Where Organized in America Began

EMPIRE CHESS Summer 2013 Volume XXXVI, No. 2 $5.00

Chess in Summertime….

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President Bill Goichberg PO Box 249 Salisbury Mills, NY 12577 A New Day, A Better Way! [email protected] Vice President May was the end of the line for former U.S. Chess Federation Polly Wright 57 Joyce Road Executive Director Bill Hall. Hall sent a letter to the USCF Executive Eastchester, NY 10709 Director saying he was leaving for personal reasons. Texas chess [email protected] organizer Francisco Guadelupe is the Interim Director, and a Treasurer Karl Heck nationwide search is taking place for a new Executive Director. 5426 Wright Street, CR 67 East Durham, NY 12423 Unlike the search of Hall, it is not required that the new Executive [email protected] Membership Secretary Director relocate to Crossville. The small Tennessee city of 10,000 is a Phyllis Benjamin poor location to recruit executive and professional talent too, as it is P.O. Box 340511 over an hour from a metropolitan area and not in a chess-friendly part Brooklyn, NY 11234-0511 [email protected] of the country. Despite the best efforts of Hall to give the vast majority Board of Directors of National Tournaments on his watch to locations in the former Upstate Downstate Confederacy, the southeast remains low in USCF membership Phil Ferguson Phyllis Benjamin Bill Goichberg Dr. Frank Brady penetration with the notable exception of Texas. Vacant Mark Kurtzman Karl Heck Lenny Chipkin Ron Lohrman Ed Frumkin The Executive Director advertisement is a tacit admission that the William Townsend Carrie Goldstein move to Crossville was a mistake as far as efficient operation of the Steve Immitt USCF goes. The editor of lives in Georgia, and most of the Gata Kamsky Sophia Rohde Chess Life staff lives out of Tennessee, much less Crossville. So does Harold Stenzel Chess Life Online editor Jennifer Shahade. Why? They don't want to Carol Jarecki live in Crossville. As you can't hire the talent to perform these jobs in Polly Wright or near Crossville, the “virtual office” model was used. Meanwhile, there is substantial vacant space USCF built in Crossville to house Tournament Clearinghouses these employees. Zip Codes under 12000 (downstate) Bill Goichberg [email protected] The Crossville move took place for a few, inter-related reasons. Then President Beatriz Marinello wanted to take action to reduce cost. The NYS Zip Codes over 11999 (upstate) move to Crossville gave Bill Hall the inside track on the soon-to-be- Karl Heck [email protected] vacant Executive Director because he was one of the few willing to live there. It also gave a “scalp” to the people in USCF who hated New Deadlines York State and thought the New York location of the National Office. December 15 for the Winter Issue March 15 for the Spring Issue Clearly in the Bill Hall administration, New York chess wasn't getting June 15 for the Summer Issue much of anything. September 15 for the Fall Issue

Advertising Manager With his resignation, it's the end of an era. At Empire Chess, we are Contact the Editor. looking forward to better days with a new Executive Director and new hope for a vibrant, 50-state USCF, not just one looking to settle old scores.

2 EMPIRE CHESS “The magazine of America’s oldest chess organization” Volume XXXVI, Number 2 – Summer 2013

Cover: A girl plays chess outdoors at the Albany Tulip Festival. BALLOT ENCLOSED!

From the Editor...... 2 Table of Contents …...... 3 Deepak Aaron Sweeps At 21st NYS Open by Bill Townsend………...... ………...... 4 13th Queens Team Championship Report by Ed Frumkin...... 8 NYSCA's Discount Program ...... …...... 10 Harmony in Chess – The Scholastic Column by Zachary Calderon…...... 11 New York State Champions by Bill Townsend and Karl Heck...... 14 Capital Region News by Bill Townsend...... 20 Central New York News by Karl Heck...... 24 Buffalo/Niagara News from Buffalo/Niagara Chess Corner………………………………...... 25 Open Lines by Karl Heck…...... 26 NY Hosts Record-Breaking Junior Open (and Senior Open too) by Karl Heck...... 28 New York Tournaments………………………………...... 30

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3

A giant among the pygmies? Deepak Aaron dominates at the 21st New York State Open by Bill Townsend

The 21st Annual New York State Open took place There were also two co-winners in the Under-1310 May 17 to 19 in Lake George Village, about an hour section as Pranav Venkataraman and Vincent Abate north of the Capital District. Around 68 players both scored 4½-½. Daniel Newell was clear third competed in the four sections, down significantly with 4-1. William Gonzalez was all alone in fourth from last year’s record total of 87, but roughly on par place with 3½-1½. Fifth through eighth with 3-2 with 2011’s turnout of 65. were: Ruthvik Ayyagari, Ronghai Gong, JanKarl Galia and Michael James. Steven Danko was ninth Last year’s Open section featured two former U.S. with 2½-2½. Charles Bryant was top unrated player Champions, GM Alexander Ivanov and GM Joel with 2-3. Benjamin duking it out for top honors. This year it was a different story: no titled players and the top- The tournament was directed by Steve Immit for the rated competitor, former NYS Scholastic champion New York State Chess Association. I’d like to thank Deepak Aaron, easily captured the event with a Steve for getting me most of the games from this perfect 5-0 score. In fact, Deepak was the only 3-0 event. player at the end of round three. Tournament winner Deepak Aaron of Niskayuna is Vermont master David Carter was clear second with the only person to win the New York State Scholastic 4-1. Carter’s only loss wasn’t to Deepak – it was to Championship three times. He is currently a student Henrik Van der Weij who was clear third with 3½- at Georgia Tech, but he is still quite an active player – 1½. Fourth through sixth with 3-2 were: Dale Sharp, he played in the Georgia state championship, and Carlos Varela and Troy Duncan. Seventh through recently came in second in the U.S. Junior Open. My ninth with 2½-2½ were Jeffrey LaComb, S. Warren thanks to Deepak and tournament director Immitt for Lohr and Scott Sheff. providing me with this game.

Perhaps one of the reasons for this tournament’s Here Deepak’s last round win over Dale Sharp, a popularity is that it has a rare feature – a Senior player who has been playing at the master level for at section for players over the age of 50. Gordon Magat least thirty years. The rather surprising exchange was the winner here with a 4-1 record. New Jersey sacrifice on move 25 might be chalked up to the fact player Roger Pedersen was the only player to defeat that Sharp knew that he had to beat Deepak to get any Magat, and while he was undefeated he gave up three sort of prize money. draws to finish in second place with 3½-1½. Third through sixth with 3-2 were: Alan LeCours, Michael Deepak Aaron (2337) – Dale Sharp (2200) [C11] Corrigan, Joseph Pascarell and Michael Magee. 21st New York State Open, Round 5 Harold Stenger was seventh with 2½-2½. Lake George Village, NY, May 19, 2013

Two players were at the top of the Under-1710 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 section as Peter Craig and RPI student Brian Furtado A move credited to Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World both finished with 4-1. Third and fourth with 3½-1½ Champion. The main line of the Classical variation were Evelyn Zhu and Andrew Elsinger. Fifth through continues with 4. Bg5. ninth with 3-2 were: Ansgarius Aylward, David 4... Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Connors, Tom Clark, Michael Cheng and Nigel Nxd4 Galia. Tenth and eleventh with 2½-2½ were Timothy 8... Bc5, the main line move, is considered a little Kraft and Nicholas Moscatello. better, but is rather complicated.

