EMPIRE CHESS Spring 2016 Volume XXXIX, No
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Where Organized Chess in America Began EMPIRE CHESS Spring 2016 Volume XXXIX, No. 1 $5.00 State Scholastic Champion FM Justus Williams Empire Chess P.O. Box 340969 Brooklyn, NY 11234 NEW YORK STATE CHESS ASSOCIATION, INC. www.nysca.net The New York State Chess Association, Inc., America‘s oldest chess organization, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting chess in New York State at all levels. As the State Affiliate of the United States Chess Federation, its Directors also serve as USCF Voting Members and Delegates. President Bill Goichberg PO Box 249 Salisbury Mills, NY 12577 The Next Generation [email protected] Vice President NYSCA hosted another successful State Scholastic in Saratoga with over Polly Wright 900 players. With our new Champion, FM Justus Williams, not only 57 Joyce Road Eastchester, NY 10709 winning the tournament outright but also being featured in an advertisement [email protected] for Cadillac during the Academy Awards, the future of chess players in the Empire State is strong. Tough competitors like James Black and former Treasurer Karl Heck Scholastic Champion Joshua Colas pushed Justus all the way throughout 5426 Wright Street, CR 67 the tournament. East Durham, NY 12423 [email protected] The future of tournament directing and organizing, though, is not as secure. Membership Secretary Many of the “stars” of tournament direction in the State are reaching the Phyllis Benjamin twilight of their careers, and a new generation is needed to carry the torch P.O. Box 340511 Brooklyn, NY 11234-0511 in the same way that Justus Williams and Joshua Colas followed in the [email protected] footsteps of Aleksandr Lenderman and Alexander Ostroisky. Board of Directors Upstate Downstate NYSCA would like to encourage younger people to not only play, but pick William Townsend Phyllis Benjamin up the torch for organizing events and holding tournaments. Online chess Bill Goichberg Dr. Frank Brady may always be with us from now on, but there remains no substitute for Shelby Lohrman Margarita Lanides Karl Heck Lenny Chipkin tournament play, and tournament numbers have stabilized around the Ron Lohrman Ed Frumkin country after a decline when online play first became common. Major Brenda Goichberg Polly Wright Steve Immitt scholastic tournaments such as the Greater New York Scholastics and the Dolly Teasley New York State Scholastics, both featured in this issue, are setting Sophia Rohde attendance records and are more vibrant and successful than ever. Harold Stenzel Carol Jarecki Joe Felber There are many ways to get involved. Ask to help at a local event. Host a Sunil Weeramantry small local tournament at your school or club. Not every tournament is, or have to be, a Continental Chess style event. Small local events not only can build the success of a new tournament director. They are greatly Tournament Clearinghouses appreciated by the participants, and normally can be run with very little Zip Codes under 12000 (downstate) Bill Goichberg financial risk [email protected] NYS Zip Codes over 11999 (upstate) NYSCA, and New York chess, needs you. If you can lend a hand, we can Karl Heck find a place for you. New York chess depends on it. [email protected] Deadlines December 15 for the Winter Issue March 15 for the Spring Issue June 15 for the Summer Issue September 15 for the Fall Issue Advertising Manager Contact the Editor. EMPIRE CHESS Where organized chess began in America Volume XXXIX, Number 1 – Spring 2016 Cover: FIDE Master Justus Williams with his Championship trophy at the New York State Scholastic Chess Championship in Saratoga Springs. From the Editor.............................................................................................................................................................. 2 Table of Contents …....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Justus Wins the State Scholastics by Bill Townsend…………………………………………………………………..…………..4 Long Island Chess Club Now by Neal Bellon………………………………………………..................................................12 Greater NY Scholastic Reaches Gold by Colonel David Hater and Danny Rohde……....................................16 Klug wins Watertown Championship by Don Klug………………………..……………….………………..........................21 Kraztat and Prieto Share 2016 Watertown Blitz Championship by Don Klug………………..….…..…….22 Notes from the Marshall by Frank Romano……......................................................................................................23 Open Lines by Karl Heck………………………………..…..