Pablo Pena scores 9.5/10, Sherif Toma 10/10, twice!

ChessPalace will be having USCF-rated blitz events on Sundays. Check the calendar for exact dates. Pena beat out a higher ranked expert to take first. Sergey Yurenok took second with 6.5/10. Sherif Toma claimed two blitz events with a combined score of 20 out of 20! Starting in August a USCF-rated blitz tournament will be held after the Amateur Open.

Jim Diamond and Anthony Whitt best their group

Diamond finished with 2.5/3 after Craig Hilby held him to a draw but still taking clear first. Hilby finished tied for second with 2/3. Whitt finished with 2.5/3 to win his group. Three players trailed to a second place finish with 2/3, Alex Fong, Fausto Oviedo, and Alan Chu.

Roman Yankovsky takes July Super Sunday Event

Yankovsky swept the 18-player event going 5/5. The notable news is two of the three second place finishers, 3.5/5 each, combined for a 274-point rating gain! Wesley Walsh and Kaitlyn Yang gained 124 and 150 rating points, respectively. Both players have established ratings. Karl Tolentino rounded up second place.

Yurenok and Chu claim the July Super 2x

Sergey Yurenok scored a perfect 4-0 to take the guaranteed 4-points prize (a Benjamin). Alan Chu performed a rare feat with a perfect score, as he came from the lower group. The tournament format combines two quads together for a fourth and final round and Chu came from the lower quad beating someone almost 200 points higher! This feat was only accomplished twice before. Mark Adams won the Action Swiss on Friday 7/8 with a perfect 3/3

Jeff Phillips takes June Open and ties in July 6-Pak

Phillips takes another monthly open title with 5/5. Nic Reiner finished second while picking up 34 rating points! Phillips and Qinhong Chen tied for first in the July 6-Pak with 2.5. Their half-points came from each other. Yale Warsaw swept his group with 3/3 and gaining almost 40 rating points!

Pena wins Amateur Open, Chous takes Best Team

Pablo Pena bounce back from a first round draw with three straight wins to take clear first in the special edition of Amateur Open Father's Day Special. Craig Hilby and David Portwood shared second with 3/4. Timmy Chou won the U1800, Kaitlyn Yang won U1500, and Eden Myles won U1000. There were four father-son(s) team, and in the end, Sam and Timmy edged out the Hsu family by only half a point. The Perkins family won third. Pictured is the crucial last round between Chou and Hsu dads.

Bershad wins Ocho A, McEntee takes Ocho B

Neil Bershad scores 2.5/3 to take clear first in the June Ocho group A. Craig Hilby finishes second with 2/3 after a hard-fought last round draw against Bershad. Joseph McEntee finished with a perfect 3/3 in group B picking up 113 points. McEntee is up 190 rating points just from this weekend! Timothy Chou and Alan Chu finished second with 2/3 both losing only to eventual winner, McEntee.

IM-elect Roman Yankovsky wins June Super Sunday

This is the third consecutive month with a clear first and a third winner. IM Zhanibek Amanov and GM Melik Khachiyan won April and May, respectively. Yankovsky finished with 4.5/5. Jeff Phillips and Aaron Chang each finished with 4/5. Phillips finished second and Joshua Sheng finished third with 3.5/5. Chang, coming into the event as a 1602, won the U2000, toppling three Class A players including one in the final round and gaining more than 100 rating points. Luis Brioso won U1800 with 3/5.

David Portwood crosses Expert

Portwood swept his group gaining 29 rating points as he crosses over to Expert rating. He beat three fellow Class A players. Luke Cheng finished with 2.5/3. Merril Chaney topped his group while Zachary Chandler and Yale Warsaw tied in theirs with 2.5/3. The last group saw Carlos Capacete completing a sweep in his first rated tournament with a post rating of 1955. Nicholas Berbari finished second with 2/3. Eighteen players participated.

Jackson wins Action Quad, Yurenok sweeps Super 2x

Mark Jackson finished with 2.5/3 to take clear first in the Action Quad and picking up almost 30 rating points on Friday night. The following day, Sergey Yurenok finished with a perfect 4 points against a strong quad of experts and the finale round. Expert Pablo Pena and Zachary Chandler finished with 3 and Shyam Gandhi finished with 2.5/4 to take home the plus score prize.

