The Wachusett Chess Club meets every Wednesday from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM Classroom C192 McKay Campus School Fitchburg State University, 67 Rindge Road, Fitchburg MA 01420
Membership Dues Only $20 per Year (Individual or Family), Fitchburg State University students FREE!
All ages & skill levels welcome: USCF rated games, casual games from 6:00 to 7:00 & all night in the skittles room.
♔ "It is no secret that any talented player must in his soul be an artist, and what could be dearer to his heart and soul than the victory of the subtle forces of reason over crude material strength! Probably everyone has his own reason for liking the King`s Gambit, but my love for it can be seen in precisely those terms." -David Bronstein ♔
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Jackson Parker, Gail Lingner, Randy McLaughlin, Ed Rogers, Jack Appelmans and Roland Sorel.
♘ Declining a half-point bye was Hugh McLaughlin.
♟ Withdrawn from the tournament were Tony Cesolini, Vlad Gaciu, Alan Condon, Bob Mathieu,
♟ Sebastian Tilton, Jeromy Tilton and Ananth Rangan, the last of whom had already withdrawn after round 2.
Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, September 28th, 2016
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points
Players
3.0
Kildahl, Godin
2.5
Cappallo, Mirijanian, Ubiera, Couture
2.0
Paulson, Gurge, Gladding, Barlas, Thomas, Harris, Hankard, Ganesan, Parker, Venezia
1.5
LePoer, Brassard, Commisso, Arsenault, Bennett, Donahue, Lingner, O'Rourke, Su, R. McLaughlin
Projected Round 4 Pairings for October 5th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Mirijanian vs. Godin
Board 2: Couture vs. Ubiera
Board 3: Paulson vs. Hankard
Board 4: Gurge vs. Ganesan
Board 5: Harris vs. Gladding
Board 6: Parker vs. Barlas
Board 7: Thomas vs. Venezia
Board 8: Donahue vs. LePoer
Board 9: O'Rourke vs. Brassard
Board 10: Lingner vs. Commisso
Board 11: Su vs. Arsenault
Board 12: R. McLaughlin vs. Bennett
Board 13: Talcott vs. Fratturelli
Board 14: Rogers vs. Appelmans
Board 15: Miller vs. Sorel
Board 16: Whistler vs. Burke
Board 17: Anderson vs. Biglow
Board 18: Bastarache vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 19: Steadman vs. Briggs
Board 20: Gawboy vs. Kiser
♗ Requesting half-point byes for Round 4 are Kildahl, Cappallo and Scanlon.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on October 5th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508-904-3476 by 7 P.M.
September 27th, 2016
2016 Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, Revised Projected Pairings for Round 3
Projected Round 3 Pairings for September 28th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1 Brett Kidahl (2.0) Kenneth Gurge (2.0)
Board 2 Paul Godin (2.0) Edward Harris (2.0)
Board 3 Roger Cappallo (1.5) Alexander Venezia (2.0)
Board 4 Geoff LePoer (1.5) Dave Couture (1.5)
Board 5 Jackson Parker (1.5) George Mirijanian (1.5)
Board 6 Michael Commisso (1.5) Diego Ubiera (1.5)
Board 7 Arthur Barlas (1.5) James Hankard (1.5)
Board 8 Joseph Bennett (1.5) Raymond Paulson (1.0)
Board 9 Tony Cesolini (1.0) Tom Whistler (1.0)
Board 10 Gary Brassard (1.0) Stanford Talcott (1.0)
Board 11 Robert Mathieu (1.0) Lawrence Gladding (1.0)
Board 12 Randy McLaughlin (1.0) David Thomas (1.0)
Board 13 Seetharaman Ganesan (1.0) Gail Lingner (1.0)
Board 14 Alan Condon (1.0) Nicholas Anderson (1.0)
Board 15 Sebastian Tilton (1.0) Tom Fratturelli (1.0)
Board 16 Jeromy Tilton (1.0) Jim Donahue (1.0)
Board 17 Lenny Arsenault (0.5) Jack Applemans (0.5)
Board 18 Ed Rogers (0.5) Donald Briggs (0.5)
Board 19 John Bastarache (0.5) Roland Sorel (0.5)
Board 20 Andrew Su (0.5) Hugh McLaughlin (0.5)
Board 21 Laurence O'Rourke (0.5) Francis Scanlon II (0.5)
Board 22 Andrew Kiser (0.5) George Miller (0.0)
Board 23 William Burke (0.0) Wayne Steadman (0.0)
Board 24 Brian Biglow (0.0) Emily Gawboy (0.0)
The first round of the Tal Memorial was overshadowed by the announcement of the passing of legendary trainer Mark Dvoretsky and started with a minute of silence. -Mark Crowther (Mon Sep 26 21:28:00 2016)
Mark Dvoretsky
"Mark Dvoretsky, the world's best-known chess trainer, has died today at the tragically early age of 68. His death was reported by the Russian Chess Federation, with a minute's silence held at the start of the Tal Memorial. Mark was a talented player who switched to coaching at an early age and became a mentor for generations of top players. He shared his knowledge with the chess world at large in highly-regarded books, and was always open to new ideas, as we saw at first hand when he came to Hamburg earlier this year to film chess videos. It seemed at the time that was just the beginning." -Chess24.com
Chris Chase and Joe Bennett competed this past weekend in the 7th Hartford Open at Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, CT. Chase lost 5 rating points in the Open section, scoring 2 points out of 4 games played and brought his rating to 2397. Bennett gained 118 rating points in the U2010 section and raised his rating to 1755. He scored 3.5-1.5 and tied for 3rd place in the section and also shared the 1st-2nd U1810 prize.
