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Chess Life Online 2010 September Mauricio Flores Wins U.S. Class
Chess Life Online 2010 September Mauricio Flores Wins U.S. Class | Mauricio Flores Wins U.S. Class |
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| By Franc Guadalupe | |
| October 5, 2010 | |
 GM Mauricio Flores, Photo Luis Salinas 4933 For his efforts, Mauricio, originally from Valparaiso, Chile, earned the Champion's plaque and the $1,200 check! See two of his critical wins, over University of Texas at Dallas graduate Keaton Kiewra and UTD student IM Salvijus Bercys. 4931 4932 Seven other Class Champions were crowned in Houston. Masters Champion - GM Mauricio Flores (4.5/5) Experts Champion - Mark Dejmek (4.5/5) Class A Champion - Frank Brack (4.5/5) Class B Champion - Donald Briggs, Jr (4.5), on tie-breaks over Don Burrus. Class C Champion - Josh Pruett (5/5!) Class D Champion - Ted Ingram (4.5/5), on tie-breaks over Malik Coleman. Class E Champion - John Warren (5/5!) Unrated Division Champion - Mario Acero (5/5!) The Scholastic winners were: K-12 - Nathan John (4.5/5) K-9 - Nick Troutman, Nancy Zhou, Vishnu Thiagarajan, Yovanni Cervantes, and Brian Chau (4/5) K-6 - Vikram Mullick (4.5/5) K-3 - Zachary Guo (5/5!) The U.S. Class was held at the Hilton Houston Hobby Airport Hotel, the site of this year's record-breaking U.S. Junior Open. The main event attracted 234 players and an additional 105 students played in the Scholastic event. With four Grandmasters and six International Masters in attendance, it was probably the strongest U.S. Class ever. The games were hard-fought and full of excitement. Also exciting to the players was the fact that inasmuch as we had 195 full-paid entries, we paid 100 percent ($10,750) of the b/200 full-paid entries prize fund. All players in the Unrated and Class E divisions, and Juniors in the Class C and D paid a reduced rate. Also in attendance, as a player, was the Executive Director of the USCF, Mr. Bill Hall. A last-round defeat cost Bill a share of second place among Experts, but he still finished with a respectable 3/5. For the rated results, please see the USCF MSA page. Also keep your eye on this link for the list of winners and prizes. The event was organized and directed by Franc Guadalupe. Susan Breeding was the Floor Chief and Leonard Fusselman assisted her. Many of the top games were transmitted live and are available on Monroi. Luis Salinas from the Dallas Chess Club took care of the Monroi transmission and assisted on the floor. |