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2019 Washington State Championship Tournaments

Rescheduled due to weather conditions in Seattle. Here is the new schedule:
Feb. 16 Round 1 - 10 AM, Round 2 - 5 PM
Feb. 17 Round 3 - 10 AM, Round 4 - 5 PM
Feb. 18 (President's Day) Round 5 - 5 PM
Feb. 23 Round 6 - 10 AM, Round 7 - 5 PM
Feb. 24 Round 8 - 10 AM, Round 9 - 5 PM

The 2019 Washington State Championship / Premier / Invitational / Challengers chess tournaments were conducted as round-robins the weekends of February 16-18 and 23-24, 2019 (revised) in Redmond as detailed below. Rounds began at 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM on the weekends, and at 5:00 PM on President's Day, Monday, February 18.

Four Sections! Format: Four invitation-only 10-player Round Robins by rating: Championship, Premier, Invitational, and Challengers. The field of each section was determined by seeding and by the highest rated players to respond to an invitation based on the January 2019 U.S. Chess rating list. All sections are dual U.S. Chess and FIDE rated. Fred Kleist was the TD for all four sections.

Available after event:
PGN file of games (Includes all sections and rounds) | US Chess crosstables link.

Photos from the event can be found on the WCF Facebook page.

Time control: 40/2, SD/30; d10.

Entry Fee: Championship/Premier: Free, Invitational: $75, Challengers: $50.

Schedule: Rounds 1-8: Feb. 9, 10, 16, 17 at 10 AM and 5 PM. Round 9: Feb. 18 (President's Day) at 5 PM.

Site: Microsoft Building 99 rooms 1915 and 1919: 14820 NE 36th St., Redmond, WA 98052. Note: registration and badging were required to access Microsoft building for this event.

Prize Fund: The initial prize fund for each section is guaranteed by the WCF, and may be increased based on donations. Championship: $1,500, Premier: $1,000, Invitational: $750, Challengers: $500. Prize distribution (each section): 1st 45%, 2nd 25%, 3rd 15%, 4th 10%, 5th 5%. Brilliancy Prizes: $400 ($100 for best game in each section). The winner of the Championship section receives the title of Washington State Champion. Plaques awarded to the winners of each section.

Drawing of lots: Feb. 2 at 9 p.m. at the Rose Hill Starbucks in Kirkland. Attendance was optional, though encouraged.

Byes: Since this is a prestigious round robin, there were no half-points byes or rescheduling of games allowed in any of the sections. All games must be played on site under TD supervision at the scheduled round times.

Seeds: (note not all accept invitation; see below for actual player fields for each event)

Championship: FM Roland Feng (State Champion), IM Georgi Orlov (Open Champion), FM Tian Sang (Championship Runner-up), LM Viktors Pupols (Challenger's Cup Champion), Brendan Zhang (Premier Champion), Joseph Truelson (Junior Closed Champion).

Premier: WIM Naomi Bashkansky (Premier Runner-up), Joseph Frantz (Invitational Champion), Zachary Zhang (President's Cup Champion), Harrison Toppen-Ryan (Junior Open Champion), WIM Minda Chen (Women’s Champion).

Invitational: Wenyang Du (Invitational Runner-up), Nicholas Whale (Challengers Champion).

Challengers: WFM Anne-Marie Velea (Challengers Runner-up), TBD (WCF Nominee).

Registration: Invited players were requested to register online via online registration, or reply to the email they received. The deadline to reply was Friday, Feb. 1.

Tournament Flyer: http://nwchess.com/calendar/WA%20State%20Championship%202019.pdf.

Questions? Josh Sinanan, WCF President, (206) 769-3757, joshsinanan@gmail.com.

Brilliancy prizes - See the 2019 WA State Championship Brilliancy Prizes report (PDF file) available after the event.

Schedule and Other Information

Schedule/Location: See above.

