#441 Kenilworth Championship - Round 3

Yaacov Norowitz & I won for the third straight week.

Mark Kernighan, Ziggy Bliznikas, Ian Mangion, Richard Lewis (via forfeit), Pat Mazzillo & Lou Sturniolo stayed within a point of first with their second victories.

Also within striking distance, after their draw, are Steve Stoyko & Mark Schwarcz.

In Thurday's other action, Aaron Kiedes, Bert Shiffman & Joe Renna took whole points while Rich Buschgans & Max Sherer split one.

Moldovan-Minkov
after 16...Nb4

White to win

So, with 2 rounds to go, the overall standings look this way :

= 1-2. Norowitz, Moldovan 3.0
= 3-12. Stoyko, Schwarcz, Kernighan, Minkov, Bliznikas, Mangion, Carrelli, Lewis, Mazzillo, Sturniolo 2.0
= 13-16. Buschgans, Sherer, Hart, Kiedes 1.5 = 17-22. Tomkovich, Wojcio, Mann, Zhu, Shiffman, Renna, 1.0
= 23-24. McCorkell, Azzarello 0.5
= 25-26. Agress, Cole 0.0



Trophies will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places plus the top U2000, U1800, U1600 & U1400 scores.

At the moment, the class-prize leaders are :

• U2000 - Moldovan (1811) 3.0
• U1800 - Carrelli (1748) & Lewis (1719) 2.0
• U1600 - Mazzillo (1442) 2.0
• U1400 - Sturniolo (1368) 2.0

There may be additional categories... if we have enough hardware in the equipment cabinet.


Finally, to wrap this post, here are 7 of the week's games (all annotated) in Java-replay & PGN.

The other 5 will be uploaded when I get them... along with a crosstable, if I have time.

#440 KCCC - Make-Up Games

Sometime in the past week, Mark Schwarcz drew a late-paired 1st-round game against Dr. Richard Lewis & won his postponed 2nd round game vs. Jack Mc Corkell.

I don't know if the moves of either were recorded.

#439 KCCC - More Games From Round 2

Annotated replays & PGN to 9 more games have been uploaded. A big TY to Geoff Mc Auliffe & Fritz 10 for their help.

I'll try to post the remainder Friday night, along with raw scores from round 3.

Sat. 1/31 @ 8:20 p.m. - Annotations to Sherer-Stoyko & Carrelli-Buschgans added.

#438 3rd Round Pairings

The tentative KCCC pairings for Thursday 1/29 are :

1. Norowitz- Carrelli
2. Moldovan - Minkov
3. Stoyko - Schwarcz
4. Hart - Kernighan
5. Buschgans - Sherer
6. Wojcio - Bliznikas
7. Mangion - Mann
8. Lewis - Zhu
9. Mazzillo - Tomkovich
10. Sturniolo - Mc Corkell
11. Azzarello - Kiedes
12. Cole - Shiffman
13. Renna - Agress

Note - Last week's Mc Corkell-Schwarcz has yet to be played. For pairing purposes only, 0-1 was assumed (due to rating).


The Checkmate pairings for Sunday 2/1 haven't been issued but they are expected to be :

1. Moldovan - Kernighan
2. Minkov - Wu
3. Mann - Sherry

With Renna, Azzarello & Shiffman requesting 1/2-point byes to watch the Super Bowl, Carrelli will get a full-point bye.

#437 KCCC - R2 Update

Notes to my win against Kernighan have been uploaded to the 2nd round replay page & zip. More games will follow.

#436 Checkmate Championship - Round 2

Mark Kernighan won against Ari Minkov's Semi-Slav... I beat Bob Sherry with an O'Kelly Sicilian... Ted Mann defeated Bert Shiffman's Nimzo-Indian & Leon Wu debuted with a victory over late-entering Joe Azzarello.

Joe Renna was winning against Don Carrelli's Leningrad Dutch but he blundered in time-trouble & had to settle for a draw.

