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Where Organized Chess in America Began

EMPIRE CHESS Summer 2013 Volume XXXVI, No. 2 $5.00

Chess in Summertime….

Empire Chess

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NEW YORK STATE CHESS ASSOCIATION, INC. www.nysca.net

The New York State Chess Association, Inc., America‘s oldest chess organization, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting chess in New York State at all levels. As the State Affiliate of the United States Chess Federation, its Directors also serve as USCF Voting Members and Delegates.

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Upstate Downstate Phil Ferguson Phyllis Benjamin Bill Goichberg Dr. Frank Brady Vacant Mark Kurtzman Karl Heck Lenny Chipkin Ron Lohrman Ed Frumkin William Townsend Carrie Goldstein Steve Immitt Gata Kamsky Sophia Rohde Harold Stenzel Carol Jarecki Polly Wright

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A New Day, A Better Way!

May was the end of the line for former U.S. Chess Federation

Executive Director Bill Hall. Hall sent a letter to the USCF Executive

Director saying he was leaving for personal reasons. Texas chess

organizer Francisco Guadelupe is the Interim Director, and a

nationwide search is taking place for a new Executive Director.

Unlike the search of Hall, it is not required that the new Executive

Director relocate to Crossville. The small Tennessee city of 10,000 is a

poor location to recruit executive and professional talent too, as it is

over an hour from a metropolitan area and not in a chess-friendly part

of the country. Despite the best efforts of Hall to give the vast majority

of National Tournaments on his watch to locations in the former

Confederacy, the southeast remains low in USCF membership

penetration with the notable exception of Texas.

The Executive Director advertisement is a tacit admission that the

move to Crossville was a mistake as far as efficient operation of the

USCF goes. The editor of Chess Life lives in Georgia, and most of the

Chess Life staff lives out of Tennessee, much less Crossville. So does

Chess Life Online editor Jennifer Shahade. Why? They don't want to

live in Crossville. As you can't hire the talent to perform these jobs in

or near Crossville, the “virtual office” model was used. Meanwhile,

there is substantial vacant space USCF built in Crossville to house

these employees.

The Crossville move took place for a few, inter-related reasons. Then

President Beatriz Marinello wanted to take action to reduce cost. The

move to Crossville gave Bill Hall the inside track on the soon-to-be-

vacant Executive Director because he was one of the few willing to live

there. It also gave a “scalp” to the people in USCF who hated New

York State and thought the New York location of the National Office.

Clearly in the Bill Hall administration, New York chess wasn't getting

much of anything.

With his resignation, it's the end of an era. At Empire Chess, we are

looking forward to better days with a new Executive Director and new

hope for a vibrant, 50-state USCF, not just one looking to settle old

scores.

mailto:[email protected]

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EMPIRE CHESS

“The magazine of America’s oldest chess organization”

Volume XXXVI, Number 2 – Summer 2013

Cover: A girl plays chess outdoors at the Albany Tulip Festival. BALLOT ENCLOSED!

From the Editor.......................................................................................................................................................... 2

Table of Contents …...................................................................................................................................................3

Deepak Aaron Sweeps At 21st NYS Open by Bill Townsend………..............………......................................4

13th Queens Team Championship Report by Ed Frumkin.............................................................................8

NYSCA's Discount Program ....................................................................................................................….........10

Harmony in Chess – The Scholastic Column by Zachary Calderon….....................................................11

New York State Champions by Bill Townsend and Karl Heck.........................................................................14

Capital Region News by Bill Townsend.................................................................................................................20

Central New York News by Karl Heck..................................................................................................................24

Buffalo/Niagara News from Buffalo/Niagara Chess Corner……………………………….......................................25

Open Lines by Karl Heck….........................................................................................................................................26

NY Hosts Record-Breaking Junior Open (and Senior Open too) by Karl Heck................................28

New York Tournaments………………………………........................................................................................30

Editor: Karl Heck, [email protected].

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4

A giant among the pygmies? Deepak Aaron dominates at the 21

st New York

State Open

by Bill Townsend

The 21

st Annual New York State Open took place

May 17 to 19 in Lake George Village, about an hour

north of the Capital District. Around 68 players

competed in the four sections, down significantly

from last year’s record total of 87, but roughly on par

with 2011’s turnout of 65.

Last year’s Open section featured two former U.S.

Champions, GM Alexander Ivanov and GM Joel

Benjamin duking it out for top honors. This year it

was a different story: no titled players and the top-

rated competitor, former NYS Scholastic champion

Deepak Aaron, easily captured the event with a

perfect 5-0 score. In fact, Deepak was the only 3-0

player at the end of round three.

Vermont master David Carter was clear second with

4-1. Carter’s only loss wasn’t to Deepak – it was to

Henrik Van der Weij who was clear third with 3½-

1½. Fourth through sixth with 3-2 were: Dale Sharp,

Carlos Varela and Troy Duncan. Seventh through

ninth with 2½-2½ were Jeffrey LaComb, S. Warren

Lohr and Scott Sheff.

Perhaps one of the reasons for this tournament’s

popularity is that it has a rare feature – a Senior

section for players over the age of 50. Gordon Magat

was the winner here with a 4-1 record. New Jersey

player Roger Pedersen was the only player to defeat

Magat, and while he was undefeated he gave up three

draws to finish in second place with 3½-1½. Third

through sixth with 3-2 were: Alan LeCours, Michael

Corrigan, Joseph Pascarell and Michael Magee.

Harold Stenger was seventh with 2½-2½.

Two players were at the top of the Under-1710

section as Peter Craig and RPI student Brian Furtado

both finished with 4-1. Third and fourth with 3½-1½

were Evelyn Zhu and Andrew Elsinger. Fifth through

ninth with 3-2 were: Ansgarius Aylward, David

Connors, Tom Clark, Michael Cheng and Nigel

Galia. Tenth and eleventh with 2½-2½ were Timothy

Kraft and Nicholas Moscatello.

There were also two co-winners in the Under-1310

section as Pranav Venkataraman and Vincent Abate

both scored 4½-½. Daniel Newell was clear third

with 4-1. William Gonzalez was all alone in fourth

place with 3½-1½. Fifth through eighth with 3-2

were: Ruthvik Ayyagari, Ronghai Gong, JanKarl

Galia and Michael James. Steven Danko was ninth

with 2½-2½. Charles Bryant was top unrated player

with 2-3.

The tournament was directed by Steve Immit for the

New York State Chess Association. I’d like to thank

Steve for getting me most of the games from this

event.

Tournament winner Deepak Aaron of Niskayuna is

the only person to win the New York State Scholastic

Championship three times. He is currently a student

at Georgia Tech, but he is still quite an active player –

he played in the Georgia state championship, and

recently came in second in the U.S. Junior Open. My

thanks to Deepak and tournament director Immitt for

providing me with this game.

Here Deepak’s last round win over Dale Sharp, a

player who has been playing at the master level for at

least thirty years. The rather surprising exchange

sacrifice on move 25 might be chalked up to the fact

that Sharp knew that he had to beat Deepak to get any

sort of prize money.

Deepak Aaron (2337) – Dale Sharp (2200) [C11]

21st New York State Open, Round 5

Lake George Village, NY, May 19, 2013

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 A move credited to Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World

Champion. The main line of the Classical variation

continues with 4. Bg5.

4... Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nxd4

Nxd4 8... Bc5, the main line move, is considered a little

better, but is rather complicated.

5

9. Bxd4 Nb8 10. Bd3 Nc6 11. Bf2 Bd7 A typical French move, but not usually seen in this

position. The main line moves are 11... Qa5 and 11...

Be7, but overall Black's results here have not been

good.

12. a3 This makes the game unique. Instead the game

Kevei-Ortel, Hungary 2004 continued: 12. O-O Nb4

13. Be2 a6 14. a3 Nc6 15. Bd3 Qc7 16. Na4 b5 17.

Nc5 (17. Nb6!) 17... Nxe5 18. fxe5 Bxc5 19. Bxc5

Qxc5+ 20. Kh1 Qe7!? 21. Qh5 h6? 22. Rf4 (22. Rxf7!

works.) 22... O-O? (Black had to play something like

22...Qg5, now he falls under a crushing attack.) 23.

Rf6! gxf6 24. Qg4+ Kh8 25.Qh4 Kg7 26. Rf1 1-0)

12... a6 13. Qe2 Qc7 14. h4 White expands on the Kingside, and also prevents

any monkey business involving ...g5.

14…Be7 15. Nb1?! O-O-O?! Opportunity unexpectedly knocks, but Black doesn't

take advantage of it. The best response to White's

rather slow strategy is opening the center with 15...

f6! 16.Qh5+ Kd8

If you don't like moving your king you shouldn't be

playing the French. 17. exf6 Bxf6 and White suddenly

has a number of weaknesses, e.g. b2 and f4.

16. Nd2 f6 17. Nf3 fxe5 18. fxe5 h6 19. O-O-O g5

20. hxg5 hxg5 21.g4 White only has a very modest advantage here - his

bishops have a bit more scope.

21…Rdf8 22. Kb1 Qa5 23. Be3 Qa4 24. Qg2 Rxh1

25. Rxh1 Rxf3!? Black gets a lot of play for this exchange sacrifice,

but it doesn't seem to be quite correct. However

there's not much to be enthusiastic about after 25...

Qa5 26. Rh3 Bc5.

26. Qxf3 Nxe5 27. Qg3 Bd6 28. Bc5?! It takes a bit of nerve, but White can get away with

playing 28. Bxg5! Qxg4 29. Rh8+ Kc7 30. Bd8+ Kc6

31. Qe3 and White is winning.

28... Kc7 29. Bxd6+ Kxd6 30. Re1 Qf4 31. Qxf4

gxf4 32. g5 Nf3? In spite of the material deficit Black wasn't doing too

badly, but this is a mistake because black misses the

force of White's next move. Best is 32... Be8 but white

is better after 33. Kc1.

33. g6! Ke7 34. Rh1 Bc6 35. Rh7+ Kf8 35... Kf6? 36. Rf7+ Ke5 37. g7 and White wins

easily. 36. Rf7+ Kg8 37. Rxf4

37. Re7 seems to be a bit better, but nothing looks

very good for Black.

37... Ne5 38. Rf1 Bd7 39. Re1 Nxd3 40.cxd3 Kg7

41. Kc2! This is superior to the futile defense of the pawn with

41. Rg1.)

41... Kxg6 42. Kc3 Kf6 43. Kd4 Bb5 44. Re3 Bc6

45. Rf3+ Ke7 46. Ke5 Be8 47. Rg3 Bh5 48. Rg7+

Bf7 49. d4 1-0 This resignation might seem a bit premature, after all

Black only down half a pawn, right? Actually, Black

sees the grim specter of zugzwang looming over his

position: after he exhausts his Queenside pawn

moves he quickly runs out of good places to put his

pieces, for example: 49. d4 b6 50. Rh7 b5 (50... a5

51. a4 is the same deal.) 51. b4 Ke8 52. Kf6 and

White will shortly force the win of the Bishop.)

Later Deepak was kind enough to give me all his

games from the event but most of them were game

fragments – the notation stopped before one side or

the other got a clear advantage. The only exceptions

were the Sharp game, and this round four contest

against RPI student Jeff LaComb.

LaComb, playing a topical line in the Sicilian, makes

a good show of it and is close to equal for most of the

game. However, just as things get truly desperate for

him he misses a chance to bounce back to equality.

Like Yogi Berra used to say, it’s not over until it’s

over.

Deepak Aaron (2337) – Jeff LaComb (1947) [B40]



1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Bd3 I'm not familiar with this move so I checked a copy of

Batsford Chess Openings (1989) I had handy and the

move barely got a mention. But considering that

Anand has played it, it certainly can't be bad.

However I think most players would allow a

transposition to other Sicilian lines with 5.Nc3.

5…Nc6 6. Nb3 d5 A sure sign that we aren't in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Black usually can't get away with playing this freeing

move so early in the Open Sicilian, but it seems to be

perfectly alright here.

7. exd5 Nxd5 8. a3 Bd6 9. c4 Nf6 10. Nc3 a6 11.

Bg5 Ne5 Simply 11... h6 seems more prudent.

12. Be2 Be7 13. Qc2 Qc7 14. Nd2 Bd7 15.Bh4 Ng6

16. Bg3 Bd6 17. O-O-O Bxg3 18. hxg3 O-O-O 19.

Nde4 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 Bc6 21. Bf3 h6 22. c5 Bxe4 Black pretty much has to do this - letting White put a

Knight on d6 is not an option.

23. Bxe4 Ne7 24. Kb1 Nc6 25. Qc3 e5? This allows White to make a mess of Black's King

position. Obviously Black is concerned about his g-

pawn, but he has a crafty way to defend it, and

6

maintain the balance at the same time: 25... Rxd1+

26. Rxd1 Rd8 27. Rxd8+ Qxd8 and now White can't

take the g-pawn because Black forces a draw: 28.

Qxg7? Qd1+ 29. Ka2 Nb4+ 30. axb4 Qa4+ , etc.)

26. Bxc6 bxc6 27. Rd3 Rd5? Better was 27... Rxd3 28. Qxd3 Kb7) 28. Qc4 Rxd3

29. Qxa6+ Qb7? (29... Kb8 was better. It's

remarkable how quickly Black's position now falls

apart.)

30.Qxd3 Rd8 31. Qf5+ Kb8 32. Qxe5+ White has won a second pawn, so it should be pretty

much game over, but there are still some twists and

turns.

32…Ka7 33. Re1 Rd2 34. Re2? This actually lets Black back in the game, whereas

the second player could resign in clear conscience

after 34. Re4!

34...Rd5? Alas, Black misses his shot. Very embarrassing for

White would be 34... f6! and now Black can almost

force a draw: 35. Qe7 Rxb2+! 36. Kc1 Rb1+ 37. Kd2

Ra1 and things are very much up in the air. After the

text, however, Black is doomed.)

