#861 Summer Tourney - Round 3

Open Section

3 more players joined. Mark Kernighan beat Ian Mangion to take the lead. I joined him by taking 1.5/2 (& blundering a half-point away) in a simul. Other winners included Don Carrelli, Max Sherer, Greg Tomkovich, Geoff McAuliffe, Lou Sturniolo & Laukik Gadgil.

Results:

Mangion 0-1 Kernighan
Tomkovich 1-0 Goeller

Carrelli 1-0 Balakrishnan

Sherer 1-0 Chen

Mann 0-1 McAuliffe
Constantino 0-1 Sturniolo
Gadgil 1-0 Shiffman

Moldovan 1-0 Shiffman
Gadgil 1/2-1/2 Moldovan (annotated)

Standings:

1-2. Kernighan, Moldovan
3-4. Tomkovich, Renna 2.0

5-7. Mangion, Carrelli, Gadgil 1.5

8-13. Goeller, Chen, Sherer, McAuliffe, Sturniolo, Mazzillo 1.0
14-16. Balakrishnan, Burnett, Constantino 0.5
17-24. Stoyko, Hart, Demetrick, Liesch, Kiedes, Mann, Reinoso, Shiffman 0.0

U1200 Section

Andy Altamirano & Joe Azzarello each won 2 games. Getting proper match-ups again proved difficult.


Antonio Altamirano 0-1 Mazzillo

Mazzillo 1-0 Andy Altamirano

Andy Altamirano 1-0 Ruales

Ruales 0-1 Andy Altamirano
Azzarello 1-0 Edward Hu
Hu 0-1 Azzarello

Mazzillo & Hu played as fillers. The former's wins will not be counted. 

Standings:

1. Andy Altamirano 4.0
2. Joe Azzarello 2.0

3-4. Antonio Altamirano, L. Sefia 1.0

5. Senyatkin 0.5

6-8. Matta, Ruales, P. Sefia 0.0

Java-replay

PGN

Crosstables

#860 Correspondence Update

There was a quicker than usual move-exchange by my Czech opponent this week. Thus, another update:

Svitil-Moldovan

E13 Queen's Indian Defense

Nimzo-Hybrid Variation

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.e3 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 0-0 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.0-0 d6 11.Nd2 Qe7 12.Qc2 (N) c5 13.a4! Nc6 14.Nb3! e5 15.d5 Na5 16.Nxa5 bxa5

Moldovan-Svitil

D38 Queen's Gambit
Ragozin Defense

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bg5 0-0 7.Qb3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c6 9.e3 b6 (N) 10.Bd3 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.Ne5 c5 13.Ng4 Nc7 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.0-0

Crosstable

PGN of all the games

#859 Summer Tourney Update

Over at the KCC Minutes, Greg Tomkovich has posted the current KST standings and the full list of results from week 2.

Further update 6/25 @ 12:35 p.m. - Kevin Chen's annotated win added to the 2nd round replay & PGN. Thanks for the contribution, Kevin!

#858 Americans & Czechs Tied 5.5-5.5

Wins by Larry Parsons and Patrick Ryan, on boards 10 & 11, have evened the USA-Czech Republic correspondence match at 5.5. Carl Palmateer has the other U.S. victory, to date.


My games:

Svitil-Moldovan

E13 Queen's Indian Defense

Nimzo-Hybrid Variation

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.e3 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 0-0 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.0-0 d6 11.Nd2 Qe7 12.Qc2 (N) c5 13.a4! Nc6 14.Nb3! e5 15.d5 Na5

Moldovan-Svitil

D38 Queen's Gambit
Ragozin Defense

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bg5 0-0 7.Qb3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c6 9.e3 b6 (N) 10.Bd3 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.Ne5 c5 13.Ng4 Nc7 14.dxc5

Crosstable

PGN of all the games

Updates on our other matches:

USA 17.5 Argentina 8.5

Ukraine 45.5 USA 24.5

Italy 25 USA 14

Germany 2 USA 0

#857 Last Chance To Join Summer Tourney!

Due to the large number of entries thus far (29!!), the cut-off date for Kenilworth Summer Tournament registration has been moved-up to Thursday, June 23rd.

If you can't get to the club next week but would like to join contact TD Greg Tomkovich or email me by then.

#856 Summer Tourney - Round 2

11 players joined, swelling the field to a record 29. There were 14 or 15 games played but, unfortunately, several pairings and 1 result were not available at posting time. I will try to get the missing info for you in the days to come.

Open Section

Joe Renna defeated Chris Constantino to take an apparent a half-point lead over expert Ian Mangion and NM Mark Kernighan. The latter was nicked for a draw by young Praveen Balakrishnan.

In other games, Mike Goeller upset FM Steve Stoyko, Kevin Chen won vs. Greg Tomkovich and I struggled to beat Bert Shiffman. Pat Mazzillo also took a full point.

Goeller 1-0 Stoyko

Balakrishnan 1/2-1/2 Kernighan

M. Sherer 0-1 Mangion

Tomkovich 0-1 Chen

Shiffman 0-1 Moldovan

Mazzillo 1-0 Burnett

Constantino 0-1 Renna

Standings:

1. Renna 2.0

=2-3. Kernighan, Mangion 1.5

=4-8. Goeller, Chen, Moldovan, Tomkovich, Mazzillo 1.0

=9-13. Balakrishnan, Carrelli, Burnett, Constantino 0.5

=14-21. Stoyko, M. Sherer, Demetrick, McAuliffe, Liesch, Sturniolo, Mann, Reinoso, Shiffman 0.0

U1200 Section

Antonio Altamirano 1-0 Ruales

Aleksey Senyatkin 1/2-1/2 Sturniolo *

Antonio Altamirano 0-1 Sturniolo *

Raphael Matta 0-1 Leticia Sefia

Leticia Sefia 0-1 Braeden Reinoso *

Andy Altamirano 1-0 Paula Sefia

P. Sefia 0-1 Andy Altamirano

* Indicates U1200 vs. open match-ups. The only result from those 3 games that will count in the standings is Aleksey's draw.

Standings:

1. Andy Altamirano 2.0

= 2-3. Antonia Altamirano, L. Sefia 1.0

4. Senyatkin 0.5

=5-8. Azzarello, Matta, Ruales, P. Sefia 0.0

Java-replay

PGN

I'm going to hold-off posting the standings and wall-chart for now crosstables until after round 3.

Revised 6/23 @ 4:48 p.m., to include missing pairings and standings.

#855 Summer Tourney Update

Demetrick-Kernighan has been added to the opening round replay page and zip file.

#854 May Mania Wrap-Up

The annotated version of my 4th round May Mania loss has been uploaded in java-replay and PGN.

I have also compiled a zip with all 73 games played in 3 sections (no notes, no blanks, not separated) and a wall chart for group A.

Btw, the sandbagger who dropped to the B section wound-up tying for 1st. 

#853 May Mania - Round 4

About an hour ago I blew a nice endgame advantage, blundered in an equal position on move 43 and lost my May Mania finale.

So, instead of tying for 5th or 6th, at +1, I finished tied for 11th place, with 1.5/4.

mountm 2130 - John Moldovan 1921

C02 French Defense

Advance Variation

PGN

Notes and a wrap-up will follow tomorrow or Wednesday.

#852 CZE-USA Update

The Czechs now lead the U.S. 5-3.

My games:

Svitil-Moldovan

E13 Queen's Indian Defense

Nimzo-Hybrid Variation

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.e3 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 0-0 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.0-0 d6 11.Nd2 Qe7 12.Qc2 (N) c5 13.a4! Nc6 14.Nb3! e5

Moldovan-Svitil

D38 Queen's Gambit
Ragozin Defense

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bg5 0-0 7.Qb3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c6 9.e3 b6 (N) 10.Bd3 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.Ne5 c5 13.Ng4

Crosstable

PGN of all the games

#851 Summer Tourney - Round 1

Despite the delayed opening, the start of the Kenilworth Summer Tournament attracted a decent-size crowd of 15 and saw a half-dozen games.

I tried an Old Indian, dropped a pawn on move 8 and lost to Greg Tomkovich. NM Mark Kernighan, Joe Renna and Bert Shiffman also won but Bert's result won't count unless the Open & U1200 sections are merged.