Brandon Wu competed in the Open Section of the tournament which was won by Massachusetts GM Alexander Ivanov.
Here are their updated ratings:
Chris Chase -> 2397
Joe Bennett -> 1755
September 22nd, 2016
Bob Messenger awarded International Arbiter title
Bob Messenger of Nashua, NH, an associate national TD with the USCF and chief TD of the 2011 Wachusett Chess Club Championship ("A" and "B" divisions), has been awarded the International Arbiter title by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The award was approved by the FIDE General Assembly at its Congress, Sept. 11-13, 2016 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Messenger is the longtime treasurer of the Massachusetts Chess Association and longtime chairman of the MACA Tournament Committee. He is currently chairman of the MACA Budget Committee and Bylaws Committee. He is also the association's assistant clerk. Since Jan. 1, 1991, Messenger has been chief TD of 435 tournaments in the USA and has been in charge since then of 2,673 playing sections. The Wachusett Chess Club congratulates Mr. Messenger on this prestigious award from FIDE.
George M
September 21st, 2016
2016 Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial
Round 2 of 5
Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, September 21st, 2016
Round 2 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Larry Gladding
0-1
Brett Kildahl
Ray Paulson
0-1
♔Ed Harris
Dave Thomas
0-1
Paul Godin
Jim Hankard
1/2-1/2
Geoff LePoer
George Mirijanian
1/2-1/2
Mike Commisso
♔Alexander Venezia
1-0
Gary Brassard
Ken Gurge
1-0
Ananth Rangan
Diego Ubiera
1-0
Ed Rogers
Roland Sorel
0-1
Dave Couture
Don Briggs
0-1
Jackson Parker
Francis Scanlon
0-1
Joe Bennett
Tom Fratturelli
1-0
Andrew Kiser
Hugh McLaughlin
1/2-1/2
Lenny Arsenault
Jim Donahue
1-0
Wayne Steadman
Larry O'Rourke
1/2-1/2
John Bastarache
George Miller
0-1
Randy McLaughlin
♔Nicholas Anderson
1-0
Bill Burke
Gail Lingner
1-0
Emily Gawboy
♔Tom Whistler
1-0
Brian Biglow
Total of 19 boards, 4 decisive upsets (♔).
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Roger Cappallo, Arthur Barlas, Tony Cesolini, Vlad Gaciu, Seeth Ganesan,
Alan Condon, Bob Mathieu, Stan Talcott, Sebastian Tilton, Jeromy Tilton, Jack Appelmans and Andrew Su.
♖ Ananth Rangan has withdrawn from the tournament.
♜ Also withdrawn from the tournament were Mike Meehan, Noah Rogers and Finn Rogers.
Cesolini, Paulson, Brassard, Gaciu, Gladding, Thomas, Ganesan, Condon, Rangan, Fratturelli, Donahue, Lingner, Mathieu,
Talcott, R. McLaughlin, Anderson, S. Tilton, J. Tilton, Whistler
0.5
Arsenault, E. Rogers, Bastarache, H. McLaughlin, Appelmans, O'Rourke, Briggs, Sorel, Su, Scanlon, Kiser
0.0
Miller, Burke, Biglow, Steadman, Gawboy
Projected Round 3 Pairings for September 28th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Kildahl vs. Gurge
Board 2: Godin vs. Harris
Board 3: Cappallo vs. Venezia
Board 4: LePoer vs. Couture
Board 5: Parker vs. Mirijanian
Board 6: Commisso vs. Ubiera
Board 7: Barlas vs. Hankard
Board 8: Bennett vs. Paulson
Board 9: Cesolini vs. Donahue
Board 10: Brassard vs. Whistler
Board 11: Gaciu vs. Lingner
Board 12: Talcott vs. Gladding
Board 13: R. McLaughlin vs. Thomas
Board 14: Ganesan vs. Anderson
Board 15: S. Tilton vs. Condon
Board 16: Rangan vs. J. Tilton
Board 17: Mathieu vs. Fratturelli
Board 18: Arsenault vs. Appelmans
Board 19: Rogers vs. Briggs
Board 20: Bastarache vs. Sorel
Board 21: Su vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 22: O'Rourke vs. Scanlon
Board 23: Kiser vs. Miller
Board 24: Burke vs. Steadman
Board 25: Biglow vs. Gawboy
♘ The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes Diego Ubiera.