Requests/Updates: (subject to change for 2019)

  • Please arrive at Microsoft on Saturday morning by 9:45 a.m. for a mandatory players meeting in which Fred will remind us of the FIDE rules. All players must be present by 10:00 a.m. or may risk forfeiting round 1 and being withdrawn from the tournament.
  • Boards, sets, scoresheets, and digital clocks will be provided. Please bring an extra set/clock for skittles and game analysis.
  • We kindly ask that each player send a brief chess bio with picture for publication in Northwest Chess magazine. Only players who submit a bio and annotated game upon completion of the tournament will be eligible to win prize money. Please send the bio to Josh Sinanan or Jeff Roland (jroland@cableone.net) by 2/10. Annotated games should be submitted no later than 3/4.
  • The group photos for all sections will be taken on Sunday 2/17 at 4:45 p.m. prior to round 8. Please remember to dress nicely!

Pairings:

Pairings were released after the drawing of lots.

Here is the pairings schedule for the rounds in each section. This is from the Berger tables.
See the crosstables below for the players corresponding to each pairing number.
Rd 1 - 1:10 2:9 3:8 4:7 5:6
Rd 2 - 10:6 7:5 8:4 9:3 1:2
Rd 3 - 2:10 3:1 4:9 5:8 6:7
Rd 4 - 10:7 8:6 9:5 1:4 2:3
Rd 5 - 3:10 4:2 5:1 6:9 7:8
Rd 6 - 10:8 9:7 1:6 2:5 3:4
Rd 7 - 4:10 5:3 6:2 7:1 8:9
Rd 8 - 10:9 1:8 2:7 3:6 4:5
Rd 9 - 5:10 6:4 7:3 8:2 9:1

Championship

Congratulations to Washington State chess co-champions, FM Roland Feng, FM Anthony He and IM Michael Lee!

The Championship is registered and FIDE rated. Titles: IM = International Master, FM = FIDE Master, NM = US Chess National Master. Latest pre-tournament US Chess ratings shown below.

The winner of the Championship section receives the title of Washington State Champion.

  Name/Title City (WA) Rtg 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Pos
1 FM William Schill Seattle 2268 x 0.5 1 0.5   0.5 0.5 1 0.5 0.5 5.0 4th
2 FM Roland Feng Seattle 2456 0.5 x 0.5 0.5   1 1 1 0.5 0.5 5.5 1st
3 Brendan Zhang Sammamish 2140 0 0.5 x 0.5   0.5 0 0.5 0 0.5 2.5  
4 IM Bryce Tiglon Redmond 2447 0.5 0.5 0.5 x   0.5 0.5 0 1 0.5 4.0 5th
5 (disqualified)             x              
6 NM Alikhan Irgaliyev Seattle 2265 0.5 0 0.5 0.5   x 0.5 0 0 0 2.0  
7 FM Tian Sang Bellevue 2398 0.5 0 1 0.5   0.5 x 1 0 0 3.5  
8 NM Viktors Pupols Kingston 2200 0 0 0.5 1   1 0 x 0 0 2.5  
9 FM Anthony He Sammamish 2375 0.5 0.5 1 0   1 1 1 x 0.5 5.5 1st
10 IM Michael Lee Bellevue 2502 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5   1 1 1 0.5 x 5.5 1st

Average rating: 2320
Prize Fund: $1,500. (1st-3rd $425 each, 4th $150, 5th $75)

Premier

Congratulations to Premier co-champions, NM Stan Kitsis and NM Kyle Haining!

The Premier is registered and FIDE rated.
Titles: FM = FIDE Master, NM = US Chess National Master, WCM = Woman Candidate Master. Latest pre-tournament US Chess ratings shown below.

The winner of the Premier section qualifies for the next state championship tournament.

  Name/Title City (WA) Rtg 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Pos
1 WCM Minda Chen Seattle 1975 x 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 3.0  
2 NM Marko Perestjuk Seattle 2230 1 x 0.5 0 0 1 1 1 0.5 0.5 5.5 4th
3 NM Stan Kitsis Seattle 2154 1 0.5 x 0 1 1 1 1 0.5 1 7.0 1st
4 NM Kyle Haining Lake Forest Park 2258 0 1 1 x 0.5 0.5 1 1 1 1 7.0 1st
5 NM David Levine Seattle 2200 1 1 0 0.5 x 1 0 0 1 1 5.5 4th
6 Joseph Frantz Seattle 2020 1 0 0 0.5 0 x 0 1 0 1 3.5  
7 FM Ignacio Perez Seattle 2206 1 0 0 0 1 1 x 1 1 1 6.0 3rd
8 Harrison Toppen-Ryan Kirkland 1762 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 x 0 1 2.0  
9 NM Joseph Levine Clyde Hill 2193 1 0.5 0.5 0 0 1 0 1 x 1 5.0  
10 Dan Abramson Sammamish 2151 0 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 0.5  