Thus, after 2 rounds, the standings are :

1. Kernighan, Moldovan 2.0
3. Wu 1.5
4. Minkov, Sherry, Mann 1.0
7. Carrelli, Renna, Azzarello 0.5
10. Shiffman 0.0

Here are 4 of the week's games in java-replay + PGN.

#435 KCC Calendar Updated

The Kenilworth Chess Club Calendar for 2009 has been updated and includes 3 USCF-rated events :

Kenilworth Quads
March 12, 19 & 26
G/60

Irving Ellner Memorial Swiss
April 16, 23 & 30
G/45

Sy Fish Memorial Swiss
October 1 & 8
G/30

The entry fees for the above are TBD.

A 4th rated-tournament will likely be added in the October 22-November 19 span.

#434 Kenilworth Championship - Round 2

Yaacov Norowitz, Ari Minkov, Don Carrelli & this blogger lead after 2 rounds of the Kenilworth CC Championship.

My co-leaders respectively defeated Ziggy Bliznikas, Ian Mangion & Rich Buschgans while I won against NM Mark Kernighan.


Here are...

The current standings (pending the result of McCorkell-Schwarcz, which was postponed) :

=1-4. Norowitz, Minkov, Moldovan, Carrelli 2.0

=5-6. Stoyko, Hart 1.5

= 7-18. Kernighan, Buschgans, Bliznikas, Mangion, Lewis, Tomkovich, Sherer, Wojcio, Mann, Mazzillo, Zhu, Sturniolo 1.0

=19-22 Schwarcz, McCorkell, Kiedes, Azzarello 0.5

=23-26. Shiffman, Renna, Agress, Cole 0.0


... plus 4 of last night's games in Java-replay & PGN.

I'll post the other 8 + notes in a few days. TD Geoff McAuliffe will be doing the bulk of the annotations this week.

#433 Round 2 Pairings

Here are the tentative 2nd round pairings for the Kenilworth Championship (tonight; Thursday 1/22) :

1. Bliznikas - Norowitz
   
2. Moldovan - Kernighan
3. Minkov - Mangion
4. Carrelli - Buschgans
5. Sherer - Stoyko
6. McCorkell - Mark Schwarcz (1900)
   
7. Mazzillo - Lewis
   
8. Kiedes - Hart
9. Tomkovich - Azzarello
10. Wojcio - Renna
11. Shiffman - Mann
12. Zhu - Cole
13. Agress - Sturniolo

... and the tentative 2nd round pairings for the Checkmate Championship (Sunday 1/25) :

1. Kernighan - Minkov
2. Sherry - Moldovan
3. Wu - Carrelli
4. Mann - Shiffman

Renna : 1 pt. bye


Remember if, in either event, someone takes a half-point bye or withdraws your opponent & color could change.

#432 Hart-Stoyko

The Hart-Stoyko score posted on Saturday (in #430) is correct. Confirmation by Glen Hart via e-mail.

That means both players missed 42.Bf4 +-. I'll try to post some light notes on the game before round 2.

UPDATE 1/22 @1:40 a.m. - Annotations added to the replay page & PGN file.

#431 Checkmate Championship - Round 1

The 5th Checkmate CC Championship began last night as a 9-player, 5 round swiss. The top 3 seeds won their games without much difficulty but I struggled to beat Joe Renna.

Here are...

The current standings :

=1-4 NM Mark Kernighan (2217), Ari Minkov (1933), Bob Sherry (1812), John Moldovan (1811) 1.0

5. Leon Wu (1381) 0.5

=6-9. Don Carrelli (1748), Ted Mann (1506), Bert Shiffman (1344), Joe Renna (1304) 0.0

... and annotations to all the opening round games in java-replay + PGN.

#430 Kenilworth Championship - Round 1

The 19th 18th Kenilworth CC Championship got underway Thursday night as a 5-round, 25-player swiss. All the favorites won except for 3-time champ Steve Stoyko, who was held to a draw by Glen Hart. 5 players took half-point byes.

Here are...

The current standings :

= 1-9. NM Yaacov Norowitz (2261), NM Mark Kernighan (2227), Ari Minkov (1933), Richard Buschgans (1890), Ziggy Bliznikas (1819), Dr. Ian Mangion (1813), John Moldovan (1811), Don Carrelli (1748), Max Sherer (1655) 1.0

= 10-16. FM Steve Stoyko (2248), Glen Hart (1623), Dr. Richard Lewis (1719), Jack Mc Corkell (1542), Pat Mazzillo (1442), Aaron Kiedes (1305), Joe Azzarello (unrated) 0.5

= 17-25. Greg Tomkovich (1677), Mike Wojcio (1606), Ted Mann (1506), Daniel Zhu (1407), Lou Sturniolo (1368), Bert Shiffman (1344), Joe Renna (1304), Gordon Agress (1134), Jim Cole (1105) 0.0

... plus the 10 opening round games in Java-replay & PGN (light notes to all except the upset draw).

#429 Last Call for Club Championships

If you want enter the Kenilworth or Checkmate Championships, hurry. The former begins tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. & the latter starts on Sunday.

For details on the 19th 18th Kenilworth CC Championship see post #419 & for info on the 5th Checkmate Championship see post #423.

#428 Westfield Quads

There was a huge 46-player turnout at this past Sunday's Westfield Quads. Bill Freeman, playing his first tourney in some 20 years, won the top group ahead of Mark Kernighan, Peter Radomskyj & Greg Nolan.

I tuned-up for the upcoming Kenilworth & Checkmate Championships (wish they weren't being held concurrently) by going undefeated in quad 5 but finished 2nd to Eve Zhurbinskiy.

Here are my 3 games (fully annotated) in java-replay and zipped PGN.


P.S. - Quads #93 will be held tomorrow. See the details below.

Jan. 11, 2009
Westfield Quads
3 RR Game/45 full K Westfield Y, 220 Clark Street, Westfield, N.J. Prizes: $50 to first in each quad. Entrance Fee: $20, $15 Members. Registration: 2-2:15 p.m. Rounds: 2:30-4:20-6:10 p.m. Info: Todd Lunna 732-946-7379. Website: www.westfieldchessclub.com.

#427 West Orange Championship Starts 1/13

The USCF-rated 2009 West Orange CC Championship starts January 13th. It will be a 5-round swiss with time controls of 40/90 + 30/60.

This event is normally run over 8 Tuesdays with 3 weeks set aside for postponements & adjournments.

For more information, contact John Hagerty @ 973-736-3433.
(call before 10 p.m.)

#426 GSCL Update

I talked to Lev Zilbermints on Sunday & he says his Newark Sleepless Knights club will definitely be in the Garden State Chess League.

Simon Thomson of the Summit squad says the Morristown club is also trying to assemble a team. Kenilworth will probably enter >1 team.

#425 Roselle beats West Orange 8-2

The incredibly strong Roselle CC won a match at West Orange last night, 8-2.

IM Guillermo Estevez, Maraj Daftani, David Grasso, Ken Chieu, Cesar Sorto, Errol Singh, Ramon Garcia & Alejandro Guzman took full points for Roselle.

Harvey Susswain (via forfeit) & Harry Riff were the W. Orange victors.

Maybe the lop-sided triumph will convince the Roselle folks to put a team in the upcoming Garden State Chess League.

#424 Local Clubs Update

• The Maplewood Chess Club has moved to the Civic House at 124 Dunnell Road, which is very near the train station & police department. The setting & interior is similar to Summit's.
• The Elizabeth CC is now defunct.
• Information for the Newark Sleepless Knights has been added to my local chess clubs list. There will be a tourney there this Saturday. G/10, I believe.

further update - 3/05/2009

The Maplewood Club no longer meets at the above address and is back at :

Maplewood Community Center
120 Burnett Ave.