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Colorado Closed Champions

This list includes players that have achieved master ratings in the state of Colorado. To be included on the list, a player must have been a resident of Colorado and played in at least one rated tournament while living in the state. Some players on the list have not held the rating of the level of master that they are listed as, but they did achieve the minimum rating at some time and qualified to get that master certificate from USCF. Also, some of the players listed below achieved their highest master level before moving to Colorado or after leaving Colorado. Some of the top players from the 1950's era may have been of master strength, but in the absence of the Elo rating system this is not possible to judge today.

1976 Curtis Carlson (Colorado Invitational)
1987 Alex Fishbein (average rating: 2272)
1988 Randy Canney (average rating: 2200)
1989 Dave Jellison (average rating: 2155)
1990 Sam Quintanar (average rating: 2147)
1991 Randy Canney (average rating: 2240)
1992 Michael Ginat (average rating: 2256)
1993 Michael Mulyar (average rating: 2312)
1994 Michael Mulyar (average rating: 2254)
1995 Jerry Kearns (average rating: 2320)
1996 Steve Odendahl (average rating: 2331)
1997 Mikhail Ponomarev (average rating: 2281)
1998 Michael Ginat (average rating: 2215)
1999 Randy Canney (average rating: 2228)
2000 Andy Rea (average rating: 2179)
2001 Michael Ginat and Philipp Ponomarev (average rating: 2178)
2002 Brian Wall (average rating: 2154)
2003 Paul Nikitovich (average rating: 2158)
2004 Philipp Ponomarev (average rating: 2187)
2005 Brian Wall (average rating: 2085)
2006 Jim Hammersmith (average rating: 2131)
2007 Brian Wall (average rating: 2124)
2008 Philipp Ponomarev (average rating: 2260 – 6 players)
2009 Dashzegve Sharavdorj (average rating: 2295 – 6 players)
2010 Mitesh Shridhar (average rating: 2108 – 6 players)
2011 Randy Canney (rating average: 2117--6 players)
2012 Eric Montany (rating average: 2137--6 players)

Withdrawals from the Colorado Closed:

The CSCA will automatically ban any player who withdraws within 7 days of the Colorado Closed (or withdraws during the Colorado Closed) from playing in the next three (3) Colorado Closed events. A second offense will result in a lifetime ban in playing for the Closed. The player may request CSCA board adjudication for any of these penalties. These penalties only refer to the Colorado Scholastic Closed and Adult Closed Championships, and will have no bearing whatsoever on the status of players in other tournaments.

Playing criteria for being invited into the Colorado Closed: A player must have played in the previous year's Closed, OR played a minimum of 6 games at regular (USCF) time controls since the previous year's Closed. At least four of those games must have been played in the state of Colorado. Colorado Residency applies.

The CSCA Board recommends that the Colorado Closed continue to take place on 2 consecutive weekends in the first quarter of the year (due to tradition and lack of other tournaments scheduled at this time of year).

Players will be invited to the Colorado Closed in the following order, ties move to the next tiebreak (same residency requirements as the Colorado Open):

  1. USCF OTB rating
  2. FIDE rating, if both players have a FIDE rating
  3. More active player in Colorado, based on the previous calendar year (12 months) in OTB tournaments
  4. Player with more Colorado Tour points (for that year, since the Colorado Open)
  5. Higher Quick Chess rating
  6. if still tied, CSCA Board decides

This is for invitation only, not for seeding purposes, which are random.

Eligibility for Colorado Champions (Open and Closed): A resident is hereby defined as someone who has lived in Colorado for the last 6 months continuously, or 9 of the last 12 months. The CSCA will defer to military codes of residency for those in the Armed Forces.

(from the CSCA Board 7/2004)