Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Raven Sturt Wins Fide Thursdays in Dramatic Finish

The Marshall Chess Club Fide Thursdays tournament came down to the wire when event leader Zahar Hilkevich lost his queen in extreme mutual time pressure against Marshall member George Berg. Both players had less than one minute remaining in a position that, according to George, was "probably drawn."

Zahar's misfortune gave the tournament victory to Raven Sturt, the highest rated player of the event, after a win against Paulo Santanna.

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Thursday, March 25, 2010

MCC-U2000: Leotaud Alone On Top After Round 4!

Glenn Leotaud upset top-rated Zach Cohn in round 4 of the Marshall CC U2000 tournament. He is now 4-0, one full point ahead of Boris Berkun, David Kantey, Kyle Moon, and Ron Anderson, who all still have a chance to catch Glenn in the final round next Wednesday.

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Friday, March 19, 2010

FIDE Thursdays--Hilkevich Continues to Dominate

In round 5 of the Marshall Chess Club Fide-rated Thursday night tournament Zahir Hilkevich defeated Fritz Gaspard and improved to an impressive 4.5/5. The only player who can still overtake Zahir is MCC member and rising star Raven Sturt with 4/5 after a win with black against Sarathi Ray. The top player rated under 2000 is William Fisher with 2 points, despite having played only one game. Will commutes from Philadelphia just to play at the Marshall Fide Thursdays!

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Wednesday-U2000: Leotaud Alone on Top!

Glenn Leotaud defeated Wednesday night regular Sabrij Mehmedovic with black to capture the clear lead in the Marshall U2000 tournament with a score of 3-0. Half a point behind are Zach Cohn, Boris Berkun, David Kantey, and Kyle Moon, who upset the rapidly improving Casey Jacobs with the black pieces.

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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Monday-U1600: Santos Clear Leader Before Final Round

Alberto Santos maintained a perfect score of 4-0 by defeating top-ranked Ean Fonseca in Round 4 of the MCC U1600 tournament. Half a point behind the leader after a win against William Ho is new Marshall member Greg Keener who is competing in his first USCF rated tournament. The stage is set for a showdown in the final round which will decide the winner of the tournament and of the $174 first price.

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Friday, March 12, 2010

Hilkevich Clear Leader After Round 4 of the MCC Fide Thursdays Tournament

Zahar Hilkevich defended his lead in the Marshall Chess Club Fide Thursdays tournament by winning with black against Oscar Maldonado. Half a point behind is Raven Sturt after defeating George Berg with white.

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Thursday, March 11, 2010

WEDNESDAY U2000: Only 2 Players With Perfect Score After Round 2

After round 2 of the MCC U2000 tournament only Sabrij Mehmedovic and Glenn Leotaud maintain a perfect score. Sabrij won with black against Aigboje Aregbeyen and Glenn defeated Gabriel Rigono with white. Wednesday, March 17th will be the last chance to enter the 5-round event with two half point byes.

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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

54 Players at Bobby Fischer Memorial Blitz!

On March 9th, 2010 Bobby Fischer would have celebrated his 67th birthday. To commemorate this date, the historic Marshall Chess Club in New York’s Greenwich Village hosted a speed chess tournament in Fischer’s honor.

Among the 54 players (including seven grandmasters) and many guests were a number of close personal friends of the legendary American World Champion, most notably GM William Lombardy, Fischer’s second at the 1972 match in Reykjavik, Marshall Chess Club President Dr. Frank Brady, Fide Master Asa Hoffmann, and WIM Shernaz Kennedy.

The tournament was played in the Marshall’s Great Hall, the scene of countless Bobby Fischer triumphs. The 9-round Swiss ended in a 3-way tie between GM’s Giorgi Kacheishvili and Mikheil Kekelidze of Georgia and New York’s Super IM and GM-elect Aleksandr Lenderman.



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Thursday, December 17, 2009

MCC Championship - Pairings Round 6

Pairings for Round 6. MARSHALL CC CHAMPIONSHIP


1 MICHAEL A ROHDE (4.0) ALEX LENDERMAN (5.0)
2 RASHAD BABAEV (3.5) IRINA KRUSH (3.5)
3 ALEKSA OSTROVSKIY (3.0) MAGE PANCHANATHAN (3.0)
4 SIDD RAVICHANDRAN (3.0) JUSTIN SARKAR (3.0)
5 EVAN Z RABIN (2.5) SERGEY KUDRIN (2.5)
6 JAY BONIN (2.5) ALEXANDER ROSS KATZ (2.5)
7 YEFIM TREGER (2.5) MARIAN WAXMAN (2.5)
8 MICHAEL LAYEVSKIY (2.0) LEONID G YUDASIN (2.0)
9 BRIAN HULSE (2.0) HENRY C SOBO (2.0)
10 JASON J MARGIOTTA (2.0) JAKE S MILLER (2.0)
11 JAMES R WEST (1.5) GEORGE P BERG (1.5)
12 NELSON M FARBER (1.5) EDWARD FRUMKIN (1.0)
1 GEORGE TOM (1.0) BYE (please call the club)
½ JOHN P FEDOROWICZ (3.5) BYE
½ ROBERT L HESS (3.5) BYE

