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.
Congratulations to reigning state champion Michael Omori who once again won the Hawaii Phoenix open tournament with 4.5 out of 5. Congratulations also to Nicholas Muschek for a very strong second place finish at 4/5. Tied for the under-1500 prize at 3/5 were Alex Opiniano, John Chen and Thomas Christian Anthony.
Hawaii Phoenix #8 Final Standings
Michael Omori and Paul Iinuma meet yet again, on first board in the last round. NM Iinuma was the only player Omori couldn’t defeat on his way to win the tournament.
Congratulations to Cornelius Rubsamen who will represent Hawaii in the Irwin Tournament of State Senior Champions in August. He and Damian Nash are the 2022 State Senior Champions after drawing in the last round.
Congratulations to Irene Zhong who will represent Hawaii at the 2022 Haring Tournament of State Girls Champions.
I watched some great games, and saw our young players get stronger with every game they played. There were some players who had discouraging results, but I heard from their parents they are motivated to play again because the fun outweighed the disappointment.
Hawaii Phoenix #7 Open Chess Tournament:
Pairings and Results USCF Rating Report
The HCF April Scholastic Chess Tournament:
Pairings and Results USCF Rating Report
Results of The 2022 Guy Ontai State Scholastic Chess Championships
Official USCF Rating Report (The K-2 section was not rated by USCF.)
Congratulations to the Hawaii Homeschool team that swept the first-place team trophies in all divisions!*