FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn scored 3.5-0.5 to the win the Delectable December Open, held Thursday nights, December 2-30, at the Greater Worcester Chess Club in the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester. Class A players Robert J. King and Michael Odell, both of Worcester, tied for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies. Richard Marseglia of Worcester won the top Under 1800 prize with a 1.5-2.5 result, while Alex Chand of Worcester and Marc Quevillon of Dayville, Connecticut shared the top Under 1600 prize with 1-3 performances. The tournament drew 11 players and was directed by Joseph Alfano of Holden, assisted by Robert J. King, for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The BCF Thursday Night Swiss, held December 9-30 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, ended in a three-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with 3-1 scores were expert Alex Slive, a MACA life member from Cambridge, fellow expert Ted Cross of Arlington, and Class B entrant Khikmet Sadykov of Medford. Slive took half-point byes in rounds 1 and 3 but defeated Cross in the final round. The tournament drew 15 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Michael Manisy, a 16-year-old high school student from Otter River, and Class A player Paul Godin, 61, of Burlington tied for 1st-2nd place in the George Sturgis Memorial tournament,, held Wednesday nights, December 1-29, at the Wachusett Chess Club in the McKay Campus School at Fitchburg State University. Both tallied 4-1 in a field of 30 players. Manisy defeated Godin in their head-to-head matchup in the fourth round. Manisy, who is expected to gain a Class A rating as a result of his performance, including two wins against "A" players, opted not to play the final round, allowing Godin the opportunity of pulling even with him with a win in that round. Tying for 3rd-5th  place with 3.5-1.5 scores were fellow Class A contestants Robert King of Worcester and Bruce Felton of Fitchburg, as well as Brian Biglow of Leominster. Deadlocked in sixth place with 3-2 results were 1999 club champion Geoff LePoer of Westford, 2008 club champion Martin Laine of Lunenburg, Leonard Arsenault of Leominster, and George Miller of Ashburnham. George Mirijanian of Fitchburg, assisted by Dave Couture of Westminster, directed. The tournament honored the memory of George Sturgis (1891-1944), the first USCF president elected in 1939 and a Massachusetts State Chess Association president during the 1930s.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Expert Andrew Hoy of Mansfield, a 2006 graduate of Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, tallied 4.5-0.5 to win the Sven Brask Chess Club's Year End Open tournament, played Wednesday nights, December 1-29, at United Methodist Church in Plainville. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with scores of 3.5-1.5 were fellow expert Lawrence Dean, 59, of Norton, and Class A participant James Aspinall, 43, of Mansfield. The event drew 15 players and was directed by James Aspinall.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Kenneth Robert Ballou has resigned as MACA president and from all MACA committee positions, effective immediately. The 49-year-old Framingham resident, who was elected president in May 2010, had served on the MACA board of directors for the past five years. During those years he served in various capacities, including as vice president (2009-2010), tournament coordinator and subsequently tournament committee chairman, elections commissioner, college chess coordinator, and occasionally as acting clerk. A national tournament director with 156 events and 686 sections directed since January 1, 1991, Ballou is one of the most active TDs in the country and among the top three TDs in New England. He is the chief and most active TD at the Metrowest Chess Club in Natick, the largest club in New England and possibly the largest in the country, based on weeknight attendance at its Tuesday night sessions. He has been a Massachusetts delegate to the USCF for the past several years.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

USCF life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell and international master Igor Foygel of Brookline tied for 1st-2nd place in the Metrowest Chess Club's Holiday Cheer Swiss tournament, held Tuesday nights, December 7-28, at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. Both masters tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round. Tying for third place with 3-1 scores were FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn and national master Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland, Rhode Island. Charlie Fauman, 12, of Newton won the Under 2000 section with a score of 3.5-0.5. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 results were Mark Fins of Newton, MIT professor Oleg Poliannikov of Brookline, and Larry Eldridge of West Newton. The Under 1700 section saw a two-way tie for first place between Rohan Shankar, 13, of Sudbury and Daniel Blessing, 12, of Medfield. Both scored 3.5-0.5. Scott Stapel of Auburn, New Hampshire was the winner in the Under 1400 section, tallying 3.5-0.5. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 scores were Harvey Reed of Natick, Kenneth Brisbois of Framingham, and Sandeep Shankar, 10, of Sudbury. The four-section tournament drew 67 players and was directed by national TD Ken Ballou of Framingham, assisted by Matthew Phelps of Groton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Massachusetts Chess Association, the official governing body for chess in the commonwealth, released today the Top 20 list of the highest-rated players in the state who are current members of the U.S. Chess Federation.  Ratings are based on official USCF ratings as of January 1, 2011. Included are only those players who are registered as Massachusetts residents with the USCF and who have had rating activity within the past year.

• 1. GM Larry Christiansen, 54, of Cambridge - 2665
• 2. GM Alexander Ivanov, 54, of Newton - 2589
• 3. GM Eugene Perelshteyn, 30, of Swampscott - 2588
• 4. Denys Shmelov, 24, of Pepperell - 2515
• 5. IM David Vigorito, 40, of Somerville - 2515
• 6. IM Marc Esserman, 27, of Somerville - 2513
• 7. IM Igor Foygel, 63, of Brookline - 2505
• 8. FM Charles Riordan, 31, of Somerville - 2437
• 9. FM Steven Winer, 29, of Melrose - 2433
• 10. IM William Paschall, 38, of South Yarmouth - 2406
• 11. FM William Kelleher, 61, of Watertown - 2392
• 12. FM Christopher Chase, 54, of Somerville - 2380
• 13. IM James Rizzitano, 49, of Southborough - 2361
• 14. FM Paul MacIntyre, 48, of Malden - 2346
• 15. FM Oliver Kniest, 35, of Boston - 2327
• 16. Alex Cherniack, 46, of Watertown - 2311
• 17. Max Enkin, 21, of Peabody - 2305
• 18. Avraam Pismennyy, 73, of Salem - 2303
• 19. FM John Curdo, 79, of Auburn - 2285
• 20. Lawyer Times, 46, of Hyde Park - 2257

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Expert Raymond Paulson of Lowell and Class A player John Vaughan of Burlington tallied 3-1 to tie for 1st-2nd place in the Billerica Chess Club's December Swiss, held Friday nights during the month at the Billerica Council on Aging Building, aka Senior Center, in Billerica. Vaughan, who was leading the tournament after three rounds, chose not to play the final round. Tying for 3rd-5th place with scores of 2.5-1.5 were expert Arthur Nugent of Beverly (who drew Paulson in the final round), Class A entrant Jeffrey Caruso of Peabody (who drew Paulson in the second round but lost to Vaughan in the third round), and Class B participant Meyer Billmers of Lexington (who lost to Paulson in the third round). The tournament drew 13 players and was directed by Nathan Smith of Derry, New Hampshire.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. and 15-year-old Stuart Finney of Barrington, Rhode Island were among the prize winners in the Atlantic City International Tournament, held December 17-19 at the Sheraton Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Both MACA members competed in the Open section of the event, which saw GMs Gata Kamsky, the reigning U.S. champion, and Loek Van Wely of the Netherlands tie for 1st-2nd place with 5-1 scores. Ivanov, who lost to Kamsky in the third round but defeated fourth-ranked GM Alexander Shabalov in the final round, tallied 4.5-1.5 to tie for 3rd-4th place with fellow GM Nick DeFirmian. Finney chalked up a 3-3 score, including wins against Juan Sena of New York, a USCF life master from the Domincan Republic, and international master Bryan Smith of Pennsylvania. The was good enough for Finney to tie for 1st Under 2300, take home prize money, and achieve a national master's rating of 2208 for the first time in his career. He has been playing rated chess since he was nearly 7 years old in early December 2001. Other Massachusetts players winning prize money were Brandeis University student Evan Rabin, who scored 4-2 to tie for 4th-7th place in the Under 2200 section, and James Krycka of Shirley, who tallied 3-3 to tie for 8th-9th place in the Under 1600 section. The tournament drew 161 players in seven sections and was directed by FIDE arbiter Wayne Clark of Illinois, assisted by international arbiter Christopher Bird of Melrose, Mass., for the sponsoring Illinois-based Bubbacat Chess affiliate. Glenn Panner and Tim Just organized the event.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Brandeis University student Evan Rabin of Waltham tallied 7.5-2.5 in a five-round double Swiss to finish as runnerup in the Atlantic City International Blitz Tournament, held Saturday, December 18, at the Sheraton Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Rabin drew and lost to the tournament winner, international master Bryan Smith of Pennsylvania, who ended up with a score of 8-2. The event drew 20 players in two sections and was directed by international arbiter Christopher Bird, a MACA member from Melrose, Mass. He was assisted by Hal Sprechman of New Jersey.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville won the Harry Lyman Memorial tournament on Saturday, December 18, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The 54-year-old Boylston CC champion tallied 3.5-0.5 to take home first prize in a field of 22 players. Tying for second place with 3-1 scores were 73-year-old USCF life master Avraam Pismennyy of Salem (who drew Chase in the final round) and three Class A contestants: former Florida resident Emmanuel Mevs, 17-year-old Jesse Nicholas of Newton (who lost to Chase in the third round), and 22-year-old Austin, Texas native Tyson Slesnick of Boston (who took a half-point bye in the last round). Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed the tournament, which honored the memory of 1957 U.S. Amateur champion and three-time New England champion Henry "Harry" Lyman (1915-1999) of Saugus. Lyman was the "Dean of Boston Chess" and was active for many years as a player, teacher and patron at the Boylston Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Raymond Paulson regained his expert''s rating by winning the Newburyport Chess Club Tournament #102, held Thursday nights, November 4 through December 16, at Hope Community Church in Newburyport. The 54-year-old Lowell resident tallied 5.5-0.5 in a field of 20 players. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with scores of 3.5-2.5 were Class A participants Ronald Burris, 62, of North Hampton, New Hampshire and Arthur King, 60, of Haverhill. John Elmore of Stratham, New Hampshire directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The 16th Papa Gino's tournament in Waltham on Sunday, December 12, drew 24 players in two sections. Winning section 1 with a perfect 4-0 score was Aashish Welling of Nashua, New Hampshire. Tying for first place in Section 2 with 3.5-0.5 tallies were 7-year-old Carissa Yip of Chelmsford and 8-year-old Maxwell Wang of Acton. They drew in the second round. Matt Gosselin of Medford directed the event for the sponsoring MARI affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton swept to a 5-0 victory in the BCF Quick Chess tournament, held Sunday, December 12, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Finishing as runner-up in the six-player round-robin event was Class B entrant Daniel Schmidt of Somerville. He tallied 3.5-1.5. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

USCF life master Miro Reverby of Providence, Rhode Island tallied a perfect 4-0 to finish first in the Open section of the 110th Rhode Island Pawn Eater tournament on Sunday, December 12, in Providence. Aidan Sowa of North Kingstown, R.I. won the Under 1500 section with a 3-1 score. The two-section event drew 21 players, including one player who contested only a side game. Frank Vogel III directed the tournament for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The 1st Saint Nick Amateur tournament, held Saturday, December 11, at the Holyoke Public Library in Holyoke drew 18 players in two sections. Winning the Top section with a score of 3.5-0.5 was Jesse Anderson of Vermont. Jaime Cintron of Springfield was second with a 3-1 tally. Alexander George finished first in the Booster section with a 3.5-0.5, while fellow Mass. players Lester Hutton and Edward Kostreba of Ware tied for second place with 3-1 results. Vincent Bradley III directed the event for fhe sponsoring Western Massachusetts Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

National master Carey Theil of Arlington and German-born expert Dr. Bernhard Seehaus tallied 3-1 to tie for first place in the Albert Hodges Memorial tournament, held Saturday, December 11, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying as runners-up with 2.5-1.5 scores were FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville, Class A player Vikas Shiva of Lexington, and tournament director Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, the last of whom regained his Class A rating after winning one game and drawing three, including one with Theil in the first round. The tournament drew 14 players and honored the memory of 1895 U.S. champion Albert Hodges (1861-1944), whose main claim to fame was that he played inside Ajeeb, the 19th century chess automaton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Waltham Chess Club's Fireplace Game/60 tournament, held Friday night, December 10, in the cafeteria of the IBM Office Building in Waltham ended in a four-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with 2-0 scores were USCF life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, expert Todd Chase of Weston, Class A entrant Daniel Shapiro of Cambridge, and 9-year-old Class C participant Nithin Kavi of Acton. The tournament drew 18 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Expert Sherif Khater of Nashua, New Hampshire tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the 35th New Hampshire Amateur Championship, held Saturday, December 4, at the Comfort Inn in Manchester, N.H. Tying as runners-up with 2.5-1.5 scores were fellow expert John Elmore of Stratham, N.H., and Class A entrants Jeffrey Ames of Weirs Beach, N.H. and Robert Messenger of Nashua. Thomas Provost Sr., a Class B player from Canterbury, N.H. finished first in the Intermediate section with a score of 3.5-0.5. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 results were fellow "B" participants Thomas Laaman of Madbury, N.H., Jason Havener of Berlin, N.H., and David McGrath of Amherst, N.H. The Novice section ended in a three-way tie for first place among Granite State players Eric Heinecke, Jenny Ma and Donald Ekberg - all with 3-1 tallies. The three-section tournament drew a total of 42 players, including one who played only a side game. Associate national TD Alex Relyea of Bedford, N.H., assisted by his wife, Nita Patel, and New Hampshire Chess Association president John Elmore, directed the event for the sponsoring NHCA.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton chalked up a perfect score of 3-0 to win  first place ih the Blackstone December Derby tournament, held Saturday, December 4, at the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Finishing as runner-up with a 2.5-0.5 tally was USCF life master Miro Reverby of Providence, R.I. Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland, R. I. and fellow Ocean State player Warren MacKenzie tied for third place with 2-1 results. The event drew 11 players and was directed by David Harris of Providence.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

In an impromptu mini-match held Friday, December 3, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, grandmaster Larry Christiansen of Cambridge defeated FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville, The 54-year-old GM downed the 54-year-old BCC champion, 2-0. Match director was Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

USCF life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell scored a perfect 7-0 to win the top section of the Waltham Chess Club's First Friday Tournament #104, held December 3 in the cafeteria of the IBM Office Building in Waltham. Tying as runners-up with 4.5-2.5 tallies were Class A players Roman Brusovankin of Stoughton, a 29-year-old Boston University graduate who has not played rated chess in nearly five years, and 12-year-old Andrew Liu of Westborough. Ten-year-old Allen Wang of Acton tallied 6.5-0.5 to win first place in Section 2. Tying for the runner-up position with 4-3 results were Nicholas Sterling of Needham, 11-year-old Eric Liu of Acton and 10-year-old Brandon Wu of Littleton. The two-section Game/10 tournament drew 19 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Moiz Mutlu, a former USCF member from Worcester, Mass., died Wednesday, December 1, in St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester. He was 69. He was born on May 23, 1941 in Istanbul, Turkey, the son of Sami and Elise (Bahar) Mutlu, and had lived in Worcester from 1960 to 1996 before moving that year to Ra'anana, Israel. He lived in Israel until 2000 and then returned to Worcester. He earned a master's degree in mathematics in 1968 from Clark University in Worcester. Mr. Mutlu had been a computer programmer at various banks, including the Worcester County National Bank, Shawmut Bank, and later Mechanics Bank before he retired. He was an avid chess player and played in the Worcester commerical chess leagues during the 1960s. Besides his father, living in Worcester, he is survived by his wife of 40 years, Dora (Ludvigson) Mutlu; three sons, three daughters, two grandsons, and a younger brother, Izak Mutlu of San Ramon, California, who served on the MACA board of directors during the 1970s. His funeral was held today in Worcester. Burial was in Worcester Hebrew Cemetery in Auburn, Mass.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

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

• MCC Thanksgiving Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 79 players): IM Igor Foygel, 4.5-0.5
• BCF $10 Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 31 players): GM Larry Christiansen, 4-0
• Edmund Wheeler Memorial (Wachusett CC, Fitchburg, 28 players): Paul Godin, 4.5-0.5
• Greg Hager Memorial (Boylston CC, 20 players): Charles Riordan, Carey Theil, Dr. Bernhard Seehaus, 3.5-0.5
• Waltham November G/20 (Waltham CC, 20 players): Denys Shmelov, Evan Rabin, 3.5-0.5
• Fall Classic (Sven Brask CC, Plainville, 17 players): John McCauley, Jack Correia, Andrew Hoy, 4.5-1.5
• Waltham Day of Thanks G/60 (Waltham CC, 16 players): Denys Shmelov, Todd Chase, 2-0
• Waltham First Friday #103 (Waltham CC, 16 players): Denys Shmelov, 7-0
• Billerica November Swiss (Billerica CC, 15 players): Jeffrey Caruso, 3-1
• Noble November Open (Greater Worcester CC, 15 players): FM John Curdo, 4.5-1.5
• Nov. 13 BCF Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 14 players): FM Christopher Chase, 3-0
• November Quick Chess (Greater Worcester CC, 9 players): Donna Alarie, 3-0
• BCC Hauptturnier (Boylston CC, Somerville, 9 players): Jonathan Lee, 7-1
• Nov. 28 Scholastic (Boylston CC, Somerville, 2 players): Shuvom Sadhuka, 1.5-0.5

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

National master Alex Fikiet and Class A player Mark Bourque tied for first place in the 30th Williamantic Fall Open, held Sundays, October 31 through November 28, at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Fikiet, a 16-year-old UConn student, and Bourque, who hails from Stafford Springs, Conn., ended up with scores of 5-1. Fikiet's only loss was to Bourque in the third round. Bourque's points included two half-point byes and a forfeit win in the penultimate round. The tournament drew 11 players and was directed by Tom Hartmayer, assisted by Alan Pinto Jr., for the sponsoring UConn Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Igor Foygel of Brookline tallied 4.5-0.5 to win the Metrowest Chess Club's Thanksgiving Swiss, held Tuesday nights, November 2-30, at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. Capturing second place with a 4-1 soore was expert John Chamberlain of Natick. Tying for third place with 3.5-1.5 results were FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, grandmaster Arthur Bisguier of Wellesley and newly certified master Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland, Rhode Island. Ethan Thompson of Ashland scored 4.5-0.5 to finish first in the Under 2000 section. Mark Kaprielian of Framingham was second with a 4-1 tally. Robert Taussig was the winner of the Under 1700 section with a score of 4.5-0.5, while Jenshiang Hong of Lexington ended up as runner-up with a 4-1 performance. The Under 1400 section ended in a three-way for first among Harvey Reed of Natick, Franklin Lu of Boxborough and Kenneth Brisbois of Framingham. The four-section tournament drew 77 players, with two additional players contesting side games. Ken Ballou of Framingham, assisted by Matthew Phelps of Groton, directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Goran Vojinovic, a noted chess coach from Serbia who recently moved to Wayland, Massachusetts from Ohio, tied with fellow IM David Vigorito of Somerville and USCF senior life master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell for 1st-3rd place in the Harry Nelson Pillsbury Memorial tournament on Sunday, November 28, at the Leominster Veterans Center in Leominster. The trio tallied 3.5-0.5 in an Open section field of 23 players. Capturing the top Under 2100 prize with a 3-1 score was Winston Huang of Newton. Sharing the 2nd Under 2100 prize with 2.5-1.5 results were Zaroug Jaleel of Lexington, Jacob Fauman of Newton and John Elmore of Stratham, New Hampshire. Philip Lowell Jr. of Westbrook, Maine, Daniel Pascetta of South Glastonbury, Connecticut and Jason Tang of Belmont shared top honors in the 13-player Under 1900 section, where they finished with scores of 3-1 and divided the top two prizes as well as the top Under 1750 prize. Thomas Brinkmann of Somerville and Andy Li of Acton tallied 3.5-0.5 to finish as the top two scorers in the 25-player Under 1600 section. Taking the 3rd-place prize with a 3-1 result was David Todd of Boxford. William Brown Jr. of Winchendon won the 1st Under 1300 prize with a 3-1 score, while James Zhou of Andover captured the 2nd Under 1300 prize with a 2.5-1.5 tally. The turnout of 61 players was the largest attendance for a Pillsbury Memorial in this decade. Directing the event for the sponsoring Massachusetts Chess Association was associate national TD Alex Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire, assisted by his wife Nita Patel, and national TD and MACA president Ken Ballou of Framingham. Because of the larger attendance, the prize fund was increased by $300 - with more place and under prizes being given in the top and bottom sections. A special feature of the tournament was the broadcast on the Internet of LIVE games from the top two boards in the Open section for all four rounds, made possible by a loan of two DGT electronic boards from MACA life member Walter Champion of Wellesley. This was an historic first for the state association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Harry Nelson Pillsbury Memorial tournament, which will be played Sunday, November 28, at the Leominster Veterans Center, 100 West St., Leominster, Mass., will broadcast LIVE games on the Internet. The top two games from the Open section will be transmitted worldwide for each of the four rounds, starting at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. The broadcast is made possible by two DGT electronic chess boards, made available from MACA life member Walter Champion of Wellesley, Mass., who has graciously allowed MACA president Ken Ballou to use them for this special historic transmission of games from a MACA open tournament. The games can be accessed by either visiting directly http://www.sudburyriverchess.com/MACA/Pillsbury2010.html or clicking on the link on the MACA Website, www.masschess.org Among games that will be transmitted are ones by IM David Vigorito of Somerville, Mass., co-winner of last year's Pillsbury Memorial, and games by FIDE master William Kelleher of Watertown, Mass., winner of the event in 1999.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Greg Hager Memorial tournament, held Saturday, November 27, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, ended in a three-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with scores of 3.5-0.5 were FIDE master Charles Riordan of Somerville as well as national master Carey Theil of Arlington and German-born expert Dr. Bernhard Seehaus. The last two drew each other in the final round, with Riordan counting among his wins victory over top-ranked GM Larry Christiansen of Cambridge in the penultimate round. The Game/60 event drew 20 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Younger members of the Massachusetts Chess Association were among the prize winnners - some of them top prize winners - in the 7th annual New England Scholastic Championships, held Saturday and Sunday, November 20-21, at the Sheraton Hotel at Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. National master Alex Fikiet, a MACA member from Storrs, Conn., who was competing as an 11th-grader in the high school section, captured first place in that section with a score of 6-1. He was the winner in last year's high school championship. Taking the 5th-place trophy on tiebreak with a 4-3 tally was Class A player Max Chia-Hsin Lu of Lexington, Mass., a 9th-grader at Concord (Mass.) Academy. High school senior William Andrade, a non-MACA member from Massachusetts, scored 3-4 to win the 2nd unrated trophy. Other Mass. players finished as follows:

MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP

• 1st: Siddharth Arun of Medfield, grade 7, 6.5-0.5
• 3rd: Max Wiegand of Cambridge, grade 6, 4.5-2.5
•  
• Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge won the top school trophy in the ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP, with the following school players winning as follows:
• 3rd: Benjamin Wiegand of Cambridge, grade 3, 4.5-2.5
• 4th: Jeremy Tang of Southborough, grade 5, 4.5-2.5
• 6th: Siddharth Simon of Newton, grade 4, 4-3
• 9th: William Keating of Cambridge, grade 3, 4-3
• 10th: Aurash Vatan of Lexington, grade 4, 3.5-3.5
• 1st under 800: Andrew Keating of Cambridge, grade 4, 3-4
• 17th: Campbell Bell of Somerville, grade 3, 2-5
• 2nd unrated: Amy Khoshbin of Cambridge, grade 3, 1-6

PRIMARY SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP

• 7th: Nikita Roldan-Levchenko of Allston, grade 1, German International School, Boston, 3-4

The four-section tournament drew 67 players and was directed by Steve Immitt, assisted by Walter Browne Jr., for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the 119th Rhode Island Open, held Saturday, November 20, at the New England Institute of Technology in Warwick, R.I. Finishing second and capturing the championship title as the highest-scoring state resident was 30-year-old expert Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland. He scored 3-1, including a draw with Ivanov in the third round and in the process attained a master's rating of 2201 for the first time in his career. Tying for third place with 2.5-1.5 results were FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, Mass., and experts John Moran of Jefferson, Mass., and 15-year-old Stuart Finney of Barrington, R.I.  Tom Hartmayer of Storrs, Connecticut and Robert Messenger of Nashua, New Hampshire tied for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1900 section. They scored 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round. Tying for third place with a 3-1 performance were John Venditto Jr. of Warwick and Cristian Estrada of Central Falls, R.I. Rhode Island players dominated the Under 1500 section, where Nicholas Liotta finished first with a score of 3.5-0.5. Tying for the 2nd- and 3rd-place prizes with 3-1 tallies were Louis Giarrusso, David Coccio and Michael Coppa. The three section, Game/75  tournament had 38 players, 10 of whom competed in the Open section (with one no-show), 14 players in the Under 1900 section, and 11 players in the Under 1500 section. In addition, side games were played by two more players. Frank Vogel III, assisted by Eric Berkey, directed for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

By virtue of gaining a forfeit win on board 3, the New England Nor''easters won the 2010 U.S. Chess League Championship on Saturday, November 20, defeating the Miami Sharks, 3-1, The Sharks, the Western Division champions, were at a disadvantage when their third-board player was unable to make it to the playing site after experiencing car trouble. The following are board-by-board results, with the current ratings of the USCL players at the time of the match:

 NEW ENGLAND NOR'EASTERS    vs.       MIAMI SHARKS

• IM Sam Shankland (2559)            1-0        GM Julio Becerra (2612)
• IM Robert Hungaski (2549)          1-0        FM Marcel Martinez (2475)
• FM Christopher Chase (2386)    1F-0F      FM Charles Galofre (2316)
• NM Alex Cherniack (2311)           0-1        Nicholas Rosenthal (2017)

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Sixteen players showed up to compete in the Waltham Chess Club's Day of Thanks Game/60 tournament on Friday night, November 19, in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. Tying for first in Section 1 with 2-0 scores were USCF life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell and expert Todd Chase of Weston. Jesse Klimov, a 14-year-old Class C player from Waban, captured first place in Section 2, also with a 2-0 score. Nicholas Sterling of Needham directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Larry Christiansen of Cambridge swept to a 4-0 victory in the BCF $10 Open, held Saturday, November 20, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying as runners-up with scores of 3.5-0.5 were two German players: FIDE master Oliver Kniest and expert Dr. Bernhard Seehaus. The tournament drew 31 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

National master Sinclair Banks, a 51-year-old lawyer from Dighton, posted a perfect 3-0 score to win the Maple Leaf Swiss, held Thursday nights, November 4-18, at the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Finishing as runner-up with a 2-1 tally was 81-year-old Class B participant Paul Gavlick, a Chess Horizons subscriber from North Providence, R.I. The tournament drew only six players and was directed by David Harris of Providence.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn won the Greater Worcester Chess Club's Noble November Open, held Thursday nights, November 4-18, at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester. Curdo, who celebrated his 79th birthday four days before the end of the tournament, finished with a score of 4.5-1.5. Capturing second place with a 4-2 tally was Class A player Robert King of Worcester. Tying for third place with 3.5-2.5 results were expert Muharrem Brahimaj and Class A participant Joshua Marcus, both also of Worcester. Richard Marseglia of Worcester won the Under 1800 prize with a 3-3 performance, while fellow Worcester resident Peter Shtudiner captured the Under 1600 prize with a score of 2.5-3.5. Joe Alfano of Holden, assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Sven Brask Chess Club's Fall Classic, originally scheduled as a four-round Swiss for the month of October, was extended by two rounds and played Wednesday nights, October 6 through November 17, at the United Methodist Church in Plainville. Five players tied for first place with scores of 4.5-1.5. They were experts John McCauley of Fall River, Jack Correia of Attleboro, Andrew Hoy of Mansfield, Lawrence Dean of Norton, as well as Class A entrant George Winsor of South Easton. The tournament drew 17 players and was directed by James Aspinall of Mansfield.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Paul Godin, a Class A player from Burlington, won the Edmund N. Wheeler Memorial tournament, played Wednesday nights, October 20 through November 17, at the Wachusett Chess Club at Fitchburg State University. The 1967 Wachusett CC champion tallied a winning score of 4.5-0.5 in a field of 28 players. Finishing second with a 4-1 result was nationally certified master John Moran of Jefferson. Tying for third place with scores of 3.5-1.5 were George Miller of Ashburnham, Kenneth Gurge of Leominster and Paul Lynch of Northborough. George Mirijanian of Fitchburg, assisted by Dave Couture of Westminster, directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Larry Evans, a five-time U.S. champion and one of this country's most prolific chess writers, died in Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada on Monday, November 15, from complications following gallbladder surgery there more than two weeks ago. He was 78. GM Evans was a widely read chess writer and nationally syndicated columnist. He began his chess journalism career during the early 1960s, when he was principal editor of the American Chess Quarterly, published from 1961 to 1965 by Nature Food Centres Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Copies of American Chess Quarterly were auctioned off last month at the Greater Boston Open in Natick, where bidding for such issues in the silent auction was hot and heavy. Prior to American Chess Quarterly, Evans had published David Bronstein's "Best Games of Chess: 1940-1949"  and the "Vienna International Tournament, 1922" by the age of 18. His book "New Ideas in Chess" was published in 1958 and was later reprinted. In 1965, he edited the 10th edition of "Modern Chess Openings" and made a significant contribution to Bobby Fischer's "My 60 Memorable Games," published in 1969. Evans went on to write scores of other books and was best known for his question-and-answer column, Evans on Chess, for many years in Chess Life and most recently in Chess Life for Kids. He was a member of the Chess Journalists of America, which awarded him the prize for the Best Magazine Column in the country on three separate occasions. He was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 1994. GM Evans is survived by his German-born wife, artist Ingrid (Selver) Evans, and two stepsons, Michael and Gary Selver. For more information on his life and career, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Evans

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmasters Alexander Stripunsky of New Jersey and Michael Rohde of New York tied for 1st-2nd place in the 17th annual Eastern Chess Congress, held November 12-14 at the Holiday Inn Select in Stamford, Connecticut. The two GMs tallied 4.5-0.5, including a draw with each other in the final round. Tying for third place with 4-1 scores were international masters Robert Hungaski of Connecticut and Justin Sarkar of New York, as well as national master Matthew Herman of New York. Woman FIDE master Hana Itkis of New York tied for the top Under 2110 prize with Class A entrant William Graif of New York. Both finished with 3-2 results. The following are the top prize winners in the five other sections:

• SENIOR SECTION
•  
• 1st: Sam Barsky of New York, 4.5-0.5
• 2nd-3rd: Vladimir Polyakin of New York and Hanon Russell of Connecticut, 3.5-1.5
• Top Under 2010: Roger Pedersen of New Jersey and Richard Murphy of New York, 3-2

UNDER 1910 SECTION

• 1st-3rd: John Phythyon Sr. of Maine, Michael Bogaty of New York, Max Krall of Connecticut, 4-1

UNDER 1710 SECTION

• 1st-2nd: Julie Flammang and Alexander Wei, both of New York, 4-1
• 3rd: Bernard Rosenthal of New York, 3.5-1.5

UNDER 1510 SECTION

• 1st-2nd: Leonid Kogan of New York and Joseph Lauer of Connecticut, 4.5-0.5
• 3rd (tie): Augustine Joseph of Connecticut, Rohan and Neev Suryawanshi of New York, 4-1

UNDER 1210 SECTION

• 1st: Eric Hilhorst of Connecticut, 4.5-0.5
• 2nd: Dennis Li of Connecticut, 4-1
• 3rd: Henry Olynik of New York, 3.5-1.5

The tournament drew 135 players in six sections and was directed by William Goichberg for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association. He was assisted by MACA life members Robert Messenger of New Hampshire and Harold Stenzel of New York.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov headed west to compete in the 19th Kings Island Open on November 12-14 in Mason, Ohio, near Cincinnati. Instead of competing closer to home at the 17th annual Eastern Chess Congress in Stamford, Connectict, the GM from Newton, Massachusetts opted to play at the kings Island Resort event, where he shared top honors with fellow GM Alexander Shabalov of Pennsylvania. Both tallied 4.5-0.5 and never faced each other. Ivanov won an additional bonus prize for scoring better tiebreak points than Shabalov and added more points to his ever-increasing Grand Prix point total. Tying as runners-up in the Open section with 4-1 tallies were GM Gregory Kaidanov of Kentucky, life master Iryna Zenyuk of Pennsylvania, national master Bradley Denton of Alabama, and FIDE master Andrew Karklins of Illinois. The event drew 298 players in seven sections and inlcuded 29 masters, among them five GMs and two IMs. Steve Immitt of New York directed for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

New Hampshire experts Kerry Coffin and Robert Cousins tied for first place in the Capital City Chess Club November Saturday Swiss, held Novemer 13 at the Crossroads Church in Bow, N.H. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with each other in the third round. The tournament drew 16 players and was directed by Nathan Smith of Derry, N.H.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The BCF Quads, held Saturday, November 13. at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville drew 14 players in three sections. The sectional winners all posted perfect scores of 3-0. Winning Quad 1 was FIDE master and current Boylston CC champion Christopher Chase of Somerville. Class A contestant Michelle Chen of Concord won in Quad 2, while Class B entrant Jeffrey Yao of Lexington finished first in the six-player Section 3. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Denys Shmelov, a life senior master from Pepperell, and Evan Rabin, a candidate master and a student at Brandeis University, tied for first place in Section 1 of the Waltham November Game/20 Tournament, played Friday night, Nov. 12, at the Waltham Chess Club in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. Both tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with each other in the third round. Runner-up with a 3-1 score was Ross Eldridge of Brighton. Section 2 ended in a three-way tie for first place among Leonardo Lopez Jr., Eric Liu of Acton and Justin Wu of Littleton. All three finished with 3-1 results. The two-section event drew 20 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton visited the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on Saturday, November 6, and had little trouble winning the November Vamp tournament with a 3-0 score. Tying as runners-up with 2-1 tallies were expert David Harris of Providence, R.I., and 81-year-old Class B entrant Paul Gavlick of North Providence, R.I. The event drew nine players and was directed by David Harris..

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The New England Nor'easters accomplished their goal of advancing to the U.S. Chess League Championship finals, holding the rival Boston Blitz to a 2-2 drawn match Wednesday night, November 10, in Eastern Division semifinal play. The Nor'easters, who sported the best record in the league, needed only a tie to advance to the finals, where they will now face the Miami Sharks on Saturday, November 20, at 4 p.m., Eastern Time. The Sharks disposed of the Arizona Scorpions, 3-1, in the Western Division semifinals to set up the final match with New England. Here are the board-by-board results in the New England vs. Boston seminfinal match:

               NEW ENGLAND NOR'EASTERS vs. BOSTON BLITZ

• IM Sam Shankland (2567)          0-1    GM Larry Christiansen (2665)
• IM Robert Hungaski (2520)        1-0     SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (2603)
• FM Christopher Chase (2382)    0-1     IM Marc Esserman (2492)
• NM Alex Cherniack (2288)          1-0     Grant Xu (2061)

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The 16th Boston University Open, held Saturday, November 6, in the backcourt of the George Sherman Union on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, ended in a four-way tie for first place. It also set a new attendance record of 107 players. Sharing top honors in the Open section with scores of 3.5-0.5 were international master Robert Hungaski, a junior at the University of Connecticut at Storrs, and FIDE master William Kelleher of Watertown, both of whom drew each other in the final round, as well as national master Alex Fikiet of Storrs, Conn., a high school student enrolled at UConn, and candidate master Andrew Wang of Cambridge. Thomas Hartmayer of Storrs, Conn., the tournament director at UConn, tallied a perfect 4-0 to win first place in the Under 1900 section. Tying for second place with 3-1 results Charlie Fauman of Newton, Mark Kaprielian of Framingham, Northeastern University student Michael Raphael, Nicholas Plotkin of Sharon, UConn junior Matthew Morra, , Seth Lieberman of Jamaica Plain, and Wesley Parker of Maine. Eduardo Valadares of Framingham, a longtime member of the Wachusett Chess Club at Fitchburg State University, and first-time player Lino Fabiani, a student at Boston University, posted perfect scores of 4-0 to tie for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1600 section. Winning the top Under 1200 prize with a score of 2.5-1.5 was Benjamin Hansel of Maine. Capturing the award for the top-scoring collegiate team was UConn, with the trio of Hungaski, Fikiet and Morra scoring 10 out of 12 possible points. The three-section tournament was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, assisted by BU associate dean Robert Oresick of Norton, for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Club on behalf of the host Boston University Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

USCF life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell posted a perfect score of 7-0 to win first place in Section 1 of the Waltham Chess Club's First Friday Tournament, held November 5 at the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Watham. Brandon Wu of Littleton and Allen Wang of Acton tied for first place in Section 2 with 6.5-0.5 tallies, including a draw with one another in the third round. The two-section Game/10 event drew 16 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master David Vigorito, the proud manager of the super-hot New England Nor''easters in the U.S. Chess League, has managed to become proud about something else in his life. The Somerville resident and his wife, the former Heather Kroll, are now the super-thrilled parents of a baby girl, Zoe Denison Vigorito, born at 11:31 p.m. on Friday, October 22, weighing 8 lb., 3 oz.  MACA and the entire New England chess community congratulate David and Heather on the arrival of the new member of their family.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Chess fans in New England are jumping for joy. Two suburban Boston-based teams in the U.S. Chess League - the New England Nor'easters and the Boston Blitz - will square off on Wednesday, November 10, in the USCL Eastern Division semifinals to determine who will represent the East in the league's championship match later this month. Both teams advanced to the semifinals as a result of winning key matches on Monday, November 1. The Nor'easters, an expansion team that plays its matches at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, upended the league's defending champions, the New York Knights, 2.5-1.5. The Blitz, which plays its matches at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, prevailed over the Baltimore Kingfishers by the same 2.5-1.5 score. Here are results of Monday's quarterfinal play:

           NEW ENGLAND NOR'EASTERS vs. NEW YORK KNIGHTS

• IM Sam Shankland (2567)        1-0    GM Alex Lenderman (2608)
• IM Robert Hungaski (2520)      1-0     GM Pascal Charbonneau (2566)
• FM Christopher Chase (2382)  0-1     FM Alec Getz (2377)
• NM Alex Cherniack (2288)      1/2-1/2  NM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (2289)

                       BOSTON BLITZ vs. BALTIMORE KINGFISHERS

• GM Larry Christiansen (2665)  0-1      GM Sergey Erenburg (2646)
• IM Marc Esserman (2492)        1-0       IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2425)
• NM Vadim Martirosov (2248) 1/2-1/2   FM Ralph Zimmer (2279)
• NM Ilya Krasik (2253)               1-0      NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2255)

In the semifinals, the Nor'easters need only a draw to advance to the finals - based on their superior regular season record.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Alex Fikiet, a 16-year-old master from Storrs, Connecticut, posted a perfect score of 4-0 to win the 77th Greater Boston Open ,held Sunday, October 31, at the Katherine Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. Among his wins were victories against three of the four top-rated masters in the Open section. Tying for second place with 3-1 tallies were top-ranked FIDE master William Kelleher of Watertown, who lost to Fikiet in the final round, and national master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park, who lost to Fikiet in the second round. Tying for the Under 2150 prize with 2-2 results were Winston Huang of Newton and Alan Shalk of Berwick, Maine. Richard Judy of York Beach, Maine won the Under 2000 section with a score of 3.5-0.5. Siddharth Arun was second with a 3-1 tally. Capturing the Under 1850 prize with a 2.5-1.5 performance was Nicholas Zhang of Lexington. The Under 1700 section ended in a tie between John Watters of Gloucester and Kostandinos Sideras, a visitor from Rochester, Minnesota. Both tallied 3-1. Deadlocked in a tie for the Under 1550 prize with scores of 2.5-1.5 were Mark Seedner of York Beach, Maine, Jason Tang of Belmont, and Daniel Blessing of Medfield. Andy Li of Acton won the Under 1400 section with a score of 3.5-0.5. Tying for 2nd-3rd place and sharing the Under 1200 prize with 3-1 results were Rahul Krishnan of Hopkinton and Conway Xu of Lexington. The four-section tournament drew a disappointing 45 players and was directed for the sponsoring Massachusetts Chess Association by associate national TD Alex Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire. He was assisted by his wife, Nita Patel,  national TD Ken Ballou of Framingham, and senior TD Bob Messenger of Nashua, N.H.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Billerica Chess Club champion Patrick Sciacca of Salem, New Hampshire tallied 4-1 to win the Billerica October Swiss, held Friday nights, October 1-29, at the Council on Aging building in the town. Tying as runners-up with 3.5-1.5 results were Class A contestants Raymond Paulson of Lowell and Michelle Chen of Concord, as well as Class B entrant Meyer Billmers of Lexington. The tournament drew 20 players and was directed by Nathan Smith of Derry, N.H., assisted by Patrick Sciacca.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

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

• MCC Trick or Treat Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 70 players): IM Igor Foygel, GM Arthur Bisguier, 3.5-0.5
• Hervey Brisson Mermorial (Wachusett CC, Fitchburg, 27 players): John Moran, 4.5-0.5
• BCF Fall Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 22 players): Lawyer Times, Mika Brattain, 3.5-0.5
• Oct. 2 BCF Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 21 players): Lawyer Times, Carey Theil, 2-1
• Billerica October Swiss (Billerica CC, 20 players): Patrick Sciacca, 4-1
• BCF Thursday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, Somerville, 19 players): FM Oliver Kniest, 3.5-0.5
• National Chess Day Tornado (Boylston CC, Somerville, 17 players): IM Marc Esserman, 3.5-0.5
• Waltham Fright Night! G/60 (Waltham CC, 16 players): LSM Denys Shmelov, 2-0
• Newburyport CC Tournament #101 (Newburyport CC, 15 players): John Elmore, 4-0
• Waltham Sukkot G/20 (Waltham CC, 14 players): LSM Denys Shmelov, 4-0
• Waltham First Friday #102 (Waltham CC, 14 players): Todd Chase, 6.5-0.5
• Ernst Grunfeld Memorial (Boylston CC, Somerville, 14 players): Dr. Bernhard Seehaus, 4-0
• BCF Davis Square Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 13 players): FM Oliver Kniest, 4-0
• Obviously October Open (Greater Worcester CC, 11 players): Muharrem Brahimaj, 4-0
• October Quick Chess (Greater Worcester CC, 7 players): Alonzo Ross, 3.5-0.5
• 2010 Boylston CC Championship (Somerville, 7 players): FM Christopher Chase, 4.5-0.5 (with 1 unplayed game)

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Dr. Bernhard Seehaus, a 48-year-old FIDE-rated expert from Germany, chalked up a perfect score of 4-0 to win the Ernst Grunfeld Memorial tournament, held Saturday, October 30, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Finishing in second place with a 3-1 score - losing to Seehaus in the second round - was Northeastern University student Timothy Sniffin of New York, whose rating jumped from 1491 to 1634. The tournament drew 14 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton. The event honored the memory of Austrian grandmaster Ernst Franz Grunfeld (1893-1962), one of strongest players in the world for a short period after World War I.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Purity Spring Open, held Saturday, October 30, at the Purity Spring Resort in East Madison, New Hampshire, turned into an "Italian Swiss" in the top two sections, where sectional winners ended up playing the same player twice due to the low number of players in each section. GM Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. tallied 4-0 to finish first in the five-player Open section, which had one of the participants drop out after the penultimate round - causing a repeat match-up on top board. Class A entrant John Elmore of Stratham. N.H. took second place with 2.5-1.5 score, including a full-point bye in the second round. Expert Patrick Sciacca of Salem, N.H. ended up in third place with a 2-2 result. In the four-player Under 1900 section, Philip Lowell Jr. of Maine and Arthur King of Haverhill, Mass. tied for 1st-2nd place with 3-1 tallies. The Under 1300 section had a more respectable nine players and saw New Hampshire entrants Aashish Welling and Jason Davis tie for first place with scores of 3.5-0.5. The 18-player tournament was directed by associate national TD Alex Relyea of Bedford, N.H., assisted by his wife Nita Patel.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Muharrem Brahimaj, an expert from Worcester, scored a perfect 4-0 to win the 2010 Obviously October Open, held Thursday nights, October 7-28, at the Greater Worcester Chess Club at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn and Class D entrant Marc Quevillon of Dayville, Connecticut. Richard Marseglia of Worcester, who had been absent from rated chess for more than two years, won the Under 1800 prize with a 2-2 performance. Peter Shtudiner, also of Worcester, captured the Under 1600 prize with a 1.5-2.5 score. The tournament drew 11 players and was directed by Joe Alfano of Holden, assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Oliver Kniest, a FIDE master from Germany who is now a resident of Massachusetts, won the Thursday Night Swiss, held October 7-28 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Kniest tallied 3.5-0.5, including a half-point bye in the second round. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 scores were national master Eric Godin of Boston, who took a half-point bye in the final round, and expert Alex Slive of Cambridge, who lost to Kniest in the final round. The tournament drew 19 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

John Elmore, a high-rated Class A player from Stratham, New Hampshire, tallied a perfect 4-0 to win the Newburyport Chess Club Tournament #101, held Thursday nights, October 7-28, at Hope Community Church in Newburyport. Finishing as runner-up with a 3-1 score was Class A rival Arthur King of Haverhill. The event drew 15 players and was directed by John Elmore.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Expert Clay Bradley of Marlow, New Hampshire scored 4-0 to win the 4th annual Knights Chess Club Championship,held Monday nights, October 4-25, at the E.F. Lane Hotel in downtown Keene, N.H. Ending up as runner-up with a 3-1 tally was Class A contender Jesse Anderson of Williamsville, Vermont, who lost to Bradly in the third round. The championship drew eight players and was directed by Thomas Cassar of Keene.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Igor Foygel of Brookline and grandmaster Arthur Bisguier of Wellesley tied for first place in the Metrowest Chess Club's Trick or Treat Swiss, held Tuesday nights, October 5-26, at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. The duo ended up with scores of 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the final round. Nikita Konovalchuk of Ashland scored 3.5-0.5 to win first place in the Under 2000 section, while Alex Kahn and Alex Fauman of Newton chalked up the same score to tie for first place in the Under 1700 section. Robert Taussig and Franklin Lu of Boxborough were co-winners in the Under 1400 section, finishing at 3.5-0.5 The four-section tournament drew 70 players and was directed by national TD Ken Ballou of Framingham, assisted by fellow Framingham resident Mark Kaprielian.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

A silent auction will be held on October 31st at the Greater Boston Open in Natick, Mass. to sell hundreds of chess magazines donated by the estate of Andrus Varnik, and also a Berkshire Folding Chess Table with a $350 retail value donated by Chess Cafe (http://www.chesscafe.com).  Advance bids may be sent to auction2010@masschess.org .  E-mail bids must be in whole dollar amounts and must be received by Friday, October 29th.  Bidding for each item will start at the highest bid that was sent by e-mail.  The silent auction will close at 3:30 p.m.  If lots aren't picked up at the tournament they can be picked up at a Boston-area chess club or else mailed.  Winning bidders are responsible for paying all postage costs.  

