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Chess Life Online 2011 May Three-Way Tie for First in Cleveland Open
Chess Life Online 2011 May Three-Way Tie for First in Cleveland Open | Three-Way Tie for First in Cleveland Open |
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| By Boyd M. Reed | |
| August 10, 2011 | |
WIM Iryna Zenyuk, Photo Suzy Gorman for CCSCSL 2010
The 36-player Open section featured nine masters, but none rated over 2400. The concurrent US Open in Orlando was the likely reason for the lack of senior masters, but there was plenty of fighting chess, as one would expect with $5700 in prizes and 100 USCF Grand Prix points at stake. The fighting was evident as early as the first round, when top-seeded Eduard Chiru (2380) fell to Ohio expert David Friedman, and second-seeded WIM Iryna Zenyuk (2313) was held to a draw by Indiana state champion Steven Cooklev. NM Atulya Shetty (2269) took advantage of the early carnage to stand in first place with a perfect score after three rounds. California expert Ted Belanoff also had 3 points, thanks to his upsets of masters Leonid Gleyzer and Walker Griggs. Sunday morning's fourth round saw Shetty and Belanoff paired on board 1. Meanwhile, Zenyuk had recovered from her upset draw to move up to board 2, where she played NM Adarsh Jayakumar. Shetty roasted Belanoff in 23 moves to stand alone at 4-0. 5787 Meanwhile, Jayakumar and Zenyuk played a highly entertaining game on board 2 that ran about 6.5 hours, causing the last round to start 30 minutes late. 5786 The game was drawn on move 102 as Zenyuk demonstrated good technique in holding king and knight vs. king and rook. Shetty entered the last round with a full-point lead on his main rivals. This forced his last-round opponent, Jayakumar, to play for a win...and, sure enough, win he did. Jayakumar's late victory moved him into a tie for first place, which Zenyuk joined by beating expert Kenneth McDonald. 5785 Belanoff played Ohio master William Wright in the last round. A win for either player would have enabled them to tie for first. However, the game ended in a fairly quick draw, leaving both players with 3.5 points. Gleyzer joined this group by winning his last game as well. Jayakumar, by virtue of better tiebreaks, received the $100 bonus to collect a total of $1300. Zenyuk and Shetty each took home $1200. Wright and Gleyzer each got $150 for shared fourth place. Belanoff collected $1200 for winning first Under 2200 money, while eight players tied for second Under 2200 and $75 each. In the Under 2000 section, Canadian player Ralph Deline finished alone in first, with 4.5 points. He pocketed $1400, the biggest individual prize in the tournament. 5784 In the Under 1800 section, 4 points was good enough for first place. Six players earned that score, netting each $450. In the Under 1600 section, 68-year-old James Jackson swept away his competition, winning all five games. For his efforts, he received $1200 and 145 rating points. In the Under 1400 section, Michael Slosson and Benjamin Tancinco each rode last-round wins to the first-place circle, where 4.5 points was good for $750 each. In the Under 1000 section, Will Zhang went 5-0, earning the top Unrated trophy and $100 (the maximum amount an unrated could win in that section). Second place, at 4 points, went to Si Li and Alexander DeCamillo, good for $250 each. The Continental Chess Association was the sponsor of this event. This writer (Boyd Reed) was chief tournament director, with Andrew Rea as chief assistant. With attendance up about 60% from the 2010 event, it's a good bet that the Cleveland Open will be returning for a fifth installment in 2012. Prizewinners: Open Section 1st-3rd: Adarsh Jayakumar, Atulya Shetty, Iryna Zenyuk, 4. 4th-6th: William Wright, Leonid Gleyzer, Ted Belanoff (last 1st U2200), 3.5. 2nd U2200: Benjamin Weaver, Kenneth McDonald, Sylvester Smarty, Matthew Marsh, Sam Copeland, David Friedman, Safal Bora, Edward Song, 3. U2000 Section 1st: Ralph Deline, 4.5. 2nd-4th: Edward Dean, Zhaozhi Li, Maggie Feng, 4. U1800 Section 1st-6th: Albert Maginley, Jiawei He, Daniel Bogert, Wei Huang, Mark Milkovich, Zane Eisen, 4. U1600 Section 1st: James Jackson, 5. 2nd-4th: Ratimir Jukic, Sujay Busam, Joy Chen, 4. U1300 Section 1st-2nd: Michael Slosson, Benjamin Tancinco, 4.5. 3rd-4th: John Ragner, Kevin Ahlborg, 4. U1000 Section 1st: Will Zhang, 5. 2nd-3rd: Si Li, Alexander DeCamillo, 4. Trophies: Top U800 - Si Li. Top U600 - Nathan Reinarts, 3. Top Unrated: Will Zhang. See full results and rating changes on MSA. |