Tuesday, November 25, 2008

New Time Limit For Monday Under-1600

Starting with the Tournament that begins on December 1, the Monday Under-1600 will be played at a time limit of 90 minutes for the whole game.

Monday Under-1600 Ends In Tie

The Marshall Monday Night Under-1600 ended in multi-way ties for both first place and top under-1300. First place was a tie between Joseph Fortunato, Guy Rawlins and Tyson Francis Mao, each with a score of 4 Points in 5 Rounds, each winning $84.33. The Prize for the best score for those rated Under 1300 was a five way tie between Efrain Diaz, Werner Buhrer, Douglas Hare, Randy Dorleans, and Ean Fonseca, each with a score of 3 points, each winning $12.60.

The next Under-1600 starts Monday December 1. It's open to all players rated under 1600 or unrated; register by 6:45PM. One game is played every Monday at 7 PM at a time limit of 90 minutes sudden death.

Click to show the crosstable

Monday, November 24, 2008

"What A Turkey" a Cornucopia of Chess

The Chess Center of New York's "What a Turkey" slow Swiss drew over 60 players to the Marshall Chess Club on the weekend of November 22-23.

GM Giorgi Kacheishvili and IM Alex Lenderman celebrated Thanksgiving early by tying for first in the Open section with 3 1/2 out of 4, good for $305 each. Third prize was shared by GM Sergey Kudrin, IM Justin Sarkar and Yefim Treger who scored 3-1 and took home $34 each. Denys Lesyk and Robert Guevara split the Under-2200 prize ($51 each) with 2 1/2. 34 players plus a reanimated Treger participated.

In the Under-2000 section, David Spigel, Frank Paciulli, and Jasmine Grant tied for first with 3 1/2, good for $102 each. Namchul Shin and Jacob Berman won the Under-1800 prize, $51 apiece. There were 28 players and a surplus Moazami.

The entire feast was directed by Steve Immitt, and the crosstable is available from the USCF website.

Pressman Proves Point

NM Leif Pressman won the Chess Center of New York's "Prove Your Point" on Saturday November 22. His a 3-0 score was worth $40. Raven Sturt and NM Kassa Korley picked up $10 for going 2-1. Eight players participated under the direction of Steve Immitt. The crosstable is available on the USCF website.

Zhe Quan Blitzes Rapids

FM Zhe Quan won the Friday Night Rapids on November 21 with a score of 12-1, losing only to FM Asa Hoffmann. 2nd place went to NM Yefim Treger, and 3rd was split among FM Asa Hoffmann and NM David Zimmer. Andre Lopez won the U2000 prize convincingly, winning 8.5/13 of his games. Fourteen players participated.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Rohde and Lenderman Win Ten Grand Prix Points Tonight

GM Giorgi Kacheishvili won the "Four Rated"--no, wait, that's all wrong. GM Michael Rohde and IM Alex Lenderman ended Kacheishvili's streak of first place finishes in the Chess Center of New York's "Four Rated Games Tonight" on Thursday November 20. (This week's edition was officially titled "Ten Grand Prix Points Tonight".) Rohde beat Kacheishvili in the final round and joined Lenderman (who drew with GM Sergey Kudrin) in the winner's circle with 3 1/2 points. They each earned $155.

Tied for third with 3-1 were GM Sergey Kudrin and FM Zhe Quan ($22 each), along with NM Yevgeni Margulis and Evan Rabin ($45 each in Under-2200 money). Bora Yagiz won the Under-2000 prize ($82) with 2 1/2.

The field was 30 players plus a bonus Schnitzler, and Steve Immitt directed. The next tournament is December 4--you're assumed to have something better to do next Thursday.

The crosstable is available from the USCF website.

Berg Cruises to Victory in Thursday Night Swiss

NM George Berg drew his final-round game against Marian Waxman to wrap up sole first prize in the Marshall Thursday Night Members-Only Swiss with a 4-1 score. NM Brian Hulse won his game to finish second a half-point back. First prize was $66 and second was $38.

