#90 One More From KCCC 7th Round

Joe Demetrick sent me his 7th round win over Pat Mazzillo.

Updated R7 links : Java replay page... zipped PGN file.

#89 Mann-Moldovan Redux

I've replaced the lightly annotated version of my Checkmate Qualifier game vs. Ted Mann with a fully annotated one. To view it or download, use the above link or refer to post #87.

revision uploaded Tue. 2/27 @ 1:24 a.m.

#88 Checkmate Schedule Changes

Due to last night's snow, March 4th will be a make-up week. The final round of the Qualifier has been pushed back to March 11th & the Championship will now start April 1st.

#87 Checkmate Qualifier - Round 2

Ted Mann (2.0) grabbed the Checkmate Qualifier lead last night with a win over this reporter/choke artist :

Mann - Moldovan
after 34.Nd6+

Black to win

Bob Sherry (1.5) moved into 2nd with a victory over Joe Azzarello. The Juan Huaman-Bert Shiffman game was postponed until next week.

Here are the event crosstable; plus a Java Replay page & zipped PGN file with all the games played thus far; including light annotations of round 2's action.

#86 More KCCC Annotations (R7)

I've annotated Stoyko-Polese, Wojcio-Smith & added them to the 7th round Java replay page & zipped PGN file.

#85 KCCC - More 7th Round Games

The U1800 section games have been added to the 7th round Java replay page & zipped PGN file.

This is a replacement post. The original #85 was somehow deleted.

#84 Correction To Post 81

I have corrected an erroneous pairing for Sunday's Checkmate Qualifier. Juan Huaman will have White against Bert Shiffman on board 3; weather permitting.

#83 Kenilworth Championship - Round 7

Open Section

NM Scott Massey withdrew from the tournament &, because he had not played half the schedule, his results were erased. Thus, the night started with FM Steve Stoyko having a 1 point lead over NM Mark Kernighan (instead of being tied) & Tom Polese holding 3rd place by a full point (rather than a half).

As for the games, Stoyko (5.0) beat Polese (2.0) on the White side of a Sicilian/King's Indian Attack & increased his margin to 1.5 points as Kernighan (3.5) barely escaped with a draw against this reporter. Only my ineptitude & 9th inning jitters allowed him to do so :

Moldovan - Kernighan
after 61...Ke5

White to win

U1800 Section

There were three no shows in this group which means that the end of this tournament is extended yet another week. It is now scheduled to end May 3rd & finish 6 weeks after the Open Section does.

Joe Demetrick (6.0 from 6) put away Pat Mazzillo's Petrov to join idle Ed Selling (6.0/6) at the top. Greg Tomkovich (5.0/6) defeated Jim Cole in a Q's Gambit to tie Ted Mann (5.0/7) for 3rd. Mike Wojcio (4.0/6) bested Harry Smith's Sicilian to move into 5th.

Bill Sokolosky (3.5/7) lost to Gordon Agress (who notched his 1st win) & saw his U1500 lead cut to just a half-point as Bert Shiffman (3.0/7) won against Mann.

Here's the 7th round Open section games, including my annotated draw, in Java replay & PGN. The U1800 games will follow in a few days.

Open Section crosstable
U1800 crosstable (in standings order)
U1800 crosstable (with color assignments)
Round by Round results

#82 Qualifier Annotations (R1)

I have annotated the games from the Checkmate Qualifier's opening round & updated the event's Java-replay page & zipped PGN file.

#81 Checkmate Qualifier - 2nd Round Pairings

The pairings for February 25th are :

1. Mann (1.0) - Moldovan (1.0)
2. Sherry (0.5) - Azzarello (0.0)
3. Huaman (0.0) - Shiffman (0.5)*

* - Pairing corrected Friday 2/23 at 11:48 p.m.

#80 Checkmate Qualifier - Round 1

The qualifying phase of the 2007 Checkmate Championship started last night with Bert Shiffman (1434) drawing top seed Bob Sherry (1812) & Ted Mann (1437) besting Juan Huaman. I defeated Joe Azzarello.

Bert, as it turns out, missed a win in the Bishop ending :

Shiffman-Sherry
after 43...f5

White to win

Here are the crosstable, Java Replay page & zipped PGN file for the 3-round swiss.

Annotations will follow at some point.

#79 6th Round Annotations

I have annotated all the 6th round games, updated the Java replay page & revised the zipped PGN file.

#78 Kenilworth Championship - Round 6

Open Section

Tom Polese (2.0) moved into 3rd place via a forfeit win. FM Steve Stoyko (4.0 from 4) & NM Mark Kernighan (4.0/5), who were idle because their slated opponents took byes, remain tied for 1st.

U1800 Section

Ed Selling (6.0) maintained his lead with a win over Harry Smith. Joe Demetrick (5.0/5) & Ted Mann (5.0/6) won their respective games (vs. Jevon O'Neal & Pat Mazzillo) to stay knotted for 2nd but Greg Tomkovich (4.0/5) lost to Justin Roach (3.5/4) & dropped to 4th.

Bill Sokolosky (3.5/6) beat Bert Shiffman to extend his U1500 lead & is now =5th-6th overall. Joe Renna notched his first win against Gordon Agress :

Renna - Agress
after 31...g5?

White to win

Here's the full set of 6th round games in Java replay & PGN. Annotations will follow in a few days.

