Much has happened in the world of Massachusetts chess since the last issue of this magazine was released, perhaps most notably the historic achievements of two of our top junior players. In November of last year, Southbridge’s Samuel Sevian became the youngest Grandmaster in U.S. history, completing the feat a month before his 14th birthday. Then, this February, Carissa Yip of Andover broke another national record when she broke 2200 at the age of 11 years and five months, the youngest American girl ever to do so. For more on these remarkable achievements, be sure to check out my interview with GM Sevian on p. 15 and NM Yip’s report on her recent lecture and simul at the new Andover Chess Club on p. 45. 

An exciting year for MACA thus far began with the Gus Gosselin Grade Championship on January 3rd. Congratulations to winners NM Siddharth Arun (Gr. 8 - 12), Eric Feng (Gr. 7), Michael Mi (Gr. 6), Luke Randolph, Gavin Randolph, and Daniel Wang (Gr. 5 – tied), Danila Poliannikov (Gr. 4), Jerry Li (Gr. 3), Derek Zhao (Gr. 2), and Victor Feng (K-1). The tournament was held at the Buckingham Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge.

At the Winter Team Challenge on January 25th, top prizes went to Medfield-Franklin (NM Siddharth Arun, Daniel Blessing, Arvind Sridhar, Niall Matthews) in K-12, the Four Knights (Boshen Li, Alan Song, Jerry Li, Benjamin Zilber) and LDGB (Luke Randolph, Daniel Wang, Gavin Randolph, Benjamin Fauman) in K-6, and The Chess Mates (Eli Traub, Fitzgerald Hung, Sai Nallajennugari, Samuel Li) in K-3. The tournament was held in Boxborough. 

Also in Boxborough, as it has been in recent years, was the April 12th Hurvitz Cup. Three teams tied for first the Gr. 9 – 12 section – BU Academy A (Bary Lisak, Matthew Lee, Kevin Hu, Eric Hu), Noble & Greenough A (Loring Lauretti, Max Sheerin, Iain Sheerin, William Wang), and Medfield High School (NM Siddharth Arun, Daniel Blessing, Niall Matthews, Joseph Aversa). There would be clear winners in the other sections, with the RJ Grey Colonials (Nithin Kavi, Brandon Wu, Allen Wang, Kevin Chen) taking the 6-8 section, Hastings (David Zhou, Daniel Zhou, Raymond Xu, Alan Lu) triumphant in K-5, and Butler-Belmont (Lewis Tu, Lawrence Tu, Lav Hotomski, Xiaogang Xu) conquering the K-3.

The Massachusetts Game/60 Championship was held on March 29th in Marlborough. GM Alexander Ivanov took clear first with a perfect 4/4, with IM Denys Shmelov taking 2nd with 3.5/4.

At the 84th Massachusetts Open, also in Marlborough, held from May 23rd – 25th, GM Alexander Ivanov would again find himself alone at the top. His 5 points out of 6 would be enough for his 21st state crown. Stay tuned in the coming issue for extensive coverage of the tournament, including annotated games from every section of the main event, as well as plenty of photos and event reports.

The Mass Open weekend also featured the announcement of results for the 2015 MACA Board elections. Congratulations to newly elected members Paul Arond and Jeff Caruso. This was the first election to feature an online voting option for members, and the vast majority of the 87 registrants would take advantage of it.

Lastly, we must regretfully announce the March 10th passing of longtime MACA member and former MACA board member Marc Turgeon, 72, of Plymouth. A member of both the Boylston and Quincy Chess Clubs, Turgeon was also an avid instructor, having taught at Hill Crest Academy in Plainville, Storybrook Cove in Hanover, and the Plymouth Senior Center. Beyond chess, he worked for 15 years for the Environmental Protection Agency, and later practiced law. He is survived by his wife, his sister, and two children.