Normal Service Resumes

I was out of town without good 'net access for a few days, and will now commence catching up. Thanks for your patience.

Games From the Marshall Championship

Steve Immitt kindly sent along a collection of 80 of the games from the Edward Lasker Memorial and 92nd Marshall Chess Club Championship. So here they are for your enjoyment.



Later, I'll do some cleaning up of the games--some have shortened ICC version of the player names, and so on--but I'm really glad to have them here now. Thanks, Steve!

Kalikshteyn Wins October 23 "Four Rated Games Tonight"

On Thursday October 23rd, FM Alex Kalikshteyn made a return from a three-year hiatus to win the "4 Rated Games Tonight!" action tournament with 3 1/₂ points (his previous event was the August 18th, 2005 edition of the "4 Rated Games Tonight!" tournament, where he also tied for 1st).

IM Justin Sarkar, NM Oliver Chernin and NM Leif Pressman tied for 2nd-4th with 3 points, winning $40 each, except for Pressman who won the $50 Under 2200 prize.

Bora Yagiz won the $45 Under 2000 prize with 2 1/₂ points, thereby also qualifying to enter the next monthly St. John's Masters tournament on November 18th.

Full results are on the Chess Center of New York website, and on the USCF website.

(report by TD Steve Immitt)

Monday Night Under-1600 Begins

The new edition of the Marshall Monday Night Under-1600 Swiss began on October 27. Fourteen players produced 7 decisive results in the first round.

Click to show the crosstable

#	Name	Rtng	Post	Rd 1	Tot	Prize
1	Joseph Fortunato	1551	1555	W9	1.0
2	Guy Rawlins	1529	1532	W10	1.0
3	Tyson Francis Mao	1419	1424	W11	1.0
4	James A Black	1410	1411	W12	1.0
5	Iqbal Chaklader	1399	1400	W13	1.0
6	Douglas Hare	1243	1246	W14	1.0
7	Ean Fonseca	1063	1111	W8	1.0
8	Ken Cohen	1412	1377	L7	0.0
9	Derek C Kleinbaum	1179	1174	L1	0.0
10	Jim Ferraiuolo	1102	1098	L2	0.0
11	Ralph J Godfrey	1088	1081	L3	0.0
12	Adrian Durkin	688	687	L4	0.0
13	Randy Dorleans	unr.	750	L5	0.0
14	James King	unr.	750	L6	0.0

There's still time to enter--register by 6:45 PM on Monday November 3 to play one game per week at 7:00 PM.

Izoria and Kacheishvili Win Marshall Championship

The Georgians marched through the Edward Lasker Memorial Marshall Chess Club Championship. Grandmasters Zviad Izoria and GM Giorgi Kacheishvili each scored an undefeated 7 1/₂ out of 9 to share first place in the tournament, which ended on Sunday October 26.

Third place went to Paul Szuper with 6 points--an outstanding result for a player rated only 2192 on the wallchart. A knot of four players tied for third with 5 1/₂: International Masters Justin Sarkar, Alex Lenderman, and Jay Bonin, along with FM Ilye Figler (who won the Under-2400 prize money).

The under-2300 and under-2200 prizes were shared by Kassa Korley, IM Renato Naranja, Raven Sturt, and Benjamin Katz with 5 points.

Steve Immitt directed the 34-player field with his usual aplomb and efficiency.

The complete crosstable with prize payouts is available on the Marshall website, and the USCF has the official results with rating changes.

Thursday Night Members-Only Open Starts

The Marshall Thursday Night Members-Only Open got started on October 23 (Thursday, dontcha know?) with eight players. There's plenty of room! Any Marshall Member can enter; register by 6:45 PM next Thursday, and play one nice slow game each week.

Click to show the crosstable

#	Name/Rtng/ID	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4
1	Renato C Naranja	B 5
	2210 13024036	1.0
2	Brian Hulse	W 6
	2201 10078644	1.0
3	George P Berg	B 7
	2066 12523517	1.0
4	Edward A Frumkin	W 8
	2012 10136580	1.0
5	Edward Scher	W 1
	1971 10076366	0.0
6	Jerry J Monaco	B 2
	1730 12547456	0.0
7	Sandra Oliver	W 3
	1683 12531739	0.0
8	Ken Cohen	B 4
	1412 10086353	0.0

Return of the Rapids!