 Bob Messenger, Treasurer, Massachusetts Chess Association  

 List of lots in the auction: 

 LOT    TITLE

32        New in Chess: 2002, No. 1-8 -- 8 issues

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

USCF life master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park and expert Mika Brattain of Lexington tied for 1st-2nd place in the BCF Fall Open, held Saturday, October 23, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Both tallied 3.5-0.5 in an Open section field of 16 players. Tying for third place with 3-1 scores were FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville, who drew both Brattain and Times, and Class A entrant Emmanuel Mevs, formerly of Florida, whose only loss was to Brattain. Kurt Milligan, a Class C player from Stoneham, finished first in the five-player Under 1800 section with a 3-1 result, including a full-point bye in the final round. Tying for second place with 2.5-1.5 tallies were Evan Meyer of Newton and Sandeep Vadlamudi of Lexington. The tournament drew a total of 22 participants, including house player Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, who played two extra rated side games and was the chief TD.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

USCF life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell scored 2-0 to win Section 1 of the Waltham Fright Night! Game/60 tournament, held October 22 at the Waltham Chess Club in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. Brandon Wu of Littleton and Peter Teodorescu of Marlborough also tallied 2-0 to tie for first place in Section 2. The event drew 16 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The following are winners in top sections of rated tournaments that were played in September 2010 in chess clubs in Massachusetts:

• MCC Memorial Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 81 players): Lawyer Times, 3.5-0.5
• BCF $10 Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 36 players): IM Marc Esserman, 3.5-0.5
• Michael Glinski Memorial (Wachusett CC, Fitchburg, 30 players): G. Mirijanian, M. Manisy, 4-1
• Newburyport CC 100 (20 players): Frank Sisto, 4-1
• Sept. 11 BCF Quads 10-9 (Boylston CC, Somerville, 19 players): Mika Brattain, 2.5-0.5
• 9-11 Memorial (Sven Brask CC, Plainville, 17 players): Andrew Hoy, 4.5-0.5
• Waltham 1st Friday #101 (Waltham CC, 17 players): Andrew Liu, 6-1
• Waltham Sukkot G/60 (Waltham CC, 17 players): Denys Shmelov, 2-0
• September Swiss (Billerica CC, 16 players): Patrick Sciacca, Raymond Paulson, 3.5-0.5
• September Chess Snipp (Greater Worcester CC, 16 players): FM John Curdo, 4.5-0.5
• Michael Tomlinson Memorial (Boylston CC, Somerville, 15 players): Dr. Bernhard Seehaus, 4-0
• BCF Thursday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, Somerville, 13 players): Eric Godin, Alex Slive, 3.5-0.5
• September Quick Chess (Greater Worcester CC, 12 players): Donna Alarie, 4.5-0.5
• Sept. 2 Early Bird Rapid Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 8 players): Oliver Kniest, 3-0
• Sept. 12 Scholastic (Boylston CC, Somerville, 4 players): Shuvom Sadhuka, 3-0

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

John Moran, a certified national master from Jefferson, tallied 4.5-0.5 to win the Hervey Brisson Memorial tournament, held Wednesday nights, September 15 through October 13, at the Wachusett Chess Club at Fitchburg State University. Capturing second place with a 4-1 score was former New Hampshire state champion Patrick Sciacca of Salem, NH, who drew Moran in the final round. Tying for third place with 3.5-1.5 results were 1967 Wachusett Chess Club champion Paul Godin of Burlington, Michael Manisy of Otter River, and Mark Marshall of Worcester. The tournament drew 27 players and was directed by George Mirijanian of Fitchburg, assisted by Dave Couture of Westminster.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

 Q1 Winners

• 8&U Samuel Qiu (1083) of Acton
• 11&U Evan Meyer (1369) of Newton
• 14&U Michelle Chen (1926) of Concord
• HS Jesse Nicholas (2010) of Newton

 Primary (Age 8 & Under) Section:

•  Jason Tang (1484) of Belmont
• Isabella Shih (1013) of Andover
• Rohan Krishnan (887) of Hopkinton
• Eric Feng (884) of Sudbury
• Justin Lin (850) of Lexington
• Justin Wu (796) of Littleton
• Andrew The (761) of Lexington
• Ben Wiegand (731) of Cambridge
• Alexander Kohler (717/P12) of South Hamilton
• Matthew Ding (707) of Westford
• Adam Itani (693) of South Easton
• Maxwell Zhao (661) of Bolton
• Rohan Singh (649/P20) of Acton
• Eddie Wang (608) of Acton

 Elementary (Age 11 & Under) Section:

• Jeffrey Yao (1711) of Lexington
• Mateos Sahakian (1580) of Medford
• Alex Fauman (1569) of Newtonville
• Jason Tang (1484) of Belmont
• Arnav Ghosh (1399) of Winchester
• Nithin Kavi (1348) of Acton
• Eric Liu (1293) of Acton
• Michael Isakov (1282) of Sudbury
• Sandeep Shankar (1268) of Sudbury
• Sabrina Zhang (1268) of Lexington
• Brandon Wu (1283) of Littleton
• Sandeep Vadlamudi (1210) of Lexington
• Jesse Sun (1182) of Sudbury
• Anton Barash (1171) of Brighton
• Alan Sikarov (1159) of Newton
• Allen Wang (1102) of Acton
• Christopher H. Wang (1059) of Lexington
• Sathwik Karnik (1035) of Plainville
• Rahul Krishnan [1018] of Hopkinton
• Daniel Plotkin (1004) of Sharon

 Age 14 & Under Section:

•  Grant Xu (2089) of Shrewsbury
• Mika Brattain (2082) of Lexington
• Andrew Liu (1993) of Westborough
• Danny Angermeier (1965) of Franklin
• Tian Rossi (1957) of West Newton - 9th grade
• Max C. Lu (1924) of Lexington - 9th grade
• Charlie Fauman (1893) of Newtonville
• Fangru Jiang (1881) of Chelmsford
• Siddharth Arun (1848) of Medfield
• Ashvin Nair (1831) of Winchester - 9th grade
• Alex Z. Hu (1791) of Acton
• Nicholas Trieu (1750) of Watertown - 9th grade
• Nicholas Plotkin (1696) of Sharon
• Nicholas Zhang (1666) of Lexington
• Oron Propp (1654/P4) of Brookline
• Luke Lung (1641) of Boxborough
• Matthew Lee (1640) of Walpole
• Clara Wang (1603) of Sharon
• Jimmy Wang (1600) of Acton - 9th grade
• Bowen Wang (1563) of S. Easton
• Timothy Lung (1581) of Lexington
• Bary Lisak (1571) of Wayland
• Edward Andy Li (1568) of Acton
• Alex Sorets (1548) of Newton
• Varun Palnati (1492) of Westford
• David Ter-Ovanesyan (1488) of Newton
• Rohan Shankar (1412) of Sudbury
• Max Wiegand (1404) of Cambridge

 High School Section:

•  Andrew Wang (2183) of Sharon
• Winston Huang (2084) of Auburndale
• James Lung (2074) of Lexington
• Zaroug Jaleel (2066) of Lexington
• Jacob Fauman (2024) of Newtonville
• Felix Yang (2023) of Dover
• Lior Rozhansky (2011) of Newton
• Elliot Strassman (2009) of Jamaica Plain
• Tian Rossi (1957) of West Newton - 9th grade
• Embert Lin (1954) of Acton
• Vikas Shiva (1953) of Lexington
• Darwin Ding (1942) of Lexington
• Max C. Lu (1924) of Lexington - 9th grade
• Winber Xu (1894) of Newton
• Alexander J. Hu (1852) of Wellesley
• Richard Lunetta II (1834) of Burlington
• Ashvin Nair (1831) of Winchester - 9th grade
• Richard Han (1752) of Newton
• Nicholas Trieu (1750) of Watertown - 9th grade

Steve Frymer
Assistant TD

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn and Class A player Thomas Cantin of Chicopee tied for first place in the 11th Western New England Open, held October 16-17 at Holyoke Community College. In a field of 15 players the duo tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the final round. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 scores were Class A entrant Morris Lainer of Easthampton and Class B participant Steven Bixby of Southwick. Edward Kostreba directed the tournament for the sponsoring Western Massachusetts Chess Association (WMCA).

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Burger King and Papa Gino's Scholastic Events in 2010: [3 prizes to be awarded]

• 1. James Zhou..............................................21.0 points..........10 events
• 2. Aashish Welling.......................................18.5 points.............8 events
• 3. Lauren Smorgonsky................................17.5 points.............8 events
• 4. Anton Barash.............................................15.0 points.............6 events
• 5. Isabella Shih..............................................15.0 points............7 events
• 6. Sean Cheng................................................15.0 points..........8 events
• 7. Leonardo Cheng........................................14.0 points..........6 events
• 8. Rahul Krishnan.........................................13.5 points.........5 events
• 9. Rohan Krishnan.......................................13.5 points..........5 events
• 10. Eric Feng..................................................13.0 points..........5 events
• 11. Maxwell Zhao............................................13.0 points.........5 events 
• 12. Ari Xuan......................................................12.5 points........5 events 
• 13. Alex Shih....................................................12.5 points..........6 events

Steve Frymer
Assistant TD

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

Mongoose Press, Chess Books from Europe, and Back Pages Books in Waltham, MA will be sponsoring a special day of chess activities to promote new chess fiction anthology, "Masters of Technique." On Saturday, September 11, 2010, Senior Master Denys Shmelov will give a 20-board simultaneous exhibition at 12:30pm, followed by a blitz tournament at 4pm, at Back pages Books in Waltham, MA. Tickets for the simul are free with the purchase of a copy of the anthology. (Contact Back Pages to buy a book and reserve a ticket. First come, first served.) Prizes to players who win or draw will be donated by Back Pages Books. Entry to the blitz tournament is free, with prizes for the tournament donated by Chess Books from Europe. Please bring sets, boards, and clocks. All profits from the sale of "Masters of Technique" go to charity. 

For directions or more information about the event contact 
Back Pages Books
http://www.backpagesbooks.com
289 Moody Street
Waltham, MA 02453 
781.209.0631 
info@backpagesbooks.com 

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

July 3, 2010.................Quads: #1 B. Pellows...2.5-0.5; #2 E. Lin...3-0; #3 A.Z. Hu...3-0; #4 S. Lieberman and V. Amrit...2.5-0.5;

July 10, 2010...............Swiss #29: T. Slesnick...3.5-0.5;

July 17, 2010...............Legends: Open- D.K. Shmelov...3.5-0.5; U1800- A. Cortizas, Jr....4-0;

July 18, 2010...............Scholastic: A. Guo...3.5-0.5;

July 24, 2010..............Summer Open: Open- C. Chase...4-0; U1800- A.Z. Hu...4-0;

July 8-29, 2010...........Thursday Night Swiss:  A. Psphitis...4-0;

July 31, 2010...............$10 Open: Open- D.K. Shmelov...4-0; U1800- A. Cortizas, Jr....3.5-0.5

Steve Frymer
MACA Board Member

Held on 10-11 July 2010...124 players...Open Section: A. Ivanov and D. Shmelov 1st-2nd 3.5-0.5; S. Kudrin and N. Castenada 3rd-4th 3-1;

NH state champion: J. Fang 2.5-1.5; Top U2060: T. Chase 3.5-0.5, Top U1860: O. Chase 4-0, Top U1660: L. Stolov and J. Kuehne 3.5-0.5,

Top U1460: H. Clark 3.5-0.5, Top U1260: A. Franke 4-0. Sunday Swiss: F. Sisto 3-0.

Alex Relyea was chief TD for the NHCA.

Steve Frymer
MACA Correspondent

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Massachusetts scored 4-0 to win the Connecticut State Championship, held June 19-20 at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 results were two Connecticut players - FIDE master Nelson Castaneda of New Britain and now provisionally rated master Sivasankar Balakumar, formerly of Toronto, Canada - and USCF life master Max Enkin of Peabody, Mass.  Balakumar defeated Enkin in the third round but lost to Ivanov in the final round. Confirmation is still awaited on which Connecticut player - Castaneda or Balakumar - was awarded the Connecticut state championship title and trophy. In the Reserve section, first place with a perfect 4-0 score went to Noah Arthurs of Connecticut. He gained a Class B rating for the first time in his career. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 tallies were Class B contestants David Gaston, Max Krall and Kevin Zimmerman, all of Connecticut, as well as Class C entrant Eric Nechayev, also of Connecticut.  The two-section tournament drew 36 players and was directed by Timothy Hartley, assisted by John Fikiet, for the sponsoring UConn Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

National master Alex Fikiet, a MACA member from Storrs, Connecticut, tallied a perfect 4-0 to win the UConn Strength Builder Tournament, held Thursday nights, June 10 and 17, at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Capturing second place with a 3-1 score was expert Sarathi Ray, a fellow UConn Chess Club member. Fellow MACA member Tom Hartmayer of Storrs finished with a 2.5-1.5 result to take third place. The tournament drew eight players and was directed by Timothy Hartley for the sponsoring UConn Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville scored 3.5-0.5 to capture first place in the BCF Tornado #102, held Saturday, June 19, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 tallies were life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell (who drew Chase in the final round), life master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park (who lost to Chase in the third round), and expert William Collins of Boston (who lost to Chase in the second round). The tournament drew 15 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Senior master Denys Shmelov continued to prove his dominance at the Waltham Chess Club, winning the Waltham June Game/20 Tournament on Friday night, June 18, at the club's playing site in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. The 23-year-old Pepperell resident tallied 4-0 to finish clear first. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 scores were Andrew Liu of Westborough and Erik Siggelkoe of Millis. The quick-rated event drew 13 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Tony Cesolini, a Class A player from Jaffrey, New Hampshire, won the 2010 Wachusett Chess Club Championship, held Wednesday nights, May 5 through June 16, at the McKay Campus School at Fitchburg State College. Cesolini tallied 4.5-0.5, yielding a sole draw to George Mirijanian of Fitchburg. Mirijanian finished as runner-up with a 3-1 score with one unplayed game. Third place with a 2.5-2.5 result went to Glenn Rochon of Leominster. Martin Laine of Lunenburg and Dave Couture of Westminster shared top honors in the "B" Division Championship, scoring 5.5-1.5. Tying for 3rd-4th place with 5-2 tallies were Ken Gurge and Leonard Arsenault, both of Leominster. The two--section championship event drew 30 players and was directed by George Mirijanian, assisted by club Webmaster Dave Couture.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Massachusetts scored a perfect 5-0 to win the 7th annual Vermont Spring Open, held June 11-13 at the Stratton Mountain Inn in West Wardsboro, Vermont.  Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3.5-1.5 tallies were FIDE master Nelson Castaneda of New Britain, Connecticut, who lost to Ivanov in the third round, and Class A contestant Chen Qu of New York, who lost to Ivanov in the final round. Gabriel Katz of Vermont won first place in the Under 1750 section with a score of 4-1. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3.5-1.5 results were Andrew Palmer of Vermont and Mark Dreher of New York. Henry Olynik of White Plains, New York was the winner in the Under 1350 section with a score of 4.5-0.5. Jameson Voll of Vermont was second with a 4-1 performance. Tying for third place with 2.5-2.5 tallies were Jeffrey Qu of Clifton Park, New York, and Andrew Berzolla of Connecticut. The three-section tournament drew 32 players and was directed by Bill Goichberg for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Expert William "Billy" Collins was the surprise winner in the BCF Somerville Open, held Saturday, June 12, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The Boston player tallied a perfect 4-0, including wins against life master Alex Cherniack of Watertown (round 2), international master David Vigorito of Somerville (round 3), and FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville (round 4).  Senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, who took a half-point bye in the first round, finished second with a score of 3.5-0.5 Tying for first place in the Under 1800 section with 3-1 results were Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Nicholas Lesieur of Cambridge, and George Duval of Sudbury. In individual encounters, Iglesias beat Lesieur (round 2) but lost to Duval (round 3), while Duval lost to Lesieur (round 4). The two-section tournament drew 23 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

The Waltham Chess Club's Flag Day Game/60 Tournament, held Friday night, June 11, at the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham, ended in a three-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with scores of 1.5-0.5 were senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, expert Todd Chase of Weston, and Class C entrant Stephen DeSousa of Waltham. In the final round, Chase held Shmelov to a draw. The event drew 10 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. and international master David Vigorito of Somerville, Mass. tied for first place in the Seacoast Open, held Saturday, June 5, at the Holiday Inn in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5, incuding a draw with one another in the third round.  Tying as runners-up with 3-1 scores were FIDE master Nelson Castaneda of New Britain, Connecticut and expert Michael Niemczyk of New York, the latter of whom won the Under 2300 prize. Philip Lowell Jr. and Andry Savov, both of Maine, scored 3.5-0.5 to tie for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1900 section. William Bonney of Maine posted the tournament's only perfect score of 4-0 in winning the Under 1250 section. Second place with a 3-1 tally went to Benjamin Hansel of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The three-section tournament drew 49 players and was directed by FIDE arbiter F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire, who was assisted by his wife, Nita Patel

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

The following are winners of top sections of rated tournaments held in May 2010 at various USCF-affiliated chess clubs in Massachusetts:

• MCC 27th Anniversary Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 80 players): NM Lawyer Times, Pablo Pena, 3.5-0.5
• BCF $10 Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 33 players): IM David Vigorito, FM Christopher Chase, 3.5-0.5
• Yefim Geller Memorial (Boylston CC, Somerville, 21 players): IM David Vigorito, 4-0
• 51st Club Championship (Sven Brask CC, Plainville, 18 players): Lawrence Dean, Jerry Giambo, 5.5-1.5
• Newburyport CC Tournament #96 (17 players): John Elmore, 4-0
• BCF Quads 10-5 (Boylston CC, Somerville, 17 players): FM Christopher Chase, 3-0
• BCF Paramount (Boylston CC, Somerville, 17 players): FM Christopher Chase, 9.5-0.5
• BCF May Thuisday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, Somerville, 17 players): Andrew Hoy, Daniel Shapiro, 3.5-0.5
• Mayte in Four Open (Greater Worcester CC, 16 players): FM John Curdo, 3.5-0.5
• Waltham Memorial Day G/60 (Waltham CC, 16 players): SM Denys Shmelov, NM Lawyer Times, 2-0
• Waltham May G/20 (Waltham CC, 16 players): SM Denys Shmelov, 4-0
• Waltham First Friday #97 (Waltham CC, 13 players): SM Denys Shmelov, 7-0
• BCF Spring Quick Chess (Boylston CC, Somerville, 11 players): IM Marc Esserman, 4.5-0.5
• May Early Bird (Boylston CC, Somerville, 7 players): IM Marc Esserman, 3-0

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

As reported by Beebe Wiegand, MACA Election Commission, and Bob Messenger 

Tellers were: Beebe Wiegand, David Yasinovsky and Jane Angermeier 

128 total ballots

2 invalid ballots: 1 deceased (Paul Jandron), 1 hand written 

Candidates with vote totals.  Candidates elected are marked with an asterisk (*) 

President:               

* Ken Ballou: 91     

Robert King: 28        

Maryanne Reilly: 2

George Mirijanian: 1

Vice President:               

* Maryanne Reilly: 113     

Sam Lurie: 1                   

Alex Relyea: 1                

Treasurer:

* Bob Messenger: 118

Marcus Luzzi: 1

Steve Frymer: 1 

Clerk:

* Brian Mottershead: 98

Nicholas Sterling: 2

Director: 

* Steve Frymer: 110           * Margaret King: 78

* Alex Relyea: 104             * George Mirijanian: 5

Maryanne Reilly: 103          Ken Ballou: 4

Brian Mottershead: 87       * Nicholas Sterling: 3

* Brian Lafferty: 85            * John Curdo: 2

* Ken Belt: 84                  * Beebe Wiegand: 2

* Stephen Dann: 83          * Donna Alarie: 2

* Robert King: 79

Bylaws Amendments: 

Ratification #1 (Section 7.2) 

Yes: 100

No: 6 

Ratification #2 (Section 4.6) 

Yes: 91

No: 20 

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

The BCF Quads, held Saturday, June 5, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville drew 16 players. Capturing first place in Quad #1 with a 3-0 score was FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville. Quad #2 saw a four-way tie for first among Class A players Gabriel Frieden of Cambridge, Benjamin Smith of Melrose, Max Lu of Lexington, and first-time USCF tournament player Jens Nusser of Germany. All four tallied 1.5-1.5. Siddharth Arunm, a Class A player from Medfield, won Quad #3 with a score of 2.5-0.5, while Class C contestant Seth Lieberman of Jamaica Plain finished on top in Quad #4 with a 3-0 performance. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Denys Shmelov, a senior master from Pepperell, showed his dominance once again at the Waltham Chess Club - scoring a perfect 7-0 to win the Waltham First Friday Tournament #98 on June 4 at the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. MACA life member Todd Chase of Weston finished second with a 5.5-1.5 tally, while MACA junior member Andrew Liu of Westborough ended up third with a 4.5-2.5 result. The tournament drew 10 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Lawrence Dean, an expert from Norton, and Jerry Giambo, a Class A player from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, are the 2010 Sven Brask Chess Club co-champions. The duo tallied 5.5-1.5 in a field of 18 contestants to tie for first place in the 51st  Club Championship, held Wednesday nights, April 7-May 26, at the United Methodist Church in Plainville. In their invidual encounter in the fifth round, Giambo defeated Dean. This was Dean's first time as a club co-champion. Giambo was club co-champion in 1997. Finishing as runners-up with 5-2 scores were two-time club champion Jack Corriea of Attleboro and James Aspinall of Mansfield. Aspinall was the TD.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn continued his winning ways at the Greater Worcester Chess Club, scoring 3.5-0.5 to capture first place in the club's Mayte in Four Open, held Thursday nights, May 6-27, at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were national master Predrag Cicovacki of Auburn, who drew Curdo in the final round, and Class A contestant Mikhail Bocka of Worcester, who lost to Curdo in the first round. Peter Shtudiner of Worcester and David Branagan posted scores of 3-1 to tie for first place in the Under 1700 section. Sharing the Under1500 prize with 2-2 results were Alex Chand and Irving Wolfson, both of Worcester, and Marc Quevillon of Dayville, Connecticut. The two-section tournament drew 16 players and was directed by Joseph Alfano of Holden, assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Lloyd Winston Buckley Jr., a USCF and MACA life member from Worcester, Mass., died Monday, May 24, in St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester. He was 63. He was born December 30, 1946 in Worcester, the son of Lloyd W. Buckley Sr. and Edith (Bastille) Buckley, and had lived here most of his life. He received a bachelor's and a master's degree from Assumption College in Worcester and later earned an MBA from Anna Maria College in Paxton, Mass. Mr. Buckley was a self-employed CPA for many years. Previously, he was a nursing home administrator. He was a member of the Worcester Chess Club for many years, starting in the 1970s. His last rated USCF tournament at the club was the 1991 November Sectional, in which he finished third in his section. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Geraldine P. (Laukaitis) Buckley; two brothers, three sisters, aunts, cousins, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, and many nephews, nieces, great-nephews and great-nieces. The funeral will be held Wednesday, May 26, from the Henry Dirsa Funeral Home, 33 Ward St., Worcester, with a Mass at 10:30 a.m. in Our Lady of Vilna Church, 151 Sterling St., Worcester. A calling hour at the funeral home will be held Wednesday from 9 to 10 a.m. Burial will be in St. John's Cemetery.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

National master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park and expert Pablo Pena of California talled 3.5-0.5 to tie for first place in the MCC 27th Anniversary Swiss, held Tuesday nights, May 4-25, at the Metrowest Chess Club at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. Finishing as runner-up with a 3-1 score was FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn. Larry Pratt of Natick was the winner in the Under 2000 section, posting a perfect 4-0. Siddharth Arun of Medfield was second with a 3.5-0.5 result, while  Ethan Thompson of Ashland took third place with a 3-1 performance. Neal Bruce of Wellesley captured first place in the Under 1700 section with a score of 3.5-0.5. Tying for second place with 3-1 tallies were Ken Ballou of Framingham, Walter Champion of Wellesley, and Amanda Chen of Weston. John McLaughlin of Natick tallied a perfect 4-0 to win in the Under 1400 section. Harvey Reed of Natick and Daniel Blessing of Medfield tied for second place with 3-1 scores. The four-section tournament drew 79 players, with one additional player contesting a side game. Mark Kaprielian of Framingham, assisted by Matthew Phelps of Groton, directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master David Vigorito of Somerville tallied a perfect 4-0 to win the Yefim Geller Memorial tournament on Saturday, May 22, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying for second place with 3-1 scores were national master Carey Theil of Arlington and Class B contestant Niccolo Hilgendorf of New Hampshire.  Siddharth Arun of Medfield was the winner in the Under 1800 section with a score of 3.5-0.5. Tying for second place with 2.5-1.5 results were Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Ryan Ottaviano of Allston and James Magner of Woodbridge, Connecticut.  The two section tournament drew 21 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias. The event honored the memory of GM Yefim Geller (1925-1998), a six-time world championship candidate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The 12th annual Paramount Tournament, held March 1 through May 20 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville,, drew 17 players in three sections. Winning Section 1 with a score of 9.5-0.5 was FIDE master and current club champion Christopher Chase of Somerville. Class A contestant Andrew Hoy was second with a 7.5-2.5 tally. Class B entrant Jonathan Lee of Norwood won Section 2 with a 8-2 result, while fellow "B" player Daniel Schmidt of Somerville was second with a 6.5-3.5 performance. Class B participant Khikmet Sadykov of Medford was the winner in Section 3 with a score of 5.5-4.5. Finishing as runner-up with a 4.5-5.5 tally was fellow "B" player Frank Frazier, a MACA life member from Belmont. Robert Oresick of Norton directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

