Gambito

Every Saturday

GAMBITO TOURNAMENTS

Over 400 Tournaments since 2001

By Rick Aeria

Co-Founder Chuck Ensey

The Gambito Tournament series was co-founded by Master Bruce Baker and Chuck Ensey in 2001.

The Gambito is the San Diego Chess Club's most popular format for chess enthusiasts looking to play four USCF rated games in a day with a moderate entry fee. The tournament is named in honor of Ron Gambito, an expert-level player who has passed on but is never forgotten by his friends..

International Master Cyrus Lakdawala is a regular participant and in the history of the tournament we have had Grandmasters drop by to play. Names like Melikset Khachiyan, Gregory Kaidanov, Alex Wojtkiewicz and Alex Yermonlinsky readily pop to my mind. There are other luminaries like IM Enrico Sevillano, SM John Daniel Bryant (17-years old), FM Elliott Liu , FM Richard Russell and IM Rashid Ziatdinov,

A whole generation of junior players have emerged over the years from the Gambito tournaments. From the time of this writing in 2009, experts and near-experts like Aaron Householder (8) Varun Krishnan (11), Alan Tsoi (14), Jesse Orlowski (14), Kyron Griffith (14), Jason Qu (14) and Daniel Grazian (18) . Note the listing is by age.

In fact FM Elliott Liu, with 2 IM norms, started playing in the Gambitos as a junior rated as a Class A player in 2001! Watching the juniors play is like witnessing the start of some meteoric career readily to blast off like Bobby Fischer!

The location of the club at Sixth and Ivy on the western edge of scenic, historic Balboa Park makes a Saturday outing to the Gambito a wonderful and pleasant experience. Won't you join us?

THE GAMBITO FORMAT

Just about every Saturday with the rare exceptions being when the club has a scheduled weekend tournament like the Junior/Senior Open or The San Diego County Championship.

The format is four rounds. Entry fee is $20.Virtually all proceeds are returned as class prizes to participants. The time control is Game in 40 minutes with 5-second delay if you are using a digital clock. If you are using an older analog clock then it is Game in 45 minutes. The club has digital clocks in stock for sale!

Start Time: 10:30 a.m.

So try to come a little earlier to register. There are many regulars that opt to take a first round half-point bye and start with round two at 12'Noon. (Hey, we are flexible and this is what makes the Gambito Format attractive to so many).

To prevent rating mis-matches , sometimes a McMahon pairing is sometimes used. For example, all masters and experts start with 2 points, Class 'A' players start with 1 point and the rest start with zero points. This is very popular with everyone as it gives everyone very competitive games in every round. Thanks to Baldomero Garcia for his imaginative suggestion!

SUPER GAMBITO

The Super Gambito is played every first Saturday of the month with enhanced, guaranteed prize fund of $750. The entry fee is $25 and it is played in a normal Swiss pairing format. This once-a-month event is usually well attended and the prize fund gets boosted if more players show up and the entries total over the stipulated guarantee.

PLAYING CONDITIONS

The club strictly enforces optimum professional playing conditions with regards to noise, lighting and overall atmosphere.

The playing hall is sparkling clean, with spotless tiled floors. It is well-lit and ventilated which makes it very conducive to playing excellent chess.

Cellphones and pagers must be silenced or the offender is subject to a $5 fine. Same goes for analyzing in room when other games are in progress. It comes down to respect for your fellow players. This makes the Gambito tournament experience a truly special experience for the chess enthusiast and you get these superb playing conditions every week! I like playing here! Thanks to club manager Bruce Baker's meticulous upkeep of the playing site!

GAMBITO TRIVIA QUESTION:

Who won the very first Gambito?

ANSWER:

Ron Gambito. Now that sounds kinda weird but it's true! Well, it was not called the Gambito in those days but Ron Gambito who was a true chess enthusiast badgered his best friend and club manager Bruce Baker to have some sort of a regular tournament on Saturday and Bruce eventually decided on the Game in 45 minutes format. Sadly, Ron Gambito passed away unexpectedly shortly after that and the event got renamed the "Gambito". Kinda appropriate don't you think?

This page was last modified on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 01:54:54 PM