4 9. Bxd4 Nb8 10. Bd3 Nc6 11. Bf2 Bd7 41... Kxg6 42. Kc3 Kf6 43. Kd4 Bb5 44. Re3 Bc6 A typical French move, but not usually seen in this 45. Rf3+ Ke7 46. Ke5 Be8 47. Rg3 Bh5 48. Rg7+ position. The main line moves are 11... Qa5 and 11... Bf7 49. d4 1-0 Be7, but overall Black's results here have not been This resignation might seem a bit premature, after all good. Black only down half a pawn, right? Actually, Black 12. a3 sees the grim specter of zugzwang looming over his This makes the game unique. Instead the game position: after he exhausts his Queenside pawn Kevei-Ortel, Hungary 2004 continued: 12. O-O Nb4 moves he quickly runs out of good places to put his 13. Be2 a6 14. a3 Nc6 15. Bd3 Qc7 16. Na4 b5 17. pieces, for example: 49. d4 b6 50. Rh7 b5 (50... a5 Nc5 (17. Nb6!) 17... Nxe5 18. fxe5 Bxc5 19. Bxc5 51. a4 is the same deal.) 51. b4 Ke8 52. Kf6 and Qxc5+ 20. Kh1 Qe7!? 21. Qh5 h6? 22. Rf4 (22. Rxf7! White will shortly force the win of the .) works.) 22... O-O? (Black had to play something like 22...Qg5, now he falls under a crushing attack.) 23. Later Deepak was kind enough to give me all his Rf6! gxf6 24. Qg4+ Kh8 25.Qh4 Kg7 26. Rf1 1-0) games from the event but most of them were game 12... a6 13. Qe2 Qc7 14. h4 fragments – the notation stopped before one side or White expands on the Kingside, and also prevents the other got a clear advantage. The only exceptions any monkey business involving ...g5. were the Sharp game, and this round four contest 14…Be7 15. Nb1?! O-O-O?! against RPI student Jeff LaComb. Opportunity unexpectedly knocks, but Black doesn't take advantage of it. The best response to White's LaComb, playing a topical line in the Sicilian, makes rather slow strategy is opening the center with 15... a good show of it and is close to equal for most of the f6! 16.Qh5+ Kd8 game. However, just as things get truly desperate for If you don't like moving your king you shouldn't be him he misses a chance to bounce back to equality. playing the French. 17. exf6 Bxf6 and White suddenly Like Yogi Berra used to say, it’s not over until it’s has a number of weaknesses, e.g. b2 and f4. over. 16. Nd2 f6 17. Nf3 fxe5 18. fxe5 h6 19. O-O-O g5 20. hxg5 hxg5 21.g4 Deepak Aaron (2337) – Jeff LaComb (1947) [B40] White only has a very modest advantage here - his 21st New York State Open, Round 4 bishops have a bit more scope. Lake George Village, NY, May 19, 2013 21…Rdf8 22. Kb1 Qa5 23. Be3 Qa4 24. Qg2 Rxh1 25. Rxh1 Rxf3!? 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Bd3 Black gets a lot of play for this exchange sacrifice, I'm not familiar with this move so I checked a copy of but it doesn't seem to be quite correct. However Batsford Chess Openings (1989) I had handy and the there's not much to be enthusiastic about after 25... move barely got a mention. But considering that Qa5 26. Rh3 Bc5. Anand has played it, it certainly can't be bad. 26. Qxf3 Nxe5 27. Qg3 Bd6 28. Bc5?! However I think most players would allow a It takes a bit of nerve, but White can get away with transposition to other Sicilian lines with 5.Nc3. playing 28. Bxg5! Qxg4 29. Rh8+ Kc7 30. Bd8+ Kc6 5…Nc6 6. Nb3 d5 31. Qe3 and White is winning. A sure sign that we aren't in Kansas anymore, Toto. 28... Kc7 29. Bxd6+ Kxd6 30. Re1 Qf4 31. Qxf4 Black usually can't get away with playing this freeing gxf4 32. g5 Nf3? move so early in the Open Sicilian, but it seems to be In spite of the material deficit Black wasn't doing too perfectly alright here. badly, but this is a mistake because black misses the 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. a3 Bd6 9. c4 Nf6 10. Nc3 a6 11. force of White's next move. Best is 32... Be8 but white Bg5 Ne5 is better after 33. Kc1. Simply 11... h6 seems more prudent. 33. g6! Ke7 34. Rh1 Bc6 35. Rh7+ Kf8 12. Be2 Be7 13. Qc2 Qc7 14. Nd2 Bd7 15.Bh4 Ng6 35... Kf6? 36. Rf7+ Ke5 37. g7 and White wins 16. Bg3 Bd6 17. O-O-O Bxg3 18. hxg3 O-O-O 19. easily. 36. Rf7+ Kg8 37. Rxf4 Nde4 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 Bc6 21. Bf3 h6 22. c5 Bxe4 37. Re7 seems to be a bit better, but nothing looks Black pretty much has to do this - letting White put a very good for Black. on d6 is not an option. 37... Ne5 38. Rf1 Bd7 39. Re1 Nxd3 40.cxd3 Kg7 23. Bxe4 Ne7 24. Kb1 Nc6 25. Qc3 e5? 41. Kc2! This allows White to make a mess of Black's King This is superior to the futile defense of the pawn with position. Obviously Black is concerned about his g- 41. Rg1.) pawn, but he has a crafty way to defend it, and 5 maintain the balance at the same time: 25... Rxd1+ wins a pawn because white can't play 29.exd5? e4+) 26. Rxd1 Rd8 27. Rxd8+ Qxd8 and now White can't 29.Rxc7 Rxc7 30.b4 Nb6 31.Nc3 Rb7 32.a4 Nxa4 take the g-pawn because Black forces a : 28. 33.Nxa4 bxa4 34.Rxa4 Rb6 35.Kc4 Be3 36.Ra5 Qxg7? Qd1+ 29. Ka2 Nb4+ 30. axb4 Qa4+ , etc.) Kd7 37.b5 26. Bxc6 bxc6 27. Rd3 Rd5? In hindsight White should probably leave the Better was 27... Rxd3 28. Qxd3 Kb7) 28. Qc4 Rxd3 Queenside pawns alone and move his Rook to the 29. Qxa6+ Qb7? (29... Kb8 was better. It's Kingside with 37.Ra3 Bf4 38.Ra1. remarkable how quickly Black's position now falls 37...axb5+ 38.Kd3 apart.) Plainly White didn't like the Bishop vs. Knight ending 30.Qxd3 Rd8 31. Qf5+ Kb8 32. Qxe5+ after 38.Rxb5 Rxb5 39.Kxb5. White has won a second pawn, so it should be pretty 38...Bc5 39.Ra7+ Kc8 40.Rxh7 Ra6 41.Rg7?! much game over, but there are still some twists and 41.Nh4 is better. turns. 41...Ra3+ 42.Kc2 Ra2+ 43.Kb1 Rxg2 44.Nh4 Rh2 32…Ka7 33. Re1 Rd2 34. Re2? 45.Nxg6 Rxh3 46.Ne7+ Kb7 47.Nf5+ Kb6 48.Rd7 This actually lets Black back in the game, whereas Rh2?! the second player could resign in clear conscience A tiny little slip that allows White to just about after 34. Re4! equalize. Strong was 48...Rh1+! 49.Kc2 Rh2+ 34...Rd5? 50.Kb3 b4! This why Black allows the White King off Alas, Black misses his shot. Very embarrassing for the bank rank - he can advance the b-pawn with White would be 34... f6! and now Black can almost tempo by making threats against the White King. Now force a draw: 35. Qe7 Rxb2+! 36. Kc1 Rb1+ 37. Kd2 White can't play 51.Nxd6? because after 51...Rh3+ Ra1 and things are very much up in the air. After the 52.Kb2 Bd4+ 53.Kc1 b3 Black wins. text, however, Black is doomed.) 49.Nxd6 Bxd6 50.Rxd6+ Kc5 51.Rc6+ Kd4 52.d6? 35. Qe7 A natural, obvious move that seems to lose for White. Even nastier is 35. Qe8, threatening Re7. Instead the first player seems to draw after 52.Rc2 35... Rd7 36.Qe8 Ka6 37. Re4 Ka5 38. Rb4 Qa7 39. Rh3 53.Rd2+ Kxe4 54.d6 Rh8 55.Kc2 Kf5 56.Kb3 Rb6 1-0 Ke6 57.Kb4 e4 58.d7 Rd8 59.Kxb5, etc. Black has to give up major material to avoid 52...Kxe4 53.Kc1 Rh3 54.Kd2 Rd3+ 55.Ke2 Rd5 checkmate, so he resigns instead. 56.Rb6 Kd4 57.d7 Kc5! And that's it - Black gets rid of the last White pawn, Dutch player Hendrik Van der Weij was clearly better meanwhile the White King is too far away from the b- than his provisional rating of 1833 and he announced pawn. it in the very first round by upending Vermont master 58.Re6 Rxd7 59.Rxe5+ Kc4 60.Re4+ Kc3 61.Re3+ David Carter in a very smooth game. Kc2 62.Re8 b4 63.Rc8+ Kb2 64.Rb8 b3 65.Rb6 Kc2 66.Rc6+ Kb1 67.Rb6 b2 68.Rb8 Ra7 0–1 NM David Carter (2202) – Hendrik Van der Weij (1833) [A42] Not all draws are dull, for example take this tactical 21st New York State Open, Round 1 firefight from round four. Considering the rating Lake George Village, NY, May 18, 2013 difference B-player Sheff plays with commendable boldness against former Albany champion Dean 1.d4 g6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 Nc6 5.Be3 e5 6.d5 Howard. Nce7 7.c5 f5 8.cxd6 cxd6 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Qa4 a6 11.Bxd7+ Qxd7 12.Qxd7+ Kxd7 13.Na4 Nc8! Scott Sheff (1733) – Dean Howard (2000) [B13] This makes the game unique, but it seems to be a 21st New York State Open, Round 4 clear improvement over 13...Rb8 and now the game Lake George Village, NY, May 19, 2013 Derjabin-Demchuk, Mariupol 2003 continued: 14.Nb6+ Ke8 15.Nf3 h6 16.exf5 gxf5 17.0–0 Nf6 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb5 Nf6 18.Rad1 Nd7 19.Nc4 and White was better and went 6.0–0 Bg4 7.Qd3 Rc8 8.Ne5 Bh5 9.f3 e6 10.Bg5 on to win. Bd6 11.c4 0–0 12.Bxc6 bxc6 13.c5! Bxe5 14.f3 b5 15.Nc3 Nf6 16.a3 fxe4 17.fxe4 Ng4 18.Bg5 This looks good for White. Best seems to be 13...Bb8. Rf8 19.Nf3 Nb6 20.h3 Nf6 21.Bxf6 Bxf6 22.Ke2 14.dxe5 h6 15.exf6?! Rac8 23.Rhc1 Bg7 24.b3 Bh6 25.Rc2 Rc7 26.Raa2 The best way to discombobulate Black’s pawns is Rfc8 27.Kd3 Ke7 28.Ne2 Nd7?! 15.Bh4 g5 16.exf6 gxh4 17.Qd4. Here Black missed a little tactical trick. 28...Nxd5! 15...hxg5 16.fxg7 Kxg7 17.f4! gxf4 18.Rxf4 Bg6?! 6 Obvious, but not best. Black gets a lot of traction by The right idea, but the wrong square. White wins making his center pawns dangerous 18...Qg5! material with a strong attack after 32.Ra7 Nc6 19.Qd2 f6! 20.h4 Qg3 21.Nc3 e5 22.Ra4 Rc7 23.Ne2 33.Rbxb7 Nxa7 34.Rxa7. Bxe2 24.Qxe2 e4 , etc. 32...Bc6 33.hxg5 hxg5 34.Ra6 Bb7 35.Rxe6 Nc6 19.Qd4+ f6 20.Rg4 Qc7 21.Nd2 Rh8 22.Nf3 e5? 36.Bc3 Re8 37.Rxe8+ Rxe8 38.Rh1? 23.Rxg6+ Kxg6 24.Qg4+ Kf7 25.Rf1 White misses a little tactical finesse. Luckily for him, Actually White should play 25.Ng5+ right away: Black misses it too. 25...fxg5 26.Rf1+ Kg6 27.Qe6+ Kg7 28.Qf6+ and he 38...Nd8? seems to have at least a draw. 38...Nxe5! 39.dxe5 d4 and the game is close to equal 25...Rcg8 26.Ng5+ Rxg5 27.Qxg5 Qe7 28.b4 Rg8 again. 29.Qh5+ Kf8 30.Qh6+ 39.Rh7 Ne6 40.Rf7 f4 41.Kf3 Nxc5? White offered a draw. It's a bitter pill for Black to Now this idea doesn't work. swallow, but his King really can't escape the checks. 42.gxf4? 30...Kf7 31.Qh5+ Rg6?! 32.Qh7+? The refutation is to take black up on his offer: Incredibly it seems White has a win here: 32.Rf3! 42.dxc5! d4+ 43.Rxb7! Kxb7 44.Bxd4 and White's Kg7 (Forced to prevent White from winning the Rook four pawns are ample compensation for the with 33.Rg3, but it allows the White Queen to invade exchange. and start picking up pawns. 42...gxf4 43.Kxf4 Nxa4 44.Bb4 Nb6 45.Kf5 Bc6 33.Rh3! Rg5 34.Qh8+ Kg6 35.Kf1! 46.e6 Na8? A mysterious move, but now 36.g4! is a serious This is actually the end for Black. His Knight goes to threat. 35...Qg7 36.Qe8+ Kf5 37.Qxc6 d4 38.b5 and the corner, never to be heard from again. He is still White wins. fighting on after 46...Ba4 47.c3 Nc4. 35...Rg7 36.Qh5+ Kg8 37.Qh6 Kf7 ½–½ 47.Ba5 Rh8 48.f4 Be8 49.Kf6 Bxf7 50.exf7 1-0 Black must give up his rook for the f-pawn, so he Chess is often thought of as a game of iron logic, but quits: 50.exf7 Kd7 51.Kg7 Rc8 52.f5 (No need to be on a more practical level it’s a game of chances and in a hurry to play f7-f8(Q).) 52...Ke7 53.f8Q+ Rxf8 psychology. For example in this game Black is at a 54.Bb4+, etc. disadvantage for most of the game, however at a couple points he has chances to even things up again, Last year Capital Region player Mike Mockler won but he just doesn’t see them. It’s always difficult to the Senior section with a hair-raising win on time look for killer moves in a bad position and not to give over Harry Stenger. While he wasn’t in the winner’s in to despair. circle this year, he was again the recipient of a last round gift courtesy of the clock. Under a crushing Dale Sharp (2200) – Steve Romero (1905) [C18] attack, Mockler won on time in an utterly lost 21st New York State Open, Round 1 position. Lake George Village, NY, May 18, 2013 Damar Naimji (1568) – Michael Mockler (1949) 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ [C16] 6.bxc3 Qa5 7.Bd2 Qa4 8.Qg4 g6 9.Kd1 Nc6 10.Nf3 21st NY State Open, Senior Section, Round 5 f6 11.Qf4 f5?! Lake George Village, NY, May 19, 2013 It looks reckless, but I believe Black's best defense is 11...g5! 12.Qg3 cxd4 13.cxd4. 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 b6 12.dxc5 Qxf4? 13.Bxf4 Bd7 14.Nd4 Nxd4 15.cxd4 One usually expects to see 4...c5 or 4...Ne7 here, but White is now a solid pawn up, with a space this is how Nimzowitch played it back in the day. advantage. 15...h6 16.h4 0–0–0 17.Rh3 Ne7 18.Rb3 5. Nf3 Bb7?! Bc6 19.a4 a6 20.Rb6 Kd7 21.Rab1 Kc8 22.Kd2 Rdg8 23.g3 Kc7 24.Bd3 Nc8 25.R6b3 Ne7 26.Ke2 This routine, harmless-looking move may be the Rb8 27.Bd2 Rbg8 28.Ba5+ Kc8 29.Rb6 g5 beginning of all black's problems. Black usually plays 30.Bxa6!? 4...Qd7 here and the bishop winds up on a6. I initially thought this was excessive and unnecessary 6.a3 Bf8 , but after spending a while looking at this position, I This how Mockler likes to play but 6... Bxc3+ is finally came to the conclusion that White eventually probably better. has to do this if he wants to make progress. 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Ne2 Nge7 9. c3 Qd7 10. Ng3 h6 11. 30...bxa6 31.Rxa6 Bb7 32.Rab6? Be3 O-O-O 12. b4 g6 13. a4 7 Clearly the opening has not gone well for black - Looking at mate in one, Black gives up. Whte's attack will get to the goal line first. 13…a5 14. Bb5 axb4 15. cxb4 Nf5 16. Bd2 Qe7 17. Nxf5 exf5 18.Bxc6 Bxc6 19. b5 Bb7 20. O-O Kb8 th 21. Re1 Déjà Vu at the 13 Queens No reason to delay playing 21. a5! and white has a strong attack. Team Championship 21... g5 22. h3?! by Ed Frumkin White can, and should, simply ignore what black is doing on the Kingside: 22. a5! g4 23.axb6! gxf3 24. At registration on April 5 the Queens Chess Club’s bxc7+ Kxc7 25. Qc2+ Kd7 26. Ra7 Ke8 27. Qxf5 and annual two-player team event had a familiar look. at the very least White will get his piece back with a Four of last year’s 12 teams returned with the same winning game. players and team names: Benighted Knights (1924 22... Qe6?! average: Ed Kopiecki (2027) and Ken Sasmor Now it's Black that needs to ignore the threat of ...e6. (1821), ranked 5th), M to the 4th (1804 average: After 22... g4! 23.hxg4 fxg4 24. Nh2 h5 Black is still Mulazim Muwwakkil (1915) and Mikhail in a bad way, but much better off than in the game. Mordukhay (1693), ranked 8th), J & R Monster 23. a5 Be7 24. axb6 cxb6 25. Qa4 Kc7 26. Rec1+ Trucks (1943 average: Dennis Moore (1945) and Kd7 27. Qa7 Rb8 0-1 Dave Diamond (1941) (rating order had changed), Alas, White lost on time before he could play the ranked 3rd) and defending champions Ed-grr! crushing 28. Rc6! winning Black's Queen. (1979½ average: Ed Frumkin (2027) and Edgar Cimafranca (1932). Here is a short game from one of the winners of the Under-1710 section, RPI student Brian Furtado. Five other teams sported rating averages over 1800, including the Double Checks at 1995 (Bill Arluck Brian Furtado (1674) – Ansgarius Aylward (1510) (2068) and Ira Cohen (1922)), the only team with [D06] matching shirts, this year’s top seed. Dave Randall 21st NY State Open, Under 1710 Section, Round 4 (1626) returned after a four and a half year hiatus, Lake George Village, NY, May 19, 2013 rejoining the USCF and the Queens Chess Club (QCC), but his expected partner Gary Friedman, who 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 would have been returning from a twelve-year This move is credited to Frank Marshall, but it absence, didn’t appear, so Dave was combined with should be remembered that not all his opening ideas Ruth Arluck (1011) to form a house team for Round were good ones. 1. They were paired normally in case they decided to 3.cxd5 Nxd5 remain intact, as a prize for Top Under 1700 team This gives White the opportunity to set up his ideal was offered and they were the only such team so far center with pawns on d4 and e4 - this can't be good (they were eventually listed as 13th ranked “Ad Hoc” for Black. In fact a temporary pawn sacrifice seems on the tournament table). The fourth-seeded team better: 3...c6 4.dxc6?! Nxc6 5.Nf3 e5 6.Nxe5 Nxe5 (Team for Two: 1942) hooked up WIM Dorothy 7.dxe5 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 Ng4 9.Ke1 Nxe5.) Teasley (2005) with Steve Mitlitzky (1879), whose 4.e4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 Bb4 7.e5?! last QCC game was as a Round Four substitute in last This makes the game unique, mainly because it's not year’s event. Lev Zilbermintz (2117) was the top such a good idea. Better are 7.Bd3 and 7.f3. ranked individual and joined long time regular Ken 7...Ne4 Cruz (1722) to form the sixth-ranked Z Men 7...Nd5 is an improvement. (1919½). Joe Felber (2000) and Paul Denig (1622) 8.Qc2 f5 9.Bd3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be7 11.Nf3 b6 12.Bc4 formed the seventh-ranked “The Blessed and the Nc6 13.a4 Bd7 14.d5! Damned” (explanation withheld!) (1811) and White strikes while the iron is hot - Black is in Brooklyn 64 (1803) was composed of Pavel Genkin trouble. 14...Na5 15.Ba2 Qc8 16.Nd4 exd5 17.Bxd5 (1821) and Greg Keener (1785), a Marshall Chess c6 18.Ba2 c5 19.e6! Bc6? Club assistant manager. So the top six teams were The best of a bad lot was 19...cxd4 20.exd7+ Qxd7 within 80 points of the upper limit of 2000. 21.Bxd4. 20.Nxf5 Rg8 21.Nxe7 Kxe7 22.Bg5+ Ke8 23.Qxh7 The first round was far tougher than anyone would Rf8 24.Qg6+ 1-0 have expected, as the teams seeded 1, 3 and 4 lost 8 their matches by 1½ -½ scores, Team 2 barely won its Checks and Team for Two swept the Youth Brigade match by the same margin and the Benighted (aka the Franklyn brothers). With one round to go Knights, playing the house team, scored the only Ed-grr! had 2½, with the Double Checks, Benighted sweep. Zilbermintz as White beat Bill Arluck, Edgar Knights, Z Men, M to the 4th, Brooklyn 64 and the Cimafranca as Black beat Paul Denig, Mulazim still unnamed Team 10 at 2. Muwwakkil as White beat Dennis Moore, and Pavel Genkin as Black beat Dorothy Teasley, the other Round 4: The top table was the Double Checks-Ed- game in each match being drawn. grr! matchup with Ed-grr! having draw odds for team prize eligibility. The Z Men swept Brooklyn 64, Four teams were added the following week. Randall while the Benighted Knights edged M to the 4th by was teamed with Suriyan Nathan (1604), so they the usual 1½-½, Sasmor drawing with Mordukhay. ranked 10th at 1615. Philip Mathew (1386) brought The Z Men and Benighted Knights, both at 3-1, his son Benjamin Philip (1825) to rank 11th at 1605½. naturally hung around for the results on Table 1. Jonathan Phanstiel (1760) teamed with Dan Team 10 (2-1) was playing Philip/Mathew (1½) for Schachter (1448) to form the 12th ranked Danube the Under 1700 prize while the Danube Express, also Express (1604). Ruth Arluck and Marcus Francis at 1½, was overmatched against J & R Monster (1167) joined forces to form the 14th ranked Trucks, getting swept. Randall lost but Nathan won Bouncing Checks (1089). A youth team of Matthew again, drawing their match and taking the Under (1083) and Rocco Franklyn (854) was expected but 1700 prize. Team for Two swept the didn’t make it (they had been at the SuperNationals Blessed/Damned team and the kids won their match the first week), so another house team was needed. from the Bouncing Checks 1½-½ with Matthew Enter the ChessMates (Mindy (1441) and Michael beating Marcus. Cimafranca took an early draw with Conyers (632)) to save the 7th-ranked Cohen, putting all the heat on the Bill Arluck- Blessed/Damned squad from a full point bye. They Frumkin Board 1 pairing. After defending for a long had an easy sweep. time, Ed slipped up but Bill missed his opportunity, partly due to Zeitnot, but had to continue to press for The other matches were far closer. Ed-grr! topped match score reasons and ended up losing the game, Brooklyn 64 1½-½, thanks to Cimafranca as White allowing Ed-grr! to finish in clear first place instead beating Keener. The Benighted Knights and Z Men of in a three-way tie. drew their match as Zilbermintz and Sasmor each won with the Black pieces. M to the 4th had the Final standings: easiest pairing on paper of the first round winners, First: Team Ed-grr! 3½ match points $130 against the yet unnamed Randall-Nathan team, but Second (tied): Team Benighted Knights and Z Men Nathan as Black beat Mordukhay while Randall drew 3 match points $34 each team. (missing a few wins) with Muwwakkil for a 1½-½ Top Under 1700 team (Team 10, aka To Be Named score. Eleventh-ranked Philip/Mathew beat the Later) 2½ match points $78 Danube Express by the same score with Philip Top Board One scorer: Lev Zilbermintz of Z Men 4-0 Mathew as White beating Schachter. The Double $78 Checks swept the Bouncing Checks and J & R Top Board Two scorer: tied Edgar Cimafranca (Ed- Monster Trucks swept Team for Two. After two grr!) and Suriyan Nathan (Team 10) 3½-½ $39 each rounds Ed-grr! stood alone at 2-0 in match points, followed at 1½ for the Benighted Knights, Z Men and The tournament was directed by Ed Frumkin and Joe the unnamed Team #10. Felber for the Queens Chess Club.