The Friday Night Rapids returned after a two-week break for the Marshall Amateur and Championship. Things went immediately back to normal as FM Zhe Quan won with 7 1/₂ out of 8, giving up only a draw to FM Asa Hoffman. James Souce was second with 5 1/₂.

Click to show the crosstable

SwissSys Standings. Friday Night Rapids

#

Name

Rtng

Post

Rd 1

Rd 2

Rd 3

Rd 4

Rd 5

Rd 6

Rd 7

Rd 8

Rd 9

Tot

Prize

1

Zhe Quan

2332

2338

W6

D3

W9

W8

W4

W7

W5

W2

U---

7.5

35.00

2

James Souce

1792

1833

D3

W9

W8

L4

W7

W5

U---

L1

W6

5.5

25.00

3

Asa Hoffmann

2290

2265

D2

D1

W6

U---

W9

W8

L4

W7

L5

5.0

4

Evan Z Rabin

2147

2134

U---

L7

W5

W2

L1

W6

W3

L9

W8

5.0

5

Fred Engels

2000

1978

W9

L8

L4

W7

U---

L2

L1

D6

W3

3.5

6

Bora Yagiz

1901

1880

L1

U---

L3

W9

D8

L4

W7

D5

L2

3.0

5.00

7

Philip Shin

1520

1552

W8

W4

U---

L5

L2

L1

L6

L3

W9

3.0

5.00

8

James A Black

1410

1447

L7

W5

L2

L1

D6

L3

W9

U---

L4

2.5

9

Douglas Hare

1243

1260

L5

L2

L1

L6

L3

U---

L8

W4

L7

1.0

Wednesday Night Under-2000 Kicks Off

The latest edition of the Marshall's Wednesday Night Under-2000 Swiss kicked off on October 22 with 18 competitors.

Entry to the tournament is still open, so if you're rated under 2000 and would like to play a little serious slow chess, you can enter next Wednesday, Oct. 29, by 6:45 PM.

Click to show the crosstable

#	Name/Rtng/ID	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5
1	Errol Whitley	B 10
	1956 12430631	1.0
2	Dennis R Moore	W 11
	1907 12422575	1.0
3	Anatoly Treger	B 12
	1860 12688021	0.5
4	Vladimir Gramagin	W 13
	1851 12938516	1.0
5	Paul Rachlin	B 14
	1841 12491761	1.0
6	Mark A Sinz	W 15
	1831 10481384	1.0
7	Linda V Diaz	B 16
	1800 12908194	1.0
8	Jerry J Monaco	W 17
	1730 12547456	1.0
9	Gabriel Rigono	B 18
	1711 10074819	1.0
10	Michael Gutierrez	W 1
	1700 12459430	0.0
11	Kenneth R Collins	B 2
	1625 12931648	0.0
12	Mor Murray-miller	W 3
	1616 12609710	0.5
13	Kyle Moon	B 4
	1585 13076084	0.0
14	Howard Pinn	W 5		bye	bye
	1538 12089560	0.0
15	Fid De Los Santos	B 6
	1513 12612788	0.0
16	Ken Cohen	W 7
	1412 10086353	0.0
17	James A Black	B 8
	1410 13696544	0.0
18	Turpana Molina	W 9
	923 12761501	0.0

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:

Marshall Championship--Round 6 Unofficial Pairings

The pairings for Round 6 of the Edward Lasker Memorial and 92nd Championship of the Marshall Chess Club, have been posted on the Marshall website. Competitors may now fire up their databases, but should be aware that these parings may change (for example if someone drops out).

The games begin on Saturday October 25 at 11:00 AM. Spectators welcome!

Sarkar and Lenderman Win St. John's Masters

IM Justin Sarkar and IM Alex Lenderman scored 3 1/₂ out of 4 to win the October 21st St. John's Masters at the Marshall Chess Club. Each won $250.

A half-point behind GM Giorgi Kacheishvili and Yevgeni Margulis split third prize ($80 each). FM Asa Hoffman won the $30 Under-2400 prize with 2 1/₂, and WIM Shernaz Kennedy won the $30 prize for biggest upset for her third-round victory over Michael Hehir (a 183-point upset).

