(CROSSVILLE, TN)Captained by Gil Luna, the Excalibur Electronics team won the 2006 US Amateur Team South Championship convincingly with a 5-0 record. The team had been disappointed in 2005 by losing out on tiebreaks when five teams had finished tied at 4-1 and brought in a new star, 16-year old Javier Gonzalez to play 3rd board. This seemed to do the trick, as thanks to Gonzalez (4½-½) and GM Julio Becerra (5-0), the team won every match. Their full lineup was: GM Julio Becerra (2624), Charles Galofre (2111), Javier Gonzalez (2027), and Gil Luna(1961) giving the team a 2181 rating.

Finishing 2nd (on tiebreaks) was Masters and Masters (2197) [ Daniel Ludwig (2312), John Nardandrea (2211), Larry Storch (2204), and David Masters ]. Third was Goldilocks and the Four Bears (2177) [ Wilmer Chavira (2222), Corey Acor (2216), Peter Dyson (2196), Steve Chakis (2073), and Chuck "Goldilocks" Hall (2033) ]. Both teams finished with 4-1 records losing only to Excalibur. Of note is that the 2nd boards of both these teams finished at 5-0 the only perfect scorers besides Becerra.

Under 2000 was taken by Brian Goldstein's team on tiebreaks over three other teams. Clermonts' Hopkins Hopping Knights and Chess Pains? Call 1-800-ASK-GARRY won the Under 1800 and Under 1600 prizes respectively tied at 2½-2½.The computer had to go to the 3rd tiebreak to determine that the Under 1400 prize was won by Mating Masters.

Board Prizes: 1. Becerra, 2. Nardandrea (on tiebreaks), 3. Gonzalez, 4.Timothy Woodard (on tiebreaks).

The closest and hardest contest was for the "Best Name" Award as several teams presented creative names. It was narrowed down to two names, and after many agonizing hours, the mental coin flip went to "Philidor's 5th Grade Symphony" over "Cheney-Winchester Attack, Closed Variation with ... 0-0".

In the Scholastics Team event Morphy's Law (1148) also swept the field finishing 5-0, but they also won all four board prizes : 1. Jeffrey Aye (1373), 2. Michael Fang (1308), 3.Patrick Ledzian (1015) (on tiebreaks), 4. Chase Jaycox (896)

Bainshanski's Boys (Harrison Leven, Corey Smith, Brandon Trueba, and Quincy Sklar) was second. Terminators (Tommy Mirchandani, Benchamin Chin, Christopher Gomez, Tyler Rhodes, and Steven Rogers) was third.

IQ Zone "A" (Manuel De Freitas, Alex Paez, Miguelangel Hernandez, and Alejandro Rodriguez) was top Under 1000, while St. Barnabas #1 (Cameron Tucker, Nacho Fernandez, Caeland Hickman, and Laura Schwanebeck) became top Under 800.

The Checkmare Experience won the Scholastic "Best Name" Award.

(This press release was submitted by Harvey Lerman.) The event was held Feb. 17-19 at the Travelodge Hotel in Orlando, FL.

Details for an online playoff between the winners of Amateur Team East, Midwest, South and West will be announced soon.

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The United States Chess Federation (USCF), founded in 1939, serves as the governing body for chess in the United States and is now headquartered in Crossville, Tennessee. USCF is devoted to extending the role of chess in American society. It promotes the study and knowledge of the game of chess, for its own sake as an art and enjoyment, and as a means for the improvement of society. The USCF is a not-for-profit membership organization nearing 90,000 members. For additional information on the USCF see: http://www.uschess.org.