Round 3: The Ed-grr! vs. Benighted Knights match Come join us next year !! was drawn, Kopiecki and Cimafranca each winning with Black. The Z Men and Team #10 also drew, as Zilbermintz’ third consecutive win was matched by Nathan’s on Board 2. The Double Checks squeezed by Philip/Mathew 1½-½ with Philip Mathew holding Ira Cohen to a draw. Brooklyn 64 swept J & R Monster Trucks and M to the 4th squeezed past Blessed/Damned, thanks to a Mordukhay win over Denig. The Danube Express swept the Bouncing 9 NYSCA's Discount Program – A New Direction for Membership

The NYSCA annual meeting approved a new way for affiliates and organizers of the New York State Championship and New York State Open to support NYSCA events. Organizers that offer a significant entry fee discount for the NYSCA events as well as other tournaments that the organizer holds. The State Scholastic Championship, which is the largest funder of NYSCA, is unchanged by this change in membership criteria. It is worth noting that the traditional membership-required model remains in effect, and may be used by any organizer, as has been the case throughout NYSCA's history.

There are two goals with the change. One is to make the State Championship a profitable tournament. The long- time organizer of the tournament has reported that the tournament, NYSCA's flagship event, has lost money since membership costs were absorbed into the entry fee. There has been a slow decline in the entries at the State Championship even with the current entry fee structure, so an increase may well lead to a further decline in entries. The pool of potential sites to hold the State Championship is not particularly large on Labor Day weekend, and by and large, the membership is satisfied with the Albany Marriott and the Capital Region location for the tournament. Therefore this new direction is being tried.

In 2013, membership at the State Championship and State Open will not be required, but members will be offered a $7 discount on their entry fee to the event. Continental Chess Association (CCA) is also offering a $5 discount at its other tournaments in New York, including the Long Island Open andManhattan Open. It should be noted that CCA revived the New York State Open in May in Lake George, and the event has been a success for NYSCA. NYSCA is willing to work with any other organizer on other NYSCA events.

NYSCA wants to work with organizers to expand the discounts. Organizers that offer the discounts will have their events advertised in Empire Chess, posted on the NYSCA web site and advertised through NYSCA's facebook and twitter feeds. By accessing NYSCA's group of committed tournament chess players, the discounts in entry fee will more than pay for itself with increased entries and the ability to obtain entries from further away. NYSCA is also working on internet options for membership verification and purchase.

Help us make NYSCA the best chess organization it can be in the best chess state in the country. It will make us better, and your events better as well.

NEW YORK STATE CHESS ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP FORM

Name:______Address:______City:______State:______Zip:______

E-Mail:______USCF ID:______

$20 for four printed issues $12 for two printed issues (Winter and Summer)

Mail to: Phyllis Benjamin, Secretary, NYSCA, PO Box 340969, Brooklyn, NY 11234. (please note new address)

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Harmony In Chess – The Scholastic Column by Zachary Calderon

In chess, no matter what opening, we must make sure our pieces flow together and maintain harmony. A lot of times players love to create attacks using only a few of their pieces, and sometimes that’s enough in order to maintain an attack or even win the game. But other times more pieces are needed in order to pursue the attack and move forward with the game, because we do not have our whole army together.

Let me show you an example.

1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5

This opening, the beginning of the “Fried Liver Attack’ in the Giuoco Piano, is used by players all the time looking for a quick way to gain material by forking the Queen and Rook on f7. This opening has been used by chess players for almost 500 years as an attacking variation of the “Quiet Game,” as Giuoco Piano is translated into from the Italian.

And often times beginners see this and panic; How are they supposed to respond to such a violent threat? Black has two ways to deal with White’s blitzkrieg attempt, one more radical than the other.

The first and most popular is 4…d5 5. exd5 Na5! If 5…Nxd5 6. Nxf7!? Kxf7 7. Qf3+ Ke6 8. Nc3 leads to an extremely complicated opening known as the Fried Liver Attack. But this is not the focus of the article.

After 6. Bb5+ c6 6. dxc6 bxc6 we reach the following position.

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At first glance, it appears White is better. Black’s pawn structure has been compromised, and White is up a pawn. But take another look. The immediate threat is the b5 Bishop. Black’s pieces are a lot more coordinated then White’s, as we can see after 7. Be2 h6 8. Nf3 e4

White’s poor Knight is getting kicked all over the board! It will be moving for the fourth time in nine moves, which is not the way to effectively promote an attack or develop your pieces. Despite having the first move, White’s Queenside has not begun development, and Black has more space and development for his pawn minus.

Black’s dark-squared Bishop will go to d6 and his light-squared Bishop to f5 followed by castling Kingside. His pieces can work smoothly together to attack White’s position, while White will have a hard time untangling his pieces and gaining space in the center.

I want to show you a game played by in 1955. He had the Black pieces against Antonio Garcia.

The game started 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 0-0 9. h3 Nb8

If you are not familiar with this defense, then it is definitely an eyebrow-raiser. Why retreat the Knight like that? The idea is that the Knight may be better placed on d7 than c6. The Knight at d7 is a much more flexible square for this Knight as we will see. Also, there are no open lines in the current position, so there is no need for Black to be in a rush.

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10. d3 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Nf1 Nc5 13. Bc2 We can already start to see how active Black’s position is becoming. Notice how his pieces seem to flow, and not get in each other's way.

13…Re8 14. Ng3 Bf8 15. Nh2 d5! Black grabs the initiative in the center now. Notice how the c5 and f6 Knight and the b7 Bishop pressure the e4 square. White is already worse here and facing the task of defending a cramped position.

16. Qf3 g6 17. Bg5 Be7 18. h4 a5! The purpose of this move is not immediately clear, but we see its usefulness on the next move.

19. h5 Ra6!

White’s attack is a bluff as his pieces are not in a position to effectively reach the Black King while Black has an advantage on the Queenside and the center. We can see how wonderfully all of Black’s pieces are placed, while White is trying to untangle his rather crumpled-up position. Black continued to play brilliantly and won on move 32.

So we can see through these examples how important it is that our pieces work together, and that all of them are working toward the goal of gaining key space in the center and attacking the opposing King. When they don’t work together, our position collapses under the pressure, but when they are all involve they can work miracles and combine to win games.

A lot of players (myself included) only try to make all of our pieces active when we go down material and are forced into playing with the pieces that are remaining. Try to keep this mindset of making all of your pieces active even when material is balanced. With this mindset, your game, and your results, will definitely improve.

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New York State Chess Association Champions Year Champion Site 1920 Jacob Bernstein Albany 1878* Judge James R. Cox Auburn 1921 Jacob Bernstein Syracuse 1879 H.A. Richmond Auburn 1922 Jacob Bernstein Buffalo 1880* Rev. Samuel R. Calthrop Syracuse 1923 Rudolph Smirka Syracuse 1881* Rev. John Costello Tunkhannock,PA 1924 Carlos Torre Rochester 1882 George H. Thornton Buffalo 1925 Hermann Helms Buffalo 1883 (Jan.) Rev. Samuel R. Elmira 1926 Milton Hanauer Rome Cathrop 1927 Rudolph Smirka Rome 1883* (Dec.) Niles D. Luce Elmira 1928* Anthony E. Santasiere Buffalo 1884 Niles D. Luce Elmira 1929* Herman Steiner Buffalo 1885* Niles D. Luce Elmira 1930 Anthony E. Santasiere Utica 1886 Dr. J.M. Cassety Albany 1931 Rome 1887 Eugene Delmar 1932 Nathan Grossman Rome 1888 No contest 1933 Fred Reinfeld Syracuse 1889* Samuel Lipscheutz New York City 1934* Robert Levenstein Syracuse 1890 Eugene Delmar New York City 1935 Isaac I. Kashdan Binghamton 1891 Eugene Delmar New York City 1936 Isaac I. Kashdan Poughkeepsie 1892* Albert B. Hodges Skaneateles 1937 David S. Polland Cazenovia 1893* Albert B. Hodges New York City 1938 Arnold S. Denker Cazenovia 1894 Albert B. Hodges New York City 1939 Arnold S. Denker Hamilton 1895 David G. Baird New York City 1940 Robert Willman Hamilton 1896 Nicolai Jasnogrodsky New York City 1941* Hamilton 1897 Eugene Delmar New York City 1942 Israel A. Horowitz Cazenovia 1898 Gustav H. Koehler New York City 1943* Israel A. Horowitz Syracuse 1899* Samuel Lipscheutz New York City 1944* No contest William M. DeVisser 1945 George M. Kramer Saratoga Springs 1900* Frank J. Marshall New York City 1946 Anthony E. Santasiere Cazenovia 1901 Julius Finn New York City 1947 Albert S. Pinkus Endicott 1902* Berthold Lasker New York City 1948 Larry M. Evans Endicott 1903* Otto Roething New York City 1949 Max Pavey Rochester 1904* No contest 1950 Eliot S. Hearst Binghamton 1905* No contest 1951 James Sherwin Syracuse 1906 Hermann Helms New York City 1952 John W. Collins Cazenovia 1907 Julius Finn New York City 1953 Hans Berliner Cazenovia 1908 Julius Finn New York City 1954 Binghamton 1909 Clarence S. Howell New York City 1955 Edmar Mednis Cazenovia 1910 Jose R. Capablanca New York City 1956 Anthony E. Santasiere Buffalo 1911 Paul F. Johner New York City 1957 August Rankis Binghamton 1912 Jacob Rosenthal New York City 1958 Mitchell Saltzberg Cazenovia 1913 Leonard B. Meyer New York City 1959 August Rankis Schenectady George J. Beihoff 1960 Erich W. Marchand Cazenovia 1914 Roy T. Black New York City 1961 Herbert Seidman Cazenovia 1915* Abraham Kupchik New York City 1962 Pal C. Benko Poughkeepsie 1916* Harold E. Jennings Buffalo 1963 George Mauer Cazenovia 1917 Oscar Chajes Rochester Mitchell Saltzberg 1918 Kenneth S. Howard Rochester 1964 Duncan Suttles Ithaca 1919 Abraham Kupchik Troy 1965 John T. Westbrock Ithaca

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1966 Raul Benedicto Syracuse 1992 Joel Benjamin Saratoga Springs 1967 Erich W. Marchand Canandaigua 1993 Michael Rohde Saratoga Springs 1968 Roger B. Johnson Schenectady 1994 Michael Rohde Saratoga Springs 1969 Erich W. Marchand Corning 1995 Joel Benjamin Saratoga Springs 1970 Erich W. Marchand Rochester Victor Frias 1971* Herbert Seidman Syracuse 1996 Ronald Burnett Saratoga Springs 1972 Ken Rogoff Syracuse Michael Rohde 1973 Jonathan Tisdall Buffalo 1997 Saratoga Springs 1974 Paul Jacklyn Albany 1998 Ronald Burnett Saratoga Springs 1975 Sunil Weeramantry Albany 1999 Jay Bonin Saratoga Springs 1976 Leonid Shamkovich Albany 2000* Joel Benjamin Saratoga Springs 1977 Leonid Shamkovich Albany Dmitry Schneider 1978 Edward Formanek Syracuse Daniel Edelman 1979 Vitaly Zaltsman Albany 2001 Joel Benjamin Rochester 1980 Roman Dzindzichashvili New York City Sunil Weeramantry 1981 Ken Regan New York City Chuck Cadman 1982 Jay Bonin Albany 2002 Joel Benjamin Kerhonkson 1983 Mikhail Zlotnikov Albany Alex Stripunsky 1984 Maxim Dlugy Syracuse Aaron Pixton 1985 Joel Benjamin Rockville Center Michael Rohde 1986 Anthony Renna Binghamton 2003* Aaron Pixton Kerhonkson Joel Benjamin 2004 Hikaru Nakamura Kerhonkson Walter Shipman 2005 Gata Kamsky Monticello 1987 Robert Byrne Saratoga Springs 2006* Teddy Coleman Albany Joel Benjamin 2007* Hikaru Nakamura Albany 1988 Vince McCambridge Rye 2008 Alex Lenderman Albany 1989 Michael Rohde Albany 2009 Giorgi Kacheishvili Albany 1990 Roman Dzindzichashvili Kingston 2010* Aleksandr Ostrovskiy Albany Joel Benjamin 2011* Michael Chiang Albany 1991 John Fedorowicz Rockville Center 2012* Raven Sturt Albany NOTES 1878 - A curious feature of the Chess Association." From the 1889 - There is some doubt what early tournaments - the winner 1945 NYSCA yearbook: Lipschuetz' first name was - became association President for "Although it did not receive its various sources have listed it as the coming year! This was the present official title until the Simon, Solomon or Samuel. The case until 1888. Cooperstown mid-summer meeting latter is what Hermann Helms used in 1886, its organization has been in contemporary newspaper 1880 - This is the same Samuel the same from the beginning." reports, so I use that. Calthrop that played in the first U.S. Chess Congress of 1857, Paul 1883 (Dec) - This contest is not on 1892 - The championship was not Morphy's great triumph. Calthrop the trophy, but is on the official list decided by a tournament, but by a was eliminated in the first round published in 1945. match between Hodges and the by Louis Paulsen, 3-0. 1891 champion Eugene Delmar. 1885 - Since no players from Hodges won the match, 5-0. 1881 - This championship was Pennsylvania played in this event, actually played outside New York this gave the impetus to make the 1893 - The trophy lists Eugene State because NYSCA began its association simply a New York Delmar, not Hodges, as champion existence as "The Western New organization. this year. York and Northern Pennsylvania

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1899 - DeVisser and Lipscheutz 1904 - There was no event this tied in the tournament, 3½-½, and year because: "Dr. L.D. Broughton 1916 - I found the following drew a playoff game later in the Jr., of Brooklyn, the secretary of curious paragraph in the British week. DeVisser was considered the association, was confronted Chess Magazine annual, 1916: the moral victor by virtue of the with a lack of support from the "Another match, on a smaller fact he played some fine games customary quarters and for that scale, but of considerable interest, and had been winning the playoff reason called no meetings of the took place during the summer game. advisory board." (Brooklyn Daily between A. Kupchik, the New Eagle, Feb. 21, 1904) Instead, on York State champion and J. 1900 - This is one of the years that Washington's Birthday the Bernstein, who challenged him for is missing from the 1945 list. Chess club ran a series the title - there being no Champions are listed as Marshall of team matches at Carnegie Hall. tournament play for it last year. and D.G. Baird on the trophy, but It's likely that the local organizers Kupchik drew the first game and this is not quite correct. While the were too busy preparing for the lost the second. Bernstein was two did tie in the championship upcoming Cambridge Springs then compelled by illness to ask tournament, the tie was supposed tournament to bother with the NYS for an interval. On resumption to be broken by a two game match. championship. Kupchik won three games off the However, Marshall beat Baird so reel and took the match by 3½-1½, badly in the first game that Baird 1905 - There was no championship retaining his title." No mention is "forthwith resigned all claim to the held this year because a made of the tournament Jennings championship and the title to it telegraphic match was scheduled won in Buffalo. thereupon reverted to the between the Chicago Chess and Brooklynite." - Brooklyn Daily Checker Club and the Manhattan 1928 - Santasiere was to win the Eagle, Feb. 27, 1900 Chess Club on Feb. 22. These city state championship a then-record matches by cable were very four times, and he did it in four 1902 - Filling in this one gave me popular and received a lot of press. different decades. some trouble. The champion was "It is a crying pity, of course, that listed as "B. Lasker" on the trophy, the day given over in former years, 1929 - Herman Steiner and Jacob and I thought this might be a with the exception of 1904, to the Bernstein tied for first, and were misprint for the World Champion, annual championship meetings of supposed to play a four game , who was the New York State Chess match for the title, but when frequently in New York around this Association, should be utilized for Steiner won the first two games, time. I knew Lasker had an elder another purpose, where the benefit Bernstein gave up. brother Berthold who was also a to be derived is limited to two fairly strong player, but I didn't clubs." (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1934 - Ran along side of the great think he ever left Germany. As it Feb. 19, 1905) Syracuse tournament, which of turns out, Berthold Lasker did visit course drew away most of the the U.S. in early 1902 and showed 1915 - The British Chess Magazine major talent. Reshevsky won the himself to be nearly as strong as Annual, 1915 mentions a mid- main tournament, 12-2, while his brother by beating everyone in summer meeting of NYSCA that Levenstein won a playoff match sight during his stay. Curiously was held in Utica and a tournament with E.B. Adams, 3-2. Emanuel was not in the U.S. at this that was won by Charles Jaffe. time - his duties as a university That tournament was the last of the 1941 – This could be considered professor kept him from leaving midsummer tournaments that the last hurrah of the players that England. NYSCA ran in addition to the dominated U.S. Chess before championship. Beginning in 1916 World War Two. It was actually 1903 - Roething tied with L. Rosen they were combined into one one of the strongest US in the finals and won a playoff. tournament that was held in the tournaments of the day: Fine, summer months. Reshevsky, Kashdan and Denker

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all played. residents. Tied for third were 5 which was printed in the Summer New Yorkers: GM Joel Benjamin, 1995 issue of Empire Chess. 1943 - The U.S. Open and New IM Justin Sarkar, IM Jay Bonin, Where there are differences York State Championship were FM Aaron Pixton and FM Daniel between the two lists the printed combined in one tournament this Shapiro. The championship was one is preferred, but the year, so Horowitz was U.S. Open decided by an Armageddon blitz differences are noted. There was winner as well as State Champion. game between the two players with much information missing from the best tiebreaks, Benjamin and both lists, like the tournament sites 1944- The State Championship this Pixton, with Pixton winning. This after 1945 and the first names of year was to be held at the IBM began the policy of avoiding co- the champions. This I filled in facilities in Endicott, NY but the champions. myself from various other sources, government ban on wartime travel most of them contemporary. There caused IBM to pull the plug on the 2006 – Tournament was won by was also a nice account of the tournament, and they did it so GMs Ildar Ibragimov and Joel early history of the organization by close to the scheduled date that it Benjamin, neither of which were Mark Levine in the Summer 1988 couldn't be moved or rescheduled, NYS residents. issue of Empire Chess. much to everyone's consternation. 2007 – Tournament was won by I must also mention the role that 1964 - This tournament resulted in GMs Ildar Ibragimov and the late Alan Benjamin played in a three way tie among Suttles, Alexander Ivanov, neither of which completing this list. Over the Alex Dunne and Ivan were NYS residents. years I had been casually filling in Theodorovich. Since Dunne was information as I ran across it, but the only one of the three living in 2010 – Tournament was won by not making a concerted effort to New York State at the time, GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) and IM fill in the gaps. Most noticeably - wouldn't that make him champion? Mark Esserman (MA) so the state the dates 1904 and 1905 were a title fell to Ostrovskiy who was mystery. 1971 - The current tournament clear third. Only 14 years old, format begins this year with six Ostrovskiy was the youngest Knowing that I was working on the rounds played over three days on champion ever. list, Alan wrote me a letter Labor Day weekend. Prior to this indicating that he had found the the championship was usually 2011 – There was a three-way tie information on the two missing played in August and it was a for first at 4½-1½ among Deepak dates - the champions were Frank round robin tournament that Aaron, Aleksandr Ostrovskiy and Marshall in 1904 and Gustav would sometimes last more than a Chiang, with Chiang getting the Koehler in 1905 and both week with only one or two games trophy on tiebreaks. tournaments were held in Sylvan a day. Beach. 2012 – GM Alexander Stripunsky 2000 - Even though Dan Edelman was clear first with 5½-½, Sturt Unfortunately he was wrong, as I is on the trophy, he was a was top New Yorker, tied for found out soon after. I ran across a Connecticut resident. second with 4½- ½. list of non-championship tournaments that NYSCA had run, 2001 - Joel Benjamin was state About the list and the two Sylvan Beach champion, but GM Ildar Ibragimov tournaments were on that list. This of Connecticut won the tournament This list has two main sources. lit a fire under me to finally do the by half a point. The first is the list of champions research to finally complete the list that was published in the 1945 once and for all. Several day trips 2003 – The tournament was won New York State Chess Association down to the Brooklyn Public by GMs Ehlvest and Ibragimov, Yearbook, and the second is the list Library followed, looking at the neither of which were NY of champions on the trophy itself old chess columns of Hermann

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Helms, the Dean of American tournaments were not officially than it is. This may be a trivial Chess, published in the Brooklyn "New York State Championships." point since the tournament has Daily Eagle. been an annual event for its entire In 1916 the two tournaments were duration. I discovered that there was no state combined as the state championship held in 1904 or championship became a multi-day The second thing is that a number 1905, and this requires a little event held during the summer. of people listed as state champions explanation. From 1886 to until The reason for this lengthy were not, in fact, New York state 1915 there were two main NYSCA explanation: back then it wasn't residents when they won the tournaments a year - the State considered such a big deal when tournament. In fact, some of them Championship, nearly always held there was no New York State were not even United States in New York City on Washington's Championship, because the citizens. Even though he attended Birthday (Feb. 22) and a mid- summer tournaments got more college in the U.S. Jose summer tournament, usually held attention. Incidentally, in those Capablanca (1910) was a citizen of at an upstate resort. Curiously the days several other state chess Cuba. Similarly, Berthold Lasker latter tournament was nearly associations had their (1902) was a German citizen just always a stronger and more serious championships on Washington's visiting New York for a few affair while the state championship Birthday too. I suppose it was a months. More recently, I believe was often only a one-day, four- convenient holiday. both Roger Johnson (1968) and round tournament. Other Edward Formanek (1978) were examples of the summer A couple other issues occurred to Pennsylvania residents. I know tournaments are the Buffalo me while going over this list. The that only a New York State resident masters tournament of 1901 and first is that the current numbering can be champion now, but I the Trenton Falls tournament of on the state championships is wonder when this policy changed. 1906. Harry N. Pillsbury won the wrong. The current count includes A copy of the state constitution first tournament and Emanuel all the years between 1878 and the published in Empire Chess in 1988 Lasker won the latter, and while it present day, but since three years has the residents-only clause for would be nice to add these great had no championships and one NYSCA champions. players to the list of New York year had two, the actual count of - Bill Townsend State Champions, these NYSCA championships should be two less

Add your name to the list! NYS Championship—Labor Day!

