FM Joel Banawa is the 20th Anniversary Tournament Champion

ChessPalace celebrated its 20th anniversary with a tournament party on Sunday September 27 handing out guaranteed cash prizes, club memberships to top finishers, and trophies. Thirty-two players participated including FM Joel Banawa and a whopping eight experts. Banawa coasted to victory with 4.5-0.5, followed by Alex King, Jeff Phillips, and Show Kitagami with 4-1. Ben De Vera finished with 3.5-1.5 to win the U1900 followed by Joshua Sheng who ousted fellow class A junior Albert Lu in tiebreaks to claim the second place U1900 trophy. Alex Wang, a class E player finished with 2.5-2.5 to claim the top U1600 prize. Wang jumped more than 150 points in this event. Jeff Laban finished second U1600 with 2-3. William Yee finished with 1.5-3.5 to take home the top U1300 and Justin Hsu, 1-4, took home second. Best unrated went to Alfredo Simbajon. Notable players that participated in the event include National Tournament Director Randy Hough, Kendrick Nguyen, coming all the way from Arizona, and Jennifer Lu, the only female player in the event. Anthony and Aaron Ong directed.

The tournament was not without a lunch party. Pizza, chicken, egg rolls, and salad were served for lunch between rounds two and three. Players who finished last in round two were almost left without pizza. As expert, Peter Vancouvering says, “More pizza!” Raffle prizes also kept the excitement high. David Oldham and Kendrick Nguyen took home House of Staunton chessmen and Justin Hsu took home the grand prize, a custom-painted chronos valuing at $200.

Pictorial and complete standings below. Click here for tournament report.