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
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