Four-Way Tie at Century West Open
By Ankit Gupta   
January 22, 2013
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Tatev Abrahamyan at the 2012 Olympiad, Photo Tony Rich for CCSCSL
IM Dionisio Aldama, IM Zhanibek Amanov, IM Andranik Matikozyan, and WGM Tatev Abrahamyan took top honors at the recently concluded Century West Open with final scores of 4-1.
 
Amanov, Matikozyan and Abrahamyan had 3.5-0.5 going into the final round which ultimately ended with indecisive games for them. However, Aldama, who had 3-1 going into the final round, had to win to catch the tournament leaders, as did his opponent SM John Daniel Bryant. Aldama was finally able to end the marathon game in his favor. After the recorded 111 move, Black got the Bishop to d5 with check, traded Queens at e7, and captured the pawn at f7.

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NM Jeremy Stein took U2200 honors, while Annie Wang won the U2000 section with a clear 5-0, the only perfect score of the tournament, en route to posting a rating gain of ~60. Chris Stychinsky, Gabriel Sam, and Alex Costello, in a three-way tie, took top honors in the U1800, while Peter Selvin took clear first in the U1600. 
 
The tournament was run by Metropolitan Chess, Inc. on behalf of the Southern California Chess Federation -- the first of several tournaments in the vicinity to be run by the organization.