Gandhi and Chen are Scholastic Class Champions

Shyam Gandhi and Qinhong Chen finished with 4.5/5 to be co-champions. Leo Kamgar finished third with 4/5. Gandhi, Chen, and Kamgar were the top three rated players of the event and all three finished without a loss. The strong field comprised of two 1800s and two 1700s at the top. The open event allowed lower rated players to pair against the top, and some succeeded. Here are the class winners.

Neil Bershad and Yale Warsaw win their 6-Pak

Bershad went 3-0 against 3 class A players to take clear first and a 45-point rating gain. Craig Hilby took second. In the other group, Yale Warsaw also went 3-0 for a whopping 62-point rating gain. Zachary Chandler and Brian Morris tied for second. Twelve players participated.

GM Melik wins May Super Sunday

IM Amanov wins April

GM Melik swept the field before taking a last round bye. Danilo Jorda took second, Jeff Phillips and David Baran tied for third with 3.5/5. In the April Super Sunday, Zhanibek Amanov went clear first with 4/5. Pablo Pena beat Roman Yankovsky in the final round as the two tied for second with 3.5/5. Danilo Jorda won the U2000 section with an additional prize; Jeff Phillips donated a chronos chess clock to a clear winner in the U2000 section.

Albert Lu wins Ocho

Young Lu scored 3-0 to win Ocho group A comprised of 6 Class A including himself and two high Class B. Eren Karadayi won second with 2-1 losing only to Lu. Three players finished with 2 and three others finished with 1 to complete the eight-player group. The balanced scoring is indicative of the balanced rating of the group. Group B also showed a balanced group with players only within 2 classes, B and C. Michael Chaney and Chris Keefe tied for first with 2.5-0.5 each. To view the crosstables, click here.

Richard Wong wins March Amateur Open

Wong swept the field with 4-0 including two Class A players. He also finished one and a half-points against the next closest prize winners. Sam Katagi and Aaron Ong finished tied for second with 2.5-1.5. In the Booster Section, Jonathan Quach finished with a perfect 4-0 score as well. Jacob Wiczyk finished second with 2.5-1.5 en route to a 122-point gain. Sixteen players participated.

Portwood, Ong, and Chu win their quads

David Portwood was 2-0 before drawing his last game against fellow Class A, Chris Mckay. Mckay also went undefeated, but had a second draw again another Class A, Joseph Bellinger and finished second. Aaron Ong swept his quad with a perfect 3-0, the three other quad members, Timothy Chou, Michael Chaney, and Chris Keefe tied for second. And in the final group, Alan Chu bested his group and gained 67-rating points. Yale Warsaw and Zach Chandler tied for second.

Iwamoto, Bellinger, and Walsh score 3-1 in the March Super 2x

Joseph Bellinger downed master Takashi Iwamoto in round two, but Iwamoto recovered to finish 2-0 with his last two games. Bellinger lost to rising star Craig Hilby who finished out of the prize points with 2, in round one. Wesley Walsh, only a class C player, was paired against Iwamoto in the fourth and final round as he went 3-0 for his first 3 games picking up 49-rating points. Walsh is April's Player of the Month.

Adams wins March Action Quad #1, Pena wins #2

Mark Adams scored a perfect 3-0 en route to a 49-point rating gain. Second place, Wesley Walsh, scored 2.5-0.5 for a 48-point rating gain. See crosstables here. In the second Action Quad event of March, expert Pablo Pena scored 3-0 to take first. Wesley Walsh, again, picked up a handful of rating points, 72. See crosstables here. Action Quad takes place every second and fourth Friday of every month.

Somasundaram wins Winter Scholastic, Walsh takes March Madness

Siddarth Somasundaram swept the open section with a perfect score. Justin Hsu, Jacob Wiczyk, Miguel Rangel, and Luc Reiner followed with 2nd-5th. Devin Clay claimed the Booster section with 4-0 and Ethan Pau took second. In the March Madness Scholastic, Wesley Walsh coasted to vicotry with 4-0. Jonathan Quach, Christina Kao, Justin Hsu, and Justin Kao all tied for second. Edward Jin, Cassidy Van Vooren, and Carson Van Vooren tied for first in the Booster section.