35. Qe7 Even nastier is 35. Qe8, threatening Re7.

35... Rd7 36.Qe8 Ka6 37. Re4 Ka5 38. Rb4 Qa7 39.

Rb6 1-0 Black has to give up major material to avoid

checkmate, so he resigns instead.

Dutch player Hendrik Van der Weij was clearly better

than his provisional rating of 1833 and he announced

it in the very first round by upending Vermont master

David Carter in a very smooth game.

NM David Carter (2202) – Hendrik Van der Weij

(1833) [A42]



1.d4 g6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 Nc6 5.Be3 e5 6.d5

Nce7 7.c5 f5 8.cxd6 cxd6 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Qa4 a6

11.Bxd7+ Qxd7 12.Qxd7+ Kxd7 13.Na4 Nc8! This makes the game unique, but it seems to be a

clear improvement over 13...Rb8 and now the game

Derjabin-Demchuk, Mariupol 2003 continued:

14.Nb6+ Ke8 15.Nf3 h6 16.exf5 gxf5 17.0–0 Nf6

18.Rad1 Nd7 19.Nc4 and White was better and went

on to win.

14.f3 b5 15.Nc3 Nf6 16.a3 fxe4 17.fxe4 Ng4 18.Bg5

Rf8 19.Nf3 Nb6 20.h3 Nf6 21.Bxf6 Bxf6 22.Ke2

Rac8 23.Rhc1 Bg7 24.b3 Bh6 25.Rc2 Rc7 26.Raa2

Rfc8 27.Kd3 Ke7 28.Ne2 Nd7?! Here Black missed a little tactical trick. 28...Nxd5!

wins a pawn because white can't play 29.exd5? e4+)

29.Rxc7 Rxc7 30.b4 Nb6 31.Nc3 Rb7 32.a4 Nxa4

33.Nxa4 bxa4 34.Rxa4 Rb6 35.Kc4 Be3 36.Ra5

Kd7 37.b5 In hindsight White should probably leave the

Queenside pawns alone and move his Rook to the

Kingside with 37.Ra3 Bf4 38.Ra1.

37...axb5+ 38.Kd3 Plainly White didn't like the Bishop vs. Knight ending

after 38.Rxb5 Rxb5 39.Kxb5.

38...Bc5 39.Ra7+ Kc8 40.Rxh7 Ra6 41.Rg7?! 41.Nh4 is better.

41...Ra3+ 42.Kc2 Ra2+ 43.Kb1 Rxg2 44.Nh4 Rh2

45.Nxg6 Rxh3 46.Ne7+ Kb7 47.Nf5+ Kb6 48.Rd7

Rh2?! A tiny little slip that allows White to just about

equalize. Strong was 48...Rh1+! 49.Kc2 Rh2+

50.Kb3 b4! This why Black allows the White King off

the bank rank - he can advance the b-pawn with

tempo by making threats against the White King. Now

White can't play 51.Nxd6? because after 51...Rh3+

52.Kb2 Bd4+ 53.Kc1 b3 Black wins.

49.Nxd6 Bxd6 50.Rxd6+ Kc5 51.Rc6+ Kd4 52.d6? A natural, obvious move that seems to lose for White.

Instead the first player seems to draw after 52.Rc2

Rh3 53.Rd2+ Kxe4 54.d6 Rh8 55.Kc2 Kf5 56.Kb3

Ke6 57.Kb4 e4 58.d7 Rd8 59.Kxb5, etc.

52...Kxe4 53.Kc1 Rh3 54.Kd2 Rd3+ 55.Ke2 Rd5

56.Rb6 Kd4 57.d7 Kc5! And that's it - Black gets rid of the last White pawn,

meanwhile the White King is too far away from the b-

pawn.

58.Re6 Rxd7 59.Rxe5+ Kc4 60.Re4+ Kc3 61.Re3+

Kc2 62.Re8 b4 63.Rc8+ Kb2 64.Rb8 b3 65.Rb6

Kc2 66.Rc6+ Kb1 67.Rb6 b2 68.Rb8 Ra7 0–1

Not all draws are dull, for example take this tactical

firefight from round four. Considering the rating

difference B-player Sheff plays with commendable

boldness against former Albany champion Dean

Howard.

Scott Sheff (1733) – Dean Howard (2000) [B13]



1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb5 Nf6

6.0–0 Bg4 7.Qd3 Rc8 8.Ne5 Bh5 9.f3 e6 10.Bg5

Bd6 11.c4 0–0 12.Bxc6 bxc6 13.c5! Bxe5

This looks good for White. Best seems to be 13...Bb8.

14.dxe5 h6 15.exf6?! The best way to discombobulate Black’s pawns is

15.Bh4 g5 16.exf6 gxh4 17.Qd4.

15...hxg5 16.fxg7 Kxg7 17.f4! gxf4 18.Rxf4 Bg6?!

7

Obvious, but not best. Black gets a lot of traction by

making his center pawns dangerous 18...Qg5!

19.Qd2 f6! 20.h4 Qg3 21.Nc3 e5 22.Ra4 Rc7 23.Ne2

Bxe2 24.Qxe2 e4 , etc.

19.Qd4+ f6 20.Rg4 Qc7 21.Nd2 Rh8 22.Nf3 e5?

23.Rxg6+ Kxg6 24.Qg4+ Kf7 25.Rf1 Actually White should play 25.Ng5+ right away:

25...fxg5 26.Rf1+ Kg6 27.Qe6+ Kg7 28.Qf6+ and he

seems to have at least a draw.

25...Rcg8 26.Ng5+ Rxg5 27.Qxg5 Qe7 28.b4 Rg8

29.Qh5+ Kf8 30.Qh6+ White offered a draw. It's a bitter pill for Black to

swallow, but his King really can't escape the checks.

30...Kf7 31.Qh5+ Rg6?! 32.Qh7+? Incredibly it seems White has a win here: 32.Rf3!

Kg7 (Forced to prevent White from winning the Rook

with 33.Rg3, but it allows the White Queen to invade

and start picking up pawns.

33.Rh3! Rg5 34.Qh8+ Kg6 35.Kf1! A mysterious move, but now 36.g4! is a serious

threat. 35...Qg7 36.Qe8+ Kf5 37.Qxc6 d4 38.b5 and

White wins.

35...Rg7 36.Qh5+ Kg8 37.Qh6 Kf7 ½–½ Chess is often thought of as a game of iron logic, but

on a more practical level it’s a game of chances and

psychology. For example in this game Black is at a

disadvantage for most of the game, however at a

couple points he has chances to even things up again,

but he just doesn’t see them. It’s always difficult to

look for killer moves in a bad position and not to give

in to despair. Dale Sharp (2200) – Steve Romero (1905) [C18]



1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+

6.bxc3 Qa5 7.Bd2 Qa4 8.Qg4 g6 9.Kd1 Nc6 10.Nf3

f6 11.Qf4 f5?! It looks reckless, but I believe Black's best defense is

11...g5! 12.Qg3 cxd4 13.cxd4.

12.dxc5 Qxf4? 13.Bxf4 Bd7 14.Nd4 Nxd4 15.cxd4

White is now a solid pawn up, with a space

advantage. 15...h6 16.h4 0–0–0 17.Rh3 Ne7 18.Rb3

Bc6 19.a4 a6 20.Rb6 Kd7 21.Rab1 Kc8 22.Kd2

Rdg8 23.g3 Kc7 24.Bd3 Nc8 25.R6b3 Ne7 26.Ke2

Rb8 27.Bd2 Rbg8 28.Ba5+ Kc8 29.Rb6 g5

30.Bxa6!? I initially thought this was excessive and unnecessary

, but after spending a while looking at this position, I

finally came to the conclusion that White eventually

has to do this if he wants to make progress.

30...bxa6 31.Rxa6 Bb7 32.Rab6?

The right idea, but the wrong square. White wins

material with a strong attack after 32.Ra7 Nc6

33.Rbxb7 Nxa7 34.Rxa7.

32...Bc6 33.hxg5 hxg5 34.Ra6 Bb7 35.Rxe6 Nc6

36.Bc3 Re8 37.Rxe8+ Rxe8 38.Rh1? White misses a little tactical finesse. Luckily for him,

Black misses it too.

38...Nd8? 38...Nxe5! 39.dxe5 d4 and the game is close to equal

again.

39.Rh7 Ne6 40.Rf7 f4 41.Kf3 Nxc5? Now this idea doesn't work.

42.gxf4? The refutation is to take black up on his offer:

42.dxc5! d4+ 43.Rxb7! Kxb7 44.Bxd4 and White's

four pawns are ample compensation for the

exchange.

42...gxf4 43.Kxf4 Nxa4 44.Bb4 Nb6 45.Kf5 Bc6

46.e6 Na8? This is actually the end for Black. His Knight goes to

the corner, never to be heard from again. He is still

fighting on after 46...Ba4 47.c3 Nc4.

47.Ba5 Rh8 48.f4 Be8 49.Kf6 Bxf7 50.exf7 1-0 Black must give up his rook for the f-pawn, so he

quits: 50.exf7 Kd7 51.Kg7 Rc8 52.f5 (No need to be

in a hurry to play f7-f8(Q).) 52...Ke7 53.f8Q+ Rxf8

54.Bb4+, etc.

Last year Capital Region player Mike Mockler won

the Senior section with a hair-raising win on time

over Harry Stenger. While he wasn’t in the winner’s

circle this year, he was again the recipient of a last

round gift courtesy of the clock. Under a crushing

attack, Mockler won on time in an utterly lost

position.

Damar Naimji (1568) – Michael Mockler (1949)

[C16]

21st NY State Open, Senior Section, Round 5


1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 b6 One usually expects to see 4...c5 or 4...Ne7 here, but

this is how Nimzowitch played it back in the day.

5. Nf3 Bb7?!

This routine, harmless-looking move may be the

beginning of all black's problems. Black usually plays

4...Qd7 here and the bishop winds up on a6.

6.a3 Bf8 This how Mockler likes to play but 6... Bxc3+ is

probably better.

7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Ne2 Nge7 9. c3 Qd7 10. Ng3 h6 11.

Be3 O-O-O 12. b4 g6 13. a4

8

Clearly the opening has not gone well for black -

Whte's attack will get to the goal line first.

13…a5 14. Bb5 axb4 15. cxb4 Nf5 16. Bd2 Qe7 17.

Nxf5 exf5 18.Bxc6 Bxc6 19. b5 Bb7 20. O-O Kb8

21. Re1 No reason to delay playing 21. a5! and white has a

strong attack.

21... g5 22. h3?! White can, and should, simply ignore what black is

doing on the Kingside: 22. a5! g4 23.axb6! gxf3 24.

bxc7+ Kxc7 25. Qc2+ Kd7 26. Ra7 Ke8 27. Qxf5 and

at the very least White will get his piece back with a

winning game.

22... Qe6?! Now it's Black that needs to ignore the threat of ...e6.

After 22... g4! 23.hxg4 fxg4 24. Nh2 h5 Black is still

in a bad way, but much better off than in the game.

23. a5 Be7 24. axb6 cxb6 25. Qa4 Kc7 26. Rec1+

Kd7 27. Qa7 Rb8 0-1

Alas, White lost on time before he could play the

crushing 28. Rc6! winning Black's Queen.

Here is a short game from one of the winners of the

Under-1710 section, RPI student Brian Furtado.

Brian Furtado (1674) – Ansgarius Aylward (1510)

[D06]

21st NY State Open, Under 1710 Section, Round 4


1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 This move is credited to Frank Marshall, but it

should be remembered that not all his opening ideas

were good ones.

3.cxd5 Nxd5 This gives White the opportunity to set up his ideal

center with pawns on d4 and e4 - this can't be good

for Black. In fact a temporary pawn sacrifice seems

better: 3...c6 4.dxc6?! Nxc6 5.Nf3 e5 6.Nxe5 Nxe5

7.dxe5 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 Ng4 9.Ke1 Nxe5.)

4.e4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 Bb4 7.e5?! This makes the game unique, mainly because it's not

such a good idea. Better are 7.Bd3 and 7.f3.

7...Ne4 7...Nd5 is an improvement.

8.Qc2 f5 9.Bd3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be7 11.Nf3 b6 12.Bc4

Nc6 13.a4 Bd7 14.d5! White strikes while the iron is hot - Black is in

trouble. 14...Na5 15.Ba2 Qc8 16.Nd4 exd5 17.Bxd5

c6 18.Ba2 c5 19.e6! Bc6? The best of a bad lot was 19...cxd4 20.exd7+ Qxd7

21.Bxd4.

20.Nxf5 Rg8 21.Nxe7 Kxe7 22.Bg5+ Ke8 23.Qxh7

Rf8 24.Qg6+ 1-0

Looking at mate in one, Black gives up.

Déjà Vu at the 13th

Queens

Team Championship

by Ed Frumkin

At registration on April 5 the Queens Chess Club’s

annual two-player team event had a familiar look.

Four of last year’s 12 teams returned with the same

players and team names: Benighted Knights (1924

average: Ed Kopiecki (2027) and Ken Sasmor

(1821), ranked 5th), M to the 4th

(1804 average:

Mulazim Muwwakkil (1915) and Mikhail

Mordukhay (1693), ranked 8th), J & R Monster

Trucks (1943 average: Dennis Moore (1945) and

Dave Diamond (1941) (rating order had changed),

ranked 3rd) and defending champions Ed-grr!

(1979½ average: Ed Frumkin (2027) and Edgar

Cimafranca (1932).

