Kudrin wins Senior; Michaelides wins Junior
By Franc Guadalupe   
July 27, 2011
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GM Sergey Kudrin, Photo Jennifer Shahade 2006
The 2011 U.S. Senior Open ended as expected, with top seed Sergey Kudrin at the top of the leader board, among the 74 participants, with 5.5 points in six games.  The last round draw with second seeded IM Joseph Bradford clinched clear first for the Grandmaster who, for his efforts, won the $1,250 first place prize.  The World Senior Championship spot was won by local master Larry Englebretson who finished in a three-way tie for second place, half-a-point behind Kudrin, with Yefin Treger and Thomas Braunlich.  Since Larry was the only one among the three players who is over age 60, he earns the prestigious spot.  Larry, Yefin, and Tom won $600 each.  For final standings, including prizes, please go to Cajun Chess.  For rated results please go to the USCF MSA.

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Matthew250.jpgThe road to the U21 Championship of the U.S. Junior Open was full of excitement.  Andrew Ng, 2257, beat top seed Warren Harper, 2412, in the fourth round.  Local expert Matthew Michaelides, 2182, then went on to defeat Ng in the fifth round to get into the mix.  The last round pairings of Harper-Michaelides, Ng - Bob Shao, and Jarod Pamatmat - Dipro Chakraborty resulted in three draws giving the 18-year old Michaelides clear first, a $500 check, Champion's Plaque, and a spot at the 2012 U.S. Junior Closed!  And, the icing on the cake for Matthew was that his outstanding performance earned him 33 rating points which made him a National Master.

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A near-record attendance of 237 players competed in the U.S. Junior Open.  In the U15 Division, four players, Steven Chen, Andy Shao, Andrew Jacob, and Annie Zhao, tied for the Championship, all with five points in six games.  Chen won first place on tie-breaks.  The U11 produced a clear Champion, Tianming Xie, 5.5 points, who finished half-a-point ahead of four other players - Jeffrey Tao, Dex Webster, Anthony Nguyen, and Sudarshana Jagadeeshi.  In the U8 Division, Jason Metpally and Tristan Ma tied for the Championship with 5.5 points. See full results of the Junior Open on cajunchess and USCF rated results on MSA.

Besides these two National events, the Chess Festival had the Not-a-Senior-Not-a-Junior Open which was open to all but was mainly scheduled to accommodate players who were not eligible for the other two events.  This event drew 58 players, for a combined attendance at the Festival of 369 players.  The Open Section was won by Saurabh Deshpande.  Julian Hernandez and Luis Gonzalez tied for first in the U2000 while Hongbiao Zeng was the clear winner in the U1600.  For rated results of this event, please see the USCF MSA.

Look for more details and games at a future issue of Chess Life Magazine.