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

IM Jay Bonin and SM Yaakov Norowitz victorious at last St. John's Masters!

Perennial Speed Powerhouse Yaacov Norowitz scored 3½ points in the December 15th St. John's Masters at the Marshall Chess Club. Yaacov's opponents tried to confuse things with some unusual openings, but when the smoke cleared, the Senior Master emerged unfazed by the complications. Leif Pressman trotted out the Budapest Gambit in Round 2, but Yaacov simplified his positional advantage into a won endgame. Round 3 saw FM Asa Hoffmann testing out an unorthodox Queen's Pawn opening (with 2... Bg4 and 3...Bxf3), but again Norowitz nursed a pawn advantage into a won game. Finally in the last round, Yaacov took no chances, grabbing a fast draw with IM Jay Bonin, who also had won his first three games.

Bonin and Norowitz shared first and second prize, taking home $250 each. Hoffmann, who rebounded with a last-round victory over NM Oliver Chernin, scored 3-1, along with IM Justin Sarkar, who bowed out of the festivities with a pre-declared last-round bye. They each won $70. Michael Layevskiy, the second-lowest-rated player at the start, showed that it's not so bad on the bottom, when he defeated NM Leiff Pressman in Round 3-- a 320 point upset which easily clinched the $30 Upset Prize. Michael also won the $30 Under 2300 prize to boot!

The St. John's Masters tournaments had been held on the third Tuesday of the month. This was the last such event, however. Starting in 2010, the monthly tournaments will be sponsored by the Marshall Chess Club, along with interested patrons.

The first "Marshall Masters" tournament will be at 7 pm on the third Tuesday of the month of January: January 19th.

These events are open to players rated over 2100. Players under 2100 may also qualify to register by scoring at least 2½ points in one of the "4 Rated Games Tonight!" action tournaments held every Thursday night at 7 pm since the last Tuesday Masters tournament.. You can also follow the action each round on Board 1 on ICC, if you can't make it out to the Marshall.

Steve Immitt

Monday, December 14, 2009

MCC Championship: Results Round 5 and Standings

Results for Round 5


Please click below to view standings

Results for Round 5. MARSHALL CC CHAMPIONSHIP

1 0 JUSTIN SARKAR (3.0) 1 ALEX LENDERMAN (4.0)
2 ½ SIDD RAVICHANDRAN (2.5) ½ RASHAD BABAEV (3.0)
3 1 ROBERT L HESS (2.5) 0 JAY BONIN (2.5)
4 1 JOHN P FEDOROWICZ (2.5) 0 EVAN Z RABIN (2.5)
5 1 IRINA KRUSH (2.5) 0 SERGEY KUDRIN (2.5)
6 1 MAGE PANCHANATHAN (2.0) 0 YEFIM TREGER (2.5)
7 ½ MICHAEL LAYEVSKIY (1.5) ½ BRIAN HULSE (1.5)
8 0 GEORGE P BERG (1.5) 1 ALEXANDER ROSS KATZ (1.5)
9 ½ JAMES R WEST (1.0) ½ NELSON M FARBER (1.0)
10 1 HENRY C SOBO (1.0) 0 GEORGE TOM (1.0)
½ EDWARD FRUMKIN (0.5) BYE
½ ALEKSA OSTROVSKIY (2.5) BYE
½ MARIAN WAXMAN (2.0) BYE
½ JAKE S MILLER (1.5) BYE
½ JASON J MARGIOTTA (1.5) BYE
½ LEONID G YUDASIN (1.5) BYE
½ MICHAEL A ROHDE (3.5) BYE

