Paul Giovino attained a Class A rating for the first time in his career by winning the George O’Rourke Memorial tournament, held Feb. 17 through March 24 at the McKay Campus School at Fitchburg State College. The 24-year-old Lunenburg resident tallied 4.5-0.5 in a field of 30 players. Geoffrey LePoer of Westford finished second with a score of 4-1. Tying for 3rd-5th place with 3.5-1.5 results were Larry Gladding and Kenneth Gurge, both of Leominster, and George Mirijanian of Fitchburg. Deadlocked in 6th-9th place with 3-2 scores were Walter Niemi of Lunenburg, Dave Couture of Westminster, and Leominster players Leonard Arsenault and Tom Fratturelli. The tournament honored the memory of club member George E. O’Rourke (1929-2007) of Concord.

 

The club held a 29-player championship preliminary event from March 31 through April 28. Tying for 1st-2nd place with 4-1 tallies were Tony Cesolini of Jaffrey, NH and George Miller of Ashburnham. George Mirijanian and Bruce Felton of Fitchburg tied for 3rd-4th place with scores of 3.5-1.5. Deadlocked in 5th-10th place with 3-2 results were Larry Gladding, Glenn Rochon of Leominster, Geoffrey LePoer, Paul Giovino, Eduardo Valadares of Framingham, and Eugene Bedard of Gardner. All the aforementioned players, except LePoer (who declined) and Bedard (who lost out on tiebreak), qualified for the “A” Division of this year’s eight-player round-robin club championship, which started on May 5. At press time the championship was still in progress, with Giovino and Gladding withdrawing after three rounds of play. Final results as well as results of the club’s “B” Division championship will be published in the October-December issue of Chess Horizons. A total of 30 players were competing in both events. George Mirijanian, assisted by club Webmaster Dave Couture, is directing all tournaments.