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The attendees at the 1926 NYSCA championship, in front of the Rome YMCA. Seated (Left to right): J.D. Lear, R. J. Guckemus (w/trophy), Hermann Helms, D. Francis Searle, Charles Broughton, George N. Cheney, and Charles E. Watson. Standing: Erling Tholfson, Milton Hanauer, W.A. Lyon, H.W. Thomas, Edward B. Adams, N. Weber, Louis Guckemus, and A. Peetz. From American Chess Bulletin, 9/10, 1926. Most noteworthy is the fact that the original New York State Championship trophy is in the picture. I understand it was recently recovered, after being thought lost for years.

New York State chess history is largely the history of American chess. While benefactors and players have come and gone over the generations, and the United States has a rich history of immigrant chess players coming to our shorts to become American players, the fact remains that practically every major chess player in American history either lived in New York, like , Hikaru Nakamura and Joel Benjamin, or came to New York to compete against the best, like Sammy Reshevsky

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Capital Region News by Bill Townsend

In the Spring in New York’s Capital District the focus champions, the Schenectady Geezers, played their shifts from the local club championships to the inter- first match, blanking the Albany B team 4-0. club warfare of the Capital District Chess League. On April 10 came a real shocker: the Uncle Sam team Also, as the school year ends so does the season of defeated perennial champions Albany A with a the Make the Right Move free scholastic chess perfect 4-0 score, in spite of being outrated on every tournaments. board. This was a clear announcement that things were going to be different this year for the Trojans. First, a little unfinished business. Every year as the Schenectady Chess Club Championship concludes On the same day the Albany B team finally got on the with its final section, another tournament runs scoreboard with a narrow win over the Capital alongside it. The Schenectady Consolation Region team, 2½-1½. However, on April 14, Albany Tournament is open to any club member not playing B was soundly defeated by the RPI team, 4-0. in the finals. This year’s event was rather small – only four players competed in one double round On April 17 Albany A overwhelmed the Capital robin section. The final game was played on March Region team 3½-½. The sole bright spot for Capital 14. Region was Cory Northrup’s upset draw over Peter Henner. On the same day Troy’s Uncle Sam Club In clear first with a 5-1 record was Matt Clough, the continued their winning ways by beating Albany B event’s lowest rated player. Clough’s sole loss was to by the same score, 3½-½. Albany’s first board, Joe Cory Northrup, who tied for second with Sylvester Jones, managed to draw Uncle Sam’s Phil Thomas. Canty at 3-3. In fourth place was Elihue Hill with 1- 5. The following day Capital Region fared even worse, losing to the defending champion Schenectady The Capital District Chess League, now in its 23rd Geezers 4-0. season, began in late March as a contest between seven four man teams from various local clubs. On April 21 the Geezers travelled to RPI in Troy, and Joining defending champions Schenectady Geezers defeated the Engineers 3½-½. On board two RPI’s were: Albany A, Schenectady A, Uncle Sam, RPI, Carlos Varela managed to draw former Schenectady Capital Region and new team Albany B. champion John Phillips.

The first match took place on March 20 with the So far the Uncle Sam Club has been dominating in Capital Region team defeating RPI, 3-1. On March their matches, but that came to an end on April 24 27, the Albany A team decisively defeated the Albany when Schenectady A held them to a 2-2 tie. Things B team, 3½-½. looked very bad indeed for Schenectady, but a heroic win by Carl Adamec on board one against Phil One of the big surprises this year has been how well Thomas saved the match for Schenectady. Troy’s Uncle Sam Club has been doing. They started the season on April 3 with a narrow 2½-1½ victory The two Troy teams, RPI and Uncle Sam, met each over the Capital Region team. One of the secrets to other on May 5, and the result was a rather surprising their success: Dr. Chibuzi Ilonze, playing as an 2-2 tie, definitely an upset for the Engineers. unrated on board four, but clearly an experienced player. On May 8 Schenectady A traveled to Albany to play the Albany B team, and narrowly won, 2½-1½. The other Troy team, RPI, have proved to be no slouches either. On April 4 they came very near to Earlier in the season perennial champions Albany A defeating Schenectady A even though they were got a rude shock against Uncle Sam, losing 4-0. On down a player. The final result: 2½-1½ in May 11 they were upset by the other Troy team, RPI, Schenectady’s favor. On the same day the defending this time by 3-1. Having lost their second match, the

20 effectively puts Albany A out of the running for first Plays right into black's hands. White wins a pawn place. The highlights of the match were RPI’s Jeff with simply 25. Rfd1! cxb3 26. Rxc8 Rxc8 27. axb3. LaComb beating Peter Henner on board one and Matt 25... Nxe3+ 26.Bxe3 dxe3 27. c5? Klawonn upsetting Albany’s Jon Lack on board four. Black only has a tiny advantage after 27. Nc3. 27...Qd2+ 28. Kh1 Bxc5?! Here are the league standings, including only the Best is 28... Rfe8 29. Rfe1 Bf8 30. Qe2 Qa5 and matches reported here so far. It should be White remembered that all the teams have not played the is in trouble. same number of matches. The first number after the 29. Rfd1 Qxa2 30. Nxc5 e2?! 31. Re1 Qd2? team name is number of matches won, the second is This should lose. Better was 31... Rfe8. the number of individual games, which is the first 32. Qf2? tiebreaker. 32. Qxe2! Qxf4 33. Rc4 and White is a piece up with excellent winning prospects. 1. Uncle Sam, 4, 14 32... Rfe8 33. Kh2 Rcd8 34.Nb3 Qd3 35. Nc5 Qd2 2. Schenectady Geezers, 3, 10.5 36. Qxh4 Qxf4+ 37. Qg3 Qxc1! 3. RPI, 2.5, 12 By this point Carl realized that Schenectady A was 4. Schenectady A, 2.5, 7 trailing 1-2 and in order to draw the match he had to 5. Albany A, 2, 8 win this game - a draw wasn't good enough. Now 6. Capital Region, 1, 7.5 things get crazy. 7. Albany B, 1, 5 38. Rxc1 Rd1 39. Nd3 Rxc1 40. Ne1 Ra8 41. Qf2 Raa1 42. Qxe2 Rxe1 43.Qb5? In the pivotal match between Schenectady A and White's weak point is the pawn on h3, so he needs to Uncle Sam, Schenectady first board Carl Adamec keep an eye on it with a move like 43. Qd3. was the hero for Schenectady. A draw seemed likely 43... Ra3 44. Qb8+ Kh7 45. Qb2? in Carl’s game, but since Schenectady was trailing 1- Seems to be the losing move, oddly enough. White 2 that would hand the match to Uncle Sam. Therefore draws after 45. Qb5! Ree3? 46.Qf5+ Kg8 47. Qc8+. Carl pulled out all the stops and managed a very nice 45... Ree3 46. Qc2+ g6 47. Qg2? win. It was certainly a contributing factor that Carl Allows Black to force White to trade his Queen for loves to play games with mixed material and playing the two Rooks, giving him a winning ending. 47.Qc4 those positions is one of his strong suits. offered better chances for holding on, but White's prognosis looks poor. Phil Thomas (1960) –Carl Adamec (2027) [D34] 47... Rxh3+ 48. Qxh3+ Rxh3+ 49. Kxh3 Kh6 50. Capital District Chess League 2013 Kh4 g5+ 51. Kg3 Kg6 52. Kf2 Kf6 53. Kf3 Ke5 54. Uncle Sam vs. Schenectady A, board 1 Ke3 f6 55. Kf3 Kd4 56. Kf2 Ke4 57. Kg3 Ke3 58. Troy, NY, April 24, 2013 Kg2 Kf4 59. Kh3 Kf3 0-1 The White King must abandon his last pawn, so he 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O Nf6 gives up. 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 O-O 8. Nc3 d5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. h3 a6 11. Be3 Ne5 12. b3 Be6 13. f4 Nc6 14. Nxc6 Dr. Chibuzo Ilonze is new to the Capital District, White had a decent advantage out of the opening, but being originally from Nigeria. He plays board four this move essentially makes the game dead even. for Troy’s Uncle Sam team because he is unrated, 14…bxc6 15. Na4 Rc8 16. Qd3 c5 however it’s pretty obvious that he’s an experienced Black could save the pawn with 16... Qa5, but he's player. I would guess that he’s roughly 1800 strength more interested in exploiting his center pawn duo but because he has won all his games so far his USCF than an extraneous wing pawn. provisional rating is something like 2261! Anyway, 17. Qxa6 d4 18. Bf2 Bd5 here is a game from the same match as the previous I would prefer 18... Nd5 here, and Black has good game where Dr. Ilonze outplays Schenectady’s Dilip compensation for his pawn minus. Aaron, but as you can see the result could have easily 19. Qd3 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Nd5 21. Rac1 h5 gone the other way. Better for Black seems to be 21... Nb4 22. Qd2 Qd5+. 22. Qf3 h4 23. g4 Qd6 24.e3 c4?! Dilip Aaron (1800) – Chibuzo Ilonze (UNR) [B14] This shouldn't work. Black can continue the pressure Capital District Chess League 2013 with 24...dxe3 25. Bxe3 Nxe3+ 26. Qxe3 Bf6. Schenectady A vs. Uncle Sam, board 4 25. bxc4? Troy, NY, April 24, 2013 21

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.c4 e6 John Morse (2005) – Philip Sells (2007) [D02] 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Nc3 0–0 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.cxd5 Capital District Chess League 2013 This is not what the Panov-Botvinnik Variation is Albany B vs. Schenectady A, board 1 about. White would be better of deferring it with 9.0– Guilderland, NY, May 8, 2013 0. 9...exd5 10.Be2N Bf5 11.0–0 h6 12.Bh4 g5 13.Bg3 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 Ne4 14.Ne5 Bf6 15.f4 Morse is known for playing unusual opening systems, Provocative play, but it turns out well for White. but here he chooses something relatively ordinary - 15...Nxg3 16.hxg3 Bxe5?! 17.fxe5 Be6 18.Rf6 Qb6 the London System. 19.Rxh6 Qxd4+ 20.Qxd4 Nxd4 21.Bd3 Nc6 22.Rh5 3...c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Qb3 Nc6 6.e3 Be7 7.Nbd2 d5 Nxe5? 8.Bd3 0–0 This looks obvious, but it's actually a mistake. Black 8...c4 doesn't win a piece due to 9.Qxb6 axb6 10.Be2. should play 22...Kg7 first. 9.0–0 Qd8 23.Rxg5+ Ng6 24.Bxg6 The first new move. Previously seen here was 9...Bd7 White has the right idea, but plays the moves out of and now the game Feist-Caspari, Hessen 1994 order. He has a great game after 24.Re1! continued: 10.Rfe1 Rac8 11.Qxb6 axb6 12.h3 Na7?! 24...fxg6 25.Rxg6+ Kf7 26.Rh6 Rh8 27.Rf1+ Ke7 13.a4 c4 14.Bc2 Ra8 15.Ne5 b5 16.Nxd7 Nxd7 28.Rxh8 Rxh8 29.Re1?! 17.axb5 Nf6? (17...Nxb5 18.e4 and White is superior, As White finds out, the name of the game here is but this is better for Black than the game.) 18.b6 Nb5 restraining White's d-pawn. Better is 29.Rf4 and after 19.e4 dxe4 20.Nxc4 Nd5 21.Bh2 f5 22.Ba4 1–0) 29...Kd6 30.Nb5+ Ke5 31.a3 he has good 10.Qc2 h6 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Nd7 13.Nf3 Nxe5 counterplay 29...d4 30.Nb5 d3 31.Rd1?! 14.Nxe5 Bd7 15.f4 Be8 16.f5 c4 17.Be2 Bg5? Now that the d-pawn is becoming a problem, it's A miscalculation. Black had to play 17...exf5. important for White to play actively. Therefore better 18.fxe6 Bxe3+ 19.Kh1 fxe6 20.Rxf8+ Kxf8 21.Qh7! is: 31.Nd4! Rd8 32.Nxe6 d2 33.Rd1 Kxe6 34.Kf2 and Now Black's King is on the hot seat - he may already while the d-pawn isn't going anywhere, it's going to be lost here. be hard for White to capture it while maintaining any 21...Bg5 22.Qh8+ sort of an advantage. Even stronger is 22.Rf1+ Bf6 23.Ng4. 31...Rd8 32.Rd2? 22...Ke7 23.Qxg7+ Kd6 24.Qxb7 Qb8 25.Qa6+ Just a plain oversight. White holds on to the a-pawn Qb6 26.Bxc4?! with 32.Nc3. More incisive is 26.Qa3+ Kc7 27.Bg4. 32...Bxa2 33.Nc3 26...Bf6? White sees that he's lost after 33.Nxa7? Bc4 and the Black has more play after 26...Qxa6 27.Bxa6 Rb8 Knight is trapped and White must contort himself to 28.Rb1 Bf4 29.Nd3 Bg6. try to preserve it. 27.Re1 Rb8 28.Qxb6+ Rxb6 29.Bb3 a5 30.c4?! 33...Bc4 34.Ne4?! This gives back a chunk of White's advantage. White Another weak move. Better was 34.Kf2. is still winning after 30.Nd3. 34...Ke6 35.Nc5+? 30...Rb8 31.c5+ Kc7 32.Ng4?! Bxd4 33.Rxe6 Bxc5? Brings the Black King into the game while the White Black wins a piece after 33...Bd7! 34.Re7 Kd8 35.Rf7 King languishes on g1. After this, White is probably Bxg4 but White's extra pawns may be hard to handle. lost. 34.Bxd5 Rxb2 35.g3 Bd7 36.Rxh6 Bd4 35...Ke5 36.Nxb7 Rd5 37.b4 Kd4 38.Na5 36...Bxg4? doesn't win a piece due to 37.Rc6+ and 38.Rf2 is better but it hardly matters at this point. White is better. 38...Bb5 39.Rf2 Kc3 40.Rf3 Kxb4 41.Nb7 d2 37.h3 Bf5 42.Rf4+ Kc3 43.Rf3+ Kc2 44.Rf2 Kc1 0-1 The first of a series of second-best moves. The game White must give up his Rook for the d-pawn, so he seems dead even after 37...Rd2 - White's extra pawn resigns instead. is offset by Black's Bishop pair. 38.Rc6+ Kd7 39.Ra6 Bc3 40.Nf6+ Bxf6 41.Rxf6 Former Albany champion John Morse is known for Bxh3 42.Ra6 Rd2 43.Rxa5 his odd opening choices – sometimes his games are White has two extra pawns, a pretty obvious endgame unique on move three or four. What’s not so well win. Now we get to see Morse's endgame technique in known is that he’s a skilled endgame player. We get action. to see that side of him here. 43...Kd6 44.Bb3 Bg4 45.Rg5 Bf3+ 46.Kg1 Bd1 22