Five other teams sported rating averages over 1800,

including the Double Checks at 1995 (Bill Arluck

(2068) and Ira Cohen (1922)), the only team with

matching shirts, this year’s top seed. Dave Randall

(1626) returned after a four and a half year hiatus,

rejoining the USCF and the Queens Chess Club

(QCC), but his expected partner Gary Friedman, who

would have been returning from a twelve-year

absence, didn’t appear, so Dave was combined with

Ruth Arluck (1011) to form a house team for Round

1. They were paired normally in case they decided to

remain intact, as a prize for Top Under 1700 team

was offered and they were the only such team so far

(they were eventually listed as 13th ranked “Ad Hoc”

on the tournament table). The fourth-seeded team

(Team for Two: 1942) hooked up WIM Dorothy

Teasley (2005) with Steve Mitlitzky (1879), whose

last QCC game was as a Round Four substitute in last

year’s event. Lev Zilbermintz (2117) was the top

ranked individual and joined long time regular Ken

Cruz (1722) to form the sixth-ranked Z Men

(1919½). Joe Felber (2000) and Paul Denig (1622)

formed the seventh-ranked “The Blessed and the

Damned” (explanation withheld!) (1811) and

Brooklyn 64 (1803) was composed of Pavel Genkin

(1821) and Greg Keener (1785), a Marshall Chess

Club assistant manager. So the top six teams were

within 80 points of the upper limit of 2000.

The first round was far tougher than anyone would

have expected, as the teams seeded 1, 3 and 4 lost

9

their matches by 1½ -½ scores, Team 2 barely won its

match by the same margin and the Benighted

Knights, playing the house team, scored the only

sweep. Zilbermintz as White beat Bill Arluck, Edgar

Cimafranca as Black beat Paul Denig, Mulazim

Muwwakkil as White beat Dennis Moore, and Pavel

Genkin as Black beat Dorothy Teasley, the other

game in each match being drawn.

Four teams were added the following week. Randall

was teamed with Suriyan Nathan (1604), so they

ranked 10th at 1615. Philip Mathew (1386) brought

his son Benjamin Philip (1825) to rank 11th at 1605½.

Jonathan Phanstiel (1760) teamed with Dan

Schachter (1448) to form the 12th ranked Danube

Express (1604). Ruth Arluck and Marcus Francis

(1167) joined forces to form the 14th ranked

Bouncing Checks (1089). A youth team of Matthew

(1083) and Rocco Franklyn (854) was expected but

didn’t make it (they had been at the SuperNationals

the first week), so another house team was needed.

Enter the ChessMates (Mindy (1441) and Michael

Conyers (632)) to save the 7th-ranked

Blessed/Damned squad from a full point bye. They

had an easy sweep.

The other matches were far closer. Ed-grr! topped

Brooklyn 64 1½-½, thanks to Cimafranca as White

beating Keener. The Benighted Knights and Z Men

drew their match as Zilbermintz and Sasmor each

won with the Black pieces. M to the 4th had the

easiest pairing on paper of the first round winners,

against the yet unnamed Randall-Nathan team, but

Nathan as Black beat Mordukhay while Randall drew

(missing a few wins) with Muwwakkil for a 1½-½

score. Eleventh-ranked Philip/Mathew beat the

Danube Express by the same score with Philip

Mathew as White beating Schachter. The Double

Checks swept the Bouncing Checks and J & R

Monster Trucks swept Team for Two. After two

rounds Ed-grr! stood alone at 2-0 in match points,

followed at 1½ for the Benighted Knights, Z Men and

the unnamed Team #10.

Round 3: The Ed-grr! vs. Benighted Knights match

was drawn, Kopiecki and Cimafranca each winning

with Black. The Z Men and Team #10 also drew, as

Zilbermintz’ third consecutive win was matched by

Nathan’s on Board 2. The Double Checks squeezed

by Philip/Mathew 1½-½ with Philip Mathew holding

Ira Cohen to a draw. Brooklyn 64 swept J & R

Monster Trucks and M to the 4th squeezed past

Blessed/Damned, thanks to a Mordukhay win over

Denig. The Danube Express swept the Bouncing

Checks and Team for Two swept the Youth Brigade

(aka the Franklyn brothers). With one round to go

Ed-grr! had 2½, with the Double Checks, Benighted

Knights, Z Men, M to the 4th, Brooklyn 64 and the

still unnamed Team 10 at 2.

Round 4: The top table was the Double Checks-Ed-

grr! matchup with Ed-grr! having draw odds for team

prize eligibility. The Z Men swept Brooklyn 64,

while the Benighted Knights edged M to the 4th by

the usual 1½-½, Sasmor drawing with Mordukhay.

The Z Men and Benighted Knights, both at 3-1,

naturally hung around for the results on Table 1.

Team 10 (2-1) was playing Philip/Mathew (1½) for

the Under 1700 prize while the Danube Express, also

at 1½, was overmatched against J & R Monster

Trucks, getting swept. Randall lost but Nathan won

again, drawing their match and taking the Under

1700 prize. Team for Two swept the

Blessed/Damned team and the kids won their match

from the Bouncing Checks 1½-½ with Matthew

beating Marcus. Cimafranca took an early draw with

Cohen, putting all the heat on the Bill Arluck-

Frumkin Board 1 pairing. After defending for a long

time, Ed slipped up but Bill missed his opportunity,

partly due to Zeitnot, but had to continue to press for

match score reasons and ended up losing the game,

allowing Ed-grr! to finish in clear first place instead

of in a three-way tie.

Final standings:

First: Team Ed-grr! 3½ match points $130

Second (tied): Team Benighted Knights and Z Men

3 match points $34 each team.

Top Under 1700 team (Team 10, aka To Be Named

Later) 2½ match points $78

Top Board One scorer: Lev Zilbermintz of Z Men 4-0

$78

Top Board Two scorer: tied Edgar Cimafranca (Ed-

grr!) and Suriyan Nathan (Team 10) 3½-½ $39 each

The tournament was directed by Ed Frumkin and Joe

Felber for the Queens Chess Club.

Come join us next year !!

10

NYSCA's Discount Program – A New Direction for Membership

The NYSCA annual meeting approved a new way for affiliates and organizers of the New York State Championship

and New York State Open to support NYSCA events. Organizers that offer a significant entry fee discount for the

NYSCA events as well as other tournaments that the organizer holds. The State Scholastic Championship, which is

the largest funder of NYSCA, is unchanged by this change in membership criteria. It is worth noting that the

traditional membership-required model remains in effect, and may be used by any organizer, as has been the case

throughout NYSCA's history.

There are two goals with the change. One is to make the State Championship a profitable tournament. The long-

time organizer of the tournament has reported that the tournament, NYSCA's flagship event, has lost money since

membership costs were absorbed into the entry fee. There has been a slow decline in the entries at the State

Championship even with the current entry fee structure, so an increase may well lead to a further decline in entries.

The pool of potential sites to hold the State Championship is not particularly large on Labor Day weekend, and by

and large, the membership is satisfied with the Albany Marriott and the Capital Region location for the tournament.

Therefore this new direction is being tried.

In 2013, membership at the State Championship and State Open will not be required, but members will be offered a

$7 discount on their entry fee to the event. Continental Chess Association (CCA) is also offering a $5 discount at

its other tournaments in New York, including the Long Island Open andManhattan Open. It should be noted that

CCA revived the New York State Open in May in Lake George, and the event has been a success for NYSCA.

NYSCA is willing to work with any other organizer on other NYSCA events.

NYSCA wants to work with organizers to expand the discounts. Organizers that offer the discounts will have their

events advertised in Empire Chess, posted on the NYSCA web site and advertised through NYSCA's facebook and

twitter feeds. By accessing NYSCA's group of committed tournament chess players, the discounts in entry fee will

more than pay for itself with increased entries and the ability to obtain entries from further away. NYSCA is also

working on internet options for membership verification and purchase.

Help us make NYSCA the best chess organization it can be in the best chess state in the country. It will make us

better, and your events better as well.

NEW YORK STATE CHESS ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP FORM

Name:_____________________________________________________________

Address:___________________________________________________________

City:__________________________State:_________Zip:___________________

E-Mail:____________________________________________________________

USCF ID:__________________________________________________________

$20 for four printed issues $12 for two printed issues (Winter and Summer)

Mail to: Phyllis Benjamin, Secretary, NYSCA, PO Box 340969, Brooklyn, NY 11234.

(please note new address)

11

Harmony In Chess – The Scholastic Column

by Zachary Calderon

In chess, no matter what opening, we must make sure our pieces flow together and maintain harmony. A lot of times

players love to create attacks using only a few of their pieces, and sometimes that’s enough in order to maintain an

attack or even win the game. But other times more pieces are needed in order to pursue the attack and move

forward with the game, because we do not have our whole army together.

Let me show you an example.

1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5

This opening, the beginning of the “Fried Liver Attack’ in the Giuoco Piano, is used by players all the time looking

for a quick way to gain material by forking the Queen and Rook on f7. This opening has been used by chess players

for almost 500 years as an attacking variation of the “Quiet Game,” as Giuoco Piano is translated into from the

Italian.

And often times beginners see this and panic; How are they supposed to respond to such a violent threat? Black has

two ways to deal with White’s blitzkrieg attempt, one more radical than the other.

The first and most popular is 4…d5 5. exd5 Na5!

If 5…Nxd5 6. Nxf7!? Kxf7 7. Qf3+ Ke6 8. Nc3 leads to an extremely complicated opening known as the Fried Liver

Attack. But this is not the focus of the article.

After 6. Bb5+ c6 6. dxc6 bxc6 we reach the following position.

12

At first glance, it appears White is better. Black’s pawn structure has been compromised, and White is up a pawn.

But take another look. The immediate threat is the b5 Bishop. Black’s pieces are a lot more coordinated then

White’s, as we can see after 7. Be2 h6 8. Nf3 e4

White’s poor Knight is getting kicked all over the board! It will be moving for the fourth time in nine moves,

which is not the way to effectively promote an attack or develop your pieces. Despite having the first move,

White’s Queenside has not begun development, and Black has more space and development for his pawn minus.

Black’s dark-squared Bishop will go to d6 and his light-squared Bishop to f5 followed by castling Kingside. His

pieces can work smoothly together to attack White’s position, while White will have a hard time untangling his

pieces and gaining space in the center.

I want to show you a game played by Boris Spassky in 1955. He had the Black pieces against Antonio Garcia.

The game started 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 0-0 9. h3 Nb8

If you are not familiar with this defense, then it is definitely an eyebrow-raiser. Why retreat the Knight like that?

The idea is that the Knight may be better placed on d7 than c6. The Knight at d7 is a much more flexible square for

this Knight as we will see. Also, there are no open lines in the current position, so there is no need for Black to be

in a rush.

13

10. d3 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Nf1 Nc5 13. Bc2 We can already start to see how active Black’s position is becoming. Notice how his pieces seem to flow, and not

get in each other's way.

13…Re8 14. Ng3 Bf8 15. Nh2 d5!

Black grabs the initiative in the center now. Notice how the c5 and f6 Knight and the b7 Bishop pressure the e4

square. White is already worse here and facing the task of defending a cramped position.

16. Qf3 g6 17. Bg5 Be7 18. h4 a5!

The purpose of this move is not immediately clear, but we see its usefulness on the next move.

19. h5 Ra6!

White’s attack is a bluff as his pieces are not in a position to effectively reach the Black King while Black has an

advantage on the Queenside and the center. We can see how wonderfully all of Black’s pieces are placed, while

White is trying to untangle his rather crumpled-up position. Black continued to play brilliantly and won on move

32.

So we can see through these examples how important it is that our pieces work together, and that all of them are

working toward the goal of gaining key space in the center and attacking the opposing King. When they don’t work

together, our position collapses under the pressure, but when they are all involve they can work miracles and

combine to win games.

A lot of players (myself included) only try to make all of our pieces active when we go down material and are

forced into playing with the pieces that are remaining. Try to keep this mindset of making all of your pieces active

even when material is balanced. With this mindset, your game, and your results, will definitely improve.

14

New York State Chess Association ChampionsYear Champion Site

1878* Judge James R. Cox Auburn

1879 H.A. Richmond Auburn

1880* Rev. Samuel R. Calthrop Syracuse

1881* Rev. John Costello Tunkhannock,PA

1882 George H. Thornton Buffalo

1883 (Jan.) Rev. Samuel R.