IM Renato Naranja, NM Ed Gaillard, Marian Waxman, and Edward Moscovic tied for third with 3-2. Naranja and Gaillard won $13.50 each and Waxman and Moscovic split the Under-2000 prize of $16.50 apiece.

The next Thursday Night Swiss begins on December 4 and runs through January 15; no rounds on December 25 or January 1. It's open to all Marshall members and one game is played every Thursday at 7:00 PM with a time limit of 30/90, SD/60.

Click to show the crosstable

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Whitley, Moore, and Molina Win Wednesday Under 2000

Turpana Molina, who was seeded 20th out of the 20 players with a rating of 923, defeated Errol Whitley (1956), who had a perfect 4-0 score, to tie with Whitley and Dennis Moore for first prize in the Marshall Wednesday Under-2000. The three won $82.33 each for their 4-1 scores.

Tied for fourth a half-point behind the leaders were Anatoly Treger, Mark Sinz, and Linda Diaz. They earned $16.67 apiece.

The next Wednesday Under-2000 begins November 26th (register by 6:45 PM, please) and will be a four-round event instead of the usual five. The event is open to all players rated under 2000 or unrated. One game is played every week at 7 PM, at a time limit of 30 moves in 90 minutes followed by one hour sudden death.

Click to show the crosstable

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Yudasin and Rohde Win St. John's Masters

Grandmasters Leonid Yudasin and Michael Rohde shared 1st/2nd prize at the St. John's Masters on Tuesday November 18. Each scored 3 1/2 out of 4 to outdistance a field of 23 players and win $250.

GM Georgi Kacheishvili finished clear 3rd with 3 points ($100), and Evan Rosenberg, Yaacov Norowitz, Yevgeni Margulis, Dan Lowinger (all NMs), and Nitai Leve each won a $30 share of the Under 2400 + Under 2300 prizes with 2 1/2. Lowinger also won the additional $50 upset prize for his first round victory over IM Justin Sarkar. The full crosstable is available from the USCF website.

Here are Kacheishvili's games. He played on Board 1 in Rounds 1-3 and Board 2 in round 4--due to the quick last-round draw on Board 1 between Rohde and Yudasin, the we're showing his thumping of IM Alex Lenderman, to finish in 3rd, instead.



Thanks again to our sponsor, St. John's University; Dr. Frank Brady, the organizer; Chief Tournament Director Steve Immitt; Ed Frumkin who assisted with the tournament directing; and Michael Karon, who assisted with the scorekeeping and move relaying for ICC, which broadcast the top Board games live each round.

The next monthly edition of the St. John's Masters tournament will again be on the third Tuesday of the month, December 16th, at 7:00 pm, and you'll again be able to follow the top games live on ICC each round if you can't make it to the Club.

(Thanks to Steve Immitt for sending the results and games, and writing most of the report.)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Mao Leads Under-1600

Tyson Mao moved into the lead with 31/2 points after four rounds of the Monday Under-1600. Five players are tied for second a half-point behind: Joseph Fortunato, Guy Rawlins, Efrain Diaz, Douglas Hare, and Ean Fonseca. The final round will be next Monday, November 24, at 7 PM.

Click to show the crosstable

Monday, November 17, 2008

Bonin and Figler Win November Open

Im Jay Bonin and FM Ilye Figler scored 3 1/2 out of 4 to share first place in the Marshall Chess Club November Open (November 15-16). They collected $83 each in prize money.

Three players tied for third place with 3 points: FM Boris Privman and NM Yevgeni Margulis collected $22 apiece, while Christopher Wu won the under-2000 prize of $57.

Alice Dong and Abraham Kunin shared the under-1800 prize, scoring 2 points and collecting $24.

Leif Pressman directed the 21-player event.

Click to show the crosstable

Lenderman Wins Rapids

IM Alex Lenderman topped a 12-player field in the Friday Night Super Rapids.

