We had 20 participants in the event:

Cross table: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200908162721

TROPHY WINNERS:

• Gerardo Bruno came in first with 4.0/5.0; winning the first place trophy (thanks to his better tie-break).
• Leo Creger was also 4.0/5.0 and won the second place trophy (Rating change: 1090-1096).
• Dante Peterson has been improving pretty consistently lately and this time he finally tied for first place 4.0/5.0; while gaining 18 points on the way (677-695). All this before he enters the second grade.

MEDAL WINNERS

• Patrick Tate came out of retirement (!). His rustiness showed as he used to win these tournaments outright about a year ago. But, his clear 4th place with 3.5/5.0 gave him a respectable result and was the first candidate for the Medal!
• Mick Peterson followed his brother’s successful path by gaining 102 rating points; jumping from 745 to 847!! Are we seeing a new trend with the Paterson’s?! Mick was the only player to defeat Gerardo Bruno..
• Max Cohen had the best tie-break of 6 players with 3.0/5.0; so, he also got a Medal!

DISNEY PRIZE WINNERS

• Andrew Santoso played in his first ever USCF tournament and his 3 win was good for a first rating of 719!! Hunter Garza also had a respectable rating jump from 412 to 500!
• Raghav Ramanujam and Ghadir Johnson also gained 3.0/5.0. …and we had 10 other players who tried their best and performed reasonably well.

My philosophy: If any youngster has the courage to compete in tournaments with others, he/she is a champions to us. And, therefore, deserves a prize! This is why I would like to give a prize to EVERY participant in this tournament.