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GMs So & Shulman Join Field at Northern California International |
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By Arun Sharma
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December 8, 2011 |
GM Yury Shulman, Photo Betsy Dynako
The Northern
California International is shaping up to be one of the strongest tournaments
recently held in the US. The field will include ten GMs, three of whom are
rated at least 2650, along with eighteen IMs, so the competition should be
extremely fierce.
The event should also be somewhat unique for having a much larger overall
percentage of high rated players than the vast majority of US events. With
about half the field rated at least 2350 FIDE, heavyweight clashes should start
early on. This will also ensure the event has a much higher
average rating than most tournaments which should make norm opportunities
plentiful for those pursuing them, and with the event now also having twenty
one players of non-US Federation, it has reached the "Super Swiss" status.
This will completely relieve the usual
requirement that so often plagues players in US events of needing to play at
least four foreigners in nine rounds to be eligible for a norm.
There is still time to sign up if you would like to take part in the
event. Anyone interested should contact
organizers Arun Sharma and Ted Castro. Spending New Year's in the San Francisco area should also make
for a great experience along with the tournament. But we are less than a one month away so plan soon if you would
like to play.
Player
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November FIDE Rating
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Federation
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1.
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GM Georg Meier
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2659
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GER
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2.
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GM Wesley So
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2659
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PHI
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3.
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GM Sergey
Tiviakov
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2650
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NED
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4.
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GM Yury
Shulman
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2598
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USA
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5.
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GM Sam
Shankland
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2560
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USA
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6.
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GM Axel
Bachmann
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2551
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PAR
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7.
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GM Giorgi
Margvelashvili
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2531
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GEO
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8.
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GM Josh
Friedel
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2523
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USA
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9.
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IM Marc Arnold
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2504
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USA
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10.
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GM Darwin
Laylo
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2502
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PHI
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11.
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GM Denes Boros
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2482
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HUN
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12.
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IM Bryan Smith
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2460
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USA
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13.
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IM Greg
Shahade
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2459
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USA
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14.
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IM Adam Hunt
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2458
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ENG
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15.
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IM Mackenzie
Molner
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2455
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USA
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16.
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IM Marc
Esserman
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2450
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USA
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17.
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IM Darwin Yang
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2442
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USA
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18.
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IM John
Bartholomew
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2437
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USA
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19.
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IM Sam Collins
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2426
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IRL
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20.
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IM Sasha
Kaplan
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2419
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ISR
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21.
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IM Daniel
Rensch
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2416
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USA
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22.
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IM Zhanibek
Amanov
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2411
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KAZ
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23.
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IM Larry
Remlinger
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2409
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USA
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24.
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FM Farai
Mandizha
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2404
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ZIM
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25.
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IM Max Cornejo
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2399
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PER
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26.
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IM David
Pruess
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2395
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USA
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27.
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IM Angelo
Young
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2350
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PHI
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28.
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NM Tigran
Ishkhanov
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2350
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USA
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29.
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FM Eric
Rodriguez
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2344
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USA
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30.
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SM Faik
Aleskerov
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2339
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AZE
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31.
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FM Teddy
Coleman
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2310
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USA
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32.
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IM Leon
Piasetski
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2305
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CAN
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33.
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FM Konstantin
Kavutskiy
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2303
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USA
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34.
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FM Shivkumar
Shivaji
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2295
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USA
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35.
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NM Yian Liou
|
2283
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USA
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36.
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FM Kayden
Troff
|
2279
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USA
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37.
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FM Erik
Santarius
|
2276
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USA
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38.
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FM Alex
Betaneli
|
2266
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USA
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39.
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WGM Tatev
Abrahamyan
|
2264
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USA
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40.
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FM Bela Evans
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2262
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USA
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41.
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IM Ray Kaufman
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2261
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USA
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42.
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FM Michael
Kleinman
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2256
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CAN
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43.
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FM Richard
Lobo
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2251
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ENG
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44.
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NM Damir
Studen
|
2248
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USA
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45.
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FM Andy Lee
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2244
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USA
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46.
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WIM Viktorija
Ni
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2225
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LAT
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47.
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FM Dale
Haessel
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2211
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CAN
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48.
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NM Adarsh
Jayakumar
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2197
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USA
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49.
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NM Hayk
Manvelyan
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2183
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USA
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50.
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NM Daniel
Gurevich
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2180
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USA
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51.
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NM Ben
Gershenov
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2173
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USA
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52.
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WFM Uyanga
Byambaa
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2118
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MGL
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53.
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FM Jeffrey
Xiong
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2056
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USA
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54.
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Daniel Liu
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2049
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USA
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55.
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Steven
Gaffagan
|
2047
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USA
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56.
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Udit Iyengar
|
1995
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USA
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