#194 Minkov Wins Summer Tournament

Ari Minkov (13.0) won the Kenilworth Summer Tournament last night; ahead of Greg Tomkovich (11.0) & Mark Kernighan (10.5).

While Mark was beating Ari & Greg was losing to Max Sherer, I tried to catch-up by playing a 2-board simul. Unfortunately, after winning against Jim Cole, I made a time-pressured, touch-move blunder in an equal position, lost to Joe Demetrick & finished 4th, at 10.0.

Max also upset Ed Selling to move past idle Pat Mazzillo & grab 5th place.


Here are 3 of the 5 last-round games in PGN; plus the final standings. I'll upload a replay page tonight.

broken standings link repaired 8/31 at 11:00 a.m.

java-replay uploaded 9/1 at 12:45 a.m.

fully annotated version of Cole-Moldovan uploaded 9/4 at 4:20 a.m.

#193 Broken PGN Links Fixed

I just realized that the PGN links given for rounds 10-12 of the Kenilworth Summer Tournament were broken!

Apparently, when writing post #184, I typed kst_r10.zip, instead of the proper KST_r10.zip, & subsequently copied the mistake into #188, #190, #191 & #192.

All the aforementioned have been corrected & I sincerely apologize for errors. :-(

#192 More On KST Round 12

I've padded my notes to Thursday's Moldovan-Minkov (see links below) & re-constructed the game's crucial endgame position. Here it is :

Moldovan-Minkov
after 55...Ne4?

56.Bxg7 Bxf2+?? (56...Nxf2 += was right.) 57.Ke2 Bd4 58.Bxh6 Nc5 59.Bc8?? (59.h4 would've won.) c3 60.Bc1 = but 2 moves later White hung his dark-squared B.

Max Sherer's thematic win over Joe Renna's French is also worth looking at :

Sherer-Renna
after 8...0-0??

White to win

Updated 12th-round replay & PGN.

#191 Summer Tourney - Round 12

With 1 week to go in the Kenilworth Summer Tournament, Ari Minkov (13.0) needs just a half-point to wrap up 1st place and Greg Tomkovich (11.0) is 1 point away from sealing 2nd.

Last night, Ari won a hard-fought game against me... Greg beat Pat Mazzillo... NM Mark Kernighan (9.5) moved into sole possession of 3rd by drawing Ed Selling... and Joe Renna split a pair of games with Max Sherer.

Here are all five 12th-round games (!), including my fully annotated loss, in Java-replay & PGN; plus the updated standings.

#190 More From KST Round 11

Notes to Cole-Selling are now online... in Java-replay & PGN ... along with a revised version of my loss to Sherer.

#189 Kernighan wins Hoffman Memorial

There were a couple of surprises in the final round of the John Hoffman Memorial Swiss last night but not in the battle for 1st place where, as expected, top seed NM Mark Kernighan defeated Bob Sherry to finish at 3-0, 1 point ahead of Bob, Joe Renna & this reporter.

Mark used his pet line against the Nimzo-Indian (4.Bd2), caught his opponent in an opening trap (8...Nbd7?! - see 1st diagram) & stole a pawn with 9.Nxd5! Black had partial compensation for the loss & tried to whip up an attack against White's drafty King but 13...Qg5+?! (N; 13...c5 +=) gave his prey a free step toward safety & 14...Rf6? allowed consolidation.

Kernighan-Sherry
after 8...Nbd7?!

White to play

As for the upsets... Joe won when Ted Mann allowed his Royal couple to get forked (23...Rxc4??) & I convincingly beat CCC Champ/KST leader Ari Minkov (next diagram); who, I'm sorry to say, gracelessly refused to offer a cursory "gg" afterwards.

Moldovan-Minkov
after 21...Ba6

White to win

Anyway, before my Sicilian blood comes to a full boil, I'd better give the links for the final standings, java-replay & zipped PGN. Notes to my game (& perhaps more) will follow at some point.

#188 Summer Tourney - Round 11

Ari Minkov (12.0) extended his Kenilworth Summer Tournament lead with a victory over 2nd-placed Greg Tomkovich (10.0) &, with 2 weeks to go, now has a 2-point lead.

In other games, Mark Kernighan (9.0) overcame a lost position & time-trouble to beat Joe Demetrick, I was axed by young Max Sherer (my first loss in the event) & Ed Selling defeated Jim Cole.

Notes to Max's win will appear in the late Friday/early Sunday time-frame & those to Ed's should be ready for posting late Tuesday to early Thursday.

For now, here are the raw scores in Java-replay & PGN; plus the updated standings.

Sherer-Moldovan notes uploaded Sat. 8/18 at 12:05 a.m.

