Stamnov Tops Double Class

On July 2-3 about 50 players turned out to play in the inaugural All American Double Class tournament. No player scored a perfect 5-0, but in the top section [M/X] FM Alexandsar Stamnov scored 4.5 points for clear first. This section included 2 IMs, a total of 11 Masters, and an average rating over 2200! Tying for 2nd/3rd were IM Angelo Young, FM Albert Chow, Kevin Cao, & Peter Gilruth. Top players in the A/B section with 4 points were Zhaozhi Li and Andrew Pheasant. Top players in the C/D section were Rudy Padilla and Jordan Nach. The only 4 point score in E/U was scored by Andrew Hochstadt.  Full results are available on the USCF web site MSA section.

In keeping with the “Double Class” theme there were 2 [double the usual] upset prizes for each section. These were awarded 1 on Saturday & 1 on Sunday. In E/U top upset on Saturday was 243 points by Andrew Hochstadt. Top upset on Sunday was Si Li of 415 points! Top upset Saturday in C/D was Jourdain Gant for his 175 point upset of Richard Lewis who won the upset prize Sunday for his 183 point upset of David Middleton. With only 2 players rated under 1800 in the A/B section it is not surprising that they each won upset prizes. Maxim Sigalov had the biggest (75 point) upset Saturday & Jack Xiao had the biggest (210 point) upset on Sunday. The biggest upset in the M/X on Saturday was Jordan Cohen beating Peter Gilruth, while on Sunday the big upset was Florentino Inumerable (2000) beating Master Pete Karagianis.

Players liked the no Saturday morning round format, but did not like the late (7pm) round on Sunday. Also players indicated they prefer G/2 to the 40/90, SD/30 time control. There are no definite plans yet for 2012 for this tournament, but Easter [Sat/Sun] weekend is being considered. Please send me your comments/suggestions for this tournament at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..