Cathrop

Elmira

1883* (Dec.) Niles D. Luce Elmira

1884 Niles D. Luce Elmira

1885* Niles D. Luce Elmira

1886 Dr. J.M. Cassety Albany

1887 Eugene Delmar New York City

1888 No contest

1889* Samuel Lipscheutz New York City



1892* Albert B. Hodges Skaneateles

1893* Albert B. Hodges New York City

1894 Albert B. Hodges New York City

1895 David G. Baird New York City

1896 Nicolai Jasnogrodsky New York City


1898 Gustav H. Koehler New York City

1899* Samuel Lipscheutz

William M. DeVisser

New York City

1900* Frank J. Marshall New York City

1901 Julius Finn New York City

1902* Berthold Lasker New York City

1903* Otto Roething New York City

1904* No contest

1905* No contest

1906 Hermann Helms New York City



1909 Clarence S. Howell New York City

1910 Jose R. Capablanca New York City

1911 Paul F. Johner New York City

1912 Jacob Rosenthal New York City

1913 Leonard B. Meyer

George J. Beihoff

New York City

1914 Roy T. Black New York City

1915* Abraham Kupchik New York City

1916* Harold E. Jennings Buffalo

1917 Oscar Chajes Rochester

1918 Kenneth S. Howard Rochester

1919 Abraham Kupchik Troy

1920 Jacob Bernstein Albany

1921 Jacob Bernstein Syracuse

1922 Jacob Bernstein Buffalo

1923 Rudolph Smirka Syracuse

1924 Carlos Torre Rochester

1925 Hermann Helms Buffalo

1926 Milton Hanauer Rome

1927 Rudolph Smirka Rome

1928* Anthony E. Santasiere Buffalo

1929* Herman Steiner Buffalo

1930 Anthony E. Santasiere Utica

1931 Fred Reinfeld Rome

1932 Nathan Grossman Rome

1933 Fred Reinfeld Syracuse

1934* Robert Levenstein Syracuse

1935 Isaac I. Kashdan Binghamton

1936 Isaac I. Kashdan Poughkeepsie

1937 David S. Polland Cazenovia

1938 Arnold S. Denker Cazenovia

1939 Arnold S. Denker Hamilton

1940 Robert Willman Hamilton

1941* Reuben Fine Hamilton

1942 Israel A. Horowitz Cazenovia

1943* Israel A. Horowitz Syracuse

1944* No contest

1945 George M. Kramer Saratoga Springs

1946 Anthony E. Santasiere Cazenovia

1947 Albert S. Pinkus Endicott

1948 Larry M. Evans Endicott

1949 Max Pavey Rochester

1950 Eliot S. Hearst Binghamton

1951 James Sherwin Syracuse

1952 John W. Collins Cazenovia

1953 Hans Berliner Cazenovia

1954 William Lombardy Binghamton

1955 Edmar Mednis Cazenovia

1956 Anthony E. Santasiere Buffalo

1957 August Rankis Binghamton

1958 Mitchell Saltzberg Cazenovia

1959 August Rankis Schenectady

1960 Erich W. Marchand Cazenovia

1961 Herbert Seidman Cazenovia

1962 Pal C. Benko Poughkeepsie

1963 George Mauer

Mitchell Saltzberg

Cazenovia

1964 Duncan Suttles Ithaca

1965 John T. Westbrock Ithaca

15

1966 Raul Benedicto Syracuse

1967 Erich W. Marchand Canandaigua

1968 Roger B. Johnson Schenectady

1969 Erich W. Marchand Corning

1970 Erich W. Marchand Rochester

1971* Herbert Seidman Syracuse

1972 Ken Rogoff Syracuse

1973 Jonathan Tisdall Buffalo

1974 Paul Jacklyn Albany

1975 Sunil Weeramantry Albany

1976 Leonid Shamkovich Albany

1977 Leonid Shamkovich Albany

1978 Edward Formanek Syracuse

1979 Vitaly Zaltsman Albany

1980 Roman Dzindzichashvili New York City

1981 Ken Regan New York City

1982 Jay Bonin Albany

1983 Mikhail Zlotnikov Albany

1984 Maxim Dlugy Syracuse

1985 Joel Benjamin Rockville Center

1986 Anthony Renna

Joel Benjamin

Walter Shipman

Binghamton

1987 Robert Byrne

Joel Benjamin

Saratoga Springs

1988 Vince McCambridge Rye

1989 Michael Rohde Albany

1990 Roman Dzindzichashvili

Joel Benjamin

Kingston

1991 John Fedorowicz Rockville Center

1992 Joel Benjamin Saratoga Springs

1993 Michael Rohde Saratoga Springs

1994 Michael Rohde Saratoga Springs

1995 Joel Benjamin

Victor Frias

Saratoga Springs

1996 Ronald Burnett

Michael Rohde

Saratoga Springs

1997 Jay Bonin Saratoga Springs

1998 Ronald Burnett Saratoga Springs

1999 Jay Bonin Saratoga Springs

2000* Joel Benjamin

Dmitry Schneider

Daniel Edelman

Saratoga Springs

2001 Joel Benjamin

Sunil Weeramantry

Chuck Cadman

Rochester

2002 Joel Benjamin

Alex Stripunsky

Aaron Pixton

Michael Rohde

Kerhonkson

2003* Aaron Pixton Kerhonkson

2004 Hikaru Nakamura Kerhonkson

2005 Gata Kamsky Monticello

2006* Teddy Coleman Albany

2007* Hikaru Nakamura Albany

2008 Alex Lenderman Albany

2009 Giorgi Kacheishvili Albany

2010* Aleksandr Ostrovskiy Albany

2011* Michael Chiang Albany

2012* Raven Sturt Albany NOTES

1878 - A curious feature of the

early tournaments - the winner

became association President for

the coming year! This was the

case until 1888.

1880 - This is the same Samuel

Calthrop that played in the first

U.S. Chess Congress of 1857, Paul

Morphy's great triumph. Calthrop

was eliminated in the first round

by Louis Paulsen, 3-0.

1881 - This championship was

actually played outside New York

State because NYSCA began its

existence as "The Western New

York and Northern Pennsylvania

Chess Association." From the

1945 NYSCA yearbook:

"Although it did not receive its

present official title until the

Cooperstown mid-summer meeting

in 1886, its organization has been

the same from the beginning."

1883 (Dec) - This contest is not on

the trophy, but is on the official list

published in 1945.

1885 - Since no players from

Pennsylvania played in this event,

this gave the impetus to make the

association simply a New York

organization.

1889 - There is some doubt what

Lipschuetz' first name was -

various sources have listed it as

Simon, Solomon or Samuel. The

latter is what Hermann Helms used

in contemporary newspaper

reports, so I use that.

1892 - The championship was not

decided by a tournament, but by a

match between Hodges and the

1891 champion Eugene Delmar.

Hodges won the match, 5-0.

1893 - The trophy lists Eugene

Delmar, not Hodges, as champion

this year.

16

1899 - DeVisser and Lipscheutz

tied in the tournament, 3½-½, and

drew a playoff game later in the

week. DeVisser was considered

the moral victor by virtue of the

fact he played some fine games

and had been winning the playoff

game.

1900 - This is one of the years that

is missing from the 1945 list.

Champions are listed as Marshall

and D.G. Baird on the trophy, but

this is not quite correct. While the

two did tie in the championship

tournament, the tie was supposed

to be broken by a two game match.

However, Marshall beat Baird so

badly in the first game that Baird

"forthwith resigned all claim to the

championship and the title to it

thereupon reverted to the

Brooklynite." - Brooklyn Daily

Eagle, Feb. 27, 1900

1902 - Filling in this one gave me

some trouble. The champion was

listed as "B. Lasker" on the trophy,

and I thought this might be a

misprint for the World Champion,

Emanuel Lasker, who was

frequently in New York around this

time. I knew Lasker had an elder

brother Berthold who was also a

fairly strong player, but I didn't

think he ever left Germany. As it

turns out, Berthold Lasker did visit

the U.S. in early 1902 and showed

himself to be nearly as strong as

his brother by beating everyone in

sight during his stay. Curiously

Emanuel was not in the U.S. at this

time - his duties as a university

professor kept him from leaving

England.

1903 - Roething tied with L. Rosen

in the finals and won a playoff.

1904 - There was no event this

year because: "Dr. L.D. Broughton

Jr., of Brooklyn, the secretary of

the association, was confronted

with a lack of support from the

customary quarters and for that

reason called no meetings of the

advisory board." (Brooklyn Daily

Eagle, Feb. 21, 1904) Instead, on

Washington's Birthday the

Manhattan Chess club ran a series

of team matches at Carnegie Hall.

It's likely that the local organizers

were too busy preparing for the

upcoming Cambridge Springs

tournament to bother with the NYS

championship.

1905 - There was no championship

held this year because a

telegraphic match was scheduled

between the Chicago Chess and

Checker Club and the Manhattan

Chess Club on Feb. 22. These city

matches by cable were very

popular and received a lot of press.

"It is a crying pity, of course, that

the day given over in former years,

with the exception of 1904, to the

annual championship meetings of

the New York State Chess

Association, should be utilized for

another purpose, where the benefit

to be derived is limited to two

clubs." (Brooklyn Daily Eagle,

Feb. 19, 1905)

1915 - The British Chess Magazine

Annual, 1915 mentions a mid-

summer meeting of NYSCA that

was held in Utica and a tournament

that was won by Charles Jaffe.

That tournament was the last of the

midsummer tournaments that

NYSCA ran in addition to the

championship. Beginning in 1916

they were combined into one

tournament that was held in the

summer months.

1916 - I found the following

curious paragraph in the British

Chess Magazine annual, 1916:

"Another match, on a smaller

scale, but of considerable interest,

took place during the summer

between A. Kupchik, the New

York State champion and J.

Bernstein, who challenged him for

the title - there being no

tournament play for it last year.

Kupchik drew the first game and

lost the second. Bernstein was

then compelled by illness to ask

for an interval. On resumption

Kupchik won three games off the

reel and took the match by 3½-1½,

retaining his title." No mention is

made of the tournament Jennings

won in Buffalo.

1928 - Santasiere was to win the

state championship a then-record

four times, and he did it in four

different decades.

1929 - Herman Steiner and Jacob

Bernstein tied for first, and were

supposed to play a four game

match for the title, but when

Steiner won the first two games,

Bernstein gave up.

1934 - Ran along side of the great

Syracuse tournament, which of

course drew away most of the

major talent. Reshevsky won the

main tournament, 12-2, while

Levenstein won a playoff match

with E.B. Adams, 3-2.

1941 – This could be considered

the last hurrah of the players that

dominated U.S. Chess before

World War Two. It was actually

one of the strongest US

tournaments of the day: Fine,

Reshevsky, Kashdan and Denker

17

all played.

1943 - The U.S. Open and New

York State Championship were

combined in one tournament this

year, so Horowitz was U.S. Open

winner as well as State Champion.

1944- The State Championship this

year was to be held at the IBM

facilities in Endicott, NY but the

government ban on wartime travel

caused IBM to pull the plug on the

tournament, and they did it so

close to the scheduled date that it

couldn't be moved or rescheduled,

much to everyone's consternation.

1964 - This tournament resulted in

a three way tie among Suttles,

Alex Dunne and Ivan

Theodorovich. Since Dunne was

the only one of the three living in

New York State at the time,

wouldn't that make him champion?

1971 - The current tournament

format begins this year with six

rounds played over three days on

Labor Day weekend. Prior to this

the championship was usually

played in August and it was a

round robin tournament that

would sometimes last more than a

week with only one or two games

a day.

2000 - Even though Dan Edelman

is on the trophy, he was a

Connecticut resident.

2001 - Joel Benjamin was state

champion, but GM Ildar Ibragimov

of Connecticut won the tournament

by half a point.

2003 – The tournament was won

by GMs Ehlvest and Ibragimov,

neither of which were NY

residents. Tied for third were 5

New Yorkers: GM Joel Benjamin,

IM Justin Sarkar, IM Jay Bonin,

FM Aaron Pixton and FM Daniel

Shapiro. The championship was

decided by an Armageddon blitz

game between the two players with

the best tiebreaks, Benjamin and

Pixton, with Pixton winning. This

began the policy of avoiding co-

champions.

2006 – Tournament was won by

GMs Ildar Ibragimov and Joel

Benjamin, neither of which were

NYS residents.


GMs Ildar Ibragimov and

Alexander Ivanov, neither of which

were NYS residents.


GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) and IM

Mark Esserman (MA) so the state

title fell to Ostrovskiy who was

clear third. Only 14 years old,

Ostrovskiy was the youngest

champion ever.

2011 – There was a three-way tie

for first at 4½-1½ among Deepak

Aaron, Aleksandr Ostrovskiy and

Chiang, with Chiang getting the

trophy on tiebreaks.

2012 – GM Alexander Stripunsky

was clear first with 5½-½, Sturt

was top New Yorker, tied for

second with 4½- ½.

About the list

This list has two main sources.

The first is the list of champions

that was published in the 1945

New York State Chess Association

Yearbook, and the second is the list

of champions on the trophy itself

which was printed in the Summer

1995 issue of Empire Chess.

Where there are differences

between the two lists the printed

one is preferred, but the

differences are noted. There was

much information missing from

both lists, like the tournament sites

after 1945 and the first names of

the champions. This I filled in

myself from various other sources,

most of them contemporary. There

was also a nice account of the

early history of the organization by

Mark Levine in the Summer 1988

issue of Empire Chess.

I must also mention the role that

the late Alan Benjamin played in

completing this list. Over the

years I had been casually filling in

information as I ran across it, but

not making a concerted effort to

fill in the gaps. Most noticeably -

the dates 1904 and 1905 were a

mystery.

Knowing that I was working on the

list, Alan wrote me a letter

indicating that he had found the

information on the two missing

dates - the champions were Frank

Marshall in 1904 and Gustav

Koehler in 1905 and both

tournaments were held in Sylvan

Beach.

Unfortunately he was wrong, as I

found out soon after. I ran across a

list of non-championship

tournaments that NYSCA had run,

and the two Sylvan Beach

tournaments were on that list. This

lit a fire under me to finally do the

research to finally complete the list

once and for all. Several day trips

down to the Brooklyn Public

Library followed, looking at the

old chess columns of Hermann

18

Helms, the Dean of American

Chess, published in the Brooklyn

Daily Eagle.

I discovered that there was no state

championship held in 1904 or

1905, and this requires a little

explanation. From 1886 to until

1915 there were two main NYSCA

tournaments a year - the State

Championship, nearly always held

in New York City on Washington's

Birthday (Feb. 22) and a mid-

summer tournament, usually held

at an upstate resort. Curiously the

latter tournament was nearly

always a stronger and more serious

affair while the state championship

was often only a one-day, four-

round tournament. Other

examples of the summer

tournaments are the Buffalo

masters tournament of 1901 and

the Trenton Falls tournament of

1906. Harry N. Pillsbury won the

first tournament and Emanuel

Lasker won the latter, and while it

would be nice to add these great

players to the list of New York

State Champions, these NYSCA

tournaments were not officially

"New York State Championships."

In 1916 the two tournaments were

combined as the state

championship became a multi-day

event held during the summer.

The reason for this lengthy

explanation: back then it wasn't

considered such a big deal when

there was no New York State

Championship, because the

summer tournaments got more

attention. Incidentally, in those

days several other state chess

associations had their

championships on Washington's

Birthday too. I suppose it was a

convenient holiday.

A couple other issues occurred to

me while going over this list. The

first is that the current numbering

on the state championships is

wrong. The current count includes

all the years between 1878 and the

present day, but since three years

had no championships and one

year had two, the actual count of

championships should be two less

than it is. This may be a trivial

point since the tournament has

been an annual event for its entire

duration.

The second thing is that a number

of people listed as state champions

were not, in fact, New York state

residents when they won the

tournament. In fact, some of them

were not even United States

citizens. Even though he attended

college in the U.S. Jose

Capablanca (1910) was a citizen of

Cuba. Similarly, Berthold Lasker

(1902) was a German citizen just

visiting New York for a few

months. More recently, I believe

both Roger Johnson (1968) and

Edward Formanek (1978) were

Pennsylvania residents. I know

that only a New York State resident

can be champion now, but I

wonder when this policy changed.

