Trivia & Records
Coloradoans on the national scene
Hans Berliner (1959 Colorado Champion) was on the US Team in the 1952 FIDE Olympiad in Helsinki. He was the first American citizen to win the World Correspondence Chess Championship which began in 1959, with the finals starting in 1965. Dr. Berliner’s game against Y. Estrin was voted the best game in the history of correspondence chess. August 1968 Chess Life magazine cover. His 87.5% winning percentage en route to the World Correspondence Championship is a remarkable record. Dr. Hans J. Berliner has been a Principal Research Computer Scientist in Computer Science at Carnegie-Mellon University since 1974. In 1979 he designed a backgammon-playing computer program that beat the World Backgammon Champion. He was World Correspondence Chess Champion 1968-1972 and was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame in 1990. He is a member of numerous editorial boards for journals in AI and he is a Fellow in the American Association for Artificial Intelligence.
Michael Valvo was the arbiter in the February 1996 match between World Champion Garry Kasparov and IBM’s Deep Blue in Philadelphia.
Don Sutherland won the 1975 Armed Forces Championship.
John Watson won the inaugural National High School Championship in 1969. He was awarded the USCF Frank J. Marshall Award in 2008 and the USCF Outstanding Career Achievement Award in 2020. For all his lifelong chess accomplishments, he was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 2022.
Mark Schlagenhauf was the 1984 US Amateur Champion.
Damian Nash was the 1991 G/60 National Amateur co-champion.
Alex Fishbein won the Denker Tournament of High School Champions in 1985. Fishbein received the 1990 Samford Fellowship, tied for 2nd place in the 2018 U.S. Open, 1999 tied for first in the World Open. In 2018, 2020, and 2025 Fishbein won Irwin National Tournament of Senior State Champions. Fishbein won the 2025 U.S. Senior Championship.
David Lucky tied for second place in the 1995 US Open.
Josh Wallace was the National Second Grade Champion in 1997-98 and the National Third Grade Champion in 1998-99.
Michael Mulyar tied for first place in the 1999 and 2007 US Open. Michael also tied for 2nd place in the 2014 U.S. Open. Michael received the Samford Fellowship in 2000 and represented the United States in the 1993 World Under 16 Championship in Bratislava, Slovakia in 1993. He was the 1998 U.S. Junior co-champion, tying for first place with IM Igor Shliperman, but losing in the playoff.
Sam Galler won the K-6 Championship section of the 2002 National Elementary Chess Championships.
Colorado book of Chess Records
Largest Colorado upset resulting in a draw: 1995 Aurora Open, Round 2, 965 rating point difference between Brent Truskowski (1122) vs. Francis Toften (2087).
Largest Colorado upset victory in adult tournament: 1995 Colorado Open, Round 6, 840 rating point difference when 10-year-old Jacob Herold (951) defeated Jay Shaeffer (1791).
Largest Colorado upset victory in a scholastic tournament: 2011 State Scholastic Championship, Round 1, 7-9 Division, Sherry Langseth (872) defeated Kurt Kondracki (1951) for a rating difference of 1079 points.
Largest upset in a blitz tournament game: 1084 points – Glen Suares (1590) beat US Champion, GM Larry Christiansen (2674), April 16, 2002 in a 5- minute tournament game at the Denver Chess Club.
Youngest player to draw an International Master or Grandmaster in a simul: in 1995 Alex White (8 years old) drew IM Igor Ivanov.
Longest continuous Colorado game between masters in 1995 Colorado Open, Round 4, 143 moves, taking 12 hours ending in a draw between David Lucky and Todd Bardwick. (This is also the US record for the longest continuous game between masters.)
Strongest Families
Strongest Father-Son [Grandson]
Gregory (NM) and Alex (GM) Fishbein [and Mitch (NM) Fishbein]
Mikhail (NM) and Philipp (NM) Ponomarev
Alan (Expert) and Todd (NM) Bardwick
DuWayne (Expert) and Rhett (Expert) Langseth
Strongest siblings
Griffin (NM) and Sullivan (NM) McConnell
Daniel (NM) and Sara (Expert) Herman
Davin (Class A) and Derek (Class A) Yin
Paul (Class A) and Phil (Class A) Salem
Strongest Middle School Chess alumni
West Middle School (1971-81)
Mani Sayeedi (Expert)
Strongest High School Dynasty
Cherry Creek High School (1975-1981)
SM Jerry Kearns
NM Paul Nikitovich
Craig Gallo (Expert)
Boris Bendersky (Expert)
Mani Sayeedi (Expert)
(graduated in 2024)
Vedanth Sempath (Expert)
Note: The 1980 Cherry Creek High School chess team had the highest average rating (high 1900’s) in the country for a four-player team. Alex Fishbein went to West MS this year that fed into Cherry Creek High School.
Honorable Mention:
Wheat Ridge High School (1976-85)
SM Randy Canney
Scott Wicker (Expert)
