Stripunsky Wins St. John's Masters

How strong was the September St. John's Masters? It was so strong that a Grandmaster won the upset prize! GM Mike Rohde's third-round opponent, GM Zviad Izoria, out-rated him by 224 points--before he turned down his King. Rohde noted that that was the first time he had ever been the beneficiary of an upset prize.

GM Alexander Stripunsky scored 3 1/₂ out of 4 to take clear first prize in the Tuesday night event. Stripunsky earned $300 for the victory. GM Michael Rohde and GM Leonid Yudasin split second and third with 3 points, taking home $150 each. Rohde was also rewarded with the $30 upset prize. IM Jay Bonin, NM Oliver Chernin and FM Boris Privman divvied up the $90 in Under 2400 and Under 2300 prizes three ways.

The sixteen-player field included five GMs, one IM, two FMs, and four NMs, and was directed by Steve Immitt. The next St. John's Masters is on Tuesday October 21st at 7:00 pm.

Click to show the crosstable

St. John's Masters, September 16, 2008

#	Name	Rtng	Post	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Tot	Prize
1	GM Alexander Stripunsky	2617	2633	W9	W6	W4	D2	3.5
2	GM Leonid G Yudasin	2644	2645	W12	D3	W5	D1	3.0
3	GM Michael A Rohde	2446	2471	W10	D2	W11	D4	3.0
4	GM Sergey Kudrin	2616	2605	W14	W8	L1	D3	2.5
5	IM Jay Bonin	2370	2379	W13	D11	L2	W9	2.5
6	NM Oliver Chernin	2240	2245	W16	L1	W14	D7	2.5
7	FM Boris Privman	2235	2243	L11	W13	W10	D6	2.5
8	FM Jon Jacobs	2333	2325	W15	L4	L9	W14	2.0
9	NM Yevgeni Margulis	2158	2166	L1	W16	W8	L5	2.0
10	Evan Z Rabin	2088	2094	L3	W12	L7	W16	2.0
11	GM Zviad Izoria	2670	2644	W7	D5	L3	U---	1.5
12	NM Roy Greenberg	2205	2195	L2	L10	W15	D13	1.5
13	Michael J Hehir	2076	2074	L5	L7	W16	D12	1.5
14	NM Leif Pressman	2148	2142	L4	W15	L6	L8	1.0
15	Aaron Landesman	2001	1989	L8	L14	L12	U---	0.0
16	Gabor Schnitzler	1755	1745	L6	L9	L13	L10	0.0