Lenderman Simul Rings In New Year

IM Alex Lenderman gave an eight-board simultaneous exhibition on New Year's Eve at the Marshall, winning six, drawing one, and losing one game.

In the great tradition of simuls, we give Lenderman's only loss, to upcoming junior Alex Ostrovskiy:

Thanks to Alex Lenderman for helping the club celebrate the New Year!

December St. John's Masters Games

Steve Immitt was kind enough to send along the scores of the top-board games from the December St. John's Masters, and so here they are for your edification. Steve directs your attention to the 62-mover struggle between IM Alex Lenderman and GM Mike Rohde in Round 3: "a particularly exciting game--not the typical 'GM draw' this time!"

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.)

Double Cross

Last Thursday, playing White in a last-round game against the leader of the Marshall's Members-Only Swiss, IM Renato Naranja reached the position on the left. Naranja says he greatly enjoyed having the chance to use a certain tactic he'd never used before. What's the best move?

Three days later, Naranja had the position on the right in his Marshall Championship game, White against Alex Getz, and--let's let him tell it: "the earlier game with Berg must have sensitized my chess eye to the pattern, since, in my game with Getz, I saw it coming a mile away and deliberately played for the 'trap'." Well, Black clearly would love to advance on the Kingside--but what is Naranja baiting his hook for?

For the answers, check out the games:

We'll leave IM Naranja with the last words: "As for diagonals, I don't have the fine feeling for knights in the melee that for instance Jay Bonin has, so I rely mostly on the prelates to slide in on the bias. Sometimes chess can be FUN!"

Games From The St. John's Masters

Steve Immitt was kind enough to send the game scores for each round's top-board game from the October St. John's Masters, and so we present them for your viewing pleasure:

Sarkar Wins Match With Lenderman

IM Justin Sarkar completed a 3 1/₂-1/₂ victory in his match with IM Alex Lenderman at the Marshall Chess Club. The final two games were played on Sunday, October 12; Sarkar, who had won the first two games of the match (on Friday and Saturday), also won the third game. The final game was a quick draw.

Sarkar Leads Lenderman 2-0

IM Justin Sarker defeated IM Alex Lenderman in 37 moves in Game 2 of their match on Saturday afternoon (October 11). Sarkar leads the series two games to none.

Sarkar Wins First Match Game Against Lenderman

Game 1 of the Sarkar-Lenderman match ended in a 22-move victory for IM Justin Sarkar.

Game 2 will be on Saturday at noon.

Spectacular DeFrimian-Lapshun Game

Here's the DeFirmian-Lapshun game mentioned in the report on the August St. John's Masters'. Nick Conticello wrote: "Nick De Firmian and Yury Lapshun saw the first board unoccupied and sat down to play on the famous Capablanca table under the unblinking scrutiny of Frank Marshall's bust. Fittingly, the players followed the game Capablanca-Marshall, New York 1918, which introduced the Marshall Countergambit in the Ruy Lopez! De Firmian, White, varied from the Cuban's play with a now standard Bishop move, but Lapshun had a new idea of his own..."

I suppose someone will just have to write in and tell us what happens when you show the game to Herr Fritz. Or you could just play it over and enjoy it.

Hess Sweeps August Open

IM Robert Hess swept through a field of 34 to win the New York August Open (August 2-3). His perfect 4-0 score included a fine win against GM Leonid Yudasin, and earned him $367. GM Michael Rohde, Senior Master Grigory Braylovskiy, and NM Yefim Treger tied for second with 3 points and took home $92 each.

Hess sacrificed a piece to trap Yudasin's king in the center and score a dramatic last-round victory to wrap up first prize. Here's the game:


The 32-player Under-2000 section was won by Kevin Dresher and Anatoly Treger with 3 1/₂ out of 4. They won $138 for their efforts. Terence Lamb, Richard Rivera Jr, Michael Bodek, and Peter Hess split the under-1800 prize with 3 points, winning $23 each.

Crosstables are available on the USCF website. Steve Immitt directed for the Chess Center of New York.