47.Bxd1?! Buford were third and fourth with 3-1. Trading the Bishops makes Black's defense more Theodore Dutcher won the top unrated section with a viable, but I think Morse was already looking perfect 4-0 score. Tyler Columbo was clear second forward to the Rook and pawn ending. with 3½-½. Third through fifth with 3-1 were: Xavier 47...Rxd1+ 48.Kf2 Rd2+ 49.Kf3 Rxa2 50.Rf5! Ke6 McCarthy, Dylan Cho and Vaughn Seninde. Thomas 51.g4 Ra3+? Bailey and Havilan Douglas were sixth and seventh This only helps White - he wants to move his King with 2½-1½. forward. As near as I can tell the correct way to defend is for Black to get his Rook in front of the The unrated section for players in grades three to five pawn so 51...Ra8 seems to be called for. To be fair, was the largest section by far and it was won by I’m pretty sure Sells was almost out of time here. Stelin Poola with a perfect 4-0 record. Also with 4-0 52.Kf4 Ra8 53.Kg5 Rh8?! but second on tiebreaks was Andrew Gauspohl. I don't see how White can make progress after Third through ninth with 3-1 were: Zachary Swain, 53...Rg8+ 54.Kh5 Rh8+. Ian Cho, George Danes, Michael Marchellus, Lila 54.Kg6 Rh2? Freeman, Jason Swart and Harold Wang. Tenth The losing move - 54...Rg8+ leads back to the last through thirteenth with 2½-1½ were: Logan note. Hourigan, Hailey Krasnikov, Joseph Papa and Nathan 55.g5 Rh1 56.Rf6+ Ke7 57.Kg7 Rg1 Heavner. Clearly Black's Rook was much more annoying in front of the pawn than behind it. Finally the unrated section for players in grades two 58.g6 Rh1 59.Rf7+ Ke8 60.Kg8 Rh2 61.g7 Rh1 and below was won by Sean Hallinan with 3½-½, 62.Rf5 Ke7 63.Rf7+ Ke6 just beating out Peter Dong on tiebreaks. Third No better is 63...Ke8 64.Rf4 Ke7 65.Re4+ Kf6 through fifth with 3-1 were: Dylan Watzka, Collin 66.Kf8. 64.Kf8 1–0 Johnson and Ian Buehner. Max Moughhan was clear sixth with 2½-1½. The 72nd Make the Right Move free scholastic tournament took place April 13 at the New York State Top team was St. Joseph’s from Kingston with an Library in the Empire State Plaza in Albany. The incredible 15 points out of a possible 16. Second and turnout was huge, in fact it may be a record: 135 third with 14 were the Rockin’ Rooks of Rhinebeck players competed in the seven sections. and Cooperstown.

In the unrated All Welcome section Zachary Calderon The 73rd Make the Right Move free scholastic and Jerry Reubens finished at the top with 4-0, with tournament took place May 4 at the Rensselaer Boys Calderon getting first place on tiebreaks. Zaza and Girls Club in Rensselaer, NY. The turnout was a Samasdashvili was third with 3-1. Sandeep Alampalli bit modest: 38 players in three sections. Local was clear fourth with 2½-½. scholastic tournaments are seldom played on the eastern side of the Capital District, and that may have In the top scholastic rated section Ava Xu swept the affected turnout. field with a perfect 4-0 score. Nitin Obla and Matthew Sherlock were second and third with 3-1. In the unrated All Welcome section Adrian Galia was Fourth through seventh with 2-2 were: Jonathan the surprise winner with a prefect 4-0 record. Second D’Alonzo, Carson Guzy, Jovanna D’Alonzo and through fourth with 3-1 were: Santini Sierra along Joseph D’Alonzo. with the son and father duo of Zachary and Herman Calderon. Michael Cheng was all alone in fifth place In the Under-1000 rated section Devon Guzy with 2½- 1½. triumphed with a 3½-½ record. Second through sixth In the top scholastic rated section, Ronghai Gong with 3-1 were: Ronghai Gong, Blake Guzy, JanKarl swept the section with a perfect 4-0 record. Second Galia, Antonio Lacy and Shreyas Raman. Miles and third were brothers Julian and Nigel Galia with Demartino and Cooper Guzy were seventh and eighth 3-1. Abhinev Gudapati and Killian Whyte were with 2½-1½. fourth and fifth with 2½-½.

There were two perfect 4-0 scores atop the Under- The scholastic section for players in grades five and 600 rated section with Michael Moughan beating below was won by Harold Wang, also with a perfect Uriel Calixto on tiebreaks. Mariel Calderon and Tahj 4-0 score. Elijah Anderson-Seymour was second with 23

3-1.

The last Make the Right Move free scholastic Central New York (including North tournament of the 2012-13 season, the 74th overall, Country and Southern Tier) News was held at the Menands School on June 1. Overall by Karl Heck 41 players competed in the six sections. Cornell student NM Thomas Riccardi won the 12- player Syracuse-Minoa June Open with a perfect 4-0 In the All-Ages rated section John Hartnett of score sweeping the field by a full point. Lance Greenwich was the winner with 3½ out of four. Winters of the Utica area was clear second with an Herman Calderon was second with 3-1. Zachary undefeated 3-1 score, taking a half-point bye in the Calderon, the event’s highest rated player and the first round and drawing Ithaca-area player Zubin only person to draw Hartnett, was third with 2½-1½. Mukerjee in the second round. Mukerjee was also Tied for fourth with 2-2 were: Nitin Obla, Matt undefeated, unusually getting four draws and gaining Schottenfeld and Matthew Sherlock. 44 rating points. Expert Jose Fernandez and Thomas Barkley tied for third with 2 ½ points, both losing to In the All Welcome unrated section, Bill Matters was Riccardi. Joe Ball directed and organized. first with a perfect 4-0 score. Paul Girdansky and Joseph Whyte were second and third with 3-1. Thomas Barkley, a senior player from Syracuse, won Samantha Giknis was fourth with 2-2. the May edition of the Syracuse-Minoa Open on May 11. Barkely won three games and took a half-point In the top scholastic rated section, Killian Whyte bye in the second round to clinch clear first place by dominated with a perfect 4-0 record. Blaise Loya and half a point. Jose Fernandez was clear second in the Mariel Calderon were second and third with 3-1. Tied seven-player, Joe Ball run event with three points.. for fourth with 2-2 were: Harold Wang, Philip Anderson, Antonio Lacy and Abhinev Gudapati. Twelve players contested the annual Watertown Open chess club on April 20. Dr. David Kistler, a There was another perfect score atop the K-12 powerhouse player in the North Country, won the unrated scholastic section as Saathvik Narra finished event with a perfect 4-0 score. Visiting Maine player with 4-0. Dinesh Kakulla was second with 3-1. and former Rochester Chess Center worker S. Warren Sydney Lemire and Benjamin Noland were third and Lohr was clear second with an undefeated three fourth with 2-2. points, conceding draws in the third round to Peter Craig and in the second round to Adolfo Prieto. In the unrated section for players in grades three to Craig was clear third with 2 ½ points and was also five, Vaishnavi Gaddalay edged out Elijah Andersen- undefeated, winning in the first round and drawing Seymour on tiebreaks. Both scored 3-1. Kaleb Benac out in the closely-contested event. Don Klug directed was third with 2½-1½. for the Watertown Chess Knights.

In the unrated section for players in grades two and The Knights' spring round-robin drew eight players below Collin Johnson was the winner, with a perfect and also was won by Dr. Kistler with a 6 1/2-1/2 4-0 score. John Lamont was second with 3-1. score. Adolfo Prieto was clear second with 5 ½ Pradham Rodda and Vishnu Gaddalay were third and points, and local player Robert Kratzat was clear fourth with 2-2. third with 4 ½ points. Don Klug directed for the Knights. The host school, Menands, took home the top team trophy with 11½ points. East Greenbush Chess Club The 47th Binghamton Open at Cordisco's Chess was second with 10 while Albany Academy was third Center was won by Cornell student NM Thomas with 9. Riccardi with a perfect 4-0 score. Riccardi beat the four highest-ranked players in the tournament below All three events were organized and directed by him. Veteram Binghamton player Ed Kelley was Brother John McManus and his helpers at the Make clear second with a 3-1 score in the eight-player the Right Move Foundation. event, losing to Riccardi in the second round. Syracuse player Ken Chamberlain was clear third with 2 ½ points in the John Cordisco directed and organized event. (continued on page 31) 24

MPYR FASHION Top Female Champion sponsor. Buffalo Niagara Chess News Other contributors were Old First Ward Community courtesy Buffalo Niagara Chess Corner Center, Buffalo Public & Erie County Library, Buffalo Fire Commissioner, Garnell W. Whitfield, Jr., The 7th Annual Buffalo International Chess Trophies were donated by The Willie Hutch Jones Championships hosted by The Archangel 8 Chess Educational & Sports Clinics, Scanlon Jewelers of Academy, were held on Saturday, June 1 and 2nd, Williamsville, Simpson & Simpson, PLLC. and 2013 at the Old First Ward Community Center in Cheryl, Fran and Horace Mc Duffie, Jr. Buffalo, and attracted 52 chess players in three sections, Players came from as far away as Syracuse, Ithaca, Binghamton, Pittsburgh, and Toronto, Canada.

In the FIDE International OPEN Section attracted a strong field of 17 players. Defending his title, International Master Kenneth W. Regan, Ph.D is now our first five-time Mayor's Cup champion, winning the tournament with a 4 1/2-1/2 score. His only concession was a fourth-round draw to NM Samuel Copeland. IM Regan has won the Cup in 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2008!

Copeland, Cornell student NM Thomas Riccardi, Malcolm Mast and Danny Inzinga all tied for second June 15th was the date for the Inaugural Juneteenth with 3 ½ points. Riccardi lost to Regan in the third Scholastic Championship at the Main Place Mall in round, and the two second-place finishers drew in the Buffalo. last round. Mast was also undefeated with two wins and three draws, with a last-round win over long-time In the Under 11 year olds "Freedom Section," the co- Buffalo-area organizer Thomas Warner moving Mast champions were second grader Ethen Warner of up. Inzinga, from Pennsylvania, won the Top Under Pioneer Chess, Fredonia player Colton Kuzdzal, and 1800 prize. newcomer Clayton Wallrich, newcomer from the Buffalo suburb of Clarence. The MPYR Fashion top The 2013 Mayor's Cup Jeff White Memorial Under female player was Yahnia Brown - Mc Reynolds. 1500 Section attracted 18 players. Michael Huang of Toronto, Canada won the tournament with a perfect Results of the Underground Railroad Under 18 Year 5-0 score. Huang has a 1383 CFC rating entering the Old Section was Undefeated Champion Kevin tournament, which was his first in the US. He left Roulhac, who plays for Urban Knights Chess, Joshua Buffalo with a 1954 provisional USCF rating, so I am Benham of Bishop Timon and Benjamin Rummell of sure he will be back in our country to play. the Niagara Falls Chess Club, The MPYR Fashion Newcomer Russell K. Wijesiriwardena from Niagara top Female player award was won by Dekayla S. Falls New York tied for second with 3 ½ points along Dubose of the Urban Queens Chess Club, Michael with Andrew Orr of Pittsburgh and local junior Sam Mc Duffie directed. Santora., Veteran chess playe Richard Kalfas from Jamestown Nathan Palmisano of the local Pioneer Chess Club won the Sardinia three-round swiss tournament held won the top Under 1200 prize with 2 ½ points. on Saturday, May 4. Dick defeated the Lye brothers, Kevin and Reagan, in round 1 and 2, then beat Expert Sixteen players contested the David W. "Pawn Dan Miraglia, also from Jamestown, in round 3, to Master" Mc Duffie Memorial Scholastic K-12 win top prize in the nine-player event. Maraglia, Section. Benjamin Liao from Toronto, Canada won Reagan Lyle, and Pat Patterson tied for 2nd with 2 the section.. Ashton Willams was Top K-3 player and wins. Kevin Lyle and Nathan Palmisano tied for the Alexis Schlaak was Top Girl. Under 1300 prize. Tom Warner directed for the Sponsorships were greatly appreciated and without Southtowns Chess Club. them, this event would not be possible! A new Chess Partner is Shatona Mathis of MPYR FASHION, our 25

Open Lines – tidbits of information from the chess world. by Karl Heck

- Nicolas de T. Checa, New York State's Junior High School Champion and 2013 Barber Representative, added another feather in his cap by winning the Under 12 section of the 2nd Online National Invitational Championship. The Championship, which is sponsored by chesskids.com and the USCF, is designed to provide an opportunity for our young stars to have an opportunity to put strong competition in a round- robin format. Most local and even state-level scholastic tournaments tend to be a 'sorting exercise” where the top players work through weaker competition for most of the tournament and normally get one or two games against stronger players.

