Castro Dominates Field at McGuire Open

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7/3/2012

Marcus Benton (left) takes on Melvin Bond in round 6.

Congratulations to Henry Castro (2108), who won the McGuire Open with a near perfect 5.5/6 score. Castro earned more than 30 rating points in the process, taking his rating deep into 2100 territory. John Anderson (1910) also had a terrific tournament, earning outright second place and moving himself closer to the expert mark.

Castro faced off against Gregg Fritchle (2064) on top board in the final round, with both players knowing the victor would win the tournament outright. Castro, who had the white pieces, forced black into a nasty bind where various pieces were pinned and black's king was uncastled. Something had to crack and, although black briefly won a pawn, he later had to give up the exchange. The end wasn't long in coming, with black's king open and white's pieces all active, and Fritchle resigned shortly after.

John Anderson defeated Randy Hough (2033) to gain 34 rating points for the tournament and, as mentioned earlier, earn second place. The game was complex, with both players pressing on the kindside but Hough, who had black, missed a neat tactic that left various pieces hanging with seemingly no way to defend everything.

In other results, David Huang (2037) had an excellent draw against Master Craig Faber (2204), David Argall (2000) drew against Phil Chase (1931), and Stephanie Shao (1804) had a terrific result by drawing against Matthew Hayes (2064).

There were several big rating gains this tournament, particularly Hector Valdez who gained a staggering 192 points to move from a rating of 1279 to 1471. A special mention also goes to Justin Chang (1504) who not only gained 54 rating points but also had some amazing results, including draws against two experts and a win over a former expert.

A new tournament, the Bill Smith Open, will start Monday, July 9.