A copy of the state constitution

published in Empire Chess in 1988

has the residents-only clause for

NYSCA champions.

- Bill Townsend

Add your name to the list!

NYS Championship—Labor Day!

19

The attendees at the 1926 NYSCA championship, in front of the Rome YMCA. Seated (Left to right):

J.D. Lear, R. J. Guckemus (w/trophy), Hermann Helms, D. Francis Searle, Charles Broughton, George N.

Cheney, and Charles E. Watson. Standing: Erling Tholfson, Milton Hanauer, W.A. Lyon, H.W. Thomas,

Edward B. Adams, N. Weber, Louis Guckemus, and A. Peetz. From American Chess Bulletin, 9/10, 1926.

Most noteworthy is the fact that the original New York State Championship trophy is in the picture. I

understand it was recently recovered, after being thought lost for years.

New York State chess history is largely the history of American chess. While benefactors and players

have come and gone over the generations, and the United States has a rich history of immigrant chess

players coming to our shorts to become American players, the fact remains that practically every major

chess player in American history either lived in New York, like Bobby Fischer, Hikaru Nakamura and

Joel Benjamin, or came to New York to compete against the best, like Sammy Reshevsky

20

Capital Region News by Bill Townsend

In the Spring in New York’s Capital District the focus

shifts from the local club championships to the inter-

club warfare of the Capital District Chess League.

Also, as the school year ends so does the season of

the Make the Right Move free scholastic chess

tournaments.

First, a little unfinished business. Every year as the

Schenectady Chess Club Championship concludes

with its final section, another tournament runs

alongside it. The Schenectady Consolation

Tournament is open to any club member not playing

in the finals. This year’s event was rather small –

only four players competed in one double round

robin section. The final game was played on March

14.

In clear first with a 5-1 record was Matt Clough, the

event’s lowest rated player. Clough’s sole loss was to

Cory Northrup, who tied for second with Sylvester

Canty at 3-3. In fourth place was Elihue Hill with 1-

5.

The Capital District Chess League, now in its 23rd

season, began in late March as a contest between

seven four man teams from various local clubs.

Joining defending champions Schenectady Geezers

were: Albany A, Schenectady A, Uncle Sam, RPI,

Capital Region and new team Albany B.

The first match took place on March 20 with the

Capital Region team defeating RPI, 3-1. On March

27, the Albany A team decisively defeated the Albany

B team, 3½-½.

One of the big surprises this year has been how well

Troy’s Uncle Sam Club has been doing. They started

the season on April 3 with a narrow 2½-1½ victory

over the Capital Region team. One of the secrets to

their success: Dr. Chibuzi Ilonze, playing as an

unrated on board four, but clearly an experienced

player.

The other Troy team, RPI, have proved to be no

slouches either. On April 4 they came very near to

defeating Schenectady A even though they were

down a player. The final result: 2½-1½ in

Schenectady’s favor. On the same day the defending

champions, the Schenectady Geezers, played their

first match, blanking the Albany B team 4-0.

On April 10 came a real shocker: the Uncle Sam team

defeated perennial champions Albany A with a

perfect 4-0 score, in spite of being outrated on every

board. This was a clear announcement that things

were going to be different this year for the Trojans.

On the same day the Albany B team finally got on the

scoreboard with a narrow win over the Capital

Region team, 2½-1½. However, on April 14, Albany

B was soundly defeated by the RPI team, 4-0.

On April 17 Albany A overwhelmed the Capital

Region team 3½-½. The sole bright spot for Capital

Region was Cory Northrup’s upset draw over Peter

Henner. On the same day Troy’s Uncle Sam Club

continued their winning ways by beating Albany B

by the same score, 3½-½. Albany’s first board, Joe

Jones, managed to draw Uncle Sam’s Phil Thomas.

The following day Capital Region fared even worse,

losing to the defending champion Schenectady

Geezers 4-0.

On April 21 the Geezers travelled to RPI in Troy, and

defeated the Engineers 3½-½. On board two RPI’s

Carlos Varela managed to draw former Schenectady

champion John Phillips.

So far the Uncle Sam Club has been dominating in

their matches, but that came to an end on April 24

when Schenectady A held them to a 2-2 tie. Things

looked very bad indeed for Schenectady, but a heroic

win by Carl Adamec on board one against Phil

Thomas saved the match for Schenectady.

The two Troy teams, RPI and Uncle Sam, met each

other on May 5, and the result was a rather surprising

2-2 tie, definitely an upset for the Engineers.

On May 8 Schenectady A traveled to Albany to play

the Albany B team, and narrowly won, 2½-1½.

Earlier in the season perennial champions Albany A

got a rude shock against Uncle Sam, losing 4-0. On

May 11 they were upset by the other Troy team, RPI,

this time by 3-1. Having lost their second match, the

21

effectively puts Albany A out of the running for first

place. The highlights of the match were RPI’s Jeff

LaComb beating Peter Henner on board one and Matt

Klawonn upsetting Albany’s Jon Lack on board four.

Here are the league standings, including only the

matches reported here so far. It should be

remembered that all the teams have not played the

same number of matches. The first number after the

team name is number of matches won, the second is

the number of individual games, which is the first

tiebreaker.

1. Uncle Sam, 4, 14

2. Schenectady Geezers, 3, 10.5

3. RPI, 2.5, 12

4. Schenectady A, 2.5, 7

5. Albany A, 2, 8

6. Capital Region, 1, 7.5

7. Albany B, 1, 5

In the pivotal match between Schenectady A and

Uncle Sam, Schenectady first board Carl Adamec

was the hero for Schenectady. A draw seemed likely

in Carl’s game, but since Schenectady was trailing 1-

2 that would hand the match to Uncle Sam. Therefore

Carl pulled out all the stops and managed a very nice

win. It was certainly a contributing factor that Carl

loves to play games with mixed material and playing

those positions is one of his strong suits.

Phil Thomas (1960) –Carl Adamec (2027) [D34]

Capital District Chess League 2013

Uncle Sam vs. Schenectady A, board 1

Troy, NY, April 24, 2013

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O Nf6

6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 O-O 8. Nc3 d5 9. cxd5 exd5 10.

h3 a6 11. Be3 Ne5 12. b3 Be6 13. f4 Nc6 14. Nxc6 White had a decent advantage out of the opening, but

this move essentially makes the game dead even.

14…bxc6 15. Na4 Rc8 16. Qd3 c5 Black could save the pawn with 16... Qa5, but he's

more interested in exploiting his center pawn duo

than an extraneous wing pawn.

17. Qxa6 d4 18. Bf2 Bd5 I would prefer 18... Nd5 here, and Black has good

compensation for his pawn minus.

19. Qd3 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Nd5 21. Rac1 h5 Better for Black seems to be 21... Nb4 22. Qd2 Qd5+.

22. Qf3 h4 23. g4 Qd6 24.e3 c4?! This shouldn't work. Black can continue the pressure

with 24...dxe3 25. Bxe3 Nxe3+ 26. Qxe3 Bf6.

25. bxc4?

Plays right into black's hands. White wins a pawn

with simply 25. Rfd1! cxb3 26. Rxc8 Rxc8 27. axb3.

25... Nxe3+ 26.Bxe3 dxe3 27. c5? Black only has a tiny advantage after 27. Nc3.

27...Qd2+ 28. Kh1 Bxc5?! Best is 28... Rfe8 29. Rfe1 Bf8 30. Qe2 Qa5 and

White

is in trouble.

29. Rfd1 Qxa2 30. Nxc5 e2?! 31. Re1 Qd2? This should lose. Better was 31... Rfe8.

32. Qf2? 32. Qxe2! Qxf4 33. Rc4 and White is a piece up with

excellent winning prospects.

32... Rfe8 33. Kh2 Rcd8 34.Nb3 Qd3 35. Nc5 Qd2

36. Qxh4 Qxf4+ 37. Qg3 Qxc1! By this point Carl realized that Schenectady A was

trailing 1-2 and in order to draw the match he had to

win this game - a draw wasn't good enough. Now

things get crazy.

38. Rxc1 Rd1 39. Nd3 Rxc1 40. Ne1 Ra8 41. Qf2

Raa1 42. Qxe2 Rxe1 43.Qb5? White's weak point is the pawn on h3, so he needs to

keep an eye on it with a move like 43. Qd3.

43... Ra3 44. Qb8+ Kh7 45. Qb2? Seems to be the losing move, oddly enough. White

draws after 45. Qb5! Ree3? 46.Qf5+ Kg8 47. Qc8+.

45... Ree3 46. Qc2+ g6 47. Qg2? Allows Black to force White to trade his Queen for

the two Rooks, giving him a winning ending. 47.Qc4

offered better chances for holding on, but White's

prognosis looks poor.

47... Rxh3+ 48. Qxh3+ Rxh3+ 49. Kxh3 Kh6 50.

Kh4 g5+ 51. Kg3 Kg6 52. Kf2 Kf6 53. Kf3 Ke5 54.

Ke3 f6 55. Kf3 Kd4 56. Kf2 Ke4 57. Kg3 Ke3 58.

Kg2 Kf4 59. Kh3 Kf3 0-1 The White King must abandon his last pawn, so he

gives up.

Dr. Chibuzo Ilonze is new to the Capital District,

being originally from Nigeria. He plays board four

for Troy’s Uncle Sam team because he is unrated,

however it’s pretty obvious that he’s an experienced

player. I would guess that he’s roughly 1800 strength

but because he has won all his games so far his USCF

provisional rating is something like 2261! Anyway,

here is a game from the same match as the previous

game where Dr. Ilonze outplays Schenectady’s Dilip

Aaron, but as you can see the result could have easily

gone the other way.

Dilip Aaron (1800) – Chibuzo Ilonze (UNR) [B14]


Schenectady A vs. Uncle Sam, board 4

Troy, NY, April 24, 2013

22

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.c4 e6

6.Bg5 Be7 7.Nc3 0–0 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.cxd5 This is not what the Panov-Botvinnik Variation is

about. White would be better of deferring it with 9.0–

0.

9...exd5 10.Be2N Bf5 11.0–0 h6 12.Bh4 g5 13.Bg3

Ne4 14.Ne5 Bf6 15.f4 Provocative play, but it turns out well for White.

15...Nxg3 16.hxg3 Bxe5?! 17.fxe5 Be6 18.Rf6 Qb6

19.Rxh6 Qxd4+ 20.Qxd4 Nxd4 21.Bd3 Nc6 22.Rh5

Nxe5? This looks obvious, but it's actually a mistake. Black

should play 22...Kg7 first.

23.Rxg5+ Ng6 24.Bxg6 White has the right idea, but plays the moves out of

order. He has a great game after 24.Re1!

24...fxg6 25.Rxg6+ Kf7 26.Rh6 Rh8 27.Rf1+ Ke7

28.Rxh8 Rxh8 29.Re1?! As White finds out, the name of the game here is

restraining White's d-pawn. Better is 29.Rf4 and after

29...Kd6 30.Nb5+ Ke5 31.a3 he has good

counterplay 29...d4 30.Nb5 d3 31.Rd1?!

Now that the d-pawn is becoming a problem, it's

important for White to play actively. Therefore better

is: 31.Nd4! Rd8 32.Nxe6 d2 33.Rd1 Kxe6 34.Kf2 and

while the d-pawn isn't going anywhere, it's going to

be hard for White to capture it while maintaining any

sort of an advantage.

31...Rd8 32.Rd2? Just a plain oversight. White holds on to the a-pawn

with 32.Nc3.

32...Bxa2 33.Nc3 White sees that he's lost after 33.Nxa7? Bc4 and the

Knight is trapped and White must contort himself to

try to preserve it.

33...Bc4 34.Ne4?! Another weak move. Better was 34.Kf2.

34...Ke6 35.Nc5+? Brings the Black King into the game while the White

King languishes on g1. After this, White is probably

lost.

35...Ke5 36.Nxb7 Rd5 37.b4 Kd4 38.Na5 38.Rf2 is better but it hardly matters at this point.

38...Bb5 39.Rf2 Kc3 40.Rf3 Kxb4 41.Nb7 d2

42.Rf4+ Kc3 43.Rf3+ Kc2 44.Rf2 Kc1 0-1 White must give up his Rook for the d-pawn, so he

resigns instead.

Former Albany champion John Morse is known for

his odd opening choices – sometimes his games are

unique on move three or four. What’s not so well

known is that he’s a skilled endgame player. We get

to see that side of him here.

John Morse (2005) – Philip Sells (2007) [D02]


Albany B vs. Schenectady A, board 1

Guilderland, NY, May 8, 2013

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 Morse is known for playing unusual opening systems,

but here he chooses something relatively ordinary -

the London System.

3...c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Qb3 Nc6 6.e3 Be7 7.Nbd2 d5

8.Bd3 0–0 8...c4 doesn't win a piece due to 9.Qxb6 axb6 10.Be2.

9.0–0 Qd8 The first new move. Previously seen here was 9...Bd7

and now the game Feist-Caspari, Hessen 1994

continued: 10.Rfe1 Rac8 11.Qxb6 axb6 12.h3 Na7?!

13.a4 c4 14.Bc2 Ra8 15.Ne5 b5 16.Nxd7 Nxd7

17.axb5 Nf6? (17...Nxb5 18.e4 and White is superior,

but this is better for Black than the game.) 18.b6 Nb5

19.e4 dxe4 20.Nxc4 Nd5 21.Bh2 f5 22.Ba4 1–0)

10.Qc2 h6 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Nd7 13.Nf3 Nxe5

14.Nxe5 Bd7 15.f4 Be8 16.f5 c4 17.Be2 Bg5? A miscalculation. Black had to play 17...exf5.

18.fxe6 Bxe3+ 19.Kh1 fxe6 20.Rxf8+ Kxf8 21.Qh7!

Now Black's King is on the hot seat - he may already

be lost here.

21...Bg5 22.Qh8+ Even stronger is 22.Rf1+ Bf6 23.Ng4.