Checa scored 5 1/2- 1 ½ in the tournament to win by half a point. While he was the only National Master in the tournament, all of the other players were Experts. Checa drew the second, third and sixth place finishers and won the other four games in order to finish undefeated. Second-place finisher Tanuj Vasudeva also finished undefeated, so the young players definitely adapted quickly to the round-robin style of playing. He was the only New Yorker in the tournament's section. Clearly, we sent our best!

Below are two of Checa's games from the event, courtesy of chesskids.com and CLO.

Marcell Szabo vs Nicolas Checa Chesskids.com Online Invitational 2013 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d53. exd5 exd5 4. c4 Nf65. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd3 O-O 7. Nge2 Bg4 8. f3 Bh5 9. Bg5 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Be7 11. O- O Nbd7 12. Qd2Nb6 13. Bb3 Nfd514. Bxe7 Nxe7 15. Rac1c6 16. Nf4 Bg6 17. Rfe1 Qd6 18. Nxg6 Nxg6 19. Ne4 Qf4 20. Qxf4Nxf4 21. Rcd1 a5 22. Nc5a4 23. Bc2 Nbd5 24. Bxa4 b6 25. Bxc6 Rxa2 26. Nd7 Rc8 27. g3 h5 28. Ne5 Rxb2 29. gxf4Nxf4 30. Rb1 Rxb1 31. Rxb1 f6 32. Rxb6 fxe5 33. dxe5 Kf734. Be4 Rc5 1/2-1/2

ChessKid.com Online Invitational, 2013 White: Checa, Nicolas Black: Naguleswaran, Annorjan

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e65.b3 Nbd7 6.Bb2 Bd6 7.Bd3 Qe78.Ne5 O-O 9.O- O Ne8 10.Nd2 Bxe511.dxe5 b6 12.cxd5 exd513.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Qxe515.Bxh7+ Kh8 16.Qxc6 Rb817.Bd3 Bb7 18.Qa4 Nf6 19.Qh 4+ Kg820.Nf3 Qh5 21.Qxh5 Nxh522.Rac1 Rfc8 23.Nd4 Rxc124.Rxc1 Rc8 25.Rxc8+ Bxc826.Nc6 Kf8 27.Nxa7 Bd728.Nb5 Bxb5 29. Bxb5 Ke730.Kf1 Nf6 31.Bd3 Kd6 32.Ke2 Ne433.Bxe4 dxe4 34.Kd2 Kc5 35.Kc3 g536.b4+ Kb5 37.Kb3 f5 38.a4+ Kc639.Kc4 f4 40.a 5 b5+ 41.Kd4 f342.g4 1-0

– US Champion and NYSCA Board Member GM Gata Kamsky is one of four players participating in a high-level round-robin tournament in Saint Louis Seotember 9-15. Former NYS Scholastic and Open Champion Hikaru Nakamura is also participating, along with World #1 player Magnus Carlson and World #2 GM Levon Aronian. The four players will compete for the Sinquefield Cup, and have a $170,000 prize fund. Nakamura is currently #5 in the world rankings. For more information on the tournament, including how to see it, please go to www.uschesschamps.com.

New York State Hall of Famer IM Jay Bonin won the Open section of the 145-player New Yorker Open held in Manhattan over Memorial Day weekend. Bonin was undefeated with five wins and two draws in the seven-round tournament, only conceding half-points to second-place finisher NM Ricardo Perez- Billinghurst. Billinghurst had 5 ½ points. Five players tied for third at:5-2 IM Justin Sarkar (who was undefeated with the unusual path of three wins, two draws and two half-point byes), FM and former NYS Scholastic Champion Alec Getz, NM Nasyr Akylbekov, NM Yefim Terger and Aravind Kumar.

Alexandra Wiener won the 61-player Under 2000 section with 5 ½ points, coming back from a second- 26 round loss to Rahul Malayappan. Seven players tied for second with 5-2 scoresL Mustafa Atakay, Michael Heifetz, Andrew Konishi, Nikita Panasenko, Isaac Veytsman, Stephen Jablon and Daniel Levkov.

Ella Papanek won the Under 1600 with a perfect 7-0 sweep that earned her 165 points and a ticket well out of the section with a new rating of 1736. Russel Wong was clear second with 5 ½ points, and Arish Virani, Charlie Reeded and John Cartier tied for third with five points. Steve Immitt was organizer and chief tournament director, and Harold Stenzel was the main assistant TD.

FM Asa Hoffmann, a veteran New York player, won the Blitz tournament preceding the main event with an 8-2 score, sweeping his last-round match with NM Nasyr Akylbekov with the title on the line to win the event. FM Alexsandr Ostrovskiy was clear second with 7 ½ points in the 26-player tournament, with IM Justin Sarkar and NM Seth Rokosky of Ohio tying for third with 7-2 scores. The format of the tournament was two-game mini-matches with five different players, so the top two players did not end up playing in the event. Steve Immitt directed.

New York GM Jaan Ehlvest was one of the six big winners at the annual National Open in Las Vegas, held in Sin City June 7-9. The six top players were Filipino GM , Ehlvest, GM of Kansas, Texas GM Alejandro Ramirez, Missouri GM Manuel Leon Hoyos, and California GM Enrico Sevillano. All of them finished with 5-1 scores in the 91-player Open section of the event.

Former NY Champion Hikaru Nakamura is now in the top five in the world with a 2784 rating. GM Gata Kamsky, a NYSCA Board member, is #2 in the US and #17 in the world with a 2741 FIDE rating. They are the only two Americans in the Top 50 in the world at the moment. Nakamura recently won the prestigious Tal Memorial Blitz tournament and finished sixth in the main event with 4 ½ points, fading at the end after being in contention for most of the event. Nakamura had four wins, four losses and only one draw, which is quite unusual at the super-GM level. Current World Champion GM finished ninth, while challenger GM Magnus Carlson was second. Carlson won their individual game in 29 moves.

Stateside, New York GM Gata Kamsky won the US Championship and $30,000 in Saint Louis in a playoff after both players tied for first with 6 ½ points. The New Yorker won his fourth championship in an Armageddon playoff. Once that was tied at 1-1, there was an Armgeddon match where the players bid for time and color. GM Ramirez bid 19:45 and received draw odds and the Black pieces. He couldn't hold the game against the veteran GM and former World Championship finalist. Congratulations to Gata, who also won the title in 1991, 2010 and 2012.

US Chess Championships playoff, Saint Louis 2013 White: Kamsky, Gata Black: Ramirez, Alejandro 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.g3 cxd44.Nxd4 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O O - O7.c4 Qc7 8.Na3 d6 9.Ndb5 Qd810.Bg5 Nc6 11.Qd2 a6 12.Nc3 Bf513.e4 Be6 14.Nd5 Nd7 15.Rac1 Rc816.b3 Re8 17.h3 Nde5 18.Kh1 Rb819.Nc2 Qd7 20.Nb6 Qd8 21.Be3 Nd722.Nd5 Nc5 23.f4 b5 24.cxb5 axb525.f5 Bxd5 26.exd5 Ne5 27.Nb4 Qa528.Bxc5 dxc5 29.Rx c5 Rbc830.Rxc8 Rxc8 31.fxg6 hxg632.Qf4 Qc7 33.a4 bxa4 34.bxa4 f535.Nc6 Nxc6 36.Qxc7 Rxc737.dxc6 e5 38.Bd5+ Kf8 39.g4 Ke7 40.gxf5 gxf5 41.Rxf5 Kd642.Bf3 Ra7 43.Rg5 e4 44.Bxe4 Be545.Rg6+ Kc5 46.Bf3 Kb6 47.Rg5 Ra548.h4 Kc7 49.h5 Kd6 50.h6 Rxa45 1.Rxe5 Kxe5 52.c7 1-0

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US Junior and Senior Opens Return to NY by Karl Heck

NM Justus Williams handed out the justice at the round to Zachary Tanenbaum of Connecticut, who 2013 US Junior Open, which drew a record 307 finished 25th. Liu defeated top-ranked Jason Chi of players for the nearly 70-year old event. While Connecticut in the last round with the tournament former USCF Executive Director Bill Hall did not title on the line. Despite giving “draw odds,” Liu last in office long enough to see a successful New won and became section champion. York National chess event explode his “southern first” policy for USCF National Tournaments, the Shi and fellow Nutmeg Stater Jonahtan Aiyathurai Beatriz Marinello organized event drew players tied for second with 5-1 scores. Aiyathurai's one from throughout the United States and the battles loss was in the third round to Daniel Kostovetsky of were closely contested, with a number of the New York, who tied for fifth with 4 ½ points along nation's strongest junior players doing battle in with Maik Oliver der Manuelian and Michael Yen Tarrytown from May 31 to June 2. The tournament of New Jersey, New Yorkers Warren Wang and was the first National Tournament in the Empire Colin Denniston, Jerry Wu of Maryland, Jordan State in a decade. Pamatmat of Texas, Garden Staterr Daniel Yedidia and Dexin Li from New York. Of those players, Wu Williams was clear first with an undefeated 5-1 and Pamatmat were undefeated. score in the 26-player Under 21 section. Williams took a half-point bye to start the tournament, and The largest section of the event was the 119-player then won four straight games, including a pivotal Under 11 section. The section had two winners tied showdown against New York State Scholastic Chess for first with 5 ½ points each: New Yorkers Daniel Champion Joshua Colas in the fifth round, to move Levkov and Edwin Jin. Both drew in the third into clear first. A final-round draw against New round, though not to each other, and worked back Jersey Master Andrew Ng in rhe last round clinched through the crowded field. Levkov, the section's first place for the 15-year-old Williams, who highest-rated player at 1851 (post) defeated third- becomes one of the youngest-ever winners of the place Justin Chen in the last round with the section event and joins famous New Yortkers GM Bobby title on the line. Chen, Roman Suryawanshi of Fischer and GM as previous Connecticut, and New Jersey players Constantine winners. Williams also earned a spot in the 2014 Oskiper and Sarah Yen all tied for third with 5-1 U.S. Junior Closed Championship. scores. Suryawanshi and Oskiper were undefeated, with a last-round draw by Oskiper costing him a There was a four-way tie for second with 4 ½ – 1 ½ chance at joining the tie at the top. scores against former three-time New York State Scholastic Champion and Georgia Tech student NM There was a logjam of 11 players with 4 ½ points, Deepak aaron, Ng, Texas NM Jarod Pamatmat, and with Thomas Elberling, David Brodksky, Harris Minnesota NM Andrew Tang. Ng went undefeated Lencz, Dennis Li, Roshan Idnani, Taran Idnani (the with three wins on the first day, and three draws on siblings did not play each other), Jacob Enrenkranzx the second, drawing the champ in the last round and Arjun Panickssery, Vrithik Umapathy and with a chance at the title. The other three second- Hilary Zen. Elberling, Lencz and Ehrenkranz were place finishers lost on the first day and battled back undefeated. through the field. Expert Jake Miller of New York was clear sixth with a 4-2 score. Eighty-one players contested the Under 8 section and there was a seven-way tie for first with 5-1 The 93-player Under 15 section.had two players scores. The leading group was led by Connecticut's split top honors: Massachusetts NM Andrew Liu Maximillian Lu, who played like a million, along and Alexander Crump of New York. Crump took a with Hamilton Shillingford, Benjamin Medina, half-point bye in the first round, which turned out to Nathaniel Shuman, Jay Lalwani of Virginia, Merric be a bit of a Swiss Gambit as he won the next five Hu of New Jersey and Caden Jung. Shillingford, games without facing a player who finished in the Medina and Lalwani were all undefeated, with a top 10. Liu's one bobble was a draw in the fourth draw between Shillingford and Medina opened the 28 door for the other players to join the tie at the top annual US Senior Open, which is open to players 50 with wins. Virginia's Pranav Prem tied for eight years of age and older. Despite having older with 4 ½ points along with home-staters Connor players, the Senior Open is much younger than the Dong and Leonardo Liu. Junior Open, having been held for about 20 years on land and at sea. For several years, the Senior Open Shown below, courtesy of Chess Life Online, is the was held on a cruise boat, being the only National climatic struggle between Williams and Colas. Tournament held at least partly outside the territory of the United States. US Junior Open, 2013 White: Colas, Joshua The Senior Open was won by four players with 5-1 Black: Williams, Justus scores: GM Alexander Ivanov of Massachusetts 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Bb4+4.Bd2 Qe7 5.a3 Bxd2+ and Sergey Kudrin of Connecticut, Massachusetts 6.Nbxd2 d67.e4 e5 8.d5 O- IM Jim Rizzitano and NM Nathan Resika. The two O 9.h3 Nh5 10.g3 g611.Bg2 a5 12.O- GM's drew in the last round to open the door to the O a4 13.Rc1 Nd714.Ne1 Nc5 15.Rc3 Qg5 16.Kh2 f other two players. Rizzitano, known throughout 517.exf5 gxf5 18.Nd3 Nxd319.Rxd3 b6 20.Rc3 Bd7 New England as “Rizz the Whiz” in his college 21.Nf3 Qg622.Qc2 Rae8 23.Nh4 Qh624.Kg1 Kh8 days, beat New York NM Yefim Treger while 25.Kh2 Re7 26.Bf3 f427.Rg1 Nxg3 28.fxg3 fxg3+2 Resika, who won four games after taking two half- 9.Rxg3 Qxh4 30.Qg2 Ref731.Rc2 Bf5 32.Rd2 Bg6 point byes to start the tournament, beat Illinois 33.Bg4 Rf634.Re2 Qh6 35.Bd7 Qf4 36.Bxa4 Bd337 Expert Leonid Bondar. .Ree3 Bf1 38.Qg1 Qxc439.Bb3 Qd4 40.Kh1 Bc441. Bxc4 Qxc4 42.Rd3 Qe4+43.Qg2 Qe1+ 0-1 New York State Chess Hall of Famer IM Jay Bonin and FM Daniel Shapiro tied for fifth with 4 ½ Colas did win the Blitz tournament that preceded points. Both lost to one of the GM's, with Bonin the tournament with 8 ½ -1 ½ in the top section. falling to Ivanov (while drawing Kudrin) and Zachary Tanenbum was second with seven points Shapiro losing to Kudrin. NM's Yefim Terger, and Nicolas de T Checa, New York State Barber David Gertler, Lonnie Kwartler and Denis Representative, was third with 6 ½ points. Arjun Strenzwilk (Maryland), along with Experts Bondar, Panickssery won the Under 1600 with a 8-2 score, Dorothy Teasley, and Bernard Parham along with winning by a full point despite losing in the last Edward Scher tied for sixth with four points. round. Brandon Wang was clear second in the 11- player section with seven points. Ethan Cushman Carol Jarecki and Steve Immitt directed. won the Under 1000 with a 5-1 score. Jabari Mc Green directed. NM Daniel Shapiro won the 10-player Senior Open Blitz with a perfect 9-0 score. Boris Markov was The record-breaking US Junior Open was organized clear second with eight points, losing only to the by Chess Educators, Beatriz Marniello's champion in the final round (despite the fact that the organization. The head tournament director was tournament was a round-robin, the top two players Carol Jarecki, with assistant from All-World NTD met in the last round anyway). Bernard Parham, Steve Immitt, Aaron Kiedes, Dora Martinez, Oscar Paul Rachlin and Aris Marghetis all tied for third Garcia and Noreen Davidson. with 6-3 scores. Steve Immitt directed with assistance from Jabari Mc Green. Concurrently run with the US Junior Open was the