Portwood ties for 1st in February Amateur Open and wins 6-Pak

David Portwood, Alfred Ong, and Wesley Walsh tied for first with 3-1 each in the February Amateur Open. In the following weekend, Portwood secured another victory against a group filled with Class A and a master in the 6-Pak as he inches closer to Expert rating. Qinhong Chen and Yale Warsaw took home top honors in group B of the 6-Pak

Craig Hilby wins Ocho against a strong field

Hibly scored 2.5-0.5 to finish first in his 8-man group comprising of 2 high experts, 5 Class A (including himself), and one Class B. He held the first expert to a draw in round 2 and finished with a win against the second expert. Three players finished in second including Chris McKay who had an even score against the experts, drawing to both. Richard Martin and Yale Warsaw tied for first in the second 8-man group.

ChessPalace takes several top honors in the USATW

Team ChessPalace took home the overall 3rd place prize in the latest US Amateur Team West tournament held in Woodland Hills, CA. The top team consisted of IM Zhanibek Amanov, masters Edison Ruge and Jeff Phillips, and Albert Lu. Other top finish include Best Team U1800 (Daniel and Alec Ho, Craig Hilby, Bryan Xiao), Best Team U1400 (Jim Holder, Robert Martin, Evan Anthopolous, Corwin Cheung), and Best Team U800 (Miguel Rangel, Scott Belair, Ravi and Raaj Komirisetty) in the scholastic event.

Jeff Phillips wins 2011 February Club Championship

Phillips scored a 4-0 sweep to take February's title. Robert Hatfield and Michael Henebry tied for second and third wtih 3-1 each, both only losing to the eventual winner. Eighteen players participated that ranged from master to U1000 which included 7 Class A and 9 others in between.

McKay and Bershad tie in Quad, Warsaw wins his, Chou wins Action Quad

Chris McKay and Neil Bershad tied in their Quad with 2.5-0.5. In the second group, Yale Warsaw scored the same but won clear first. Richard Martin won second. And Timothy Chou won the Action Quad to get above 1700 once again. Newcomer James Lee finished second with 2-1 and a first rating of 1654!

Peter Vancouvering and Merril Chaney win their 6-Pak

Vancouvering edged out fellow master Jeff Phillips in the final showdown of the 6-Pak. It came down to the wire as both players came into round 3 with the two highest scores. Vancouvering was nipped for a draw in the first round by Neil Bershad. Jeff Phillips and David Portwood finished 2-1 to take second. In the group B, Merril Chaney swept with 3-0 and almost a 30-point rating gain.

Master Edison Ruge and Albert Lu tie in Ocho

Both winners never met in a game, Lu took a first round bye, while Ruge was held to a draw in the last round by Chris Mckay. Lu is up more than a 100 points from last month's supplement. Lu inches towards expert peaking at 1971. Coincidently, both winners will be representing ChessPalace at the US Amateur Team West; Ruge manning board 2 and Lu at 4. The second group saw Neil Bellinger going a perfect 3-0 followed by Fausto Oviedo and Richard Martin with 2-1.

Herbert Faeth is January Open Champion

Fourteen players participated in the January Open including a master, five Class A, four Class B, two Class C, and two Class E. Faeth finished with 3.5 over a strong field winning all three of his games and taking a second-round bye. Master Jeff Phillips finished second.

Jonathan Quach wins January's Amateur Open

This is the first time an Amateur Open comprised of all juniors. Jonathan Quach finished with 3.5-0.5 to take clear first giving up only a draw to Justin Hsu. Mathew Kelley finished second winning his final three games after losing his first round to the eventual winner. Justin Hsu finished third with 2.5-1.5

Albert Lu sweeps the Ocho as he reaches for Expert

Junior Albert Lu scored 3-0 to take top honors at the Ocho. His sweep was decided on a grueling last round victory that came down to seconds in both players clock. Joseph Bellinger, Luke Cheng, and Chris Mckay tied for second with 2-1. Richard Martin's 2.5-0.5 was enough to win the second group. Close behind at 2-1 is Chris Keefe. Fifteen players participated.

Carlos Salazar wins January Blitz #2 with 9.5/10

Carlos beat out the last blitz winner Austin Cambon scoring 1.5-0.5 against him and winning 2-0 against each of his other four opponents. The strong group of class A players have been battling it out in the last several weeks. Blitz tournament is held every first, third, and fifth Friday of each month. Casual play is also encouraged throughout the evening.

