Cimarron-Memorial crowned state chess champs

By Jeff Pope

Wednesday, March 11, 2009 | midnight

All Oswaldo Rodriquez wanted was a chance to test himself against the best high school chess players in Nevada.

He seized his opportunity to topple the best of the best and, in doing so, crowned Cimarron-Memorial High School as the Nevada State Scholastic Chess Tournament champions.

The Spartans are the royalty of high school chess, edging out Cheyenne High School by a point to capture their first state championship on March 7.

The school is holding a pep rally for the team Wednesday morning

Rodriquez, a junior, led Cimarron-Memorial by winning four of his five matches en route to 13.5 team points. Cheyenne, led by senior Michael Thomas’s 4 points, finished with 12.5 team points. The Meadows School finished third with 9.5 points followed by Palo Verde with 6.5 points and Boulder City with 4 points.

Glenn Bidari, a substitute teacher and coach at Cimarron-Memorial, said the competition was neck and neck going into the final round.

“Mostly Cheyenne was the toughest competition. They brought 10 guys and we had 10 guys and they made it a tough fight,” he said.

Rodriquez placed third overall among 120 players and earned the Upset Prize for defeating Cheyenne’s Thomas. The prize recognizes the victory with the largest disparity between U.S. Chess Federation ratings.

“It’s like being a giant killer. You crush someone way above your rating,” Bedari said.

Thomas was rated 1629 at the start of the tournament. Rodriquez had a 1097 rating.

“That was exciting because everyone wanted to beat him really bad,” Rodriquez said. “It felt like it was a chance to prove myself. I wanted to show that I could play well.”

Rodriquez also upset Sandra Hernandez, a 1458-rated player from The Meadows School.

Following those victories, Rodriquez becomes the king to upset next year. He said he’s not worried, though, because it means more opportunities to prove himself again.

“I’m really competitive and I like to challenge other people and myself,” he said.

It was the first four-win tournament for Rodriquez, 17, who started playing the game just five months ago after watching clips of chess icon Bobby Fischer on YouTube.

“I was a little disappointed about my only loss, because I was very tired. But it was OK because my main goal was to beat Michael,” he said.

Thomas, who won his division in the 2008 North American Open Chess Championship, walked into the state tournament wearing a purple cape, said teacher Pat Holland, who manages the Cimarron-Memorial team.

“I was standing withe the other team’s coach and we were laughing a great deal about it,” she said. “It was really cute.”

St. Viator Elementary School won the K-8 division with 11.5 points. Our Lady of Las Vegas School claimed the K-5 division with 13 points and The Meadows Lower School took top honors in the K-3 division with 18 points.

Fifth grader Matthew Martinez, from Lake Mead Christian Academy, was the only player in the tournament to win every one of his matches.

However, Richard Lee of The Meadows Upper School placed second overall and has the honor of representing Nevada at the Denker Tournament of High School Champions in August. The event brings the high school champions from each state together to determine the champion of champions.

Jeff Pope can be reached at 990-2688 or [email protected]