Many thanks, as always, to our sponsor, St. John's University; our other individual patrons; the tournament organizer, Dr. Frank Brady; Tournament Director Steve Immitt; Assistant TDs Ed Frumkin and Glenn Statille; and to ICC for broadcasting the Board One games live each round!

The complete crosstable is available on the USCF website

Next month's St. John's Masters tournament is once again on the third Tuesday of the month of November: November 18th at 7:00 pm. Register before 6:45 pm. Games are once again slated for live broadcast on ICC each round.

The tournament is open to players rated over 2100. Players rated Under 2100 are also eligible to qualify to enter the November 18th St. John's Masters, by scoring 2.5 or more in any of the next four "4 Rated Games Tonight" Thursday Night Action tournaments through November 13th.

Fortunato and Black Win Under-1600

Joseph Fortunato and James Black tied for first in the Marshall Monday Night Under-1600 Swiss with 4-1 scores. They each won $100. A half-point behind the leaders, third place was split between Guy Rawlins, Renata Kelly, and Iqbal Chaklader
(who won $17.67 each), and Douglas Hare (who collected the $63 under-1300 prize).

The next Under-1600 begins on October 27. Entry is open to all players rated below 1600 or unrated, and registration ends at 6:45 PM. One game is played every Monday at 30 moves in 90 minutes followed by one hour sudden death.

Click to show the crosstable

Marshall CC Monday Under 1600

#	Name	Rtng	Post	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot	Prize
1	Joseph Fortunato	1486	1498	D16	W5	D11	W12	W3	4.0	100.00
2	James A Black	1415	1447	W17	W18	W4	L3	W7	4.0	100.00
3	Guy Rawlins	1513	1521	W14	D11	W6	W2	L1	3.5	17.67
4	Renata Kelly	1512	1511	W15	W10	L2	H---	W8	3.5	17.67
5	Douglas Hare	1208	1237	W21	L1	D10	W16	W18	3.5	63.00
6	Iqbal Chaklader	unr.	1521	H---	W16	L3	W9	W10	3.5	17.67
7	Tyler T Schwartz	1388	1381	H---	W19	D9	W18	L2	3.0
8	Alejandro Beasley	1364	1354	L18	W17	W13	W11	L4	3.0
9	Ken Cohen	1384	1364	L10	W15	D7	L6	W12	2.5
10	Werner Buhrer	unr.	1292	W9	L4	D5	W20	L6	2.5
11	Tyson Francis Mao	1419	1409	W20	D3	D1	L8	U---	2.0
12	Derek C Kleinbaum	1243	1227	H---	H---	W20	L1	L9	2.0
13	Henry Mori	1135	1106	H---	H---	L8	L14	W21	2.0
14	Jim Ferraiuolo	1098	1082	L3	L20	H---	W13	D16	2.0
15	Daniel Feinberg	1078	1079	L4	L9	W17	H---	H---	2.0
16	Ean Fonseca	1063	1066	D1	L6	B---	L5	D14	2.0
17	James King	unr.	976	L2	L8	L15	B---	W20	2.0
18	Jon Albertson	unr.	1153	W8	L2	W21	L7	L5	2.0
19	Jessica T Wang	934	931	H---	L7	H---	U---	U---	1.0
20	Randy Dorleans	unr.	924	L11	W14	L12	L10	L17	1.0
21	Ralph Godfrey	unr.	704	L5	H---	L18	U---	L13	0.5

Marshall Championship First Half Results

After 5 rounds, Georgian Grandmasters Zviad Izoria and Giorgi Kacheishvili lead the Marshall Chess Club Championship / Edward Lasker Memorial with 41/₂ points. IM Renato Naranja is close behind with 4;
IM Justin Sarkar and GM Michael Rohde are at 31/₂ to round out the top 5 of the 34-player field.

Round 6 is at 11:00 AM on Saturday October 25. Pairings may be posted in advance--watch this space.

The complete current standings are available on the Marshall website.

