Two Southern Californians led a powerful field at the National Open in Las Vegas last weekend. Grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian and IM Enrico Sevillano shared first place in the 89-player Open section with scores of 5-1. The chess tournament included 17 GMs. Entering the final round, 12 chess players were tied at 4-1. Three of the games between them ended in hard-fought draws, and a fourth was drawn without a struggle. However, Akobian defeated GM Laurent Fressinet of France, a 2008 co-winner, and Sevillano upset GM Evgeny Bareev of Russia, once ranked fourth in the world. Akobian overcame particularly difficult pairings. Earlier, he had drawn one of the favorites ...

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