
	2005 Space City Open October 01-02, 2005

2005 Space City Open

October 01-02, 2005

By Roger McIntyre

Photos

Introduction

David Hayes - TD

Well, it's October and that can only mean one thing to chess fans: it's time for the annual Space City Open! Like clockwork this event comes around every year to the anticipation of the best chess players in the area. Actually this event usually takes place in April and occasionally in March. The 2003 Space City Open was held in July. Come to think of it you can't really call this an annual event because it wasn't held in 2004 nor 2002. But other than these slight deviations you can just about set your watch based on its punctuality.

Idiomatic Report
The Open Section was packed to the gills with past winners. Todd Andrews, Bill Melvin, Gerald Larson and Charles Meidinger have all won this event in previous years but Todd Andrews was top dog with a rating head and shoulders above the rest. He's the real McCoy, no paper tiger, usually sending his opponents away with their tail between their legs. Two players opted to enter this section even though they qualified to play in the Reserve Section: Suad Yoon and Alex Weiner. Perhaps they wanted to test the water and see if they could keep their heads above it. Suad dove right in and proved that she wasn't just a lamb headed to the slaughter, scoring an impressive 2.5 points against much higher rated players. Alex is a rapidly improving local scholastic player but probably bit off more than he could chew when he entered this school of hard knocks. His only point came from a bye. It's a bitter pill to swallow but bear in mind that he's not even in high school yet and he should be a force to be reckoned with in the near future. After all was said and done Todd Andrews was the clear winner with Bill Melvin and Gerald Larson taking second and third.
The Reserve Section was smaller than usual this year, attracting only 11 players. Moham Abdel-Ghany was off to a flying start until Calvin Baldwin took the wind out of his sails in the third round. Keith Artman stumbled out of the blocks but strung together three wins in a row to earn the honor of playing undefeated Calvin on first board in the final round. Keith had Calvin on the ropes early and Calvin offered a draw but Keith was out for blood and refused. Calvin then slowly turned the tables and won in the endgame to finish undefeated. When the fat lady sang, Calvin Baldwin was the winner with Joe Chaffee and Charles Ashmore taking second and third.
That pretty much covers all the bases in a nutshell.

Results

Todd Andrews

Open Section Award Winners

Place Name Rating Score

1 Andrews, Todd 2355 4.5

2 Melvin, Bill 2200 4.0

3 Larson, Gerald 2138 3.5

Reserve Section Award Winners

Place Name Rating Score

1 Baldwin, Calvin 1542 4.5

2 Chaffee, Joe 1584 4.0

3 Ashmore, Charles 1537 3.5

Calvin Baldwin (left)

Wall Charts and Games

Credits
Thanks to TD David Hayes, Jerry Wheeler, and Bert Gower for running this show.

Last modified: 04 October 2005
Roger McIntyre