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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

[ Photo courtesy of New In Chess ]

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

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

View Tournament Photos Here. [Photo by Mike Atkins]

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

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

In all, Massachusetts was represented in 9 sections.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eric Fauman

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

Lexington youth crowned national chess champion - Lexington, MA - Lexington Minuteman

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

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

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

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

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

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

The 2009 Gus Gosselin Grade Championship was held today (Sunday, March 29) at Weston Middle School in Weston, MA. The tournament drew a total of 136 entrants. This is the highest attendance for the tournament since 2004, when the tournament (held in Waltham) drew a total of 166 players. The chief tournament director was Ken Ballou, who was assisted by Bob Messenger, George Mirijanian, Maryanne Reilly, Nicholas Sterling, and Steve Frymer.

Winners:

Grades 9-12: (3 entrants)

1st: Genesis Lung, Lexington, MA (3.5-0.5)
2nd: Anirudh Arun, Medfield, MA (2-2)
3rd: Vishant Prabhakaran, Hopkinton, MA (1-3)

Grade 8: (9 entrants)

1st: Ian Delaney, Weston, MA (3.5-0.5)
2nd: Yuanfan Yao, Brighton, MA (3-1)
3rd: Sridhar Rangan, Wellesley, MA (2-2)
Medals awarded to:
  Chirantan Neogy, Acton, MA (2-2)
 Andrew Robinson, Jamaica Plain, MA (2-2)

Grade 7: (12 entrants)

1st: David ter-Ovanesyan, Newton, MA (4-0)
2nd: Tian Rossi, West Newton, MA (3-1)
3rd: Michael Li Wang, Lexington, MA (2.5-1.5)
Medal awarded to:
 Timothy Lung, Lexington, MA (2.5-1.5)

Grade 6: (9 entrants)

1st: Edward Andy Li, Acton, MA (3-1)
2nd: Alexander Sorets, Newton, MA (3-1)
3rd: Changming Xu, Carlisle, MA (3-1)

Grade 5: (15 entrants)

1st: Charlie Fauman, Newton, MA (4-0)
2nd: Nicholas Plotkin, Sharon, MA (3-1)
3rd: David Todd, Boxford, MA (3-1)
Medals awarded to:
 Calvin Lin, Amherst, MA (3-1)
 Siddharth Arun, Medfield, MA (3-1)

Grade 4: (24 entrants)

1st: Arnav Ghosh, Winchester, MA (4-0)
2nd: Sabrina Zhang, Lexington, MA (4-0)
3rd: Jared Groff, Weston, MA (3-1)
Medals awarded to:
 Mateos Sahakian, Medford, MA (3-1)
 Rholee Xu, Carlisle, MA (3-1)
 Finn McCleary, West Newton, MA (3-1)
 Matthew Zhang, Lexington, MA (3-1)

Grade 3: (21 entrants)

1st: Shuvom Sadhuka, Acton, MA (4-0)
2nd: Henry Friedlander, Brookline, MA (3.5-0.5)
3rd: Michael Isakov, Sudbury, MA (3.5-0.5)
Medals awarded to:
 Lucas Aguirre, Lexington, MA (3-1)
 Jack Vasu, Newton, MA (3-1)

Grade 2: (27 entrants)

1st: Alex Fauman, Newton, MA (4-0)
2nd: Daniel Plotkin, Sharon, MA (3-1)
3rd: Alan Sikarov, Newton, MA (3-1)
Medals awarded to:
 Anton Barash, Brighton, MA (3-1)
 David McCabe, Newton, MA (3-1)
 Steve Li, Carlisle, MA (3-1)
 Sandeep Shankar, Sudbury, MA (3-1)
 Christopher Wang, Lexington, MA (3-1)
 Jacob Brockman, Newton, MA (3-1)

Grade 1: (13 entrants)

1st: Henry Li, Acton, MA (4-0)
2nd: Benjamin Wiegand, Cambridge, MA (3-1)
3rd: Justin Wu, Littleton, MA (3-1)
Medals awarded to:
 Justin Lin, Lexington, MA (3-1)
 Andrew Gao, Carlisle, MA (3-1)

Grade K: (3 entrants)

1st: Samuel Qiu, Acton, MA (4-0)
2nd: Ben Fauman, Newton, MA (1.5-2.5)
3rd: Shivan Giroti, Wellesley, MA (0.5-3.5)

Ken Ballou
Chief TD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ken Ballou
Chief TD

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

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

March 8, 2009: Stephen Dann presents scholarly paper at International Symposium on Bobby Fischer

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

The 2009 Hurvitz Cup State Scholastic Team Championship was held Sunday, March 1, at the Sage School in Foxborough. The event drew 50 teams and 200 players. A separate high school tournament drew five teams and 19 players. The tournament was directed by Ken Ballou, assisted by Bob Messenger, Maryanne Reilly, Beebe Wiegand, Steve Frymer, and Nicholas Sterling.