JoLyn Ma, an 11th-grade Chinese foreign exchange student at Souhegan High School in Amherst, New Hampshire, scored 3-0 to win the New Hampshire Girls Scholastic Championship, held Saturday, May 8, at Laconia Public Library in Laconia. Finishing as runners-up with 2-1 tallies were Jenny Ma and Nisha Devasia. The latter player is a 5th grader at Bicentennial Elementary School in Nashua. The five-player Swiss event was directed by Michael Sullivan of Portsmouth.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell and national master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park scored 2-0 to tie for first place in the Waltham Memorial Day Game/60 Tournament, held Friday night, May 21, at the Waltham Chess Club at the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. Capturing the runner-up position with a 1.5-0.5 result was Class D entrant George Comeau of Waltham. The event drew 16 players, including two first-time contestants, and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

National master Sinclair Banks of Dighton, Mass., formerly of Warren, Rhode Island, tallied a perfect 3-0 to win the Pawtucket Open, held Saturday, May 15, at the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, R.I. Six players tied for the runner-up position with 2-1 scores. They were expert Davd Harris of Providence, R.I., Class A players William Smirnov of East Wareham, Mass. and Dustin Huguenin of Gales Ferry, Connecticut, and Class B contestants Robert Holmgren of Wayland, Mass., Nicholas Plotkin of Sharon, Mass., and John Venditto Jr. of Warwick, R.I. The tournament drew 14 players and was directed by David Harris.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Peter DuPuy, a USCF member and MACA life member from Keene, New Hampshire, died Sunday evening, May 16, at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.H. due to complications from a scheduled surgery. He was 63. He was a founding member of the Knights Chess Club in Keene. According to club Webmaster Edward Harris, Peter had visited the club the previous Monday, May 10, and told no one about his planned operation. He was born March 25, 1947 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Charles M. and Lois (Graham) DuPuy, and had lived in Ligonier, Pa. before moving to Greenwich, Connecticut at an early age. He graduated from the Fay School in Southborough, Mass. and from Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass. He attended McMurray College in Ohio. He later lived in Northampton, Mass. for several years before he moved to Fitzwilliam, N.H, where he resided for two years before moving to Keene in 1985. While a resident of Fitzwilliam, he attended the Wachusett Chess Club in Fitchburg, Mass. He played in many New Hampshire tournaments, including the New Hampshire Open, the New Hampshire Amateur and the Queen City Open as well as the Knights Chess Club Championship in 2008 and 2009. He was ranked 63rd in the state among rated and current USCF members. In addition to chess, he was a renowned international collector and exhibitor of stamps. He was a member of the U.S. Philateilic Society, the American Philatelic Association, a member and past board member of The Philatelic Foundation, and a member of the New Hampshire Philatelic Society, and a member and director of the Vermont Philatelic Society. Her won many grand prizes at Vermont State Stamp Shows, including the 2009 show in Quechec for his exhibit of a U.S. 30-cent and 90-cent 1857 issue. He was also a model railroad enthusiast and enjoyed spending many hours working on his model trains. He collected antique cars and was an avid sports fan, following the New England Patriots and the Boston Red Sox. He is survived by his wife of 21 years, Jessica DuPuy of Keene; two daughters, Juliet Rozhan of Burlington, Vermont and Jillian Reinegger of Savannah, Georgia; a brother, Charles DuPuy of Manchester, Maine; two sisters, Susette Lyons of Northampton, Mass. and Aimee Whitman of Bedford Hills, N.Y.; several nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. A celebration of Peter's life will be held Friday, May 21, from 3 to 6 p.m., at the DuPuy home, 51 West Surry Road, Keene. Friends and especially chess friends are invited to attend.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The 4th Battleship Tournament, held at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Mass., drew 32 players in two unrated sections on Saturday, May 15. The youth tourney, which was originated by the late Gus Gosselin of Malden, Mass. in June 2005, saw a revival this year when the Rhode Island Chess Association, under the leadership of Frank DelBonis, decided to assume sponsorship of the event. The tournament had lain dormant for the past three years following the death of Gosselin on May 22, 2007 - 12 days before the 3rd Battleship Tournament. The 2nd Battleship Tournament drew a record-breaking 80 players in June 2006. This year's event saw two young players from Connecticut, Ben Birney and Aaron Lebel, tally 3.5-0.5 to tie for first place in the Age 14 & Under section. Saketh Saripalli, a student at the Ben Franklin Classical Charter Public School in Franklin, Mass. was the winner in the Age 11 & Under section with a perfect 4-0 score.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov needed only four straight wins to clinch first place in the five-round Eastern Maine Championship, held May 15-16 at the Hollywood Slots Hotel in Bangor, Maine. The Newton, Mass. resident, who celebrated his 54th birthday earlier this month, opted not to play the final round and left it to the other players to battle it out for the remaining prizes. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3.5-1.5 scores were two Class A players from Maine: Steven Abrahams, who lost to Ivanov in the first round, and John Gaspar, who drew Abrahams in the fourth round. James Dubois of Peru, Maine won first place in the Under 1800 section with a score of 4-1. Taking second with a 3.5-1.5 result was John Brady of Sanford, Maine. Alexandre Robichaud, a player from New Brunswick, Canada, was the victor in the Under 1200 section with a score of 4.5-0.5. Tying for second place with 3.5-1.5 tallies were Maine players Brian Roderick and Benjamin Hansel. In a one-day tournament held on Saturday, May 15, Ethan Bergeron of Maine was the winner of the Under 1300 section with a 3.5-0.5 score, while fellow Maine players Vincent Demarco and Deanna Power tallied the same to tie for 1st-2nd place in the Under 900 section. The five-section tournament drew 43 players and was directed by associate national TD Kenneth Ballou of Framingham, Mass. for the sponsoring Relyea Chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Eastern Massachusetts Grade Championship, organized and directed by Bob Messenger of Nashua, NH for the sponsoring Granite State Chess affiliate, drew 85 players to the Hilton Hotel in Woburn on Sunday, May 16. Prize winners were as follows:

Grades K-1 section (9 players)

• 1st: Samuel Qiu of Acton, 4-0
• 2nd: Shivan Giroti of Wellesley, 3-1
• 3rd: Amrit Subramanian, 3-1
• Medal winner: Maxwell Zhao of Bolton, 3-1

Grade 2 section (12 players)

• 1st: Isabella Shih of Andover, 3.5-0.5
• 2nd: Rohan Krishnan of Hopkinton, 3.5-0.5
• 3rd: Alexander Kohler of South Hamilton, 3-1

Grade 3 section (18 players)

• 1st: Sandeep Shankar of Sudbury, 4-0
• 2nd: Milan Rosen of Newton, 3.5-0.5
• 3rd: Christopher Wang of Lexington, 3-1
• Medal winner: Jesse Sun of Sudbury, 3-1

Grade 4 section (14 players)

• 1st: Sandeep Vadlamudi of Lexington, 4-0
• 2nd: Tal Puhov of Shrewsbury, 3-1
• 3rd: Brandon Wu of Littleton, 3-1

Grade 5 section (12 players)

• 1st: Arnav Ghosh of Winchester, 4-0
• 2nd: Eric Liu of Acton, 3-1
• 3rd: Sabrina Zhang of Lexington, 2.5-1.5
• Medal winner: Aashish Welling of Nashua, NH, 2.5-1.5

Grade 6 section (12 players)

• 1st: Siddharth Arun of Medfield, 4-0
• 2nd: Jenny Qiu of Acton, 3-1
• 3rd: David Todd of Boxford, 2.5-1.5
• Medal winner: Kevin Hu of Sharon, 2.5-1.5
• Medal winner: James Zhou of Andover, 2.5-1.5

Grades 7-8 section (10 players)

• 1st Grade 8: Bowen Wang of South Easton, 4-0
• 2nd Grade 8, Sean Cheng of Westford, 3-1
• 1st Grade 7: Varun Palnati of Westford, 3-1
• 2nd Grade 7: Nicholas Zhang of Lexington, 2.5-1.5
• 3rd Grade 7: Daniel Ruttenberg of Newton, 2-2
• Grade 7 medal winner: Changming Xu of Carlisle, 2-2
• Grade 7 medal winner: Michael Shulman of Auburndale, 2-2

High School section (1 player)

• 1st: Mustafa Buxamusa of Westford, Grade 10, by default

George Mirijanian
Assistant TD

  International master David Vigorito and FIDE master Christopher Chase tied for 1st-2nd place in the BCF $10 Open, held Saturday, May 15, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The two Somerville masters tallied 3.5-0.5 in an Open section field of 19 players. Tying for third place with 3-1 scores were national masters Lawyer Times of Hyde Park and Eric Godin of Boston. Nicholas Zhang and Jeffrey Yao, both of Lexington, tied for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1800 section with 3.5-0.5 results, including a draw with one another in the final round. Harold Dondis of Belmont finished third with a 3-1 tally. The two-section tournament drew a total of 33 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Senior master Denys Shmelov, a MACA member from Pepperell, chalked up a perfect 4-0 score to win the top section of the Waltham May Game/20 Tournament on Friday night, May 14, at the Waltham Chess Club. Finishing as runner-up with a 3-1 tally was MACA life member Todd Chase of Weston. Brian Murphy, an expert who has not played in a rated tournament in more than 20 years, returned to active status by winning first place in Section 2 - also with a perfect 4-0 performance. Tying for second place with 3-1 results were Waltham players Stephen Carlin and Stephen DeSouza.. The two-sectionn drew 16 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham. Sterling directs tournaments every Friday night at the Waltham CC, which meets in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

William E. "Bill" Hook, who played for both the U.S. and British Virgin Islands in the World Chess Olympiads since1968, died of congestive heart failure on Monday, May 10, at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was 84. He held the distinction of having competed in 18 consecutive Olympiads and won a gold medal for the British Virgin Islands in 1980 in Malta for having the best winning percentage of any Board 1 player. In 1976, he was captain of the victorious Washington Plumbers team in the National Chess League that played its matches by telephone. In 2007 he wrote his memoir, "Hooked on Chess," which received wide acclaim in the chess press.. He is survived by his wife of nearly 53 years, Mimi Hook. A graveside service will be held Wednesday, May 12, at 11 a. m. at the Judean Memorial Gardens in Olney, Maryland.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Mike Griffin reports on the Boylston Chess Club weblog that Jason Rihel is the new president of the Boylston Chess Foundation. Rihel's nomination as president was made by BCF vice president Natasha Christiiansen and received unanimous support from the board of directors. Griffin adds that, although Jason is currently in Paris and the rest of the board is spread in other locations, the entire process was carried out via e-mail. Rihel spearheaded the club's cleanup operations in mid-March after flooding caused the cancellation of many events at the Davis Square club in Somerville. He assumes the presidency following the resignation of president David Vigorito on April 28

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

MACA junior member Mika Brattain, a sixth grader at the Jonas Clarke Middle School in Lexington, tallied 6-1 (five wins, two draws) to tie for first place in the Burt Lerner National Elementary (K-6) Championship, held May 7-9 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. Brattain, now a USCF-rated expert, finished in second place on tiebreak points in the 189-player K-6 section.. Placing first was fellow sixth grader Justus Williams of New York. Benamin Moon of Georgia and Daniel Liu of California ended up 3rd and 4th respectively. Also scorihg 6-1 and tying for third place in the K-6 Under 1000 section was Massachusetts youngster Rahul Krishnan, a third grader at the Cornerstone Academy in Northborough. Rahul won the 8th place trophy on tiebreak points in a field of 213 players. Four other Massachusetts youngsters competed in the championship. They were Charlie Fauman, a sixth grader at the F.A. Day Middle School in Newton; Alex Fauman, a third grader at the Cabot Elementary School in Newton; Benjamin Fauman, a pre-K student in Newton; and second grader Rohan Krishnan, a student at the Cornerstone Academy in Northborough. The championship event drew a total of 2060 players in nine sections.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Matthew Derek Meredith, an expert from West Hartford, Connecticut, tallied a perfect 3-0 to win the 2nd Dr. Joseph Platz Memorial tournament on Saturday, May 8, at the Manchester Church of Christ in Manchester, Conn. Finishing in second place with a score of 2.5-0.5, but out of the prize money, was FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, Mass. Christopher Lomeli of Glastonbury, Conn. chalked up a perfect 3-0 to win first place in the Under 1400 sectiion. The two-section tournament, originally designed as three sections, drew 19 players and was directed by Edward Kostreba, assisted by Richard Chang, for the sponsoring Western Massachusetts Chess Association. The event honored the memory of German-born American master and medical doctor Joseph Platz (1905-1981), who was a three-time Connecticut state champion and a 14-time Western Mass. & Connecticut Valley champion. Dr. Platz also competed in the 1948 U.S. Championship and was a close friend of world champion Emanuel Lasker.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Andor Lilienthal, the world's oldest grandmaster, died Saturday, May 8 - three days after his 99th birthday - in Budapest, Hungary. He was born to Hungarian parents in Moscow, Russia in 1911 but moved with his mother to Hungary when he was two years old. He represented Hungary in the Olympiads of 1933, 1935 and 1937. After returning to Russia, now the Soviet Union, in 1935, he became a Soviet citizen in 1939. He played in eight Soviet championships, with his best result  being a first-place tie with Igor Bondarevsky in 1940. He tied for fifth place in the 1948 Interzonal tournament and finished in eighth place in the Candidates tournament in 1950. He was awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE in that same year. In 1976, after being inactive as a player for some time, he left the Soviet Union and returned to Hungary.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The BCF Quads 10-5 attracted 17 players to the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville on Saturday, May 8. Winning Quad 1 with a perfect 3-0 score was MACA life member Christopher Chase of Somerivlle, a FIDE master and the current BCC champion. Fellow MACA members Natasha Christiansen of Cambridge and Paul Mishkin of Brighton tallied 2-1 to tie for first place in Quad 2, with Christiansen defeating Mishkin in their individual game. MACA junior member Siddharth Arun of Medfield chalked up a pefect 3-0 score to win Quad 3. And in a 5-player Swiss section, Nicholas Zhang of Lexington posted also a 3-0 score to become the winner. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Denys Shmelov, a senior master from Pepperell, dominated the chess scene once again at the Waltham Chess Club, winning the club's First Friday Tournament #97 on May 7 with a perfect score of 7-0. Tying as runners-up with 4.5-2.5 tallies were MACA junior members Andrew Liu of Westborough and Tian Rossi of West Newton, as well as Glen Soucy of Waltham.  The Game/10 quick-rated tournament  drew 13 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham. Sterling directs weekly tournaments at the Waltham Chess Club, which meets Fridays at 7 p.m. in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Marc Esserman, a MACA member from Somerville, chalked up another tournament victory at the Boylston Chess Club on Wednesday night, May 5. This time it was the Somerville club's May Early Bird tournament, in which Esserman posted a perfect score of 3-0. Finishing as runner-up with a 2-1 tally was national master Carey Theil of Arlington, who lost to Esserman in the second round. The event drew seven players and was directed by club champion and FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

National master Deepak Aaron of Schenectady, New York scored 4-1 to win the 21st Vermont Resort Open, held April 30-May 2 at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, Vermont. Deepak, born June 9, 1994 in Chennai, India and a U.S. resident since September 1996, is the eldest grandson of India's first international master, Manuel Aaron. Sharing top honors in the Under 2000 section were MACA life member Michael Moore of Newburyport, Mass. and Kerry McDermott of Dover, New Hampshire. Both tallied 3.5-1.5, including a draw with one another in the fourth round. Michael Corrigan of Vermont finished first in the Under 1800 section with a score of 4.5-0.5. Daniel Brule of Quebec, Canada was the winner in the Under 1600 with a 4-1 performance, while Dilip Aaron, younger brother of the tournament winner, scored the event's only perfect 5-0 to capture first place in the Under 1400 section. The five-section tournament drew 41 players and was directed by Steve Immitt for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Justin Sarkar of New York scored 4.5-0.5 to win the Rhode Island State Championship, held May 1-2 at Rhode Island College in Providence, RI. The state title, however, was captured by expert Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland, RI, who finished as the highest-scoring resident with a 4-1 tally. Finishing in third place with a 3.5-1.5 result was fellow Rhode Island expert Ben Bentrup. Three players tied for 1st-3rd in the Under 1900 section with scores of 4-1. They were MACA life member Edmund Staples of Onset, Mass., fellow MACA member Benjamin Swiszcz of Cumberland, RI, and fellow Rhode Island resident John Venditto Jr.. The two-section tournament drew 29 players, with two additional players contesting side games. Frank Vogel III, assisted by Eric Berkey, directed for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Experts Matthew Derek Meredith of West Hartford, Connecticut and Leonid Tkach of Amherst, Mass. tied for first place in the 7th UMass Game/60 Open, held Sunday, May 2, at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Both tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the second round. Kevin Zimmerman of Connecticut was the winner in the Under 1600 section with a score of 3-1. The two-section tournament drew 13 players and was directed by MACA member Edward Kostreba of Ware for the sponsoring Western Massachusetts Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

According to Mike Griffin on the Boylston Chess Club Weblog, David Vigorito has resigned as president of the Boylston Chess Foundation. Vigorito, who was elected president in October 2008 and re-elected in October 2009, tendered his resignation on Wednersday night, April 28. It is expected that BCF vice president Natasha Christiansen will assume the duties of president.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The following are winners of top sections in rated tournaments that were played in April 2010 at various chess clubs in Massachusetts:

• MCC April Fools Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 82 players): IM Igor Foygel, SM Denys Shmelov, 3.5-0.5
• BCF Underwater $10 Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 33 players): SM Denys Shmelov, 3.5-0.5
• Wachusett CC Championship Prelims (Fitchburg, 29 players): Tony Cesolini, George Miller, 4-1
• BCF Spring Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 24 players): FM Christopher Chase, 3.5-0.5
• BCF Swiss #28 (Boylston CC, Somerville, 22 players): Zongyuan Yuan, 3.5-0.5
• Newburyport CC Tournament #95 (17 players): NM Frank Sisto, Geoffrey Collins, 4-1
• Waltham April G/25 (Waltham CC, 15 players): SM Denys Shmelov, Todd Chase, Siddharth Arun, 2.5-0.5
• Waltham Patriots Day G/60 (Waltham CC, 14 players): SM Denys Shmelov, Nicholas Sterling, 2-0
• Waltham First Friday #96 (Waltham CC, 13 players): SM Denys Shmelov, 6-1
• Absolutely Awesome April Open (Greater Worcester CC, 13 players): FM John Curdo, 4.5-0.5
• BCF April Thursday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, Somerville, 11 players): IM Marc Esserman, 3.5-0.5
• April 18 Scholastic (Boylston CC, Somerville, 7 players): Xerxes Patel, 4-0

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

According to Mike Nolan at the USCF, the following is the status of certified tournament directors, as of May 1, in Massachusetts:

• National TDs: (2) William Lukowiak and George Mirijanian
• Associate national TD: (1) Kenneth Ballou
• Senior TDs: (3) Christopher Bird, Stephen Dann, and Larry Gladding
• Local TDs: (15) Donna Alarie, James Aspinall, Matthew Gosselin, Steven Eddins, Mark Kaprielian, Matt Phelps, Edward Kostreba, Bernardo Iglesias, Robert Oresick, W. Bradley Ryan, Nicholas Sterling, Trevor Murphy et al.
• Club TDs: (13) Joseph Alfano, Christopher Chase, Dave Couture, Eric Fauman, Brian Lafferty et al.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Marc Esserman chalked up his second tournament victory in a row at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, winning the BCF Spring Quick Chess Tournament on Saturday, May 1, by a score of 4.5-0.5 Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3.5-1.5 tallies were FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville, who drew Esserman ih the second round, and expert Julian Chan of Boston, who lost to Esserman in the third round but beat Chase in round 4.. Finishing in 4th place with a 3-2 result was MACA life member Walter Driscoll of Cambridge, who lost to Esserman in the first round and drew Chan in the final round. The Game/25 event drew 11 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn chalked up another tournament victory at the Greater Worcester Chess Club, winning the Absolutely Awesome April Open by a score of 4.5-0.5. The event, held Thursday nights, April 1-29, at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester saw Class A contestant Alonzo Ross of Shrewsbury finish second with a 3.5-1.5 tally. Tying for third place with 3-2 results were Muharrem Brahimaj, Michael Odell and Robert J. King, all of Worcester, Joseph Alfano of Holden, and Donna Alarie of Rutland. Winning the Under 1700 prize with a 2.5-2.5 score was Nicholas Sellier of Worcester. Capturing the Under 1500 prize with a 2-3 performance was David Branagan. The tournament drew 13 players and was directed by Joseph Alfano, assisted by Donna Alarie, for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

National master Frank Sisto of Newbury and expert Geoffrey Collins of Haverhill tallied 4-1 to tie for 1st-2nd place in Newburyport Chess Club Tournament #95, held Thursday nights, April 1-29, at Hope Community Church in Newburport. Collins, who chose not to play the final round, regained his master's rating of 2200. Finishing in third place was expert John Elmore, a MACA life member from Strathan, New Hampshire. He scored 3.5-1.5, including a win against tournament co-winner Sisto in the second round. The tournament drew 17 players and was directed by Elmore.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster William Lombardy, who served as Bobby Fischer's second in his 1972 world title match against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland, will speak at the University of Connecticut at Storrs on Friday evening, April 30. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Room 212 (lecture hall) in the Castleman Building, 261 Glenbrook Road, Storrs. The 72-year-old GM has had a long and distinguished career both as a player and more recently as a coach of young and up-and-coming players. He is no stranger to older chess aficionados in New England, since he competed here years ago and has won the New England Open. Mr. Lombardy is the author of several chess books and will personally autograph copies for sale at the site.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Marc Esserman, a MACA member from Somerville, tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the BCF Thursday Night Swiss, held April 8-29 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Capturing second place with a 3-1 score was expert Ted Cross, who lost to Esserman in the third round. Cross, who took a leave of absence from rated chess for 15 years, only returned to rated tournament play in March 2007. The event drew 10 players, with one additional player contesting an extra-rated game. Longtime MACA member Benardo Iglesias of Stoughton, who finished in third place with a 2.5-1.5 result, directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Wachusett Chess Club Championship Prelims, held Wednesday nights, March 31 through April 28, in the Professional Development Center (Room C159) at the McKay Campus School at Fitchburg State College ended in a two-tie for first place. Sharing top honors in a field of 29 players were Class A contestant Tony Cesolini of Jaffrey, New Hampshire and Class B entrant George Miller of Ashburnham. Both tallied 4-1, including a draw with one another in the fourth round. Tying for 3rd-4th place with scores of 3.5-1.5 were Class A rivals George Mirijanian and Bruce Felton, both of Fitchburg. Tying for 5th place with 3-2 results were fellow Class A players Larry Gladding and Glenn Rochon, both of Leominster, Geoff LePoer of Westford and Paul Giovino of Lunenburg, as well as Class B participants Eduardo Valadares of Framingham and Eugene Bedard of Gardner. All except LePoer and Bedard will engage in an 8-player single round robin, starting May 5, for this year's "A" division club championship.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Tom Hartymayer of the UConn Chess Club sends the following tournament report:

Michael Finneran, a sophomore at Roger Ludlow High School in Fairfield, CT, scored a perfect 4-0 to take clear first in the Connecticut State Chess Association K-12 Open Championship and the UConn School of Engineering $14,000 Scholarship Tournament,held Sunday, April 25, at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Finneran won the 2009 K-12 State Championship and the Denker Award, asll as the top UConn School of Engineering scholarship prize of $8000 last year. He was not eligible to win another scholarship but still returned to successfully to the winner's circle in 2010. He will again represent the state of Connecticut in the Denker Tournmanet of High School Champions in Irvine, Califonria from July 31 to August 3.