He is assistant professor of Latin American literature at Fitchburg State University.
He is a 2nd Category player currently at his all-time high rating of 1816. Bienvenido, Diego!
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on September 28th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508-904-3476 by 7 P.M.
New Chess Club in Milford NH Called Union Chess Club
Me and Nathan Kelley are starting a casual chess club in Milford NH at the Union Coffee. It will meet Tuesday at 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM. Last Tuesday was the first night for the club. If you can come that would be great but I would really like help with spreading the word to the chess community.
For more info people can call Nathan Kelley at 603-374-4444 or me at 603-303-0222 or
E-mails are Nathan_Kelley@comcast.com and statelinechess@hotmail.com.
Thanks,
Randi Malcuit
Union Coffee
42 South Street
Milford, N. H. 03055
603-440-5604
Four active & inactive WCC members took part in the Massachusetts Senior Open in Marlboro, held this past weekend. The trio of active WCC Class A rated members tied for 6-9th place in the Open Section in a field topped by GM Alexander Ivanov & NM's David Carter & Tim Sage. John Martin, an inactive member & occasional visitor to the WCC finished in sixth place behind a quintet of others who tied for first through fifth place in the Under 1810 Section.
♙ ♝ ♘ ♜ ♘ ♟ Monday September 19, 2016 Member Rating Updates from the Mass Senior Open ♗ ♞ ♖ ♞ ♗ ♟
These & other rating updates nay be found at: ./RatingUpdates.php or in the Statistics Menu under "Recent Activity".
September 19th, 2016
Current Seasson Club Game Scores Submitted for Publication Standings
Games Submitted This Season for Publication
Standings as of September 19th, 2016
After 11 of 42 games completed in the 2016-2017 season, a total of 200 rated games, the following are the current standings for number of games sent in for publication.
By comparison to last year, this response is still pretty anemic.
Seed #
Name
USCF Rating
Games Played This Season
Games Submitted
Games Annotated Including Videos
1.
Roger Cappallo
1947
5
2
2
2.
Tony Cesolini
2110
8
1
1
3.
Everybody Else
1589.879
200
0
0
September 14th, 2016
2016 Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial
Round 1 of 5
Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, September 14th, 2016
Round 1 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Brett Kildahl
1-0
Tom Fratturelli
Lenny Arsenault
0-1
Ray Paulson
Paul Godin
1-0
Jim Donahue
John Bastarache
0-1
Roger Cappallo
Geoff LePoer
1-0
George Miller
Bill Burke
0-1
George Mirijanian
Gary Brassard
1-0
Gail Lingner
Brian Biglow
0-1
Ken Gurge
Larry Gladding
1-0
Larry O'Rourke
Jack Appelmans
0-1
Arthur Barlas
Dave Couture
1/2-1/2
♖ Don Briggs
Wayne Steadman
0-1
Dave Thomas
Ed Harris
1-0
Andrew Su
Randy McLaughlin
0-1
Jim Hankard
Mike Commisso
1-0
Nicholas Anderson
Emily Gawboy
0-1
Alexander Venezia
Ananth Rangan
1-0
Tom Whistler
Total of 17 boards, 1 major upset (♔).
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Tony Cesolini, Vlad Gaciu, Seeth Ganesan, Jackson Parker, Alan Condon,
Joe Bennett, Mike Meehan, Ed Rogers, Noah Rogers, Bob Mathieu, Stan Talcott, Roland Sorel, Sebastian Tilton,
Francis Scanlon, Andrew Kiser, Jeromy Tilton and Finn Rogers.
Cesolini, Gaciu, Couture, Ganesan, Parker, Condon, Bennett, Meehan, E. Rogers, N. Rogers, Mathieu, Talcott, Sorel,
S. Tilton, Scanlon, Kiser, J. Tilton, F. Rogers
0.0
Fratturelli, Arsenault, Donahue, Bastarache, Miller, Burke, Lingner, Biglow, H. McLaughlin, O'Rourke, Appelmans,
Steadman, Su, R. McLaughlin, Anderson, Gawboy, Whistler
Projected Round 2 Pairings for September 21st:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Gurge vs. Kildahl
Board 2: Paulson vs. Gladding
Board 3: Thomas vs. Godin
Board 4: Cappallo vs. Harris
Board 5: Hankard vs. LePoer
Board 6: Mirijanian vs. Commisso
Board 7: Venezia vs. Brassard
Board 8: Cesolini vs. Rangan
Board 9: N. Rogers vs. Gaciu
Board 10: Talcott vs. Couture
Board 11: Briggs vs. Parker
Board 12: Condon vs. Sorel
Board 13: S. Tilton vs. Bennett
Board 14: Meehan vs. Scanlon
Board 15: Kiser vs. E. Rogers
Board 16: Mathieu vs. J. Tilton
Board 17: Fratturelli vs. F. Rogers
Board 18: O'Rourke vs. Arsenault
Board 19: Donahue vs. Appelmans
Board 20: Su vs. Bastarache
Board 21: Miller vs. Steadman
Board 22: Anderson vs. Burke
Board 23: Lingner vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 24: Whistler vs. Biglow
Board 25: H. McLaughlin vs. Gawboy
♗ Requesting a half-point bye for Round 2 is Barlas.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on September 21st.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508-904-3476 by 7 P.M.
