I Became Champion in Bernardo Smith Memorial Chess Tournament @Mechanics Chess Club, SFO

I became undefeated champion in Bernardo Smith Memorial Chess Under 2200 Tournament  at Mechanics Chess Club, San Francisco this weekend scoring 5.5 out of 6. After last week's joint championship in Fresno in Under 2050 section - this consecutive win came with pleasure of excellent performance from my son Ahyan Zaman too.

Ahyan got his biggest scalp by winning the 1st round against the top seed National Master Michael Lei Wang rated 2186. In the G1 (1 hour each side for first 4 rounds and then 2 hours each side for round 5 and 6) game, we arrived 20 minutes late - so his opponent not only had a rating 644 higher than him but also had a time advantage. His first reaction after winning was that now he can negotiate a full week of screen time back from his Mom!

End of first day and 4 rounds, I was leading the standings with all wins while Ahyan was alone in 2nd position with 3.5 and his first round nemesis Michael Wang and Gary Warmerdan are trailing in 3rd position with 3 points. And the rest of the field is way behind with 2.5 or less points. Ahyan drew the second round against 1767, won the 3rd round against 1650 and won the 4th round against 1892 - all of whom were higher rated than him. Arbiter IM John Donaldson was in trouble to avoid paring between father and son - and paired Michael against me for me instead of Ahyan for 5th round. As I drew the 5th round as per my plan, Ahyan lost to Gary. So I had to play Ahyan in the last round and despite Ahyan's attack and sacrifice, I won. 

The final standings can be found here - http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201708201332-13178575

Here is what IM John Donaldson wrote in the following week's Tuesday Night Marathon Newsletter -

MI tournament regular Ashik Uzzaman has been doing well of late. He tied for first in the under-2050 section of the Central California Open in Fresno held August 11–13 and the following week took first in the 12th Bernardo Smith Amateur (for players under 2200) at the Mechanics’ Institute with a 5½ from 6 score, a half-point ahead of Gary Warmerdam. Ashik’s son Ahyan Zaman has also been doing very well, with his USCF rating rising over 400 points in 2017.

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5:

Round 6: