Class A players Martin Laine of Lunenburg and Larry Gladding of Leominster tallied 4-1 to tie for 1st-2nd place in the George Sturgis Memorial tournament, played Wednesday evenings, November 18-December 30, at the Wachusett Chess Club at Fitchburg State College. Capturing third place with a score of 3.5-1.5 was fellow Class A participant Geoffrey LePoer of Westford, Wachusett Chess Club champion in 1999. Two-time club champion Bruce Felton of Fitchburg finished fourth with a 3-2 result. The event drew 22 players and was directed by George Mirijanian of Fitchburg, assisted by club Webmaster David Couture of Westminster. The tournament honored the memory of George Sturgis (1891-1944) of Weston, president of the Massachusetts Chess Association during the 1930s and first president of the U.S. Chess Federation when the organization was founded in 1939.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Ilya Krasik of Newton scored 4.5-0.5 to win first place in the Metrowest Chess Club's Holiday Cheer Swiss, held Tuesday nights, December 1-29 at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. Tying for 2nd-6th place with 3.5-1.5 tallies were international master Igor Foygel of Brookline (who took half-point byes in rounds 2 and 4 before drawing Krasik in the final round); FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn; grandmaster Arthur Bisguier of Wellesley (who lost to Krasik in the third round before drawing Curdo in the final round); expert Dereik Slater of Medfield; and fellow expert Todd Chase of Weston. The Under 2000 section ended in a two-way tie between Winber Xu of Newton and Nikita Konovalchuk of Ashland, the latter of whom lost to Xu in the fourth round. Both tallied 4-1. Tying for 3rd-4th place with scores of 3.5-1.5 were Neil Cousin of Franklin and Robert Harvey of Lexington.  Neal Bruce of Wellesley finished first in the Under 1700 section with a 4.5-0.5 result. Gordon Weast of Harvard and Leonard Gruenberg of Cambridge tied for 2nd-3rd place with 4-1 scores. Rohan Shankar of Sudbury tallied 4.5-0.5 to finish first in the Under 1400 section. Kumsal Sezen took second with a 4-1 performance. Tying for 3rd-6th place with 3.5-1.5 results were James Jaillet of Maynard, Sean O'Callaghan, Sandeep Shankar of Sudbury, and Henry Liu of Northborough. The four-section tournament drew 89 players and was directed by Ken Ballou of Framingham, assisted by Matthew Phelps of Groton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Nithin Kavi, an eight-year-old player from Acton, posted a score of 3.5-0.5 to win the 43rd Chelmsford Burger King Tournament, held Sunday, December 20. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were Isabella Shih, 7, of Andover (who lost to Kavi in the third round) and Ryan West, 10, of Carlisle. The event drew only seven players and was directed by Matthew Gosselin of Melrose for the sponsoring MARI chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Today, December 27, marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Chess Federation. The USCF was incorporated in the state of Illinois on December 27, 1939, when the rival organizations, the American Chess Federation and the National Chess Federation, agreed to merge. Massachusetts State Chess Association president George Sturgis of Weston became the first USCF president and served as the federation's chief executive until his death of a heart attack on December 20, 1944.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Carey Theil won Swiss #26 at the Boylston Chess Club on Saturday, December 26. The Arlington resident, who celebrates his 32nd birthday on January 6, scored 3.5-0.5 to finish first. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were fellow master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park (who celebrated his 45th birthday on December 24) and Class player Edward Astrachan, 58, of Waban.  Deadlocked in 4th-5th place with 2.5-1.5 results were Class A contestants Jake Garbarino, 18, of Somerville (who lost to Theil in the final round) and Vikas Shiva, 14, of Lexington. (who lost to Theil in the third round). As a result of his performance, Garbarino advanced his rating to 2006 to gain expert status. The tournament drew 14 players and was directed by FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The U.S. Chess Federation, the official governing body for chess in the country, currently recognizes only seven USCF-affiliated clubs in Massachusetts that hold regular weeknight tournaments and are open to the public. All seven clubs have held events under their affiliated name in 2009. The clubs, with their meeting days and location, are as follows:

• Billerica CC: Fridays, Council on Aging Building (aka Senior Center), 25 Concord Road, Billerica
• Boylston CC: daily, 240B Elm St., Suite B9, Davis Square, Somerville
• Greater Worcester CC (affiliate name: ChessPals): Thursdays, Hibernian Cultural Center, 19 Temple St., Worcester
• Metrowest CC: Tuesdays. Kennedy Senior Center, 117 East Central St. (Route 135), Natick
• Sven Brask CC: Wednesdays, United Methodist Church, 16 East Bacon St., Plainville
• Wachusett CC: Wednesdays, McKay Campus School, Fitchburg State College, 67 Rindge Road, Fitchburg
• Waltham CC: Fridays, IBM Office Building Cafeteria, 404 N. Wyman St., Waltham
• NOTE: Newburyport CC, which meets Thursday evenings at Hope Community Church, 11 Hale St., Newburyport, uses the affiliation of the New Hampshire Chess Association to rate its tournaments.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Today marks the 65th anniversary of the death of George Sturgis of Weston, who was the first U.S. Chess Federation president elected when a merger took place in 1939 between the rival organizations American Chess Federation and the National Chess Federation. Before becoming USCF president, Sturgis was elected in 1932 president of the Massachusetts State Chess Association and led that organization throughout the years of the Great Depression. Sturgis was still USCF president when he died of thrombosis - or a clot in the heart - at age 53 on December 20, 1944 in Boston. He was cremated at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge and his ashes were sent to New Hampshire. where he reportedly owned a farm. The location of that farm is unknown.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito continued his winning ways on Saturday, December 19, by capturing first place in the Harry Lyman Memorial tournament at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The 39-year-old Somerville resident tallied 3.5-0.5 and advanced his USCF rating to 2509. It was only appropriate for Vigorito to win his third Lyman Memorial tournament, for he shares a June 15 birthday with the late Harry. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 scores were grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton (who drew Vigorito in the third round), expert Alan Price of Cambridge (who drew Ivanov in the final round), and fellow expert Zongyuan Yuan, 11, of Brookline. Sean Ingham of Somerville posted a score of 3.5-0.5 to win first place in the Under 1800 section. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 results were Robert J. King of Worcester (who lost to Ingham in the second round), Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, and Jerry Williams of Worcester (who drew Ingham in the final round). Bernardo Iglesias directed the event, which drew 29 players. The tournament honored the memory of Harry Lyman (1915-1999) of Saugus, who was considered the Dean of New England Chess and viewed by many to be the "Maecenas" of the Boylston Chess Club, whose contributions to the club continued for more than five decades.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Frank Sisto regained his national master's rating - after sporting an expert's rating for nearly the past seven years - on Thursday night, December 17, at the Newburyport Chess Club. The 42-year-old Newbury resident finished with a 5-1 score to win the club's Tournament #91, which was played November 5 through December 17.  Expert Geoffrey Collins of Haverhill, who lost to Sisto in the fourth round, finished second with a 4.5-1.5 tally. Fellow expert John Elmore of Stratham, New Hampshire, who drew Sisto in the final round, ended up third with a 4-2 result. The tournament drew 18 players and was directed by Elmore.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master Marc Esserman had little difficulty in winning the Boylston Chess Club's December Thursday Night Swiss. The event, which ended December 17, saw the 26-year-old Somerville resident take a half-point bye in the final round and win by a score of 2.5-0.5 Capturing second place with a 2-1 tally was Class B participant Nicholas Lesieur. The tournament drew 14 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master John Curdo scored again at the Greater Worcester Chess Club. The 78-year-old Auburn resident tallied 5-1 to win the Delectable December Open, held Thursday nights, December 3-17, at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester. Capturing second place with a 4-2 performance was Class A player Muharrem Brahimaj of Worcester. Four contestants tied for third place with 3.5-2.5 results. They were Class A entrants Michael Odell of Worcester and Alonzo Ross of Shrewsbury as well as Class B participants Robert J. King and Jerry Williams, both of Worcester. Williams won the top Under 1700 prize, while Marc Quevillon of Dayville, Connecticut scored 1-5 to win the top Under 1500 prize. The tournament drew 10 players and was directed by Joe Alfano of Holden, assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park chalked up a perfect 3-0 score to win the Rapid Quads, held Wednesday evening, December 16, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying for second place with 2-1 tallies were fellow master Carey Theil of Arlington (who lost to Times in the second round), Class A player Natasha Christiansen of Cambridge (who lost to Times in the final round), and Class B contestant Max Lu of Lexington (who lost to Theil in the first round). The tournament drew six players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, assisted by Walter Driscoll of Cambridge.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton swept to a clean victory on Saturday, December 12, scoring 3-0 to win the 1st Saint Nick Swiss, held at The Kittredge Center at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke. FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, who opted to take a half-point bye in the final round, finished second with a 2.5-0.5 tally. Bruce Arnold of South Hadley also tallied a perfect 3-0 to win first place in the Under 1800 section. Jonathan Ingellis of Williamsburg, who lost to Arnold in the final round, scored 2-1 to tie for second place with MACA life member Enrique McDonald of Northampton, who himself lost to Ingellis in the first round. Two newcomers to rated chess finished first and second in the Under 1400 section, which only drew four players. Brian Santiago, a high school student from western Mass. who has been playing rated chess only since February 2009, scored 3-0 to finish first. Gaetano Bompastore of Greenfield, who has been playing only since August 2009, ended up second with a 2-1 tally. The three-section tournament drew 24 players and was directed by Edward Kostreba of Ware for the sponsoring Western Massachusetts Chess Association. (WMCA). 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The 1st Saint Nick Scholastic tournament, held Saturday, December 12, at The Kittredge Center at Holyoke Community College, drew 12 players in two sections. MACA member Calvin Lin, a sixth-grader from Amherst, posted a perfect 5-0 score to win first place in the K-6 section. Capturing second place with a 4-1 tally was Christopher Lomeli of Connecticut, who lost to Lin in the fourth round. Daniel Schenk of Connecticut finished in third place with a 3-2 result, losing to both Lin and Lomeli in rounds 1 and 3 respectively. In the Grade 7-12 section, first place with a perfect 5-0 score went to Mass. player Charlie Miller-Nelson. Ian Lomeli of Connecticut took second place with a 4-1 performance, while Marcel Pereira of Mass. ended up third with a 3-2 score. Edward Kostreba of Ware directed for the sponsoring Western Mass. Chess Association. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The National K-12 Championships were held December 11-13 in Dallas, Texas. Among the 1211 players in attendance were 13 competitors from Massachusetts who competed in six of the 13 grade sections. The best results posted by Bay State students were from the ninth-graders from Lexington High School. James Lung scored 5.5-1.5 to capture 4th place on tiebreak in a field of 68 players. Zaroug Jaleel tallied 4.5-2.5 to finish 12th, Darwin Ding also tallied 4.5-2.5 to finish 14th, and Vikas Shiva posted a 4-3 score to end up in 21st place. The Lexington High School team won the 2nd-place trophy in the Grade 9 section. Varun Palnati, a student at the Lloyd C. Blanchard Middle School in Westford, scored 4-3 to finish 40th out of 104 in the Grade 7 section. In the Grade 5 section, four players from the Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge finished as follows: Max Wiegand, 4-3, 52nd out of 133; Tristan Young, 3.5-3.5, 68th and 2nd-place trophy winner in the Under 1200 category; Issay Matsumoto, 2.5-4.5, 100th; and William Nemirovsky, 2-5, 114th. The BB&N team won the 9th-place trophy in the Grade 5 section. Also competing in the Grade 5 section was Jason Meuth of Mansfield, a student at the Sage School in Foxboro, who tallied 2-5 and finished 119th. The Grade 3 section saw Anton Barash of Brighton, a student at the Our Lady Academy in Waltham, score 3.5-3.5 to finish 74th out of 142, while Derek Meuth of Mansfield, a student at the Sage School in Foxboro, posted a 1-6 result to end up in 139th place. Benjamin Wiegand, a student at the Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School, tallied 2.5-4.5 to finish 98th out of 127 in the Grade 2 section. Massachusetts had no representatives in the kindergarten and grade 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11 and 12 sections. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The Fitchburg Public Chess League will make its debut on Monday evening, December 14, in the cafeteria of Fitchburg High School, 140 Arn-How Road - off Ashby State Road (Route 31) - in Fitchburg, Mass. The league is open to all public and private school students in grades K-12. Sessions will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Opening night will begin with a short presentation on the structure of the league, the rating system, and an introductory address. Players will all be registered and those without USCF ratings will be given a provisional rating based solely on grade. Contributions to the league are welcome. A donation of $3 at the beginning of any chess night qualifies a player for various prizes awarded to table winners. Participants can also play for free. There are no membership requirements. Tournament play starts at 6 p.m. For more information, contact Kevin_Chavez@live.com or Meghead13@verizon.net or visit www.fpcl.site11.com 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Two 12-year-old MACA junior members, Adam Piche of Woodstock, Connecticut and Daniel Ruttenberg of Newton, Mass. tied for first place with Rhode Island high school student David Hernandez in the 13th Central Falls Burger King tournament held in Rhode Island on Saturday, December 12. All three tallied 3-1 in a field of nine players. Among Piche's victories was a win over Hernandez in the final round. Frank DelBonis, assisted by Robert Salvas, directed for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA member Tomas Girnius 51, of Quincy won the Waltham Festival of Lights Game/60 tournament on Friday night, December 11, at the Waltham Chess Club. The club, which meets in the cafeteria of the IBM Office Building in Waltham, saw Girnius tally 2-0 in a field of eight players. Among those who finished as runners-up with 1-1 scores were MACA life member Todd Chase, 49, of Weston and MACA junior member Benjamin Swiszcz, 15, of Cumberland, Rhode Island. Nicholas Sterling of Needham directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito of Somerville added another victory to his long list of tournament triumphs on Saturday, December 12, by posting a perfect score of 4-0 in the Robert James Fischer Memorial tournament at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Finishing as runner-up with a 3-1 tally was national master Ilya Krasik of Newton, who lost to Vigorito in the third round. Luke Lung, an 11-year-old player from Boxborough, also posted a perfect 4-0 score to win first place in the Under 1800 section. Thomas Brinkmann of Somerville, who lost to Lung in second round, ended up in second place with a 3-1 result. The two-section tournament drew 18 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

According to Mike Nolan at the U.S. Chess Federation, the USCF is offering a new free service for players who want to know what their new ratings are when an event is rated. Of course, the new ratings will still be unofficial and possibly subject to change when the event is rated. To sign up for the service and/or to make other changes to one's e-mail preference profile, go to: https://secure2.uschess.org/email/email-pref-update.php. Players will need to know their PIN. Those who don't know their PIN can contact the USCF office at uscf@uschess.org and request this new free service.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Today, December 10, marks the 100th anniversary of the death of U.S. player and Harvard University graduate Henry Nathan Stone. He was born April 20, 1823 in Boston and died December 10, 1909 in Ashmont, a neighborhood or district of Dorchester, Mass. Stone was a member of the Boston group of chess players, consisting of J.F. Barry, Preston Ware Jr., F.K. Young, C.F. Burille and others, who called themselves "The Order of Mandarins of the Yellow Button." They adopted this name from one of the nine grades of public officials in the Chinese Empire who were entitled to wear a yellow button on their hat as a mark of their high status in civil service.. These Boston players met on Saturday afternoons to play chess and to dine together in the evenings. They won considerable fame and their social chess meetings served as the nucleus of what was to become the Deschapelles Chess Club in Boston. Stone, along with Preston Ware, was credited to having reintroduced to Boston players around 1888 the so-called Stone-Ware Defense, a variation played against the Evans Gambit: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bd6. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The Billerica November Swiss, held Friday nights, November 6-27, at the Billerica Chess Club ended in a three-way tie for first place. Sharing 1st-3rd honors with 3-1 scores were experts Patrick Sciacca of Salem, New Hampshire, and Arthur Nugent of Beverly (who drew Sciacca in the second round), and Class A contestant Thomas McCafferty, who was leading the field but opted not to play the final round. Tying for fourth place with 2.5-1.5 tallies were Class A players Raymond Paulson (who lost to McCafferty in the third round and drew Nugent in the final round) and Fangru Jiang of Westford (who lost to Sciacca in the third round). The tournament drew 16 players and was directed by Nathan Smith of Derry, New Hampshire. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Max Yarmolinsky, a Class A-rated player from Brandeis University, and national master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park scored 6-1 to tie for 1st-2nd place in the Waltham First Friday #92 Tournament, held December 4 at the Waltham Chess Club in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. In their individual encounter, Yarmolinsky defeated Times in the first round. Winston Huang, 14, of Newton, whose only losses were to Yarmolinsky and Times, captured third place with a 5-2 tally. Fourteen-year-old James Lung of Lexington, who beat Yarmolinsky in the fourth round, ended up in fourth place with a score of 4.5-2.5. The Game/10 quick-rated tourney drew 12 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Only four players showed up to compete in the BCF Early Bird Rapid Quads on Wednesday evening, December 2, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Winning the event with a score of 2.5-0.5 was national master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park. He achieved the victory by defeating fellow master Carey Theil of Arlington in the first round and Class A contestant Natasha Christiansen of Cambridge in the second round before drawing fellow master Chris Williams of Brighton in the final round. Theil finished second with a 2-1 tally. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Max Sewell of Peterborough, New Hampshire has been appointed interim editor of Chess Horizons. Sewell, Webmaster for the New Hampshire Chess Association and a very active member of the Wachusett Chess Club in Fitchburg, Mass., will take over editorial responsibilities for the production of the January-March 2010 issue of MACA's quarterly magazine. The deadline for the submission of chess club news, tournament reports, games, photos, etc. has been extended to Monday, December 7. Submissions must be sent via e-mail and are preferred in either ChessBase, PGN or MS Word formats. Submissions should be sent to the CH editorial assistant, George Mirijanian, at miriling@aol.com  All submissions will be acknowledged. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following are trophy winners in the 42nd Chelmsford Burger King tournament, held Sunday, November 29:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Eugene Perelshteyn of Swampscott and international master David Vigorito of Somerville tied for first place in the Harry Nelson Pillsbury Memorial tournament, held Sunday. November 29, at the Leominster Veterans Center. In an Open section field of 22 players the duo tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round. In the final round, Vigorito downed senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell and Perelshteyn bested FIDE master William Kelleher of Watertown. Finishing in third place with 3-1 scores but out of the prize money were Shmelov and national master Ilya Krasik of Newton, who had lost to Vigorito in the second round. Also scoring 3-1 but winning the top Under 2100 prize was Class A contestant Grant Xu, 13, of Shrewsbury. Glenn Rochon of Leominster and David Ferreira of Haverhill scored 3.5-0.5 to tie for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1900 section, where 16 players competed. Capturing the top Under 1750 prize with a 3-1 result was George Duval of Sudbury. Thomas Brinkman of Somerville notched the tournament's only perfect 4-0 score, winning first place in the 15-player Under 1600 section. Sharing the second prize with 3-1 scores were Jenshiang Hong of Newton, Seyhmus Yuksekkaya of Revere, and Mark Marshall of Worcester. Sharing the top Under 1300 prize with 2-2 tallies were Andy Li of Acton and Daniel Plotkin of Sharon. The 53-player Massachusetts Chess Association-sponsored tournament was directed by Ken Ballou of Framingham, MACA vice president and an associate national tournament director. He was assisted by national TD George Mirijanian of Fitchburg. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito added another tournament victory to his long list of event wins by capturing first place in the BCF Swiss #25, held Saturday, November 28, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The Somerville resident tallied a perfect 4-0 in an Open section field of 12 players. Tying for second place with scores of 2.5-1.5 were national master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park (who lost to Vigorito in the final round), 11-year-old expert Zongyuan Yuan of Brookline (who lost to Times in the third round), 14-year-old expert James Lung of Lexington (who lost to Times in the second round), and 14-year-old Class A player Embert Lin of Acton (who lost to Vigorito in the first round). Timothy Lung, 13, of Lexington posted a perfect 4-0 to win first place in the Under 1800, where only six players competed. MACA life member Anthony Moosey of Westwood finished second with a 2.5-1.5 score after taking half-point byes in the final two rounds. Tying for third place with 2-2 tallies were Richard Kahn of Merrimack, New Hampshire and Cory Silva of Fall River. The 18-player tournament was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

 The following are winners of top sections in tournaments held in November at various Massachusetts chess clubs:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The Spiegel Cup Qualifier #2 tournament was held Saturday, November 21, at the Buckingham Browne & Nichols Upper School in Cambridge. Ken Ballou was the chief tournament director, assisted by Bob Messenger. Additional assistance was provided by MACA president Maryanne Reilly and MACA directors Steve Frymer and Beebe Wiegand. The state scholastic championship qualifying event drew a record-breaking 127 entrants in six sections:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Women's grandmaster Anya Sun Corke, a freshman at Wellesley College, scored 3.5-0.5 to win the 2nd annual Greg Hager Memorial, held Saturday, November 21, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were experts Evan Rabin, a Brandeis University student in Waltham (who lost to Corke in the third round), and Ted Cross (who lost to Corke in the second round). Deadlocked in 4th place with 2.5-1.5 results were national master Carey Theil of Arlington (who drew Corke in the final round and won the 1st Hager Memorial in 2008) and expert Philip Nutzman of Cambridge. The tournament drew 17 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton. The event honored the memory of longtime Boylston Chess Club member and MACA life member Greg Hager of Somerville, who died November 27, 2007, after a long illness. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn tallied 5.5-0.5 to win the Noble November Open, which ended Thursday night, November 19, at the Greater Worcester Chess Club. Tying as runners-up with 4-2 scores were Class A contestants Muharrem Brahimaj and Michael Odell, both of Worcester, and Joseph Alfano of Holden. Daniel St. Germaine of Worcester posted a 2.5-3.5 score to win the top Under 1700 prize, while Frank Conti of Spencer tallied 1.5-4.5 to take home the top Under 1500 prize. Joseph Alfano, assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, directed the 14-player tournament for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The Waltham Turkey Day Game/60 tournament, held Friday night, November 20, at the Waltham Chess Club in the cafeteria of the IBM Office Building, ended in a three-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with 2-0 scores were MACA member Tomas Girnius, a Class A player from Quincy, and Class C contestants Stephen DeSouza of Waltham and Homer Franck of Newton. Nine players participated in the event, which was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Chris Williams has apparently a "lock" on the Thursday Night Swisses being held at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The 20-year-old master from Brighton chalked up his fourth Boylston Chess Foundation TNS win on Thursday, November 19. He had won the event previously in August and October while sharing championship honors in September. This time Williams tallied 3.5-0.5, finishing a full point ahead of his closest competitors: 14-year-old expert Zaroug Jaleel of Lexington and Class B participant Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton. Both lost to Williams in rounds 3 and 4 respectively. The tournament drew 12 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Lawrence Dean, a high-rated Class A player from Norton, scored 5-1 to win the 50th Anniversary Classic tournament, played Wednesday nights, October 7 through November 18, at the Sven Brask Chess Club in Plainville. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 4-2 tallies were expert and current club champion Jack Corriea of Attleboro (who drew Dean in the penultimate round) and MACA life member Charles Caranci, a Class B player from North Attleboro (who drew Dean in the final round and, as a result, brought his rating again back over 1800). The event, held at the United Methodist Church, drew 17 players and was directed by James Aspinall of Attleboro. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Chris Williams of Brighton continued his winning ways at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville by capturing first place in the Early Bird Rapid tournament, held Wednesday evening, November 18. Williams tallied a perfect 3-0. Tying for second place with 2-1 scores were FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville (who lost to Williams in the final round), national master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park (who lost to Chase in the second round), and 13-year-old Class B participant Max Chia-Hsin Lu of Lexington (who lost to Times in the first round). The Game/30 event drew only six players and was directed by Christopher Chase.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master Marc Esserman, 26, of Somerville scored a perfect 4-0 to win Tornado #100, held Saturday, November 14, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying for 2nd-5th place with 3-1 tallies were Boylston Chess Club champion and FIDE master Christopher Chase, 53, of Somerville, national master Chris Williams, 20, of Brighton (who beat Chase in the third round but lost to Esserman in the final round), expert David Plotkin, 20, of Newton (who lost to Esserman in the third round), and fellow expert Matthew Meredith, 48, of West Hartford, Connecticut (who lost to Esserman in the second round). The tournament drew 24 players and was directed by Bernado Iglesias of Stoughton. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Nathan Smith of Derry, New Hampshire, was awarded the 34th NH Amateur Championship title after finishing as the highest-scoring Granite State player in the tournament held Saturday, November 14, at the Comfort Inn in Manchester. Smith tallied 3.5-0.5, a score equalled by Sebastian Gueler of Natick, Mass., who drew Smith in the final round. Finishing as runner-up in the 17-player Championship section with a 3-1 result was 13-year-old Class A player Jacob Fauman of Newton, Mass. Michael Corrigan, a Class B player from Vermont, posted a perfect 4-0 score to win first prize in the Intermediate section. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were fellow Class B participants Eric Strickland of Brattleboro, VT and Richard Kahn of Merrimack, NH. The Novice section ended in a two-way tie between Alex Franke of New Hampshire and Aidan Sowa of Rhode Island. Both scored 3.5-0.5. The New Hampshire Chess Association-sponsored tournament drew 53 players in the three sections - with one additional player contesting a side game. NHCA secretary Henry "Hal" Terrie of Manchester was the chief TD, assisted by NHCA president John Elmore of Stratham,. New Hampshire.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Winston Huang, a 14-year-old MACA member from Newton, tallied 6.5-0.5 to win the Waltham Triskaidekaphobia #7 "Quick Chess" tournament, held Friday night, November 13, at the Waltham Chess Club. Todd Chase of Weston, who drew Huang in the third round, finished second with a score of 5.5-1.5. Tying for third place with 4.5-2.5 results were Glen Soucy of Waltham and Watertown High School junior Vitaly Ryabinin. The Game/13 tournament drew 11 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Wachusett Chess Club champion Larry Gladding of Leominster chalked up a score of 4.5-0.5 to win the GM Arthur B. Bisguier Octogenarian Tribute, held Wednesday nights, October 14 to November 11, at the McKay Campus School at Fitchburg State College. Paul Giovino of Lunenburg  finished in second place with a 4-1 tally, while George Mirijanian of Fitchburg ended up third with a 3.5-1.5 performance. The event drew 18 players and was directed by George Mirijanian, with assistance from Dave Couture of Westminster and Max Sewell of Peterborough, New Hampshire.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Dale Sharp, a 56-year-old master from New York, tallied 4.5-0.5 to win the 14th annual Green Mountain Open and Vermont State Championship, held November 6-8 at the Stratton Mountain Inn in Vermont. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 4-1 scores were FIDE master Nelson Castaneda, 51, of New Britain, CT, , national master David Carter, 50, of Vermont, and 11-year-old expert Kapil Chandran of Wilton, CT. Carter, as the highest-scoring VT player, won the state championship title. Gabriel Katz of Vermont scored 4.5-0.5 to win first place in the Under 1600 section. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3.5-1.5 results were Thomas Cassar of New Hampshire and Trevor Murphy of Massachusetts. The two-section tournament drew 40 players and was directed by Steve Immitt of New York for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master Christopher Chase, a MACA life member from Somerville, won the 2009 Boylston Chess Club Championship on Monday night, November 9, in Somerville. Tallying 6-2, Chase finished a half point ahead of runner-up senior master Denys Shmelov. This was Chase's sixth club championship victory - either as sole champion or co-champion. The last time he won the club championship outright was in 1998. In 2006, he shared championship honors with fellow FM Charles Riordan. The final standings in this year's round-robin event were as follows:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

James Lung, a 14-year-old expert from Lexington, tallied 2.5-0.5 to win the top section of the BCF Quads 9-11, held Sunday, November 8, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying for second place with 1.5-1.5 scores were fellow expert Zaroug Jaleel, 14, also of Lexington, and Class A player Michelle Chen, 12, of Concord. James' 13-year-old brother, Timothy Lung, rated Class B, tied for first place in Quad 2 with fellow "B" player Richard Kahn of Merrimack, NH. Both finished with scores of 2.5-0.5. The eight-player tournament was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito proved once again why he is one of the best players in New England by winning the 15th annual Boston University Open, held Saturday, November 7, at BU's George Sherman Union on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. In an Open section field of 32 players the 39-year-old IM from Somerville, who was BU Open co-champion in 2008,  tallied a perfect 4-0 and took home first prize. Capturing second place with a 3.5-0.5 score was women's international grandmaster Anya Sun Corke, a 19-year-old freshman at Wellesley College and a member of the Boston Blitz team in the U.S. Chess League. Tying for third place with 3-1 results were national masters Lawyer Times of Hyde Park, Brandeis University student Max Enkin of Peabody, and Myanmar native Aung Kyaw Lwin, expert Frank Wang of Sharon as well as 16-year-old Jesse Nicholas of Newton, the last of whom achieved an expert's rating for the first time in his career and raised his rating floor 100 points as a result. Of those scoring 3-1, only Wang and Nicholas won prize money for being the top scorers rated under 2200. In the 26-player Under 1900 section, first place with a perfect 4-0 score went to Michael Raphael of New York, who achieved a Class A rating for the first time in his career and boosted his rating floor 100 points. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3.5-0.5 scores were Mike Griffin of Quincy and 15-year-old Richard Han of Newton. The Under 1600 section, which drew 33 players, ended in a tie between Corey Tolbert of Roxbury Crossing and Travis Dover of New Hampshire, both of whom finished with perfect 4-0 performances. The 91-player tournament drew 13 more contestants than last year and was directed by the Boylston Chess Foundation's leading TD, Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, for the sponsoring Boston University Chess Club. BU Chess Club advisor Robert Oresick of Norton provided valuable organizational and logistical assistance. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master Charles Riordan of Somerville and expert Frank Sisto of Newbury tied for first place in the Waltham (Chess Club) First Friday Swiss #91, held November 6 in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. Both tallied 6.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round. Finishing as runner-up with a 5-2 score was Class A player Todd Chase of Weston. The Game/10 quick-rated tournament drew 12 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Harrison Moran, a high-rated Class B player from Rye, New Hampshire,, tallied 3-0 to win the four-player Open section of the Greenland Scholastic tournament, held Saturday, November 7, at the Parish Hall in Greenland, NH. Taking second place with a 2-1 score was Gerald Potorski of Danville, NH.  In an 11-player Reserve section, first place with a perfect 4-0 score went to Ben McConnell of Brentwood, NH. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 results were his brother, Nick McConnell, and Nicholas Hartwell. Michael Sullivan of Portsmouth, NH directed the 15-player event for the sponsoring Tales Told Tall Chess affiliate. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA member Patrick Sciacca finally did it!  The 46-year-old New Hampshire state champion from Salem, NH netted two rating points in the CCCC October Saturday Swiss, held October 31 in Bow, NH, and reached the magic plateau of 2200 - a master's rating. In the tournament he scored 2.5-0.5, including a draw with expert Kerry Coffin of Henniker, NH in the final round. Both finished tied for first. Ending up as runners-up with 2-1 tallies were expert John Elmore of Hampton Falls, NH, and Class A player Nathan Smith of Derry, NH. The event drew eight players and was directed by Nathan Smith for the sponsoring Capital City Chess Club. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Patrick Sciacca continued his winning ways at the Billlerica Chess Club by capturing first place in the Billerica October Swiss, held Friday nights, October 2-30, in the Billerica Council on Aging building (senior center). The 46-year-old player from Salem, New Hampshire scored a perfect 5-0 and advanced his rating to 2198 - two points shy of a master's rating. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-2 tallies were expert Arthur Nugent of Beverly, Class A contestant Fangru Jiang, 12, of Westford, and Class B participant Paul Staten. The tournament drew 18 players and was directed by Nathan Smith of Derry, New Hampshire. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville scored 3-0 to win the Early Bird Rapid Quads, held Wednesday evening, November 4, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 2-1 tallies were national master Chris Williams of Brighton, who lost to Chase in the second round, and Class A player Natasha Christiansen of Cambridge, who lost to Chase in the final round. The three-round event drew six players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Chess aficionados are expected to be flocking this Saturday morning to the George Sherman Union on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, where the 15th annual Boston University Open gets under way in the BU student center's back court. Sponsored by the BU Chess Club in association with the Boylston Chess Foundation, the tournament will be held in three sections (Open, Under 1900, Under 1600) - with a time limit of Game/60 - and will feature some of New England's top players. Among those entered in advance in the Open section are the following masters:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following are the top trophy winners in the 6th annual New England Scholastic Championships, held October 31-November 1 at the Sheraton Hotel at Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, who celebrates his 78th birthday on November 14, scored a perfect 5-0 to win the Obviously October Open, held Thursday nights, October 1-29, at the Greater Worcester Chess Club at the Hibernian Cultural Center in Worcester. Class A contestant Muharrem Brahimaj of Worcester finished second with a 4-1 tally. Fellow Class A players Brett Kildahl and Michael Odell, both also of Worcester, tied for third place with 3-2 results. Winning the Under 1700 prize with a 2.5-2.5 score was Dmitry Nikitin, who hails from northern California. Daniel St. Germaine of Worcester posted a 2-3 result to win the Under 1500 prize. The tournament drew 14 players and was directed by Joseph Alfano of Holden, assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, for the sponsoring ChssPals affiliate. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Expert Geoffrey Collins and Class A player David Ferreira, both of Haverhill, tallied 4-1 to tie for first place in the Newburyport Chess Club Tournament #90, held Thursday nights, October 1-29, at the Hope Community Church in Newburyport. Finishing as runner-up with a 3.5-1.5 score was expert Frank Sisto of Newbury. The event drew 18 players - with one additional player contesting a side game - and was directed by John Elmore of Stratham, New Hampshire.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following are winners of top sections in tournaments held in October at various Massachusetts chess clubs:

• Trick or Treat Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 92 players): IM Igor Foygel, 3.5-0.5
• BCF $10 Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 47 players): GM Alexander Ivanov, IM David Vigorito, 3.5-0.5
• BCF Fall Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 21 players): IM David Vigorito, FM Charles Riordan, 3.5-0.5
• BCF Quads 9-10 (Boylston CC, Somerville, 21 players): Farzad Abdi, 3-0
• Legends of Chess: Reuben Fine (Boylston CC, 20 players): FM Chris Chase, NM Chris Williams, 3.5-0.5
• Tournament #90 (Newburyport CC, 19 players): Geoffrey Collins, David Ferreira, 4-1
• Billerica October Swiss (Billerica CC, 18 players): Patrick Sciacca, 5-0
• Billerica Weekly Swiss (Billerica CC, 18 players): Patrick Sciacca, 4-0 
• BCF College Ave. Octads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 15 players): Farzad Abdi, 3-0
• October Thursday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, Somerville, 14 players): NM Chris Williams, 3.5-0.5
• Obviously October Open (Greater Worcester CC, 14 players): FM John Curdo, 5-0
• October Quick Chess (Greater Worcester CC, 11 players):  B. Kildahl, D. Alarie, R.J. King, 3-1
• Waltham October G/25 (Waltham CC, 8 players): Todd Chase, 3-0
• October Scholastic (Boylston CC, Somerville, 8 players): Edward Li, Henry Friedlander, 3.5-0.5
• Waltham First Friday #90 (Waltham CC, 7 players): GM Alexander Ivanov, 6-0
• Waltham Werewolves & Vampires (Walham CC, 7 players): Todd Chase, 2-0
• Oct. 7 Early Bird Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 6 players): NM Carey Theil, Andrew Hoy, 2.5-0.5
• Oct. 21 Early Bird Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 4 players): NM Carey Theil, 3-0

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Expert Farzad Abdi of Rockland and Class B player Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton were winners of their respective sections in the BCF College Ave. Octads, held Saturday, October 31, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Abdi tallied a perfect 3-0 to finish a half point ahead of fellow expert Philip Nutzman of Cambridge. Tying for third place with 2-1 scores were FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville, who lost to Nutzman in the first round, and Class A contestant Mark Fins of Newton, who lost to Abdi in the second round. Iglesias scored 2.5-0.5 to win in Octad 2, where fellow Class B participants Ashvin Nair of Malden, Steven Stepak of Brookline, and Richard Kahn of Merrimack, New Hampshire finished as runners-up with 2-1 results. The two-section tournament drew 15 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE masters Christopher Chase and Charles Riordan are now tied for the lead in the 2009 Boylston Chess Club Championship in Somerville after frontrunner IM David Vigorito suffered his second loss in a row in the seventh round. With two rounds remaining in the round-robin event, the current standings are as follows:  

• 1-2. FM Christopher Chase of Somerville, 4-2; FM Charles Riordan of Somerville, 4-2
• 3.    IM David Vigorito of Somerville, 4-3
• 4-5. SM Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, 3.5-2.5; NM Alexander Cherniack of Watertown, 3.5-2.5
• 6.    NM Lawyer Times of Hyde Park, 3.5-3.5
• 7.    NM Carey Theil of Arlington, 2.5-3.5
• 8.    NM Chris Williams of Brighton, 2-4
• 9.    Expert Libardo Rueda of Winthrop, 1-5

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master Igor Foygel tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the Trick or Treat Swiss, held Tuesday nights, October 6-27, at the Metrowest Chess Club at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. The tournament drew 91 players in four sections - with one additional player competing in side games - and was directed by Steven Eddins of Milford. He was assisted by associate national TD Ken Ballou of Framingham. The following are the top scorers in each of the four sections:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

In one of the most successful Greater Boston Open tournaments held in the past 10 years, senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell scored 3.5-0.5 to win first prize in the 76th GBO, held Sunday, October 25, at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. The turnout of 70 players in four sections was the largest turnout for a GBO since the 66th GBO in 1999 in Watertown, where 74 players competed. Because of the excellent showing, the prize fund was increased and additional prizes were awarded. Nearly one out of three participants won a prize. Chief tournament director of the event was USCF senior TD  F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire. Assisting him was his wife, Nita Patel, and senior TD Bob Messenger of Nashua, NH. Providing valuable organizational and logistical support was USCF associate national TD Ken Ballou of Framingham, MACA's vice president and tournament committee chairman. The TD staff received thanks from many of the participants. The following are the prize winners in the one-day, four-section tournament: 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following are trophy winners in the 28th Framingham Burger King Tournament, held Sunday, October 25:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Carey Theil of Arlington scored 3-0 to win first prize in the Early Bird Rapid Quads, held Wednesday, October 21, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Taking second place and out of the prize money with a 2-1 tally was expert Aditya Prasetyo, who returned to rated chess after an absence of five years. FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville directed the Game/30 event, which drew only one section of four players.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Chris Williams of Brighton tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the October Thursday Night Swiss, held October 1-22, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 scores were expert Charlie Mays of East Boston (who drew Williams in the third round and took a half-point bye in the final round) and Class B contender Nicholas Lesieur, who lost to Williams in the second round. The tournament drew 14 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Expert Todd Chase, a MACA life member from Weston, scored 2-0 to win the Waltham Werewolves & Vampires tournament, held Friday night, October 23, at the Waltham Chess Club at the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. Capturing second place with a score of 1.5-0.5 was Class D entrant George Comeau.. The event drew seven players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito and FIDE master Charles Riordan, both of Somerville, tied for 1st-2nd place in the BCF Fall Open, held Saturday, October 24, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round. Finishing in third place with a 3-1 result was expert Farzad Abdi of Rockland. Mike Griffin of Quincy won the Under 1800 section with a score of 3.5-0.5. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 2.5-1.5 tallies were Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, who drew Griffin in the final round, and Robert Oresick of Norton. The tournament drew 21 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following are winners in the 40th Chelmsford Burger King Tournament, held Sunday, October 18: 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

After going undefeated for the first five rounds of the 2009 Boylston Chess Club Championship, international master David Vigorito suffered his first setback in the nine-player championship by losing to FIDE master Christopher Chase in the sixth round. Despite the loss, Vigorito still maintains the lead. In that same round, senior master Denys Shmelov defeated national master Chris Williams and FIDE master Charles Riordan downed expert Libardo Rueda. National masters Lawyer Times and Carey Theil played to a draw. National master Alex Cherniack drew the bye. Here are the current standings in the round-robin event:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Marc Esserman, a 26-year-old MACA member living in Somerville, Mass. and a member of the Boston Blitz team in the U.S. Chess League, was approved by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) as an International Master, based on proceedings held at the 80th FIDE Congress held October 11-17 in Kallithea, Greece. Esserman was among several Americans who gained international titles from the world governing body. Others included Benjamin Finefold, 40, of Michigan, who was approved as a grandmaster, and Florin Felecan, 29, of Illinois, who was approved as an international master. Earning the title of International Arbiter were Walter Brown of Tennessee, who is in charge of over-the-board ratings and FIDE matters for the U.S. Chess Federation, and Sevan Muradian, a well-known chess organizer and promoter from Chicago, Illinois.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Stuart Finney, a FIDE candidate master from Barrington, Rhode Island, won the 3rd Max Malyuta Memorial tournament, held Saturday, October 17, at the Blackstone Chess Academy in Pawtucket, R.I.  The 14-year-old MACA member, who will be competing next month in the World Youth Championship in Turkey, posted a perfect score of 4-0. Capturing second place with a 3-1 tally was expert Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland, R.I.  Sebastian Gueler, a MACA member from Natick, Mass., won first place in the Under 2000 section, also with a perfect 4-0 score. Tying for second place with 3-1 results were Neil Fachon of East Greenwich, R.I. and fellow state resident John Perrotta. Alexei Popov of Massachusetts tallied 4-0 to win first place in the Under 1600 section. Tying for the runner-up position with 2.5-1.5 scores were first-time player Aleksandr Biyevetskiy of Massachusetts, Boris Zhevelyuk of Rhode Island, and MACA member Cory Silva of Fall River, Mass. The tournament drew 33 players and was directed by Frank Vogel, assisted by Eric Berkey, for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association. The event honored the memory of Max G. Malyuta, who died on March 24, 2007 at the young age of 25. He had been the chess coach at Barrington (R.I.) High School and also at the Sage School in Foxboro, Mass.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The Boylston Chess Foundation, at its annual membership meeting on Wednesday, October 14, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, re-elected international master David Vigorito of Somerville as president. Also re-elected were Natasha Christiansen of Cambridge (vice president), Bob Oresick of Norton (treasurer), and Charles Riordan of Somerville (clerk). Board members re-elected were Alex Cherniack of  Watertown, Mike Griffin of Quincy, Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Carey Theil of Arlington, Jason Rihel of Cambridge, Marc Esserman of Somerville and Bill Kelleher of Watertown (conditional upon his acceptance). Also elected and returning to the board after serving as BCF president for five years (2003-2008) is Paul MacIntyre of Malden. The newest member of the board elected is Greg Kaden of Wellesley.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA life member Todd Chase, 49, of Weston tallied 3-0 to win the Waltham Game/25 tournament, held Friday night, October 16, at the Waltham Chess Club in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. Tying as runners-up with 2-1 scores were MACA clerk Nicholas Sterling, 40, of Needham, and fellow MACA members Edward Astrachan, 47, of Waban, and Benjamin Swiszcz, 15, of Cumberland, Rhode Island. The quick-rated event drew eight players and was directed  by Nicholas Sterling.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville and national master Chris Williams of Brighton shared top honors in the Legends of Chess: Reuben Fine tournament, held Saturday, October 17, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The twosome tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with each other in the third round. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 scores were national master Carey Theil of Arlington and expert Farzad Abdi of Rockland. The 20-player event honored the memory of seven-time U.S. Open champion Reuben Fine (1914-1993), one of the strongest players in the world from the mid-1930s through the 1940s. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed the tournament for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

High school student Harrison Moran, a Class B-rated player from Rye, New Hampshire, posted a perfect score of 4-0 to win the Hooksett Scholastic Tournament, held Saturday, October 17, at the Hooksett (N.H.) Public Library. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 tallies were fellow Granite State players Timothy Chevalier, Ben McConnell and Jenny Ma. The event drew 13 players and was directed by chess teacher Michael Sullivan of Portsmouth, N.H. for the sponsoring Tales Told Tall Chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Expert Patrick Sciacca of Salem, New Hampshire, the reigning N.H. state champion, posted a perfect 4-0 score to win the Billerica Weekly Swiss, held Friday nights, September 4 through October 9 at the Billerica (Mass.) Chess Club. Capturing second place with a 3-1 tally was Class C player Lloyd Perna of Burlington. Tying for third place with 2.5-1.5 results were expert Arthur Nugent of Beverly and fellow Bay State contestant Raymond Paulson, a Class A player. The tournament drew 18 players and was directed by Nathan Smith of Derry, New Hampshire.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The Boston Blitz increased their 2009 season match record to 6-1 in U.S. Chess League competition by squeaking by the Queens Pioneers, 2.5-1.5, on Wednesday night, October 14, in front of spectators gathered at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge. The win advanced Boston's all-time series record against the Pioneers to 5.5-0.5. With the Blitz drawing the white pieces on the odd-numbered boards, here's how the Beantown boys fared against their rivals from Queens:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito remains as the sole undefeated player in the 2009 Boylston Chess Club Championship in Somerville and still maintains the lead with three opponents remaining. The following are the current standings in the championship after five rounds of play:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Mark Donlan of Harwich, Mass., who had served as editor of the award-winning "Chess Horizons" magazine since September 2000 - making him the longest-serving editor in MACA history - has resigned as editor. After gaining awards for the magazine for the past nine years, Donlan has stated that he is no longer able to continue in that capacity. He has taken over operations at ChessCafe.com and this, according to him, will consume all of his time. The Massachusetts Chess Association is very appreciative of the years of service that Mr. Donlan gave to the organization and its members. MACA is now in the process of searching for an interim editor, with the possibility that the temporary editor appointed could be hired permanently. Individuals interested in the position of Chess Horizons editor, who have a knowledge of computer software that can do magazine layout,  produce chess diagrams, photos, and editing, etc. should contact members of the Chess Horizons Search Committee by Friday, October 16, at CH_Search@masschess.org. Members of the search committee include MACA President Maryanne Reilly (ex-officio), MACA Vice President Ken Ballou, Mark Kaprielian, Stephen Dann, Robert King, and George Mirijanian (chairman). Candidates will be e-mailed immediately a set of interview questions and the answers of the candidates will be reviewed by the committee.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Edward Li, 12, of Acton and Henry Friedlander, 9, of Brookline shared top honors in the October Scholastic tournament, held Sunday, October 11, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The duo scored 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round. Finishing as runner-up with a 3-1 tally was Siddharth Arun, 11, of Medfield, who lost to Friedlander in the second round. The event drew only eight players and was directed by FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The BCF $10 Open held Saturday, October 10, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville drew 47 players in two sections - five more players than the $10 Open attracted in August and the largest turnout so far in 2009. Tying for first place in the 28-player Open section were grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton and international master David Vigorito of Somerville. Both scored 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the final round. Deadlocked in the runner-up position with 3-1 tallies were FIDE masters Charles Riordan and Christopher Chase, both of Somerville, national master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park, and expert Zongyuan Yuan of Brookline. In the 19-player Under 1800 section, first place with a perfect 4-0 score was captured by Dustin Richwine of New Jersey. Tying for second place with 3-1 results were fellow New Jersey player Eric Lawless, Bay State entrant Greg Siciliano, and Timothy Pan, 14, of West Newton. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed the event for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Ken Ballou of Framingham, a USCF-certified senior tournament director and one of the leading and most active TDs in New England, has been informed by the federation that his level of certification has been upgraded to that of associate national tournament director (ANTD) following his successful completion of the qualifying exam. Ballou, vice president of the Massachusetts Chess Association as well as chairman of its tournament committee and a member of its scholastic committee, is best known as the chief TD of MACA's major open adult and scholastic tournaments. He also directs most of the tournaments at the Metrowest Chess Club in Natick, the largest chess club in New England. In addition, he has directed several New England Opens. In April of this year, he was chief director of one of the top sections at the 11th annual Foxwoods Open in Connecticut. Since February 2005, Mr. Ballou has directed more than 125 events and been in charge of nearly 600 sections of tournaments held in New England.. The ANTD title now makes him the only TD with that level of certification in the region.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Arthur B. Bisguier, an honorary MACA member now residing in Wellesley, Mass., formerly of Rock Hill, New York, celebrates his 80th birthday today, October 8, among his wife, family and friends. Proclaimed in 2005 by the USCF as the "Dean of American Chess," GM Bisguier is a regular player at the Metrowest Chess Club in Natick, the largest chess club in New England. He won the U.S. Championship in 1954 and won three U.S. Opens during that decade: 1950 in Detroit, 1956 in Oklahoma City and 1959 in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1957, he tied for first place with Bobby Fischer in the U.S. Open in Cleveland but lost out on tiebreak despite drawing Fischer in their individual encounter. He was awarded the grandmaster title by the World Chess Federation that same year - at a time when there were very few GMs in the world. He was U.S. Junior Open champion in 1948 and 1949. In 1949, he also won the strong Manhattan Chess Club Championship in New York. He represented the United States in five Olympiads: Helsinki 1952, Munich 1958, Leipzig 1960, Tel Aviv 1964, and Skopje 1972. Among his numerous tournament successes were first-place finishes in 1950 in Southsea, England; 1954 in Hollywood; 1953 in Vienna, and 1973 at Lone Pine. He participated in two Interzonal tournaments: Goteborg 1955 (where he defeated Boris Spassky) and Stockholm 1962. Also In 1962, he was Bobby Fischer's second at the Candidates Tournament at Curacao. He won National Opens in 1970 (jointly), and in 1974 and 1978. He also captured first place in the first-ever Grand Prix in 1980. He won the U.S. Senior Open in 1989, 1997 and 1998. For many years, GM Bisguier was hired by the USCF to play in cities and towns throughout the United States, giving simultaneous exhibitions and lectures at schools, hospitals, youth centers, and chess clubs. He played a major role in popularizing chess in this country. In the 1960s, he worked for the magazine Chess Review and later was a regular contributor to Chess Life. In the 1980s, he became a chess columnist for the Christian Science Monitor. He was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 1994. His autobiography, "The Art of Bisguier" containing 82 games from the period 1945 to 1960 and humorously annotated by Bisguier, appeared in 2003. The second volume, containing 100 games from 1961 to 2003, was published in 2008. MACA hails the 80th birthday of one of this country's living chess legends; Grandmaster Arthur B. Bisguier. He and his wife, Carol (Collins) Bisguier, also find something else to celebrate in 2009. It's the 50th anniversary of their marriage!

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Despite having a postponement in the fourth round of the 2009 Boylston Chess Club Championship, international master David Vigorito maintains his lead in the club championship. The following are the current standings in the tournament, which is scheduled to end November 2:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Current Wachusett Chess Club champion Larry Gladding of Leominster scored 4.5-0.,5 to win the club's Hervey R. Brisson Memorial tournament, held Wednesday nights, September 9 through October 7 at Fitchburg State College. Capturing second place with a 4-1 tally was 2008 club champion Martin Laine of Lunenburg..Tying for third place with 3.5-1.5 results were two-time club champion Bruce Felton and 15-time club champion George Mirijanian, both of Fitchburg. All four finishers are Class A players. The tournament drew 22 participants and was directed by George Mirijanian, assisted by club Webmaster Dave Couture of Westminster. The event honored the memory of club member Hervey R. Brisson (1917-1989), in whose name a scholarship is awarded every year at Fitchburg High School.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The Boston Blitz raised their 2009 season record in U.S. Chess League play to 5-1 by beating the Carolina Cobras, 4-0, before a small crowd of spectators Wednesday night, October 7, at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge. The victory boosted Boston's all-time series record against Carolina to 6.5-0.5.  With Boston drawing the black pieces on the odd-numbered boards, here's how the youthful Blitz team swept the opposition this time:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

With only six players in attendance, grandmaster Alexander Ivanov had no trouble winning the Blackstone Autumn Action tournament on Saturday, October 3, at the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The 53-year-old GM from Newton posted a perfect score of 3-0 to win first prize. Tying for second place with 2-1 tallies were expert David Harris of Providence, RI and Class A player Ryan McGrady, a graduate student at Emerson College in Boston. Ivanov defeated them both. The Game/30 event, which was originally scheduled as a four-round Swiss, was cut short. Five of the six participants were from Massachusetts. David Harris, who directed the tournament, was the sole Rhode Island entrant.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Stuart Finney, a MACA junior member from Barrington, Rhode Island, scored 6 wins and 1 draw to capture the gold medal in the U-14 division of the North American Youth Championship that was played October 2-4 in Mazatlan, Mexico. By winning the gold, Finney earned the FIDE title of "Candidate Master" and has the honor of representing the United States in the 2010 Pan American Youth Championship in Brazil in July. The 10-member American team won a total of six medals, including three other gold and two bronze, and came in second place in the final team standings. The event pitted teams from the United States, Canada and Mexico against each other. A total of 124 Mexicans, 10 Americans and four Canadians competed. A controversy was that boys and girls teams were combined - not separated - which was contrary to the details posted by the sponsoring Mexican Chess Federation. Another controversy was that winners were not awarded medals but instead paper certificates with misspelled names as well as incorrect categories. Medals were promised to be mailed to the winners during the week.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Jerry Hanken, one of the most colorful personalities in U.S. Chess, died late Thursday afternoon, October 1, in Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles - one month before his 75th birthday. He had been hospitalized for about three weeks after surgery and passed away from complications of diabetes. He was known to tens of thousands of American players as a longtime reporter and interviewer for Chess Life. He was also a USCF life master and served on the federation's Policy Board (now Executive Board) for 10 years between 1978 and 1994. In addition, he was president of the Chess Journalists of America.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Steve Frymer, a longtime MACA official known to many New England players, dropped by the Winchester Chess Club at the Griffin Museum in Winchester on Friday night, October 2, and ended up sweeping the club's "Fast Action" Game/15 unrated tournament with a perfect 4-0 score. The 65-year-old Lexington resident decided to donate his first prize to the club and during his stay at the club met an "elite" scholastic player who he said didn't know that MACA's first scholastic singles championship qualifier of the 2009-2010 season, the Fall Foliage Festival, was being played this Sunday, October 4, at the Sage School in Foxboro. Needless to say, the former MACA scholastic coordinator talked this elite player into competing and gave him and the mother of another elite player a travel advisory for the trip to Foxboro. After winning the tournament Mr. Frymer then proceeded to a club to play bridge, a game he plays several times a week.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Alexander Ivanov is making it a habit. The 53-year-old grandmaster from Newton returned to the Waltham Chess Club at the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham on Friday night, October 2, and swept the Waltham First Friday #90 tournament with a perfect 6-0 score and with it top prize money. Tying  for 2nd-3rd place with 4-2 tallies were Class A entrant Todd Chase, 49, of Weston and Class B participant Nicholas Sterling, 39, of Needham. The seven-player round-robin quick-rated Game/10 event was directed by Nicholas Sterling.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following are winners of top sections in tournaments held in September at various Massachusetts chess clubs:

• Stanley Crowe Memorial Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 90 players): IM Igor Foygel, NM Ilya Krasik, 4-1
• BCF Quads 9-9 (Boylston CC, Somerville, 28 players): FM Teddy Coleman, 2.5-0.5
• Tornado #99 (Boylston CC, Somerville, 22 players): IM David Vigorito, 4-0
• Hervey R. Brisson Memorial (Wachusett CC, Fitchburg, 22 players): Larry Gladding, 4.5-0.5 [ended Oct. 7]
• Billerica August Swiss (Billerica CC, 17 players): Fangru Jiang, 4-0 [ended September 3]
• Sept. Thursday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, 15 players): FM Charles Riordan, NM Chris Williams, 3.5-0.5
• 9-11 Memorial (Sven Brask CC, Plainville, 15 players): Ken Wheeler, George Winsor, Bob Baker, 3.5-1.5
• Newburyport Chess Club Tournament #89 (Newburyport CC, 15 players): John Elmore, 3.5-0.5
• September Chess Snippet (Greater Worcester CC, 15 players): Muharrem Brahimaj, 3.5-0.5
• Davis Square Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 14 players): FM Christopher Chase, 3.5-0.5
• Waltham September Free Play (Waltham CC, 11 players): Tomas Girnius, 2-0
• Boylston Chess Club Blitz Championship (Boylston CC, Somerville, 10 players): Julian Chan, 17-1
• Sept. 2 Early Bird Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 10 players): NM Lawyer Times, 3-0
• September Quick Chess (Greater Worcester CC, 9 players): Robert J. King, 3-0
• Sept. 16 Early Bird Quads (Boylston CC, 8 players): NM Lawyer Times, NM Chris Williams, 2-1
• Waltham First Friday #89 (Waltham CC, 8 players): GM Alexander Ivanov, 7-0
• September Scholastic Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 7 players): Siddharth Arun, 3-0

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Class A players Ken Wheeler of Norwood and George Winsor of South Easton tied for first place with MACA life member Bob Baker, a Class B player from Medway, in the Sven Brask Chess Club's 9-11 Memorial tournament, held Wednesday evenings, September 2 through September 30 at the United Methodist Church in Plainville. All three tallied 3.5-1.5 in a field of 15 players. Winsor defeated Baker in round 2, before drawing Wheeler in round 4. In the final round, Baker drew Wheeler. James Aspinall of Attleboro directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA member John Elmore, a USCF-rated expert from Hampton Falls, NH and president of the New Hampshire Chess Association, posted a score of 3.5-0.5 to win the Newburyport (Mass.) Chess Club Tournament #89, held September 3 through September 24. Capturing second place with a 3-1 tally was fellow expert Geoffrey Collins of Haverhill, Mass., who lost to Elmore in the third round. Tying for third place with 2.5-1.5 results were Class A player Arthur King of Haverhill, Class B entrant Harrison Moran of New Hampshire, and Class D participant Mark Seedner of Maine. The tournament drew 15 players and was directed by John Elmore.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following are winners in the 39th Chelmsford Burger King Tournament, held Sunday, September 27. Information was supplied by MACA official Steve Frymer of Lexington.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

 After three rounds of play in the 2009 Boylston Chess Club Championship in Somerville, international master David Vigorito of Somerville is in the lead in the nine-player round-robin tournament and now stands with 2.5 points. The following are the current standings in the event, which is scheduled to end November 2:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

 International master Igor Foygel of Brookline and national master Ilya Krasik of Newton tied for first place in the Stanley Crowe Memorial Swiss, played Tuesday nights, September 1 through September 29, at the Metrowest Chess Club at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. Both tallied 4-1 in an Open section field of 23 players. Foygel defeated frontrunner Lawyer Times, a national master from Hyde Park, in the final round, while Krasik downed expert David Harris of Providence, R.I. Tying as runners-up with 3.5-1.5 scores were Times and expert John Chamberlain. The following are the top scorers in the other three sections:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master Charles Riordan of Somerville and national master Chris Williams of Brighton tied for first place in the BCF September Thursday Night Swiss, held September 3 through September 24 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round. Tying as runners-up with 2.5-1.5 scores were Class B entrants Andrew Hoy, Nicholas Lesieur and Thomas Sifter of Quincy, as well as MACA life member Anthony Moosey of Westwood, the last of whom boosted his provisional Class E rating to provisional Class D. The tournament drew 15 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Boston Blitz boosted their 2009 season record in U.S. Chess League play to 4-1 by defeating the Baltimore Kingfishers, 2.5-1.5, in a match seen by spectators Monday night, September 28, at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge. The victory allowed the Blitz to even the all-time series record against the Kingfishers at 3.5-3.5. With Boston drawing the black pieces on the odd-numbered boards, here's how the Beantown boys scored their points against Baltimore:

• Board 1: GM Larry Christiansen (2662), 53, of Cambridge    1-0      GM Leonid Kritz (2654), 25
• Board 2: SM Denys Shmelov (2474), 23, of Pepperell           0-1      GM Sergey Erenburg (2616), 26
• Board 3: SM Marc Esserman (2461), 26, of Somerville      1/2-1/2   FM Shinsaku Uesugi (2354), 18
• Board 4: NM Ilya Krasik (2252), 29, of Newton                      1-0      Expert Ian Harris (2172), 22

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master John Curdo, 77, of Auburn tallied 2.5-0.5, including a half-point bye in the final round, to win the 3rd annual Eli Bourdon Memorial, held Saturday, September 26, at the Holyoke Public Library in Holyoke. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 2-1 scores in a field of only six players were  fellow FIDE master Nelson Castaneda, 51, of New Britain, Connecticut, and grandmaster Alexander Ivanov, 53, of Newton, who lost to Castaneda in the second round. In the 12-player Under 1800 section, Dustin Huguenin of Gales Ferry, Connecticut finished first with a perfect 3-0 performance. Jonathan Ingellis of Haydenville, Mass. ended up in second place with a 2.5-0.5 score. The five-player Under 1400 section saw a tie for 1st-2nd place between Abdiel Matos of Springfield and Andrew Metell of New Hampshire. Both tallied 2.5-0.5, including a draw with each other in the final round. The 23-player Game/90 tournament, sponsored by the Western Massachusetts Chess Association (WMCA), was directed by Edward Kostreba of Ware and honored the memory of longtime player, organizer and director Eli L. Bourdon (1907-1980) of Holyoke.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

With only seven players in attendance for the September Scholastic  Quads on Sunday, September 27, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, the result was a tournament in one section. The winner with a perfect 3-0 score was Siddharth Arun, an 11-year-old Class C player from Medfield. Tying for second place with 2-1 tallies were Henry Friedlander, 9, of Brookline and Andy Li, 11, of Acton, as well as Jason Tang, 6, of Belmont. Friedlander and Li both lost to Arun. The tournament was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Internaitonal master David Vigorito, 39, of Somerville scored a perfect 4-0 to win Tornado #99, held Saturday, September 26, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were national master Chris Williams, 20, of Brighton, who lost to Vigorito in the third round, and Benjamin Burkholder, a Boston University sophomore who hails from Ohio and whose Class B rating advanced to Class A as a result of his fine finish; he lost to Vigorito in the first round. Three players tied for first place in the Under 1500 section. They were Eric Lawless, a Northeastern University student from New Jersey, Changming Xu, 12, of Carlisle, and Bay State player Daniel Ambrefe, who made his chess debut in the 2001 Fall Foliage Festival at the Sage School in Foxboro and dropped out of chess for about seven years before returning to rated chess at the Boylston Chess Club in December 2008. The Game/55 tournament drew 22 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Muharrem Brahimaj, a 70-year-old Class A-rated player from Worcester, scored 3.5-0.5 to win the Greater Worcester Chess Club's September Chess Snippet, held Thursday evenings, September 3 through September 24 at the Worcester Hibernian Cultural Centre. Sharing the second- and third-place prizes as runners-up were FIDE master John Curdo, 77, of Auburn, and Class A players Michael Odell, 40, of Worcester and Joseph Alfano, 43, of Holden. All tallied 3-1. Tying for the top Under 1700 and Under 1500 prizes with 2-2 results were Class C participants Dmitry Nikitin, a player in his early 20s from northern California and now a Worcester-area resident, and Marc Quevillon, 56, of Dayville, Connecticut. Joseph Alfano directed, assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

After suffering a 0-4 shutout last week against a young Dallas team in U.S. Chess League play, the Boston Blitz bounced back into form on Wednesday evening, September 23, by defeating the Philadelphia Inventors, 3.5-0.5, in a match that drew spectators to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge. With the Blitz drawing the white pieces on the odd-numbered boards, here's how the players fared:

• Board 1: Senior master Jorge Sammour-Hasbun, 30, of Providence, RI beat grandmaster Sergey Kudrin, 50
• Board 2: Senior master Denys Shmelov, 23, of Pepperell drew international master Bryan Smith, 29
• Board 3: Senior master Marc Esserman, 26, of Somerville defeated FIDE master Thomas Bartell, 26
• Board 4: National master Vadim Martirosov, 39, of Waltham bested expert Kavinayan Sivakumar, 13

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

 MACA member Julian Chan, a 28-year-old expert from Boston, won the 2009 Boylston Chess Club Blitz Championship, held Tuesday, September 22, in Somerville. The event was a 10-player double round-robin, in which Chan chalked up an impressive 17 points out of a possible 18. The results of the other participants, with quick ratings in parentheses, were as follows:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

With one round left in the Stanley Crowe Memorial Swiss at the Metrowest Chess Club in Natick, national master Lawyer Times is in the lead by a score of 3.5-0.5 after defeating frontrunner Ilya Krasik, a fellow national master from Newton, in the fourth round. Times is scheduled to face in the final round international master Igor Foygel of Brookline, who stands at 3-1. The 44-year-old Hyde Park resident will have his work cut out for him, since he is drawing the black pieces against his 61-year-old opponent and is outrated by more than 200 points. Also at 3-1 and in contention for top prizes are Krasik and expert David Harris of Providence, Rhode Island, both of whom will face each other in Round 5. The current leaders in the Under 2000 section are Robert Harvey, 70, of Lexington and Alexander Hu, 14, of Wellesley. Both stand at 3.5-0.5. Leading the Under 1700 section with a 3.5-0.5 tally is 14-year-old Sridhar Rangan of Wellesley, while Schuyler Crawford, 59, of Sharon and 7-year-old Alex Fauman of Newton share the lead in the Under 1400 section with 4-0 scores. A total of 87 players are competing in the four sections of the tournament, which honors the memory of longtime club member Stanley Crowe (1935-1995).

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master Vivek Rao took on 28 challengers in a simultaneous exhibition on Friday evening, September 18, at the Winchester Chess Club and defeated them all. The club, which is not a USCF affiliate but has many enthusiastic members who enjoy non-rated chess, meets at the Griffin Museum of Photography, 67 Lake Shore Road, Winchester. Rao, who has not played a USCF-rated game since June 2002, is a town resident. The 39-year-old IM shot to stardom at a young age and achieved a peak rating of 2578 right out of high school. In 1986, he tied for first place with fellow Harvard student Danny Edelman in the National High School Championship. He went on to win the U.S. Junior Championship. In college, he was a major force on teams that won the Pan-American Intercollegiate championship. He was on the Harvard University team that won in 1988, 1989 and 1990, and also played on the winning University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign team that won the title in 1991. In that tournament, he defeated Brooklyn College's top board, GM Gata Kamsky. It is hoped that Massachusetts players will see Rao, who is currently rated 2497, return to rated chess in the state after his being away from competition for more than seven years.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master Christopher  Chase, 52, of Somerville chalked up a score of 3.5-0.5 to win the Davis Square Open, held Saturday, September 19, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tied for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were Class A players James Lung, 14, of Lexington and Mark Fins, 60, of Newton. Lung gained one of his three points by taking half-point byes in rounds 2 and 3. Finishing in fourth place with a 2.5-1.5 result was expert Zongyuan Yuan of Brookline, who drew tournament winner Chase in the final round. The event drew 14 players - one more than last year's tournament (which was also won by Chase) - and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton for the sponsoring  Boylston Chess Foundation. The annual tournament, which started in 2004, has drawn as many as 23 players (in 2007) and as few as seven (in 2005). There was no Open in 2006.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Andrew Liu, a scholastic player from Westboro who will turn 11 on October 12, posted a perfect score of 4-0 to win first place in the Newton Junior Open, an unrated tournament held Sunday, September 20, at the Science, Math & Art (SMART) School in Newton Centre. Capturing second place with a 3-1 tally was Siddharth Arun, 11, of Medfield. Taking third place following a sudden-death playoff was Henry Friedlander, 9, of Brookline, who scored 2-2. Also scoring 2-2 and winning the top Under 1000 trophy after a sudden-death playoff was newcomer Kira Porter, who had only started playing rated chess since this past August at the Greater Worcester Chess Club. The four-round Swiss event, played at Game/35, drew eight players and was directed by Steven Frymer of Lexington.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA member Tomas Girnius, a Class A-rated player from Quincy, Mass., tallied 2-0 to win the Waltham Chess Club September Free Play tournament, held Friday night, September 18, in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham, Mass. Also billed as the Waltham Year 5770 Free G/60 - to commemorate the start of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hoshanah) - the event saw newcomer Vitaliy Ryabinin, a Grade 11 student at Watertown (Mass.) High School, finish in second place with a score of 1.5-0.5. Vitaliy only started playing rated chess since last month but has already acquired a provisional Class B rating. The tournament drew 11 players and was directed by Michael Gosselin of Needham, Mass.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National masters Chris Williams, 20, of Brighton and Lawyer Times, 44, of Hyde Park tied for first place in Section 1 of the Early Bird Rapid Quads, played Wednesday evening, September 16, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Both tallied 2-1, with Williams defeating Times in the final round. Class B player Steven Stepak, 62, of Brookline scored 2.5-0.5 to win first place in Section 2. Eight players competed in the Game/30 tournament, which was directed by FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

After waiting one week for the event to be rated, 53-year-old grandmaster Larry Christiansen of Cambridge, Mass. finally garnered the two USCF rating points he earned in winning the 2009 U.S. Senior Open, held September 5-7 at the Best Western Trade Winds Central Hotel in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In a field of 54 "oldsters," Christiansen chalked up a score of 5.5-0.5. The tournament victory gained Christiansen a qualification spot in the 2010 U.S. Championship in St. Louis, Missouri. Here are the opponents the three-time U.S. champion defeated on his way to winning this year's senior title:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov made a rare appearance at the Waltham (Mass.) Chess Club and easily won the club's Sept. 11 Quick Chess tournament. Held in the IBM Office Building's cafeteria, the event saw the 53-year-old GM from Newton, Mass. sweep the field, 7-0. Capturing second place with a 6-1 score was Class B player Ross Eldridge of Brighton, Mass., who celebrates his 35th birthday on Monday, Sept. 14. Taking third place with a 5-2 tally was Class A contestant Todd Chase, a MACA life member from Weston, Mass. who is observing his 49th birthday on Sunday, Sept. 20. The Game/10 tournament, scheduled originally as a seven-round Swiss. ended up conveniently as an eight-player round robin. Nicholas Sterling of Needham, Mass. directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

A total of 28 players competed in the BCF Quads 9-9, held Saturday, September 12, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Mass. The following were sectional winners:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Christopher Gu, a young USCF-rated Class A player from Kingston, Rhode Island, tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the 103rd Rhode Island Pawn Eater, held Saturday, September 12, at RI College in Providence. Tying for the runner-up position with 3-1 scores were national master Miro Reverby of Providence (who drew Gu in the third round) and Alex Fikiet and Thomas Hartmayer, both of Storrs, Connecticut. Raymond Pascone of Johnston, Rhode Island captured first place in the Under 1500 section with a score of 3.5-0.5. Taking second place with a 3-1 performance was MACA junior member Benjamin Swiszcz, 14, of Cumberland, Rhode Island. The tournament drew 26 players and was directed by Frank Vogel, assisted by Eric Berkey, for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The Boston Blitz proved once again why it is a force to reckon with, as it remained undefeated in U.S. Chess League play by defeating the Carolina Cobras, 3.5-0.5, on Wednesday night, September 9. Watched by spectators at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, the Blitz used a youthful lineup to overpower a team consisting mostly of older players. On board 1, GM Eugene Perelshteyn, 29, of Swampscott beat 46-year-old IM Jonathan Schroer with the white pieces.. On board 2, senior master and 2009 New England Open co-champion  Denys Shmelov, 23, of Pepperell drew 22-year-old FIDE master Oleg Zaikov. On board 3, senior master Marc Esserman, 26, of Somerville defeated 49-year-old FM Ronald Simpson. And on board 4, national master Ilya Krasik, 29, of Newton bested fellow national master Craig Jones, another 49-year-old player. The victory gave the Blitz an amazing overall record of 6.5 out of 7 against the Cobras in USCL play.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International masters Igor Foygel of Brookline, Mass. and David Vigorito of Somerville, Mass. tied for first place with senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, Mass. in the 69th New England Open, held September 5-7 at the Holiday Inn in Nashua, New Hampshire. All three tallied 4.5-1.5 in an Open section field of 22 players. Top-rated grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. had a tough going, as he drew Foygel and Shmelov in the third and fourth rounds respectively before losing to Vigorito in Round 5. He then withdrew from the tournament. Capturing the top Under 2250 prize with a 4-2 score was New Hampshire state champion Patrick Sciacca of Salem, N.H. Also scoring 4-2 but finishing out of the prize money was FIDE master Charles Riordan of Somerville, who drew 2008 New England Open co-champion Shmelov in the final round. Foygel drew Vigorito in that same round.

The following are prize winners in the other sections of the tournament:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

USCF life member Walter G. Trice, a master from Worcester, Mass., formerly of Holden, Mass., died Sunday, August 23, in Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester. He was a MACA member for many years before giving up tournament chess more than 20 years to take up the game of backgammon, a game in which quickly excelled. At the time of his death, Mr. Trice was one of the top 10 backgammon players in the country. He had numerous backgammon tournament victories to his credit and was also the author of several books, including the classic "Backgammon Boot Camp." .He wrote computer programs, such as "Bearoff Quizmaster," and was a contributing columnist for the online magazines GammonLife and GammonVillage. He was secretary of the New England Backgammon Club. His peak period in chess was in the 1970s and '80s, after he graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1970. He competed in many local, state and regional tournaments, including the very popular Central New England Open championships in Leominster, Mass. He was also a regular competitor at the Worcester Chess Club when it met at the Worcester YMCA. In addition, he participated in the Worcester Met Chess League. He worked as an actuary at the Paul Revere Life Insurance Company in Worcester for 20 years before he retired in 1987. A memorial service will be held Saturday, September 12, at 1 p.m. in the O'Connor Brothers Funeral Home, 592 Park Avenue, Worcester. There are no calling hours. Donations in his memory may be made to MACA's Living Memorial Chess Fund and sent to Robert D. Messenger, MACA Treasurer, 4 Hamlett Drive #12, Nashua, NH 03062-4641.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. and senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, Mass. tied for 1st-2nd place in the New England Blitz Championship, held Saturday, September 5, at the Holiday Inn in Nashua, New Hampshire. Each player scored 8.5.-1.5 in a field of 23 players. In the fourth round of a five-round double-round Swiss, each gained a win against the other. Finishing in third place with a 7-3 score and out of the prize money was international master David Vigorito of Somerville, Mass., who drew and lost to Ivanov in the third round and drew and lost to Shmelov in the final round. Sharing the prize as the top scorers under 2000 with 6-4 tallies were  Libardo Rueda of Winthrop, Mass., Winston Huang of Newton, and Stephen Brudno of Brookline, Mass. Nicholas Zhang of Lexington, Mass, scored 5-5 to win the top Under 1600 prize. F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire organized and directed the tournament. His wife, Nita Patel, assisted.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Eleven-year-old Fangru Jiang of Westford, Mass. became the newest Class A player at the Billerica Chess Club by sweeping the club's August Swiss tournament, held Friday nights, August 7 though August 28, at the Senior Center in Billerica, Mass. Jiang scored a perfect 4-0, including a win in the final round against club champion expert Patrick Sciacca, 46, of Salem, New Hampshire. The tournament victory netted Jiang 71 USCF rating points and boosted him from Class B to Class A. Tim Bromley, a 21-year-old Class A player from Billerica, captured second place with a 3.5-0.5 tally. Fellow Bay State Class A player John Vaughan finished in third place with a 3-1 result, while Sciacca had to settle for fourth place with a 2.5-1.5 score. The tournament drew 17 players and was directed by Nathan Smith of Derry, New Hampshire.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Two-time Wachusett Chess Club champion Bruce Felton of Fitchburg, Mass. and 2008 club champion Martin Laine of Lunenburg, Mass. tied for first-second place in the club's Tigran Petrosian Memorial tournament, held Wednesday nights, August 5 through September 2, at Fitchburg State College. Both tallied 4-1, including a draw with one another in the fourth round. Capturing third place with a 3.5-1.5 score was fellow Class A contestant Dave Couture of Westminster, Mass. Leonard Arsenault of Leominster, Mass. finished fourth with a 3-2 result. The tournament drew 20 players and was directed by George Mirijanian of Fitchburg. The event commemorated two anniversaries: the 80th anniversary of the birth of Tigran Petrosian in 1929 and the 25th anniversary of his death in August 1984. Petrosian, world champion from 1963 to 1969, came to Fitchburg on February 26, 1982 and performed a 32-board simultaneous exhibition at the Wachusett Chess Club, where he amazed an overflow crowd of spectators with the speed with which he went from board to board.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park tallied 3-0 to win the Early Bird Rapid Quads on Wednesday, September 2, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Finishing second with a 1.5-1.5 score was fellow master Chris Williams of Brighton, who lost to Times in the final round. In a separate six-player Swiss, Class A contestant Ryan McGrady, a graduate student at Emerson College in Boston, swept the field with a perfect 3-0 result. Tying for second place with 2-1 scores were Class B players Max Lu of Lexington and Steven Stepak of Brookline. The 10-player event was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Jorge Sammour-Hasbun, a 30-year-old senior master from Providence, Rhode Island, tallied eight wins and two losses to win the Blackstone Chess Festival's Masters Blitz Invitational on Friday, August 28, at the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, R.I. International master Igor Foygel, 61, of Brookline, Mass. scored 7.5-2.5 (seven wins, one draw, two losses) to finish second. Tying for 3rd-4th place with 6-4 results were senior master Denys Shmelov, 23, of Pepperell, Mass. and FIDE master David Griego, 45, of Providence. National master Miro Reverby, 40, of Providence finished fifth with a score of 1.5-8.5, while 57-year-old expert James Della-Selva, also of Providence, ended up in last place with a 1-9 performance. David Harris of Providence directed the six-player double round robin for the sponsoring Blackstone Chess Center.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Zachary Weiner, a senior at Stuyvesant High School in New York, won the Blackstone Chess Festival Open, held Saturday, August 29, at the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The 17-year-old Class A player advanced to the status of expert by scoring a perfect 4-0 in a field of 12 players. Tying for second place with 3-1 tallies were expert David Harris, 56, of Providence, who lost to Weiner in the third round, and Class B contestant John Terrall, 43, of Gales Ferry, Connecticut. David Harris directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Boston Blitz beat Queens Pioneers, 3-1, in the first week of U.S. Chess League play on Monday night, August 31. The Blitz, which plays its USCL matches at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, was led by 53-year-old grandmaster Larry Christiansen. With the black pieces, Christiansen defeated fellow GM Alexander Stripunsky, 39, on board one. GM Eugene Perelshteyn, 29, of Swampscott downed 24-year-old IM Eli Vovsha on board two. Senior master Marc Esserman, 26, of Somerville suffered the Blitz's only setback by losing to 27-year-old FIDE master Andrei Zaremba on board three. In his USCL debut for the Blitz, 14-year-old expert Andrew Wang of Sharon bested 29-year-old expert Shaun Smith on board four. The Blitz's next match will be against the Carolina Cobras on Wednesday, September 9. Play starts at 7 p.m. Spectators are welcome at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

 The following are winners of top sections in tournaments held in August at various Massachusetts chess clubs:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Expert Frank Sisto of Waltham, Mass. tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the Newburyport Chess Club's Tournament #88, held Wednesday evenings, August 6 though August 27, at Hope Community Church in Newburyport, Mass. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 scores were fellow experts John Elmore of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire (who did no play the final round) and Arthur Nugent of Beverly, Mass. The event drew 18 players and was directed by John Elmore.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

 Chris Williams scored a double victory this past week at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Mass. The 20-year-old national master from Brighton, Mass. tied for first place on Saturday, August 29, in the BCF Swiss #24. Williams scored 3.5-0.5 to equal the score of 19-year-old expert Evan Rabin, who is now a student at Brandeis University in Waltham and was one of the leading junior players at the Marshall Chess Club in New York City some years ago. Runners-up in the 21-player tournament with 3-1 tallies were FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville, expert David Plotkin of Newton, Mass., and Class A player James Lung of Lexington, Mass.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, Mass. scored 3.5-0.5 to win first place in the Amiable August Open, held Thursday nights, August 6 through August 27, at the Greater Worcester Chess Club. Alonzo Ross of Shrewsbury, Mass. finished second with a 3-1 tally. Tying for third place with 2-2 results were Muharrem Brahimaj, Michael Odell and Jerry Williams, all of Worcester. Dmitry Nikitin, who hails from northern California but now lives in Massachusetts, captured first place in the Under 1700 section with a perfect 4-0 score. Jason Callahan of Worcester won the top under 1500 prize with a 2.5-1.5 performance. The tournament drew 16 players and was directed by Joe Alfano of Holden, Mass., assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, Mass. It was played at the Hibernian Cultural Center in Worcester.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

USCF-rated expert Jack Correia of Attleboro, Mass. won the Dog Days of Chess tournament, held Wednesday nights, August 5 through August 26, at the Sven Brask Chess Club at the United Methodist Church in Plainville, Mass. The 2008-2009 club champion tallied 3.5-0.5 in a field of 15 players, two of whom were playing in their first nationally rated event.  Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 scores were Eric Berkey of Cumberland, Rhode Island and James Aspinall of Attleboro, the latter of whom directed the tournament.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master Igor Foygel of Brookline, Mass., and senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, Mass. both tallied 3.5-0.5 to tie for first place in the Hot Summer Days Swiss tournament, held Tuesday nights, August 4-25, at the Metrowest Chess Club at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick, Mass. Finishing as runners-up with 3-1 scores were FIDE master Charles Riordan of Somerville, Mass., national master Alex Cherniack of Watertown, Mass., and expert David Plotkin of Newton, Mass. Class B-rated player Ethan Thompson of Ashland, Mass. scored 3.5-0.5 to finish first in the Under 2000 section, where Calvin Hori of Wellesley, Mass., and Larry Pratt of Natick ended up as runners-up with 3-1 results. William Stein of West Roxbury was the winner in the Under 1700 with a score of 3.5-0.5. Boris Abelis of Newton, Leonard Gruenberg of Cambridge, Mass. and Douglas Thompson of Ashland shared runner-up honors with 3-1 performances. John McLaughlin of Natick, Alex Fauman of Newton and Neal Bruce of Wellesley tallied 3.5-0.5 to tie for first place in the Under 1400 section. The four-section tournament drew 96 players and was directed by MACA vice president Ken Ballou of Framingham, Mass., assisted by fellow resident Mark Kaprielian.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Lawyer Times, 44, of Hyde Park, Mass. won the 16th annual Charles Drafts Open, held Saturday, August 22, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Times, who had tied for first place in the memorial event in 2003 and 2005 and shared runner-up honors in 2006 and 2008, scored a perfect 4-0 to win outright this year. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were Class A players Gabriel Frieden, 19, of Cambridge and 17-year-old Daniel Leach of Potomac, Maryland, formerly of Lexington, Mass. Capturing first place with a perfect score of 4-0 in the Under 1900 section was young Zongyuan Yuan, who was playing in his first rated tournament in this country and had come to Massachusetts from China two months ago to join his father. Yuan, who was born in 1998, competed in last year's Under 10 section of the World Youth Chess Championship in Vung Tau, Vietnam, where he represented China. As a result of his sectional victory, Yuan gained a USCF provisional expert's rating of 2142  Tying for 2nd-5th place with 3-1 scores were Walter Driscoll, 61, and Sean Ingham, 27, both of Cambridge, Bernardo Iglesias, 57, of Stoughton, and Steven Stepak, 62, of Brookline. The two-section event, which honored the memory of Boylston CC member Charlie Drafts (1946-2000), a physically disabled Harvard alumnus, drew 32 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias with assistance from Walter Driscoll, the latter of whom has underwritten the annual prize fund since the tournament's inception in 1994.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

USCF-rated expert Yogesh Raghunathan of West Hartford, Connecticut tallied 3-0 to win the 12th annual Western Mass. Open, held Saturday, August 22, in the Kittredge Center at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, Mass. FIDE master Nelson Castaneda of New Britain, Conn. was second with a 2.5-0.5 score. Bruce Arnold of South Hadley, Mass. was the winner in the Under 1800 section with a 3-0 performance, followed by Dustin Huguenin of Connecticut at 2.5-0.5. Thomas Hampton of Massachusetts scored 2.5-0.5 to win first place in the Under 1400 section. Tying for second place with 2-1 results were Michael Beatini of New Hampshire and Brian Santiago of Massachusetts. The three-section, Game/90 tournament drew 28 players and was directed by Edward Kostreba of Ware, Mass. for the sponsoring Western Massachusetts Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

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Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

The 39th Continental Open, held August 13-16 at the Host Hotel at Cedar Lake in Sturbridge, Mass., set an attendance record and ended in a four-way tie for first place among GMs Sergey Kudrin of Stamford, Connecticut, Leonid Yudasin of Brooklyn, New York, Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass., and USCF-rated senior master Siddharth Ravichandran, a 22-year-old New York resident who hails from India. All four tallied 5-1 in an Open section field of 47 players. Kudrin drew Yudasin in the final round, while Ravichandran held Yudasin and Ivanov to draws in rounds 2 and 4 respectively. Richard Tuhrim of New York, Joshua Specht of Massachusetts and John Elmore of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire scored  5-1 to tie for 1st-3rd place in the 47-player Under 2100 section, where fourth place went to Viktor Levine of New York with a 4.5-1.5 result. Gabriel Frieden of Cambridge, Mass. and Patrick Chi of New York tallied 5-1 to tie for 1st-2nd place in the 55-player Under 1900 section, where Frieden defeated Chi in the final round to pull even with him. Six players shared the 3rd- and 4th-place prizes with scores of 4.5-1.5. They were William Frame of Delaware, MACA life member Michael Pascetta  of South Glastonbury, Conn., Thomas Hartmayer of Storrs, Conn., Richard Lunetta of Burlington, Mass., Kevin Ma of Bedford, New Hampshire,, and David Yasinovsky of Newton, Mass. Robert J. King of Millbury, Mass., Cyril Sigamoney of New York and Robert Cameron of Pennsylvania posted scores of 5-1 to tie for 1st-3rd place in the 41-player Under 1700 section. Sharing the 4th-place prize money with 4.5-1.5 performances were Walter Chesnut of Vermont, Alan Axelrod of Cambridge, Mass., and Boston Globe chess columnist Harold Dondis of Belmont, Mass. Edit Haslasz of New York won the 30-player Under 1500 section with a score of 5.5-0.5. Jonathan Kuehne of Vermont was second with a 5-1 tally, while MACA life member Enrique McDonald of Northampton, Mass. and Richard Varchetto of West Virginia shared 3rd- and 4th-place prize money with 4.5-1.5 results. Xiaojun Xu of Pennsylvania tallied 5.5-0.5 to finish first in the 24-player Under 1300 section. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 4.5-1.5 scores were Hyqmet Allushi of Connecticut, Sean Cramer of Ohio and Daniel Cronauer of Vermont. Thomas Hampton of Massachusetts scored 5-1 to win first place in the 20-player Under 1000 section, where second place with a 4.5-1.5 result went to fellow Bay State player Dan Gagne. Five players shared the 3rd- and 4th-place prize money with 4-2 results. They were Michael Morin, Steven Danko and Jeffrey Qu, all of New York, Eric Hilhorst of Connecticut, and Kevin Chen of New Jersey. The seven-section tournament drew a record-breaking 246 players - 16 more than last year and the highest number to compete since the Continental Open moved to Sturbridge in 2004. Bill Goichberg directed the event for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association and was assisted by Bob Messenger of Nashua, New Hampshire.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

 International master David Vigorito easily won the Legends of Chess: Ernst Karl Falkbeer tournament, held Sunday, August 16, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Mass., The 39-year-old Somerville resident swept the small 10-player field with a perfect 4-0 score. finishing 1.5 points ahead of three runners-up: FIDE-rated Class A player Dimitrios Pappelis from Greece (playing in his first rated tournament in this country and gaining a provisional USCF Class A rating of 1838, helped by losing to Vigorito in the third round); tournament director Bernardo Iglesias, 57, of Stoughton, Mass. (who lost to Vigorito in the final round); and 11-year-old Siddharth Arun of Medfield, Mass. The event honored the memory of Austrian-born Ernst Karl Falkbeer (1819-1885), who is best remembered for his innovative counter-gambit against the King's Gambit: 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5!

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Gregory Kaden of Wellesley, Mass. won the Reubens-Landey tournament, held July 1 through August 10 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Kaden, who celebrates his 38th birthday on August 25, scored a perfect 5-0 in a field of 21 players. As a result of his victory, he will be invited to participate in the 2009 Boylston Chess Club Championship starting Monday, September 14. Runners-up in this year's club championship qualifying tournament were experts Simon Warfield (who lost to Kaden in the fourth round) and Farzad Abdi (who lost to Kaden in the final round), as well as Class A entrant Kenneth Newman of Cambridge. All three tallied 3.5-1.5. The BCC Championship qualifier honored the memory of Emil M. Reubens (1886-1973) of Sharon and Benjamin M. Landey (1912-1981) of Quincy, both of whom had made great contributions to the promotion of chess in Massachusetts in the past century. Robert Oresick of Norton, Mass. directed the tournament.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. tallied 4.5-0.5 to win the 15th annual Northeast Open, held August 7-9 at the Holiday Inn Select in Stamford, Connecticut. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 4-1 scores was a trio of New York players:  Filipino international master Oliver Barbosa (who drew Ivanov in the final rround), senior master Siddharth Ravichandran from India, and FIDE master Alec Getz. Souvik Roychoudhury of Connecticut finished first in the Under 2000 section with a score of 4.5-0.5. Tying for 2nd-5th place with 4-1 results were Jehron Bryant, Jack Edelson and Dianna Hu, all of New York, and Austin Wang of New Jersey. The Under 1600 section ended in a tie for first place among Sebastian Lazar and Likhit Ganedi, both of Connecticut, and Grant Oen of New Jersey. All three scored 4.5-0.5. Jonathan Szeligowski of Connecticut captured first place in the Under 1200 section with a 4.5-0.5 tally. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 4-1 performances were Hany Estefanos of New Jersey, Reynaldo Ramos of New York and Andrew Harrington of Connecticut. The four-section tournament drew 168 players and was directed by MACA life member Harold Stenzel of Sayville, New York for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association. He was assisted by Andre Harding of New York.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA vice president Ken Ballou of Framingham, former MACA VP Donna Alarie of Rutland and ex- multitime MACA president Stephen Dann of Worcester are in the process of returning to the Bay State, following their participation in the annual USCF delegates meeting held in conjunction with the U.S. Open in Indianapolis, Indiana. One of the major issues at this year's meeting was the vote of the delegates to revoke the membership of USCF Executive Board members-at-large Susan Polgar and her husband Paul Truong. The delegates voted 55-21, with 5 abstentions, to expel Polgar, and 58-18, with 5 abstentions, to oust Truong. The USCF Executive Board had met on Friday night, August 7, to vote on revoking the couple's membership and it was upheld by the delegates on Saturday, August 8.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Max Enkin, 20, of Peabody posted a perfect score of 7-0 to win the Waltham (Chess Club) August First Friday quick-chess tournament, held August 7 at the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham, Mass. Todd Chase, 48, of Weston captured second place with a 6-1 tally, while Nicholas Sterling, 39, of Needham took third place with a 5-2 result. Edward Astrachan, 57, of Newton was fourth with a 3.5-3.5 performance. All four are members of the Massachusetts Chess Association. MACA clerk Nicholas Sterling directed the eight-player round robin for the sponsoring Waltham Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Following his victory less than a week ago in the 20th Vermont Resort Open in Stratton Mountain, senior master Denys Shmelov chalked up another tournament victory on Saturday, August 8, winning the BCF August $10 Open at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Mass. The 23-year-old Pepperell, Mass. resident scored a perfect 4-0. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3.5-0.5 tallies were fellow senior master Marc Esserman, 26, of Cambridge, Mass. and national master Carey Theil, 31, of Arlington, Mass. Deadlocked in fourth place with 3-1 results were FIDE master Charles Riordan, 29, of Somerville, and national masters Lawyer Times, 44, of Hyde Park, Mass., and Christopher Williams, 20, of Brighton, Mass. The Under 1800 section ended in a five-way tie among Amrit Gupta of Arizona, Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Mass.; Ryan Ottaviano of Allston, Mass., Steven Stepak of Brookline, Mass., and Matthew Reale-Hatem of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. All five finished with 3-1 scores. The two-section Game/60 tournament drew 42 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Senior master Denys Shmelov, 23, of Pepperell, Massachusetts, posted a perfect score of 5-0 to win the 20th annual Vermont Resort Open, held July 31-August 2 at the Strartton Mountain Inn in Stratton Mountain, Vermont. Runners-up with 3.5-1.5 tallies were experts Aniruddha Despande and Haotian Zheng, both of Connecticut, and Richard Tuhrim of New York. Max Valau of Hyannis, Mass. scored 4-1 to win first place in the Under 1900 section. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3.5-1.5 results were Gary Cote of Connecticut and Dale Lyons of Vermont. Arthur Learnard of Haverhill, Mass. and Zubin Mukerjee of New York tied for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1500 section with scores of 4.5-0.5. Tying for third place with 3-2 tallies were Thomas Cassar of New Hampshire and Ziqing Dong of New York. The three-section, FIDE-rated tournament drew 42 players - five more than last year - and was directed by William Goichberg for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

 The following are winners of top sections in tournaments held in July at various Massachusetts chess clubs:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, Mass. tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the 2009 July Jovial Open, held July 9 through July 30 at the Greater Worcester Chess Club at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester, Mass. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 scores were Muharrem Brahimaj and Michael Odell, both of Worcester. Odell drew Curdo in the second round, while Brahimaj lost to Curdo in the final round. Tying for the Under 1700 and Under 1500 class prizes were Robert J. King of Millbruy, Mass. and Jerry Williams of Worcester. Both finished with scores of 2.5-1.5. The tournament drew 15 players and was directed by Joe Alfano, assisted by Donna Alarie, for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master Igor Foygel of Brookline and senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell tied for first place in the Open section of the MCC Independence Day Swiss, held July 7 through July 28 at the Metrowest Chess Club at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5. Runners-up with 3-1 scores were FIDE master Charles Riordan of Sonerville, national master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park, expert Joseph Perl of Watertown, and Class A contestant Grant Xu of Shrewsbury. Neil Cousin of Franklin and Alfred Ward of Framingham tied for first place in the Under 2000 section with scores of 3.5-0.5. Richard Han of Newton posted a perfect 4-0 to win first place in the Under 1700 section, where second place went to Calvin Hori of Wellesley with a 3.5-0.5 result. Ken Ballou of Framingham also posted a perfect 4-0 score to win first place in the Under 1400 section, where second place went to Kumsal Sezen with a 3.5-0.5 tally. The tournament, which was held in four sections plus a section for side games, drew 104 players and was directed by Ken Ballou, assisted by Mark Kaprielian of Framingham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Ildar Ibragimov, 41, of New Haven, Connecticut tallied 4.5-0.5, including a half-point bye in the final round, to win the 14th annual Bradley Open, held July 24-26 at the Sheraton Hotel at Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticvut. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 4-1 scores were international master Alex Lenderman, 19, of Brooklyn, New York, fellow IM Robert Hungaski, 21, of Connecticut, and national master Michael Thaler of New York. Tying for the top Under 2200 prizes were experts Christopher Wu of New Jersey and Zaroug Jaleel, 14, of Lexington, Massachusetts. David Kolb of New York scored a perfect 5-0 to win the Under 2000 section. Salvatore Leone of Connecticut was second with a 4.5-0.5 result. Among those involved in a six-way tie for third place with 4-1 scores were Massachusetts players Jacob Fauman, 13, of Newton, Stephen Brudno, 66, of Brookline, Grant Xu, 11, of Shrewsbury, and Anthony Andrews. Daniel Zhu of New Jersey tallied a perfect 5-0 to win the Under 1600 section, where second place with a 4.5-0.5 tally went to Robert J. King, 25, of Millbury, Mass. Reynaldo Ramos of New York scored 4.5-0.5 to finish first in the Under 1200 section, where second place went to fellow New Yorker Muqsith Ahmadi with a 4-1 performance. The four-section, FIDE-rated tournament drew 167 players and was directed by Steve Immitt of New York, assisted by MACA life member Harold Stenzel of Sayville, New York, for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, Mass. and New Hampshire expert Russell Gouveia tied for first place in the Free WMCA Game/60 tournament, held Saturday, July 18, at the Florence Congregational Church in Florence, Mass. Both tallied 3.5-0.5 in a field of 18 players. Tied for the runner-up spot with 3-1 scores were expert Andrew Tichenor of Brookline, Mass., who drew Gouveia and Curdo in the third and fourth rounds respectively; Asterios Skodras, a FIDE-rated Class A player but unrated USCF entrant from Greece, and provisionally rated Class B contestant Jonathan Ingellis of Haydenville, Mass. Ingellis captured the Top B prize. The top A prize was won by MACA life member Paul Sciaraffa of Avon, Mass., who scored 2.5-1.5. Robert Skalbite of Monson, Mass., was the top-scoring C player with a 2-2 tally, while fellow Bay Stater Vincent Bradley won the top Under 1400 prize with a 1-3 result. Edward Kostreba of Ware, Mass. directed the tournament, which was co-sponsored by The Daily Hampshire Gazette and the Western Massachusetts Chess Association (WMCA).

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master Christopher Chase, 52, of Somerville, Mass. scored 3.5-0.5 to win the BCC Summer Open, held Saturday, July 18, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tied for the runner-up spot with 3-1 tallies were international master David Vigorito of Somerville (who drew Chase in the third round), and experts David Plotkin of Newton, Mass. (who drew Vigorito in the final round) and Farzad Abdi. Sean Ingham of Cambridge, Mass. won the Under 1800 section with a perfect 4-0 score. Max Chia-Hsin Lu of Lexington, Mass. was second with a 3-1 result, while Richard Kahn of Merrimack, New Hampshire was third with a 2.5-1.5 score. The two-section tournament drew 23 players and was directed by tournament winner Chase for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito, 39, of Somerville, MA scored a perfect 5-0 to win the Portsmouth Action Plus-Score Tournament, held Saturday, July 11, at the Holiday Inn in Portsmouth, NH. Runners-up with 4-1 tallies were experts Kerry Coffin of Henniker, NH, and David Plotkin of Newton, MA, Class A player Ruben Babayan of Portland, ME, and Class B entrant Tony Cessolini of New Hampshire. Other prize winners included expert Alan Schalk of South Berwick, ME, who scored 3.5-1.5, as well as fellow expert Arthur Nugent of Beverly, MA, Class A participant Lucas McCain of New Hampshire, Class B entrants Walter Whitmore and Justin Elkherj, both of New Hampshire, Matthew Fishbein of Cape Elizabeth, ME, Max Chia-Hsin Lu and John Watters, both of Massachusetts, and Class D player Brandon Greaton of Maine, all of whom tallied 3-2. The 14 prize winners represented about 41 percent of the total field of 34 players. F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, NH directed the Game/30 tournament for the sponsoring Relyea Chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Dr. Ira Lee Riddle, one of the most prominent chess officials in this country and a resident of Warminster, Pennsylvania, died of a heart attack on Monday, July 6, aboard a cruise ship touring England. He was 62. Dr. Riddle and his wife were on a cruise around Great Britain and were at their last port of call before disembarking and going to Stonehenge, Havre de Grace, France, when he suffered a heart attack after going on deck to get some air and could not be revived. He was born on October 2, 1946 in Oakland, California, the son of Charles Lee Riddle, a career U.S. Navy man. As a young boy Dr. Riddle lived in Hawaii, where a neighbor of his, who was an avid chess player, realized that this 4-year-old lad was able to quickly grasp the strategy involved in chess.He worked with Riddle and helped him develop a deeper love for the game.  After moving back to the continental United States at age 5, Dr. Riddle graduated in 1964 from Christiana High School in Newark, Delaware. With an interest in mathematics that started while he was living in Hawaii, he went on to further his education and received a bachelor of arts degree in 1968 from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, with a dual major in math and speech drama. In 1969 he received a master of science degree in speech education from the State University of New York at Geneseo. He also received a master of science degree in mathematics education from Penn State University. He was awarded a doctor of education degree in math education from Temple University in 1990. Prior to being awarded his doctorate, Dr. Riddle taught math at various schools on the East coast, starting with a junior high school in Orange Park, Florida and later at schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He retired in 1998 after 29 years of teaching junior high and high school math. But within six weeks after his retirement, he found himself teaching again - this time being recruited as a lecturer at the Penn State University campus at Abington. In addition to his math credentials, Dr. Riddle was prominent in U.S. chess. He was not only a USCF national tournament director but he also earned the title of international arbiter, awarded to him in 1986 by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). He directed many hundreds of tournaments, including the 1987 U.S. Open in Portland, Oregon, and the 1990 U.S. Open in Jacksonville, Florida. He also assisted at numerous other U.S. Opens, including the 1988 U.S. Open at the Hotel Lafayette in Boston. He also directed U.S. Junior Opens, Pan-American Intercollegiate Team championships, the 2003 U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Amateur Team South championships, Pennsylvania State championships, Delaware State championships, the Denker Tournament of High School Champions, and innumerable scholastic and adult team tournaments, among others. He was also employed for many years as a TD for the Continental Chess Association-sponsored tournaments, including the World Open. He was co-editor of the U.S. Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess, 4th edition. He served as president of the Pennsylvania State Chess Federation from 1978 to 2002 and continued as a PSCF vice president for the East region of the state. He was editor of The Pennswoodpusher from 1980 to 2001 and also had edited the Delaware Chess Newsletter, starting in 2004. He was president of the Chess Journalists of America from 1989 to 1995 and editor of The Chess Journalist from 1991 to 1993. At the time of his death, he was the CJA's vice president. He was chief judge of the CJA awards program from 1992 to 1995 and continued as a judge right up to the present. He wrote more than a hundred articles for various chess publications, including those for Chess Life and for the TDCC Corner in the former USCF rating supplements. In addition to chess, Dr. Riddle directed plays and musicals, officiated wrestling and softball games, and coached soccer and track. He had a myriad of interests. He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Polly J. Riddle. A memorial service will be held Friday, July 17, at 11 a.m. at the Chapel at Ann's Choice, 30000 Ann's Choice Way, Warminster, PA 18974. Donations in his memory may be made to MACA's Living Memorial Chess Fund, c/o Robert D. Messenger, MACA Treasurer, 4 Hamlett Drive #12, Nashua, NH 03062-4641

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

 The 37th annual World Open, held June 29-July 5 at the Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel, ended in a tie between U.S. champion GM Hikaru Nakamura of White Plains, N.Y., and fellow New Yorker GM Evgeny Najer, who plays under the Russian flag in FIDE events. Both tallied 7-2 in an Open section field of 98 players. Nakamura opted for two half-point byes in the final two rounds because he had to fly off to a tournament in Spain. As a result, no Armageddon playoff was conducted to determine who would win the overall title and Najer was awarded the crown, even though he had lost to Nakamura in their individual encounter in the seventh round. Najer was also the World Open winner in 2008. The following are the section winners and the top Massachusetts scorers in each of the nine sections in this year's event:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master Igor Foygel, 61, of Brookline, Mass., senior master Denys Shmelov, 22, of Pepperell, Mass., and FIDE master Charles Riordan, 29, of Somerville, Mass. tied for first place in the MCC Summer Solstice Swiss tournament, held June 2 though June 30 at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick, Mass. All three tallied 4-1. In the Under 2000 section, Neil Cousin, 43, of Franklin, Mass. finished first with a 4.5-0.5 score. Calvin Hori, 55, of Wellesley, Mass. took second place with a 4-1 result, while Charlie Fauman, 10, of Newton, Mass. ended up third with a 3.5-1.5 performance. Warner Smith, 45, of West Roxbury, Mass. scored a perfect 5-0 to win the Under 1600 section. Jenshiang Hong, 70, of Newton was second with a 3.5-1.5 tally. Tied for third with 3-2 results were Pierre Fleurant, 54, of Arlington, Mass., Leonard Gruenberg, 71, of Cambridge, Mass., and Douglas Thompson. MACA vice president Ken Ballou, 48, of Framingham, Mass. scored a perfect 5-0 to win the Under 1400 section, where second place went to Kenneth Brisbois with a 4-1 tally. Ken Ballou, assisted by Metrowest Chess Club president Mark Kaprielian of Framingham, directed the four-section tournament, which drew 86 players.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master John Curdo, 77, of Auburn, Massachusetts, scored 3.5-0.5 to win the Greater Worcester Chess Club's  9th annual June Knights Event, held June 4 through June 25 at the Hibernian Cultural Center in Worcester, Mass. Capturing second place with a 3-1 tally was fellow master Predrag Cicovacki, 49, also of Auburn. Class A-rated contestant Alonzo Ross, 58, of Shrewsbury, Mass. finished third with a 2.5-1.5 result. Alex Chand of Worcester posted a perfect 4-0 score to win first place in the Under 1700 section. Winning the top Under 1500 prize with a score of 2.5-1.5 was Marc Quevillon, 56, of Dayville, Connecticut. Joe Alfano of Holden, Mass. and Donna Alarie of Rutland, Mass. directed the 18-player tournament for the sponsoring Chesspals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Lawyer Times, 44, of Hyde Park, Mass. won the BCF Swiss #23, held Saturday, June 27, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Mass. In an Open section field of 14 players, Tiimes tallied 3.5-0.5, including a win over top-rated IM David Vigorito of Somerville in the third round. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 scores were fellow master Carey Theil, 31, of Arlington, Mass. and Class A contestant Mika Brattain, 10, of Lexington, Mass. Class A player Zaroug Jaleel, 14, also of Lexington, finished fourth with a 2.5-1.5 result. In the 10-player Under 1800 section, Eric Strickland of Brattleboro, Vermont scored a perfect 4-0 to take first place. Daniel Bromberg, 34, of Cambridge, Mass. was second with a 3-1 tally. Tying for 3rd-4th place with 2.5-1.5 results were Harold Dondis, 86, of Belmont, Mass. and Nicholas Plotkin, 11, of Sharon, Mass. Robert Oresick of Norton, Mass. directed the tournament for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Nationally rated expert Andrew Wang of Sharon, Mass., Class A player David Glickman of Chestnut Hill, Mass., and Class C contestant Thomas Sifter of Quincy, Mass. tied for first place in the BCF Thursday Night Swiss, held June 4 through June 25 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Mass. Wang, who celebrates his 14th birthday on Sunday, June 28, tallied 3-1, a score equaled by 47-year-old Glickman and 50-year-old Sifter. The tournament drew 14 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Mass. for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Expert Frank Sisto of Waltham, Mass. and Class A player John Elmore of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire tallied 3.5-0.5 to tie for first place in the Newburyport (Mass.) Chess Club Tournament #86, held June 3 through June 24. Runner-up with a 3-1 score was Class A contestant Arthur King of Haverhill, Mass.  The event drew 22 players and was directed by John Elmore, with assistance from Geoffrey Collins.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

David Todd, 11, of Boxford, Mass. and Rohan Shankar, 12, of Sudbury, Mass. shared top honors in the June Scholastic tournament held Sunday, June 21, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Mass. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 results were Daniel Ruttenberg, 12, of Newton, Mass. and Afareen Jaleel, 10, of Lexington, Mass. The Game/30 tournament drew 11 players and was directed by FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Andy Li, an 11-year-old scholastic player from Acton, Mass. scored a perfect 4-0 to win the 36th Chelmsford (Mass.)  Burger King tournament held on Sunday, June 14. Runners-up with 3-1 tallies were two six-year-olds: Isabella Shih of Andover, Mass. and Drew Streckenbach of Winchester, Mass. The tournament drew nine players and was directed by Matthew Gosselin of Melrose, Mass. for the sponsoring MARI (Massachusetts-Rhode Island) chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Lawyer Times, 44, of Hyde Park, Mass., and Class A player Mika Brattain, 10, of Lexington, Mass. tied for first place in the Legends of Chess: Oldrich Duras tournament, held Saturday, June 20, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Mass. The co-winners scored 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round.  Runners-up with 2.5-1.5 tallies were Class A contestant James Lung, 13, of Lexington, and Class C entrant Ryan Ottaviano of Allston, Mass., the latter of whom grew up in Georgia and is a 2006 graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, The tournament drew 14 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Mass, The event honored the memory of Czech grandmaster Oldrich Duras (1882-1957), who was a three-time champion of Czechoslovakia and is best known as a composer of endgame studies and problems.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito finally tied the proverbial wedding knot. In a lavish ceremony held on Sunday afternoon, June 14, at the Willowdale Estate in Topsfield, Massachusetts, the 38-year-old Somerville, Mass. resident married Heather Kroll. The outdoor under-the-tent ceremony, held within the Bradley Palmer State Park in Topsfield, was attended by a number of notable people. In addition to the groom's parents, Mavis and Robert Vigorito, and the bride's parents, Andrea Kroll and Paul Murphy, the couple's guests included, of course, chess-playing friends.  Among them were three former multitime New Hampshire state champions, IM Joe Fang, FM Braden Bournival and Kevin Cotreau, former Massachusetts state champion Denys Shmelov, ex-Boylston Chess Club president FM Paul MacIntyre, women's international master Vesna Dimitrijevic, FIDE arbiter Chris Bird, IM Mark Ginsburg from Arizona, FMs Mike Casella and Eugene Yanayt from California, and IM Dean Ippolito and his wife from New Jersey. Vesna's husband, FM Bill Kelleher, had to cancel at the last minute due to a FIDE meeting in Poland. Kim and IM Jim Rizzitano were also unable to attend at the last minute. Heather and David are currently honeymooning in Italy, with planned stops in Rome, Tuscany and Venice.

View wedding website here.

Additional wedding photos available here.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA has received the sad news of the passing of Dr. Armand I. Patrucco of Providence, Rhode Island, who died at home Wednesday, June 3. He was 75. Dr. Patrucco was a professor emeritus of history at Rhode Island College, where he taught for 35 years before retiring in 1997. As advisor to the college's chess club for at least 20 years, "Doc" Patrucco transformed Rhode Island College into a national collegiate chess power. He revived the college's chess club in 1971 and built a college team that was ranked several times in the top 10 nationally. RIC won the  Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Team Championship in 1985. Under his leadership, the college became the first school in the country to award chess scholarships. He was born November 11, 1933 in New York City, the son of Peter and Cristina (Sassone) Patrucco. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Queens College and a master's degree from Columbia University, where he also earned his doctorate in Modern European History.. He was considered one of the country's leading authorities on Italian politics and wrote many scholarly articles for professional journals. A book by him, "The Politics of the Italian Parliamentary System, 1860-1915," published in 1992 by Garland Publishing Inc., makes the case that attacks on the pre-World War I Italian parliamentary system prepared the way for the rise of fascism. The book was a revision of his 1969 doctoral dissertation at Columbia. Doc Patrucco was named faculty member of the year in 1984 at RIC. He was a former treasurer of the New England Historical Society, former chairman of the Rhode Island Developmental Disabilities Council, and a member of the American Historical Society and the Italian Historical Studies. He is on the list of MACA's Living Memorial Chess Fund honored individuals. He leaves a sister, Vilma Patrucco, with whom he lived; and an aunt, Letizia Boiardo Sassone, and many cousins in Italy. His funeral was held Friday, June 5, in St. Thomas Church in Providence. Burial was private. Donations in his memory may be made either to the Rhode Island College Foundation, 408 Roberts Hall, Providence, RI 02908-1991, or to MACA's Living Memorial Chess Fund, c/o Robert Messenger, Treasurer, 4 Hamlett Drive #12, Nashua, NH 03062-4641.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. scored 3.5-0.5 to win the 59th New Hampshire Open, held June 13-14 in Manchester. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were expert Patrick Sciacca, 46, of Salem, N.H., who was awarded the state championship title as the highest-scoring resident, and fellow expert Winston Huang, 14, of Newton, Mass. Albert French Jr. of New Hampshire tallied 3.5-0.5 to win first place in the Under 1900 section. Tying for 2nd-3rd place prizes with 2.5-1.5 results were MACA life members Michael Moore of Newburyport, Mass. and Thomas Provost of Canterbury, N.H., as well as Robert Shore and Akagi Kayashima, both of Maine. The Under 1600 section ended in a three-way tie among Ben Karren of Vermont, Bruce Stone of Auburn, N.H., and fellow Granite Stater Ted Medrek. All three scored 3.5-0.5. In the Sunday Swiss held on June 14, Class A contestant Parker Montgomery of Middlebury, Vermont, formerly of Keene, N.H. won with a score of 3-0. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 2-1 results were Alan Schalk of South Berwick, Maine, and Charles Grau of New Hampshire. The four-section tournament drew 58 players and was directed by F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, N.H., assisted by Nita Patel of Bedford, for the sponsoring New Hampshire Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Benjamin Goldberg, a 28-year-old expert from Cumberland, Rhode Island, scored 3.5-0.5 to win the BCF Somerville Open, held Saturday, June 13, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Mass. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville and Class A contestant George Zogbi of Arlington, Mass. Niccolo Hilgendorf, a Class C player from New Hampshire who was the 2004 New Mexico K-3 scholastic state co-champion, chalked up a 3-1 score to win first place in the Under 1800 section. Tying for 2nd-5th place with 2.5-1.5 results were Daniel Pascetta of South Glastonbury, Connecticut, Robert Oresick of Norton, Mass., Ryan Ottaviano of Allston, Mass., and Samuel Thompson, the last of whom shared the 2004 New Mexico K-3 scholastic state championship title with section winner Hilgendorf. The two-section Boylston Chess Foundation-sponsored tournament drew 28 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Mass., assisted by Mike Griffin of Quincy, Mass.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA member Ilya Krasik, 29, of Newton, Massachusetts scored the biggest victory in his chess-playing career by capturing first place in the Under 2200 section of the 2009 National Open, played June 5-7 at the South Point Hotel-Casino-Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada. Krasik, rated 2188, tallied 5.5-0.5 in a field of 81 players to capture first prize of $ 3,868.00. As a result of his performance, Krasik's rating rose to 2246 - restoring the master's rating he attained for the first time in August 2006. He has been playing rated chess since September 20, 1992, when he competed in the Greater Boston Game/60 tournament in Watertown, Mass. The only other prize winner from Massachusetts in this year's National Open was nine-time Massachusetts state champion GM Alexander Ivanov, also of Newton, who scored 4.5-1.5 in the Open section to tie for 3rd-14th place. He took home a paltry $413 as his prize. Tying for 1st-2nd place in the Open section were GM Varuzhan Akobian of North Hollywood, California, and IM Enrico Sevillano of Tehachapi, Calif, both of whom scored 5-1. A total of 670 players competed in eight rated sections of  the Las Vegas International Chess Festival, which was organized by Fred Gruenberg of Illinois, who announced his retirement as chief organizer of this stellar event.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following are winners of top sections in tournaments held in May at various Massachusetts chess clubs

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

In a dramatic come-from-behind victory, grandmaster Alexander Ivanov won the 78th Massachusetts Open, held May 23-25 at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough. The 53-year-old Newton resident suffered a setback in the third wound when he lost to FIDE master Bill Kelleher, the 1992 Massachusetts state co-champion. But then Ivanov posted back-to-back wins against Ilya Krasik of Newton and FM Paul MacIntyre of Malden to set up a final-round confrontation with international master David Vigorito of Somerville, who was leading the field with 4.5 points. Ivanov defeated his rival and with it gained his ninth Massachusetts state championship. Prize winners were as follows:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

 Maryanne Reilly of Newton Centre was re-elected MACA president, based on election results announced today at the MACA annual membership meeting at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough. Reilly received 79 votes vs. 25 votes for challenger Robert E. King of Plymouth, a former MACA president. Ken Ballou of Framingham, who had served as clerk, was elected vice president. Bob Messenger of Nashua, NH was re-elected treasurer, while Nicholas Sterling of Needham was elected clerk. Complete election results are as follows:

Number of ballots issued: 851       Number of ballots received: 111      Number of valid ballots: 110

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE masters Paul MacIntyre, 47, of Malden, Massachusetts, and Charles Riordan, 29, of Somerville, Mass. shared top honors in a four-player, double round-robin Game/25 tournament held Friday, May 22, at the Galleria Florentia at 79 Newbury St. in Boston. The dynamic duo tallied 4-2 (three wins, two draws and one loss apiece) in finishing a full two points ahead of their archrivals, international master David Vigorito, 38, of Somerville, and senior master Denys Shmelov, 22, of Pepperell, Mass. Shmelov, the 2008 Massachusetts state champion, notched one win (vs. MacIntyre), two draws (both vs. Vigorito), and three losses  (one against MacIntyre and two against Riordan), while Vigorito, the 2007 Mass. state champion, tallied zero wins, four draws (one vs. Riordan, one vs. MacIntyre, and two vs. Shmelov), and two losses (one vs. Riordan and one vs. MacIntyre). In their head-to-head confrontation, MacIntyre scored a win and a draw against Riordan. Each received $875 apiece, while Vigorito and Shmelov took home $375 each. All four players are set to play this weekend in the 78th Massachusetts Open at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough, where a new state champion will be crowned and a top prize of $500 is being offered. Among those who will join them in the competition are four other former Mass. state champions:GM Alexander Ivanov, 53, of Newton, an eight-time state champion; IM Igor Foygel, 61, of Brookline, a five-time state champion; FM William Kelleher, 59, of Watertown, the 1992 state co-champion; and FM John Curdo, 77, of Auburn, a 17-time state champion.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov, 53, of Newton, Massachusetts posted a perfect score of 5-0 to win the 17th annual New York State Open, held May 15-17 at the Howard Johnson Tiki Resort at Lake George, New York. Capturing second place with a 4-1 tally was 14-year-old high-rated expert Deepak Aaron of New York, who gained a master's rating as a result of his performance. Tied for 3rd-4th place with 3.5-1.5 results were two other New Yorkers: Matthew Fischler and Patrick Chi. Andrew Palmer of Vermont scored 4.5-0.5 to finish first in the Under 1700 section. Runners-up with 4-1 tallies were Kevin Brown, Lance Winters and Makhmadamin Madyaoriv, all of New York, and Lucas Knight of Pennsylvania. Madyarov won the top Under 1500 prize. The two-section tournament drew 57 players and was directed by Steve Immitt of New York for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA members Avraam Pismennyy, 71, of Salem, Massachusetts, and Carey Theil, 31, of Arlington, Mass. tied for 1st-2nd place in the BCC $10 Open, held Saturday, May 16, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Mass.The two nationally rated masters tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with each other in the final round, to finish on top in an Open section field of 16 players. Tied for third place with 3-1 scores were international master David Vigorito, 38, of Somerville, who lost to Pismennyy in the third round, and Class A player Benedict Smail of Lexington, Mass., a student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who lost to Pismennyy in the first round. In the Under 1800 section (where nine players competed), Seth Lieberman of Jamaica Plain, Mass., Matthew Lee, 10, of East Walpole, Mass., and Daniel Bromberg, 34, of Cambridge, Mass. tied for first place with 3-1 results. Bernardo Iglesias, assisted by Robert Oresick, directed for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master John Curdo, 77, of  Auburn, Massachusetts, tallied 3.5-0.5 to win first place in the May Madness Plus Score tournament, held Saturday, May 16, at the Holyoke Public Library in Holyoke, Mass. Tied for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 scores were Matthew Derek Meredith of West Hartford, Connecticut; Jonathan Ingellis of Haydenville, Mass., and Bruce Arnold of South Hadley, Mass. Serbian-born Dragan Vidanovic, now a resident of western Massachusetts, posted a score of 2.5-1.5 to finish in fifth place. All five players won prize money based on their plus scores. The four-round Game/65 tournament drew 12 players and was directed by Edward Kostreba of Ware, Mass. for the sponsoring Western Massachusetts Chess Association (WMCA).

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito, 38, of Somerville, Massachusetts, and FIDE master Nelson Castaneda, 50, of New Britain, Connecticut, tied for 1st-2nd place in the Portsmouth Open, held Saturday, May 9, at the Holiday Inn in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with each other in the final round. Tied for third place with 3-1 scores were grandmaster Alexander Ivanov, 53, of Newton, Massachusetts (who lost to Castaneda in the third round); and experts Patrick Sciacca, 46, of Salem, NH, and Alan Schalk, 50, of South Berwick, Maine.  Kerry McDermott, 45, of Dover, NH won the top under 1900 prize with a 2.5-1.5 score. In the Under 1650 section, Florencio Cecenas of Manchester, NH, and fellow Granite State player Gerald Potorski tied for 1st-2nd place with 3.5-0.5 scores after drawing each other in the final round. Tied for third place with 3-1 results were Leroy Doucette, Mathew Colson and Bruce Sherwood, all of Maine, as well as Alan Hale and Dan Hochberg, both of Massachusetts. Sherwood was also the top-scoring player rated under 1300. The two-section tournament drew 45 players and was directed by F. Alexander Relyea, with assistance from Nita Patel - both of Bedford, NH - for the sponsoring Relyea Chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

USCF member Turker M. Ozbek, a Class A-rated player from Warwick, Rhode Island and Izmir, Turkey, died March 12, 2009 in his native Turkey. He was 70.  He was born the son of Servet and Zehra Ozbek on October 6, 1938 in Edremit, near the Aegean Sea, Turkey. He graduated from Balikesir University. He was a lieutenant in the Turkish army and later became a teacher of mathematics, chemistry and physics in his native land before moving to Providence, Rhode Island in 1970. He attended the University of Rhode Island in Providence, studying chemical engineering. He later worked as a chemist. Mr. Ozbek was a longtime member of the Cranston-Warwick Chess Club and the Rhode Island Chess Club.  He also belonged to the Warwick Bridge Club. A longtime resident of North Scituate, Rhode Island, he spent the last several years of his life dividing his time between his home in Izmir and Warwick. Among his survivors is his wife of 43 years, Susan G. (Haynes) Ozbek, whom he met while she was serving in the Peace Corps. A funeral service was held in March in Gelenbe, Turkey. A celebration of his life will be held Saturday, May 9, at 2 p.m. at the Ozbek home at 6 Remington St., Warwick, Rhode Island.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

 The following are winners of weeknight tournaments held in April at various Massachusetts chess clubs:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Massachusetts, and international master David Vigorito of Somerville, Mass. tied for first place in the 2009 Rhode Island State Championship, held May 2-3 at Donovan Cafeteria at Rhode Island College in Providence. The duo tallied 4.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round. Runner-up with a 3.5-1.5 score and gaining the state championship title as the highest-scoring resident was expert David Harris of Providence. John Perrotta tallied 4-1 to finish first in the Under 1900 section. Tied for 2nd-4th place with 3.5-1.5 results were fellow Rhode Island players Christopher Gu, Rick Massimo and Nelson Hernandez. Kenneth Gu of Rhode Island posted a pefect 5-0 score to win the Under 1500 section. Tied for the runner-up position with 3.5-1.5 tallies were Vijay Chitnis Jr. and Marie Coccio, both of Rhode Island, and Cory Silva of Massachusetts. The three-section tournament drew 41 players and was directed by Frank Vogel III, with assistance from Eric Berkey, for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Miroslav Filip, a world championship candidate in 1956 and 1962, died on Monday, April 27, in Prague, Czech Republic. Filip came into prominence shortly after World War II, when he won the Czech Junior Championship in 1947. He became a national master in 1948 and was champion of Czechoslovakia in 1950 (shared with Jiri Fichtl), 1952 and 1954. The World Chess Federation (FIDE) awarded him the GM title in 1955. He qualified for the world championship Candidates Tournament in 1956 in Amsterdam and in 1962 in Curacao. He represented his country in 12 straight Olympiads from 1952 to 1974. FIDE awarded him the International Arbiter title in 1978 and he was chief arbiter of that year's world championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi. He also officiated at the women's world championship matches in 1975 and 1981. A lawyer by profession, Filip was also a chess journalist and wrote many books and articles on the royal game.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The U.S. Chess Federation has announced that two MACA members, Michelle Chen of Concord, Massachusetts, and Stuart Finney of Barrington, Rhode Island, have qualified to participate in the 2009 World Youth Chess Championship, scheduled for November 11-23 in Antalya, Turkey. Chen, who turned 12 years old on May 2, is qualified to participate in the section for Girls under 12. Finney, who turned 14 on January 30, is qualified to take part in the section for Boys under 14. The two youngsters are the only players from New England to qualify among the 58 U.S. youngsters invited to participate in the tournament, which is being organized by the Turkish Chess Federation under the aegis of the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA has received sad news of the passing of USCF member J. Albert Skalbite of Monson, Massachusetts, who died Feb. 13, 2009 in Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer, Mass. He was born Janis Albert Skalbite on June 18, 1939 in Platere, Latvia, the son of Janis R. and Eliza E. (Ozolins) Skalbite, and immigrated to the United States in the early 1950s. He served in the U.S. Navy, where he became an avid chess player. After an absence from the game for some time,. he took up the royal game in later years and played in his first USCF-rated tournament in August 2003, when he competed in the East Longmeadow Open. He quickly established himself as a Class B player and maintained that rating until his death. He is survived by his wife, Linda A. (Bernier) Skalbite; and a son, Robert J. Skalbite. Donations in his memory may be made to the Western Massachusetts Chess Association, to support chess in western Massachusetts, c/o Frank Kolasinski, 119 Brunswick St., Springfield, MA 01108-2815 or to MACA's Living Memorial Chess Fund, c/o Robert Messenger, MACA Treasurer, 4 Hamlett Drive #12, Nashua, NH 03062-4641.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The Parlin Memorial Library in Everett, Massachusetts held its 14th annual scholastic chess tournament on Friday, April 24. The winner in the Novice section of the event , Jonathan Gong of Acton, Mass., had cause for rejoicing. He not only won the section with a perfect 3-0 score, but he was also celebrating his eighth birthday on that day. Taking second place was Conor Rachlin, 9, while Brendan Rutledge, 9, and Luke Whiting, 8, finished in third and fourth place respectively. Jonathan's brother, James Gong, 11, also posted a perfect score to finish first in the Junior division. Jamie Segee-Wright, 11, captured second place, while Matthew LeDonna, 10, finished third and Christopher Boucher, 10, ended up in fourth place. Michael Marshall, 13, was the winner with a perfect score in the Intermediate division. Murali Prasad, 14, of Ipswich captured second place. Shawn Nguyen, 14, took third and Kevin Campbell, 14, finished fourth. In the Senior division, Angelo Colucci, 18, took first place. Luis Henriquez Perez, 15, was second. Steve Nguyen, 15, finished in third place, while Ivan Velev, 16, ended up fourth. Most of the youngsters were from Everett, but a few were from other eastern Massachusetts cities and towns. And one youngster came all the way from New Hampshire. Deb Abraham provided results of the tournament.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Timothy Pan of West Newton, Mass., and Changming Xu of Carlisle, Mass. tied for 1st-2nd place in Section 1 of the 2nd Papa Gino's Open, held Sunday, April 26, in Waltham, Mass. Both tallied 3.5-0.5. Tied for third place with 2-2 scores were Henry Li of Lexington, Mass., Sean Cheng of Westford, Mass., Brandon Wu of Littleton, Mass., and Michael Shulman of Auburndale, Mass. James Gong of Acton and Anton Barash of Brighton, Mass. scored 3.5-0.5 to tie for 1st-2nd place in Section 2. Tied for third place with 3-1 results were Leonardo Cheng of Westford, Eric Liu of Acton, and Christopher Wang of Lexington, Mass. The two-section tournament drew 26 players and was directed by Matthew Gosselin of Melrose, Mass. for the sponsoring MARI (Massachusetts Rhode Island) chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

GM Gildardo Garcia of Florida won the 2009 Connecticut State Championship, held April 25-26 at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. The 55-year-old native of Medellin, Colombia tallied 3.5-0.5 to finish ahead of runners-up GM Sergey Kudrin, 49, of Stamford, Conn.; GM Alexander Ivanov, 52, of Newton, Massachusetts; and 13-year-old expert Daniel Rozovsky of West Hartford, Conn. All three ended up with 3-1 scores. Gary Cote of Connecticut captured the top Under 2000 prize with a 2-2 performance. MACA life member Michael Pascetta, 45, of South Glastonbury, Conn. posted a perfect score of 4-0 to finish first in the Reserve section for players rated under 1800. Fellow state player Charles Daly took second place with a 2.5-1.5 result. Kevin Zimmerman of Connecticut won the top Under 1600 prize with a 3-1 tally, while Michael Elwell of Rhode Island took the second prize in that category with a 2-2 score. The two-section tournament drew 25 players and was directed by Tom Hartmayer for the sponsoring UConn Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master Igor Foygel, 61, of Brookline, Mass. and FIDE master Charles Riordan, 29, of Somerville, Mass. tallied 3.5-0.5 to tie for first place in the 19th Massachusetts Game/60 Championship, held Sunday, April 26, at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick, Mass. This was Foygel's sixth Mass. Game/60 championship title, as he previously won or tied for first place in 2006, 2003, 2000, 1998 and 1996. This year he accomplished the feat by taking a half-point bye for the final round. Capturing the top Under 2150 prize with a 2-2 performance was Stuart Finney, 14, of Barrington, Rhode Island. Finishing out of the prize money in a tie for the runner-up position with scores of 2.5-1.5 were grandmaster Arthur Bisguier, 79, of Wellesley, Mass. and expert Ilya Krasik, 29, of Acton, Mass. Dmitry Noy, 73, of Lynn, Mass. and Felix Yang, 15, of Dover, Mass. tied for 1st-2nd place in the Under 2000 section with scores of 3.5-0.5. Grant Xu, 11, of Shrewsbury, Mass. and Nicholas Zhang, 11, of Lexington, Mass. tied for the top under 1850 prize with 2.5-1.5 tallies. Nicholas Plotikin, 10, of Sharon, Mass. and Robert J. King of Millbury, Mass. tied for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1700 section with scores of 3.5-0.5. Andrew Liu, 10, of Westboro, Mass. captured the top under 1550 prize with a 3-1 result. Alan Hale. a member of the U.S. Air Force stationed at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Mass., and Edward Li, a sixth-grader from Acton, Mass., tied for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1400 section with scores of 3.5-0.5. Alex Fauman, 7, of Newton, Mass. won the top under 1200 prize with a 3-1 performance. The four-section tournament drew 66 players and was directed by F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire, with assistance from MACA tournament coordinator Ken Ballou of Framingham, Mass.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, Massachusetts and expert Douglas Fiske of West Hartford, Connecticut both scored 2.5-0.5 to tie for first place in the Dr Joseph Platz Memorial tournament, held Saturday, April 25, at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Ronald Gist of Northampton, Mass. tallied a perfect 3-0 to win in the Under 1800 section, where Richard Zyra of Westfield, Mass. and fellow Bay Stater Jonathan Ingellis tied for second place with 2.5-0.5 results. The two-section event drew 24 players and was directed by Edward Kostreba of Ware, Mass. for the sponsoring Western Mass. Chess Association (WMCA). The tournament celebrated the life of master Dr. Joseph Platz (1905-1981), a multi-time Connecticut state and New England champion.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master David Carter and Vermont state champion Haizhou Xu tied for first place in the 6th Vermont Spring Open, held April 24-26 in Stratton Mountain, Vermont. The two Green Mountain State players tallied 4.5-0.5. Tied for third place with 3.5-1.5 scores were Class A player John Philllips Jr. of New York and Class B participant Walter Chesnut of Vermont. Buddhadeb Biswas of Lexington, Massachusetts finished first in the Under 1550 section with a 4.5-0.5 score. Gabriel Katz of Vermont took second place with a 4-1 performance, while Dustin Wetzel of New York ended up third with a 3.5-1.5 result. The two-section tournament drew 30 players and was directed by Steve Immitt of New York for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito of Somerville, Mass. tallied 7.5-0.5 to win the New Hampshire Quick Chess Championship, held Saturday, April 25, at the Comfort Inn in Manchester. Taking second place with a 6.5-1.5 score was FIDE master Braden Bournival of Manchester, who nicked Vigorito for his only draw in the fourth round. Steve Crampton of New Hampshire posted a 6-2 result to win the Under 2000 prize, while Florencio Cecenas of Manchester took home the Under 1600 prize with a 4-4 performance. The tournament drew 25 players and was directed by F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, N.H. for the sponsoring Relyea Chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE Master Paul MacIntyre posted a perfect score of 4-0 to win the BCF Swiss #22, held Saturday, April 25, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Mass. As a result, the 47-year-old Malden, Mass. resident qualified for the Galleria Florentia Tournament on Friday, May 1, when he will join international master David Vigorito, 38, and fellow FM Charles Riordan, 29, both of Somerville, and current Massachusetts state champion Denys Shmelov, 22, of Pepperell, Mass. in a double round robin Game/25 event with a $2500 prize fund. The event will begin at 1 p.m. at the gallery at 79 Newbury St. in Boston. Tying for 2nd-4th place in the BCF Swiss #22 with 3-1 results were Marc Esserman and Natasha Christiansen, both of Cambridge, Mass., and provisionally rated master Dr. Aung Kyaw Lwin of Massachusetts. The tournament drew 17 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Mass. for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Henry Li of Lexington, Massachusetts, and Adam Piche of Woodstock, Connecticut were the top winners in the Burger King tournament, held Sunday, April 19, in Framingham, Mass. Both tallied 3-1 in a top-section field of eight players. Runner-up with a 2.5-1.5 score was Timothy Pan of West Newton, Mass. Pan lost to Piche in the third round but beat Li in the final round. Li beat Piche in the first round. Leonardo Cheng of Westford, Mass. posted a perfect 4-0 score to finish first in the 12-player section for those age 8 and under. Runners-up with 3-1 results were Eric Liu of Acton, Mass., Rahul Krishnan of Hopkinton, Mass., and Jaimin Bhagat of Norfolk, Mass. Matthew Gosselin of Melrose, Mass. directed the event for the sponsoring MARI (MAssachusetts Rhode Island) chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Massachusetts state champion Denys Shmelov, 22, of Pepperell tallied a perfect 4-0 to win the Tornado #98 tournament, held Saturday, April 18, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying for second place with 3-1 results were national master Marc Esserman, 25, of Cambridge: provisionally rated expert Luis Baez-Rosario, a teenager originally from Puerto Rico; and Emerson College graduate student Ryan McGrady, a Class A player living in Cambridge. Richard Kahn of Merrimack, New Hampshire, and Chess Horizons photographer Tony Cortizas of Cambridge tied for first place in the Under 1800 section with scores of 3-1. The two-section event drew 23 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Massachusetts, and international master David Vigorito of Somerville, Mass. tied for first place in the 102nd Rhode Island Pawn Eater tournament, held Saturday, April 18, at Rhode Island College in Providence. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5, drawing each other in the third round. Tied for the runner-up spot with 2.5-1.5 scores were national master Miro Riverby and expert David Harris, both of Rhode Island. Samuel Kirsch of Rhode Island won the Under 1900 section with a 3.5-0.5 performance, while Tim Bromley of Billerica, Mass. and Nelson Hernandez of Rhode Island tied for second place with 3-1 results. Kenneth Gu of Rhode Island posted the tournament's only perfect score of 4-0 by winning the Under 1500 section. Deadlocked in the runner-up position with 3-1 scores were Michael Elwell, Benjamin Swiszcz and Sanford Lee, all of Rhode Island, and Cory Silva of Massachusetts. The three-section tournament drew 39 players and was directed by Frank Vogel III, assisted by Eric Berkey, for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA has received belatedly sad news about the passing of one of its life members, Andrus Varnik of Arlington, Mass. Mr. Varnik died at age 71 on March 16, 2009. His obituary appeared in The Arlington (Mass.) Advocate newspaper, for which a link is provided. Donations in memory of Mr. Varnik may be made to MACA's Living Memorial Chess Fund, made payable to "LMCF," and be sent to Robert Messenger, MACA Treasurer, 4 Hamlett Drive, Apt. 12, Nashua, NH 03062-4641.

Obit: Andrus Varnik - Arlington, MA - The Arlington Advocate

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Danny Ainge, general manager of the Boston Celtics basketball team and a great chess enthusiast, suffered a minor heart attack early this morning. He was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he is expected to stay for several days. Ainge, who played for the Celtics during the 1980s, is best remembered by chess fans as being one of three Celtics players who challenged 11-year-old "wunderkind" Bobby Seltzer of West Roxbury, Mass. on October 1, 1986 in a exhibtiion match at the Woodland Golf Club in Newton, Mass. It was part of a benefit for multiple sclerosis. Joining Ainge in the match were fellow players Kevin McHale and Bill Walton. All three lost. The complete story, written by MACA member Robert Huntington of Wayland, Mass., appeared in the April-May 1987 issue of Chess Horizons.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following players had the highest scores among Massachusetts players competing in the seven-section, 541-player Foxwoods Open that ended Sunday, April 12, in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

Open section (127 players): IM David Vigorito, 38, of Somerville, 6-3
Under 2100 section (103 players): Leonid Tkach, 69, of Amherst, 5-2
Under 1900 section (110 players): Benjamin Smith, 17, of Melrose, and Tom Newman, 5.5-1.5
Under 1700 section (82 players): Jerry Williams, 59, of Douglas, 5-2
Under 1500 section (62 players): Harvey Reed, 51, of Natick, 4.5-2.5
Under 1300 section (43 players): Jason Anshewitz, 31, of Weymouth, 4-3
Under 1000 section (46 players): James Taggert of Boxborough, 6-1

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Darmen Sadvakasov of Kazakhstan became the 2009 Foxwoods Open title winner on Sunday, April, 12 after playing to a draw in an Armageddon playoff with fellow GM Yury Shulman of Chicago. Shulman, who held the Open section lead right from the start, was forced into the playoff after Sadvakasov pulled even with him in the ninth and final round of regulation play. Both finished with scores of 7.5-1.5. Shulman, who needed to win in order to gain the Foxwoods Open title for the second year in a row, chose White and received 5 minutes. Sadvakasov received 3 minutes and needed only a draw in order to gain the title. The game was played with a 5-second delay. Sadvakasov secured the draw after 51 moves in a Queen's Indian Defense, the same defense that GM Alexander Ivanov of Massachusetts employed unsuccessfully in last year's Foxwoods Open Armageddon playoff that gave Shulman the title. One of the highlights in this year's tournament was that 17-year-old IM Robert Hess of New York secured his third GM norm and is expected to receive that title from the Federation International des Echecs (FIDE) later this year. In addition, FIDE master Teghshsuren Enkhbat of Maryland gained his second IM norm. Here are some of the top prize winners in all the sections:

OPEN SECTION
1st-2nd: GM Darmen Sadvakasov (champion) and GM Yury Shulman, 7.5-1.5
3rd: GM Loek van Wely of the Netherlands, 7-2
4th-10th: GM Julio Becerra of Florida, GM Jaan Ehlvest of New York, GM Alexander Shabalov of Pennsylvania, IM Alex Lenderman of New York, GM Joshua Friedel of California, IM Jay Bonin of New York, FM Farel Mandizha of Zimbabwe, 6.5-2.5.
UNDER 2100 SECTION
1st:-3rd: Jonathan Corbblah and Furqan Tanwir, both of New York, Evgeny Sher of Callfornia, 6-1
UNDER 1900 SECTION
1st-3rd: Keenan Olson of Alabama, Yuval Shemesh of North Carolina, Mattthew McCuiston of New York, 6-1
UNDER 1700 SECTION
1st: Christopher Gu of Rhode Island, 6.5-0.5; 2nd: Jason Turner of Maryland, 6-1
UNDER 1500 SECTION
1st: Abiye Williams of Maryland, 6.5-0.5
UNDER 1300 SECTION
1st: Kola Adeyemi of New Jersey, 6.5-0.5; 2nd: Yury Nunez, also of New Jersey, 6-1
UNDER 1000 SECTION
1st-2nd: James Taggert of Boxborough, Massachusetts, and Jenny Ma of New Hampshire, 6-1

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

With two rounds remaining in the 11th annual Foxwoods Open, GM Yury Shulman maintains his lead in the 127-player Open section. The 2008 U.S. champion drew IM Robert Hess in Round 6 but defeated GM Alex Shabalov in Round 7 to stay in front by a score of 6.5-0.5. IM Alex Lenderman moved into second place with wins against GM Alex Yermolinsky and GM Varuzhan Akobian in rounds 6 and 7 respectively. He now trails Shulman by a half point. Two players are currently deadlocked in third place with 5.5 points apiece. They are IM Robert Hess, who is destined to make another GM norm as he did in last year's Foxwoods Open, and GM Darmen Sadvakasov. In Round 7, Hess drew GM Loek van Wely and Sadvakasov beat IM Samuel Shankland. A total of 18 players stand with scores of 5-2.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

After five rounds of play in the Foxwoods Open, grandmaster Yury Shulman has taken over the lead in the Open section with five straight wins. A half point behind him are fellow GMs Varuzhan Akobian and Alexander Shabalov as well as international master Robert Hess. All won their Round 5 games. Shulman defeated GM Loek van Wely of the Netherlands, Akobian bested IM Ray Robson in a queen and pawn vs. rook and pawn ending, Shabalov beat Massachusetts GM Alexander Ivanov and Hess outplayed GM Hikaru Nakamura in a same-colored bishop and pawns ending. This was the second GM that Hess upset in the tournament, as he beat GM Jaan Ehlvest in Round 3. Four more rounds remain to be played in the Open section, where now 127 players are competing.

View Tournament Photos Here. [Photo by Mike Atkins]

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

After three rounds of play in the 11th annual Foxwoods Open in Mashantucket, CT, three grandmasters and two international masters are tied for the lead with perfect 3-0 scores. Sharing the current limelight are GMs Yury Shulman (2697) of Chicago, Varuzhan Akobian (2664) of North Hollywood, California, Darmen Sadvakasov (2611) of Kazakhstan, and IMs Robert Hess (2545) of New York and Samuel Shankland (2477) of California. Shulman and Hess tied for first place with two other GMs in last year's Foxwoods Open. Hess achieved a grandmaster norm at that event. Six more rounds remain to be played in the 126-player Open section, which ends Sunday, April 12.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The 11th annual Foxwoods Open got under way Wednesday night, April 8, at the Foxwoods Resort Casino & Hotel in Mashantucket, CT. More than a dozen players from Massachusetts are competing in the 124-player Open section of the tournament. Here are Round 1 results:

GM Eugene Perelshteyn (2599) of Swampscott beat Sergey Vertkin (2236-MA)
GM Alexander Ivanov (2596) of Newton beat FM Sunil Weeramantry (2235-NY)
IM David Vigorito (2453) of Somerville beat Chris Williams (2199) of Brighton
Marc Esserman (2439) of Cambridge beat Joshua Gutman (2185-CA)
FM Teddy Coleman (2313) of Cambridge beat Bora Yagiz (1924-NY)
FM Paul MacIntyre (2300) of Malden beat John Vaughan (1899-MA)
Avraam Pismennyy (2280) of Salem took a half-point bye
Natasha Christiansen (1865) of Cambridge drew Matt Parry (2298-NY)
Lawyer Times (2245) of Hyde Park lost to GM Darmen Sadvakasov (2611-Kazakhstan)
Libardo Rueda (2206) of Winthrop lost to IM Bryan Smith (2549-PA)

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Twenty-two Massachusetts youngsters were among the over 5000 scholastic chess players who competed in 20 sections in the USCF Supernationals tournament in Nashville this weekend.

The biggest excitement for Massachusetts was reported Sunday: Mika Brattain's excellent first place finish, with 6.5 points, in the K5 championship.

In all, Massachusetts was represented in 9 sections.

In the K12 Champioship, 10th grader Alex Kaye of Weston scored 2.5 points, for 282nd place out of 367

In the K12 Under 1200 section, 4th grader Sabrina Zhang of Lexington scored 2.5 points for 231st of 350

In the K9 Championship section, the Weston team of Akshay Saini, Naveed Hedayat, Ian Delaney and Sam Lurie won a team trophy, finishing in 8th place with a total of 12 team points.
In addition, Neveed won a trophy for 3rd under 1200, with 3 points.
Individual results in this section were:
8th grader Akshay Saini, 3.5 points for 52nd of 115
8th grader Naveed Hedayat, 3 points for 77th
8th grader Ian Delaney, 3 points for 82nd
8th grader Sam Lurie, 2.5 points for 94th
4th grader Jared Groff, also of Weston, 1.5 points for 104th

Individual results in the K9 Under 1250 section were:
7th grader Marcus Luzzi of Weston, 3 points for 229th of 328
7th grader Colin Luzzi of Weston, 1 point for 319th
7th grader Drew Mccarron of Weston, 1 point for 320th
7th grader Sammy Hooper of Weston, 0 points for 328th

In the K8 Championship section, 8th grader Jacob Fauman of Newton scored 5 points, to finish 29th out of 242. In addition, Jacob won a trophy for tied for 20th.

In the K6 Championship section, 6th grader Nicholas Zhang of Lexington scored 4.5 points to finish 48th out of 211.

In the K5 Championship section, the BB&N team of Max Wiegand, Tristan Young, Issay Matsumoto, and William Nemirovsky won a team trophy, finishing in 20th place with 10.5 team points.
Individual results in this section were:
5th grader Mika Brattain of Lexington, 6.5 points for 1st out of 317
5th grader Charlie Fauman of Newton, 4.5 points for 72nd
4th grader Max Wiegand, 3.5 points for 150th
4th grader Tristan Young, 2.5 points for 241st
4th grader Issay Matsumoto, 2.5 points for 266th
4th grader William Nemirovsky, 2 points for 272nd.

In the K3 Championship section, 2nd grader Alex Fauman of Newton scored 5 points to finish 43rd out of 246.

In the K1 Championship section,1st grader Ben Wiegand of Cambridge scored 3 points to finish 154th out of 303.
Four-year-old Ben Fauman of Newton, who will start Kindergarten in 2010, scored 2.5 points to finish 248th.

Eric Fauman
Parent Contributor

Ten-year-old Mika Andrew Brattain, a Class A-rated player from Lexington, Massachusetts, won the K-5 Championship of the Super Nationals IV tournament on Sunday, April 5, in Nashville, Tennessee. The Harrington Elementary School fifth-grader chalked up a score of 6.5-0.5 in a field of 317 players to finish first on tiebreak points over provisionally rated Class C player Ford Yukio Nakagawa of Hawaii. Mika defeated in the final round front-runner Christopher Wu of New Jersey, who finished with a 6-1 tally. Mika attained his Class A rating with the March 2008 USCF rating supplement - more than five months before his 10th birthday. He has been playing rated chess since December 19, 2004, when he competed at age 6 in a Burger King tournament in Waltham, Mass., directed by the late Gus Gosselin.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Twenty-two youngsters from eight Massachusetts schools are among nearly 5300 players from 45 states competing in the Super Nationals IV tournament, which is being played April 3-5 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The schools and their representative players are as follows:

Weston Public Schools - 10 players
Grade 10: Alexander Kaye 1424
Grade 8: Akshay Saini 1371
Grade 8: Sam Lurie 1180
Grade 8: Ian Delaney 1088
Grade 8: Naveed Hedayat 1002
Grade 7: Marcus Luzzi 1009
Grade 7: Drew McCarron 641
Grade 7: Colin Luzzi 628
Grade 7: Sammy Hooper 424
Grade 4: Jared Groff 1184

Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge - 5 players
Grade 4: Max Wiegand 1291
Grade 4: Tristan Young 1192
Grade 4: William Nemirovsky 944
Grade 4: Issay Matsumoto 767
Grade 1: Benjamin Wiegand 578

Cabot Elementary School in Newton - 2 players
Grade 5: Charlie Fauman 1598
Grade 2: Alex Fauman 1021

F.A. Day Middle School in Newton - 1 player
Grade 8: Jacob Fauman 1850

Unnamed school in Newton - 1 player
Pre-K: Benjamin Fauman unrated

Harrington Elementary School in Lexington - 1 player
Grade 5: Mika Brattain 1946 

Jonas Clarke Middle School in Lexington - 1 player
Grade 6: Nicholas Zhang 1649 

Bridge School in Lexington - 1 player
Grade 4: Sabrina Zhang 1128

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE masters Nelson Castaneda, 50, of New Britain, Connecticut, and John Curdo, 77, of Auburn, Massachusetts tied for first place in the Holyoke Saturday Open, held March 28 at the Holyoke Public Library in Holyoke, Mass. The co-winners tallied 2.5-0.5 in an Open section field of seven players, drawing each other in the final round. Runner-up with a 2-1 score was Dragan Vidanovic of Massachusetts. Ronald Gist of Northampton, Mass. swept the 14-player Under 1800 section with a perfect 3-0 score. Richard Zyra of Westfield, Mass. was second with a 2.5-0.5 result. Three players scored 2-1 to tie for first place in the Under 1400 section, where there were only five competitors. They were Chen Qu of New York, Pierre Plante of Indian Orchard, Mass., and Laurent LaFosse of Connecticut. The 26-player tournament was directed by Ed Kostreba of Ware, Mass. for the sponsoring Western Massachusetts Chess Association (WMCA).

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The High School section of the 2009 Hurvitz Cup State Scholastic Team Championship was held today (Sunday, March 29) at Weston Middle School in Weston, MA. Seven teams competed in the tournament;

1st: Newton North High School, 4-0 (Lior Rozhansky, Jesse Nicholas, Winber Xu, Richard Han)

2nd: Commonwealth School, 3-1 (Jake Garbarino, Danny Moraff, Joseph Taff, Jackson Elliott)

3rd: St. John's Prep, 3-1 (Benjamin Smith, John Corbett, Andrew Crotty, David Miller, Peter Haxton)

4th: Newton South High School Team A, 2-2 (Reilly Nathans, Greg Penzias, Lei Weng, Robert Wang)

5th: Lexington High School, 2-2 (Christine Lung, Wilson Qin, Rohan Nijhawan, Lisa Liu)

6th: Weston High School, 1-3 (Ernest Zeidman, Alexander Kaye, Jordan Gottlieb, Daniel Glauber)

7th: Newton South High School Team B, 1-3 (Kenneth Lu, Andrea Wong, Barry Cooley)

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito, 38, of Somerville, Massachusetts, scored 3.5-0.5 to win the Legends of Chess: Arnold Denker tournament on Saturday, March 28, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tied for second place with 3-1 tallies were FIDE master Christopher Chase, 52, of Somerville (who lost to Vigorito in the third round) and national master Lawyer Times, 44, of Hyde Park, Mass. (who drew Vigorito i the final round). The tournament drew 13 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias off Stoughton, Mass. for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov, 52, of Newton, Massachusetts posted a perfect score of 5-0 to win the Nashua Open, held March 28-29 at the Holiday Inn in Nashua, New Hampshire. FIDE master William Kelleher, 59, of Watertown, Mass. was second with a 4-1 tally. Tied for third place with 3-2 results were national master Henry "Hal" Terrie, 58, of Manchester, N.H., and experts Sheriff Khater, 23, of Nashua and Carlos Avalos of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. James DuBois, 51, of Peru, Maine captured first place in the Under 1750 section with a score of 4.5-0.5. Tied for the runner-up spot with 4-1 tallies were MACA life member Thomas Provost, 67, of Canterbury, N.H., and fellow Granite Staters Tony Cesolini and Donald Soucy. The two-section FIDE-rated tournament drew 44 players and was directed by F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, N.H., assisted by Nita Patel, also of Bedford.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The U.S. Chess Federation announced today that three New Englanders - GM Larry Christiansen of Massachusetts, GM Ildar Ibragimov of Connecticut, and GM Joshua Friedel of New Hampshire - are among 24 players invited to compete in the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship on May 7-17 at the new Chess Club and Scholastic Center in Saint Louis, Missouri. Both Christiansen and Ibragimov were invited based on their April rating, with Friedel gaining an entry spot as a wildcard. Christiansen (2681) is currently ranked sixth in the country and Ibragimov is tied for 13th place. Friedel (2568) is ranked tied for 29th place on the April rating list. First place in the nine-round Swiss tournament will be $35,000. A purse of more than $130,000 overall will be awarded.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerivlle, Mass. and Amion Chinodakufa, a provisionally rated expert from Ohio, tied for first place in the BCF $10 Open, held Saturday, March 21, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Both scored 3.5-0.5, with Chinodakufa taking a half-point bye in the final round but securing a provisional master's rating as a result of his final score. Tying for the runner-up spot and finishing out of the prize money with 3-1 scores were international master David Vigorito of Somerville, who lost to Chase in the final round, expert David Plotkin of Newton, Mass., and 16-year-old Class A player Adam Yedidia of Cambridge, Mass., the last of whom drew tournament co-winner Chase in the first round. In the Under 1800 section, first place with a 3.5-0.5 score went to Richard Kahn of Merrimack, New Hampshire. Tying for second place with 3-1 results were Darrell Rose of Somerville, John Watters of Gloucester, Mass., and newcomer Parag Suresh Mujumdar of Massachusetts. Boylston Chess Club treasurer Robert Oresick of Norton, Mass. directed the 35-player event for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Belated news has reached us about the passing of Frank Joseph Skoff of Palos Hills, Illinois, who died March 3 in Palos Community Hospital in Palos Heights, Ill. after a long illness. He was 92. Mr. Skoff was born October 14, 1916 in Joliet, Ill., the son of Croatian and Slovenian immigrants, Joseph and Anna (Cepuran) Skoff, and had lived all his life in Illinois. He taught English at Lakeview High School in Chicago for many years before he retired. Mr. Skoff was president of the Illinois Chess Association in the early 1960s and played a major role in bringing the U.S. Open to Chicago in 1963. An expert player, organizer, administrator and tournament director, he was awarded the title of International Arbiter by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in 1972. He served as USCF president from 1972 to 1975. He founded the Gompers Park Chess Club in Chicago and directed it for many years. Mr. Skoff had a lifelong interest in chess history and was considered one of this country's leading chess historians. His private library of chess books and magazines was extensive. His regular column, "Frankly Skoffing," in the Illinois Chess Bulletin was a favorite of ICA members and subscribers. His funeral was held March 6 at the Lack & Sons Funeral Home in Hickory Hills, Ill., followed by burial in St. Joseph Cemetery in Joliet. Donations in his memory may be made to MACA's Living Memorial Chess Fund, c/o Robert D. Messenger, MACA Treasurer, 4 Hamlett Drive #12, Nashua, NH 03062-4641.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Event: U.S. Amateur Team Playoffs
Place: First Parish Church, 3 Church Street (in Harvard Square), Cambridge, MA (On the corner of Church St. and Massachusetts Ave.) Enter through the side entrance.
Time: Sat, March 21, 2009. The first match begins at 1:00 p.m.
Format: The time control is G/90 with 30 second increment. In the first match, the East (us) will play the South. There will be a second game if our team wins the first match. The East would then play the winner of the match betwen the North and the West.
Other: The room has a capacity of 80 people. We are planning to set up a projector to show one or more games on a screen

Submitted by: Paul MacIntyre, Palin Gambit: I Can See Checkmate From My House

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

MACA chess education coordinator Stephen Dann, longtime chess columnist for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and considered New England's leading chess historian, presented a scholarly paper on Saturday afternoon, March 7, at the First International Symposium on Bobby Fischer, held at the Marshall Chess Club in New York City. Mr. Dann's topic was "Bobby Fischer's Influence on Chess Education." His paper was among several presented that discussed Fischer's contributions to chess. The symposium, which started on March 6, was organized by Dr. Frank Brady, president of the Marshall Chess Club and author of the book "Bobby Fischer: Profile of a Prodigy."

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito, 38, of Somerville, Mass. and senior master Marc Esserman, 25, of Cambridge, Mass. shared top honors for the third time this year by tying for first place in the BCF Winter Open, held Saturday, February 28, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5 in an Open section field of 14 players and drew each other in the third round. Runners-up with 2.5-1.5 scores were national master Eric Godin, 48, of Boston, and Class A players Mika Brattain, 10, of Lexington, Mass. and Howard Goldowsky, 37, of Canton, Mass. Matthew Goddard of New Hampshire posted a perfect 4-0 score to finish first in the Under 1800 section, where 12 players competed. Tying for second place with 3-1 results were Michael Moore, 44, of Newburyport, Mass. and Robert Holmgren, 59, of Wayland, Mass. The 26-player tournament was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Mass. for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation. Tournament winners Vigorito and Esserman had previously tied for first place in the BCF $10 Open on January 10 and in the BCC Tornado #97 on February 21.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following are final individual game point totals of Massachusetts players who competed in the U.S. Amateur East tournament, held Feb. 14-16 in Parsippany, New Jersey:

6 - Alan Price
5.5 - Libardo Rueda, Roza Eynullayeva, Andrew Wang, Edward Epp
5 - Denys Shmelov, Alex Cherniack, Maxwell Schwartz, Will Thalheimer, Thomas Filipek
4.5 - Charles Riordan, Melvin Zhang, Anatoly Levin
4 - William Kelleher, Arthur Bisguier, Ilya Krasik, Carey Theil, Charles Mays, Richard Rose, Reilly Nathans, Benjamin Smith
3.5 - Timothy Hanke, Natasha Christiansen
3 - Christopher Williams, Lawyer Times, Frank Wang, Philip Nutzman, Jake Garbarino, Gabriel Frieden, Michelle Chen, Matthew Lee, Srivat Dattatreya
2.5 - William G. Michael, Matthew Phelps, Michael Raphael, Alexander Lee, Clara Wang, Karl Hahn, Nicholas Plotkin
2 - Paul MacIntyre, Daniel Bartley, Anthony Andrews, Barry Lai
1.5 - Robert Oresick
0 - Daniel Plotkin

Vesna Dimitrijevic, an alternate for the Cambridge Springers team, did not play.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

USCF-rated expert Matthew Derek Meredith of West Hartford, Coonnecticut won the 84th Western Massachusetts/Connecticut Valley Championship, held Feb. 21-22 at the Kittredge Center at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Meredith posted a perfect score - at least for him - of 4.5-0.5 by playing in the one-day version of the event where a half-point bye was mandatory in the third round. This was Meredith's second Western Mass./Conn. Valley championship win within the past three years, as he tied for first place in 2006 with three other contestants. Leonid Tkach, a 69-year-old expert from Amherst, Mass. won the top Expert trophy, while Aleksandar Brancic, 62, of West Springfield, Mass. garnered the top Class A. prize and Michael Zyra of Westfield, Mass. was top Class B. Andre Saint Louis, 76, of Springfield, Mass. won the top Class C prize and Matthew Webber, a student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and president of the college's chess club, was top Class D. There were no Class E players in the event, but first-time player Vitaliy Leonidovich Dipon of West Springfield won the top Unrated trophy. The tournament, billed as the longest-running trophy tournament in the United States, drew 28 players - eight more than last year. Western Massachusetts Chess Association president Frank Kolasinski of Springfield directed for the sponsoring WMCA.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master David Vigorito, 38, of Somerville, Mass., and senior master Marc Esserman, 25, of Cambridge, Mass. shared top honors in Tornado #97, held Saturday, February 21, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Drawing each other in the second round, the co-winners tallied 2.5-0.5 in an Open section field of eight players. Vikas Shiva, 13, of Lexington, Mass. and Edward Foye, 53, of Boston tied for first place in the Class A section with scores of 2.5-0.5. Mike Griffin, 56, of Quincy, Mass. and Elnara Eynullayeva, 22, of Boston tied for first in the Class B section, also with 2.5-0.5 results. Alex Hu, 13, of Acton, Mass. posted the tournament's only perfect score of 3-0 to win in the Class D section, where Darrell Rose of Somerville and Anthony DiNosse of Boston were deadlocked in the runner-up position with 2-1 tallies. The tournament drew 27 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Mass. for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

With 283 teams and 1207 players registered for participation in the six-round U.S. Amateur Team East tournament on Feb. 14-16 in Parsippany, New Jersey, the following are the final match points for Massachusetts teams:

6 points: Palin Gambit: I Can See Checkmate From My House (FM Paul MacIntyre, Brian Hulse, Libardo Rueda, Alan Price
5.5 points: Cambridge Springers (FM William Kelleher, IM Joseph Fang, George Chressanthis, Anatoly Levin, WIM Vesna Dimitrijevic alternate)
5 points: Hedgehog Millionaire (Marc Esserman, Wesley Ward, Ilya Krasik, Natasha Christiansen)
4.5 points: Time To Amaze (FM Charles Riordan, Lawyer Times, Carey Theil, Charles Mays)
4 points: The Shmelov Fear (Denys Shmelov, Alex Cherniack, Philip Nutzman, Matthew Phelps)
4 points: Master Wanabes (Frank Wang, Stuart Finney, Andrew Wang, Michelle Chen)
4 points: Carols Caissan Carousers (GM Arthur Bisguier, Denis Strenzwilk, Edward Epp, William Michael)
3.5 points: BU Terriers (Melvin Zhang, WFM Roza Eynullayeva, Benjamin Burkholder, Robert Oresick, Barry Lai alternate).
3.5 points: Those Guys Who Beat Us (Jake Garbarino, Gabriel Frieden, Reilly Nathans, Benjamin Smith)
3.5 points: Newburyport CC (John Elmore, Nathan Smith, Timothy Hanke, Kerry McDermott)
3 points: Scumdog Billionaire Bernie MA (Peter Howe, Daniel Bartley, Richard Rose, Thomas Filipek)
2 points: 4 Chess Mix (Alexander Lee, Clara Wang, Nicholas Plotkin, Matthew Lee, Daniel Plotkin alternate)

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA member Libardo Rueda was awarded the Top Board 3 prize at the U.S. Amateur Team East tournament, held Feb. 14-16 in Parsippany, New Jersey. .One of the perfect scores was notched by fellow team member Alan Price, 45, of Cambridge, Mass. Rueda played for the victorious Palin Gambit team, which consisted primarily of members of the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Mass. For most of his playing career Rueda has maintained a master's rating, but he took time off from rated chess from December 1995 to May 2004 before returning to over-the-board play by competing in the Massachusetts Open that year in Marlborough. MACA congratulates Libardo Rueda on his outstanding achievement at this year's amateur team tournament and wishes the entire Palin Gambit team all the best in the USAT finals.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

A team from Massachusetts, "Palin Gambit: I can see checkmate from my house" won the 2009 U.S. Amateur Team East tournament, held Feb. 14-16 in Parsippany, New Jersey. Headed by FIDE master Paul MacIntyre of Malden and supported by New York master recruit Brian Hulse, and experts Libardo Rueda of Winthrop and Alan Price, the Bay State team finished the event with a perfect 6-0 score. Going into the final round, only two teams had perfect 5-0 tallies: "UR Outrated: Give Up," a Maryland team headed by newly crowned grandmaster and 2008 World Senior champion Larry Kaufman, and his son, newly crowned international master Raymond Kaufman, along with expert Ian Schoch and Class A player Douglas Stanley, and the Massachusetts team. MacIntyre and Larry Kaufman drew, Raymond Kaufman beat Hulse, but Rueda and Price downed Schoch and Stanley respectively for a final score of 2.5-1.5 in favor of the Palin Gambiteers. This year's tournament drew 283 teams - a loss of eight teams from last year. More results about Massachusetts teams will be posted as they become available.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Eric Godin, 48, of Boston posted a score of 3.5-0.5 to win the Legends of Chess: Alexander Cunningham tournament, held Saturday, February 14, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, MA. Capturing second place with a 3-1 tally was Class A player Embert Lin, 13, of Acton, MA, who drew Godin in the third round. Tied for 3rd-4th place in the 10-player section with 2.5-1.5 results were a couple of Class B players: John Pina Jr., 42, of Bridgewater, MA, and Grant Xu, 11, of Shrewsbury, MA. In a separate six-player section for contestants rated under 1600, Richard Kahn of Merrimack, NH, and Chirantan Neogy, 13, of Acton tallied 3-1 to tie for first. Some anomalies occurred in the section, as Kahn finished the tournament with two half-point byes (!) and Neogy ended up having to play the same player twice in the final two rounds - winning both games. In the final round, Neogy and his opponent were the only players remaining - since the otherfour players dropped out and received half-point byes for their non-efforts. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, MA directed the tournament for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation. He was assisted by Christopher Chase of Somerville. The tournament honored the memory of Scottish historian and scholar Alexander Cunningham (1654-1737), who is credited with inventing the Cunningham Defense to the King's Gambit Accepted: 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Be7.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Sad news has reached us belatedly about the passing of Nigel Eddis of New York City, who died January 11, 2009 at age 72 of complications involving a heart ailment. Mr. Eddis was an award-winning photographer for Chess Life. His photos, especially those appearing during the 1980s, won wide acclaim. He was considered one of the best chess photographers worldwide. He was also involved for many years with the Chess Journalists of America, serving as a judge in the annual CJA awards. Mr. Eddis was a co-founder of the Friends of the USCF and once ran for the USCF Policy Board. He is survived by his wife, Anne Eddis; a son, Timothy Eddis; and two daughters, Christine and Tatiana. Condolences may be sent to the Eddis family at 825 West End Ave., New York, NY 10025.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Eugene Perelshteyn, 29, of Swampscott, MA, and FIDE master William Kelleher, 59, of Watertown, MA posted scores of 3.5-0.5 to tie for 1st-2nd place in the 33rd Queen City Open, held February 7-8 at the Comfort Inn in Manchester, NH. International master Joseph Fang, 49, of Nashua, NH finished third with a 2.5-1.5 tally. Tying for the Under 2100 prize with 2-2 tallies were John Elmore of Hampton Falls, NH; Sebastian Gueler of Massachusetts; and John Phythyon Sr. and Richard Judy, both of Maine. Eric Blatt of Vermont tallied 3.5-0.5 to win first place in the Under 1900 section. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 results were Michael Moore of Newburyport, MA and Dale Lyons of Vermont. The Under 1750 prize was shared by Robert Shore of Maine and Eric Moreau of New Hampshire, both of whom scored 2.5-1.5. Michael McShane of Vermont tallied 3.5-0.5 to finish first in the Under 1600 section. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 results were Walter Chesnut of Vermont and Bruce Stone of New Hampshire. Lee Dailing of New Hampshire won the Under 1450 prize with a 2.5-1.5 score. Robert Norris of Westford, MA captured first place in the Under 1300 section with a 3.5-0.5 tally. Alex Franke of New Hampshire took second with a 3-1 performance, while James Ayer of New Hampshire and Kyle Mohan of Vermont tied for third with 2.5-1.5 results. In Sunday 3-round Gane/60 sections held, Andrew Tichenor of Brookline, MA tallied 2.5-0.5 to finish first in Section 1 and Harrison Moran of New Hampshire scored 3-0 to finish first in Section 2. Henry "Hal" Terrie of Manchester, assisted by John Elmore, directed the 63-player event for the sponsoring New Hampshire Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The Massachusetts State Scholastic Singles Championships, better known as the Spiegel Cup, was held February 8 at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. In a four-section field - 10 players per section - three state champions and two state co-champions were crowned. Felix Yang of Dover won the High School section with a score of 3.5-0.5 and earned the right to represent Massachusetts at the Denker Tournament of High School Champions the first week in August in Indianapolis, Indiana. Capturing second place on tiebreak points with a 3-1 tally was Andrew Wang of Sharon, while Reilly Nathans of Newton Centre took third place with a similar score. Winston Huang of Newton and James Lung of Lexington were declared co-champions in the Age 14 & Under section with identical scores of 3-1. Tying for third place with 2.5-1.5 results were Jacob Fauman of Newton, Embert Lin of Acton as well as Zaroug Jaleel and Vikas Shiva, both of Lexington. Fauman won the third-place trophy on tiebreak points, with the other three taking home medals. Mika Brattain of Lexington posted a 3.5-0.5 score to finish first in the Age 11 & Under section, where Bary Lisak of Wayland took second place with a 3-1 performance. Tying for third place with 2.5-1.5 results were Danny Angermeier of Franklin and Michelle Chen of Concord. On tiebreak points Angermeier won the third-place trophy, while Chen was awarded a medal. Michael Isakov of Sudbury chalked up the tournament's only perfect 4-0 score to win the Age 8 & Under section. Henry Li of Acton captured second place with a 3-1 tally, while Sandeep Shankar of Sudbury took third place with a 2.5-1.5 result. USCF-certified senior TD Ken Ballou of Framingham directed for the sponsoring Massachusetts Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master Rico Zenklusen, 27, of Switzerland, now a resident of Massachusetts, and international master David Vigorito, 38, of Somerville, Mass., shared top honors in the Franklin K. Young Memorial tournament, held Saturday, January 31, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The two IMs, who did not face each other, tallied 3.5-0.5 in an Open section field of 22 players. Runners-up with 3-1 scores were national masters Lawyer Times, 44, of Hyde Park, Mass., and Carey Theil, 30, of Arlington, Mass. In an Under 1800 section where eight players competed, first place with a 3.5-0.5 result went to Seth Lieberman of Jamaica Plain, Mass. Runners-up with 3-1 scores were Bernardo Iglesias, 56, of Stoughton, Mass.; Robert Oresick, 61, of Norton, Mass.; and Andrew Liu, 10, of Westborough, Mass. Bernardo Iglesias directed the event for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation. The tournament honored the memory of Franklin Knowles Young, who was born on October 21, 1857 in Boston and died on December 19, 1931 in Winthrop, Mass. Young was an active member of the Boston Chess Club and had contested games with such famous players as Wilhelm Steinitz, Johannes Zukertort and others, although he rarely entered serious events. He was best known as the author of a series of largely abstruse books that applied battlefiield principles to chess, using an elaborate terminology. In the July 1955 issue of Chess Review, it is stated that "at best, ... the Young system requires a professional course in military science - to prepare to learn chess."

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Vermont state champion Haizhou Xu, a 17-year-old expert from Essex Junction, won the Lake Champlain Plus-Score tournament, held Saturday, January 31, at the Comfort Suites in South Burlington, Vermont. Xu, who plays under the Canadian flag in FIDE-rated events, tallied a perfect 4-0 to capture first prize of $100. Walter Chesnut, a Class C player from Vermont, took second place with a 3-1 score and was awarded $25. Tying for third place with 2.5-1.5 results and winning $10 each were Akayi Kayashima of Maine, Gregory Warner of Vermont, and Nita Patel of New Hampshire. The tournament drew 13 players and was organized and directed by F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire, assisted by Ben Karren of Vermont. All prizes awarded were based on plus scores.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The 2009 Holiday Team Challenge was held Sunday, January 25, 2009, at Weston Middle School. The tournament was directed by chief tournament director Alex Relyea, assisted by Bob Messenger, Ken Ballou, Nicholas Sterling, Steve Frymer, and Maryanne Reilly.

The tournament drew 22 teams. Twelve teams competed in the K-12 section, four teams in the K-6 section, and seven teams in the K-3 section. (Because the K-6 and K-3 sections were small, the sections were merged. However, the K-6 teams were still competing for the K-6 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophies; likewise for the K-3 teams.)

K-12 section (12 teams):

1st: Larry's Longshots (3.5-0.5) (Tian Rossi, Eric Chen, Andrew Robinson, Andrew Marshall)

2nd: YASA (3-1) (David Yasinovsky, Danny Angermeier, Jordan Shapiro, David Angermeier)

3rd: Weston Team 1 (3-1) (Alexander Kaye, Ernest Zeidman, Jordan Gottlieb, Daniel Glauber)

Medals awarded to individual players:

Alexander Sorets (3.5-0.5) (Rashi)
Sam Aaron Lurie (3-1) (Weston Team 2)
Naveed Hedayat (3-1) (Weston Team 2)
Wei Gao (3-1) (Acton Chinese Language School [ACLS])
Eric Soohoo (3-1) (Newton South High School)
Matt Dahl (3-1) (Lions)
Nathaniel Wyman (3-1) (Weston Team 5)

K-6 section (4 teams):

1st: Grafton Kings (3-1) (Steven Hammond, Ben Weinberg, Jacob Sandakly, David Flanagan)

2nd: Newton Community Education [NCE] (2-2) (Noah Stonehill, Connor Vasu, Louis Torracinta, Josh Schilmeister)

3rd: Acton Chinese Language School [ACLS] (2-2) (Edward A. Li, Jenny Qiu, Eric Liu, Steven Jin)

Medals awarded to individual players:

Rholee Xu (3-1) (Carlisle)

K-3 section (6 teams):

1st: Andover (4-0) (Henry Li, Alexander Shih, Isabella Shih, Kim Shih)

2nd: Acton Chinese Language School [ACLS] (2.5-1.5) (Benjamin Lin, Samuel Qiu, Andy Hu, Ari Xuan)

3rd: Lukomorie (2-2) (Anton Barash, Alan Sikarov, Gene Kuperman, Ben Bugalter, Ilona Demler)

Medals awarded to individual players:

Steve Li (3.5-0.5) (Carlisle)
Henry Johnson (3.5-0.5) (Cabot School Team 2)
Evan Meyer (3-1) (Cabot School Team 1)
Anthony Gao (3-1) (Carlisle)
Devin Coughlin (3-1) (Cabot School Team 1)

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov, 52, of Newton, MA, scored a perfect 3-0 to capture first place in the 18th Mid-Winter Classic tournament, held Saturday, January 17, at the Florence Congregational Church in Florence, MA. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 2.5-0.5 results were FIDE master John Curdo, 77 of Auburn, MA, and expert Leonid Tkach, 69, of Amherst, MA. Richard Gold of Amherst finished first in the Under 1800 section with a 3-0 tally, while Richard Zyra of Westfeield, MA and David Hall of Springfield, MA tied for 2nd-3d place with 2.5-0.5 scores. Gary Zyra of Holyoke, MA posted a perfect 3-0 to come in first in the Under 1400 section, where Frank Kolasinski of Springfield and Pierre Plante of Indian Orchard, MA finished tied for 2nd-3rd place with 2-1 results. The three-section tournament drew 40 players - a dozen more than last year's event - and was directed by Frank Kolasinski for the sponsoring Western Massachusetts Chess Association (WMCA)

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Senior master Marc Esserman, 25, of Cambridge, MA, and international master David Vigorito, 38. of Somerville, MA tied for first place in the BCF $10 Open held Saturday, January 10, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Both players tallied 3.5-0.5 in a top-section field of 18 contestants, drawing each other in the third round. Runner-up with a 3-1 score was FIDE master Christopher Chase, 52, of Somerville. The winner in a five-player Section 2 with a 3.5-0.5 result was Daniel Callahan of Needham, MA, followed by Tom Iversen, an active player at the Metrowest Chess Club in Natick, who tallied 2.5-1.5. Chris Chase directed the tournament for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Twenty-two youngsters from six Massachusetts schools competed amongst a field of approximately 1200 students from across the country in the K-12 National Scholastic Championships at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Seven rounds were played out over 3 days, at a time control of game in 90 minutes.

Jacob Fauman, of Newton, finished 2nd among 8th graders, winning 6 games including two against experts. Jacob's only loss came in round 4 at the hands of the eventual section winner, Hengyi Wu of Florida.

Other trophy winners from Massachusetts included:

Grade 12: Benjamin Smith, with 4.5 points finished 8th out of 42
Grade 8: Zaroug Jaleel, 5 points, tied for 12th, 14th on tie breaks out of 83
Grade 2: Alex Fauman, 5 points, tied for 12th, 18th on tie breaks out of 131
Grade 12: Andrew Crotty, with 4 points for 18th out of 42, received a class trophy for finishing first among those under 1000

In addition to the individual trophies, the team of Andrew Crotty, Benjamin Smith and John Corbett from St. John's Prep in Danvers finished 3rd among 12th grade teams with a total of 11.5 team points.

Other results for Massachusetts players included:
Grade 1: Benjamin Wiegand, 4 points, 43rd place out of 99

Grade 2: Daniel Plotkin, 3 points for 95 out of 131
Grade 2: Derek Meuth, 2 points for 117th
Grade 2: Siddharth Simon, 2 points for 113th

Grade 4: Max Wiegand, 4 points for 56th place out of 151
Grade 4: Tristan Young, 3.5 points for 75th
Grade 4: William Nemirovsky, 3 points for 83rd
Grade 4: Isaay Matsumoto, 3 points for 99th
Grade 4: Jason Meuth, 2.5 points for 120th

Grade 5: Charlie Fauman, 4.5 points for 28th out of 147
Grade 5: Nicholas Plotkin, 1343, 4.5 points for 32nd
Grade 5: Matthew Lee, 1304, 4.5 points for 35th

Grade 7: Nicholas Trieu, 4 points for 36th place out of 100

Grade 8: Ryan Meuth, 2.5 points for 66th out of 83

Grade 10: Rajesh Anumolu, 1.5 points for 45th out of 47. Rajesh also received a trophy for placing 1st among unrated players

Grade 12: John Corbett, 1063, 3 points for 31st out of 42
Grade 12: Taehoon Kim, unrated, 1.5 points. Taehoon was awarded a trophy for finishing 1st among unrated players
Grade 12: Michael Kelley, unrated, 1 point. Michael was awarded a trophy for finishing 2nd among unrated players

Eric Fauman
Parent Contributor

Massachusetts state champion Denys Shmelov, 22, of Pepperell, MA, tallied a perfect 4-0 to win the rated section of the Herb Healy Open House tournament on New Year's Day at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, MA. National master Christopher Williams, 19, of Brighton, MA captured second place with a 3.5-0.5 score. Tied for 3rd-8th place with 3-1 results were senior master Marc Esserman, 25, of Cambridge, MA; international master David Vigorito, 38, of Somerville; national master Carey Theil, 30, of Arlington, MA; experts Andrew Tichenor, 26, of Brookline, MA, and Patrick Sciacca, 45, of New Hampshire; and Class A contestant Terrence Fricker of Massachusetts. The rated event drew 36 players and was directed by Bernard Iglesias of Stoughton, MA, assisted by Christopher Chase of Somerville.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator