For a change, I'm going to give a play-by-play account of the top group's games :
FM Steve Stoyko 1-0 John Moldovan
Steve opens with 1.e4, answers this reporter's French with a Closed System & transposes to the Tchigorin Variation (9.Qe2). Things are equal after 12.Bf2 but after mistakes on turns 14, 18 & 20, I'm lost. A short time later, the game takes a sudden turn. 25.Bh4?? lets me sac an Exchange for compensation & 27.Be2?? sets the stage for a huge upset...
Stoyko - Moldovanafter 28.Kg1
Black to play & win
...But, as if you already didn't know, I miss the decisive maneuver & go on to lose.
Tom Polese 0-1 NM Mark Kernighan
Heading toward the final half-hour, Kernighan has an edge, thanks to White's isolated d-pawn, but just 5 minutes left to his opponent's 30. If Mark draws, he falls 2 points back with 2 games to play. If he loses, Stoyko clinches 1st place & Tom holds 3rd by 1.5 points.
Polese starts declining with 21.Nf4? His 23.a4?? blunders the d-pawn & 27.Ne2? drops another chip but the clock is still in play. Eventually, somehow, Houdini Kernighan manages to trade all the pieces off, queen his b-pawn & mate at g2... with just 9 seconds remaining!
So, with 4 weeks left in this section (but just 2 games for all except Ziggy Bliznikas) here are the leaders : 1. Stoyko 6.0, 2. Kernighan 4.5, 3.Polese 2.0
U1800 Section
Joe Demetrick & Ed Selling kept their records perfect (7.0 from 7) & stayed tied for first. Greg Tomkovich (6.0/7) grabbed 3rd place by beating Ted Mann (5.0/8). Mike Wojcio (5.0/7) is now tied for 4th. Justin Roach (4.5/5) is sole 6th.
Bill Sokolosky (3.5/8) still leads Bert Shiffman (3.0/8) in the U1500 Trophy race, Joe Renna (2.5/5) upset Pat Mazzillo & now stands 3rd in this sub-group.
Here's Steve's win in Java replay & PGN. The other games will follow in a few days.
Open Section crosstable
U1800 crosstable (in standings order)
U1800 crosstable (with color assignments)
Round by Round results
Polese-Kernighan play-by-play revised 4/6 @ 1:24 p.m
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