2017 Club Championship Qualification Standings as of September 13th, 2016
After 10 of 42 games completed in the 2016-2017 season, the following are the current standings for qualification for the
2017 WCC 'A' Club Championship Tournament. The Top Eight Highest GPP Finishers Qualify.
The tiebreaker, if necessary, is the higher USCF rating after the final regular season tournament is rated!
A minimum of 21 games must be completed to qualify.
For comparison to last year, the percentage is calculated in the last column.
♖ Not playing round 5 were Chris Chase, Tony Cesolini, Ray Paulson, Ed Harris, Gary Brassard, Arthur Barlas, George Mirijanian,
Vlad Gaciu, Lenny Arsenault, Ralph McNeilage, Jackson Parker, Mike Meehan, Noah Rogers, Jack Appelmans, Stan Talcott,
Sebastian Tilton, Vince Bradley, Joe Bennett, Don Briggs, Hugh McLaughlin, Richard Bennett, Andrew Su,
Randy McLaughlin and Jeromy Tilton.
Harold B. Dondis Memorial, September 7th, 2016
FINAL STANDINGS
Points
Players
4.5
Kildahl
4.0
-----
3.5
Chase, Cesolini, Paulson, Gladding, Commisso
3.0
Godin, Harris, Brassard, Couture, Thomas, Barlas, Hankard, Venezia
2.5
Mirijanian, Gaciu, Arsenault, Fratturelli, E. Rogers, Donahue, Burke, Lingner
2.0
Gurge, McNeilage, Condon, Parker, Meehan, N. Rogers, Biglow, Appelmans, Talcott, S. Tilton
1.5
Bradley, J. Bennett, Bastarache, Sorel, O'Rourke, Steadman, Anderson, Scanlon, Gawboy
1.0
Briggs, H. McLaughlin, R. Bennett, Su, R. McLaughlin, Kiser, J. Tilton
0.5
F. Rogers, Whistler
♔ 2016 Harold B. Dondis Memorial PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:
Brett Kildahl of Worcester
2nd-6th:
Chris Chase of Somerville, Tony Cesolini of Rindge, NH, Ray Paulson of Lowell, Larry Gladding of Leominster, Mike Commisso of Brookline, NH
Top U1850:
Larry Gladding, Mike Commisso
Top U1650:
Ed Rogers of New Ipswich, NH, Jim Donahue of Stow, Bill Burke of Leominster, Gail Lingner of Fitchburg
Top U1450:
Jack Appelmans of Acton, Stan Talcott of Keene, NH
Top U1250:
Sebastian Tilton of New Ipswich, NH
The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Emily Gawboy
+ 118
Stan Talcott
+ 84
Sebastian Tilton
+ 75
Nicholas Anderson
+ 60
A total of 4 players gained 50 or more rating points:
The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Alexander Venezia
1692
Nicholas Anderson
1227
Sebastian Tilton
1142
Jeromy Tilton
1006
Emily Gawboy
972
A total of 5 players reached new all time highs:
♔ Congratulations to all!!! ♕
REMINDER: The next tournament at the club is the Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial,
honoring Wachusett CC co-founder Rocco R. Pasquale (1922-2014) of Jaffrey, NH.
The event starts Wednesday, September 14th. Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. sharp in order to be paired for round 1.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508-904-3476 by 7:00 p.m.
Godin Takes Top Tally in U2000 at New England Open
Even though only three Wachusett CC members competed in this year's New England Open, presented by RelyeaChess.com it could still be considered a successful effort, at least for Class A rated Paul Godin, who turned in an undefeated performance & tied with two others for first place in the Under 2000 Section of the tournament.
Top honors in the Open Section went to IM Denys Shmelov, while second place was claimed by many time NE Open Champ, GM Alexander Ivanov. IM David Vigorito, NM Farzad Abdi & NM Sherif Khater shared 3rd through 5th place.
In the Under 2000 Section, WCC member Paul Godin shared first through third place with Alan Sikarov and Derek Zhao, each scoring 5-1.
The (partial) online wall chart for all sections is available here.
