The Bill Wright Saint Louis Open Recap

By on April 27, 2012 in

By GM Ben Finegold

The Bill Wright Saint Louis Open was held April 14-15 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The Open section was particularly strong, as six of the Saint Louis Invitational players also played in the Open. There were few upsets in the Open section, although round 2 looked bad for Marc Arnold and your author, as we both offered draws to our lower-rated opponents Doug Eckert and Kevin Cao, respectively. Luckily for us, the lower-rated players declined and went on to lose better endings, so the top players, with the exception of IM Justin Sarkar, stood at 2-0. I took a round 3 bye, and the other top players fought it out. Like the Invitational, there was a three-way tie for first, with a score of 4-1, and Moradiabadi, Sevillano and Arnold sharing top honors. I was able to draw my final two rounds, but 3.5 points was only good enough for =4th. My son Spencer did well, scoring 3-2 and winning clear first U2200!

The reserve section was also hard fought, as top rated (1999!) Barry Manthe breezed through the field winning his first four, before drawing quickly in the last round to sew up first place. There were 43 players in the reserve section, which is excellent, and double the number of players in the open section!

Read my round-by-round reports from the event here!

Here are some selected games from the event:

Bill Wright Saint Louis Open: Open

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	ELSHA MORADIABADI	2620	W11	W7	D3	W4	D5	4.0
2	MARC TYLER ARNOLD	2580	W8	W16	D4	D6	W7	4.0
3	ENRICO SEVILLANO	2566	W14	W17	D1	D5	W9	4.0
4	MICHAEL A BROOKS	2433	W20	W10	D2	L1	W11	3.5
5	BENJAMIN FINEGOLD	2595	W22	W15	H---	D3	D1	3.5
6	JUSTIN SARKAR	2525	H---	D12	W8	D2	W10	3.5
7	ANGELO YOUNG	2345	W13	L1	W14	W15	L2	3.0
8	SPENCER FINEGOLD	2181	L2	W19	L6	W20	W13	3.0
9	VICTOR R FELDBERG	2214	L10	W18	W17	W12	L3	3.0
10	MATT BARRETT	1781	W9	L4	D11	W14	L6	2.5
11	ALEXAND VELIKANOV	2205	L1	W13	D10	W16	L4	2.5
12	KENNETH P THOMAS	2074	H---	D6	D16	L9	W18	2.5
13	SELDEN TRIMBLE	1995	L7	L11	W18	W17	L8	2.0
14	JAMES MCLAUGHLIN	2107	L3	W21	L7	L10	W20	2.0
15	KEVIN Y CAO	2239	W21	L5	W20	L7	U---	2.0
16	DOUG D ECKERT	2232	W19	L2	D12	L11	U---	1.5
17	AKALPIT K GADRE	1735	B---	L3	L9	L13	D21	1.5
18	ALEXAN VERGILESOV	1953	H---	L9	L13	W21	L12	1.5
19	MATTHEW C HOSLER	1799	L16	L8	D21	H---	H---	1.5
20	THOMAS SCHNEIDER	2055	L4	W22	L15	L8	L14	1.0
21	JAY LEWIS III	1874	L15	L14	D19	L18	D17	1.0
22	MARK JOEFF FERBER	2169	L5	L20	U---	U---	U---	0.0

Bill Wright Saint Louis Open: U2000

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	BARRY PAUL MANTHE	1999	W23	W15	W7	W2	D5	4.5
2	JAMES D POLLITT	1924	W35	W3	W20	L1	W11	4.0
3	DANIEL SAJKOWSKI	1760	W22	L2	W21	W14	W10	4.0
4	JEFFREY J KOVALIC	1891	W29	W16	D6	D11	W13	4.0
5	JONATHAN SCHRANTZ	1660	W39	W17	H---	W12	D1	4.0
6	BEHROOZ VAKIL	1741	W28	W12	D4	D10	D7	3.5
7	THOMAS GAUL	1864	W31	W19	L1	W16	D6	3.5
8	STEVEN D BANGE	1869	W21	L13	W29	D18	W25	3.5
9	RODNEY WRIGHT	1786	W30	L10	H---	W28	W19	3.5
10	JAMES L. SMITH	1977	W14	W9	D11	D6	L3	3.0
11	DAVID BENJA ASKIN	1855	W24	W38	D10	D4	L2	3.0
12	DAVID TIANJI PENG	1933	W27	L6	W13	L5	W22	3.0
13	BENEDICT DA MUNCY	1624	W41	W8	L12	W20	L4	3.0
14	WILLIAM KANE	1526	L10	W32	W17	L3	W28	3.0
15	JEFFREY SCHRAGIN	1783	W36	L1	W31	D19	D18	3.0
16	DERRICK BARTOTTO	1630	W43	L4	W24	L7	W30	3.0
17	ALBERT DA HOWLETT	1903	W26	L5	L14	W37	W29	3.0
18	BOB HOWE	1721	D32	W34	H---	D8	D15	3.0
19	NATHAN TU PHAN	1604	W40	L7	W30	D15	L9	2.5
20	JAMES OSLICA	1838	W33	W25	L2	L13	D21	2.5
21	CLARK ZHANG BERRY	1408	L8	W39	L3	W34	D20	2.5
22	CALEB S DENBY	1263	L3	D35	W27	W38	L12	2.5
23	RICHARD L BERRY	1542	L1	W36	L28	W33	D24	2.5
24	RAY D BENNETT	1342	L11	W41	L16	W40	D23	2.5
25	JASON DANIELS	1576	W37	L20	H---	W35	L8	2.5
26	DANIEL J TUTTLE	1473	L17	L28	W39	D36	W35	2.5
27	JON STRAND	1526	L12	H---	L22	X43	W36	2.5
28	GABRIEL A FERNS	1232	L6	W26	W23	L9	L14	2.0
29	TONY NIEMANN	1458	L4	W43	L8	W32	L17	2.0
30	TORIN HYLAN	1325	L9	W42	L19	W31	L16	2.0
31	ANDREW L TRATTNER	1391	L7	W40	L15	L30	W37	2.0
32	MIKE BUCKLEY	1174	D18	L14	H---	L29	W42	2.0
33	DOUGLAS PICHEN	1337	L20	L37	W43	L23	W40	2.0
34	BRAD D BALDRIDGE	760	B---	L18	L35	L21	W39	2.0
35	JUSTIN L GRIMES	1515	L2	D22	W34	L25	L26	1.5
36	NARAYAN KARRA	1271	L15	L23	W41	D26	L27	1.5
37	GRE VANVALKENBURG	771	L25	W33	H---	L17	L31	1.5
38	AYDIN TURGUT	1584	W42	L11	H---	L22	U---	1.5
39	ROBERT A LUCKEY	1152	L5	L21	L26	W41	L34	1.0
40	JESSE PFITZINGER	887	L19	L31	B---	L24	L33	1.0
41	IRIS YI-XIAN ZHOU	897	L13	L24	L36	L39	B---	1.0
42	SAMUEL BRU LEVINE	805	L38	L30	H---	H---	L32	1.0
43	DAVID N WHITEHEAD	1011	L16	L29	L33	F27	U---	0.0