1996 Texas Scholastic Championship, March 16-17, Houston
High School: Steven Grubbs (on tiebreaks over John Hendrick)
Middle School: David John
Elementary School: Vincent Pai
Over 700 players attended the first Texas Scholastic Championship, held
March
16-17 at the Houston Marriott Westside. Organizer Jim Liptrap of the Klein
Chess Club said the rated games totaled 2,750!
Steven Grubbs of Garland won the High School championship on tiebreaks
over
John Hendrick of New Braunfels; both scored 6.5 points in the seven round
event. Grubbs, who has won back-to-back $1,000 first U2000 prizes in the
Pinfork tournaments, qualifies to play in the Arnold Denker Tournament
of
High School Champions this August in Alexandria, Virginia. By way of
consolation, Hendrick won a brilliancy trophy for his fifth round win over
Steven Kattner.
Houston players won in the lower sections: David John with 7.5-.5 in Middle
School, and Vincent Pai with 8-0 in Elementary. Brownsville's Russell
Elementary won its fourth consecutive team title, and coach J.J. Guajardo
deserves a large share of the credit. A throng of well-wishers with cameras
somehow failed to produce a good picture for this magazine.
The first Texas Junior Bughouse Championship was held Friday and Saturday
evenings. The upset winners were Enrique Rios and Jack Campbell, whose
team
name Necios translates as "Fools". Although in mid-dle school,
the two San
Antonians finished first ahead of John Hendrick and Steve Heppler (Pawn
Fiction). The first place Middle School trophy went to Andres Suarez and
Patrick Archer. Michael Simpson directed.
Another first this year was the Primary tournament for grades K-2, which
was
held between rounds of the regular Elementary tournament. Benjamin Jaiyen
of
the Village School in Houston won with 5-0, ahead of Daniel Weatherall
and
Danny Huerta who tied at 4-1. Russell Smith directed a field of 26 players.
Three Texas champions were on hand in the skittles room to analyze games
with
youngsters: Joe Bradford, Miles Ardaman and Selby Anderson. That is, when
the
masters weren't locked in mortal blitz combat!
For the Saturday evening simul, Bradford and Ardaman divided the field
and
(mostly) conquered. Bradford lost one game, but we don't have the name
or
game score of the winner. Someone also drew Ardaman.
The chief TD was Gary Gaiffe, closely assisted by organizer Jim Liptrap.
Computer pairings were run by George John (father of the middle school
champion), assisted by Celia Von Mering. The sectional directors were Brad
Bradford for High School, Forrest Marler for Middle School, and Luis Salinas
for Elementary.
The phenomenal growth of junior chess in Texas has raised the possibility
that this event will have to be split up into smaller tournaments. A motion
to allow this was voted down at the TCA business meeting.
A small army of floor TD's kept results flowing to command central: Frank
Adams, Selby Anderson, Jenny Arriola, Chad Bruns, Chris Coker, Rolando
David,
Steve Hobart, Drew Sarkisian, Michael Simpson, Russell Smith, Rick Swanson
and Larry White. The publicity director was Lilibeth Andre.
A thoughtful touch was the tournament program each player received, which
included a schedule, maps of the hotel and surrounding area, and scoresheets.
High School
(190 players, 7 rounds)
1 Steven Grubbs 6.5, Garland Christian, Garland
2 John Hendrick 6.5, Canyon, New Braunfels
3 Suzanne Rivoire 6.0, Klein, Klein
4 Glen Boudreaux 6.0, MacArthur, Houston
5 Paul Carrizales 6.0, MacArthur, Houston
6 Steve Hoberman 6.0, L.B. Johnson, Austin
Tied for 7th-12th with 5.5 points (in tiebreak order): Alex Salas, Andy
Zamora, Roy Gonzalez, Jaime Mora, Chris Reynolds, Steve Heppler.
Out of 24 high school teams with at least three players, these finished
in
the top quarter. Out of a possible 28 points:
1 MacArthur, Houston 22.0 pts.
2 Northside, Fort Worth 21.5
3 Klein, Klein 20.0
4 Glen Rose, Glen Rose 20.0
5 Bellaire, Houston 18.5
6 R.L. Turner, Carrollton 18.5
MacArthur High School team: Paul Carrizales, Abraham Kahlil, George Rader,
Glen Boudreaux.
Middle School
(263 players, 8 rounds)
1 David John 7.5 Lanier, Houston
2 Tyler Herschap 7.0 Hyde Park Baptist, Austin
3 Miguel Guajardo 7.0 Central, Brownsville
4 Phong Truong 7.0 Hartman, Houston
5 Andres Suarez 7.0 Stack Intermed., Kelin
6 Justin Shih 7.0 Space Center, Houston
Tied for 7th-13th with 6.5 points: Matt Bradford, Zachary Rodriguez, Jose
Guajardo, Ali Morshedi, Nathaniel Ngo, Jonathan Walsh, Ira Schachar.
There were 26 middle school teams with at least three players. Out of a
possible 32 points:
1 Lanier Houston 26.0
2 St. Mark's Dallas 25.5
3 Central Brownsville 23.0
4 Albright Houston 23.0
5 Space Center Houston 22.5
Lanier Middle School team: Tim Li, Ben Lehrer, David John, Zachary
Rodriguez.
Elementary
(251 players, 8 rounds)
1 Vincent Pai 8.0 Fleming, Houston
2 John Sneed 7.0 Peace Academy, Fort Worth
3 Joseph Molina 7.0 Russell, Brownsville
4 Devin Brockwell 7.0 Ehrhardt, Klein
5 Boran Butorovic 7.0 Sutton, Houston
6 Ian Stephens 7.0 W-J Math-Science, Wichita Falls
Tied for 7th-10th with 6.5 points: Chris Hobart, Jason Kindred, Johnny
Urbano, Daniel Flores.
There were 21 elementary teams with at least three players. Out of a possible
32 points:
1 Russell, Brownsville 24.5
2 Ridglea Hills, Fort Worth 23.5
3 Washington-Jackson, Wichita Falls 23.0
4 Huntsville, Huntsville 22.5
5 Peace Academy, Forth Worth 21.5