Late-joins are traditionally accepted through round 6 but, since we already have 18 players, the cut-off date may come a week or 2 earlier this year.

If anyone would like to schedule for a particular week just ask me.

1st round results, by board:

1. Joe Demetrick 0-1 Kernighan

2. Don Carrelli 1/2-1/2 Ian Mangion

3. Tomkovich 1-0 Moldovan

4. Renna 1-0 Ted Mann
5. Chris Constantino 1/2-1/2 Wayne Burnett
6. Joe Azzarello 0-1 Shiffman

Standings, after week 1 of 12:

Open Section

 = 1-3. Kernighan, Tomkovich, Renna
= 4-7. Mangion, Carrelli, Burnett, Constantino
= 8-15. Praveen Balakrishnan, Moldovan, Demetrick, Steve Liesch, Lou Sturniolo, Mann, Pat Mazzillo, Shiffman

U1200 Section

= 1-3. Luis Ruales, Azzarello, Aleksey X. 0.0

Java-replay (3 of the 6 games)

PGN

#850 May Mania Notes

A java-replay page and zipped PGN file with notes to my 3rd round May Mania win have been uploaded.

My final game is Monday 6/13 at 8:15 p.m. EDT., against 2127-rated mountm.

If I somehow win and everything else goes right, I will share 2nd.

If I lose and the worst-case scenario happens, I'll end-up tied for 12th.

#849 GSCL - Round 9 Games

Over at the Garden State League blog, I have just posted 4 games from round 9 (including my draw against Ari Minkov) and a summary of the Kenilworth Kortchnois' upset win over league champion Hamilton.

#848 Summer Tourney Starts Tomorrow

The Kenilworth Chess Club's fun, friendly, yet highly competitive Summer Tournament starts tomorrow night at 9:15 p.m. This year we will have 2 sections: Open and U1200.

Here are the rules :

• Entry Fee is $5.00 per section.
• The tournament will run from June 9th through August 25th.
• The event is not rated.
• The time control is G/60.
• G/55+5 (delay or increment) may be used if there is mutual agreement between paired players.
• You may play anyone in your section. The first time you play an opponent, the lower rated player has white, in subsequent games against the same opponent you alternate colors.
• You may not play the same opponent more than four times in the tournament.
• You get one point for a win, one half point for a draw, and zero for a loss.
• You may play as many or as few games as you like, but no more than two in one night. The more you play the more points you can win.
• All games are to be played at the Kenilworth Chess Club during normal operating hours.
• The winner is the person who has the most points at the end of the tournament.
• The prizes are 60% for first place, 30% for second, and 10% for third.

Past winners of this popular, unrated event include NM Scott Massey (2004), NM Mark Kernighan (2005), Greg Tomkovich (2006), John Moldovan (2008), Ian Mangion (2009) and Ari Minkov (2007, 2010).

Please remember that the Kenilworth CC will not have access to the Community Center until 9:15 p.m. tomorrow because a CPR class is being taught there.

Rounds 2-12 will begin at our usual starting time (8 p.m.).

#847 May Mania - Round 3

This afternoon, in the 3rd round of May Mania, I was lucky to defeat smallblackcat and end my 5-game winless streak.

After I blundered with 27.Bxe5?? (gxf3 +-), he returned the favor with 30...Rxf3?? (Nf4 +=).

John Moldovan 1818 - smallblackcat 1928

E10 Two Knights Tango

PGN

Notes will follow.

#846 Correspondence Update

Since the last CZE-USA update there has been 1 draw. We now trail 4.5-2.5.

Here, as usual, are the moves from my games:

Svitil-Moldovan

E13 Queen's Indian Defense

Nimzo-Hybrid Variation

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.e3 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 0-0 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.0-0 d6 11.Nd2 Qe7 12.Qc2 (N) c5 13.a4 Nc6

Moldovan-Svitil

D38 Queen's Gambit
Ragozin Defense

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bg5 0-0 7.Qb3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c6 9.e3 b6 (N) 10.Bd3 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.Ne5



Crosstable

PGN of all the games