Winners:

Grades 6-9 (16 teams):

1st: Jonas Clarke Middle School, 4-0 (Zaroug Jaleel, James Lung, Darwin Ding, Timothy Lung)

2nd: Diamond School Team A, 3-1 (Vikas Shiva, Michael Li Wang, Henry Li, Gregory Smail)

3rd: Day Middle School, 2.5-1.5 (Jacob Fauman, Winber Xu, Tian Rossi, Richard Han, Daniel Ruttenberg)

Grades K-6 (18 teams):

1st: Sage School Team A, 4-0 (Clara Wang, Bary Lisak, Matthew Lee, Nicholas Plotkin)

2nd: Bridge School Team Red, 3-1 (Jeffrey Yao, Nicholas Zhang, Sabrina Zhang, Arul Ray Prasad, Hagop Kouchakdjian)

3rd: Conant School, 3-1 (Akash Purohit, Edward Andy Li, Jenny Qiu, Andi Li)

Grades K-3 (16 teams):

1st: Cabot School Team A, 4-0 (Alex Fauman, Evan Mayer, Jack Vasu, Devin Coughlin)

2nd: Carlisle, 3-1 (Steve Li, Anthony Gao, Matthew Li, Andrew Gao)

3rd: Bridge School Team Blue, 3-1 (Lucas Aguirre, Christopher Wang, Justin Lin, Conway Xu)

Ken Ballou
Chief TD

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

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

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

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

K-12 section (12 teams):

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

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

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

Medals awarded to individual players:

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

K-6 section (4 teams):

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

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

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

Medals awarded to individual players:

Rholee Xu (3-1) (Carlisle)

K-3 section (6 teams):

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

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

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

Medals awarded to individual players:

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

Ken Ballou
Assistant TD

The final Spiegel Cup Qualifier tournament for 2008-2009 was held Sunday, January 18, 2009, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Waltham, MA. The chief tournament director was Alex Relyea, assisted by Bob Messenger, Ken Ballou, and Steve Frymer. The tournament drew 98 players in seven sections (including four players in a non-USCF rated section).

Winners:

High School: (4 entrants)

1st: Benjamin H. Smith, Melrose, MA (3-1)
2nd: Anirudh Arun, Medfield, MA (2.5-1.5)
3rd: Michael Kim, Concord, MA (2-2)

Age 14 and under: (14 entrants)

1st: Richard Han, Newton, MA (3.5-0.5)
2nd: Michael Li Wang, Lexington, MA (3-1)
3rd: Timothy Lung, Lexington, MA (3-1)
Medal awarded to:
Mustafa Buxamusa, Westford, MA (3-1)

Age 11 and under: (21 entrants)

1st: Varun Palnati, Westford, MA (4-0)
2nd: Mateos Sahakian, Medford, MA (3-1)
3rd: Siddharth Arun, Medfield, MA (3-1)
Medals awarded to:
Arnav Ghosh, Winchester, MA (3-1)
Jared Groff, Weston, MA (3-1)
Nicholas Plotkin, Sharon, MA (3-1)

Age 8 and under: (8 entrants)

1st: Michael Isakov, Sudbury, MA (3-1)
2nd: Milan Rosen, Newton, MA (3-1)
3rd: Justin Wu, Littleton, MA (3-1)

Novice under 800: (12 entrants)

1st: Shuvom Sadhuka, Acton, MA (3-1)
2nd: Devin Rosen, Newton, MA (3-1)
3rd: Abhiroop Deb, Acton, MA (3-1)
Medal awarded to:
Matthew Zhang, Lexington, MA (3-1)

Novice under 400: (35 entrants)

1st: Corey Hales, Milton, MA (4-0)
2nd: James Jaffer, Jamaica Plain, MA (4-0)
3rd: Loring Lauretti, Cohasset, MA (3-1)
Medals awarded to:
Daniel Plotkin, Sharon, MA (3-1)
Rholee Xu, Carlisle, MA (3-1)
Sonia Deodas, Norfolk, MA (3-1)
Yusuf Buxamusa, Westford, MA (3-1)
Justin Lin, Lexington, MA (3-1)
James Cassidy, Westwood, MA (3-1)

Non-rated section: (4 entrants)

1st: Nickolas Zhang, Lynnfield, MA (4-0)
2nd: Nithin Kavi, Acton, MA (2-2)
3rd: Michael Soewito, Chestnut Hill, MA (2-2)
Medal awarded to:
Smita Rajan, Newton, MA

Ken Ballou
Assistant TD

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator

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

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

Other trophy winners from Massachusetts included:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eric Fauman

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

George Mirijanian
Publications Coordinator