22...Ke7 23.Qxg7+ Kd6 24.Qxb7 Qb8 25.Qa6+

Qb6 26.Bxc4?! More incisive is 26.Qa3+ Kc7 27.Bg4.

26...Bf6? Black has more play after 26...Qxa6 27.Bxa6 Rb8

28.Rb1 Bf4 29.Nd3 Bg6.

27.Re1 Rb8 28.Qxb6+ Rxb6 29.Bb3 a5 30.c4?! This gives back a chunk of White's advantage. White

is still winning after 30.Nd3.

30...Rb8 31.c5+ Kc7 32.Ng4?! Bxd4 33.Rxe6 Bxc5?

Black wins a piece after 33...Bd7! 34.Re7 Kd8 35.Rf7

Bxg4 but White's extra pawns may be hard to handle.

34.Bxd5 Rxb2 35.g3 Bd7 36.Rxh6 Bd4 36...Bxg4? doesn't win a piece due to 37.Rc6+ and

White is better.

37.h3 Bf5 The first of a series of second-best moves. The game

seems dead even after 37...Rd2 - White's extra pawn

is offset by Black's Bishop pair.

38.Rc6+ Kd7 39.Ra6 Bc3 40.Nf6+ Bxf6 41.Rxf6

Bxh3 42.Ra6 Rd2 43.Rxa5 White has two extra pawns, a pretty obvious endgame

win. Now we get to see Morse's endgame technique in

action.

43...Kd6 44.Bb3 Bg4 45.Rg5 Bf3+ 46.Kg1 Bd1

23

47.Bxd1?! Trading the Bishops makes Black's defense more

viable, but I think Morse was already looking

forward to the Rook and pawn ending.

47...Rxd1+ 48.Kf2 Rd2+ 49.Kf3 Rxa2 50.Rf5! Ke6

51.g4 Ra3+? This only helps White - he wants to move his King

forward. As near as I can tell the correct way to

defend is for Black to get his Rook in front of the

pawn so 51...Ra8 seems to be called for. To be fair,

I’m pretty sure Sells was almost out of time here.

52.Kf4 Ra8 53.Kg5 Rh8?! I don't see how White can make progress after

53...Rg8+ 54.Kh5 Rh8+.

54.Kg6 Rh2? The losing move - 54...Rg8+ leads back to the last

note.

55.g5 Rh1 56.Rf6+ Ke7 57.Kg7 Rg1 Clearly Black's Rook was much more annoying in

front of the pawn than behind it.

58.g6 Rh1 59.Rf7+ Ke8 60.Kg8 Rh2 61.g7 Rh1

62.Rf5 Ke7 63.Rf7+ Ke6 No better is 63...Ke8 64.Rf4 Ke7 65.Re4+ Kf6

66.Kf8. 64.Kf8 1–0

The 72nd

Make the Right Move free scholastic

tournament took place April 13 at the New York State

Library in the Empire State Plaza in Albany. The

turnout was huge, in fact it may be a record: 135

players competed in the seven sections.

In the unrated All Welcome section Zachary Calderon

and Jerry Reubens finished at the top with 4-0, with

Calderon getting first place on tiebreaks. Zaza

Samasdashvili was third with 3-1. Sandeep Alampalli

was clear fourth with 2½-½.

In the top scholastic rated section Ava Xu swept the

field with a perfect 4-0 score. Nitin Obla and

Matthew Sherlock were second and third with 3-1.

Fourth through seventh with 2-2 were: Jonathan

D’Alonzo, Carson Guzy, Jovanna D’Alonzo and

Joseph D’Alonzo.

In the Under-1000 rated section Devon Guzy

triumphed with a 3½-½ record. Second through sixth

with 3-1 were: Ronghai Gong, Blake Guzy, JanKarl

Galia, Antonio Lacy and Shreyas Raman. Miles

Demartino and Cooper Guzy were seventh and eighth

with 2½-1½.

There were two perfect 4-0 scores atop the Under-

600 rated section with Michael Moughan beating

Uriel Calixto on tiebreaks. Mariel Calderon and Tahj

Buford were third and fourth with 3-1.

Theodore Dutcher won the top unrated section with a

perfect 4-0 score. Tyler Columbo was clear second

with 3½-½. Third through fifth with 3-1 were: Xavier

McCarthy, Dylan Cho and Vaughn Seninde. Thomas

Bailey and Havilan Douglas were sixth and seventh

with 2½-1½.

The unrated section for players in grades three to five

was the largest section by far and it was won by

Stelin Poola with a perfect 4-0 record. Also with 4-0

but second on tiebreaks was Andrew Gauspohl.

Third through ninth with 3-1 were: Zachary Swain,

Ian Cho, George Danes, Michael Marchellus, Lila

Freeman, Jason Swart and Harold Wang. Tenth

through thirteenth with 2½-1½ were: Logan

Hourigan, Hailey Krasnikov, Joseph Papa and Nathan

Heavner.

Finally the unrated section for players in grades two

and below was won by Sean Hallinan with 3½-½,

just beating out Peter Dong on tiebreaks. Third

through fifth with 3-1 were: Dylan Watzka, Collin

Johnson and Ian Buehner. Max Moughhan was clear

sixth with 2½-1½.

Top team was St. Joseph’s from Kingston with an

incredible 15 points out of a possible 16. Second and

third with 14 were the Rockin’ Rooks of Rhinebeck

and Cooperstown.

The 73rd

Make the Right Move free scholastic

tournament took place May 4 at the Rensselaer Boys

and Girls Club in Rensselaer, NY. The turnout was a

bit modest: 38 players in three sections. Local

scholastic tournaments are seldom played on the

eastern side of the Capital District, and that may have

affected turnout.

In the unrated All Welcome section Adrian Galia was

the surprise winner with a prefect 4-0 record. Second

through fourth with 3-1 were: Santini Sierra along

with the son and father duo of Zachary and Herman

Calderon. Michael Cheng was all alone in fifth place

with 2½- 1½.

In the top scholastic rated section, Ronghai Gong

swept the section with a perfect 4-0 record. Second

and third were brothers Julian and Nigel Galia with

3-1. Abhinev Gudapati and Killian Whyte were

fourth and fifth with 2½-½.

The scholastic section for players in grades five and

below was won by Harold Wang, also with a perfect

4-0 score. Elijah Anderson-Seymour was second with

24

3-1.

The last Make the Right Move free scholastic

tournament of the 2012-13 season, the 74th overall,

was held at the Menands School on June 1. Overall

41 players competed in the six sections.

In the All-Ages rated section John Hartnett of

Greenwich was the winner with 3½ out of four.

Herman Calderon was second with 3-1. Zachary

Calderon, the event’s highest rated player and the

only person to draw Hartnett, was third with 2½-1½.

Tied for fourth with 2-2 were: Nitin Obla, Matt

Schottenfeld and Matthew Sherlock.

In the All Welcome unrated section, Bill Matters was

first with a perfect 4-0 score. Paul Girdansky and

Joseph Whyte were second and third with 3-1.

Samantha Giknis was fourth with 2-2.

In the top scholastic rated section, Killian Whyte

dominated with a perfect 4-0 record. Blaise Loya and

Mariel Calderon were second and third with 3-1. Tied

for fourth with 2-2 were: Harold Wang, Philip

Anderson, Antonio Lacy and Abhinev Gudapati.

There was another perfect score atop the K-12

unrated scholastic section as Saathvik Narra finished

with 4-0. Dinesh Kakulla was second with 3-1.

Sydney Lemire and Benjamin Noland were third and

fourth with 2-2.

In the unrated section for players in grades three to

five, Vaishnavi Gaddalay edged out Elijah Andersen-

Seymour on tiebreaks. Both scored 3-1. Kaleb Benac

was third with 2½-1½.

In the unrated section for players in grades two and

below Collin Johnson was the winner, with a perfect

4-0 score. John Lamont was second with 3-1.

Pradham Rodda and Vishnu Gaddalay were third and

fourth with 2-2.

The host school, Menands, took home the top team

trophy with 11½ points. East Greenbush Chess Club

was second with 10 while Albany Academy was third

with 9.

All three events were organized and directed by

Brother John McManus and his helpers at the Make

the Right Move Foundation.

Central New York (including North

Country and Southern Tier) News

by Karl Heck Cornell student NM Thomas Riccardi won the 12-

player Syracuse-Minoa June Open with a perfect 4-0

score sweeping the field by a full point. Lance

Winters of the Utica area was clear second with an

undefeated 3-1 score, taking a half-point bye in the

first round and drawing Ithaca-area player Zubin

Mukerjee in the second round. Mukerjee was also

undefeated, unusually getting four draws and gaining

44 rating points. Expert Jose Fernandez and Thomas

Barkley tied for third with 2 ½ points, both losing to

Riccardi. Joe Ball directed and organized.

Thomas Barkley, a senior player from Syracuse, won

the May edition of the Syracuse-Minoa Open on May

11. Barkely won three games and took a half-point

bye in the second round to clinch clear first place by

half a point. Jose Fernandez was clear second in the

seven-player, Joe Ball run event with three points..

Twelve players contested the annual Watertown Open

chess club on April 20. Dr. David Kistler, a

powerhouse player in the North Country, won the

event with a perfect 4-0 score. Visiting Maine player

and former Rochester Chess Center worker S. Warren

Lohr was clear second with an undefeated three

points, conceding draws in the third round to Peter

Craig and in the second round to Adolfo Prieto.

Craig was clear third with 2 ½ points and was also

undefeated, winning in the first round and drawing

out in the closely-contested event. Don Klug directed

for the Watertown Chess Knights.

The Knights' spring round-robin drew eight players

and also was won by Dr. Kistler with a 6 1/2-1/2

score. Adolfo Prieto was clear second with 5 ½

points, and local player Robert Kratzat was clear

third with 4 ½ points. Don Klug directed for the

Knights.

The 47th Binghamton Open at Cordisco's Chess

Center was won by Cornell student NM Thomas

Riccardi with a perfect 4-0 score. Riccardi beat the

four highest-ranked players in the tournament below

him. Veteram Binghamton player Ed Kelley was

clear second with a 3-1 score in the eight-player

event, losing to Riccardi in the second round.

Syracuse player Ken Chamberlain was clear third

with 2 ½ points in the John Cordisco directed and

organized event. (continued on page 31)

25

Buffalo Niagara Chess News courtesy Buffalo Niagara Chess Corner

The 7th Annual Buffalo International Chess

Championships hosted by The Archangel 8 Chess

Academy, were held on Saturday, June 1 and 2nd,

2013 at the Old First Ward Community Center in

Buffalo, and attracted 52 chess players in three

sections, Players came from as far away as Syracuse,

Ithaca, Binghamton, Pittsburgh, and Toronto,

Canada.

In the FIDE International OPEN Section attracted a

strong field of 17 players. Defending his title,

International Master Kenneth W. Regan, Ph.D is now

our first five-time Mayor's Cup champion, winning

the tournament with a 4 1/2-1/2 score. His only

concession was a fourth-round draw to NM Samuel

Copeland. IM Regan has won the Cup in 2013, 2012,

2011, 2010 and 2008!

Copeland, Cornell student NM Thomas Riccardi,

Malcolm Mast and Danny Inzinga all tied for second

with 3 ½ points. Riccardi lost to Regan in the third

round, and the two second-place finishers drew in the

last round. Mast was also undefeated with two wins

and three draws, with a last-round win over long-time

Buffalo-area organizer Thomas Warner moving Mast

up. Inzinga, from Pennsylvania, won the Top Under

1800 prize.

The 2013 Mayor's Cup Jeff White Memorial Under

1500 Section attracted 18 players. Michael Huang of

Toronto, Canada won the tournament with a perfect

5-0 score. Huang has a 1383 CFC rating entering the

tournament, which was his first in the US. He left

Buffalo with a 1954 provisional USCF rating, so I am

sure he will be back in our country to play.

Newcomer Russell K. Wijesiriwardena from Niagara

Falls New York tied for second with 3 ½ points along

with Andrew Orr of Pittsburgh and local junior Sam

Santora.,

Nathan Palmisano of the local Pioneer Chess Club

won the top Under 1200 prize with 2 ½ points.

Sixteen players contested the David W. "Pawn

Master" Mc Duffie Memorial Scholastic K-12

Section. Benjamin Liao from Toronto, Canada won

the section.. Ashton Willams was Top K-3 player and

Alexis Schlaak was Top Girl.

Sponsorships were greatly appreciated and without

them, this event would not be possible! A new Chess

Partner is Shatona Mathis of MPYR FASHION, our

MPYR FASHION Top Female Champion sponsor.

Other contributors were Old First Ward Community

Center, Buffalo Public & Erie County Library,

Buffalo Fire Commissioner, Garnell W. Whitfield, Jr.,

Trophies were donated by The Willie Hutch Jones

Educational & Sports Clinics, Scanlon Jewelers of

Williamsville, Simpson & Simpson, PLLC. and

Cheryl, Fran and Horace Mc Duffie, Jr.

June 15th was the date for the Inaugural Juneteenth

Scholastic Championship at the Main Place Mall in

Buffalo.

In the Under 11 year olds "Freedom Section," the co-

champions were second grader Ethen Warner of

Pioneer Chess, Fredonia player Colton Kuzdzal, and

newcomer Clayton Wallrich, newcomer from the

Buffalo suburb of Clarence. The MPYR Fashion top

female player was Yahnia Brown - Mc Reynolds.

Results of the Underground Railroad Under 18 Year

Old Section was Undefeated Champion Kevin

Roulhac, who plays for Urban Knights Chess, Joshua

Benham of Bishop Timon and Benjamin Rummell of

the Niagara Falls Chess Club, The MPYR Fashion

top Female player award was won by Dekayla S.

Dubose of the Urban Queens Chess Club, Michael

Mc Duffie directed.