♔ ♔ 76th New England Open PRIZE WINNERS ♔ ♔
1st:
♚ IM Denys Shmelov (5.5-0.5)
2nd:
♖ GM Alexander Ivanov (5-1)
3rd-5th:
♜ IM David Vigorito, NM Farzad Abdi & NM Sherif Khater (4-2)
Stephen Dann, an active Massachusetts chess journalist, correspondent & organizer for nearly half a century, stopped by the club tonight to make some announcements & provide some background information about the late Harold Dondis. Due to his close association with both Harold & the Massachusetts Chess Association (MACA) from its incipience, Stephen was able to illuminate in a bit more detail, the origin & progress of MACA including a description of the earliest version of "Chess Horizons" as an 8-page publication. Stephen highlighted the consistent dedication & labor of love involved in maintaining chess columns both in the Boston Globe & the Worcester Telegram, while managing MACA & its own award winning publication.
Harold B. Dondis Memorial, August 31st, 2016
Round 4 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Chris Chase
1-0
Paul Godin
Ken Gurge
0-1
Ray Paulson
Alan Condon
0-1
Ed Harris
Jackson Parker
0-1
Gary Brassard
Dave Couture
0-1
Alexander Venezia
Tom Fratturelli
0-1
George Mirijanian
Dave Thomas
1-0
Ed Rogers
Jim Hankard
1-0
Jim Donahue
Noah Rogers
1/2-1/2
Mike Meehan
Mike Commisso
1-0
Larry O'Rourke
Lenny Arsenault
1-0
Francis Scanlon
Bill Burke
1/2-1/2
Wayne Steadman
Andrew Su
0-1
Brian Biglow
Don Briggs
0-1
Stan Talcott
Randy McLaughlin
0-1
Jack Appelmans
Emily Gawboy
0-1
Roland Sorel
Gail Lingner
1-0
Tom Whistler
Nicholas Anderson
0-1
John Bastarache
Jeromy Tilton
1-0
Andrew Kiser
Total of 19 boards, no major upsets.
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Brett Kildahl, Tony Cesolini, Arthur Barlas, Vlad Gaciu, Larry Gladding,
Sebastian Tilton and Finn Rogers.
♖ Not playing round 4 were Joe Bennett, Vince Bradley and Hugh McLaughlin,
the last two of whom had already withdrawn from the tournament.
♜ New withdrawals from the event were Ralph McNeilage, Richard Bennett, Bob Mathieu.
Gurge, Couture, (McNeilage), Condon, Parker, Meehan, N. Rogers, Biglow, Appelmans, Talcott, S. Tilton
1.5
J. Bennett, Fratturelli, E. Rogers, Donahue, Burke, Lingner, Sorel, O'Rourke, Steadman, Scanlon
1.0
(Bradley), Bastarache, Briggs, (H. McLaughlin), Su, (R. Bennett), R. McLaughlin, J. Tilton, Gawboy
0.5
Anderson, F. Rogers, Whistler
0.0
Kiser
Projected Round 5 Pairings for September 7th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cesolini vs. Kildahl
Board 2: Godin vs. Brassard
Board 3: Harris vs. Barlas
Board 4: Mirijanian vs. Venezia
Board 5: Gaciu vs. Hankard
Board 6: Gladding vs. Commisso
Board 7: Thomas vs. Arsenault
Board 8: Gurge vs. N. Rogers
Board 9: Appelmans vs. Couture
Board 10: Biglow vs. Condon
Board 11: Talcott vs. Parker
Board 12: Meehan vs. S. Tilton
Board 13: Lingner vs. J. Bennett
Board 14: Sorel vs. Fratturelli
Board 15: E. Rogers vs. O'Rourke
Board 16: Steadman vs. Donahue
Board 17: Scanlon vs. Burke
Board 18: Bastarache vs. Su
Board 19: Gawboy vs. Briggs
Board 20: F. Rogers vs. Anderson
Board 21: Whistler vs. Kiser
♖ Not paired for Round 5 are: Chase, Paulson, R. McLaughlin and J. Tilton.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 5 on September 7th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508-904-3476 by 7 P.M.
August 28th, 2016
2016 Harold B. Dondis Memorial
Revised Projected pairings for Round 4
(Revised) Projected Round 4 Pairings for August 31st:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Tony Cesolini (3.0) Brett Kildahl (3.0)
Board 2: Christopher Chase (2.5) Paul Godin (3.0)
Board 3: Raymond Paulson (2.5) Edward Harris (2.0)
Board 4: Kenneth Gurge (2.0) Lawrence Gladding (2.0)
Board 5: Alan Condon (2.0) Gary Brassard (2.0)
Board 6: Jackson Parker (2.0) Vlad Gaciu (2.0)
Board 7: Dave Couture (2.0) Alexander Venezia (2.0)
Board 8: George Mirijanian (1.5) Tom Fratturelli (1.5)
Board 9: David Thomas (1.5) Ed Rogers (1.5)
Board 10: James Hankard (1.5) Jim Donahue (1.5)
Board 11: Noah Rogers (1.5) Michael Meehan (1.5)
Board 12: Joseph Bennett (1.5) Laurence O'Rourke (1.5)
Board 13: Sebastian Tilton (1.5) Michael Commisso (1.5)
Board 14: Lenny Arsenault (1.5) Francis Scanlon II (1.5)
Board 15: William Burke (1.0) Wayne Steadman (1.0)
Board 16: Andrew Su (1.0) Brian Biglow (1.0)
Board 17: Donald Briggs (1.0) Stanford Talcott (1.0)
Board 18: Randy McLaughlin (1.0) Jack Applemans (1.0)
Board 19: Emily Gawboy (1.0) Richard Bennett (1.0)
Board 20: Gail Lingner (0.5) Tom Whistler (0.5)
Board 21: Nicholas Anderson (0.5) Roland Sorel (0.5)
Board 22: Jeromy Tilton (0.0) John Bastarache (0.0)
Board 23: Finneas Rogers (0.0) Andrew Kiser (0.0)
The Wachusett Chess Club now has an online blog at: http://wccnotes.blogspot.com/ where you can post comments, reply to messages, post your games & analysis, etc. This will provide a more suitable immediate & open forum than this web site or email alone. Eventually, I'll be adding other features including topical links to other online discussions for commentary or instructional purposes. Due to the nature of the web, this resource has potential that is limited only by your imagination.