Finishing 2nd at 3.5-0.5 after a mutually agreed-upon blitz playoff against Jake Miller was MACA member Alex Fikiet, a sophomore at E.O. Smith High School in Storrs. Fikiet also took home the top UConn School of Engineering scholarship prize of $8000. Jake Miller, from Sleepy Hollow, NY and a junior at Rockland Country Day School in Congers, NY, took 3rd overall but earned the 2nd-place UConn School of Engineering scholarship worth $4000. Alexandra Wiener, a sophomore at Staples High School in Westport, CT, took 4th place overall at 3-1. She also finished as the top female scorer and won both the 2010 National Girls Open Award (formerly known as the Polgar Award) and its $300 stipend. as well as the 3rd-place UConn scholarship award worth $2000. Danny Pacetta, a fifth grader at Nayaug Elementary School in South Glastonbury, CT and a veteran New Britain Chess Club member, finished 5th overall.

The one-section tournament drew 36 players. Chief TD was David Aldi, assisted by John Fikiet, Jan van de Mortel, Jim Dunion and international master Robert Hungaski. All are from the UConn Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Igor Foygel of Brookline and senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell tied for first place in the April Fools Swiss, held Tuesday nights, April 6-27, at the Metrowest Chess Club at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. Both scored 3.5-0.5  Edward Astrachan, a MACA member from Waban, and MACA life member Mark Kaprielian of Framingham tallied 3.5-0.5 to tie for first place in the Under 2000 section. They drew each other in the first round. Larry Kleine of Hanover was the winner in the Under 1700 section with a perfect 4-0 score. MACA member Alan Moyer of Chelmsford was second with a 3.5-0.5 result. Kris McCasland of Attleboro was the clear winner in the Under 1400 section with a perfect 4-0 performance. Tying for second place with scores of 3.5-0.5 were John McLaughlin of Natick and Kenneth Brisbois of Framingham. The four-section tournament drew 80 players, with an additional two players contesting side games. Associate national TD Ken Ballou of Framingham, assisted by fellow MACA life member Matt Phelps of Groton, directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Daniel Rozovsky, a FIDE master from West Hartford, Connecticut, tallied 9-2 to win the New Britain Chess Club Championship, held Tuesday nights, January 26 through April 27, at the New Britain Assyrian Club in Connecticut. Rozovsky, an eighth-grade honor student at King Philip Middle School in West Hartford,  chalked up 8 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. Finishing as runner-up with a score of 8.5-2.5 was fellow FIDE master Nelson Castaneda of New Britain. The 12-player championship round robin was directed by Randall Shane, with assistance from Emily Pond. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. and international master David Vigorito of Somerville, Mass. tied for 1st-2nd place in the Freeport Open, held Saturday, April 24, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Freeport, Maine. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the final round. Sharing the third-place prize in the 16-player Open section with 3-1 scores were national master Graham Cooper of Freeport and expert Alan Schalk, a MACA life member from Berwick, Maine. In the 31-player Under 1900 section, Steven Abrahams, chess coach at Orono High School in Maine, scored 3.5-0.5 to tie for 1st-2nd place with Philip Lowell Jr. of Westbrook, Maine. Matthew Reale-Hatem and Wesley Parker, students from Cape Elizabeth, Maine, shared the top Under 1600 prize with 3-1 results. Daniel LaVallee, chess coach at Cheverus High School in Portland, had the tournament's only perfect 4-0 score to win first in the Under 1300 section. Fourteen-year-old Maine student Elias Daiute won the top Under 1000 prize with a score of 3-1. The three-section tournament drew 64 players, with one additional player contesting a side game. Alex Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire, assisted by his wife Nita Patel, directed for the sponsoring Relyea Chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

 This event was held on 25 April 2010.

16U division: 10 players. Kevin Hu, 1st with 4-0. Anton Barash and Eric Hu, 2nd-3rd with 3-1.

11U division: 8 players. Isabella Shih, 1st with 3-1. Lauren Smorgonsky, Paulie Apostolicas and Amrit Subramanian, 2nd-4th with 2.5-1.5.

Matt Gosselin was TD.

Unofficial Grand Prix standings through 25 April 2010 have the following leaders:

M. B. Hegadahalli.............................................11

Rahul Krishnan.................................................10.5

Maxwell Zhao.....................................................10

Rohan Krishnan...................................................9

P. Chandrasekar.................................................9

Kevin Hu...............................................................9

R. J. Singh............................................................8.5

Austin Wu.............................................................8.5

Anton Barash.......................................................8.5

Steve Frymer
Assistant TD

FIDE master Christopher Chase, a MACA life member from Somerville, tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the BCF Spring Open, held Saturday, April 24, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Finishing as runner-up with a 3-1 score was expert Zongyuan Yuan, a MACA junior member from Brookline. Longtime MACA member Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton captured first place in the Under 1800 section with a 3-1 performance. Tying as runners-up with scores of 2.5-1.5 were MACA junior member Siddharth Arun of Medfield and non-member Ryan Ottaviano. The two-section tournament drew 23 players, with one additional player contesting a side game. Bernardo Iglesias directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

 This scholastic event was held on 18 April 2010.

16U division: 11 players. Daniel Blessing, 1st with 4-0. Rahul Krishnan, 2nd with 3-1. Kevin Hu, 3rd with 2.5-1.5.

8U division: 10 players. Alon Trogan, 1st with 4-0. Bharath Heggadahalli and Jaden Roseniev, 2nd-3rd with 3-1.

Matt Gosselin was TD.

Steve Frymer
Assistant TD

The Waltham Game/25 tournament, held Friday night, April 23, at the Waltham Chess Club in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham, ended in a three-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with scores of 2.5-0.5 were senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, MACA life member Todd Chase of Weston, and MACA junior member Siddharth Arun of Medfield. The quick-rated tournament drew 15 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Tom Hartmayer of the UConn Chess Club sends the following report:

Ian Lomeli of Smith Middle School in Glastonbury, CT scored 4-0 and took 1st place on tiebreaks at the Connecticut State Chess Association K-8 Open State Championship, held April 11 at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. His brother, Christopher Lomeli, a student at Eastbury Elementary School in Glastonbury, also scored 4-0 and took 2nd on tiebreaks over MACA member Max Lu of Clarke Middle School in Lexington, MA. Although there was a playoff offered on May 16, these three participants agreed to submit to the USCF tiebreak system due to conflicting engagements on that date.

Julian Wang of the Pierrepont School in Westport, CT scored 3.5-0.5 to take clear 4th place overall. There was a 15-way tie at 3-1 for 5th overall. A playoff will be held May 16 in Storrs, with a time control of G/60 and the format determined by the number of players. Eligible participants include MACA members Adam Piche and Benjamin Piche, as well as Bruno Maluf, all of Woodstock, CT; Ryan Zentner and Brian Swan, both of Fairfield, CT; Jonathan Aiyathurai and Eric Hilhorst, both of Simsbury, CT; Michael Cafiero of Guilford, CT; Ben Birney and Anthony Festa, both of New Haven, CT; Simon Kubrynski and Daniel Kubrynski, both of Wolcott, CT; Alfonzo Reid of Bridgeport, CT; and Anthony Asseviro and Amir Loftis, both of Brooklyn, NY.

MACA member Rahul Krishnan of Cornerstone Academy in Hopkinton, MA took 4th place in Grade 6, while Matt Stoddard of Smith Elementary School in South Windsor, CT captured 5th place. Woodstock (CT) Middle School took the Top Team award, while P.S. 282 in Brooklyn, NY took 2nd place. ESUMS (Engineering & Science University Magnet School) in New Haven was 3rd, St. Thomas Aquinas in Fairfield was 4th, and Roosevelt School in Bridgeport was 5th.

The one-day tournament drew 67 players, of which 55 came from Connecticut, 8 from New York, and 4 from Massachusetts. Chief TD was Emily Pond. Her chief assistant was Randall Shane - with additional assistance from Al Pinto, Jim Dunion, John Fikiet, Alex Fikiet, and internatonal master Robert Hungaski.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Rhode Island expert Michael Clark tallied 3-0 to win the April Fools Folly tournament, which was played Thursday nights at the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, R.I. and ended April 22. Fellow expert David Harris of Providence, who took a half-point bye in Round 1, finished second with a 2.5-0.5 score. MACA life member Charles Caranci of North Attleborough, Mass., who lost to Harris in the second round, ended up third with a 2-1 result. The tournament drew 10 players and was directed by David Harris.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

 Grand Prix Scholastic 2010

Matt Gosselin and Dmitry Barash set the special prize:

3 trophies at the end of 2010 for the sum of the 10 best results (points) in Burger King and Papa Ginos tournaments run by Matt.

Steve Frymer
Assistant TD

The 10th Papa Gino's Open held in Waltham on Sunday, April 11, drew 19 players in three sections. Winning the Age Under 16 section with a perfect 4-0 score was MACA junior member Tal Puhov, 10, of Shrewsbury. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were fellow MACA members Peter Teodorescu of Marlborough and Daniel Plotkin of Sharon. Tejas Subrtamanian, a sixth grader from Acton, posted a perfect 4-0 score to win first place in the Age Under 11 section. Shimon Sherman, who was playing in his first USCF-rated tournament, captured second place with a 3-1 tally. Maxwell Zhao, a 6-year-old MACA junior member from Bolton, chalked up a perfect 4-0 score to finish first in the Age Under 8 section. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 results were first-grader Amrit Subramanian of Acton and Shrujal San. Matthew Gosselin of Melrose directed for the sponsoring MARI chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmasters Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Massachusetts and Sergey Kudrin of Stamford, Connecticut  tied for 1st-2nd place in the Hartford Open, held April 16-18 at the Sheraton Hotel at Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Both GMs, who drew each other in the final round, finished with scores of 4.5-0.5. Tying for 3rd-4th place with 4-1 tallies were IM Robert Hungaski of Connecticut, who lost to Ivanov in the third round, and IM Marc Esserman of Somerville, Mass., who lost to Ivanov in the fourth round. Winning the top Under 2305 prize with a 3.5-1.5 result was expert Matan Prilleltensky of Miami, Florida. Evan Rabin, a student at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., and Matthew Meredith of West Hartford, Conn. shared top honors in the Under 2205 section, tying for 1st-2nd place with 4-1 scores. Tying for 3rd-4th place with 3.5-1.5 tallies were Libardo Rueda of Winthrop, Mass., David Plotkin of Newton, Mass., and Matthew Zeitlin of New York. The Under 2005 section ended in a three-way tie among Alan Lasser and Nathan Gotman, both of Connecticut, and Vikas Shiva of Lexington, Mass. All three scored 4-1. Sharing the 4th-place prize with 3.5-1.5 results were Martin Garcia and Avery Chen, both of Connecticut, and Matthew Fischler of New York. Gert Hilhorst of Connecticut was the winner in the Under 1805 section with a score of 4.5-0.5. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 4-1 tallies were Nikita Lakomkin and Max Krall, both of Connecticut, and Chen Qu of New York. Jaime Cintron of Springfield, Mass. and Dane Jackson of New York tied for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1605 section with 4-1 results. Sharing the 3rd- and 4th-place prizes with 3.5-1.5 scores were Brian Smith and John Twombley, both of Connecticut, and Jared Goldfarb of New York. There were clear winners in the Under 1405 section, where Dilip Aaron of New York finished first with 4.5-0.5. Dzevdet Rasidi of Connecticut was second at 4-1 and Hyqmet Allushi, also of Connecticut, was third at 3.5-1.5. Sharing the 4th-place prize with 3-2 scores were Ian Lomeli and Hector Reyes, both of Connecticut, and Adam Gilmore of New York. Robert Hayward of Connecticut was the clear winner in the Under 1105 section with a score of 4.5-0.5. Christopher Lomeli of Connecticut took second with a 4-1 tally. Sharing the 3rd- and 4th-place prizes with 3.5-1.5 results were Bill Campbell and Ryan Zahornacky, both of Connecticut, and Naor Isak of New York. The seven-section tournament drew 140 players and was directed by Bill Goichberg, assisted by Bob Messenger of Nashua, New Hampshire, for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Xerxes Patel, a student at Hampstead Academy in New Hampshire, posted a perfect 4-0 score to win the scholastic tournament on Sunday, April 18, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 tallies were a couple of brothers from Acton: MACA junior members Allen and Eddie Wang, the former of whom lost to Patel in the second round and the latter to Patel in the third round.  The tournament drew only seven players and was directed by FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Expert Zongyuan Yuan, a 12-year-old MACA junior member from Brookline, tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the BCF Swiss #28, held Saturday, April 17, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 scores were MACA life member Christopher Chase, a FIDE master from Somerville (who drew Yuan in the final round), and expert Jesse Nicholas, a 17-year-old MACA junior member from Newton. The tournament drew 22 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master David Vigorito of Somerville, Mass., scored 7.5-0.5 to win the New Hampshire Quick Chess Championship, held Saturday, April 17, at the Comfort Inn in Manchester. Capturing second place with a 7-1 tally was FIDE master William Kelleher of Watertown, Mass.,, who drew Vigorito in the fourth round. Winning the top Under 2000 prize with a score of 6-2 was New Hampshire Chess Association president John Elmore of Stratham, N.H. Sharing the top Under 1600 prize with 4.5-3.5 results were Matthew Fishbein of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and Timothy Chevalier of New Hampshire. The Game/25 tournament drew 28 players and was directed by Alexander Relyea of Bedford, N.H., assisted by his wife Nita Patel, for the sponsoring Relyea Chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, Mass. and Class B player Paul Gavlick of North Providence, Rhode Island tied for first place in the 108th Rhode Island Pawn Eater tournament on Saturday, April 17, at Rhode Island College in Providence. Both players, who drew each other in the final round, scored 3.5-0.5. MACA junior member Benjamin Swiszcz of Cumberland, Rhode Island was the winner in the Under 1500 section with a perfect 4-0 tally. The two-section tournament drew 25 players, with one additional player contesting a side game. Frank Vogel, assisted by Eric Berkey, directed for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell and Class B contestant Nicholas Sterling of Needham tied for first place in the Walthamn Patriot's Day Game/60 tournament, held Friday night, April 16, at the Waltham Chess Club in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. Both MACA members scored 2-0 in a field of 14 players. Finishing as runner-up with a 1.5-0.5 tally was Class A entrant Andrew Liu, a MACA junior member from Westborough. Nicholas Sterling directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Nithin Kavi, a MACA junior member from Acton, Mass., scored 3.5-0.5 to win the 2nd Franklin Charter School Open, held Saturday, April 10, at the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School in Franklin, Mass. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 tallies were fellow MACA member Daniel Blessing of Medfield, Mass., who lost to Kavi in the second round, and Franklin Charter School student Saketh Saripalli. The tournament drew 11 players and was directed by Robert Salvas for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Michael Glinski Jr. of Hudson, New Hampshire, former editor of Chess Horizons and a longtime member of the Wachusett Chess Club in Fitchvburg, Mass., died Saturday, April 10, in Southern New Hamnpshire Medical Center in Nashua. He was 51. He was born March 26, 1959 in Leominster, Mass., the son of Michael Glinski Sr. and Furinda C. (Montaquila) Glinski. He attended Julie Country Day School in Leominster and graduated from Leominster High School in 1977. He then served four years in the U.S. Army as a computer technician. Mike had worked many years for the former NEC Computer Systems in Boxborough, Mass. as vice president of operations. He was later president and chief operating officer for Vibren Technologies Inc., also in Boxborough. He lived many years in Fitchburg and became very much interested in exploring New Hampshire history after he moved to Hudson three years ago. While in Fitchburg, he was a member of the Wachusett Chess Club in the 1980s and early 1990s. He took part in the club's "A" division championship in 1992 and 1993. He held a Class A "quick" rating as well as a Class A correspondence rating. In 1990, he became editor of MACA's then-bimonthy magazine Chess Horizons and raised the publication to a new level of excellence before handing over the editorial reigns to fellow Wachusett Chess Club member Erik Zoltan the following year. Among his highlights was attending with his father the 1990 U.S. Open in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was greeted by USCF officials as one of the leading chess journalists in the country. Mike is survived by his longtime partner Carol A. Winters of Hudson; a daughter, Jessica Glinski of Lunenburg, Mass.; and a brother, John Glinski. A funeral service will be held Thursday, April 15, at 9:15 a.m. in the Silas F. Richardson Funeral Home, 106 West St.,, Leominster, followed by burial in St. Leo's Cemetery in Leominster. Calling hours at the funeral home are Wednesday, April 14, from 5 to 8 p.m. Flowers may be sent or memorial donations may be made to the Salvation Army, 1 Montgomery Ave., Nashua, NH 03060.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Expert Zaroug Jaleel, a MACA member from Lexington, Mass. tied for first place in the National Junior High School (K-9) Championship, held April 9-11 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jaleel, who is a Lexington High School freshman, tallied 6-1 with three other competitors and gained the 3rd place trophy on tiebreak points. Finishing first on tiebreak was national master David Adelberg, a seventh-grader from Scottsdale, Arizona. Capturing second place was expert Kevin Bu of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, while fellow expert Michael Omori of Seattle, Washington took the 4th place trophy. Fellow MACA member Jacob Fauman, a freshman at Newton (Mass.) North High School, tallied 5-2 to win the 11th place trophy on tiebreak.  In the final round, Jaleel drew Adelberg and Fauman defeated Bu. Two of Jacob's brothers were competing in the K-8 Championship. They were Charlie Fauman, a sixth-grader at the F.A. Day Middle School in Newton, who scored 4-3 to finish in 57th place, and Alex Fauman, a third-grader at Cabot Elementary School in Newton, who posted a 3-4 score to finish 148th. The three-day championship drew a total of 930 players in six sections.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

With the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville "back in order" following cleanup operations after heavy rains caused flooding there for several weeks, 33 players ventured out on Saturday, April 10, to compete in the BCF Underwater $10 Open.  After the smoke - or more accurately "water" - had cleared, senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell emerged as the winner in the 22-player Open section. with a score of 3.5-0.5 Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were FIDE master Steven Winer of Melrose and national master Evan Rabin, a Brandeis University student, who lost to Shmelov in the final round. Michael Raphael of New York, a student at Northeastern University, scored 3.5-0.5 to win first place in the Under 1800 section, where 11 players competed, including two first-time contestants. Taking second place with a 3-1 result was Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, who drew Raphael in the final round and also directed the tournament for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Boylston Chess Club in Somerville is "back in order," according to Jason Rihel, the BCC director who spearheaded the club's cleanup operations for the past several weeks. Rihel reports that the club, as of Friday night at 9, had put the flood of almost one month ago into the past for good. Here's what Rihel states on the BCC blog: "The club is clean and ready for action! The Paramount, Thursday Night Swiss, and our Saturday events will now once again be held, without interruption, in the chess club space. Our walls are back and painted. The floors were cleaned. The tables, chairs, cabinets, and so on were cleaned and put back in place. The Skittles Room was cleaned out and reorganized, and much accumulated old junk was tossed into the junk heap. There are small things to do - still some boxes on shelves, still some things out of place. Please be patient with those minor points. The rest of the floor of our building is still being cleaned up; our club is the first pace to be put back in order. Please be careful in the hall outside the club, as stray work equipment is still around. I hope you like how the club has turned out. Thanks again to everyone who helped out, in ways big and small. Without our volunteer members, the club would still be a mess."

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Senior master Denys Shmelov, a MACA member from Pepperell, prevailed again at the Waltham Chess Club, scoring 6-1 to win the Waltham First Friday (April 9) Tournament #96, held in the cafeteria of the IBM Office Building in Waltham. Capturing second place with a 5.5-1.5 tally was MACA life member Todd Chase of Weston. Tying for third place with 5-2 results were Glen Soucy of Waltham and MACA junior member Andrew Liu of Westborough, the latter of whom inflicted tournament winner Shmelov with his only loss in the fourth round. The quick chess event drew 13 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Matthew Brown, a player who competed in MACA scholastic tournaments in the early to mid-1990s, died unexpectedly on March 25 in Mountain View, California, where he lived. He was 24. He was born July 14, 1985 and grew up in Bolton, Mass., where he attended local schools and played in town sports. He was coached in chess by MACA life member Dr. Imre Toth of Bolton and played in his first USCF-rated tournament, the Fall Foliage Festival, in Mendon, Mass. in November 1993. The following year he played in the Central Mass. Singles Finals and was a finalist in the lower elementary section of the Barry Spiegel Cup (state championship) held in East Boston. He took part in the 1995 and 1996 Central Mass. Singles Championships and in February 1996 participated in the Harry Lyman Grade Championship in East Boston when he was in the fifth grade. His last USCF-rated tournament was the Fall Foliage Festival in November 1996 in Andover, Mass., He went on to become a brilliant student and excelled academically. He was a 2003 honors graduate of the Middlesex School in Concord, Mass., and a 2007 graduate of Stanford University in California, where he had majored in computer science and poltiical science. After graduation, he worked as a software development engineer at Microsoft Corp. Calling hours are Friday, April 9, at the Britton-Wallace Funeral Home, 91 Central St., Auburn, Mass. A memorial Mass will be held Saturday, April 10, at noon in the Mary Chapel at the St. Joseph Memorial Chapel at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

 Matt Gosselin and Dmitry Barash set the special prize:

3 trophies at the end of 2010 for the sum of the 10 best results (points) in Burger King and Papa Ginos tournaments run by Matt.

Current standing after 6 tournaments on 4.1.2010.

                    2010 

Steve Frymer
Assistant TD

The Troy Spring Octos, held Saturday, April 3, at the Gay-Kimball Library in Troy, New Hampshire attracted 16 players in two sections. Tying for first place in Section 1 were expert Clay Bradley of New Hampshire, and Class A players Max Lu of Lexington, Mass., Tony Cesolini of Jaffrey, N.H., and Jesse Anderson of Vermont. All four tallied 2-1. In individual encounters, Bradley drew Cesolini (round 3) and Lu (round 4), while Anderson lost to Bradley in round 1. Max Sewell of Peterborough, N.H., was the winner in Section 2 with a perfect 3-0 score. Thomas Cassar, assisted by Vincent Bradley Jr. of Marlow, N.H., directed for the sponsoring Knights Chess Club of Keene, N.H.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The following are winners of top sections in rated tournaments that were played in March 2010 at various chess clubs in Massachusetts.