Veteran chess playe Richard Kalfas from Jamestown

won the Sardinia three-round swiss tournament held

on Saturday, May 4. Dick defeated the Lye brothers,

Kevin and Reagan, in round 1 and 2, then beat Expert

Dan Miraglia, also from Jamestown, in round 3, to

win top prize in the nine-player event. Maraglia,

Reagan Lyle, and Pat Patterson tied for 2nd with 2

wins. Kevin Lyle and Nathan Palmisano tied for the

Under 1300 prize. Tom Warner directed for the

Southtowns Chess Club.

26

Open Lines – tidbits of information from the chess world. by Karl Heck

- Nicolas de T. Checa, New York State's Junior High School Champion and 2013 Barber Representative,

added another feather in his cap by winning the Under 12 section of the 2nd

Online National Invitational

Championship. The Championship, which is sponsored by chesskids.com and the USCF, is designed to

provide an opportunity for our young stars to have an opportunity to put strong competition in a round-

robin format. Most local and even state-level scholastic tournaments tend to be a 'sorting exercise”

where the top players work through weaker competition for most of the tournament and normally get

one or two games against stronger players.

Checa scored 5 1/2- 1 ½ in the tournament to win by half a point. While he was the only National

Master in the tournament, all of the other players were Experts. Checa drew the second, third and sixth

place finishers and won the other four games in order to finish undefeated. Second-place finisher Tanuj

Vasudeva also finished undefeated, so the young players definitely adapted quickly to the round-robin

style of playing. He was the only New Yorker in the tournament's section. Clearly, we sent our best!

Below are two of Checa's games from the event, courtesy of chesskids.com and CLO.

Marcell Szabo vs Nicolas Checa

Chesskids.com Online Invitational 2013

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d53. exd5 exd5 4. c4 Nf65. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd3 O-O 7. Nge2 Bg4 8. f3 Bh5

9. Bg5 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Be7 11. O-

O Nbd7 12. Qd2Nb6 13. Bb3 Nfd514. Bxe7 Nxe7 15. Rac1c6 16. Nf4 Bg6 17. Rfe1

Qd6 18. Nxg6 Nxg6 19. Ne4 Qf4 20. Qxf4Nxf4 21. Rcd1 a5 22. Nc5a4 23. Bc2 Nbd5 24. Bxa4

b6 25. Bxc6 Rxa2 26. Nd7 Rc8 27. g3 h5 28. Ne5 Rxb2 29. gxf4Nxf4 30. Rb1 Rxb1

31. Rxb1 f6 32. Rxb6 fxe5 33. dxe5 Kf734. Be4 Rc5 1/2-1/2

ChessKid.com Online Invitational, 2013

White: Checa, Nicolas

Black: Naguleswaran, Annorjan

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e65.b3 Nbd7 6.Bb2 Bd6 7.Bd3 Qe78.Ne5 O-O 9.O-

O Ne8 10.Nd2 Bxe511.dxe5 b6 12.cxd5 exd513.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Qxe515.Bxh7+ Kh8 16.Qxc6 Rb817.Bd3 Bb7 18.Qa4 Nf6 19.Qh

4+ Kg820.Nf3 Qh5 21.Qxh5 Nxh522.Rac1 Rfc8 23.Nd4 Rxc124.Rxc1 Rc8 25.Rxc8+ Bxc826.Nc6 Kf8 27.Nxa7 Bd728.Nb5 Bxb5 29.

Bxb5 Ke730.Kf1 Nf6 31.Bd3 Kd6 32.Ke2 Ne433.Bxe4 dxe4 34.Kd2 Kc5 35.Kc3 g536.b4+ Kb5 37.Kb3 f5 38.a4+ Kc639.Kc4 f4 40.a

5 b5+ 41.Kd4 f342.g4 1-0

– US Champion and NYSCA Board Member GM Gata Kamsky is one of four players participating in a

high-level round-robin tournament in Saint Louis Seotember 9-15. Former NYS Scholastic and Open

Champion Hikaru Nakamura is also participating, along with World #1 player Magnus Carlson and

World #2 GM Levon Aronian. The four players will compete for the Sinquefield Cup, and have a

$170,000 prize fund. Nakamura is currently #5 in the world rankings. For more information on the

tournament, including how to see it, please go to www.uschesschamps.com.

New York State Hall of Famer IM Jay Bonin won the Open section of the 145-player New Yorker Open

held in Manhattan over Memorial Day weekend. Bonin was undefeated with five wins and two draws in

the seven-round tournament, only conceding half-points to second-place finisher NM Ricardo Perez-

Billinghurst. Billinghurst had 5 ½ points. Five players tied for third at:5-2 IM Justin Sarkar (who was

undefeated with the unusual path of three wins, two draws and two half-point byes), FM and former

NYS Scholastic Champion Alec Getz, NM Nasyr Akylbekov, NM Yefim Terger and Aravind Kumar.

Alexandra Wiener won the 61-player Under 2000 section with 5 ½ points, coming back from a second-

27

round loss to Rahul Malayappan. Seven players tied for second with 5-2 scoresL Mustafa Atakay,

Michael Heifetz, Andrew Konishi, Nikita Panasenko, Isaac Veytsman, Stephen Jablon and Daniel

Levkov.

Ella Papanek won the Under 1600 with a perfect 7-0 sweep that earned her 165 points and a ticket well

out of the section with a new rating of 1736. Russel Wong was clear second with 5 ½ points, and Arish

Virani, Charlie Reeded and John Cartier tied for third with five points. Steve Immitt was organizer and

chief tournament director, and Harold Stenzel was the main assistant TD.

FM Asa Hoffmann, a veteran New York player, won the Blitz tournament preceding the main event with

an 8-2 score, sweeping his last-round match with NM Nasyr Akylbekov with the title on the line to win

the event. FM Alexsandr Ostrovskiy was clear second with 7 ½ points in the 26-player tournament,

with IM Justin Sarkar and NM Seth Rokosky of Ohio tying for third with 7-2 scores. The format of the

tournament was two-game mini-matches with five different players, so the top two players did not end

up playing in the event. Steve Immitt directed.

New York GM Jaan Ehlvest was one of the six big winners at the annual National Open in Las Vegas,

held in Sin City June 7-9. The six top players were Filipino GM Wesley So, Ehlvest, GM Varuzhan

Akobian of Kansas, Texas GM Alejandro Ramirez, Missouri GM Manuel Leon Hoyos, and California

GM Enrico Sevillano. All of them finished with 5-1 scores in the 91-player Open section of the event.

Former NY Champion Hikaru Nakamura is now in the top five in the world with a 2784 rating. GM

Gata Kamsky, a NYSCA Board member, is #2 in the US and #17 in the world with a 2741 FIDE rating.

They are the only two Americans in the Top 50 in the world at the moment. Nakamura recently won the

prestigious Tal Memorial Blitz tournament and finished sixth in the main event with 4 ½ points, fading

at the end after being in contention for most of the event. Nakamura had four wins, four losses and only

one draw, which is quite unusual at the super-GM level. Current World Champion GM Viswanathan

Anand finished ninth, while challenger GM Magnus Carlson was second. Carlson won their individual

game in 29 moves.

Stateside, New York GM Gata Kamsky won the US Championship and $30,000 in Saint Louis in a

playoff after both players tied for first with 6 ½ points. The New Yorker won his fourth championship in

an Armageddon playoff. Once that was tied at 1-1, there was an Armgeddon match where the players

bid for time and color. GM Ramirez bid 19:45 and received draw odds and the Black pieces. He

couldn't hold the game against the veteran GM and former World Championship finalist.

Congratulations to Gata, who also won the title in 1991, 2010 and 2012.

US Chess Championships playoff, Saint Louis 2013 White: Kamsky, Gata

Black: Ramirez, Alejandro 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.g3 cxd44.Nxd4 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O O -

O7.c4 Qc7 8.Na3 d6 9.Ndb5 Qd810.Bg5 Nc6 11.Qd2 a6 12.Nc3 Bf513.e4 Be6 14.Nd5 Nd7 15.Rac1 Rc816.b3 Re8 17.h3 Nde5 18.Kh1

Rb819.Nc2 Qd7 20.Nb6 Qd8 21.Be3 Nd722.Nd5 Nc5 23.f4 b5 24.cxb5 axb525.f5 Bxd5 26.exd5 Ne5 27.Nb4 Qa528.Bxc5 dxc5 29.Rx

c5 Rbc830.Rxc8 Rxc8 31.fxg6 hxg632.Qf4 Qc7 33.a4 bxa4 34.bxa4 f535.Nc6 Nxc6 36.Qxc7 Rxc737.dxc6 e5 38.Bd5+ Kf8 39.g4 Ke7

40.gxf5 gxf5 41.Rxf5 Kd642.Bf3 Ra7 43.Rg5 e4 44.Bxe4 Be545.Rg6+ Kc5 46.Bf3 Kb6 47.Rg5 Ra548.h4 Kc7 49.h5 Kd6 50.h6 Rxa45

1.Rxe5 Kxe5 52.c7 1-0

28

US Junior and Senior Opens Return to NY by Karl Heck

NM Justus Williams handed out the justice at the

2013 US Junior Open, which drew a record 307

players for the nearly 70-year old event. While

former USCF Executive Director Bill Hall did not

last in office long enough to see a successful New

York National chess event explode his “southern

first” policy for USCF National Tournaments, the

Beatriz Marinello organized event drew players

from throughout the United States and the battles

were closely contested, with a number of the

nation's strongest junior players doing battle in

Tarrytown from May 31 to June 2. The tournament

was the first National Tournament in the Empire

State in a decade.

Williams was clear first with an undefeated 5-1

score in the 26-player Under 21 section. Williams

took a half-point bye to start the tournament, and

then won four straight games, including a pivotal

showdown against New York State Scholastic Chess

Champion Joshua Colas in the fifth round, to move

into clear first. A final-round draw against New

Jersey Master Andrew Ng in rhe last round clinched

first place for the 15-year-old Williams, who

becomes one of the youngest-ever winners of the

event and joins famous New Yortkers GM Bobby

Fischer and GM Arthur Bisguier as previous

winners. Williams also earned a spot in the 2014

U.S. Junior Closed Championship.

There was a four-way tie for second with 4 ½ – 1 ½

scores against former three-time New York State

Scholastic Champion and Georgia Tech student NM

Deepak aaron, Ng, Texas NM Jarod Pamatmat, and

Minnesota NM Andrew Tang. Ng went undefeated

with three wins on the first day, and three draws on

the second, drawing the champ in the last round

with a chance at the title. The other three second-

place finishers lost on the first day and battled back

through the field. Expert Jake Miller of New York

was clear sixth with a 4-2 score.

The 93-player Under 15 section.had two players

split top honors: Massachusetts NM Andrew Liu

and Alexander Crump of New York. Crump took a

half-point bye in the first round, which turned out to

be a bit of a Swiss Gambit as he won the next five

games without facing a player who finished in the

top 10. Liu's one bobble was a draw in the fourth

round to Zachary Tanenbaum of Connecticut, who

finished 25th. Liu defeated top-ranked Jason Chi of

Connecticut in the last round with the tournament

title on the line. Despite giving “draw odds,” Liu

won and became section champion.

Shi and fellow Nutmeg Stater Jonahtan Aiyathurai

tied for second with 5-1 scores. Aiyathurai's one

loss was in the third round to Daniel Kostovetsky of

New York, who tied for fifth with 4 ½ points along

with Maik Oliver der Manuelian and Michael Yen

of New Jersey, New Yorkers Warren Wang and

Colin Denniston, Jerry Wu of Maryland, Jordan

Pamatmat of Texas, Garden Staterr Daniel Yedidia

and Dexin Li from New York. Of those players, Wu

and Pamatmat were undefeated.

The largest section of the event was the 119-player

Under 11 section. The section had two winners tied

for first with 5 ½ points each: New Yorkers Daniel

Levkov and Edwin Jin. Both drew in the third

round, though not to each other, and worked back

through the crowded field. Levkov, the section's

highest-rated player at 1851 (post) defeated third-

place Justin Chen in the last round with the section

title on the line. Chen, Roman Suryawanshi of

Connecticut, and New Jersey players Constantine

Oskiper and Sarah Yen all tied for third with 5-1

scores. Suryawanshi and Oskiper were undefeated,

with a last-round draw by Oskiper costing him a

chance at joining the tie at the top.

There was a logjam of 11 players with 4 ½ points,

with Thomas Elberling, David Brodksky, Harris

Lencz, Dennis Li, Roshan Idnani, Taran Idnani (the

siblings did not play each other), Jacob Enrenkranzx

and Arjun Panickssery, Vrithik Umapathy and

Hilary Zen. Elberling, Lencz and Ehrenkranz were

undefeated.

Eighty-one players contested the Under 8 section

and there was a seven-way tie for first with 5-1

scores. The leading group was led by Connecticut's

Maximillian Lu, who played like a million, along

with Hamilton Shillingford, Benjamin Medina,

Nathaniel Shuman, Jay Lalwani of Virginia, Merric

Hu of New Jersey and Caden Jung. Shillingford,

Medina and Lalwani were all undefeated, with a

draw between Shillingford and Medina opened the

29

door for the other players to join the tie at the top

with wins. Virginia's Pranav Prem tied for eight

with 4 ½ points along with home-staters Connor

Dong and Leonardo Liu.

Shown below, courtesy of Chess Life Online, is the

climatic struggle between Williams and Colas.

US Junior Open, 2013 White: Colas, Joshua

Black: Williams, Justus

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Bb4+4.Bd2 Qe7 5.a3 Bxd2+

6.Nbxd2 d67.e4 e5 8.d5 O-

O 9.h3 Nh5 10.g3 g611.Bg2 a5 12.O-

O a4 13.Rc1 Nd714.Ne1 Nc5 15.Rc3 Qg5 16.Kh2 f

517.exf5 gxf5 18.Nd3 Nxd319.Rxd3 b6 20.Rc3 Bd7

21.Nf3 Qg622.Qc2 Rae8 23.Nh4 Qh624.Kg1 Kh8

25.Kh2 Re7 26.Bf3 f427.Rg1 Nxg3 28.fxg3 fxg3+2

9.Rxg3 Qxh4 30.Qg2 Ref731.Rc2 Bf5 32.Rd2 Bg6

33.Bg4 Rf634.Re2 Qh6 35.Bd7 Qf4 36.Bxa4 Bd337

.Ree3 Bf1 38.Qg1 Qxc439.Bb3 Qd4 40.Kh1 Bc441.