ChessPalace losses against the strong Hemet CC

Report and Games || USCF Ratings || Results

The top two ChessPalace masters struggled against the Arnolds (Jeff and Ken) who were both rated well over 2300 scoring only 0.5-3.5. Boards four to seven also met tough matches with Kele Perkins and Sam Chou attempting to hold their opponents of a higher class. In the class D and E, ChessPalace scored with wins by Justin Hsu, Chance Paxton and Alan Loera. Jeff Phillips won the Quick chess side event with 5/5.

January's Player of the Month wins Super 2x Quad

Jeff Phillips scored a perfect score, 4-0, for the guaranteed prize. Super 2x quad awards on points instead of place finish. Three players finished with 3-1 including expert Sergey Yurenok, Joseph Bellinger, and junior Qinhong Chen. Craig Hilby and Chris Keefe finished with 2.5-1.5 to claim the plus score prize.

Austin Cambon wins the first blitz tournament of the year

Austin swept going perfect on the first blitz event of 2011. This is a rare feat in a blitz event especially when there's another class A player and two high class B. The next closest challenger finished 4 points behind with 6. Class E player Wesley Walsh made his mark competing against the class B and C players.

Zoran Djoric wins New Years 6-Pak

A 14-player tournament took place on 1/1/11. Djoric (pictured left)from Los Angeles beat two class A players and took a Grandmaster draw against expert Jovan Prokopljevic, aka Jovan the Great (pictured right), a world renowned cartoonist from Yugoslavia. In the B-section, father and son had perfect scores going in the last round, Timmy and Sam Chou had to face off turning away possibilities of making quick draws. The younger Chou took down his own dad in a nice battle to win his section. See cross tables.

Neil Bershad is 2010 ChessPalace club champion

Bershad almost ran away with the tournament after defeating the top-seed rated 2100+. Bershad finished with 3/4 to take clear first and dubbed 2010 ChessPalace champion. This is the third year in a row that Bershad won. He was the clear winner in 2009 as well and tied for first in 2008. Jeff Phillips finished second, Tracey Norris finished best U1900 and Joseph Farina finished best U1300; all three had 2.5/4.

17 players played the December Amateur Open

Aldrich Ong won the top section after being drawn in the first round by junior Bryan Xiao. Karl Tolentino finished second with 3-1. Wesley Walsh and Jonathan Quach tied for first in the second section. The top group had 4 Class A, 3 Class B, and 5 class C. The second group comprised of all 1200s and 1100s.

Phillips wins again, perfect scores in all 3 sections

Jeff Phillips swept the top group consisting of six players. Qinhong Chen and Sam Chou also did some clean-up work in their respective sections. Joseph Bellinger and Craig Hilby tied for second in the top group. Timothy Chou and Justin Kang won second in group B and C, respectively. Timothy was a clear piece up against Chen in the finale, but blundered grossly allowing a mate. Sam Chou's road to victory included a win over Justin Kang who had a couple of upsets.

Yankovsky wins 2010 Blitz Championship

Top-seed Roman Yankovsky finished with 8/10 to take clear first. Jeff Phillips finished second just half a point away from tying with Yankovsky. Phillips edged out IM Zhanibek Amanov, who finished third with 7/10. En route to second, Phillips split his two-game match against Yankovsky and IM Amanov, the two highest rated players of the event. Shyam Gandhi won the U1900 section with 7/10 and Joaquin Perkins won the U1600 with 5/10. Twenty players participated. Click here for a pictorial and a full report.

Alan Loera is the 2010 ChessPalace Junior Champion

Loera finished with 4-0 to take clear first in the Open section. Noah Daniels won the Amateur U1500 section. Daniels has increased his rating by almost 400 in his last three rated events. Ethan Aquino takes the first place trophy in the Booster section. The event saw 22 players including the rated and non-rated sections.

Navarro scores a sweep in the Super 2x Quad

The top quad consisted of 3 experts with a rating of over 2150; Bert Navarro, Jeff Phillips, and Sergey Yurenok was joined by top class A, Neil Bershad. Craig Hilby finished with two points in his quad but finished with a win in the last round to take home the guaranteed 3-point prize. Eren Karadayi, Yurenok, and Joseph Bellinger finished 2.5 to take the free-entry prize for the plus score.