Average rating: 2115
Prize Fund: $1,000. (1st-2nd $350 each, 3rd $150, 4th-5th $75 each)

Invitational

Congratulations to Invitational champion, Wenyang Du, who was also the lowest rated in the section going into the tournament!

The Invitational is registered and FIDE rated.
Titles: WFM = Woman FIDE Master. Latest pre-tournament US Chess ratings shown below.

The winner of the Invitational section qualifies for the next state premier tournament.

  Name City (WA) Rtg 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Pos
1 Daniel Shubin Redmond 2012 x 1 1 0.5 1 0.5   1 0 1 6.0 2nd
2 Nicholas Whale Mountlake Terrace 1931 0 x 1 0.5 0.5 0   1 0 0.5 3.5  
3 Aaryan Deshpande Sammamish 2101 0 0 x 0 0.5 0.5   0 0 0 1.0  
4 Yevgeniy Rozenfeld Redmond 2053 0.5 0.5 1 x 1 1   0 0 0 4.0 5th
5 David Arganian Seattle 2016 0 0.5 0.5 0 x 0   0 0 0 1.0  
6 WFM Anne-Marie Velea Sammamish 2052 0.5 1 0.5 0 1 x   0.5 0.5 1 5.0 3rd
7 (disqualified)                 x          
8 Peter Watts Seattle 2016 0 0 1 1 1 0.5   x 0 0 3.5  
9 Wenyang Du Bellevue 1917 1 1 1 1 1 0.5   1 x 1 7.5 1st
10 WFM Chouchan Airapetian Mercer Island 2025 0 0.5 1 1 1 0   1 0 x 4.5 4th

Average rating: 2012
Prize Fund: $750. (1st $337.50, 2nd $187.50, 3rd $112.50, 4th $75, 5th $37.50)

Challengers

Congratulations to Challengers champion, Brandon Jiang!

The Challengers is registered and FIDE rated.
Titles: WCM = Woman Candidate FIDE Master. Latest pre-tournament US Chess ratings shown below.

  Name/Title City (WA) Rtg 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Pos
1 Brandon Jiang Bellevue 1952 x   0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 6.0 1st
2 (withdrew)       x                    
3 Brent Baxter Olympia 1927 1   x 0.5 0.5 0 1 0 0.5 1 4.5 4th
4 WCM Sophie Velea Sammamish 1824 0   0.5 x 1 1 0 1 1 0.5 5.0 3rd
5 Alex Kaelin Mercer Island 1804 0   0.5 0 x 0 1 0 0 0 1.5  
6 Damarcus Thomas Bothell 1956 0   1 0 1 x 0.5 0 0.5 1 4.0 5th
7 Stephanie Velea Sammamish 1710 0   0 1 0 0.5 x 0 1 1 3.5  
8 Jeffrey Yan Sammamish 1923 1   1 0 1 1 1 x 0.5 0 5.5 2nd
9 Dan Mathews Edmonds 1708 0   0.5 0 1 0.5 0 0.5 x 0 2.5  
10 WCM Mary Kuhner Seattle 1933 0   0 0.5 1 0 0 1 1 x 3.5  

Average rating: 1863
Prize Fund: $500. (1st $225, 2nd $125, 3rd $75, 4th $50, 5th $25)

Alternates: none.

Organizers: Josh Sinanan (WCF President). Thank you for your service to chess in Washington State.

Look for a full report in the April issue of NORTHWEST CHESS, which should be in subscriber's hands by early April. For subscription information, please see our magazine info page.

Other recent WA chess championships:
2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004.

Previous WA chess championships: List of winners (includes links to event summary pages).