Figler Wins "Four Rated Games Tonight"

FM Ilye Figler scored 3 1/₂ points to finish clear first in the October 16 edition of the Chess Center of New York's long-running "Four Rated Games Tonight" tournament series.

Right behind Figler was a big pile-up at 3 points: GM Michael Rohde, IM Justin Sarkar, IM Jay Bonin, and NM Kassa Korley collected $30 each, while Evan Rabin and Edward Scher picked up $72 for the Under-2200 prize.

Steve Immitt directed 27 players (plus an extra bonus re-entrant). The full results are available from the USCF website.

Five-Way Tie In Thursday Night Members' Open

IM Renato Naranja defeated George Berg in the final round of the Marshall Thursday Night Members' Open, resulting in a five-way tie for first place. Joining Naranja and Berg at the top were NM Brian Hulse, NM Ed Gaillard, and Marian Waxman. All scored 3 1/₂ and won $42.

The next Thursday Night tournament begins October 23; registration ends at 6:45 PM. Entry is open to all Marshall members and costs $20. One round is played every Thursday at 7 PM at a time limit of 30/90, SD/60. Come join the fun!

Click to show the crosstable

Thursday Members Only

#	Name	Rtng	Post	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot	Prize
1	Brian Hulse	2210	2209	W14	D4	D6	D2	W8	3.5	42.00
2	Renato C Naranja	2207	2208	H---	D8	W10	D1	W4	3.5	42.00
3	Edward A Gaillard	2173	2172	D9	H---	D8	W6	W7	3.5	42.00
4	George P Berg	2042	2053	W10	D1	W9	W7	L2	3.5	42.00
5	Marian Waxman	1986	1982	W12	H---	L7	W9	W11	3.5	42.00
6	Edward A Frumkin	2000	2002	W11	D7	D1	L3	X10	3.0
7	And Hellenschmidt	2061	2054	W13	D6	W5	L4	L3	2.5
8	Dorothy Teasley	2000	2005	H---	D2	D3	W12	L1	2.5
9	Jerry J Monaco	1670	1696	D3	W14	L4	L5	B---	2.5
10	Edward A Moscovic	1661	1662	L4	W11	L2	X13	F6	2.0
11	Ken Cohen	1384	1363	L6	L10	D12	B---	L5	1.5
12	Reva Shree Singh	1037	1053	L5	B---	D11	L8	U---	1.5
13	Sandra Oliver	1667	1664	L7	H---	H---	F10	U---	1.0
14	Edward Scher	1922	1904	L1	L9	U---	U---	U---	0.0

Final Round Bloodbath In Wednesday Under-2000

Eight of the ten games were decisive in the final round of the Wednesday Night Under-2000 Swiss at the Marshall, and White won all eight. When the dust cleared, Richard Murphy, Sabrij Mehmedovic, Harik Subramanian were on top of the field with with 4-1 scores. Each collected $100 in prize money for the victory.

Linda Diaz and Joel Sneed split the under-1800 prize ($37.50 each) with 2 1/₂.

The next Under-2000 begins on October 22. Entry is open to all players rated below 2000; please register before 6:45 PM. One round is played every Wednesday at 7 PM, and the time control is 30 moves in 90 minutes, followed by one hour sudden death.

