Thirty players showed up to compete in their first chess tournament of the new year at the "Statesville Skewer", held in Statesville on January 2. Originally the tournament was scheduled for December 19 but was canceled due to a rare December snowfall.
The tournament was held at Shiloh United Methodist Church which graciously agreed to host the event. Mike Williams directed the tournament. This is the first chess tournament held in Statesville in many years.
Free coffee and beverages were served all day, and door prizes were given away including chess keychains, magnetic chess sets, and gift cards to Wendy's. We hope to have this tournament again on multiple occasions during 2010. Watch the NCCA tournament calendar for more details.
To view the official USCF crosstable, click here .
Open Section Results
The Open section was won by Gary Newsom with 3.5/4. He earned $90 for his efforts. Pivotal to his victory was a win over top-seeded Chris Mabe in round 2. Mabe came second with 3.0/4 and won $45.
A special recognition for Chris Mabe: he earned the Life Master title during this tournament by having played 300 rated games while maintaining his rating over 2200. Congratulations LM Chris Mabe!
The Under 1900 prize in the Open Section was captured by Scott Baldwin with 2.5/4 ($45), while the Under 1700 prize was shared between Tony Cato and John Simonsen with 2.0/4 ($22.50 each).
LM Chris Mabe ponders his next move in an unfavorable pawn endgame
against Gary Newsom in Round 2.
Under 1500 Section Results
In the Under 1500 section, Austin Liu was the clear winner with a 3.5/4 score, earning him a $120 prize. Second place was shared three ways among Kevin Tie, Anish Kottu, and Claudio Jimenez with 3.0/4 ($60 each).
Round 2 games from the Under 1500 section
Foreground: Shawn Spencer (L) vs. Walter High.
Background: Anish Kottu (L) vs. Claudio Jimenez
Under 1000 Section Results
The Under 1000 section champion was Rajesh Kottu who posted a perfect 4-0 score. He graciously declined the first place trophy so that others in the section could receive greater rewards. The resulting trophy recipients were as follows:
- First Place: Cameron Crosby (3.0/4)
- Second Place: Blake Johnson (2.0/4)
- Third Place: Bowen Li (2.0/4)
- Fourth Place: Sean Crosby (2.0/4)
- Top Under 700: Fu-Yao Yu (2.0/4)
- Top Under 400: Dawson Williams (1.0/4)
Bowen Li considers his next move against Blake Johnson
in a wild and woolly final game of the Under 1000 section in Round 4.
Winners from the Under 1000 section proudly show off their trophies.
(Not pictured: Sean Crosby)
First place trophy winner in the Under 1000 section: Cameron Crosby
Article by: Mike Williams
Created: 01/03/2010
Updated: 02/18/2010