#575 Fish Memorial - 3rd round pairings

Here are the pairings for Round 3 of the Sy Fish Memorial :

1. Kernighan (2.0) - Stoyko (2.0)
2. Komunicky (1.5) - Chieu (2.0)
3. Singh (1.0) - Mann (1.0)
4. Wojcio (1.0) - Mangion (1.0)
5. Pawlowski (1.0) - Sturniolo (1.0)
6. Mazzillo (0.5) - Renna (0.5)
7. Shiffman (0.0) - Agress (0.0)

Jose Garcia (0.0) gets a full point bye.

#574 Free Tourney In Scotch Plains, 10/10

On Saturday, October 10th, from 12 noon to 5 p.m., the Scotch Plains Public Library will be hosting a free chess tournament for players U1800 or unrated.

Here are the details :

Scotch Plains U1800

Date : Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Site :
Scotch Plains Public Library
527 Bartle Ave
Scotch Plains, NJ

Format : non-rated, 3 round swiss
Time Control : G/45

Rounds : 12:00 noon, 1:40 p.m. & 3:10 p.m.

Entry Fee : Free!

Prizes : The Kenilworth Chess Club will be giving free memberships for the remainder of 2009 to each player scoring 2 or more points.


This event is limited to the first 24 entrants who

1. Have a USCF rating <1800
2. Pre-register by calling the library at 908-322-5007, extension 204.

Sun. 9/25 @ 11:19 a.m.- The dates are finally correct. Sorry for the mistakes.

#573 Westfield Championship Starts 10/4

The 67th Westfield Championship begins on Sunday, October 4th.

Here are the details :

67th Annual Westfield Chess Club Championship

Dates : October 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th

Site :

Westfield Chess Club
220 Clark Street
Westfield, NJ

Format : 4-SS, USCF-rated
Time Control : 40 moves/100 + G/60

Rounds : 2:30 p.m. on each day

Entry Fee : $25
Westfield CC membership required ($50 Adults; $40 Juniors)

Prize Fund : $550 Guaranteed
Prizes : $150 for 1st place; $100 for 2nd place; $75 to top U2100, U1850, U1600 & U1350

Registration : at the site on 10/4, from 2:00-2:30 p.m.

No byes in the event.

#572 Fish Memorial - Rounds 1 & 2

Steve Stoyko, Mark Kernighan & Ken Chieu lead after 2 rounds of the Sy Fish Memorial.

Full standings :

• 2.0 Stoyko 2240, Kernighan 2200, Chieu 2109
• 1.5 Dan Komunicky 1496
• 1.0 Errol Singh 1900, Ian Mangion 1978, Don Carrelli 1794, David Pawlowski 1777, Mike Wojcio 1613, Ted Mann 1550, Lou Sturniolo 1530
• 0.5 Pat Mazzillo 1352, Joe Renna 1326
• 0.0 Bert Shiffman 1316, Gordon Agress 1277, Jose Garcia 973p

Board by results :

Round 1

1. Wojcio 0-1Stoyko
2. Kernighan 1-0 Mann
3. Sturniolo 0-1 Chieu
4. Singh 1-0 Mazzillo
5. Shiffman 0-1 Mangion
6. Carrelli 1-0 Agress
7. Garcia 0-1 Pawlowski

Kominicky & Renna late-joined & received 1/2-pt byes

Round 2

1. Stoyko 1-0 Singh
2. Mangion 0-1 Kernighan
3. Chieu 1-0 Pawlowski
4. Agress 0-1Wojcio
5. Mann 1-0 Shiffman
6. Garcia 0-1 Sturniolo
7. Renna 0-1 Komunicky
   

Mazzillo 1/2-pt. bye
Carrelli, who played as a fill in round 1, was not paired.


As for games, there's just one to offer (see below) because most of the club's scoresheets "disappeared" between meetings and we ran-out of them.

[Event "2nd Sy Fish Memorial"]
[Site "Kenilworth, NJ, USA"]
[Date "2009.09.24"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Kernighan, Mark"]
[Black "Mann, Ted"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2200"]
[BlackElo "1550"]
[ECO "E76"]
[PlyCount "57"]

{King's Indian Defense : 4 Pawns Attack, by transposition}
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 d6 6.Bd3 0-0 7.f4 Na6 8.Nf3 Nb4 9.Bb1 Bg4 $146 10.0-0 Rc8 11.a3 Na6 12.Qe1 Nc7 13.Nh4 a6 $2 14.f5 gxf5 $2 15.h3 Bh5 16.exf5 Qd7 $2 17.g4 Nxg4 18.hxg4 Bxg4 19.Qg3 h5 $2 20.f6 $1 Bxf6 21.Rxf6 $1 exf6 22.Bf5 Ne6 23.Bxg4 hxg4 24.Qxg4+ Kh8 25.Qh5+ Kg8 26.Bh6 Ng7 27.Bxg7 Kxg7 28.Nf5+ Kg8 29.Qg4+ 1-0

A replay page with this nice win & games from the remaining rounds will be uploaded next Friday.

#571 Sy Fish Memorial 9/24 & 10/1

The USCF-rated Sy Fish Memorial starts next Thursday (9/24) at the Kenilworth Chess Club. Here are the details :

2nd Sy Fish Memorial

Dates : October 1st & 9th, 2009
Site : Kenilworth Chess Club

Format : USCF-rated, 4 round swiss
Time Control : G/30

Rounds : 8:40 & 9:45 p.m. on 10/1; 8:30 & 9:35 p.m. on 10/8

Entry Fee : $10

Prize Fund : 75% of entry fees collected

Prizes : Cash; based on the number of entries.

50% of prize fund to 1st place; 20% to 2nd place; 10% to 3rd place, top U1800 & top U1500

For example:

If there are 10 players, there would be a $75 prize fund.
1st place would get $37.50, 2nd place would receive $15 & 3rd place would get $7.50

The highest-scoring U1800, U1500 would also get $7.50 each.

Register : at site, on September 24th - from 8:00-8:30 p.m.

USCF membership required... Late entries accepted until the 2nd round is paired (½ pt. bye awarded)

Byes : ½ point byes available for rounds 1, 2 or 3 (1 per person)

TD : Geoff McAuliffe


Registration date corrected 9/24 @ 4:50 p.m. Sorry for the error.

#570 Current USCF Ratings Of KCC Players

Here are the current* USCF ratings of Kenilworth Chess Club members, with the change from the 2008 Annual List noted in parentheses:

NM Yaacov Norowitz 2395 (+183!!)

NM Steve Stoyko 2240 (-8)

NM Scott Massey 2213 (+4)

NM Mark Kernighan 2200 (-24)

Michael Goeller 2035 (+1)

Ari Minkov 1958 (0)

Mark Schwarcz 1948 (+48)

Rich Buschgans 1893 (+27)

Ian Mangion 1878 (+39)

Howard Osterman 1856 (0)

John Moldovan 1812 (+12)

Ziggy Bliznikas 1800 (-19)

Don Carrelli 1794 (+79)

David Pawlowski 1777 (+57) non-KCC member?

Geoff McAuliffe 1704 (-32)

Richard Lewis 1700 (-19)

Greg Tomkovich 1698 (+21)

Glen Hart 1696 (+73)

Ed Selling 1675 (-35)

Daniel Zhu 1669 (+430!!!)

Max Sherer 1668 (+13)

Mike Wojcio 1613 (-34)

Ted Mann 1550 (-30)

Jack McCorkell 1534 (-8)

Aaron Kiedes 1531 (+226!!)

Lou Sturniolo 1530 (+148!)

Dan Komunicky 1496 (0)

Mikhail Kruglyak 1367 (+66)

Leon Hrebinka 1354 (-17)

Pat Mazzillo 1352 (+7)

Joe Renna 1326 (+22)

Bert Shiffman 1316 (-28)

Gordon Agress 1277 (+143!)

Bill Sokolosky 1167 (+39)

Jim Cole 1160 (+55)

Jose Garcia 973 p/4 (0)

Brian Balint 927 p/9 (-)

These ratings will be used for next week's USCF-rated Sy Fish Memorial tournament & the non-rated 2009-2010 Garden State Chess League season

* as of 9/19/2009

#569 Simul Games

I have annotated & uploaded 3 games from my 11-board simul in Scotch Plains.

replay page
zipped PGN file

#568 West Orange Swiss

The West Orange Chess Club is running a USCF-rated, G/100, 5-round Swiss starting tomorrow night. The EF is $20. Rounds will be played on September 14th, 21st, 28th & October 13th, 20th.

For more information contact John Hagerty.

#567 Coroner Subs, Goes +10-0=1 In Simul

I was a last-minute sub for Ernie Labate at yesterday's simul in Scotch Plains and yielded just 1 draw in 11 games. Scott Seyffarth, 1 of 3 players to beat Chitra Sridhar on June 27th, was the only opponent to avoid defeat.

Since I am scheduled to give another simul at the same venue on Sunday, November 1st (12 noon-4 p.m., 16 boards, free), the inpromptu display was great practice.

Here's some additional info about my understudy performance :

- I was White on all boards & started each game with 1.Nf3!

- I had to keep score for 7 opponents.

- 2 sore-losing adults didn't submit their scores but I was able to reconstruct them.

- 6 players were lost before move 9 & there was 1 kid who made MANY illegal moves. However...

- The field was stronger than the one I, Greg Tomkovich, Max Sherer & Mike Wojcio went a collective 25-0 against at the Kenilworth Centennial Celebration of 2007.

- Robert Vinson lasted the longest of any player - 46 moves & 1 hour, 55 minutes.

I don't know if I will upload all the games or just those that were competetive. Check-back here tonight or tomorrow.

P.S. - Mr. Labate, who is a spry 86 years old, arrived an hour & 45 minutes late yet still managed to steal the show with some magic tricks; including 1 that involved a lighter & handkerchief!

#566 KCC's Fall Calendar

The Kenilworth Chess Club's Calendar has been filled as follows :

September 17th - casual games & GSCL rosters discussion

September 24th - Sy Fish Memorial : rounds 1 & 2

USCF-rated, G/30, 4-SS, EF: $10,

Prize Fund : 75% of fees, Prizes : TBA

This event was previously scheduled to begin on 10/1. Please note the change.

October 1st - Sy Fish Memorial, : rounds 3 & 4

October 8th - Garden State League match : Karpovs vs. Kortchnois & Staten Island vs. Kramniks

October 15th - Lecture by FM Steve Stoyko

Topic : "Evaluating Chess Positions, An Introduction".

Admission : $5

October 22nd - to be determined

October 29th - Lecture by NM Scott Massey

Topic : "How to Improve".

Admission : $5

November 5th - Kenilworth Quads #2 : 1st round

USCF-rated, G/60, 3-RR, EF: $10,

Prizes : $30 to 1st in each quad

November 12th - Kenilworth Quads #2 : 2nd round

November 19th - Kenilworth Quads #2 : 3rd round

November 26th - Closed (Thanksgiving Day)

December 3rd - Lecture by NM Yaacov Norowitz

Topic : "Color Complexes".

Admission : $5

December 10th - Annual Business Meeting

December 17th - Holiday Party

December 24th - Closed (Christmas Eve)

December 31st - ?? (NewYear's Eve)

The club will likely be closed. If we are open, it will only be until 10:30 or 11 p.m.

Calendar updated 10/6 @ 10:50 p.m.

#565 Garden State Chess League Blog

I'm constructing a blog to replace the Garden State Chess League site that Geocities will be closing on October 26th.

Much of the data from the 2009 season has already been transferred & the framework for the upcoming 2009-2010 season is in place.

Please take a sneak peek & vote on the polls in the sidebar.

#564 Summer Tourney Wrap-Up

To conclude my coverage of the 2009 Kenilworth Summer Tournament, here are the links to round by round...

reports - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
crosstables - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
replays - 1 2 3 4* 5 5a 6 6a 7 8 9 9a 10 11 12 13

PGN - 1 2 3 4* 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

... and a ChessBase archive with all 64 collected games + results of the 35 other pairings.

* updated with notes to my loss vs. Tomkovich

#563 Anti-Global Warming Fund-Raiser

On Sunday, September 13th, Citizens For Global Warming Research and Development, Inc. will be having a fund-raising meeting and chess tournament.

Here are the details :

Site -

McDonald's Restaurant

Central Ave.

East Orange, NJ

(the flier given to me says it's "almost across from East Orange General Hospital" & Google says the address is 375 Central Ave.)

Time of meeting - 3:00 p.m.

Fee - $10.

Format - 4/SS, non-rated

Time Control - G/15

Prizes -

1st place : 40% of proceeds

2nd place : 20% of proceeds

3rd place : 10% of proceeds

Bring sets & clocks.

Dislclaimer : I am not affiliated with this organization & will not be attending the event.

#562 Ernesto Labate Simul

On Sunday, September 13th, from 1-4 p.m, Ernesto Labate will be giving a simultaneous exhibition at the Scotch Plains Public Library.

Mr. Labate, a 3-time Westfield Chess Club Champion & 9-time Bell Systems Chess Champion who once defeated GM Bobby Fischer (in judo), will play up to 16 players.

To participate, you must pre-register by calling 908-322-5007 extension 204.

photo credit : Al Lawrence, Chess Life 1997

#561 Really Strange Factoid

Here's a really strange factoid for you to ponder...

I have drawn my only games against the 2009 New Jersey co-champions, Tom Bartell & Dean Ippolito, but have lost my last 2 games vs. the U1300 champ Joe Renna!

#560 GSCL Meeting on Thursday

The Garden State Chess League is seeking additional teams and players for the 2009-2010 season, which starts on Tuesday, October 6th.

Current and prospective Club Presidents/Team Captains are invited to attend our organizational meeting at the Kenilworth Chess Club on Thursday, September 10th, 8 p.m.

In addition to admitting new teams & confirming the return of existing ones, we will be discussing possible rule changes, drafting a schedule and electing officers.

#559 STC Championship sf - Wrap-Up

Final WCL Section standings

1. HaimPilosof 7.5
2. jpmoldovan 7.0
3. oswald137 4.5
4. jps7 4.5
5. chessforlove 4.0
6. BrianWood 4.0
7. gotleib 3.0
8. JoshLawson 1.0 (withdrew after round 2)
9. McKnights 0.0 (withdrew after round 1)

CBV with all 24 WCL games & results of the 13 other pairings.

PGN from rounds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

In the ICC Championship section, my USATE teammate knightrunner (Arunas Simonaitis) tied for 3rd place at 6.5-2.5.

The finals take place on FICS this week & next.

#558 Summer Tourney Stats

Most Points Scored

• Total - 14.0 Ian Mangion (+13-4=2)
• With White - 5.0 Mangion (+5-1=0)
• With Black - 9.0 Mangion (+8-4=2), Mark Kernighan (+9-1=0)

Highest Scoring of Possible Points (minimum 5 games)

• Total - .923 Kernighan (+12-1=0)
• With White - 1.000 Kernighan (+3-0=0)
• With Black - .900 Kernighan (+9-1=0)

Highest Plus Score

• Total - +11 Kernighan (+12=1=0)
• With White - +4 Mangion
• With Black - +8 Kernighan

Longest Unbeaten Streaks

• Total - 11 Kernighan (+11-0=0 in weeks 1-11)
• With White - 5 Mangion (+5-0=0 in weeks 1-12)
• With Black - 9 John Moldovan (+5-0=4 in weeks 7-13)

Longest Winning Streaks

• Total - 11 Kernighan
• With White - 5 Mangion
• With Black - 8 Kernighan

Most Games Played

• Total - 20 Mangion
• With White - 10 Joe Renna
• With Black - 14 Mangion

Most Wins

• Total - 13 Mangion
• With White - 5 Mangion
• With Black - 9 Kernighan

Most Losses

• Total - 10 Bert Shiffman
• With White - 6 Renna
• With Black - 5 Shiffman

Most Draws

Total - 6 Moldovan
With White - 3 Max Sherer
With Black - 5 Moldovan

Biggest Upset

• With White : Renna (-541) 1-0 Moldovan in round 6
• Draw With Black : Sherer (-188) vs. Mangion in round 10
• Win With Black : Tomkovich (-114) vs. Moldovan in round 5

honorable mentions :

• Bill Sokolosky (-537) vs Geoff McAuliffe in round 3
• David Pawlowski (-445) vs. Kernighan in round 12
• Shiffman (-388) vs. McAuliffe in round 4
• Renna (-329) vs. Lou Sturniolo in round 12
• Gordon Agress (-323) vs. Sturniolo in round 9

Game Length

• Fastest Win By White : Jim Cole... 21 moves vs. Shiffman, in round 2
• Fastest Win by Black : Moldovan... 10 moves vs. Kruglyak, in round 11
• Shortest Draw : Moldovan-Mangion... an 18 move fizzler in round 2
• Longest Game : Pawlowski 1-0 Kernighan... 118 moves in round 12

Results Breakdown

• Total Number Of Games - 99
• Decisive Games - 89 (89.9%!)
• White wins - 45 (45.5%)
• Black wins - 44 (44.4%)
• Draws - 10 (10.1%)
• Pct. of Points Scored By White - .505
• Pct. of Points Scored By Black - .495
• W-L-D Record of the Higher-rated Player : 65-24-10
• Pct. of Points Scored By the Higher-rated Player - .707

Miscellaneous (minimum 5 games)

• Highest pct. of games won - .923 Kernighan
• Highest pct. of games won or drawn - .923 Kernighan
• Highest pct. of draws - .316 Moldovan

• Scores Collected - 64 (64.6%)
• Most Popular Openings : Nimzo-Indian Defense (10 of the 64 games collected; 12 if we include hybrid Q's Indians) & Queen's Gambit (10 games)
• Most Popular e4 Defense : French Defense (7 games, including 2 by transposition)
• Latest novelty : White's 14.Bd3 in round 10's McAuliffe-Moldovan

The 99 games played in this year's KST smashed the previous, unofficial record of 86; which was set in 2006's 14-week event.

#557 Summer Tourney - Round 13

Greg Tomkovich won twice to gain a share of 3rd place as I could manage just 0.5/2 against Max Sherer.

Mark Kernighan, David Pawlowski & Lou Sturniolo also took full points.


Results

• Mangion 0-1 Kernighan
• Moldovan 0-1 Sherer
• Sherer ½-½ Moldovan
• Tomkovich 1-0 Mazzillo
• Wojcio 0-1 Tomkovich
• Pawlowski 1-0 Renna
• Shiffman 0-1 Sturniolo

Final Standings

• 1. Mangion 14.0
• 2. Kernighan 12.0
• = 3. Moldovan, Tomkovich 11.0
• 5. Carrelli 7.0
• 6. Sherer 6.5
• = 7. Pawlowski, Mann 5.0
• 9. Renna 4.5
• = 10. Sturniolo, Mazzillo 3.5
• 12. Shiffman 3.0
• 13. Cole 2.5
• = 14. Lewis, Wojcio, Agress, Sokolosky 2.0
• 18. McAuliffe 1.5
• 19. Zhu 1.0
• = 20. Hart, Kruglyak, Balint, Castillo, Ruales 0.0

Java replay
PGN
Final Crosstable

#556 STC Championship Semis - Round 9

Yesterday afternoon, I beat JP Singh with the Q's Gambit Exchange Variation to finish with a +5-1=2 record & a 7/9 score.

Here is the fully annotated replay & PGN.