Los Angeles Open 2011

8th Los Angeles Open
October 7-9, 2011

The 8th Annual Los Angeles Open was held from October 7-9, 2011 at the Sheraton Four Points LAX, 9750 Airport Blvd, Los Angeles.

GM Melikset Khachiyan briefly put on the brakes to slow down for a quick draw against IM Andranik Matikozyan in Round 2 of the Quick Schedule Saturday, then stepped back on the gas to win all four of his other games and clinch clear first. Melikset gave the wheel some sharp turns in his last round game against IM Larry Remlinger, and he even thought that he might have been lost at one point. For his part, Remlinger had already marked the occasion by returning to tournament competition after a fifteen year hiatus, apparently picking up right where he left off (his last tournament was the 1996 World Open), this time drawing with IM Sevillano in the first round. However, the twisting, hairpin turns of the complications proved to be too much, and Khachiyan ended up crossing the finish line a whole point ahead of the field.

For his efforts Melikset won $1,600, plus the additional $80 bonus prize for finishing clear first. FM John Bryant managed to stay out of Khachiyan’s path, and ended up right behind him in clear second place, winning $800. IM Enrico Sevillano and Matikozyan both tied for 3rd-4th and each brought home $400, while Howard Chen once again made the familiar trip south from his home state of Washington to follow up on his award-winning performance from this past July’s Pacific Coast Open (where he tied for 1st). This time Howard took $180 back to the Northwest, his own share of the 4-way split of the Under 2400 prizes, as did WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, Konstantin Kavutskiy and Varun Krishan.

All final standings and prizes are now posted.

Please use the following links to obtain more information regarding the 2011 Los Angeles Open: