Results of the Memorial Day Chess Events
Aloha chess friends.
98 people had fun playing USCF-rated chess over the weekend at Washington Middle School, in 24 different sections.
Congratulations to the four(!) 2023 Hawaii Girls co-Champions: Aurelia White, Ivey Zhong, Makenzie Tongg and Nova Galanto who tied at 3-1. Aurelia won the playoff matches 3-0 and will represent Hawaii at the Ruth Haring tournament of state champions in Michigan in July. The cover shot of this article shows the game between Aurelia and Ivey, while Nova Galanto watches with interest.
Congratulations to NM Cornelius Rubsamen and Marvin Alvarez, the 2023 Hawaii Senior co-Champions. Both finished 3-0 in a section that was three times as large as last year's. Cornelius won the playoff match 2-0 and will represent Hawaii again at the Irwin tournament of senior state champions.
Congratulations to the winners of the hard-fought Octet sections: Igor Dmitriev, Tom Antin, Adrian Ma & JP Bennett, Edgar DeGuzman, Daniel Lin & Chase Pang, and Tristan Kaya.
Photo: Igor Dmitriev (far left) is one of the only active players in Hawaii who can still defeat 4th-grade prodigy Echae Kim. In the background Ben Ayala (left) plays Julian Torres.
Octet tournaments help under-rated players raise their ratings because of the "bonus points" that the USCF awards for strong performances in events of four or more rounds. (The more rounds, the bigger the bonus points.) So big congratulations to everyone who went up 100 points or more this weekend! At the top of the list is HCF Secretary Dorothy Vo who went 5-0 in a tough Action Hextet!
Caption: HCF Secretary Dorothy Vo (right) threatens a back-rank checkmate against Kaimi Kawazu-Armstrong in the game that decided first place in the Afternoon Action Hextet. Dorothy ended up gaining more rating points in one day than anyone else, but Kaimi still went up over 100 (!)
| Chess Player | Gain |
| Dorothy Vo | 392 |
| Ashton Martinez | 327 |
| Kulia Kawazu-Armstrong | 222 |
| Tom Antin | 207 |
| Echae Kim | 200 |
| Joshua Lewis | 197 |
| Tristan Kaya | 170 |
| Maggie Bennet | 147 |
| Mckenzie Tongg | 134 |
| Ty Dutoit | 133 |
| Chase Pang | 131 |
| Everett Bailey | 121 |
| Jasper Watanabe-Hiromasa | 116 |
| Kaimi Kawazu-Armstrong | 101 |
These players wish to thank everyone who donated some rating points while having fun and learning. You know who you are!
We hope to see everyone again next season, which begins in August. The dates will be announced by email, and at www.chess.com/club/hcf-scholastic. We hope to have HawaiiChess.com back online soon.
Mark your calendars for the Hawaii Open over Labor Day Weekend (September 2-4).
The World Chess Festival will be in Honolulu at the Blaisdell Center on December 28-31, thanks to chess organizer and National Master Joe Hanley.
A hui hou!
Damian Nash, TD and HCF Scholastic Director, with
Ryan Tongg, HCF President
David Thaxton, HCF Vice-President
Sean Uezu, HCF Treasurer
Dorothy Vo, HCF Secretary