The first of the MLS was launched by IM Jack Peters

More than 20 players was on site when International Master Jack Peters lectured in ChessPalace's first Master Lecture Series. He covered Legal's Mate which has been seen in a variety of other games with the same ending. IM Peters also discussed about chess history and the problems that have arose over the decades. He capped the lecture with instructive games including one where he made a 30-move deep calculation! The next of the MLS will be around February by GM Melik Khachiyan with a lecture and simul followed by an analysis.

Phillips wins Group A, Keefe and Berbari tie in Group B

Jeff Philips swept the field of 8 of group A with 3-0 to win clear first. Austin Cambon, Chris Mckay, and Shyam Gandhi tied for second with 2-1. Gandhi and David Ma, two juniors, had strong performances picking up at least 20 rating points each. Chris Keefe and Nicholas Berbari tied in group B with 8 players with 2.5-0.5 each. The two took different paths to tie, Keefe had a 1st round bye, and Berbari drew one game. Both won their other two games.

Yang, Shao, Salvaryan, and Daniels win at the American Open

Richard Yang is the high school American Open champion. Stephanie Shao won the K-8th, Alice Salvaryan won the K-6th, and Noah Daniels won. Yang secured a clear win by beating a fellow class A in round 4. Shao also took the same path. Lower seed Salvaryan and Daniels scored a perfect 5 points in their respective sections. Both players increased their ratings more than 100 rating points. The American Open Scholastics has increased in attendance from the last three years over half a decade ago. Thank you to the patience of the parents and coaches as well as all the help provided for the TD, Anthony Ong.

Melik, Friedel, and Sevillano tie in the American Open

GM Joshua Friedel from the Bay Area won over the two on tiebreaks. GM Melik was downed on the first round but bounced back with successive wins & a final round draw to finish at least first in the American Open for the sixth time, third within the last three years, according to Randy Hough's report. Sevillano finished with draws against the two GM winners & wins over FM Robby Adamson & untitled star Roman Yankovsky. 211 players participated. For complete standings visit the website & or visit USCF.

Bershad and Bellinger tie in the Ocho

Neil Bershad and Joseph Bellinger tied for first in the Ocho tournament. ChessPalace kept its doors open despite the holiday and the large event at the Radisson in LAX, the American Open. Eight players participated on Saturday and even visited the event at LAX the same day. ChessPalace was at both events.

Neil Bershad wins November Open Wednesday Knights

Bershad scored 3/4 including a last round draw to fellow Class A, Herbert Faeth. Faeth, Mike Henebry, and Tracy Norris all finished tied for second. Fourteen players participated with a wide range of players from Class E to Class A.

NTD, Randy Hough wins November Amateur Open

Eight players participated which included the NTD, fellow expert Austin Cambon, and Seth Rundell who's from Washington state and is in Orange County for a job at John Wayne Airport. The tournament saw a couple upsets including one by Kaitlyn Yang with more than a 500 rating-point difference. Hough finished a points ahead of the field. Rundell and Sam Katagi tied for second with 2.5-1.5.

Cambon sweeps the November Octos

Austin Cambon goes 3-0 beating out the other perfect scorer after round 2, Joseph Bellinger. It was the last game to finish ending almost 2 hours after the second to the last game finished. Bellinger upset top-seed Jeff Phillips in round 2. Four players tied for second: Albert Lu, Bellinger, Kele Perkins, and U1700 winner Richard Martin.

Eren Karadayi wins again, this time in blitz

Six players played in a double round-robin in the handicap blitz. Karadayi scored 8.5/10, one point more than the next player jumping more than 150 ChessPalace blitz rating points. Mark Adams finished with 7.5/10 to take home second place. Carlos Salazar finished with 6/10.

Yurenok claims the 4-points prize in the Super 2x Quad

Twelve players participated in the Super 2x Quad led by Sergey Yurenok, who finished just 3 points shy back to his master rating. The tournament held on the second Saturday of every month awards players based on points, not place finish. There are also no shared prizes or waiting around for other results. Neil Bershad finished with 3-1, and Leo Kamgar, Fausto Oviedo, David Ma, and Yale Warsaw finished with 2.5-1.5 each.

