Leo Wang Wins Club Championship

Expert Leo Wang went 6-1 to become the 2024 SGVCC Champion. The annual seven round event concluded April 30 and drew 62 players. It all came down to Round 7, when Wang faced top seeded Axel Muller (2141). They were both tied at 5 points and a draw would have resulted in a four way tie. It was a worthy final game and both players showed their competitive spirit. Muller played the Dubov Gambit with White, a sharp line in the Giuoco Piano. Leo’s response was not to be found in the opening books but he’s shown a tenacity for defending tough positions. As the clock became a factor for both players Wang found his way through the complications and earned a hard fought victory.

Leo is now our second Club Champ and has his name engraved on the Club’s Perpetual Trophy, just below last year’s winner NM Karl Tolentino. Second place was shared by Expert Mladen Kolar and Craig Vieregg, who also won the Best Class A plaque. Other Best in Class winners were Gary Tao (Class B), Michael Colangelo (Class C), Garik Yegoryan (Class D), Haoxuan Huang (Class E) and Ethan Kinoshita (Best under 1000).

In addition to the trophy and plaques there was also a $605 cash prize fund, courtesy of the Arcadia Chess Club. Arcadia Chess Club ran rated events for over 40 years, meeting on Monday nights at the Senior Center in Santa Anita Park. Additional cash prize winners were Amin Zoghlami, Davit Bakhtaryan, Leya Daftuar and Lawrence Preciado.

As often occurs with a one Open Section event, upsets are bound to happen and we included an upset prize for best single game rating difference. Veteran players will tell you that lower rated players are much stronger than in the “good old days,” when you just waited for a blunder. And this event proved the point. In Round 1 alone Briana L (1387) beat a 1900 player, Aaron Bosch (780) beat a 1557 player and Paul Longstaffe (837) bested a 1614 opponent. And as if that wasn’t enough, Round 2 saw young Albert Bao (866) beat a 1900 player, a difference of 1034 points! It was widely thought he had the upset prize in the bag. But it didn’t last long as Thomas Pehlivanos (365) beat a player 1249 points higher the very next round and secured the upset prize. Now we know why our higher rated players are relieved when we have a two section event, these lower rated players have no fear!

This year’s Club Championship was certainly a success but it takes a team of people to make that happen. So thanks go to Senior TD Phil Chase, Club VP Axel Muller, Board Member and NTD Randall Hough, Facilities Manager Gary Schenk, Club Webmaster Chris Roberts and Vina Awards of San Gabriel. Thanks as well to all of our players and parents who help each week with set up and take down of all the tables and chairs. It really takes a collective effort and is truly one o the great things about SGVCC.