Kacheishvili Wins "Four Rated Games Tonight"

Wait, didn't I use that headline last week? Yes indeed. This time (Thursday November 13) GM Giorgi Kacheishvili scored 3 1/2 points to win the Chess Center of New York's "Four Rated Games Tonight", giving up only a draw to IM Jay Bonin in the last round. Kacheishvili collected $100 for the victory.

Second place at 3-1 was shared by GM Maurice Ashley (in his first US tournament appearance in two years), IM Jay Bonin, FM Ilye Figler. NM Yevgeni Margulis, and Shalva Khaburzania. Each picked up $33. Akollo Odundo won the under-2000 prize ($57) with 2 1/2.

Andre Harding directed the 24-player action event. The USCF website has the crosstable.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Berg Surges In Thursday-Night Members' Open

NM George Berg beat IM Renato Naranja to take the lead in the Marshall Thursday Night Member' Open. Berg has 3 1/2 points out of 4, while Naranja is the sole occupant of second place with 3 points. NM Brian Hulse, NM Ed Frumkin, and Marian Waxman are tied for third with 2 1/2. One more round remains to be played next Thursday.

Click to show the crosstable

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Whitley Leads Under-2000

Errol Whitley continued his winning ways in the Wednesday Under-2000, running his score to 4-0 and guaranteeing at least a tie for first place. Whitley is a full point ahead of the field going into next week's final round.

Molina, the lowest rated player on the wallchart at 923, scored a 580-point upset win over Fidel De Los Santos to move into a tie for second with Dennis Moore at 3-1. Earlier in the event, Molina scored a 662-point upset win, as well.

Click to show the crosstable

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Hare On A Tear

Douglas Hare moved into sole first place in the Marshall Monday Under-1600. He has the only perfect score after three rounds. Joseph Fortunato, Tyson Mao, and James Black are a half-point back. Round Four will be on Monday November 17 at 7:00 PM.

Click to show the crosstable

More on the Marshall Amateur Team

Ed Frumkin sent on the team crosstable for the Marshall Amateur Team Championship, so you can see the team names in all their glory, along with team results, team membership and board-by-board results. Enjoy!

Click to show the team crosstable

Monday, November 10, 2008

Marshall Amateur Team Championship

The big story at the Marshall Amateur Team Championship was the outstanding performance by young Alexis Paredes, who scored 4-0 including a big last-round upset of expert Shalv Khaburzania. Paraedes, a student at IS 318 in Brooklyn (in Elizabeth Vicary's program) won the prize for best performance on second board.

The tournament (held November 8-9) was a two-person team event, with each team having an average rating under 2200. Teams played two-board matches in each round. The prize for top team was carried off by "Board of Ed" (Ed Gaillard/Ed Frumkin) with three match wins and one tie. Gaillard won the first board prize with 3 1/2 points.

The second-place team was "Psychics" (Yevgeni Margulis/Shalv Khaburzania), with two wins and two ties (tying "Board of Ed" in round three and "?" in round 4).

The prize for top team rated under 1800 was split between "?" (Rochel Ballantyne/Alexis Paredes) and SICM (Jackson Hueckel/Edward McCormack). "?" (and where were the Mysterians, I wonder?) had one match win and three ties, while SICM scored two wins and one tie.

Twelve teams participated, four of them from IS 318 if I'm counting correctly. If you were in New York this weekend and didn't play, you missed out on a lot of fun.

Click to show the individual crosstable

Hoffman Wins Friday Rapids

Veteran rapids master Hoffmann claimed first place in the Firday Night Rapids on November 7, and took home $30 for his efforts by winning 7 out of 8 of his games. He lost with white to Zhe Quan. Quan, who has been dominating the tournament since September, lost two of his games – to newcomer David Epstein and Evan Rabin.
(report by TD Leif Pressman)

Click to show the crosstable

Kacheishvili Wins "Four Rated Games Tonight"

GM Giorgi Kacheishvili scored a perfect 4-0 to win the Chess Center of New York's }Four Rated Games Tonight" on Thursday November 6. Kacheishvili won $118 for topping the 26-player field. NM Jomo Pitterson too clear second and $78 a half-point behind. Third prize was split between FM Alexander Kalikshteyn and NM Oliver Chernin ($20 each), along with Bora Yagiz (who got the $74 Under-2200 prize). All scored 3 points. Aaron Landesman won $66 for top under-2000 with 2 1/2.