Open Section crosstable
U1800 crosstable (in standings order)
U1800 crosstable (with color assignments)
Round by Round results

#77 Tonight's KCCC Pairings (R6)

Here are the pairings for the 6th round of the Kenilworth Club Championship :

Open Section

1. Stoyko (4.0) - Massey (1.5)
2. Bliznikas (0.0) - Polese (1.0)

Byes - Moldovan (1.5), Kernighan (4.0)

U1800 Section

1. Selling (5.0) - Smith (1.0)
2. Gadgil (1.0) - Tomkovich (4.0)
3. Demetrick (4.0) - O'Neal (2.0)
4. Mann (4.0) - Mazzillo (0.0)
5. Renna (0.5) - Wojcio (3.0)
6. Agress (0.0) - Roach (2.5)
7. Shiffman (2.0) - Sokolosky (2.5)

Bye - Cole

Pairings are subject to change if there are no-shows.

#76 More 5th Round Annotations

I have uploaded notes to round 5's Kernighan-Bliznikas & Sokolosky-Gadgil.

Here's the updated Java replay & PGN.

My next post will be on Friday the 16th unless the next round's pairings are issued beforehand.

#75 Moldovan-Polese

I have annotated my painful loss vs. Tom Polese & updated the 5th round Java replay page & zipped PGN file.

More commentary will follow in the next 5 days.

Thanks to all of you who left scoresheets for me on Thursday or e-mailed your scores.

#74 Kenilworth Championship - Round 5

Open Section

NM Mark Kernighan (4.0) defeated Ziggy Bliznikas last night to move into a 1st place tie with idle FM Steve Stoyko. I missed a chance to take temporary possession of 3rd place when I blew an easily won position (see below), plus a clock lead against Tom Polese & eventually succumbed by time-forfeit :

Moldovan - Polese
before 43.Bh6+??

U1800 section

For the first time in the event, there's a sole leader atop the U1800 group, Ed Selling (5.0). Greg Tomkovich & Ted Mann joined Joe Demetrick for 2nd place (at 4.0). Mike Wojcio (3.0) moved into the top 5.

Bill Sokolosky (2.5) now heads the U1500 trophy hunt. Bert Shiffman (2.0) also won.


Annotations when (or if) I recover. For now, here are...

The Open Section crosstable
U1800 crosstable - version I (in standings order)
U1800 crosstable - version II (with color allocations)
Round by Round results

Java replay page & zipped PGN file with all 5th round games except Wojcio-Mazzillo

#73 Tonight's KCCC Pairings

Here are the pairings* for the 5th round of the Kenilworth Club Championship :

Open Section

1. Kernighan (4.0) - Bliznikas (0.0)
2. Moldovan (1.5) - Polese (0.0)

byes : Stoyko (4.0) & Massey (1.5)


U1800

1. Smith (1.0) - Tomkovich (3.0)**
2. Renna (0.5) - Roach (2.5)
3. Cole (0.5) - Selling (4.0)
4. Wojcio (2.0) - Mazzillo (0.0)
5. Agress (0.0) - Mann (3.0)
6. Shiffman (1.0) - O'Neal (2.0)

byes : Demetrick (4.0), Gadgil (1.0) & Sokolosky (1.5)


* subject to change if there are no-shows

** 4th round correction : Gadgil-Tomkovich, postponed (forfeit rescinded)

#72 4th Round Annotations

I've annotated Massey-Kernighan, Polese-Stoyko & updated the 4th round files. Here's the Java-replay & zipped PGN.

#71 Checkmate Qualifier & Championship

Plans for the 3rd Checkmate CC Championship have been announced. It will be a two-tiered event with a Qualifying Tournament (3/SS, G/55+5, February 18th-March 4th) followed by a 6-player final (5/RR, G/55+5, March 25th-April 22nd).

Last year's champ, NM Mark Kernighan, & the next 4 entrants with a 1900+ USCF otb rating will be directly seeded into the 2nd phase.

All players, including those exempt from the qualifier, must register by sending an e-mail to TD Bob Sherry by February 16th.

There are no entry fees or prizes. For complete details, visit our event page.

#70 More Games from Round 4

Geoff McAuliffe has provided 6 scores from last Thursday's KCCC play.

Here are all the available games from the 4th round in Java-replay & PGN.

I'll annotate 2 or 3 of the games & update in a few days.

#69 Kenilworth Championship - Round 4

Open Section

FM Steve Stoyko (4.0) kept his 1 point lead by defeating Tom Polese. Mark Kernighan (3.0) won a time scramble with fellow Master Scott Massey (1.5 from 3) to stay in 2nd. I beat Ziggy Bliznikas to move into a tie for 3rd (Scott has a game in hand) but sloppy play (missed wins on turns 25 & 29) should have cost me a half-point :

Bliznikas-Moldovan
before 29...Qg6??

Black to play & win

U1800 Section

Greg Tomkovich, Ed Selling & Joe Demetrick (4.0) won to keep a share of the lead. Ted Mann (3.0), who co-led for the first three weeks, lost to Jevon O'Neal & dropped to 4th place. Justin Roach (2.5 from 3) remained undefeated & now stands 5th.

O'Neal (2.0 from 2) heads the U1500 trophy race. Bill Sokolosky (1.5 from 4), who upset Mike Wojcio last night, is next in contention.


Here's the updated round by round list of results (which I neglected to post for round 2 & 3) the Open Section crosstable, U1800 crosstable, my fortunate win (with annotations) in Java-replay & zipped PGN.

More games when they arrive.