Mini swiss chess tournament held in Alamogordo
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Matt Grinberg's name.
The June Mini Swiss on June 8, organized and run by Will Barela of Endgame Chess, was held at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Alamogordo.
Top section
The Top Section had 6 players were Matt Grinberg (1968) from Alamogordo, Eric Barkemeyer (1571) from Ruidoso and from Las Cruces, Jesse Vicario (2016), Dr. Michael Torres (1700), Arshia Parsheh (1649) and Manuel Castillo (1141).
Casillo could have played in the Mid or Scholastic sections, but as a rapidly improving junior, he chose to take a chance in the Top Section.
The top three players all won their first round game — Vicario against Parsheh, Grinberg against Barkemeyer and Torres against Castillo.
The critical game of the Top Section came in the second round when top rated Vicario was paired against second rated Grinberg.
The pair had squared off eight times before; Seven of the games were draws. It ended with Vicario withdrawing.
Torres won his second round game against Parsheh.
Going into the last round the players tied at 2-0, Grinberg and Torres were paired against each other. A critical mistake by Torres allowed Grinberg a winning rook sacrifice that left him alone in first place at 3-0.
Mid Section
The Mid Section had eight players; three from Las Cruces and five from El Paso.
Top rated Bill Daly (1503) of Las Cruces finished first at 2.5-0.5. Daly's draw came against Eric Van Zwienen (1096) of El Paso in the second round.
Daly's wins came against El Paso players Mario Valles (1400 – tied for second rated) and Luis Castaneda (1184), who both tied for second at 2-1).
Joining Valles and Castaneda in second place was John Helwick (1400 – tied for second rated) of Las Cruces.
Eric Van Zwienen, with a final score of 1.5-1.5, had an outstanding tournament, gaining 87 rating points. His win came against Helwick and his draw came against Daly, both much higher rated.
You can get cross tables for the Top and Mid Sections at www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201906084922-10190924.