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Costa Rican Alejandro Ramirez won the US Open Chess Championship, which took place from July 31st to August 8th in Irvine, California. 470 players participated in the tournament including 8 Grand Masters.  Alejandro became a Grand Master at the age of 15, one of the youngest Gran Masters ever to earn the title ( http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2003/diciembre/05/deportes0.html ).

The 22 year old Ramirez currently attends the University of Texas at Dallas on a scholarship, where he is studying for his Master's degree in Video Game design, earlier he earned a bachelor's degree there in the same field.  Ramirez went undefeated in the tournament, with 7 victories and 2 draws.  In an interesting twist, Ramirez was not necessarily planning on going to the tournament, since he has put his studies ahead of chess.  But he is doing an internship in California with the video game company Blizzard Entertainment and decided to take advantage of the trip to participate in the US Open.

Although Ramirez had one of the highest ELO ratings in the tournament, he was not favored to win.  He credited a strong start for his championship.  Costa Rica is not know internationally for its chess playing, and Ramirez is already recognized as the nation's all-time great chess player.  He joins Franklin Chang, Claudia Poll, and Nery Brenes, among others, as Ticos who have come out of nowhere and achieved international prestige in their fields.

Photos available at http://monroi.com/jerry-hanken-memorial-111th-annual-us-open-chess-championship-home.html

Full Tournament Story at US Chess Federation Events and Articles