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Sunday, December 13, 2009

MCC Championships Pairings Round 4

Results for Round 4. MARSHALL CC CHAMPIONSHIP

Bd Res White Player Name Res Black Player Name
1 1 ALEX LENDERMAN (3.0) 0 SIDD RAVICHANDRAN (2.5)
2 0 JAY BONIN (2.5) 1 MICHAEL A ROHDE (2.5)
3 .5 ROBERT L HESS (2.0) .5 IRINA KRUSH (2.0)
4 .5 SERGEY KUDRIN (2.0) .5 JOHN P FEDOROWICZ (2.0)
5 1 RASHAD BABAEV (2.0) 0 MAGE PANCHANATHAN (2.0)
6 0 LEONID G YUDASIN (1.5) 1 JUSTIN SARKAR (2.0)
7 1 YEFIM TREGER (1.5) 0 GEORGE P BERG (1.5)
8 1 EVAN Z RABIN (1.5) 0 MICHAEL LAYEVSKIY (1.5)
9 1 ALEKSA OSTROVSKIY (1.5) 0 JASON J MARGIOTTA (1.5)
10 .5 ALEXANDER ROSS KATZ(1.0) .5 BRIAN HULSE (1.0)
11 1 MARIAN WAXMAN (1.0) 0 JAMES R WEST (1.0)
12 1 JAKE S MILLER (0.5) 0 GEORGE TOM (1.0)
13 .5 EDWARD FRUMKIN (0.0) .5 HENRY C SOBO (0.5)
½ NELSON M FARBER (0.5) BYE

Saturday, December 12, 2009

MCC Championship Results Round 3

Results for Round 3. MARSHALL CC CHAMPIONSHIP

Bd Res White Player Name Res Black Player Name
16 0 MAGE PANCHANATHAN (2.0) 1 ALEX LENDERMAN (2.0)
17 .5 SERGEY KUDRIN (1.5) .5 SIDD RAVICHANDRAN (2.0)
18 0 LEONID G YUDASIN (1.5) 1 JAY BONIN (1.5)
19 .5 JOHN P FEDOROWICZ (1.5) .5 IRINA KRUSH (1.5)
20 0 JASON J MARGIOTTA (1.5) 1 MICHAEL A ROHDE (1.5)
21 0 LEIF A PRESSMAN (1.0) 1 ROBERT L HESS (1.0)
22 1 JUSTIN SARKAR (1.0) 0 JAMES R WEST (1.0)
23 1 RASHAD BABAEV (1.0) 0 ALEXANDER ROSS KATZ (1.0)
24 0 GEORGE TOM (1.0) 1 EVAN Z RABIN (0.5)
25 0 HENRY C SOBO (0.5) 1 YEFIM TREGER (0.5)
26 .5 BRIAN HULSE (0.5) .5 MARIAN WAXMAN (0.5)
27 0 NELSON M FARBER (0.5) 1 ALEKSA OSTROVSKIY (0.5)
28 1 GEORGE P BERG (0.5) 0 JAKE S MILLER (0.5)
29 1 MICHAEL LAYEVSKIY (0.5) 0 EDWARD FRUMKIN (0.0)

MCC Championship Results R2

Results for Round 2. MARSHALL CC CHAMPIONSHIP

----Watch the Top 2 Boards LIVE on the Internet Chess Club----
Bd Res White Player Name Res Black Player Name

16 .5 IRINA KRUSH (1.0) .5 LEONID G YUDASIN (1.0)
17 1 ALEX LENDERMAN (1.0) 0 RASHAD BABAEV (1.0)
18 0 JUSTIN SARKAR (1.0) 1 MAGE PANCHANATHAN (1.0)
19 .5 JAY BONIN (1.0) .5 JOHN P FEDOROWICZ (1.0)
20 1 SIDD RAVICHANDRAN (1.0) 0 LEIF A PRESSMAN (1.0)
21 0 ALEKSA OSTROVSKIY (0.5) 1 SERGEY KUDRIN (0.5)
22 1 MICHAEL A ROHDE (0.5) 0 HENRY C SOBO (0.5)
23 0 YEFIM TREGER (0.5) 1 JASON J MARGIOTTA (0.5)
24 .5 JAMES R WEST (0.5) .5 GEORGE TOM (0.5)
25 1 ROBERT L HESS (0.0) 0 EDWARD FRUMKIN (0.0)
26 .5 JAKE S MILLER (0.0) .5 BRIAN HULSE (0.0)
27 .5 EVAN Z RABIN (0.0) .5 NELSON M FARBER (0.0)
28 .5 MARIAN WAXMAN (0.0) .5 GEORGE P BERG (0.0)
29 1 ALEXANDER ROSS KATZ (0.0) 0 Anatoly Ostrovskiy (FILLER)
½ MICHAEL LAYEVSKIY (0.0) BYE

