Hawaii Chess Federation
a 501(C)3 Non-Profit
2022-2023 Scholastic Chess Calendar
Results of the Hawaii Phoenix Tournament #9
Thirty-eight players participated in the ninth Hawaii Phoenix tournament on September 3rd at the Entrepreneur’s Sandbox. NM Paul Iinuma started on board one and remained there throughout the tournament. He won 5-0.
The big surprise of the tournament was Koapaka Satterfield, rated 453, who finished in second place with 4.5 out of 5. That is partly due to “accelerated pairings” used by the director, to provide closer games for unrated and lower-rated players, and partly because of his great play. He gained almost 350 rating points in one tournament, finishing over 800.
There was a big tie for third place at 4-1. David Thaxton and newcomer Manuel Roy Leal lost only to Iinuma. Kyle and Kevin Ching both had great tournaments, picking up 106 and 180 rating points respectively. Their older brother Tyler Ching, while “only” at 3-2, went up 185 points in one tournament.
Results of the Kauai Island Tournament #12
NM Peter Dyson, who has run the Space Coast Open chess tournament series in Florida for 30 years, took home the $100 cash prize and the gold medal in the Advanced Quick section. In the double round-robin, he won three games and drew three. Nicholas Muschek finished second at 3-3 in this very tough double round-robin. Pictured below are Chad Badgett, Damian Nash, Dyson and Muschek.
Jim Serles of Kauai took the $100 cash prize and the gold medal in the Dual-rated section with 4 wins and 2 draws. One of those draws was with young Rohan Sudagar of Oahu, rated over 800 points lower! Rohan picked up 88 rating points in the section. Christopher Bueno of Oahu finished second with 4.5/5.
In the Intermediate Quick section, Charles Simpson of Oahu went up 135 points by finishing in first place with 4 out of 6 points, and taking home $50 and the gold medal. In the Beginner Quick section Kieran Alston of Kauai swept the field with 4 wins and zero losses, to earn the gold medal and $50.
In the Blitz Arena tournament, event organizer Damian Nash went 5-0, but didn’t claim any cash prizes because he forgot to collect entry fees for the Blitz. He got lucky against the surprise of the tournament, Jay Hammond of Kauai, who forced the win of an exchange out of the opening, but later yielded to a bishop and queen attack on his king in the endgame. Jay drew with Nick Muschek who has recently become one of Oahu’s strongest players.
Once again, Ed Hayes did a great job as the tournament director. All the players, and especially the prizewinners, wish to thank Tom Tanimoto who generously sponsored this little tournament.
Gabriel White is Hawaii’s Newest Candidate Master!
Results of Kauai Island Chess Tournament #11
Ed Hayes did a great job directing the 11th Kauai Island Chess Tournament in Lihue, which was small but very tough.
In the top section Kauai’s Chad Badgett tied with Oahu’s Nicholas Muschek for first with 5 out of 7. Tom Tanimoto from Oahu returned to tournament chess after a 30-year absence to finish at 4/7. He tied with Jim Serles of Kauai who also recently returned to chess after an even longer absence.
Nova Halavins came from Maui to play his first USCF-rated tournament and finished with 3 points after defeating top-ranked Damian Nash, the tournament organizer, in the final round. Nash had his revenge in the Blitz tournament which he won 6-0. Nova took clear second with 5-1.
Kauai’s rising young star Ethan Pinnock schooled 3 adult players in the intermediate section, finishing with 5/6 in the double round-robin.
The next Kauai tournament is Saturday, August 27th. It will be different because players will have a choice of writing down moves (dual-rated section, 20/10 time control) or not writing down moves (quick-rated section, 20/9). Thanks to a generous donation from Tom Tanimoto, each section will have a $100 guaranteed first prize, which could grow larger with more entries. There will also be a non-rated beginner section with a $50 guaranteed first place.