, both of Washington, tied for first with four out of five points in the U.S. Open Scholastic Tournament also held on the first week- end. Olga Cherepakhin of Washington, a seventh-grader, finished just a half-point behind the leaders, spoiling Nagase’s bid for a perfect score by beating him in the fourth round. Then her own undefeated streak was broken in the last round when Yee won their match-up. The annual event was open to all USCF members entering grade 12 and below.
U.S. OPEN BUGHOUSE
On Sunday, August 5, Rob Ritchea, Georgia, teamed up with the unofficial champion of the U.S. Open Quads (see below), Nicholas Karas, California, to win the bughouse championship, held on the first Sunday. Bughouse chess is played by four contestants in two-person teams with a five-minute time limit. Team members can supply each other with pieces captured from their opponents; these pirated pieces can then be plunked down on the board in agonizingly surprising ways. The plunk- ing and other teamwork is restricted by a few special rules. To get to be a champi- onship team requires lots of practice; to have fun requires only a suspension of disbelief. It’s an acquired addiction.
U.S. OPEN QUADS Players could enter Game/30 quads Mon-
day through Friday. There were as many quads formed each day as necessary to accommodate entries—28 in all! Karas and Jake Winkler, of Oregon, were notable for
26 November 2012 | Chess Life THE VIEW FROM THE TD’S CHAIR
Chief Tournament Director (TD) Bill Snead of Texas managed his third U.S.
winning three of the quads. Nicholas Wong of Hawaii and Michael Goffe, of Oregon, each won two. Jon Haskel, Florida, man- aged to tear himself away from managing the MonRoi broadcasts long enough to win a quad. He must have been more than ready to stare at a regulation-sized board.
U.S. OPEN GAME/15 CHAMPIONSHIP On Wednesday, GM Diamant tied with
IM Vitaly Neimer of Israel, both on this year’s Webster University team to win the Game/15 Championship. They topped the field of 38 players,
including two
grandmasters, two international masters and a FIDE master. IM Anthony Saidy, of California, finished in a tie for third through sixth.
U.S. OPEN BLITZ CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday afternoon’s traditional five- minute event before the main tournament’s eighth round drew 129 players competing for more than $3,000 in prizes. The seven- round Swiss event required each paired set of opponents to play each other twice, changing colors, so each contestant played 14 games. In the end, Diamant took first with 12 out of 14. GM Anatoly Bykhovsky of Israel won second with 111
⁄2 . Diamant
and Bykhovsky, former teammates on the Texas Tech University championship team, will represent Webster University near St. Louis in the 2013 academic year. Atulya Shetty of Michigan, winner of the Denker Tournament of High School Champions, Steve Breckenridge, a new member of the Texas Tech University team, and Raptis tied for third, as well as first under 2400. Bryce Tiglon, Washington, was first under 2200. Yifei Han of Canada and Takum Sato-Dun- can, Oregon, tied for first under 2000 an first under 1800. Gabriel Skoro, Oregon, won top under 1600, while Marc Huang, Washington, and Nathan Jewell, Oregon, were first U1400. Washington’s Brian Chen was best U1200. Shashikant Ashok Chavan, David Jensen, Steve Shuman, Ian Vaughn—all from Washington—tied for best unrated.
U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN
Wednesday through the final Sunday, the five-round U.S. Women’s Open was held for the first time. One round was held each morning. Chouchanik Airapet- ian of Washington won the title. Sarah R. May came in clear second.
Open in Vancouver, responsible for the full gaggle of side events and multi-tiered schedules and staggered starting times employed to accommodate the full gamut of tournament players. So in addition to the many side events, Snead and his crew had to run three versions of the Open and then blend the two shorter schedules, one by one, into the 7 p.m. round. If you’ve ever directed a sizable event, you can under- stand the complications. If you haven’t, think of organizing birthday parties for Octomom’s family, and don’t forget the clowns. Despite the potential for confu- sion, the TD staff kept everyone shaking hands with the right opponent at the right time. The two critical mergings of one schedule into another took place without a hitch.
Snead was ultimately responsible for all
the events, but delegated side events to others on his staff and gives them the credit for a smooth event. “We all report to Pat Smith,” Snead said. USCF itself is respon- sible for the overall organization of the Open, Delegates’ workshops and meetings, and Smith is USCF’s chief operating officer. You might think that at any moment, a
chief TD knows better than anyone else who’s winning. “When I direct,” Snead told me, “I often can’t tell someone the outcome when the event is over. Manag- ing the process can make you very myopic. You have to take the details round by round and not be a rooter.”
For even someone as experienced as Snead, there’s always something new. For religious reasons, one of the Open’s top players had to refrain from pushing his clock at a certain time nearing sundown on Friday. “He could start the game and use the clock normally until that time, but then someone had to push his button for him,” Snead said. “It was really no problem to get someone to do this; it had just never popped up before. By the way, the rules then permit the other player to have the same help if he wants it, which in this case, he didn’t.”
POLISHED NATIONAL STAFF Snead had an experienced TD team
from all over the nation and well-organized local volunteers. Phil Smith of Tennessee was the “man behind the curtain,” running TD headquarters, the inner sanctum we don’t get to see and very possibly don’t want to. Wayne Clark of Illinois was in charge inside the tournament room and served as assistant chief TD of the event. Franc Guadalupe of Texas was chief TD of the Denker and Barber events, the U.S. Girls Junior Open, and he backed up on the main floor. Alan Losoff, Nevada, famous as the organizer of Las Vegas’ glitzy National Open, worked the floor and ran the weekend swiss. Gary Gaiffe, Texas,
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