Eren Karadayi and Justin Hsu win their quads

Karadayi scored 2.5/3 to take clear first in his quad. His draw came in the last round to second place finisher Timothy Chou. In the second group, Justin Hsu swept with a perfect 3. Ravi Komirisetty and Ethan Pau tied for second. Click here to view the rating report

Alex Wang tops 6-Pak with opponents of at least +250 rating points

Wang scores 2.5-0.5 as a class D player racking up 160 rating points and jumping to 1509. Wang beat Yale Warsaw and rising junior Qinhong Chen before giving away a drawish game against Neil Bershad but salvaging a 3-fold repetition down a piece.
Click here to view the rating report

Magnus Carlsen plays in the Halloween Scholastic

Thirty two players including several monsters, James Brown, a tasty hotdog, and World Chess number one, Magnus Carlsen were in attendance in the 2010 Halloween Scholastic. Thirty two participated in this year's event led by Karl Tolentino with the only perfect score of the day. The Booster section was led by Aidan Carrizales with 3.5-0.5 playing in his first tournament. See here for lots of photos, a full report, and crosstables.

Craig Hilby sweeps in the Saturday Ocho

This is the second week in a row that a junior topped the Saturday event; last week Daniel Lin, this week, Craig Hilby. Shyam Gandhi also won the Friday night blitz. Hilby faced Qinhong Chen in the final round as both players were still perfect. Fausto Oviedo, Zachary Chandler, Neil Bershad, and Chen finished with 2-1. Oviedo was also perfect going into the last round before losing to Bershad. Here is the rating report.

Shyam Gandhi wins Blitz scoring 8-2

Shyam Gandhi won his final two games against one of the top rated players Carlos Salazar to win by a two point margin. Gandhi increased 199 rating points in his ChessPalace Blitz rating ladder. Timothy Chou and Alfred Ong tied for second with 6 points a piece. Ten players participated. All participants got a special surprise.

Anthony Mack wins October Open

Anthony Mack swept with 4-0 coming away victorious in a losing game in the last round against Herbert Faeth. Mack picked up more than 100 rating points after losing 114 in his previous two tournaments. Eleven players participated. Click here for photos and here for the rating report.

Daniel Lin and Yale Warsaw win their Ocho group

Requesting a last round bye, Daniel Lin beat a master and a class A en route to a clean first. There was almost ten upsets in this tournament one of the most. Peter Vancouvering, an expert, finished 2-1 to take second place. Yale Warsaw led group B with a 2.5-0.5 as the top scorer. Sixteen players participated.

Club players play with LA Vibe

In the past few weeks, LA Vibe's game day is scheduled on a Wednesday, the same day as ChessPalace's Wednesday Knights Monthly rounds. The Vibe starts at 6pm and club players start at 7-7:30pm. The USCL matches are shown on monitors connected to the player's computer for spectators. Last week against the Dallas Destiny, a special visitor, Dallas' top board, but not in the line-up, Alejandro Ramirez was on site along with Moira Kamgar.

Luis Brioso wins October Amateur Open,Craig Hilby takes second

Brioso won a losing endgame to Sam Chou, who finished tied for U1500, after a blunder. The other U1500 winner is Kaitlyn Yang who drew the top two seeds, 1895 and 1737, with a rating of only 1376. Craig Hilby took home the second place prize after winning Saturday's Quad. Visit here for a recap and pictures. Amateur Open in November will be on the 21st. Register Here.

Richard Henri does it again, Neil Bershad and Craig Hilby also win

In this Saturday's Quads, Bershad and Henri scored perfect scores to lead group A and C, respectively. Hilby was held to a draw in the last round by another junior, David Ma, who finished with two points to win second. Another junior, Qinhong Chen won second in the top group as the lowest rated. In group C, Yale Warsaw, Richard Nellum, and Zachary Chandler all tied for second with 1.5-1.5. Click here for pictures.

Show Kitagami wins October Super Blitz

Show Kitagami scores 9-1 to win the October Super Blitz. Eight players participated. Alfred and Igor Kukavica finished 2nd and 3rd. Aldrich Ong took first U1800, and Timothy Chou and Mark Adams tied for second in the U1800. This Friday was also the first day of the Los Angeles Open (John Hillery Memorial). Blitz is held every first, third, and fifth Friday of each month. Super Blitz is held once every two months. December's Super Blitz will determine the club blitz champion.

