08.08.12 Today is the final day of the Denker and Barber Tournaments of State Champions. One more round to decide the outcome. For the Maine representatives, it is a day to hopefully finish strong.

Thanks to Dan Fishbein for contributing to this report.

In the Denker, Brett Parker entered the tournament as the 38th seed out of 48 based on USCF rating. With 2 points out of 5, he was already doing better than expected. In Round 6, he faced the #9 seed, Kurt Kondracki (1884) of Colorado. Adding on to his win yesterday over a 1950 player, Brett finished the tournament with a flourish by earning a draw with Kondracki. When the final results were posted, Parker with 2.5 points against very strong opponents was tied for 31st, and came in 32nd on tiebreaks. He was second amongst those with 2.5 points. A fine showing on behalf of Maine for the Cape Elizabeth High School student.

Overall in the Denker, the final round saw Darwin Yang (2594) of Texas and Atulya Shetty (2400) of Michigan tied with 4.5 points each. Since they had drawn each other the night before, they faced the #3 and #4 players. Remarkably, both games ended in draws, so with 5 points each Yang and Shetty tied for the championship. Interestingly, Shetty was first on tiebreaks by half a point over the near GM Yang. Shetty therefore won the full scholarship to the University of Texas at Dallas.

In the Barber, Matthew Fishbein was paired with Iowa state champion Jihua Zhang. They played an even game, right down to an endgame of a queen, rook and 4 pawns each, with the pawns facing each other. This appeared to be a certain draw, but Matthew played on until his opponent, thinking he could force a queen trade, neglected to note that Matthew as black could deliver check with his rook on the h1 square. Forced to take the rook and leave his queen undefended on g3, Matthew was up a queen for a rook and a pawn, and then played it out for the win.

When the final standings were posted, Matthew with 4 points was tied for 5th, and was 8th on tiebreaks. Matthew was also the 8th ranked player in the tournament based on rating, so this was a fine result. Tying for 5th won Matthew a certificate, a share of the $300 fifth place scholarship prize, and a handshake and photo with GM Yasser Seirawan.

Overall in the Barber, the clear winner was Tommy He (2203) of Texas, with 5.5 points. Second was shared by 11 year old Praveen Balakrishnan (2097) of New Jersey, and Matthew's coaching "team-mate" Mike Brattain (2237) of Massachusetts.

Congratulations to Matthew and Brett for representing Maine so well! They also made Cape Elizabeth proud, as they were the only Denker-Barber pair (other than siblings) who came from the same town. As many of the participants head home, and some like Matthew stay on to play in the US Open, they take with them great memories of hard fought competition but also of new friends made. It was amazing to watch how well all the kids got along and how easily they became instant friends. Chess is a universal language to these kids, giving them an instant connection. It was a pleasure as a parent to watch this great group of kids.

Games from rounds 4-6 coming soon!

Barber Tournament of Middle School Champions and Denker Tournament of High School ChampionsSchedule

•Saturday [4 August] - Opening Ceremony at 3:00 PM.
•Saturday [4 August] - Round One at 7:00 PM.
•Sunday [5 August] - Round Two at 12 NOON.
•Sunday [5 August] - Round Three at 7:00 PM.
•Monday [6 August] - Round Four at 12 NOON.
•Monday [6 August] - Round Five at 7:00 PM.
•Tuesday [7 August] - Round Six at 11:00 AM.
•Tuesday [7 August] - Denker Awards Ceremony at 4:00 PM.

Official USCF Denker Tournament page

Official USCF Barber Tournament page