Chess Palace

So Cal States Candidates
June 19th-20th

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For two grueling days, the second best group in Southern California totaling 23 players competed for four seats to receive a chance to play in the finals against the top rated players in the state. Qualification of players were earned throughout the year as masters topped regional events such as Los Angeles Open, So Cal Junior Qualifier, American Open, and tournaments of the same caliber participated in a zero entry fee and zero prize award tournament. For the pure love of the game and maybe some bragging rights, eight experts, ten masters, and an international master played in a traditional 40/2 SD/1 tournament in a four round tournament. Their choice of venue is none other than the Southern California’s Premier Chess Club, the Chess Palace. At the start of the tournament, an initiation by Chris Roberts was made for a dedicated moment of silence in the honor of the sudden passing of Chess Master Jimmy Quan. In the end ANKIT GUPTA, FM MICHAEL CASELLA, KONSTANTIN KAVUTSKIY, IM TIMOTHY W TAYLOR. Players worthy of commendation but lost out on tie-breaks are Vadim Kudryatsev, Tianyi He, and Cheston Gunawan. The State Championship is usually scheduled mid August. Good luck to the finalists. Thanks Randy Hough for directing, John Hillery for technical support, and Doreen Tanaka and Sue Gunawan for the moral support. –Anthony Ong