MCC Championship -- Standings after Round 1

Standings. MARSHALL CC CHAMPIONSHIP

# Name Rtng Rd 1 Tot
1 LEONID G YUDASIN 2600 W25 1.0
2 ALEX LENDERMAN 2577 W20 1.0
3 MAGE PANCHANATHAN 2522 W21 1.0
4 JOHN P FEDOROWICZ 2512 W19 1.0
5 SIDD RAVICHANDRAN 2489 W22 1.0
6 IRINA KRUSH 2479 W23 1.0
7 JUSTIN SARKAR 2421 W24 1.0
8 RASHAD BABAEV 2412 W26 1.0
9 JAY BONIN 2352 W27 1.0
10 LEIF A PRESSMAN 2283 W28 1.0
11 SERGEY KUDRIN 2622 H--- 0.5
12 MICHAEL A ROHDE 2489 H--- 0.5
13 YEFIM TREGER 2242 D18 0.5
14 JAMES R WEST 2200 H--- 0.5
15 ALEKSA OSTROVSKIY 2151 H--- 0.5
16 HENRY C SOBO 2002 H--- 0.5
17 JASON J MARGIOTTA 1942 H--- 0.5
18 GEORGE TOM 1924 D13 0.5
19 ROBERT L HESS 2655 L4 0.0
20 BRIAN HULSE 2200 L2 0.0
21 EVAN Z RABIN 2157 L3 0.0
22 GEORGE P BERG 2074 L5 0.0
23 ALEXANDER ROSS KATZ 2047 L6 0.0
24 EDWARD FRUMKIN 2035 L7 0.0
25 JAKE S MILLER 2032 L1 0.0
26 MARIAN WAXMAN 1979 L8 0.0
27 NELSON M FARBER 1963 L9 0.0
28 MICHAEL LAYEVSKIY 1963 L10 0.0

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

St. John Masters, October 20th

NM Yaacov Norowitz was the clear winner of the October 20th St. John's Masters tournament, as 3½ points in four rounds was good enough for the $300 first prize.. Norowitz drew top-seeded GM Leonid Yudasin in Round 3, when the Grandmaster was unable to make any dents in Yaacov's Carok-Kann Defense. A pawn to the good in the final round, Yudasin once again was unable to bring home the point against IM Jay Bonin, whose drawing technique more than made up for his pawn deficit.

Yudasin, Bonin and Ramon Manon-Og all tied for 2nd-4th with 3 points, winning $130 a piece. Manon-Og also took home the $40 Upset Prize, for his first round victory over IM Justin Sarkar, where he was the 289-point underdog. Zahar Hiklevich was a half-point further back, the only player with 2½ points, which was good enough to clinch the $40 Under 2300 prize.

The St. John's Masters tournaments are held on the third Tuesday of each month at the Marshall Chess Club. The next edition is Tuesday November 17th at 7 pm. The tournament is open to all players rated at least 2100. Players under 2100 may also qualify to participate by scoring at least 2½ points in one of the weekly "4 Rated Games Tonight!" Thursday Night Action Tournaments held at 7 pm at the Club since the previous month's St. John's Masters.

If you can't make it to the Club you can still follow the games on the top boards, which are broadcast live each round on ICC.

Thanks again to our sponsor, St. John's University, for making these tournaments possible.

Board 1 games from the Masters

Steve Immitt

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Monday, October 19, 2009

FIDE Thursdays - Hoffmann wins clear 1st

Asa had a slightly better position against Ed Scher, and once he saw Marc Widmaier upsetting Yefim Treger, offered the draw and clinched first. Ed Scher joined Frumkin, Treger, and Widmaier in splitting 2nd, 3rd, and the U2000 prizes. See below for the final results.
A reminder to all that Thursday, October 22nd, will be the first round of the Member's Only Swiss, and not a FIDE Swiss.

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Thursday, October 15, 2009

The Return of Frawley

Yes, for those us who have missed him, long time Marshall member and Assistant Manager Jim Frawley has re-entered the lists, holding William Dubinsky to a draw in the first round. Way to go, Jim!
If you think this is a blatant display of favoritism by the writers of this blog (the Marshall Staff), well...you're right! To offset this, we'll try to con(vince) Jim to post some of his games, and perhaps do the same to the other participants.
Standings after Round 1 below, enjoy!

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

U1600 - Four tied for the lead

After three rounds, it's Chaklander, Rawlins, Genadinik, and Ean Fonseca tied with 2.5 out of 3. Results for the rest of the pack below.

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Monday, October 12, 2009

Clean Sweep for Treger

NM Yefim Treger swept all opposition in this weekend's U2300, winning clear first with a perfect 4 out of 4.

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