Andre Harding directed. The scoretable is available on the USCF website.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Naranja Maintains Lead in Thursday Night Members'

IM Renato Naranja defeated NM Brian Hulse to maintain a perfect score and sole possession of first place after the third round of the Marshall Thursday Night Members' Open.

NM George Berg beat NM Ed Gaillard to move into sole second place a half-point behind Naranja.

The next round is Thursday (yup!) November 13 at 7 PM.

Click to show the crosstable

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Whitley Leads Under-2000

Errol Whitley maintained his perfect score to move into sole possession of first place in the Marshall Wednesday Under-2000 after three rounds.

Click to show the crosstable

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Monday Night Under-1600, Round 2

Joseph Fotunato, James Black, and Douglas Hare all scored wins on November 3, and are tied for the lead after two rounds of the Marshall Monday Night Under-1600. The field has swelled to 19 players, but there's still room for more. Come on down to the Marshall on Monday night (November 10) by 6:45 to sign up for the last three rounds (one game a week).

Click to show the standings

Monday, November 3, 2008

"Game Over" screening November 11


Join us at


The Marshall Chess Club


23 West 10th

Street, New York, NY


For a Special
Film Screening event


Tuesday November
11Th, 7 pm



Your browser may not support display of this image.



A controversial
and well-made film wherein Kasparov took issues with the IBM Supercomputer,
Deep Blue,


and claimed that
the match was “fixed” to win the match.



The computer
did what many thought impossible at the time – it appeared to think
like a human.


REFRESHMENTS
WILL BE SERVED


$10 for Non–Members – Members Free



Bonin, West, and Sturt Win Sunday G/30

IM Jay Bonin, NM James West, and Raven Sturt each scored 4 out of 5 to win the MArshall's Sunday G/30 event. The three drew their games with each other and beat all other comers to top teh 14-player field. The crosstable is available on the USCF website.

Khaburzania wins Saturday G/60

The first round of the Saturday (November 1) Game/60 at the Marshall Chess Club was full of surprises as IM Jay Bonin was held to a draw by young Dylan Kosinski and Henry Mori (rated 1122) defeated Malik Perry (1805). In the end, Shalv Khaburzania won the tournament with 3 1/2 out of 4, good for $55.

IM Jay Bonin and Nitai Leve tied for second with 3 points (worth $27.50 each), and Miles Hinson and Michael Bogaty picked up $27 each for winning the under-2000 prize with 2 1/2.

Matt Fischler and Leif Pressman directed.

Click to show the crosstable

Kacheishvili and Privman Top "Ten Grand Prix Points Tonight"

GM Giorgi Kacheishvili and FM Boris Privman topped a field of 19 in the October 30 edition of "Four Rated Games Tonight". Their 3 1/2-point scores were worth $155 each.

Tied for third with 3 points came IM Jay Bonin and FM Asa Hoffmann ($14 each), along with Evan Rabin ($60 for top under-2200).

Yefrem Zats, WIM Shernaz Kennedy, Francesco Rambaldi, Terence Lamb, and Gabor Schnitzler all tied for the under-2000 prize with 2 points; each picked up $11.

Steve Immitt directed for the Chess Center of New York. The crosstable is available from the USCF website.

Naranja Leads Thusday Night Members' Open

IM Renato Naranja is the only remaining perfect score after October 30th's second round of the Thursday Night Members' Open. The field is up to 10 players, and there's still plenty of room--register by 6:45PM next Thursday to play the last three rounds.

Click to show the wall chart

Wednesday Under-2000 Round 2 Results

The second round of the Marshall Wednesday Under-2000 was played on October 29. The field is up to 19 players, and you can still enter next Wednesday by 6:45 PM to play teh last three rounds.

Click to show the wall chart