……………………………….................................................................24 The Outside Passed Pawn by Zachary Calderon………………………………………………………….................................25 Rochester News from staff reports…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…26 Evans Gambit: Cordel Varitaion by Richard Moody……………………………………………..........................................27 New York Tournaments………………………………...................................................................................,,,,,.……....29 Editor: Karl Heck, [email protected]. Webmaster: Daniel Heck, www.nysca.net. Empire Chess, the official publication of the New York State Chess Association, Inc., is published quarterly. No liability is assumed with respect to the use of any information contained herein, or for any advertised products. Opinions expressed are solely those of the contributors, and not necessarily those of NYSCA. Empire Chess is COPYRIGHTED, 2015. Empire Chess accepts articles, games, tournament reports, art work and photos. No responsibility is assumed for unsolicited material. All material submitted for publication becomes the property of Empire Chess, and will not be returned unless accompanied by a selfaddressed, stamped envelope. Letters received by Empire Chess are accepted & subject to editing. Please send to: Karl Heck, [email protected]. Membership in the NYSCA: $20/year with four printed Empire Chess; $12/year with online Empire Chess (two printed). To join, write to: Phyllis Benjamin, P.O. Box 340969, Brooklyn, NY 11234. NYSCA membership now gets you discounts at Continental Chess Association events in New York State and all New York State Championship tournaments. Please send articles and advertisements in camera-ready format for publication. (TIF file, Adobe Photoshop, 100 lines per inch). Chess games should be in ChessBase, with boards and positions in final form. Articles should be sent via e-mail, in Microsoft Word, Times New Roman font, size 11. Deadline for the Summer issue is June 15, 2016, although earlier submissions are appreciated, and will more easily guarantee a space in the next magazine. 49th NY State Scholastics in Saratoga Sets Another Record FM Justus Williams is the new High School Champion; Max Li takes Junior High section with perfect 6-0 score with turnout over 900 again. By Bill Townsend The 49th Annual New York State Scholastic at the U.S. Open at the end of July in Indianapolis. Championships took place March 12 and 13 in Saratoga Springs. The total of about 925 players Incidentally this is the latest in a list of Justus narrowly beat last year’s upstate record-breaker of Williams’ impressive accomplishments. He was in 921 players. It’s still a little short of the 990 players the 2012 movie Brooklyn Castle, he was recently at the 2000 scholastic championships downstate, but featured in a Cadillac commercial about “Daring this is still the biggest chess tournament of any kind Origins,” and if you look on YouTube you can see a ever held in upstate New York. Incidentally, this is video of Justus beating World Champion Magnus the tenth year in a row the tournament has been held Carlsen in a casual game. I should also point out that in Saratoga. Williams previously won this tournament in 2011, when he was in seventh (!) grade. If I may be permitted to indulge in a metaphor, even though the NY State Scholastics is almost half a Five players tied for second through sixth with 5-1, in century old, it is still a child in that you are constantly tiebreak order they are: Maili-Jade Ouellet, James buying it new clothes only to find that before you Black, Olivier Chiku-Ratte, Joshua Colas and Nancy know it, they are too small again. Last year I wrote Wang. The New York nominee to the 2016 National about the problems of finding space for such a big Girls’ Tournament of Champions, also held at the tournament. The tournament had spread from the U.S. Open, is Nancy Wang. Although Ouellet had Saratoga Hilton to the City Center next door, to the better tiebreaks, she is a Canadian resident. Courtyard by Marriott just down the road. This year Incidentally I can’t remember one woman ever the tournament was moved from its usual date at the finishing tied for second in this event before, much end of February two weeks into March so there was less two. Shown below is Nancy Wong receiving her no scheduling conflict at the City Center. More trophy. sections were moved to the City Center, so that there were only two sections instead of four at the Marriott. On top of that the tournament itself expanded from nine sections to ten with the addition of the Elementary Intermediate section. Now, on to the results. The High School Championship section had a clear winner in FM Justus Williams, who was the only player to score 5½-½. This outcome was in doubt until the very end: going into the final round four players had 4½ - Williams, top-rated FM Joshua