Above: Final round match-up between Cornelius(left) and Noah.

A group of 10 players turned out to play in the club-sponsored open event.  USCF ratings ranged from obviously under-rated Darek Kawamoto (834) to the ever-strong Cornelius at 2200.   

The chess was most-exciting.  The strength of the tournament was apparent in the first round, with two big rating upsets occurring.  David Klan, club regular and rated but 1250/11, took very-strong Noah Canter(1800) to the cleaners in an Alekhine defense.  High school champion Paul Iinuma, rated 1363, came out fighting against his 1950 rated opponent, Joseph Laturnau.  This was a nice-game in which Paul sacrificed a piece for kingside attack.  Joseph managed to find a way out of the mess, only to lose on time.  These two accounts were typical of the level of chess enjoyed today.  

	The final round in progress. In the foreground are Toby Coria(left) and Paul Iinuma.

After the smoke cleared from the fifth round, Cornelius emerged the victor.  Tied in second place, and warranting of the other two cash prizes, were Chet Gionson and Dave Klan, scoring 3.5 points each.  Paul, scoring 3 points,  took 4th place and an extra book.  See, everybody who participated won a book from the collection of Noah Canter.  Noah has a huge collection of chess books with which he is departing from....  The club bought a bunch of these at a discount to distribute to all of the participants.  Everybody went  home a winner. Check out the crosstable.  

First-time tournament director and handsome guy, yours truly, couldn't have functioned without the help of Kei Enokida, club officer, Michelle,  an excellent baker, and Noah.  Many thanks to all of them and to Dave, as always, for crusading in Waikiki with his artsy flyers.

	Darek Kawamoto

The club looks forward to holding regular events on the Manoa campus.  More immediately, we are sponsoring the Memorial day tournament.  Details are to be found on the site soon.