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Upcoming NYSCA-Sponsored and Major Tournaments

The second Saturday of every month. Jennifer Woods Grand Prix: 4-SS, rounds 1 & 2 G/60, rounds 3 & 4 G/90 @Rochester Chess Center, 221 Norris Drive, Rochester. Guaranteed Prizes: $150-90-60 class $80. Reg: 8:30- 9:15. Rounds. 9:30-12-2:15-5:30 EF: $30 Advanced Entries/Info: Rochester Chess Center, 221 Norris Drive, Rochester, NY 14610. (585)442-2430.

Most third Saturdays of month there will be the Monthly Buffalo Grand Prix Events at the Main Place Mall in Buffalo.4-SS, TL: Rounds 1 & 2,G/45, Rounds 3 & 4 G/60 Prizes: 1st-2nd Guaranteed $250-150-100, Class $75. Reg.: 8:30-9:15 a.m., Rounds.: 9:30-11:20-1:10-3:30 EF: $50. U1600 EF: $35, $150-90-60, ALL PRIZES EXCEPT 1st & 2nd in OPEN, BASED ON 20 ENTRIES. Scholastic EF: $15, Trophies for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place. Adv. Entries/Info: Archangel 8 Chess Academy, [email protected], 60F Guilford Lane, Buffalo, NY 14221. See www.buffalochess.blogspot.com for future dates and details.

July 20 and August 17 (Minoa), September 28 (Syracuse U.) Syracuse-Minoa Opens: 4-SS. Rds.:1&2 G/60, Rds.3&4: G/90. Minoa Muncipal Bldg., 240 N. Main St., Minoa, NY (Exit Kirkville Rd. E. from I 481, R. at second light). EF: $30. Prizes:b/20) $200, 125, Class 100. Registration.: 8:30-9:15. Rds.: 9:30, 12:00, 2:15, 5:30. Contact: Joe Ball 315-436-9008. Chess Magnet School JGP. August 2-4 and 3-4: 2013 Manhattan Open TROPHIES PLUS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 80 (ENHANCED) 5-SS. New Yorker Hotel, 481 Eighth Ave at 34th St. across from Penn Station, New York 10001. $15,000 guaranteed prizes. In 5 sections. 3-day Open 40/110, SD/30, d10, 3-day other sections 30/90, SD/1, d5. 2-day option in all sections, rds 1-2 G/90, d5, then merges with 3-day. Open:$1400-700-400-200, clear/tiebreak win $100 bonus, top Under 2450/Unr $500-250. FIDE. Under 2300: $1200-600-300-200, top U2150 $500-250. Under 2000: $1200-600-300-200, top U1850 $500-250. Under 1700: $1200-600-300-200, top U1550 $500-250. Under 1400: $500-300-200-100, top U1250 $200-100, trophies to first 3, top U1200, U1000, U800, Unr. Mixed doubles bonus prizes: best male/female 2-player “team” combined score among all sections: $600-300. Team average rating must be under 2200; teammates may play in different sections; teams must register at site (no extra fee) before both players begin round 2; teammate pairings avoided but possible. Unrated may enter any section, with prize limit U2000 $900, U1700 $600, U1400 $300; balance goes to next player(s) in line. Top 4 sections EF: $118 at chessaction.com by 7/31, $125 phoned to 406-896-2038 (no questions) by 7/31, 3-day $123, 2-day $122 if check mailed by 7/24, $140 (no checks, credit cards OK) at site, or online until 2 hours before game. GMs free; $100 from prize. Under 1400 Section EF: all $50 less than above. Online or mailed entry $5 less to NYSCA members. Re- entry $60, not available in Open. No checks at site, credit cards OK. Unofficial uschess.org ratings usually used if otherwise unrated. Special 1 year USCF dues with magazine if paid with entry. Online at chessaction.com, Adult $30, Young Adult $20, Scholastic $15. Mailed, phoned or at site, Adult $40, Young Adult $30, Scholastic $20. 3- Day Schedule: Reg. ends Fri 6 pm. Rds. Fri 7, Sat 12 & 6, Sun 10 & 3:30. 2-Day Schedule: Reg. ends Sat 9 am. Rds. Sat 10, 2 & 6, Sun 10 & 3:30. Half point byes available all rounds, limit 2 byes, Open must commit before rd. 2, others before rd 3. HR: $185-185, 1-800-764-4680, 212-971-0101, reserve by 7/12 or rate may increase, ask for Continental Chess Association rate. Ent: chessaction.com or Continental Chess, Box 249, Salisbury Mills, NY 12577. $15 service charge for refunds. Questions: chesstour.com, DirectorAtChess.US, 347-201-2269. Advance entries posted at chessaction.com (Online entries posted instantly).

AUGUST 17-18 New York State Senior Championship 4-SS, G/120 d5, open to all born before August 17, 1963. Marshall CC, 23 West 10th St., New York, NY 10011, 212-477-3716. Entry fee: $35.Prizes $500/20: $200-$100, 1700-1999 $70, U1700 $70, top woman $60; 1 bye OK, lock in before Rd 2. Registration: 11:30-12:15, rounds 12:30-5:30 each day. NYSCA membership required for NYS residents ($20 printed quarterly Empire Chess, $12 online subscription), other state memberships accepted if out of state resident. Title to top NYS resident. Please bring proof of age.

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AUGUST 25 49th Binghamton Monthly Tournament 4SS, G/65 d5. Prizes: $300 b/26. Open-$100-$60-$30; Reserve-$50-$40-$20 (U1700). Trophies: 1-3 Reserve section. Advance Entry: EF's Reduced! Open-$20 Reserve-$15 (U1700) $5 more on site-cash only on site. Schedule: Registration on site 8:45–9:15 AM. Rounds: 9:30-12Noon-2:30-4:45. Free chess set & board to all new players under 18 years of age. Mail Entry: checks payable to: "Cordisco's Corner Store", 308 Chenango St., Binghamton, NY 13901 (607) 772-8782, [email protected].

Third Tuesday of each month. Marshall Masters at the . 4-SS, G/30. 23 W. 10th St., NYC. 212-477-3716. Open to players rated over 2100 (plus all players scoring 2 ½ or more from CCNY at the Marshall's Thursday Night Action) EF: $40, members $30, GMs $10 (returned on completion of tournament). Top three prizes guaranteed. $$Guaranteed 250-150-100. Top Under 2400 and Top Under 2300 prizes. Special prize for biggest upset. Reg.: 6:15-6:45. Rounds.: 7-8:15-9:30-10:45 p.m. One bye available, rounds 1 or 4 only.

Labor Day Weekend: the 135th New York State Chess Championship. Albany Marriott, Wolf Road, Colonie, NY. America's Labor Day Tradition. See the back cover.

OCTOBER 5 18th Annual Arkport Open TROPHIES PLUS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 6 4SS, Rds. 1 & 2 G/60 d5; Rds. 3 & 4 G/90 d5. Arkport Village Hall, 6 Park Ave., Arkport, NY 14807. $GTD: $200-100, $B/25: U1800 and U1600 each $100-50. EF: $30 cash at site. Reg.: 9-9:45 a.m., 10/5/13. Rds.: 10, 12, 2:15, 5:30. Director: Ronald Lohrman. Info: 607-295-9858 Ent: F. K. Harris, 1 Northridge Dr., Arkport, NY 14807.

www.nysca.net -- your source for New York State Chess Information. Now on Twitter at #nystatechess and like us on facebook!

CNY News (from page 24) Expert David Goguen is the Broome County champion for 2013 after winning the annual Broome County Championship held April 13-14 in Binghamton. Goguen scored 4 ½ -1 ½ in the six-round event, going ½ – 1 ½ against Pennsylvania Expert Antonio Scalzo while sweeping the rest of the field. Scazlo was clear second with a 4- 2 score and veteran Binghamton player Daryll Weatherly was clear third in the Open section with 3 ½ points.

Dan Dudley was the Reserve (Under 1600) section winner with 4 ½ points as well. The organizer and host, John Cordisco, tied for second with Robert McGuinness with four points. Cordisco's Chess Center organized the event.

April 20 in Syracuse marked the Syracuse University Spring Open, and the six-player event was won by Jose Fernandez with 3 ½ points. Thomas Barkley was clear second with three points in the Joe Ball organized and directed event.

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A Heritage Event 135th annual NY State Championship. August 30-September 2, August 31-September 2 or September 1-2 Trophies Plus Grand Prix Points: 100 (enhanced)

6-SS, Open Section: 40/110, SD/30, d10, Other sections: 30/90, SD/1, d5 (2-day option iun Under 2100 through Under 1200 Section, rounds 1-3 G/45, d5), Albany Marriott, 189 Wolf Road, Albany 12205 (Thruway Exit 24, I-87 north to Wolf Rd, Exit 4). Luxurious hotel with indoor/outdoor pool, sauna, fitness center, free parking, free airport shuttle, many restaurants in area.

$$Guaranteed $13,000. In five sections. Open: $1500-700-500-300, top U2300/Unrated $700, U2200/Unrated $600. State title and $100 bonus to top New York State resident. FIDE-rated. Under 2100: $1000-500-300-150, Top Under 1900 $400. Under 1800: $1000-500-300-150, Top Under 1600 $400. Under 1500: $800-400-200-100, Top Under 1300 $300. Under 1200: $500-250-150-100, plaques to top three, Top Under 1000, Under 800, Under 600, Unrated. New Mixed Doubles Bonus Prizes: Best male-female two-player team combined score among all sections: $500-300-200. Team average must be under 2200, teammates may play in different sections, teams must register at site (no extra fee) before both players begin Round 2, teammate pairings avoided but possible. Unrated may not win over $150 in Under 1200, $300 Under 1500 or $600 Under 1800. Top Four sections EF: 4-day $104, 3-day $103, 2-day $102 if check mailed by 8/21, all $98 online at chessaction.com by 8/28, $105 phoned to 406-896-2038 by 8/28 (entry only, no questions), $120 at site. No mailed credit card entries.

Under 1200 Section EF: All $30 less than top three sections Entry Fee. All: Online or mailed entries $7 less to NYSCA members. Join or renew with entry. Unofficial uschess.org ratings usually used if otherwise unrated. Special one-year USCF dues with paper magazine if paid with entry. Online at chesstour.com, Adult $30, Young Adult $20, Scholastic $15. Mailed, phoned or paid at site, Adult $40, Young Adult $30, Scholastic $20. Re-entry $60, all sections but Open. GMs, IMs & WGMs free, $90 deducted from prize. No checks at site, credit cards OK.

3-day schedule: Registration ends Saturday 11:30 am, rounds. Saturday 12 & 6, Sunday 12 & 6, Mon 10 & 3:30. 4-day schedule: Registration ends Friday 6:30 pm, rounds. Friday 7 pm, Saturday 6 pm, Sunday 12 & 6, Monday 10 & 3:30. 2-day schedule: Reg. ends Sun. 10:30 am, rounds Sunday 11, 1:30, 3:30, 6, Monday 10 & 4:15, no 2-day schedule in Open. Bye: all, limit 2, Open must commit before round two, others before round four. Hotel Rooms: $97-97, 800-443-8952, 518-458-8444, reserve by 8/23 or rate may increase. NYSCA meeting 9 am Sunday. Car rental: 800-331-1600, use AWD D657633, or reserve car online through chesstour.com. Ent: Continental Chess, Box 249, Salisbury Mills NY 12577. Out of state welcome. Questions: www.chesstour.com, [email protected]. Advanced entries posted at chessaction.com

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