NorCal House of Chess will be conducting its first Invitational tournament. It's a round-robin IM-norm event that has an average rating of 2306. Hence, norm-hunters will need 6.5/9.0 to earn an IM norm. Here are the list of players: 1)  IM Enrico Sevillano  2502   (USA); 2) IM De Guzman, Ricardo 2400 (PHI); 3) IM Kaufman, Raymond  2316 (USA); 4) FM Cusi, Ronald  2316 (USA); 5) FM Lobo, Richard  2236 (ENG); 6) FM Evans, Bela 2256 (USA); 7) WFM Bayambaa, Uyanga 2110 (MGL); 8) NM Emmanuel Perez 2290 (PHI); 9) NM Ishkanov, Tigran 2347 (USA); and 10) NM Yian Liou  2293 (USA). Pairings have been emailed to the players a week before the event.

Interestingly, the round times are scheduled on weekends to accommodate those who have a day-job or go to school.  The schedule is as follows: March 17, 18, 23, 24, & 25  10:30 & 5:30; except for Friday (Mar. 23) 6:00 pm. The time-control that will be used is  40/90, SD/30 with 30-second increment.  A prize fund of  $ 400.00 for the top Prize, $ 200.00 for 2nd place. 

Couple of months ago, NorCal House of Chess together with Arun Sharma hosted the most elite chess tournament in Northern California. It was a very successful event that had great reviews in various website and newspapers, like NY Times. Like in the previous tournament, we will also be providing chess boards, clocks and food/beverage.  

Concurrently, NorCal House of Chess will also be conducting a FIDE-Qualifier Event on March 24 & 25. These events are both USCF & FIDE RATED tournament. The FIDE Qualifier will have 4 Rounds:  Saturday, 11:00 & 4:00 pm, Sunday 10:30 & 3:30 pm with a time-control of 30/90, SD 30 d5. The entry fee for the FIDE Qualifier is $ 80.00. Although we will limit the number of players so those who are interested should email us right away at [email protected] or [email protected]. 

1st place winner – earns a seat at NorCal House of Chess Invitational

Our next IM Norm event will be in May

2nd place winner – earns a seat at the next FIDE QUALIFIER EVENT

3rd place winner – earns a seat at the next FIDE QUALIFIER EVENT

 

Chief Arbiters: Gaurang Mehta & Bobby Bautista

Deputy Arbiters: Richard Koepcke & Tom Langland

Organizer: Ted Castro, NorCal House of Chess