• MCC Vernal Equinox Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 83 players): IM Igor Foygel, Elliott Strassman, 4-1
• George E. O'Rourke Memorial (Wachusett CC, Fitchburg, 30 players): Paul Giovino, 4.5-0.5
• BCF March Quads 10-3 (Boylston CC, Somerville, 22 players): FM Christopher Chase, 3-0
• March Swiss (Billerica CC, 20 players): P. Sciacca, A. Nugent, N. Smith, F. Jiang, J. Vaughan, M. Chen, 2.5-1.5
• March Madness Tournament (Sven Brask CC, Plainville, 16 players): Lawrence Dean, 3.5-0.5
• Mellow March Open (Greater Worcester CC, 14 players): FM John Curdo, 3.5-0.5
• Newburyport Tournament #94 (Newburyport CC, 14 players): Frank Sisto, Geoffrey Collins, Michael Moore, 3-1
• BCF Thursday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, Somerville, 12 players): Alex Slive, Max Lu, Thomas Sifter, 3-1
• Waltham First Friday #95 (Waltham CC, 12 players): SM Denys Shmelov, 6.5-0.5
• Waltham March Game/25 (Waltham CC, 10 players): SM Denys Shmelov, 3-0
• Waltham March Madness Game/60 (Waltham CC, 10 players): Edward Astrachan, Stephen DeSouza, 2-0
• Metrowest Chess Club Championship (Metrowest CC, Natick, 6 players): FM Charles Riordan, 4.5-0.5
• Metrowest Chess Club Class Championship (Metrowest CC, 6 players): Ethan Thompson, Robert Harvey, 3.5-1.5

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Lawrence Dean, a former MACA member from Norton, tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the March Madness tournament, held Wednesday nights, March 10-31 at the Sven Brask Chess Club at the United Methodist Church in Plainville  Tying for second place with 3-1 scores were fellow Class A players Carl Hess of Sharon, who lost to Dean in the third round, and Ken Wheeler of Norwood, whom Dean drew in the final round. The tournament drew 16 players and was directed by James Aspinall of Attleboro.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

FIDE master Charles Riordan is the new Metrowest Chess Club champion. The 30-year-old MACA member from Somerville tallied 4.5-0.5 to finish first in the round-robin championship event held Tuesday nights, March 2-30, at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. Tying as runners-up with scores of 3.5-1.5 were 2009 club champion Denys Shmelov, a senior master from Pepperell, and national master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park. Times drew Riordan but lost to Shmelov, who in turn lost to Riordan in the final round. Ethan Thompson, a Class A player from Ashland, and fellow "A" rival Robert Harvey, a MACA life member from Lexington, are the club's 2010 Class co-champions. Both posted scores of 3.5-1.5 in a round-robin field, including a draw with one another. The 12-player, two-section championship was directed by associate national TD Ken Ballou of Framingham, with assistance from club president Mark Kaprielian, also of Framingham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Igor Foygel of Brookline and Class A contestant Elliott Strassman of Jamaica Plain tied for first place in the Vernal Equinox Swiss, held Tuesday nights, March 2-30, at the Metrowest Chess Club at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. Both MACA members tallied 4-1 in an Open section field of 22 players. Fellow MACA member Mark Fins of Newton scored 4.5-0.5 to finish first n the Under 2000 section, where second place with a 4-1 result went to Oleg Poliannirov of Brookline. Siddharth Arun, a MACA junior member from Medfield, was the winner in the Under 1700 section with a 4.5-0.5 performance. Tying for second place with 4-1 tallies were Dan Hochberg and Fred Harvey. First place in the Under 1400 sectjon ended in tie among John McLaughlin of Natick, Kenneth Brisbois of Framingham, and Tom Iversen of Hopkinton. All three ended up with scores of 4-1. The four-section tournament drew a total of 83 players and was directed by associate national TD Ken Ballou of Framingham, with assistance from fellow MACA life member Matthew Phelps of Groton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Billerica March Swiss, played Frday nights, March 5-26, at the Billerica Chess Club at the Senior Center in Billerica, ended in a six-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with scores of 2.5-1.5 were experts Patrick Sciacca of Salem, New Hampshire and Arthur Nugent of Beverly, and Class A players Nathan Smith of Derry, N.H., Fangru Jiang of Westford, John Vaughan, and Michelle Chen of Concord. In some individual encounters, Jiang defeated Sciacca in the second round, Chen drew Nugent in the third round, and Smith drew Nugent in the final round. The tournament drew 20 players and was directed by Nathan Smith.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

John Curdo continued his winning ways at the Greater Worcester Chess Club, capturing first place in the Mellow March Open, held Thursday nights, March 4-25, at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester. The 78-year-old FIDE master from Auburn tallied 3.5-0.5 in a field of 14 players. Finishing second with a 3-1 score was Class A contestant Alonzo Ross of Shrewsbury. Tying for third place with 2.5-1.5 results were expert Muharrem Brahimaj and Class A entrant Michael Odell, both of Worcester, and Class B participant Donna Alarie of Rutland. Winning the top Under 1700 prize with a score of 2.5-1.5 was David Branagan. Tying for the top Under 1500 prize with 1.5-2.5 tallies were Irving Wolfson and Nicholas Sellier, both of Worcester, and Marc Quevillon of Dayville, Connecticut. Joe Alfano of Holden, assisted by Donna Alarie, directed for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The following message was received from Boylston Chess Club board director Jason Rihel via club treasurer Bob Oresick regarding the current status at the club in Somerville:

Dear Chessplayers,

As regular members and readers should know, the club was flooded by the torrents of rain two weeks ago. Despite our efforts to keep the club dry, we kept springing leaks.

I am happy to report that the leaks have stopped, and the club has been dry for the last 40 hours. Our phone is also working again.

This is good news, but we are not back to normal yet. Our neighbors still have significant water, the water table is still high, and more rains are predicted this week. We also have our walls cut away six inches from the ground throughout the club that will need to be replaced before we can function.  And finally, we will need to clean the club and restore it.

• IMPORTANT NEWS
• Although we have hopes for this week, we are still CANCELING our April 3rd quad.
• The Thursday Night Swiss and the Monday Night Paramount ARE STILL PLAYING, in the Go Club Room up the hall from us, as needed.
• We are currently planning a special event for April 10th, either in our restored space or in an alternative, temporary space. Stay tuned here and to the website for more information in the coming week.
• We will need volunteers to whip the club into shape once the walls have been restored. Please keep checking the Boylston Chess Club blog and our website for details as the next two weeks unfold.

Finally, let me assure everyone that the club is in no long-term danger. We will be holding our regular events again soon, and we are pursuing multiple backup plains in the event of a protracted recovery. We understand that our regular players are frustrated by the disruption, but we are doing our very best to restore New England's oldest, largest, and most prolific chess club to power.

{Addendum: The Thursday Night Swiss starts the second week in April, on the 8th. Depending on the condition of hte club, it will be either in our regular space or in the Go Club, a few doors down from the chess club.]

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Tom Hartmayer, one of Connecticut's leading organizer-directors, submits the following report:

Zachary Filler of Weston CT scored a perfect 4-0 to take 1st place in the K-6 Open section of the CSCA K-6 State Scholastic Championship on Sunday, March 28th, at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Finishing 2nd-5th respectively were Jeffrey Qu of Clifton Park, NY, James He of Woodbridge, CT, Eric Hilhorst of Simsbury, CT, and Simon Kubrynski of Wolcott, CT. Top upset prize was won by Mihir Nene of Fairfield, CT.

Philip Vlandis of Fairfield won the K-6 Reserve section with a perfect 4-0. Anthony Diaz Jr. of Glastonbury, CT, Andrew Rogozinski of Stamford, CT, Destin Piagentini of Fairfield, and Imad Rizvi of Glastonbury took 2nd-5th respectively. Top upset prize was won by Piagentini.

Michael Cafiero of Stamford also scored a fine 4-0 to take clear 1st in the K-3 Open section. Finishing 2nd-5th respectively were Neev Suryawanshi and Rohan Suryawanshi, both of Stamford, and Rahul Krishnan and Rohan Krishnan, both of Hopkinton, MA. Top upset prize was won by Cafiero.

Finally, Tyrell Staples of Orange, CT scored a splendid 4-0 to take clear 1st in the K-3 Reserve section. Following in order of finish for 2nd-5th were Cogan Lawler of Stamford, Ronan McDermott of Guilford, CT, Sadie Edelman of Weston, and Malcolm Katz of Fairfield. Top upset prize was won by Benjamin Filler of Weston.

The top teams were led by perennial powerhouse Riverfield Elementary of Fairfield, followed in order of finish by Hopewell Elementary of Glastonbury, Northeast Elementary of Stamford, and Tariffville Elementary of Simsbury.

A total of 63 players participated. Players who did not win trophies were awarded participation medals. Thanka to the team of tournament directors for a job well done: Chief TD Emily Pond, assistants Al Pinto, Doug Pence, Randy Shane, Jim Dunion, John Fikiet, Alex Fikiet, and IM Robert Hungaski.

The tournament was sponsored by the UConn School of Engineering and the UConn Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Rhode Island State Scholastic Championship, held Saturday, March 27, at Rhode Island College in Providence, drew 122 players in four sections. Winning the High School section (grades 9-12) with a perfect 4-0 score was FIDE candidate master Stuart Finney, a MACA member from Barrington, RI. Finney will now represent the state of Rhode Island in the Denker Tournament of High School Champions, scheduled for July 31 to August 3 in Irvine, California. Capturing 2nd place in the 25-player HS section with a 3.5-0.5 tally was Class A contestant Max Lu, a MACA member from Lexington, MA.

Other sectional winners were as follows:

Middle School Grade 7-8 section (36 players): 1st-2nd: Vincent Decesaris (RI) and MACA member Adam Piche of Woodstock, CT, 4-0 

Elementary School Grade 5-6 section (35 players):  1st-2nd: Came DiGiovanni (RI) and Augustus Lee (RI), 4-0

Elementary School K-4 section (26 players): 1st-2nd: Ryan Sowa (RI) and MACA member Rohan Krishnan of Hopkinton, MA, 4-0

Frank DelBonis, assisted by Robert Salvas, directed for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master David Vigorito of Somerville, Mass. chalked up a perfect score of 4-0 to win the 107th Rhode Island Pawneater, held Sunday, March 28, at Rhode Island College in Providence. National master Miro Reverby of Providence, who lost to Vigorito in the third round, finished as runner-up with a 3-1 tally. Justin Rios of Rhode Island posted a perfect 4-0 to end up first in the Under 1900 section, while fellow state resident Matthew Coffin also tallied 4-0 to finish first in the Under 1500 section. The three-section tournament drew 37 players, with an additional player, assistant TD Eric Berkey of Woonsocket, R.I., contesting a side game. John Magill, vice president of the Cranston-Warwick Chess Club, was the chief TD for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Former world champion Vasily Smyslov died of heart failure Saturday, March 27, in Moscow, Russian television reported. Smyslov, who turned 89 on Wednesday, was taken to the Botkin Clinic, a Moscow hopsital, earlier in the week complaining of heart problems and died there early this morning. He was best remembered for his fierce battles against fellow Russian grandmaster Mikhail Botvinnik, whom he dethroned as world champion in 1957 to become the seventh official holder of the world title. He had earlier played to a drawn title match with Botvinnik in 1954, allowing Botvinnik to retain his crown. Botvinnk regained his title in a return match in 1958. Russian media quoted former world champion Anatoly Karpov as saying: "What I remember most about him was his competitive spirit, but also his delicate sense of humor. It was always very tough playing against him, despite him being more than twice my age. "A titan has left us," said Boris Spassky, another ex-world champion.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

MACA life member Michael Moore, a Class A player from Newburyport, tied for first place in the Newburyport Chess Club's Tournament #94, held Thursday nights, March 4-25, at Hope Community Church in Newburyport. Moore tallied 3-1, a score equalled by national master Frank Sisto of Newbury and expert Geoffrey Collins of Haverhill. Sisto and Collins drew each other in the final round.  The tournament drew 14 players and was directed by MACA life member John Elmore of Stratham, New Hampshire.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Eric Strickland, a Class B player from Brattleboro, Vermont, tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the Middlebury Open, held Saturday, March 6, at the Courtyard by Marriott in Middlebury, Vt. Tying for second place with scores of 2.5-1.5 were fellow Green Mountain State players Jesse Anderson and David Johnson, the latter of whom lost to Strickland in the final round. The tournament drew eight players and was directed by Parker "Monty" Montgomery of Middlebury for the sponsoring Litchard Chess Society.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Massachusetts master Sinclair Banks posted a perfect 3-0 score to win the Blackstone Spring Swiss, held Thursday nights from March 4 through March 25 at the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Capturing second place with a 2.5-0.5 tally was expert Andrew Wang, a MACA member from Sharon, Mass. Tying for third place with 2-1 results were Rhode Island expert Michael Clark, who lost to Banks in the final round, and Class B contestant John McGinley, whom Banks defeated in the third round. The tournament drew 13 players and was directed by MACA member David Harris of Providence for the sponsoring Blackstone Chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Three MACA members - life member Alex Slive of Cambridge and fellow members Max Lu of Lexington and Thomas Sifter of Quincy - "weathered" the flooded condition at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville to tie for first place in the BCF Thursday Night Swiss, held March 4-25. All three tallied 3-1 in a field of 12 players - a lower turnout than usual brought about by the saturated condition of the club's playing room for the past couple of weeks. Thanks to the generosity of the Massachusetts Go Association, the club was able to use that organization's meeting room up the hall from the BCC for the last couple of rounds. In their individual encounters, Lu, a Class A player, defeated expert Slive in the third round and was leading the field going into the final round, which he, however, did not contest. Sifter, a Class B player, lost to Lu in the very first round. The club's premier TD, Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton - a mainstay at the BCC for the past several decades - directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Dear chess players,

Unfortunately, the situation in the club has not improved over the week. The water still comes in from seams around the wall, at a slow but steady pace. The hallway is still flooded. Our neighbors are still significantly underwater. The water is clearly coming up from the ground in a way our club has no control over. 

This means at the least, the events scheduled for this weekend are canceled. The Go Club is still allowing us access to their space for the Thursday Night event and for the Paramount. 

Please keep posted for updates. We are working hard to get our club operational again as quickly as possible.

Jason Rihel

***********************************************************

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

Paul Giovino advanced to Class A for the first time in his eight-year playing career by winning the George E. O'Rourke Memorial tournament, held Wednesday nights, February 17 through March 24, at the Wachusett Chess Club at Fitchburg State College. The 24-year-old Lunenburg resident tallied 4.5-0.5 in a field of 30 players, including wins against two Class A rivals and a draw with a third one. Capturing second place with a 4-1 score was fellow Class A contestant Geoffrey LePoer of Westford, club champion in 1999. Tying for 3rd-5th place with 3.5-1.5 results were current club champion Larry Gladding of Leominster, 15-time club champion George Mirijanian of Fitchburg, and Ken Gurge of Leominster, winner of the first two George E. O'Rourke Memorial tournaments in 2008 and 2009. George Mirijanian, assisted by club Webmaster Dave Couture of Westminster, directed.

George Mirijanian
Chief TD

Jonathan H. Winer, a USCF member from Melrose, Massachusetts, formerly of Burlington, Vermont, died March 17 at home in Melrose. He was 58. He was born on November 30, 1951 in Abington, Pennsylvania, the son of David and Janet (Ratner) Winer. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1973 and received a juris doctor degree from New York University in 1976. He worked for Nixon Hargrave, a law firm in Rochester, New York, before settling in Burlington, Vt. with his family. He worked for many years in the legal department of Green Mountain Power in Vermont and later for Mountain Energy, a subsidiary dedicated to wind power. More recently, he worked in Boston for LaCapra Associates and Essex Power Services. While residing in Burlington for 20 years, he became an active member of the community, including serviing as president of the synagogue at Temple Sinai in South Burlington. He was an avid chess player and reached the rank of Class A. Through his son's involvement with chess, he became interested in learning how to run chess tournaments. He eventually became director of the state of Vermont's scholastic chess program and organized and directed events at various Green Mountain State locations, including the Vermont Chess Camp in Warren, the South Royalston Chess Club in Waitsfield, and the Randolph Chess Club. Besides chess, he loved photography, skiing, and traveling. He was also an avid runner. Besides his parents in Shelburne, Vermont, he leaves his wife of 35 years, Carolyn (Winters) Winer; a son, FIDE master Steven M. Winer of Melrose; a daughter, Rachel L. Winer, also of Melrose; two brothers and a sister.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

This event took place on 14 March 2010.

There were 16 total entries.

In the 16U section Anton Barash was 1st with 3.5, and Greg Tseng was 2nd with 3.0.

In the 11U section Eric Feng, August Donovan and Gershon Gilman shared 1st-3rd with 3.0.

In the 8U section Bharath Heggadahalli was 1st with 4.0, and Maxwell Zhao was 2nd with 3.0.

Matt Gosselin was TD. 

Steve Frymer
Assistant TD

This event took place on 21 March and drew 15 entrants.

Noah Firmin was 1st with a 4-0 score.

Michael Ostrovsky was 2nd after playoffs with a 3-1 score.

Eitan Jeselsohn was 3rd after playoffs with a 3-1 score.

Shimon Sherman was 4th after playoffs with a 3-1 score.

Steve Frymer was TD for this non-USCF rated event. 

Steve Frymer
Chief TD

MACA member Edward Astrachan, a Class A player from Waban, tied for first place with Class C participant Stephen DeSouza of Waltham in the Waltham Chess Club's March Madness Game/60 tournament, held Friday night, March 19, at the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham.  Both tallied 2-0 in a field of 10 players. Nicholas Sterling of Needham directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

From Robert Oresick:

Dear Chess Friends, 

Sorry to say that the waters have not receded enough to permit us to play chess this weekend.

The $10 Open is canceled.

If you pre-registered, you entry fee cash or check will be refunded or destroyed.   

The Sunday Scholastic is also canceled.  

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

According to Jason Rihel on the Boylston Chess Club blog, the club in Somerville was flooded when more than 10 inches of rain was dumped on the greater Boston area this past weekend. The club was flooded with up to a half inch of water. The damage is reported to to be so far relatively minor, with only a few boxes of items beyond saving. The carpets may also be hard to save. Rihel reports that they have not yet tried the computer, but they hope it is still OK. No books or paper records seem to be damaged. Also, the water appears to be fairly clean at this time. The current plans are to be ready for Saturday's $10 Open, but at this time having the club ready by then is still in doubt. A team of volunteers is planning to mop, pump, wet vac, etc., starting today, Thursday/Friday, when hopefully the water table will have lowered enough to keep the water out. Rihel states that when the water is cleared, there will be extensive clearning of the floors and furniture to avoid mold and further damage. Anyone wishing to help out the Boylston Chess Club should contact any one of the club board members. The largest effort will probably be on Friday, Many hands will be needed to man the buckets and mops.  

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Expert Andrew Wang of Sharon posted a perfect score of 3-0 to win the March Octads, held Saturday, March 13, at the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Daniil Mosiyenko, a Class A player from Rhode Island, finished second with a 2.5-0.5 tally. Tying for third place with 2-1 results were Massachusetts master Sinclair Banks, who lost to Wang in the final round, experts Haotian Zheng of Newtown, Connecticut and John McCauley of Massachusetts, and Class A entrant Neil Fachon of East Greenwich, Rhode Island.  The tournament drew 14 players and was directed by David Harris.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

FIDE master Christopher Chase won the top section of the BCF March Quads 10-3, held Saturday, March 13, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The MACA life member from Somerville tallied a perfect 3-0.  Winning Quad 2 with a 2-1 performance was Class A player Natasha Christiansen, a MACA member from Cambridge. Class A participant Andrew Liu, a MACA member from Westborough, finished first in Quad 3 with a score of 2.5-0.5, while fellow MACA member Siddharth Arun, a Class B competitor from Medfield, also tallied 2.5-0.5 to capture first place in Quad 4. In a six-player Swiss section, Class C entrant Steven Stepak of Brookline was victorious with a 3-0 score. The 22-player event was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, the top TD at the Boylston Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Kevin Ma, a Class A-rated player from Exeter, New Hampshire, tallied 3-0 to win the Open section of the scholastic tournament held Saturday, March 13, at the Rye  (N.H.) Public Library.. Tying for 1st-2nd place in the Reserve section with scores of 2.5-0.5 were Nick McConnell of Brentwood, N.H., and Jamie Segee-Wright of Portsmouth, N.H.. They drew each other in the final round. Tommy Darnall of Amherst, N.H. posted a 3-0 score to win first place in the Novice section. The three-section tournament drew 27 players and was directed by Michael Sullivan of Portsmouth for the sponsoring Tales Told Tall chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell won his fourth straight tournament at the Waltham Chess Club on Friday evening, March 12, posting a perfect score of 3-0 in the March Game/25 event played in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. The 23-year-old MACA member had won the previous three rated club tournaments on Fwb. 5, Feb. 19 and  March 5. Tying as runners-up with 2-1 scores were MACA life member Todd Chase of Weston, who lost to Shmelov in the second round, and fellow MACA member Max Lu of Lexington, who lost to Shmelov in the final round.  The quick-rated tournament drew 10 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham,

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmasters Joel Benjamin of Bronx, New York and Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Massachusetts shared top honors with international master Robert Hungaski of Connecticut by tying for first place in the 19th annual Eastern Class Chamionships, held March 5-7 at the Host Hotel at Cedar Lake in Sturbridge, Mass. The trio tallied 4-1 in a Master section field of 30 players. Benjamin gained this year's Eastern Class title on tiebreak. Tying for the fourth-place prize with scores of 3.5-1.5 were GM Alexander Shabalov of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Georgian GM Mikheil Kekelidze of Brooklyn, N.Y., GM Sergey Kudrin of Stamford, Conn., and Dutch IM Jan Van der Mortel of Chicago. In individual encounters, Benjamin beat Van der Mortel (rd. 2), drew Kudrin (rd. 3), and drew Kekelidze (rd. 4) before defeating GM Joshua Friedel of San Francisco, formerly of Goffstown, New Hampshire (rd. 5). Ivanov drew Kekelidze (rd. 3), beat senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, Mass.  (rd. 4) and drew Hungaski (rd. 5). Hungaski beat Friedel (rd 3) and drew Kudrin (rd. 4). MACA member Avraam Pismennyy of Salem, Mass. won the top U2300 prize with a score of 3-2. Top prize winners in the other seven sections were as follows:

• Expert Section (27 players): 1st - MACA member Alex Fikiet of Storrs, Conn., 4.5-0.5
• Class A Section (49 players): 1st - Yuval Shemesh of Wilmington, North Carolina, 4.5-0.5
• Class B Section (32 players): 1st - Augusto Gutierrez of New Jersey, 4.5-0.5
• Class C Section (28 players): 1st - Max Krall of West Hartford, Connecticut, 5-0
• Class D Section (25 players): 1st-2nd -- MACA member Timothy Lavoie of Natick, Mass., Ian Lomeli of Glastonbury, Conn., 4.5-0.5
• Class E Section (11 players): 1st - Brian Eibert of  Dover, New Hampshire, 4-1
• Under 900 Section (6 players in 6-round Swiss): 1st - Seetharaman Ganesan of South Grafton, Mass., 5-1

MACA members winning prize money were as follows: NM Carey Theil of Arlington, Mass., NM Miro Reverby of Providence, R.I., FIDE Candidate Master Stuart Finney of Barrington, R.I. - all 2.5-2.5 in the Master Section; Stephen Brudno of Brookline, Mass., 4-1 in Class A Section; and Jenshiang Hong of Newton, Mass. 3.5-1.5 in Class C Section.

The eight-section tournament drew 198 players and was directed by Bill Goichberg for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association. He was assisted by Bob Messenger of Nashua, New Hampshire. Additional support was given by Mr. Goichberg's wife, Brenda Goichberg.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

39 Teams total:

Grade 9-12.........Newton North HS

Grade 6-9...........Clarke [Lexington] Middle School

Grade K-6...........Conant [Acton] Elementary School

Grade K-3...........Cabot [Newton] Elementary School

Ken Ballou was chief TD.

Steve Frymer
Assistant TD

Entries for the March 7th Hurvitz Cup are now CLOSED.  Due to limited space in our new venue, on-site registrations will not be accepted.  Our apologies;  the sites available to us at the last minute were severely limited and none were as large as the venue we had originally scheduled.

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

Senior master Denys Shmelov chalked up his third straight tournament victory at the Waltham Chess Club, winning the Waltham First Friday Tournament #95 on March 5 at the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. The 23-year-old Pepperell resident scored 6.5-0.5 in a field of 12 players. Capturing second place with a 5-2 result was Frank Sisto of Newbury. Tying for 3rd-4th place with 4.5-2.5 tallies were MACA life member Todd Chase of Weston and Geoffrey Collins of Haverhill. Nicholas Sterling of Needham directed the quick-rated event.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

MACA junior member Max Lu of Lexington, Mass. won the Junior High Section of the New York State Scholastic Championships, held February 27-28 at the Saratoga Hilton Hotel in Saratoga Springs, NY. Max chalked up a score of 5-1 (four wins, two draws) and gained first place on superior itebreak points over five other contestants, all from New York, with the same tally. They included expert Alexis Paredes (2nd place), whom Max drew in the fifth round; Class A entrant Pobo Efekoro (3rd place), whom Max drew in the final round; Class B participant Joel Ogunremi (4th place); fellow "B" player Anthony Panat (5th place); and Class A rival Myles Foster (6th place), whom Max defeated in the fourth round. In addition to winning a large beautiful trophy, Max also won a free entry to the New York State Championship on Labor Day weekend. The six-section tournament drew a total of 362 players and was directed by well-known national TD Steve Immitt for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The following are winners of top sections in rated tournaments that were played in February 2010 at various chess clubs in Massachusetts:

• MCC Groundhog Day Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 84 players): SM Denys Shmelov, 3-0
• BCF Feb. 6 Quads 10-2 (Boylston CC, Somerivlle, 30 players): Evan Rabin, 2.5-0.5
• Reggie Boone Memorial (Wachusett CC, Fitchburg, 25 players): George Mirijanian, Bruce Felton, 4.5-0.5
• Franklin Young Memorial (Boylston CC, Somerville, 25 players): FM Chris Chase, Andrew Wang, 3.5-0.5
• BCF Tornado 101 (Boylston CC, 25 players): M. Esserman, W. Collins, J. Nicholas, P. Mishkin, V. Shiva, 3-1
• BCF Highland Ave. Octads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 22 players): FM Chris Chase, 3-0
• BCF Thursday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, Somerville, 21 players): IM Marc Esserman, 3.5-0.5
• February Fianchetto Tournament (Sven Brask CC, Plainville, 16 players): Carl Hess, 3.5-0.5
• Rufus Franklin Memorial Open (Greater Worcester CC, 15 players): FM John Curdo, 4-0
• BCF Super Bowl Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 12 players): IM Marc Esserman, 3-0
• Newburyport Tournament #93 (Newburyport CC, 11 players): Richard Judy, 3.5-0.5
• Waltham Vancouver Game/60 (Waltham CC, 11 players): SM Denys Shmelov, Stephen DeSouza, 2-0
• Waltham First Friday #94 (Waltham CC, 10 players): SM Denys Shmelov, 6-1
• BCF Feb. 28 Scholastic (Boylston CC, Somerville, 4 players): Tal Puhov, 3-0

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

 Dimitri Barash and Matt Gosselin have announced that there will be a 2010 year long grand prix within the Burger King-Papa Gino's series tournaments.There will be a special prize for the player(s) scoring the most total points in those events. Current leaders after 3 events [1/17, 2/7, and 2/14 2010]:Rahul Krishnan...7.5 points; Rohan Krishnan...7.0; Justin Wu and Rohan Singh...5.5; Lauren Smorgonsky...4.0; Allen Wang, Dan Ruttenberg, Namita Chandra and Ryan West...3.5; and Isabella Shih, Eddie Wang, Shuvom Sadhuka, Shi Giroti, Shu Giroti, Anthony Gao and Nithin Kavi...3.0. UPDATE: After 4 events the new unofficial leader is Rohan Singh with 8.5 points! Andrew The is 4th with 6.0 points.  Matt Gosselin is chief TD.

Steve Frymer
Assistant TD

FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville and high-rated expert Andrew Wang of Sharon tied for 1st-2nd place in the Franklin Young Memorial tournament, held Saturday, February 27, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5 in a field of 25 players. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 scores were women's grandmaster Anya Sun Corke, a student at Wellesley College, national master Chris Williams of Brighton, and Class A contestant Andrew Liu of Westboro. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed. The tournament honored the memory of Boston-born Franklin Knowles Young (1857-1931), an author who tried to apply battlefield principles to chess in several of his books.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Marc Esserman of Somerville chalked up a score of 3.5-0.5 to win the BCF Thursday Night Swiss, held February 4-25 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerivlle. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 tallies were expert Alex Slive of Cambridge (who lost to Esserman in the final round), Class A contestant Sean Ingham of Somerville, and Class B participant Khikmet Sadykov of Medford.  The tournament drew 20 players, with one additional player, TD Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, making himself available for two side games.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn scored a perfect 4-0 to win the 6th annual Rufus Franklin Memorial Open, held Thursday nights, February 4-25, at the Greater Worcester Chess Club at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester.  Capturing second place with a 3-1 performance was Class A contestant Muharrem Brahimaj of Worcester. Finishing in third place with a 2.5-1.5 tally was fellow "A" player Joshua Marcus, also of Worcester. In a separate section, the top Under 1700 prize was won by Irving Wolfson of Worcester with a 3-1 result. The Under 1500 prize was shared by Alex Chand and Nicholas Sellier, both also of Worcester. They scored 2.5-1.5. The two-section event drew 14 players, with one additional player contesting a side game. Joe Alfano of Holden, assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, directed for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate. The tournament honored the memory of Rufus Matteson Franklin (1928-2003) of Holden, who was the longtime director of the Worcester Chess Club until his death.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Three out-of-staters dominated the Newburyport Chess Club Tournament #93, held Thursday nights, February 4-25 at Hope Community Church in Newburyport. Richard Judy, a Class A-rated MACA member from York Beach, Maine, finished first with a score of 3.5-0.5. Fellow MACA member John Elmore, an expert from Stratham, New Hampshire, took second place with a 3-1 tally - losing to Judy in the second round.  Gerald Potorski, a Class B player from Danville, New Hampshire, ended up third with a 2.5-1.5 result. The tournament drew 11 players and was directed by John Elmore.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell scored 3-0 to win the Metrowest Chess Club's Groundhog Day Swiss, held Tuesday nights, February 2-23, at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. The event was shortened by one round, when the round scheduled for Feb. 16 was canceled as a result of the senior center being closed because of bad weather. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 2.5-0.5 tallies were experts Derek Slater of Medfield and Todd Chase of Weston. Matthew Phelps of Groton scored 3-0 to win first place in the Under 2000 section. Alan Moyer of Chelmsford did the same to finish first in the Under 1700 section, while John McLalughlin of Natick did likewise in the Under 1400 to end up first there. The four-section tournament drew 82 players, with two additional players contesting a side game each. Club president Mark Kaprielian, assisted by Matthew Phelps, directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

 The combined 16U and 11U division comprised 8 players. In 16U the winners were Asad Vakil and Michael Shulman 1st-2nd with 3-1; Prakalya Chandrasekar took 3rd with 2-2. In 11U Daniel Blessing took 1st with 3-1; Tal Puhov and Gershon Gilman shared 2nd-3rd with 2-2. The 8U division comprised 7 players. Andrew The was 1st with 4-0; Rohan Singh was 2nd with 3-1; and Paurav Kananur was 3rd with 2.5-1.5. Matt Gosselin was TD.

Steve Frymer
MACA Board Member

 The 85TH WESTERN MASS AND CONNECTICUT VALLEY CHAMPIONSHIP is the longest running trophy only tournament in the United States. It is sponsored each year by the Western Massachusetts Chess Association (W.M.C.A.). It is a 5 round tournament with only one section, and recognizes top finishers for each class of player. 

The championship drew 29 players form Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut. It was held at our best site yet,  the Kittredge Center at Holyoke Community College (H.C.C.), made possible by our contact at the college; Jay Ducharme.  Jay is a Professor at the college and teaches courses for the Electronic Media Department. He is also the H.C.C. Chess Club adviser, and comes from a chess playing family.

The new Champion is Anthony Norris with the highest score of 4.5.
The Top Class A player is Robert Campbell with a score of 4. He held the title in 1983 and 2001
The Top Class B player is Richard Zyra with a score of 3.5. He and his brother Michael are two of the best supporters of local chess tournaments. They participate in almost all W.M.C.A. sponsored events.
The Top Class C player is Richard Gold with a score of 3.5. Richard is a retired UMass Professor of Psychology.
The Top Class D player is Brian Santiago. Brian is a high school student at Central High in Springfield.
The Top Class E player and youngest player in the tournament is Jonathan Aiyathurai.
The Top Class F player is Gaetano Bompastore. Gaetano had a rough start in his first tournament last October, but has gained over 200 points since then. He is a fierce competitor, narrowly losing games against tough opponents at this tournament. He will be back and playing even better after reading his new book, Basic Chess Endings, by Reuben Fine.
The Top Un-Rated player is Daniel Kibbe. This was Daniel first U.S.C.F. rated tournament. He runs the Renaissance Chess Club at the Renaissance Barber Shop in Palmer. 

This report is submitted by Ed Kostreba of WMCA.

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

Octad 1: 8 players...Chris Chase 1st with 3-0, Josh Haunstrup 2nd with 2.5-0.5, and Jacob Fauman, Natasha Christiansen and Andrew Liu 3rd-5th with 1.5-1.5. 

Octad 2: 8 players...Paul Mishkin and Bernardo Iglesias 1st-2nd with 2.5-0.5, and Andrew Hoy 3rd with 2-1. 

Octad 3: 6 players...Steve Stepak, Alex Fauman and Jenny Ma 1st-3rd with 2-1. 

Bernardo Iglesias was TD.

Steve Frymer
MACA Board Member

Senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell and Class C player Stephen DeSousa of Waltham tallied 2-0 to tie for first place in the Waltham Chess Club's Vancouver Game/60 tournament, held Friday night, February 19, in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. The event drew 11 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Paul J. Jandron, a USCF member from Millbury, Massachusetts, died February 17 in St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Mass. Mr. Jandron had been a member of MACA and for many years played at the Worcester Chess Clup until March 1993. He was an avid golfer and once had a hole-in-one at the Heritage Country Club in Charlton, Mass.  He worked for the U.S. Postal Service at the Millbury post office for 19 years, retiring in 1998.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

 The Cambridge Springers [Bill Kelleher, Joe Fang, Len Morrissey and Anatoly Levin] were victorious in a 271 team field, besting two young NYC teams on tie-break. All three teams scored 5.5-0.5 match points. The Springers now qualify for the 27 March playoffs with the winners from the West, North and South amateur team events, all held on the weekend of 13-15 February 2010.

There were teams from the Boylston CC and Boston University competing, as well as many other Massachusetts players.

Crosstables for the teams can be found on the New Jersey Chess Federation website. The individual games have been rated by USCF. 

Steve Frymer
MACA Board Member

16U Division: 6 players - Nithin Kavi 1st with 3-1, Jenny Qiu, Brandon Wu, Alan Sikarov and Anton Barash 2nd-5th with 2-2.

11U and 8U Division: 10 players - Ryan West 1st in 11U with 3.5-0.5, Kira Porter and Anthony Gao 2nd-3rd in 11U with 3-1; Andrew The and Eric Feng 1st-2nd in 8U with 2-2.

Matt Gosselin was chief TD.

Steve Frymer
Assistant TD

Open Div.: 8 players - Harrison Fregeau and Tim Chevalier, both NH, 2.5-0.5 1st-2nd.

Reserve Div.:  18 players - Sean Cheng, Westford, 4-0 1st; Nithin Kavi, Acton, Leo Sanchez, Westford, and Coby O'Young, NH, all 3-1 2nd-4th.

Novice Div.: 17 players - Anson O'Young, NH, 4-0 1st; Ben Wiegand, Cambridge, Isiah Baker, Joshua Wiswell, and Emet Baker, all NH, 3-1 2nd-5th.

Michael Sullivan was TD.

Steve Frymer
MACA Board Member

Open Div.: 18 players - IM Marc Esserman, Somerville, William Collins, MA, Jesse Nicholas, Newton, Paul Mishkin, Brighton, and Vikas Shiva, Lexington, 3-1 1st-5th.

U1800 Div.: 6 players - Thomas Brinkmann and Daniel Ambrefe, 3-1 1st-2nd.

Bernardo Iglesias was TD. 

Steve Frymer
MACA Board Member

Per Section 7.2 of the MACA bylaws, "Nominations for all offices and directors shall be submitted to the Chairperson of the Elections Commission by the 15th of February. All nominees must be corporate members, and the length of the nominee's membership must include the entire term of office for which the nominee is a candidate. The elections commissioner shall notify nominees within seven (7) days of the close of the nominations if their membership does not meet this requirement. The nominee will resolve membership issues within fifteen (15) days of notification by the elections commissioner. Any nominee not meeting this requirement will not be listed on the ballot." All nominations should be sent to the Elections Commissioner, F. Alexander Relyea, either by regular mail or e-mail. Deadline is Monday, February 15, 2010. Send to 49 Technology Drive #89, Bedford, NH 03110-6978 or e-mail to elections-commissioner@masschess.org

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. tied for first place with fellow GM Nick DeFirmian in the Bermuda International Open, held February 5-7 at the Fairmont Southhampton Resort. Both tallied 4.5-0.5 in a field of 58 players. DeFirmian prevailed in a blitz playoff and gained this year's Bermuda International Open title. Tying as runners-up with 4-1 scores were Ivanov's wife, women's international master Esther Epstein,  defending champion GM Pascal Charbonneau of Canada, international master David Cummings and expert Andrei Moffat, both also of Canada, and FIDE candidate master Aleksandr Ostrovskiy of New York. Finishing in eighth place with a score of 3.5-1.5 was GM Larry Christiansen of Cambridge, Mass., who lost to DeFirmian in the final round. International arbiter Carol Jarecki direcfed the event.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

International master Marc Esserman tallied a perfect 3-0 to win the Super Bowl Octads, held Sunday, February 7, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Expert Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland, Rhode Island finished second with a score of 2.5-0.5. The tournament drew 12 players and was directed by the reigning Boylston Chess Club champion, FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The 31st Framingham Burger King tournament held Sunday, February 7, drew 18 players. Finishing first in the age 8 & under category was Rohan Jeet Singh, who scored a perfect 4-0 and was playing in his second rated event. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were Shivan and Shubhum Giroti of Wellesley. Capturing first place in the age 11 & under group with a perfect 4-0 performance was Rahul Krishnan of Hopkinton. Two players, Rohan Krishnan of Hopkinton and Shuvom Sadhuka of Acton, chalked up 3-1 scores. Rohan defeated Shuvom in the third round and gained the 2nd-place trophy on tiebreak points, while Shuvom went home with the 3rd-place trophy. Xiayue Wang of Shrewsbury won a trophy for his score of 2-2 in the age 16 & under category. Matthew Gosselin of Melrose, assisted by Steve Frymer of Lexington, directed for the sponsoring MARI chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Edward Dourant of Central Falls, Rhode Island tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the 7th Cumberland Burger King tournament, held Saturday, February 6, in Rhode Island. Finishing as runner-up with a 3-1 score was MACA member Daniel Ruttenberg of Newton, Mass., who lost to Dourant in the second round. The tournament drew eight players and was directed by Frank DelBonis, assisted by Robert Salvas, for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The BCC Quads, held Saturday, February 6, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, drew 30 players. Winners in six quads and a seventh section consisting of six entrants were as follows:

• Quad 1: Expert Evan Rabin of Brandeis University, 2.5-0.5
• Quad 2: Class A Howard Goldowsky of Canton, 2-1
• Quad 3: Cl;ass A Michael Raphael of Northeastern University and Class B Michael Barry of Natick, 2-1
• Quad 4: Class A Paul Mishkin of Brighton, 3-0
• Quad 5: Class A Sean Ingham of Somerville, 3-0
• Quad 6: Eric Lawless of Northeastern University, 3-0, who went from Class C to Class B
• Section 7: Ricky Jimenez II, 3-0, who went from provisional Class C to provisional Class B

FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville was the tournament director.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Senior master Denys Shmelov, winner of several tournaments in recent months, added another tournament to his long list of victories by capturing first place in the Waltham First Friday Tournament #94, a quick-chess event held February 5 at the Waltham Chess Club in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham.. The 23-year-old Pepperell resident tallied 6-1 in a field of 10 participants. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with scores of 5.5-1.5 were Gregory Kaden of Wellesley, who lost to Shmelov in the fourth round, and Todd Chase of Weston, who handed Shemlov's his only loss in the second round before drawing Kaden in the third round. Nicholas Sterling of Needham directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The two highest-rated players in Fitchburg, Class A rivals George Mirijanian and Bruce Felton, tied for first place in the Reggie Boone Memorial tourmanet, held Wednesday nights, January 6 through Feburary 3, at the Wachusett Chess Club at Fitchburg State College. Both tallied 4.5-0.5 in a field of 25 contenders, including a draw with one another in the third round. Tying as runners-up with 3-2 scores were Larry Gladding and Tom Fratturelli, both of Leominster, Martin Laine and Paul Giovino, both of Lunenburg, Dave Couture of Westminster, Arthur Barlas of Chelmsford, and George Miller of Ashburnham. George Mirijanian directed, assisted by club Webmaster Dave Couture.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following are winners of top sections in rated tournaments that were played in January 2010 at various chess clubs in Massachusetts:

• MCC New Year Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 86 players): SM Denys Shmelov, 4-0
• BCF Winter Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 34 players): SM Denys Shmelov, NM Lawyer Times, 3.5-0.5
• BCF $10 Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 29 players): GM Alexander Ivanov, IM David Vigorito, Grant Xu, 3.5-0.5
• Herb Healy Open House (Boylston CC, Somerville, 28 players): NM Lawyer Times, 4-0
• Reggie Boone Memorial (Wachusett CC, Fitchburg, 25 players): George Mirijanian, Bruce Felton, 4.5-0.5
• Jan. 2 BCF Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 22 players): Felix Yang, James Lung, 2-1
• Salomon Flohr Memorial (Boylston CC, Somerville, 21 players): Mark Fins, 3.5-0.5
• BCF Swiss #27 (Boylston CC, Somerville, 21 players): FM Teddy Coleman, 3.5-0.5
• Invitational Memorial (Sven Brask CC, Plainville, 18 players): Jack Correia, Lawrence Dean, 3-1
• BCF Thursday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, Somerville, 17 players): Harold Dondis, 3-1
• January Swiss (Billerica CC, 16 players): Raymonf Paulson, Arthur Nugent, 3.5-0.5
• Fresh Start Open (Greater Worcester CC, 14 players): FM John Curdo, 4-0
• Monday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, Somerville, 14 players): Ross Eldridge, Sean Ingham, 3-1
• Newburyport Tournament #92 (Newburyport CC, 12 players): Geoffrey Collins, John Elmore, 3.5-0.5
• Waltham MLK Game/60 (Waltham CC, 10 players): Todd Chase, 2-0
• Waltham January Game/25 (Waltham CC, 9 players): Todd Chase, 3-0
• Waltham First Friday (Waltham CC, 8 players): Frank Sisto, 6.5-0.5
• Jan. 20 Early Bird Rapid Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 6 players): GM Alexander Ivanov, 3-0
• Jan. 31 Scholastic (Boylston CC, Somerville, 5 players): Loring Lauretti, 4-0
• Jan. 6 Early Bird Rapid Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 4 players): GM Alexander Ivanov, 3-0
• Jan. 17 Scholastic (Boylston CC, Somerville, 3 players): Jenny Qiu, 3.5-0.5

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Senior master Denys Shmelov scored 3.5-0.5 to win the 34th Queen City Open, held January 30-31 at the Comfort Inn in Manchester, New Hampshire. Despite taking a half-point bye in the first round, the 23-year-old Pepperell, Mass resident advanced his USCF rating to within 15 points of 2500 and is now poised to reach that plateau again that he last attained in August 2009. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were FIDE master William Kelleher of Watertown, Mass. and international master Danny Kopec of Merrick, New York. Kopec, who last appeared in a Granite State tournament in October 2000, defeated Kelleher in the third round but lost to Shmelov in the final round. Sharing the top Under 2100 prize with 2.5-1.5 scores were experts Zaroug Jaleel of Lexington, Mass. and John Elmore of Stratham, NH, as well as Class A entrant Stephen Brudno of Brookline, Mass. Jonathan Turcotte of Quebec, Canada, who was playing in his first USCF-rated tournament, posted a perfect 4-0 to win the Under 1900 section. As a result of his performance, he gained a provisional rating of 2303 based on the four games he played. John Gaspar of Maine captured second place with a score of 3.5-0.5. Gerald Potorski of Danville, NH ended up third with a 3-1 performance. Winning the Under 1750 prize with a 2.5-1.5 result was Eric Moreau of Maine. Andrew Metell of New Hampshire won the Under 1600 section with a score of 3.5-0.5 Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were Jason Havener of Berlin, NH and Robert Norris of Westford, Mass. Michael Beatini of New Hampshire was the winner in the Under 1300 section with a 3.5-0.5 score. Sharing the 2nd- and 3rd-place prizes with 3-1 results were Chris Kozura of New Hampshire, Vincent Bradley of Massachusetts, and Kyle Mohan of Vermont. In two separate Sunday Swiss sections held January 31, FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, Mass. tied for first place with experts Alan Schalk of Berwick, Maine and Clay Bradley of Marlow, NH. All three tallied 2.5-0.5 in Section 1. Winning Section 2 with a 3-0 score was Matthew Reale-Hatem of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The two-day main event drew 60 players, with an additional 21 players competing in the Sunday Swiss sections. The total of 81 players was 18 more than last year and equal to the turnout in 2007. Hal Terrie of Manchester, assisted by John Elmore, directed for the sponsoring New Hampshire Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Boris Gulko of Fair Lawn, New Jersey performed a 24-board simultaneous exhibition on Sunday, January 31, at the Shaloh House Jewish Day School in Brighton. The simul, which was part of the Shaloh House's 3rd annual Chess Festival, saw the two-U.S. chess champion win 22 games, draw one and lose one. Holding the GM to a draw was Igor Taksir of Wayland. Defeating the champion was Alan Safran of Newton. The  simul lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The 3rd annual Chess Festival, held Sunday, January 31, at the Shaloh House Jewish Day School in Brighton, drew 50 players in two sections, according to information released by chess official Steve Frymer of Lexington. Twenty players competed in an Open section, where the winner with a perfect 4-0 score was Boris Shoykhet of Lynn. Capturing the second prize with a 3.5-0.5 tally was Bill Wise of Newton. Valeri Kotkov was third, also with a 3.5-0.5 score. Tying for 4th-5th place wth 3-1 results were Igor Taksir of Wayland and Alan Safran of Newton. Sharing 6th-7th place with 2.5-1.5 tallies were Zongyuan Yuan of Brookline and David Ter-Ovanesyan of Newton. The Children's Division, for those under 13 years of age, saw Shuvom Sadhuka of Acton finish first and Noah Stonehill of Newton end up second. Both scored 4-0. Nithin Kavi of Acton took third with a 3.5-0.5 result. Tying for 4th place with 3-1 scores were Han-Ping Chang and Eitan Jeselsohn, both of Brookline, Daniel Polykoff and Noam Schectman, both of Sharon, and Avigdor Weiner of Providence, Rhode Island.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Albert E. Gedraitis of Bethany, Connecticut, a USCF life member who was the founder and a former president of the Waterbury (CT) Chess Club died Monday, January 25, in Yale New Haven Hospital. He was 77. He was born August 17, 1932 in Waterbury, the son of Anthony and Mary (Arnold) Gedraitis. He was a U.S. Army veteran, serving five years during the Korean War. Mr. Gedraitis worked many years as a slitter at the New Haven Copper Co. before he retired. Previously, he worked at several steel mills. Besdies chess, he enjoyed gardening and watching classic movies. He leaves his wife, Julia (Longobardi) Gedraitis; a son, John Gedraitis of Waterbury; two brotthers, Anthony Gedraitis of Waterbury and Raymond Arnold of New York; an aunt, and several nephews and nieces. His funeral was held Frday, January 29, from the Buckmiller Brothers Funeral Home in Prospect, with a service in St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Naugatuck. Burial with full military honors was in St. James Cemetery, Naugatuck.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Loring Lauretti, a MACA junior member from Cohassett, tallied 4-0 to win the January Scholastic tournament on Sunday, January 31, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Fellow MACA member Daniel Blessing of Medfield, who lost to Lauretti in the third round, finished second with a 3-1 score. The event drew only five players and was directed by FIDE master Christopher Chase, champion of the Boylston Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Robert B. Matheson of Framingham, formerly of Natick, died Wednesday, January 27, in Metro West Medical Center in Framingham. He was 64. He was born August 20, 1945 in Queens, New York, the son of John F. and Joan (Long) Sullivan. He later lived in Bridgewater and then in Natick before moving to Framingham 16 years ago. He graduated from Framingham State College in 1980. He was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. Mr. Matheson worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 18 years, retiring in 2004. He was previously employed as  the executive director at the Nonantem Multi-Serivce Center in Newton. A USCF-rated Class B player who stopped playing in rated tournaments in the early 1990s, he belonged to the Framingham Chess Club after it was founded in 1983 and was meeting at the American Legion in Framingham. In 1987, he was named the club's Player of the Year. Besides chess, he enjoyed gardening and taking care of his dogs. He also loved hiking and was a member of the Appalachian Mountain Climbing Club. He leaves his wife, Carmen L. (Sampson) Matheson; two stepsons, David Burns of Florida and John Burns of Framingham; a stepdaughter, Lorraine Holliday of South Carolina; three stepbrothers, Lt. Col. (retired) James Sullivan of North Carolina, Edwin Sullivan of Maine, and David Sullivan of New York; six grandchildren, and many nephews and nieces. The funeral will be held Monday, Feb. 1, at 11 a.m. in the chapel of the John Everett and Sons Funeral Home, 4 Park St., Natick. Burial will follow in Glenwood Cemetery. Calling hours at the funeral home are Sunday, Jan. 31, from 5 to 8 p.m.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

A total of 34 players in three sections participated in the 105th Rhode Island Pawn Eater on Saturday, January 30, in the Donovan Cafeteria at Rhode Island College in Providence, RI. Tying for first place in the Open section with 3-1 scores were expert Stuart Finney, a MACA junior member from Barrington, RI, and Class A rival Christopher Gu of Kingston, RI.  John Perrotta of Rhode Island tallied 3.5-0.5 to win first place in the Under 1900 section, while fellow state resident Cristian Estrada posted a perfect a 4-0 result to finish first in the Under 1500 section. Frank Vogel III, assisted by Frank DelBonis, directed for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master Teddy Coleman, a 20-year-old student at Harvard Univerisity, scored 3.5-0.5 to win the BCF Swiss #27, held Saturday, January 30, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 tallies were national master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park (who lost to Coleman in the third round), Class A entrant Paul Mishkin of Brighton (who drew Coleman in the second round), and Sean Ingham of Somerville (who lost to Coleman in the first round but advanced his rating to Class A for the first time as a result of his overall performance in the event). The tournament drew 21 players and was directed by Boylston Chess Foundation treasurer Robert Oresick of Norton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Experts Raymond Paulson of Lowell and Arthur Nugent of Beverly tied for first place in the January Swiss, held Friday nights, January 8-29, at the Billerica Chess Club. Both tallied 3.5-0.5 and did not face each other. Tying as runners-up with 2.5-1.5 results were fellow expert Patrick Sciacca of Salem, NH (who only played the first two rounds, then took a half-point bye and an unplayed game in the final two rounds), Class A entrant Fangru Jiang of Westford, and Class C particioant Robert Babcock of Wakefield (whose points included a half-point bye in the first round and a full-point bye in the final round). The event drew 16 players and was directed by Nathan Smith of Derry, NH.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn proved once again why he is the dominant player at the Greater Worcester Chess Club, winning the club's Fresh Start Open, held Thursday nights, January 7-28, at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester. Curdo tallied a perfect 4-0. Sharing the 2nd- and 3rd-place prizes with 3-1 scores were Class A competitors Muharrem Brahimaj and Michael Odell, as well as Class B entrant Robert J. King. All are from Worcester. Tying for the Under 1700 and Under 1500 prizes with 2-2 results were Class C player Marc Quevillon of Dayville, Connecticut and Class D participant Irving Wolfson of Worcester. Joseph Alfano of Holden, assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, directed for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Experts Geoffrey Collins of Haverhill and John Elmore of Stratham, New Hampshire tied for first place in Newburyport Tournament #92, played Thursday nights, January 7-28, at Hope Community Church in Newburyport, Mass. Both 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 Arthur King of Haverhill and Mark Seedner of York, Maine. The event drew 12 players and was directed by John Elmore.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

In another surprise at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Boston Globe chess columnist Harold Dondis won the club's Thursday Night Swiss, held January 7-28. The 87-year-old Class B rated player from Belmont tallied 3-1 in an Open section field of 15 players and gained 101 USCF rating points in the process. Tying as runners-up with 2.5-1.5 scores were expert Christopher Bird of Melrose (who lost to Dondis in the final round), Class A contestants Max Lu of Lexington and Walter Driscoll III of Cambridge, and Class C participant Daniel Bromberg, also of Cambridge. Bromberg netted 98 USCF rating points and advanced to Class B. The event, which had two additional players contest an extra-rated game, was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Sven Brask Chess Club champion Jack Correia of Attleboro tied for first place with Class A rival Lawrence Dean of Norton in the club's Invitational/Howard Cook Memorial tournament, held Wednesday nights, January 6-27, in Plainville. Both tallied 3-1, including a draw with one another in the third round. Among those who tied for 1st-5th place in the Cook Memorial section with a 2.5-1.5 score was MACA member Laurence Green of Franklin. The two-section tournament drew 17 players, with one additional player contesting a side game. James Aspinall of Attleboro directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Metrowest Chess Club champion Denys Shmelov chalked another victory at the club, winning the MCC New Year Swiss, held Tuesday nights, January 5-26, at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. The senior master from Pepperell posted a perfect 4-0 score. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 tallies were GM Arthur Bisguier of Wellesley, FM John Curdo of Auburn, and expert Derek Slater of Medfield. Ethan Thompson of Ashland scored a perfect 4-0 to win first place in the Under 2000 section. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 results were Winber Xu of Newton, Oleg Poliannikov of Brookline, and MACA life member William Michael of West Bridgewater. Steve Wollkind of Arlington was the winner in the Under 1700 with a perfect 4-0 performance. Sharing runner-up honors with 3-1 results were Larry Kleine of Hanover and MACA life member Walter Champion of Wellesley. John McLaughlin of Natick was victorious in the Under 1400 section with a 4-0 score. Deadlocked in the runner-up spot with 3-1 results were Tom Iversen of Hopkinton, Sean O'Callaghan of Natick, Sandeep Shankar of Sudbury, Henry Liu of Northborough, and Arthur Ensroth of Wellesley. The four-section tournament drew 84 players, with two additional players contesting side games. Associate national TD Ken Ballou of Framingham directed, assisted by Eric Fauman of Newton and Matthew Phelps of Groton. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell and national master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park tied for first place in the BCF Winter Open, held Saturday, January 23, at the Boyslton Chess Club in Somerville. Both scored 3.5-0.5 in an Open section field of 24 players. Tying for first place in the Under 1800 section were Mike Bohigian of Watertown and Jesse Breneman of Washington state, who was making his debut in a rated Massachusetts tournament. Both tallied 2.5-1.5. The two-section event drew a total of 34 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA life member Todd Chase chalked up another victory at the Waltham Chess Club , winning the Waltham January Game/25 Tournament on Friday night, January 22, at the club's playing site in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. The 49-year-old Weston resident posted a perfect 3-0 score. Tying as runners-up with 2-1 tallies were Daniel Shapiro and Edward Astrachan, both of whom lost to Chase, and George Comeau, who lost to Astrachan in the first round. The quick-rated event drew nine players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov had another easy time winning a tournament at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. This time the Newton resident posted another perfect score of 3-0, finishing first in the Early Bird Rapid Quads on Wednesday night, January 20.  With only six players in attendance, the event was changed  to a single-section Swiss. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 2-1 tallies were national master Carey Theil of Arlington, who lost to Ivanov in the second round, and Andrew Hoy, who lost to Ivanov in the final round. The latter player gained a Class A rating for the first time in his career after defeating "C" and "B" players in the first two rounds. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

FIDE master Paul MacIntyre, a MACA member from Malden, was among the runners-up in the 42nd Liberty Bell Open, held January 15-18 in Philadelphia, PA. MacIntyre tallied 5.5-1.5, including a draw in the final round with GM Alexander Stripunsky, and came home with the second largest monetary prize in the Open section. Winning the tournament with a 6-1 tally was GM Alexander Shabalov of Pittsburgh.  Others who equalled MacIntyre's score were IM Bryan Smith of Pennsylvania, IM Dean Ippolito and senior masters Yaacov Norowitz and Molner Mackenzie, all of New Jersey. The event drew 444 players in eight sections and was directed by Steve Immitt, assisted by Walter Brown Jr., for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The funeral service for Dale S. Lyons, who died unexpectedly on Sunday, January 17, while participating in the Portsmouth Open in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, will be held Thursday January 21, at 10:30 a.m. in the Minor Funeral Home, 237 Route 7, Milton, Vermont.  Burial will follow in St. Ann's Cemetery. Calling hours at the funeral home are Wednesday, January 20, from 5 to 8 p.m. Mr. Lyons was one of the most active tournament players in the state of Vermont. Not only was he a longtime member of the USCF but he also belonged to the Burlington Chess Club. His participation in tournaments in Massachusetts included events in Sturbridge, Natick, Leominster, Lowell, Marlborough and Woburn. He also played in tournaments in the neighboring state of New York as well as other New England states. He was born October 17, 1949 in Burlington, Vermont, the son of Joseph and Mildred (Pratt) Lyons. Mr. Lyons enjoyed vacationing with his family in Maine, especially in the Bath and Booth Bay area. He also enjoyed the Blue Grass Festival in Swanton, Vermont. He was owner for more than 30 years of Lyons Auto Repair on Route 7 in Milton. Before then, he worked for Goss Dodge of South Burlington. He is survived by brothers and sisters: Richard Lyons and Gloria Simpson, both of Burlington, Roderick Lyons of Richmond, Prescott Lyons of Marshfield, Camellia of Essex Junction; uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Two of Massachusetts strongest players, grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton and international master David Vigorito of Somerville, tied for 1st-2nd place in the FIDE-rated Portsmouth Open, held January 16-17 at the Holiday Inn in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Both scored 4.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the penultimate round. Winning the top Under 2250 prize with a 4-1 tally was Raymond Paulson of Lowell, Mass., who advanced his Class A rating to that of expert. Capturing the top Under 2000 prize with a 3.5-1.5 result was Class B contestant Matthew Fishbein of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, the 2009 Maine Junior High School champion. The Under 1750 section was dominated by Maine players, as two of them - John Gaspar and Nathaniel Bryans - finished first and second with respective scores of 4.5-0.5 and 4-1. Zachary Coombs of New Hampshire won the top Under 1500 prize with a 3-2 result, a performance also achieved by Alex Wallach of York, Maine, who won the top Under 1250 prize. The two-section tournament had 44 players, with three additional players contesting extra-rated games. FIDE arbiter F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire, assisted by his wife, Nita Patel, directed the event for the sponsoring Relyea Chess affiliate, which guaranteed 100 percent of the $1850 prize fund. Tournament participants were saddened by the passing of fellow entrant Dale Lyons of Vermont, who suffered a fatal heart attack between the third and fourth rounds

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The 44th Chelmsford Burger King tournament, held Sunday, January 17, in Chelmsford drew 20 players in three sections. Tying for first place in the Age 16 and under section were Allen Wang, 9, of Acton and Daniel Ruttenberg, 12, of Newton. They both scored 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round. Wang received a full-point bye in the final round. Tying for first place in the Age 11 & under section with 3.5-0.5 tallies were Justin Wu, 7, of Littleton and Rahul Krishnan, 9, of Hopkinton. They drew each other in the second round. Rohan Krishnan, 7, of Hopkinton was the clear winner in the Age 8 & under section. He posted a perfect 4-0 score. Capturing second place with a 3-1 result was Eddie Wang, 6, of Acton, who lost to Krishnan in the third round.  The tournament, which attracted two first-time players, was directed by Matthew Gosselin of Melrose for the sponsoring MARI chess affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Expert Alex Fikiet, a MACA member from Storrs, Connecticut, and fellow expert Matthew Meredith of West Hartford, Conn., tied for first place in the 19th Mid-Winter Classic tournament, held Saturday, January 16, at the Congregational Church in Florence, Mass. Both tallied 2.5-0.5 and did not face each other. Stanley Targonski, a Connecticut expert who has not played in a rated tournament in two years, finished as runner-up with a 2-1 score, including draws with both Meredith and Fikiet. Douglas Reed of Westfield was the winner in the Under 1800 section with a perfect 3-0 score. Tying for second place with 2-1 results were fellow Westfield resident Richard Zyra and Nathaniel Ward of Albany, N.Y. Vincent Bradley of Massachusetts scored 2.5-0.5 to win the Under 1400 section, where second place with a 1.5-1.5 performance went to Eric Hilhorst of Simsbury, Connecticut. The three-section tournament drew 22 players and was directed by Edward Kostreba of Ware for the sponsoring Western Massachusetts Chess Association. (WMCA).

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Dale S. Lyons, a USCF member from Milton, Vermont, suffered a fatal heart attack this weekend between the third and fourth rounds of the Portsmouth Open, being held at the Holiday Inn in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Chief TD Alex Relyea reports this news. Dale, who was staying at the Holday Inn with a fellow Vermonter, master David Carter, was rushed to Portsmouth Regional Hoopital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Mr.. Lyons was one of the most active tournament players in the state of Vermont. In 2009, he competed in 10 events - which represented more than twice the number of tournaments he played in the previous year. In the past 20 years, he competed in events in all New England states (excluding Rhode Island), New York and Pennsylvania. He was a solid Class B player, whose rating peaked in the past two decades at 1894 in the early 1990s. His most active period was in the mid-1990s. when he averaged 13 tournaments per year. He held a Class A correspondence rating. MACA and chess players from all over New England mourn his passing.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Only three players showed up to contest the BCC Sunday Scholastic on January 17 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Originally scheduled for three sections, the event was transformed into a single-section double round robin. Gaining the victory with a score of 3.5-0.5 was 11-year-old Jenny Qiu of Acton. Finishing as runner-up with a 1.5-2.5 tally was another 11-year-old player, Loring Lauretti of Cohassett. Rounding out the field was Jenny's 7-year-old brother, Samuel Qiu, who nicked Lauretti for his sole win. FIDE master Chriistopher Chase, the current Boylston Chess Club champion, directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Class A player Mark Fins was the surprise winner of the Salomon Flohr Memorial tournament, held Saturday, January 16, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The 60-year-old Newton resident tallied 3.5-0.5 to finish first in a field of 21 contestants and faced no opponent higher than Class A.. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 scores were senior master Denys Shmelov, 23, of Pepperell, national master Carey Theil, 32,  of Arlington, and expert Andrew Wang, 14, of Sharon. All three took half-point byes in the first round, with Shmelov drawing Theil in Round 3. Wang received an additional half-point bye in the second round. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed. The tournament honored the memory of GM Salomon "Salo" Flohr (1908-1983), who was a world championship contender  in the late 1930s.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following are the top scorers in the Pelham Scholastic Tournament, held Saturday, January 16, at Pelham Memorial School in New Hampshire:

OPEN SECTION (K-12 and 1000 and over)

• 1st:-2nd: Harrison Moran of Rye, NH, 3.5-0.5
•                  Timothy Chevalier of NH, 3.5-0.5

RESERVE SECTION (K-8 and U1000)

• 1st: Nithin Kavi of Acton, MA, 4-0
• 2nd: Coby O'Young of Nashua, NH, 3-1

NOVICE SECTION (K-5 and U800)

• 1st: Isiah Baker of NH, 4-0
• 2nd-4th: Anson O'Young of Nashua, NH, 3-1
•                 Ankita Devasia of Nashua, NH, 3-1
•                 Glen Leuteritz of Pelham, NH, 3-1

The three-section tournament drew 38 players and was directed by Michael Sullivan of Portsmouth, NH for the sponsoring Tales Told Tall chess affiliate.  He was assisted by Douglas Decker of Rochester, NH.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Expert Todd Chase, a MACA life member from Weston, tallied 2-0 to win the Waltham MLK Game/60 tournament, held Friday night, January 15, at the Waltham Chess Club at the IBM Officie Building cafeteria in Waltham. Capturing second place with a score of 1.5-0.5 was Class C entrant Matthew Webber, who has only been playing rated chess for the past two years and has competed in most of his tournaments in western Massachusetts. The event drew 10 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The Billerica Chess Club's December Swiss, held Friday nights, December 4 through December 18, at the Billerica Senior Center ended in a three-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with scores of 2.5-0.5 were experts Patrick Sciacca of Salem, New Hampshire and Arthur Nugent of Beverly, as well as Class A contestant Fangru Jiang of Westford. Tying as runners-up with 2-1 tallies were Dr. Wei Gao, Jeff Gao and Eric Liu, all of Acton. The tournament drew 18 players and was directed by Nathan Smith of Derry, New Hampshire.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

MACA member Alex Fikiet, a 15-year-old expert from Storrs, Connecticut, tied for first place in the Williams College Open, held Sunday, January 10, in Williamstown, Mass. Fikiet posted a perfect score 3-0, a tally also attained by high school student Adam Capulong from Jersey City, New Jersey, who gained one of his points by a full-point bye in Round 1. Despite the bye, Capulong advanced his provisional Class B rating to a provisional Class A one by defeating two experts in rounds 2 and 3. Tying for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1600 section with 2.5-0.5 scores were a couple of Class C players: John Germanowski of Williamstown and Nathaniel Ward of Albany, New York. They drew each other in the final round. A total of 23 players competed in the two sections, with an additional two players contesting extra-rated games. Trevor Murphy directed the event for the sponsoring Williams College Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Peter D. Gilbert of Leominster, a member of the Wachusett Chess Club in Fitchburg during the 1980s and early 1990s, died Sunday, January 10, in his home after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 54. He was born October 17, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Donald and Dorothy (Neiss) Gilbert. He graduated from Worth (Ill.) High School in 1973. He received bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, majoring in computer sciences. He was currently attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he was working toward a doctorate. An avid chess player, he competed as a Class A player in many Wachusett Chess Club championships, when the club was meeting at the St. Joseph Club in the Cleghorn section of Fitchburg.. He also played occasionally at the former Nashoba Chess Club in Westford and competed in the celebrated Fitchburg vs. Westford match of June 1993. He also played correspondence chess. He was a voracious reader and also enjoyed listening to National Public Radio. He also loved jazz music. Peter had a passion for mathematics and had papers published on that subject. He loved his dog Cooper and the many walks they took together. He maintained friendships with his former co-workers from the Digital Equipment Corp. plants in Nashua and Merrimack, New Hampshire. Besides his father in Worth, Illinois, he leaves his wife, Carol (Bohi) Gilbert; a son, Gregory D. Gilbert; two daughters, Rebecca A. Gilbert and Katherine M. Gilbert - all of Leominster; three sisters, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Roxanne Gilbert and Cassandra Gilbert, all in Illinois; and his good friend, Maurice "Moe" Gillis. Calling hours are Wednesday, Jan. 13, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Brandon Funeral Home, 305 Wanoosnoc Road, Fitchburg. A memroial Mass will be held Thursday, Jan. 14, in Saint Leo's Church, 128 Main St., Leominster. Burial will be private.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Two junior members of MACA tied for first place in the 3rd Cumberland Chess Fest, held Saturday, January 9, at the Cumberland Public Library in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Siddharth Arun, 11, of Medfield, Mass. and Benjamin Piche, 13, of Woodstock, Connecticut tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one aother in the third round, to share top honors. Capturing the runner-up spot with a 3-1 score was Edward Dourant of Central Falls, Rhode Island.  The event drew 11 players and was sponsored by the Office of Children Youth and Learning and the Cumberland Public Library. Frank DelBonis of Riverside, Rhode Island, assisted by MACA life member Robert Salvas of Cumberland, directed for the organizing Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The BCF $10 Open, held Saturday, January 9, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, ended in a three-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with 3.5-0.5 scores were GM Alexander Ivanov of Newton and IM David Vigorito of Somerville, who drew each other in the final round, and 12-year-old expert Grant Xu of Shrewsbury. Tying for the runner-up spot with 3-1 tallies were national master Carey Theil of Arlington, who lost to Ivanov in the third round, and expert Bennet Pellows of Sharon, who lost to Vigorito in the same round. The Game/60 event drew 29 players, two of whom were first-time contestants. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Frank Sisto of Newbury scored 6.5-0.5 to win the Waltham First Friday #93 tournament, held January 8 at the Waltham Chess Club in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. Capturing second place with a 5.5-1.5 tally was MACA life member Todd Chase of Weston, who drew Sisto in the first round. Finishing with a 5-2 result was fellow MACA life member Nicholas Sterling of Needham, whose losses were to Chase and Sisto in rounds 5 and 7 respectively. Ending up fourth with a 4.5-2.5 score was MACA member Edward Astrachan of Waban, who defeated Chase in the penultimate round. Eight players competed in the quick-rated Game/10 round-robin event. Nicholas Sterling directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov had no difficulty in winning the single section of the Early Bird Rapid Quads, held Wednesday evening, January 6, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The 53-year-old Newton resident tallied 3-0 to finish first and gained one USCF rating point in the process - moving him closer to 2600. This was his first Early Bird Rapid Quad appearance at the club since March 18, 2009.  Capturing second place with a 2-1 score was Class A contestant Max Chia-Hsin Lu of Lexington, who celebrates his 14th birthday on January 19.  Finishing third with a 1-2 performance was Class B participant Andrew Hoy, while Class D entrant Anthony Di Nosse of Boston went scoreless to end up last. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton was the director.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

 Chess coach David West reports that 35 players from Carlisle, Mass. and several surrounding communities participated in the unrated Carlisle First Knight Tournament, held December 31, 2009, 4:30 to 7 p.m., at St. Irene Church, 181 East St., Carlisle. Trophy winners were as follows:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

National master Lawyer Times swept to victory in the rated section of the Herb Healy Open House tournament, held New Year's Day at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The Hyde Park resident, who tied for first place in the event in 2005 and 2006, posted a perfect 4-0 score to finish clear first. Capturing second place with a 3.5-0.5 tally was senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, who won the event in 2009. Tying for 3rd-7th place with 3-1 results were NM Chris Williams of Brighton (who lost to Times in the final round), NM Carey Theil of Arlington, NM Greg Kaden of Wellesley (who lost to Times in the third round), expert Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland, RI (who lost to Times in the second round), and fellow expert Matthew Meredith of West Hartford, Connecticut. The rated section drew 28 players. Winning a 16-player unrated section with a perfect 4-0 score was FIDE master Charles Riordan of Somerville. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were fellow FM William Kelleher and USCF life master Alex Cherniack, both of Watertown. The event was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, assisted by Walter Driscoll of Cambridge. 

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The event drew 22 players, including one additional contestant playing extra-rated games, and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton. 

 The following are the top scorers in each of the four quad sections and Swiss section of the BCF Quads 10-1, held Saturday, January 2, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Players are listed with their post-USCF ratings.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

The following are winners of top sections in tournaments that ended in December 2009 at various Massachusetts chess clubs:

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator

Jeffrey Hall, a Class A player from Rhode Island, tallied 4-1 to win the December Demolition tournament, held Wednesday nights, December 2-30, at the Sven Brask Chess Club in Plainville, Mass. Fellow Class A participant Eric Berkey of Cumberland, RI finished second with a score of 3.5-1.5. The event drew 17 players and was directed by James Aspinall of Attleboro, Mass.

George Mirijanian
MACA Publications Coordinator