Altay Omarov is a frequent
visitor to the Desert Paradise Chess Club and a valued member of
our chess community. Over the past weekend (March 21st & 22nd) Altay put
together a fantastic score of 7 1/2 out of 8 games!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Altay hails from Kazakhstan and is an exchange student at Amphi
High School. He will be returning to his home country in June. This 16 year old
lad really captured the hearts of many of the DPCC players. He will be sadly
missed when he departs.
There were several other Tucson success stories (for example,
Catalina Foothills took home the best 'Team' prize among many other trophies).
More coverage of the Arizona Scholastic Championship will be covered in the SACA
Piece and the chessnews web site. We are using this space to promote one of our
own here.
Altay started to come to the Desert Paradise Chess Club sometime
around October or November of 2003. He did not come to us with a lack of
knowledge and was already a well formed player, well on his way to a Master
title. Currently, Altay is listed at 2143 - but you can expect that to change
after this fine performance! Since Altay has been coached to a high level in his
home country, we (Ed Yetman and Steve Farmer) took it upon ourselves to become
his training team. We threw everything in the book at the young visitor. We set
up training games with other young up-and-comers such as Leo Martinez and Roland
Rodriguez. Additionally, some of the veterans took their shot. All in all, the
training games were not overly impressive, but that is not where the games
really count. We wanted Altay to get used to the American style of play. But
when it came to 'crunch-time'...
Altay's play at the Arizona State Scholastic Championship was
flawless. He played with determination to win and with a certain amount of
caution. The format of the games were of a short time control; Game in 40 on
Saturday and Game in 60 on Sunday. Altay's only draw came against the formidable
Tucsonan, Arin Madenci, a strong player of his own right.
Notably absent from the tournament field were Daniel Rensch,
Pieta Garrett and Leo Martinez. This is a shame for all three players are a
wonder to watch play. However, this should not take away from Altay's fine
performance. Altay, you must remember, finished a point and a half ahead of the
field. So, even it these three were in the field, I am sure that he would have
still taken home the prize.
With any luck, we might be able to get Altay to annotate his
games so that we can post them to this site in the near future.
Altay is also active in athletics, track and soccer. He is also
a fine student, holding a good GPA and is preparing to take the S.A.T. soon. He
is interested in business as his choice for study at higher levels.
Altay, we at the DPCC wish you continued success in chess and
what ever profession you choose in the future!