Enjoy!
August 24th, 2016
2016 Harold B. Dondis Memorial
Round 3 of 5, FM Chris Chase addresses the WCC
Tonight FM Chris Chase spoke to the club about his association with fellow chess journalist & good friend, Harold B. Dondis. In addition to some background about Harold & his long & pivotal relationship with the Boylston Chess Club, Chris also described how Harold had been instrumental in creating & maintaining both the US Chess Trust and the Boylston Chess Foundation.
Harold B. Dondis Memorial, August 24th, 2016
Round 3 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Brett Kildahl
1-0
Ken Gurge
Gary Brassard
0-1
Tony Cesolini
Paul Godin
1-0
Jackson Parker
Vlad Gaciu
0-1
Chris Chase
Jim Hankard
0-1
Arthur Barlas
Ed Harris
1-0
Lenny Arsenault
Brian Biglow
0-1
Dave Couture
Larry Gladding
1-0
Bill Burke
Larry O'Rourke
1/2-1/2
Dave Thomas
Richard Bennett
0-1
Ralph McNeilage
Alan Condon
1-0
Andrew Su
Alexander Venezia
1-0
Stan Talcott
Sebastian Tilton
1/2-1/2
Joe Bennett
Mike Commisso
1-0
Emily Gawboy
Tom Fratturelli
1-0
Gail Lingner
Ed Rogers
1-0
Nicholas Anderson
Tom Whistler
0-1
Noah Rogers
John Bastarache
0-1
♔Randy McLaughlin
Andrew Kiser
0-1
Don Briggs
Jeromy Tilton
0-1
Jack Appelmans
Wayne Steadman
1-0
Finn Rogers
Total of 21 boards, 1 major upset (♔).
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Ray Paulson, George Mirijanian, Mike Meehan, Jim Donahue,
Francis Scanlon and Roland Sorel.
♖ Not playing round 3 were Bob Mathieu, Vince Bradley and Hugh McLaughlin,
the last two of whom had already withdrawn from the tournament.
Harold B. Dondis Memorial, August 24th, 2016
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points
Players
3.0
Kildahl, Cesolini, Godin
2.5
Chase, Paulson, Barlas
2.0
Gurge, Harris, Brassard, Gaciu, Couture, Gladding, McNeilage, Condon, Parker, Venezia
1.5
Mirijanian, Thomas, Hankard, Meehan, J. Bennett, Commisso, Arsenault, Fratturelli, E. Rogers, Donahue, N. Rogers,
O'Rourke, S. Tilton, Scanlon
1.0
(Bradley), Burke, Biglow, Mathieu, Briggs, (H. McLaughlin), Appelmans, Su, R. Bennett, Steadman, Talcott,
R. McLaughlin, Gawboy
0.5
Lingner, Sorel, Anderson, Whistler
0.0
Bastarache, Kiser, J. Tilton, F. Rogers
Projected Round 4 Pairings for August 31st:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cesolini vs. Kildahl
Board 2: Chase vs. Godin
Board 3: Barlas vs. Paulson
Board 4: Gurge vs. Gladding
Board 5: Couture vs. Harris
Board 6: Condon vs. Brassard
Board 7: Parker vs. Gaciu
Board 8: Mirijanian vs. Venezia
Board 9: Thomas vs. Fratturelli
Board 10: Hankard vs. E. Rogers
Board 11: Meehan vs. Donahue
Board 12: J. Bennett vs. O'Rourke
Board 13: N. Rogers vs. Commisso
Board 14: Arsenault vs. S. Tilton
Board 15: Burke vs. Scanlon
Board 16: Su vs. Biglow
Board 17: Talcott vs. Mathieu
Board 18: Briggs vs. Steadman
Board 19: R. McLaughlin vs. Appelmans
Board 20: Gawboy vs. R. Bennett
Board 21: Lingner vs. Whistler
Board 22: Anderson vs. Sorel
Board 23: J. Tilton vs. Bastarache
Board 24: F. Rogers vs. Kiser
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on August 31st.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508-904-3476 by 7 P.M.