#187 2007 STC Gauntlet

The STC Bunch, an organization for internet chess players preferring Slow Time Controls (G/45 or longer), resumes running major events with the 2007 STC Gauntlet, a free 4-round knock-out tournament which starts August 27th.

To play, all you have to do is :

1. join ICC ($) or join FICS (free) ...if you aren't already a member
2. register with the STC community
3. login at the STC home page (use full-screen view)
4. sign-up for The Gauntlet by August 25th.

The time control will be G/60 + a 15 second per move increment. Full rules here.

#186 Kernighan & Sherry lead Hoffman Swiss

NM Mark Kernighan & Bob Sherry lead the Hoffman Memorial with one week to go.

Mark had an easy time against Ted Mann last night but Bob was outplayed by Joe Renna much of the way & should've lost.

You can replay those games & the rest from round 2 now or download the PGN for later viewing.

The pairings for next Sunday's final round should be :

1. Kernighan 2.0 - Sherry 2.0
   
2. Moldovan 1.0 - Minkov 1.0
3. Renna 1.0 - Mann 1.0
   
4. Shiffman 0.0 - Azzarello 0.0

Hope you will join us.

#185 One More From KST Round 10

Kernighan-Bilenky has been added to the 10th round files. Please refer to post #184 for links.

post corrected 8/14 @ 7:10 a.m.

#184 Summer Tourney - Round 10

Ari Minkov & Greg Tomkovich each won 2 games Thursday while I struggled to beat Harry Smith & NM Mark Kernighan lost to Mark Bilenky.

Smith-Moldovan
after 33.Qd6?

Black to win

So, with 3 weeks to go in the Kenilworth Summer Tournament, Ari leads with 11.0 and Greg is 2nd with 10.0.

Here are the full standings plus a selection of the week's games in Java-replay & zipped PGN.

Factoid : Minkov has already surpassed the 10.5 scored by last year's winner (Tomkovich) & this event's top 4 point-getters have collected 57% of the points (38/67) compared to 2006's contenders' 43% (37/86).

#183 KST Updates

I have annotated last week's Cole-Tomkovich & round 7's Cole-Sherer.

Updated files :
7th round replay & PGN
9th round replay & PGN

Cole-Sherer
after 24...Kh8

White to win

#182 Hoffman Memorial Underway

NM Mark Kernighan, Bob Sherry, Ted Mann & Joe Renna lead after 1 round of the Hoffman Memorial Tournament in Springfield. Ari Minkov, Bert Shiffman, Joe Azzarello & I are also involved.

My loss to Kernighan is the only game I have at this time. Here it is in Java-replay & PGN.

The pairings for next Sunday (round 2) are :

1. Mann-Kernighan
2. Renna-Sherry
3. Minkov-Shiffman
4. Moldovan-Azzarello

#181 Turnpike Simul

Yesterday, on the long trip to the U.S. Open in Cherry Hill, I passed time & kept my mind busy by playing a simul vs. Don Varneckas & Rooney Simonaitis. My game with the latter (a loss) was a blindfold affair!

Simonaitis-Moldovan
after 19...g6??

White to win

Here are both parties in Java-replay & PGN.

Thanks to Ziggy Bliznikas for allowing me to tag along & apologies to Ari Minkov & Don for making their ride crowded & uncomfortable.

BTW, Maraj Daftani, David Grasso (Roselle CC), Jonathan Cohen, Bill Cohen (Westfield CC), Don Carrelli (Checkmate CC) Mike Wojcio (Kenilworth CC) & Glen Hart are among the locals playing in the Open.

#180 Summer Tourney - Round 9

The Kenilworth Summer Tournament standings got a little tighter last night as Ari Minkov & I played to a draw while NM Mark Kernighan & Greg Tomkovich notched full points.

Ari, who has led for all but 1 week, now has 9.0. Greg (who missed a share of 1st with a loss to Jim Cole), Mark & this reporter are a point back, at 8.0. We had the same configuration (Minkov clear first/3-way tie for 2nd) after round 6!

In the evening's only other game, Joe Demetrick's Caro-Kann dealt the Caveman Attack another setback.

Here's my lousy yet half-successful effort (with notes), + the Kernighan, Tomkovich & Cole wins in Java-replay & PGN.

I'll annotate & upload Jim's big upset before next Thursday & try to get Joe's victory for you, too.

BTW, 37 of 61 games (61%) have been collected from this event compared to last year's 33 of 86 (38%). Keep those scores coming!!

#179 Selling-Moldovan Again

Oh Heck! I couldn't help myself. Prompted by Ed Selling's respectful disagreement, I've revised the notes to our 8th round draw. replay ... PGN

Why am I obsessing over that game when I should be preparing for tonight's???