Epicure Grand Prix #2 at Miami Country Day

Epicure Grand Prix #2 saw almost 200 participants in the Franco Center on Saturday, October 20th, for its second chess tournament of the year. That included 21 Spartans in all five sections. Players were welcomed with the site of 100 brand new chess boards and triple-weighted sets on which to play, compliments of our friends at Epicure Gourmet Market & Café. A special thanks goes out to the Starkman Family for continuing their extraordinary commitment to the growth of chess in the MCDS community and the rest of South Florida.

MCDS brought home four team trophies and welcomed two brand new members to the team!

Congratulations to the K-12 team and coaches Peter Konen and Vlad Yanovsky for their first, and decisive, victory of the year in the high school section. David Gonzalez led the Spartans with 3.5/5.0 and tied for 4th Place, increasing his rating almost 100 points in a single tournament and accumulating an increase of over 450 points in less than a year. We will have to go to the MCDS chess archives to see the last time a high school player has experienced that much of a jump in that period of time. I have a feeling we won’t find one. Julian Schultz (3.0/5.0) also played well for the Spartans along with Cristian Padilla & Pascal Dafinis (both 2.5/5.0). Additionally, Jacob Strouse increased his rating at this tournament.

The young K-8 team took 3rd Place and put forth a stronger performance than the last tournament. Elliot Starkman earned 3.5/5.0 to lead the Spartan scoring. Grant Giovannetti, James Srebnick, and Andre Harper-Rosenberg all earned 3.0/5.0, and Filippo Sbroggio had two wins.

The K-5 team finished in 3rd Place, improving from their 4th Place finish last month. Jackson Jimenez earned 3.0 points to lead Spartan scorers and improve his rating over 100 points. Nikolay Bespalenko, Elliot Surnamer, and Nathan Gumenick scored multiple points to help the Spartan team. Olivia Borchers also increased her rating at this tournament.

The Spartans welcomed new players Thomas Robert & Matias Hernandez to rated chess tournaments as the K-3 team earned a 5th Place trophy. Jamie Surnamer led the team scoring with two points. Tucker Gumenick also increased his rating at this tournament.

Chase Giovannetti brought home his second individual trophy of the year in the K-1 section. In the Open section, GM Julio Becerra won his second tournament in a row, narrowly defeating National Master Ernesto Alvarez by only half of a point.

The 4th Grade Team of Starkman, Srebnick, Giovannetti, & Sbroggio will head to Orlando at the end of November to take part in the 2012 National Grade Level Championships. Epicure Grand Prix #3 will take place on December 8. We hope to see you there!

Report Submitted By, Michael Hutsko Spartan Chess Program Director South Regional Vice President, Florida Chess Association USCF Local Tournament Director

Epicure Grand Prix #1, 9/29/12

The first tournament of the Epicure Grand Prix chess tournament series took place in the Franco Center this past Saturday. MCDS welcomed 187 participants of all ages from the South Florida area. Actually, I came to learn that not everyone was from nearby. I spoke with one student who said his family made the drive here from Jacksonville. Skeptical, I asked his parents, and they confirmed the location of their domicile. Looks like someone really loves his chess! Also, while Grandmaster Julio Becerra has competed on our campus before, this is the first time he has participated in an Epicure event. GM Becerra went undefeated in the Open section.

There were 21 Spartans collectively in the five age-based sections, composing three teams in the K-12, K-8, & K-5 categories.

The Spartan K-12 team (upper school) finished in 3rd Place. Julian Schultz had a career-best day and played remarkably well (4.0/5.0), finishing in 4th Place overall (in a tough section) as well as taking home the trophy (& gift card) for the best performance by a player rated under 1000. Needless to say, he’s now rated above 1000 and becomes the high school team’s third Class E player. David Gonzalez & Giovanni Cragnotti also played well for the Spartans, scoring 2.5/5.0, and Pascal Dafinis & Jordan Rosendorf had two points and increased their ratings at this event. The team also welcomed newcomer Jacob Strouse.

The K-8 team finished in 3rd Place. Elliot Starkman led the team scoring with 3.5/5.0, finishing tied for 8th Place. Andre Harper-Rosenberg also played well for the Spartans, scoring 3.0/5.0. Grant Giovannetti (welcome to the MCDS team!), James Srebnick, & Filippo Sbroggio earned 2.5 points, and Daniel Gallup also had multiple wins. It should be noted that most of this team is “playing up.” Fourth-graders Starkman, Giovannetti, Srebnick, & Sbroggio are eligible to play in the younger K-5 section, but they have decided to play in an older and higher rated category.

The K-5 team finished in 4th Place. This team welcomed four new MCDS team members. We would like to extend a special welcome to Jackson Jimenez, Nikolay Bespalenko, Sean Finny, & Olivia Borchers. Jimenez returned to rated chess competition after a two-year hiatus and scored two points. Bespalenko & Finny exceeded expectations with two wins in their first-ever rated chess competitions! Borchers & Nathan Gumenick also scored a point for the team in the event. It will be exciting to see this team grow.

Chase Giovannetti took home the second individual trophy won by a Spartan at this event, finishing in 3rd Place in the K-1 section. Congratulations & welcome to MCDS! The Spartans were also represented by Oliver Perez & Tucker Gumenick in the K-3 section.

If you are interested in a more detailed breakdown of the results, please visit http://www.bocachess.com/epicure-grand-prix. A special thank you to Epicure Gourmet Market & Café for continuing to serve as our Sponsor and helping making this the best chess tournament series in Florida.

Epicure Grand Prix #2 will take place on Saturday, October 20. Anyone interested in registering for the event should contact me.

Michael Hutsko Spartan Chess Program Director South Regional Vice President, Florida Chess Association USCF Local Tournament Director 601 NE 107 Street | Miami, FL 33161 305.779.7341 office | 305.759.0684 fax hutskom@miamicountryday.org