August 19th, 2016
Chess Table in Downtown Leominster
FYI, they just started installing chess tables on Monument Square in downtown Leominster.
Well, one table anyway, don't know if there are more planned. Check out the picture.
Kindest Regards,
Mike Meehan
August 17th, 2016
2016 Harold B. Dondis Memorial
Round 2 of 5
FM Chris Chase Visits WCC to Compete in Dondis Memorial
Harold B. Dondis Memorial, August 17th, 2016
Round 2 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Dave Couture
0-1
Brett Kildahl
Tony Cesolini
1-0
Larry Gladding
Dave Thomas
0-1
Ray Paulson
Ralph McNeilage
0-1
Paul Godin
Ken Gurge
1-0
Alan Condon
♔ Jackson Parker
1-0
Ed Harris
Gary Brassard
1-0
Alex Venezia
Jim Donahue
0-1
Vlad Gaciu
Chris Chase
1-0
Emily Gawboy
Arthur Barlas
1-0
Tom Fratturelli
Noah Rogers
0-1
Jim Hankard
Lenny Arsenault
1-0
Tom Whistler
George Mirijanian
1-0
Andrew Kiser
Mike Meehan
1-0
Wayne Steadman
♔ Stan Talcott
1-0
John Bastarache
Nicholas Anderson
1/2-1/2
Gail Lingner
Jack Appelmans
0-1
Brian Biglow
Don Briggs
0-1
♔ Sebastian Tilton
♔ Francis Scanlon
1-0
Roland Sorel
Hugh McLaughlin
1-0
Jeromy Tilton
Finn Rogers
0-1
Larry O'Rourke
Total of 21 boards, 4 major upsets (♔).
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Joe Bennett, Bob Mathieu, Richard Bennett, Andrew Su, Mike Commisso and Ed Rogers.
♙ Withdrawing from the tournament was Vince Bradley.
Mirijanian, Harris, Couture, Gladding, Thomas, (Bradley), McNeilage, Condon, Venezia, Meehan, J. Bennett, Donahue,
Burke, Biglow, Mathieu, H. McLaughlin, O'Rourke, R. Bennett, Su, Talcott, S. Tilton, Scanlon, Gawboy
0.5
Commisso, Fratturelli, E. Rogers, N. Rogers, Lingner, Anderson, Whistler
0.0
Bastarache, Briggs, Sorel, Appelmans, Steadman, R. McLaughlin, Kiser, J. Tilton, F. Rogers
Projected Round 3 Pairings for August 24th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Kildahl vs. Gurge
Board 2: Brassard vs. Cesolini
Board 3: Godin vs. Parker
Board 4: Gaciu vs. Chase
Board 5: Hankard vs. Barlas
Board 6: Harris vs. Arsenault
Board 7: Biglow vs. Mirijanian
Board 8: Mathieu vs. Couture
Board 9: Gladding vs. Donahue
Board 10: O'Rourke vs. Thomas
Board 11: R. Bennett vs. MvNeilage
Board 12: Condon vs. Burke
Board 13: Venezia vs. Talcott
Board 14: S. Tilton vs. Meehan
Board 15: Gawboy vs. J. Bennett
Board 16: Commisso vs. N. Rogers
Board 17: Fratturelli vs. Lingner
Board 18: E. Rogers vs. Anderson
Board 19: Whistler vs. Bastarache
Board 20: R. McLaughlin vs. Briggs
Board 21: Sorel vs. Kiser
Board 22: J. Tilton vs. Appelmans
Board 23: Steadman vs. F. Rogers
♗ Requesting half-point byes for Round 3 are Paulson and Scanlon.
♔ The Wachusett Chess Club is honored to welcome FM Chris Chase, who joined the tournament in honor of Harold B. Dondis, his long time friend & former co-editor of Boston Globe Chess column.
One of Chris' games can be found in the WCC Games Section.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on August 24th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508-904-3476 by 7 P.M.
These & other rating updates nay be found at: ./RatingUpdates.php or in the Statistics Menu under "Recent Activity".
August 12th, 2016
Top Prize Winners at 46th Continental Open
Carissa Yip Wins Big At Sturbridge!!
After opening the tournament with a disappointing loss to USCF Expert & 2010 WCC Champ, Tony Cesolini, 12-year old Carissa Yip, 2014 WCC Champ, proceeded to turn in an undefeated performance for the remainder of the tournament, giving up only a single half point to 2648 rated GM Alexander Srtipunsky, & defeating two USCF Experts & two National Masters in the process. Her score of 4.5-1.5 placed her tied with two GM's, half a point behind the tournament winner, & brought her to sole posession of the Under 2300 prize of $1400, an amount second only to first place finisher, GM Sergey Kudrin! Kudos to Carissa for an outstanding performance.