Vancouvering is perfect in the October Super 2x Quad

The Super 2x Quad awards players based on points, not place finish. Expert Peter Vancouvering completes the event with a perfect 4-0 ousting fellow expert Austin Cambon. Gregory Freeze completed a ChessPalace marathon by playing in ALL seven rated games this week. The mark is held by David Portwood, with 9 rated games!
Check out the recap and photos.

Four tie in Action Quad #1

Six players play in the Action Quad making it Action hexes. Three of the top four seeds, an expert and two class B, and Justin Hsu, rated 989 tied for first. Two major upsets include a 235 and 750 rating difference. Austin Cambon, Gregory Freeze, Ryan Field, and Justin Hsu all finished with 2-1. The next Action Quad will be held Friday, October 23rd.
Click here to register.

Twenty players participated in the October 2nd 6-Pak

Phillips, Ong and Henri won their respective group. Three groups with six, eight, and six players made up the event. Expert Jeff Phillips is the lone perfect score in the event. Aaron Ong and Richard Henri each finished with 2.5-0.5 to win their group. Here's a pictorial report, recap and games, including this week's game of the week.

Mark Adams and Joe Warhula win Handicap Blitz

Adams and Warhula tied for the Handicap Blitz on October 1st with 7/10 each. Six players participated in a double round-robin event. Handicap Blitz give lower rated players a shot against higher rated players. Rating differences of 200-399 give time odds of 5 minutes vs 4 minutes; 400-599, 6 minutes vs 4 minutes; and 600 or more, 7 minutes vs 3 minutes.

FM Joel Banawa is the 20th Anniversary Champion

Banawa scored 4.5-0.5 to take the top spot in this year's anniversary tournament. Three experts followed him, Jeff Phillips, Alex King, and Show Kitagami. Benjamin De Vera won the U1900, Alex Wang won the U1600, and William Yee the U1300. Click here for recaps, results, and photos. `

Chris McKay and Richard Nellum clean up

McKay and Nellum swept Ocho A and Ocho B respectively finishing 3-0. Sixteen players participated. Nellum coasted to victory beating two Class B players before taking down Allan Loera, a newcomer to chess, playing his first tournament, but with a 1682 provisional rating.

Mark Adams and JP Rodriguez wins

Mark Adams won Action Quads #1 with 2.5-0.5 succumbing a draw to young star Joaquin Perkins. Two weeks later JP Rodriguez won Action Quads #2 beating Adams in route to a perfect score. Action Quads are held on the second (Action Quad #1) and fourth (Action Quad #2) Friday of each month.

Four tie in September Amateur Open

David Portwood, Winston Zeng, Aaron Ong, and Alex Wang all finished with 3-1. The first three's loses came from each other and Alex Wang, only an 1100 upset a Class B player. Amateur Open is held once a month on a Sunday.

Diamond shines in the September Octos

Jim Diamond scores a perfect three. Timothy Chou took home second place with 2.5 by avoiding Diamond in the finale after Michael Lane scored and upset draw against him in round 1. Qinhong Chen, David Ma, and Richard Henri each scored 2. Twelve players participated. The Octos is a new event at ChessPalace that offers prizes to four of the eight players in each group.

Mark Jackson and Igor Kukavica

Eight players participated in the Handicap Blitz on September 17. The event was made into a round-robin totalling to 14 games! Jackson and Kukavica each scored 11. Handicap Blitz is on every first, third and fifth Friday of each month.

Five players finish with 3 points

Twenty players competed in the September Super 2x Quad. The tournament was led by expert Alexander King who finished with 3 points along with expert Austin Hughes, Joseph Bellinger, Craig Hilby, and Yale Warsaw. Eight out of 20 of the players were below the age of 12. Here are more details.

LA Vibe beats St. Louis Archbishops

The LA Vibe won their match against St. Louis Archbishops 2.5-1.5 The wins came from Joel Banawa and Ankit Gupta. FM Alexandre Kretchetov drew against GM Ben Finegold. Team Captain GM Melik Khachiyan lost, but played a sharp game against GM Yury Shulman. Catch team news of the LA Vibe here