BCC: GIRL POWER // FEBRUARY GRAND PRIX REPORT: NATASHA CHRISTIANSEN / MAXWELL ZHAO 1-2nd / 21 PLAYERS / 1 SECTION // NEW FACES // MILESTONES GALORE // CARISSA YIP BECOMES NM

BCC: GRAND PRIX (OPEN)

NM Eric Godin on the move vs Natasha Christiansen, Round 4,

 ready to win in her regal chess sweater, anticipates the set-up.

Natasha scored 3 wins and a 3rd Round half-point bye to

chalk up 3.5 points for a share of 1-2nd place. Natasha earned
a +69 to 1925 rating. Brava, Natasha!

LASER FOCUS

Maxwell Zhao, ready to rumble with white vs Jerry Li in their

Round 2 game. Max won 3 games in row with a half-point bye

 for Round 4 to share 1-2nd place with Natasha Christiansen.

Max scored 3.5 points and a +62 to 1915 rating. Bravo, Max!
ROCK SOLID

NM Andrew Hoy (orange) (event TD) "silent force" awaits
his opponent's (Jason Tang) move in Round 4. With this win,
Andrew went on to share 3-5th place. Jason was 50 percent
with 2 points. Bravo, Andrew!
RECOVERY MODE

Nithin Kavi scored 3 wins in a row
after losing to Maxwell Zhao in
Round 1 to post 3 points and a
share of 3-5th place. Bravo, Nithin!
PLANNING THE ATTACK

Brandon Wu, (right) calculates his win vs Juan Payan in Round 2.
Brandon pulled himself together after his Round 1 loss to
Michael Yu, to score 3 wins in a row to share 3-5th place.
Bravo, Brandon! Always a fighter! (center, background: Jason Tang)

MILESTONE

Winston Zhao (rt.) plays NM Eric Godin in Round 2. Keeping his
eye on the center of the board, Winston recorded 2 wins, one
loss (to Eric) and 2.5 points to take clear 6th place!
8 yr old Winston was +74 to 1602 rating. Bravo, Winston!
MILESTONE

Michael Yu scored a Round 1 upset over
Brandon Wu to finish the tournament
with 2 point and a +66 to 1801 rating.
Bravo, Michael!
Jin Watch

8 yr old Derek Jin plays Mark Fins in Round 2.
Though Derek lost this game, he regained his
composure to draw his next two games for
1.5 points and a +7 to 1632 rating. Bravo, Derek!
SKITTLES BREAK BETWEEN ROUNDS

Michael Yu plays blitz with Brandon Wu.
(background): John Archibald, Max, Winston and Yi Zhao.
ANTICIPATION

Round 4 pairings: (left to right): NM Eric Godin, Mike Griffin,
Jared Becker, TD trainee, Andrew Hoy, TD, Pinyi Hu, Michael Yu
and Brandon Wu: in the BCC Skittles/TD room.
BEST HAT

Harold Dondis, Esq. 92 years young!
BEST PHOTO!

Harold Dondis, Esq. black vs Jason Tang, Round 3: 1-0 .
NM ANDREW HOY EVENT TD

PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK
LATE BREAKING NEWS
It's official: Carissa Yip is youngest girl USCF master!

Carissa Yip had two good tournaments in a row
to get her rating to 2203! Brava, Carissa!
Carissa Yip: Step 1: press here!
Carissa Yip: step 2: press here !!
Carissa Yip final lap: press here!