Bxc4 Qxc4 42.Rd3 Qe4+43.Qg2 Qe1+ 0-1

Colas did win the Blitz tournament that preceded

the tournament with 8 ½ -1 ½ in the top section.

Zachary Tanenbum was second with seven points

and Nicolas de T Checa, New York State Barber

Representative, was third with 6 ½ points. Arjun

Panickssery won the Under 1600 with a 8-2 score,

winning by a full point despite losing in the last

round. Brandon Wang was clear second in the 11-

player section with seven points. Ethan Cushman

won the Under 1000 with a 5-1 score. Jabari Mc

Green directed.

The record-breaking US Junior Open was organized

by Chess Educators, Beatriz Marniello's

organization. The head tournament director was

Carol Jarecki, with assistant from All-World NTD

Steve Immitt, Aaron Kiedes, Dora Martinez, Oscar

Garcia and Noreen Davidson.

Concurrently run with the US Junior Open was the

annual US Senior Open, which is open to players 50

years of age and older. Despite having older

players, the Senior Open is much younger than the

Junior Open, having been held for about 20 years on

land and at sea. For several years, the Senior Open

was held on a cruise boat, being the only National

Tournament held at least partly outside the territory

of the United States.

The Senior Open was won by four players with 5-1

scores: GM Alexander Ivanov of Massachusetts

and Sergey Kudrin of Connecticut, Massachusetts

IM Jim Rizzitano and NM Nathan Resika. The two

GM's drew in the last round to open the door to the

other two players. Rizzitano, known throughout

New England as “Rizz the Whiz” in his college

days, beat New York NM Yefim Treger while

Resika, who won four games after taking two half-

point byes to start the tournament, beat Illinois

Expert Leonid Bondar.

New York State Chess Hall of Famer IM Jay Bonin

and FM Daniel Shapiro tied for fifth with 4 ½

points. Both lost to one of the GM's, with Bonin

falling to Ivanov (while drawing Kudrin) and

Shapiro losing to Kudrin. NM's Yefim Terger,

David Gertler, Lonnie Kwartler and Denis

Strenzwilk (Maryland), along with Experts Bondar,

Dorothy Teasley, and Bernard Parham along with

Edward Scher tied for sixth with four points.

Carol Jarecki and Steve Immitt directed.

NM Daniel Shapiro won the 10-player Senior Open

Blitz with a perfect 9-0 score. Boris Markov was

clear second with eight points, losing only to the

champion in the final round (despite the fact that the

tournament was a round-robin, the top two players

met in the last round anyway). Bernard Parham,

Paul Rachlin and Aris Marghetis all tied for third

with 6-3 scores. Steve Immitt directed with

assistance from Jabari Mc Green.

30

Upcoming NYSCA-Sponsored and Major Tournaments

The second Saturday of every month. Jennifer Woods Grand Prix: 4-SS, rounds 1 & 2 G/60, rounds 3 & 4

G/90 @Rochester Chess Center, 221 Norris Drive, Rochester. Guaranteed Prizes: $150-90-60 class $80. Reg: 8:30-

9:15. Rounds. 9:30-12-2:15-5:30 EF: $30 Advanced Entries/Info: Rochester Chess Center, 221 Norris Drive,

Rochester, NY 14610. (585)442-2430.

Most third Saturdays of month there will be the Monthly Buffalo Grand Prix Events at the Main Place Mall

in Buffalo.4-SS, TL: Rounds 1 & 2,G/45, Rounds 3 & 4 G/60 Prizes: 1st-2nd Guaranteed $250-150-100, Class

$75. Reg.: 8:30-9:15 a.m., Rounds.: 9:30-11:20-1:10-3:30 EF: $50. U1600 EF: $35, $150-90-60, ALL PRIZES

EXCEPT 1st & 2nd in OPEN, BASED ON 20 ENTRIES. Scholastic EF: $15, Trophies for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place.

Adv. Entries/Info: Archangel 8 Chess Academy, [email protected], 60F Guilford Lane, Buffalo, NY

14221. See www.buffalochess.blogspot.com for future dates and details.

July 20 and August 17 (Minoa), September 28 (Syracuse U.) Syracuse-Minoa Opens: 4-SS. Rds.:1&2 G/60, Rds.3&4: G/90. Minoa Muncipal Bldg., 240 N. Main St., Minoa, NY (Exit Kirkville Rd. E.

from I 481, R. at second light). EF: $30. Prizes:b/20) $200, 125, Class 100. Registration.: 8:30-9:15. Rds.: 9:30,

12:00, 2:15, 5:30. Contact: Joe Ball 315-436-9008. Chess Magnet School JGP.

August 2-4 and 3-4: 2013 Manhattan Open

TROPHIES PLUS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 80 (ENHANCED)

5-SS. New Yorker Hotel, 481 Eighth Ave at 34th St. across from Penn Station, New York 10001. $15,000

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bonus, top Under 2450/Unr $500-250. FIDE. Under 2300: $1200-600-300-200, top U2150 $500-250. Under

2000: $1200-600-300-200, top U1850 $500-250. Under 1700: $1200-600-300-200, top U1550 $500-250. Under

1400: $500-300-200-100, top U1250 $200-100, trophies to first 3, top U1200, U1000, U800, Unr. Mixed doubles

bonus prizes: best male/female 2-player “team” combined score among all sections: $600-300. Team average

rating must be under 2200; teammates may play in different sections; teams must register at site (no extra fee)

before both players begin round 2; teammate pairings avoided but possible. Unrated may enter any section, with

prize limit U2000 $900, U1700 $600, U1400 $300; balance goes to next player(s) in line. Top 4 sections EF: $118

at chessaction.com by 7/31, $125 phoned to 406-896-2038 (no questions) by 7/31, 3-day $123, 2-day $122 if check

mailed by 7/24, $140 (no checks, credit cards OK) at site, or online until 2 hours before game. GMs free; $100 from

prize. Under 1400 Section EF: all $50 less than above. Online or mailed entry $5 less to NYSCA members. Re-

entry $60, not available in Open. No checks at site, credit cards OK. Unofficial uschess.org ratings usually used

if otherwise unrated. Special 1 year USCF dues with magazine if paid with entry. Online at chessaction.com, Adult

$30, Young Adult $20, Scholastic $15. Mailed, phoned or at site, Adult $40, Young Adult $30, Scholastic $20. 3-

Day Schedule: Reg. ends Fri 6 pm. Rds. Fri 7, Sat 12 & 6, Sun 10 & 3:30. 2-Day Schedule: Reg. ends Sat 9 am.

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12577. $15 service charge for refunds. Questions: chesstour.com, DirectorAtChess.US, 347-201-2269. Advance

entries posted at chessaction.com (Online entries posted instantly).

AUGUST 17-18 New York State Senior Championship 4-SS, G/120 d5, open to all born before August 17, 1963. Marshall CC, 23 West 10th St., New York, NY 10011,

212-477-3716. Entry fee: $35.Prizes $500/20: $200-$100, 1700-1999 $70, U1700 $70, top woman $60; 1 bye OK,

lock in before Rd 2. Registration: 11:30-12:15, rounds 12:30-5:30 each day. NYSCA membership required for

NYS residents ($20 printed quarterly Empire Chess, $12 online subscription), other state memberships accepted if

out of state resident. Title to top NYS resident. Please bring proof of age.

http://chessaction.com/

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31

AUGUST 25 49th Binghamton Monthly Tournament 4SS, G/65 d5. Prizes: $300 b/26. Open-$100-$60-$30; Reserve-$50-$40-$20 (U1700). Trophies: 1-3 Reserve

section. Advance Entry: EF's Reduced! Open-$20 Reserve-$15 (U1700) $5 more on site-cash only on

site. Schedule: Registration on site 8:45–9:15 AM. Rounds: 9:30-12Noon-2:30-4:45. Free chess set & board to all

new players under 18 years of age. Mail Entry: checks payable to: "Cordisco's Corner Store", 308 Chenango St.,

Binghamton, NY 13901 (607) 772-8782, [email protected].

Third Tuesday of each month. Marshall Masters at the Marshall Chess Club. 4-SS, G/30. 23 W. 10th St.,

NYC. 212-477-3716. Open to players rated over 2100 (plus all players scoring 2 ½ or more from CCNY at the

Marshall's Thursday Night Action) EF: $40, members $30, GMs $10 (returned on completion of tournament). Top

three prizes guaranteed. $$Guaranteed 250-150-100. Top Under 2400 and Top Under 2300 prizes. Special prize for

biggest upset. Reg.: 6:15-6:45. Rounds.: 7-8:15-9:30-10:45 p.m. One bye available, rounds 1 or 4 only. Labor Day Weekend: the 135

th New York State Chess Championship. Albany Marriott, Wolf Road, Colonie,

NY. America's Labor Day Tradition. See the back cover.

OCTOBER 5 18th Annual Arkport Open TROPHIES PLUS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 6

4SS, Rds. 1 & 2 G/60 d5; Rds. 3 & 4 G/90 d5. Arkport Village Hall, 6 Park Ave., Arkport, NY

14807. $GTD: $200-100, $B/25: U1800 and U1600 each $100-50. EF: $30 cash at site. Reg.: 9-9:45 a.m.,

10/5/13. Rds.: 10, 12, 2:15, 5:30. Director: Ronald Lohrman. Info: 607-295-9858 Ent: F. K. Harris, 1 Northridge

Dr., Arkport, NY 14807.

www.nysca.net -- your source for New York State

Chess Information. Now on Twitter at

#nystatechess and like us on facebook!

CNY News (from page 24) Expert David Goguen is the Broome County champion for 2013 after winning the annual Broome County

Championship held April 13-14 in Binghamton. Goguen scored 4 ½ -1 ½ in the six-round event, going ½ – 1 ½

against Pennsylvania Expert Antonio Scalzo while sweeping the rest of the field. Scazlo was clear second with a 4-

2 score and veteran Binghamton player Daryll Weatherly was clear third in the Open section with 3 ½ points.

Dan Dudley was the Reserve (Under 1600) section winner with 4 ½ points as well. The organizer and host, John

Cordisco, tied for second with Robert McGuinness with four points. Cordisco's Chess Center organized the event.

April 20 in Syracuse marked the Syracuse University Spring Open, and the six-player event was won by Jose

Fernandez with 3 ½ points. Thomas Barkley was clear second with three points in the Joe Ball organized and

directed event.

32

A Heritage Event 135th annual NY State Championship.

August 30-September 2, August 31-September 2 or September 1-2

Trophies Plus Grand Prix Points: 100 (enhanced)

6-SS, Open Section: 40/110, SD/30, d10, Other sections: 30/90, SD/1, d5 (2-day option iun Under

2100 through Under 1200 Section, rounds 1-3 G/45, d5), Albany Marriott, 189 Wolf Road, Albany

12205 (Thruway Exit 24, I-87 north to Wolf Rd, Exit 4). Luxurious hotel with indoor/outdoor pool,

sauna, fitness center, free parking, free airport shuttle, many restaurants in area.

$$Guaranteed $13,000. In five sections.

Open: $1500-700-500-300, top U2300/Unrated $700, U2200/Unrated $600. State title and $100 bonus to

top New York State resident. FIDE-rated.

Under 2100: $1000-500-300-150, Top Under 1900 $400.

Under 1800: $1000-500-300-150, Top Under 1600 $400.

Under 1500: $800-400-200-100, Top Under 1300 $300.

Under 1200: $500-250-150-100, plaques to top three, Top Under 1000, Under 800, Under 600, Unrated.

New Mixed Doubles Bonus Prizes: Best male-female two-player team combined score among all

sections: $500-300-200. Team average must be under 2200, teammates may play in different sections,

teams must register at site (no extra fee) before both players begin Round 2, teammate pairings avoided

but possible.

Unrated may not win over $150 in Under 1200, $300 Under 1500 or $600 Under 1800.

Top Four sections EF: 4-day $104, 3-day $103, 2-day $102 if check mailed by 8/21, all $98 online at

chessaction.com by 8/28, $105 phoned to 406-896-2038 by 8/28 (entry only, no questions), $120 at site.

No mailed credit card entries.

Under 1200 Section EF: All $30 less than top three sections Entry Fee. All: Online or mailed entries $7

less to NYSCA members. Join or renew with entry. Unofficial uschess.org ratings usually used if

otherwise unrated. Special one-year USCF dues with paper magazine if paid with entry. Online at

chesstour.com, Adult $30, Young Adult $20, Scholastic $15. Mailed, phoned or paid at site, Adult $40,

Young Adult $30, Scholastic $20. Re-entry $60, all sections but Open. GMs, IMs & WGMs free, $90

deducted from prize. No checks at site, credit cards OK.

3-day schedule: Registration ends Saturday 11:30 am, rounds. Saturday 12 & 6, Sunday 12 & 6, Mon 10

& 3:30.

4-day schedule: Registration ends Friday 6:30 pm, rounds. Friday 7 pm, Saturday 6 pm, Sunday 12 & 6,

Monday 10 & 3:30.

2-day schedule: Reg. ends Sun. 10:30 am, rounds Sunday 11, 1:30, 3:30, 6, Monday 10 & 4:15, no 2-day

schedule in Open.

Bye: all, limit 2, Open must commit before round two, others before round four.

Hotel Rooms: $97-97, 800-443-8952, 518-458-8444, reserve by 8/23 or rate may increase. NYSCA

meeting 9 am Sunday. Car rental: 800-331-1600, use AWD D657633, or reserve car online through

chesstour.com. Ent: Continental Chess, Box 249, Salisbury Mills NY 12577. Out of state welcome.

Questions: www.chesstour.com, [email protected]. Advanced entries posted at chessaction.com

mailto:[email protected]

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