Click to show the crosstable

Final Standings. Wednesday U2000

#	Name	Rtng	Post	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot	Prize
1	Richard Murphy	1932	1946	H---	W18	W10	D8	W6	4.0	100.00
2	Sabrij Mehmedovic	1882	1893	W20	L6	W13	W11	W8	4.0	100.00
3	Harik Subramanian	1765	1790	W23	H---	D15	W12	W7	4.0	100.00
4	Dennis R Moore	1966	1956	D15	L8	W24	W19	W9	3.5
5	Anatoly Treger	1864	1871	W12	W11	D8	L6	W15	3.5
6	Paul Rachlin	1842	1862	W19	W2	D7	W5	L1	3.5
7	Bora Yagiz	1884	1885	W16	W9	D6	H---	L3	3.0
8	Mark A Sinz	1815	1830	W22	W4	D5	D1	L2	3.0
9	Adam Brad Sherman	1845	1841	W17	L7	H---	W15	L4	2.5
10	David S Kantey	1831	1824	D21	W25	L1	W20	U---	2.5
11	Aigboje Aregbeyen	1758	1751	W24	L5	W17	L2	D12	2.5
12	Linda V Diaz	1694	1689	L5	W23	W22	L3	D11	2.5	37.50
13	Joel R Sneed	1466	1495	W14	H---	L2	H---	D19	2.5	37.50
14	William Dubinsky	1802	1772	L13	L17	H---	H---	W21	2.0
15	Tomasz Zalewski	1713	1714	D4	W21	D3	L9	L5	2.0
16	Kevin Coyle	1700	1690	L7	D19	D18	U---	W23	2.0
17	Jerry J Monaco	1670	1683	L9	W14	L11	U---	W20	2.0
18	Kenneth R Collins	1640	1646	H---	L1	D16	W22	U---	2.0
19	Fid De Los Santos	1541	1552	L6	D16	W21	L4	D13	2.0
20	Michael Gutierrez	1700	1676	L2	F22	W23	L10	L17	1.0
21	Howard Pinn	1511	1495	D10	L15	L19	H---	L14	1.0
22	Ernest C Murden	1506	1484	L8	X20	L12	L18	U---	1.0
23	Ken Cohen	1384	1376	L3	L12	L20	W24	L16	1.0
24	Johan Grobler	1257	1241	L11	B---	L4	L23	U---	1.0
25	Jacob Berman	1446	1443	H---	L10	U---	U---	U---	0.5

Rawlins Moves Into Lead in Under-1600

Guy Rawlins defeated James Black. who had the last remaining perfect score, to take the lead in the Monday Under-1600 at the Marshall Chess Club. Black is joined by Joseph Fortunato, Tyler Schwartz, and Alejandro Beasley in a tie for second place with 3 points, a half-point behind Rawlins.

The final round will be played on Monday October 20 at 7PM. The next Under-1600 tournament will begin on October 27.

Click to show the crosstable

Marshall CC Monday Under 1600

#	Name	Rtng	Post	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Tot	Prize
1	Guy Rawlins	1513	1537	W14	D10	W9	W3	3.5
2	Joseph Fortunato	1486	1481	D16	W7	D10	W11	3.0
3	James A Black	1415	1436	W20	W12	W6	L1	3.0
4	Tyler T Schwartz	1388	1400	H---	W18	D13	W12	3.0
5	Alejandro Beasley	1364	1368	L12	W20	W17	W10	3.0
6	Renata Kelly	1512	1505	W15	W8	L3	H---	2.5
7	Douglas Hare	1208	1225	W21	L2	D8	W16	2.5
8	Werner Buhrer	unr.	1390	W13	L6	D7	W19	2.5
9	Iqbal Chaklader	unr.	1452	H---	W16	L1	W13	2.5
10	Tyson Francis Mao	1419	1412	W19	D1	D2	L5	2.0
11	Derek C Kleinbaum	1243	1246	H---	H---	W19	L2	2.0
12	Jon Albertson	unr.	1269	W5	L3	W21	L4	2.0
13	Ken Cohen	1384	1357	L8	W15	D4	L9	1.5
14	Jim Ferraiuolo	1098	1094	L1	L19	H---	W17	1.5
15	Daniel Feinberg	1078	1071	L6	L13	W20	H---	1.5
16	Ean Fonseca	1063	1065	D2	L9	B---	L7	1.5
17	Henry Mori	1135	1101	H---	H---	L5	L14	1.0
18	Jessica T Wang	934	931	H---	L4	H---	U---	1.0
19	Randy Dorleans	unr.	1074	L10	W14	L11	L8	1.0
20	James King	unr.	673	L3	L5	L15	B---	1.0
21	Ralph Godfrey	unr.	750	L7	H---	L12	U---	0.5

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.

Margulis, Szuper Are Marshall Amateur Champions

NM Yevgeny Margulis and expert Paul Szuper tied for first place in the Jerry Simon Memorial Marshall Chess Club Amateur Championship, each scoring 4 1/₂ out of 5.

All 15 players with plus scores qualified for the Marshall Championship (Edward Lasker Memorial), which beings on Friday evening.

The complete scoretable is available from the USCF website.