The WCF-sanctioned WA State Blitz Championships (5 minutes per side for the whole game!) was held on July 21, 2007. Thanks to the efforts of Dan Matthews and Eddie Chang, the site was secured for this event at one of the most popular places to place chess in Bellevue...Crossroads Mall in Bellevue where there is a 'giant' wooden chess set in the mall and chessplayers playing at all hours when the mall is open! The tournament was planned to have mostly pre-registration, and with just 35 players pre-registered on Friday, we decided to combine both the scholastic and open categories into one section; however, by noon on Saturday, there were 66 players present! The mall scrambled to provide a few extra tables, and the first round started shortly after 12:30pm. The format was a 7 round Swiss with each player playing two games with every opponent, one white and one black. The field was very competitive, with the WA State Champion Ignacio Peres there, trying to add the title of WA State Blitz Champion to his strong performances this year... Other strong players included FM John Readey, NM Nat Koons, FM David Roper, Ricky Selzler, Josh Sinanan (rated over 2700 on the Internet Chess Club!), Bruce Kovalsky, etc, etc...there was even a contingency from Bellingham that came in for the challenge!
When 4pm rolled around and scores were tallied - the surprise winner - Ricky Selzler, earning both the WA State Junior Blitz Champion (under age 21) and the WA State Blitz Champion titles with a VERY impressive score of 12.5/14, 3 points ahead of 2nd place! There was some very exciting chess played that afternoon - players enjoyed the opportunity to stroll down to the food court when hungry - and quite a number of scholastic players had a good time, some for the first time competing in a Blitz tournament!
2nd-4th was shared by Josh Sinanan, Ignacio Peres, and Denis Janky with 9.5/14. In the scholastic section, Bob Alger, 12th grade, proved that his nerves were stronger than the rest by his strong finish of 11.5/14, closely followed by Jaan Budzianowski with 10.5/14 and Darren Hou with 10/14...tied for 4th were Daniel Hua and Wesley Yu with 9.5 each. Special congratulations to kindergartner Benjamin Yee for scoring 6.0/14!!
With cash prizes in the open category, trophies in the scholastic category, and $100 in gift certificates donated by Uncle's Games, this was a very enjoyable event. Thanks to the players' assistance in following the requirements of the facility, keeping the tablecloths neat, keeping the fire lanes clear, etc, Crossroads Mall would like to invite the Blitz Championships back for next year if possible! A very big thank-you to Michael Cohn for managing much of the registration and pairings while I was busy competing. Chess4Life was pleased to be able to help promote chess by hosting this event, providing online registration and tournament management.
Sincerely,
NM Elliott Neff
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