[Tony Cesolini analyzed his first round game with Carissa & it's in the 2016 Section of the Games page.]
♔ 46th Continental Open PRIZE WINNERS ♕
1st:
♔ GM Sergey Kudrin (5-1) $3200
2nd-3rd:
GM Alexander Stripunsky (4.5-1.5) $1100 GM Michael Rohde (4.5-1.5) $1100
Top U2300:
♕ Carissa Yip (4.5-1.5) $1400
4th-5th:
GM Alexander Ivanov (4-2) $266.67 FM Chris Chase (4-2) $266.67 FM Rico Salimbagat (4-2) $266.67
Congratulations to all!!!
August 12th, 2016
Wachusett CC players set to compete in Continental Open
At least a half dozen players with ties to the Wachusett Chess Club are registered to compete in the 46th annual Continental Open, August 11-14, at the Host Hotel at Cedar Lake in Sturbridge, MA. Carissa Yip of Andover, 2014 Wachusett CC champion, is playing in the Open section (4-day schedule).
Taking part in the Under 1900 section are Ed Harris of Marlboro, NH (3-day schedule), Vlad Gaciu of Holden (4-day schedule) and Joe Bennett of Fitchburg (2-day schedule).
Participating in the Under 1700 section are Ananth Rangan of Nashua, NH (2-day schedule) and Jim Donahue of Stow (3-day schedule).
It is reported that 2010 Wachusett CC champion, Tony Cesolini of Rindge, NH and Jim Hankard of Antrim, NH will also be competing, but both are not among the advance entrants at the present time.
George M
August 10th, 2016
2016 Harold B. Dondis Memorial
Round 1 of 5
Harold B. Dondis Memorial Tournament
Opens with Record Breaking Upset!
Harold B. Dondis Memorial, August 10th, 2016
Round 1 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Brett Kildahl
1-0
Mike Commisso
John Bastarache
0-1
Tony Cesolini
Ray Paulson
1-0
Ed Rogers
♔ Jim Donahue
1-0
George Mirijanian
Paul Godin
1-0
Bill Burke
Brian Biglow
0-1
Ken Gurge
Ed Harris
1-0
Don Briggs
Roland Sorel
0-1
Gary Brassard
Vlad Gaciu
1-0
Hugh McLaughlin
Larry O'Rourke
0-1
Dave Couture
Larry Gladding
1-0
Jack Appelmans
Wayne Steadman
0-1
Dave Thomas
Vince Bradley
1-0
Stan Talcott
Randy McLaughlin
0-1
Ralph McNeilage
Alan Condon
1-0
Nicholas Anderson
Andrew Kiser
0-1
Jackson Parker
Alexander Venezia
1-0
Francis Scanlon
♕ Emily Gawboy
1-0
Mike Meehan
Total of 18 boards, 2 major upsets (♔).
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Arthur Barlas, Jim Hankard, Ananth Rangan, Joe Bennett, Lenny Arsenault,
Tom Fratturelli, Noah Rogers, Bob Mathieu, Andrew Su, Richard Bennett and Tom Whistler..
♖ Not playing round 1 were Gail Lingner, Sebastian Tilton, Jeromy Tilton and Finn Rogers.
Barlas, Hankard, Rangan, J. Bennett, Arsenault, Fratturelli, N. Rogers, Mathieu, Su, R. Bennett, Whistler
0.0
Mirijanian, Meehan, Commisso, Bastarache, E. Rogers, Burke, Lingner, Biglow, Briggs, Sorel, H. McLaughlin, O'Rourke,
Appelmans, Steadman, Talcott, R. McLaughlin, Anderson, Kiser, Scanlon, S. Tilton, J. Tilton, F. Rogers
Projected Round 2 Pairings for August 17th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Thomas vs. Kildahl
Board 2: Cesolini vs. Gladding
Board 3: Bradley vs. Paulson
Board 4: McNeilage vs. Godin
Board 5: Gurge vs. Condon
Board 6: Parker vs. Harris
Board 7: Brassard vs. Venezia
Board 8: Donahue vs. Gaciu
Board 9: Couture vs. Gawboy
Board 10: Barlas vs. Fratturelli
Board 11: N. Rogers vs. Hankard
Board 12: Rangan vs. Mathieu
Board 13: Su vs. J. Bennett
Board 14: Arsenault vs. R. Bennett
Board 15: Mirijanian vs. Whistler
Board 16: Meehan vs. Steadman
Board 17: Appelmans vs. Bastarache
Board 18: E. Rogers vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 19: Burke vs. S. Tilton
Board 20: Talcott vs. Lingner
Board 21: Anderson vs. Biglow
Board 22: Briggs vs. Kiser
Board 23: Scanlon vs. Sorel
Board 24: H. McLaughlin vs. J. Tilton
Board 25: F. Rogers vs. O'Rourke
♗ Requesting a half-point bye for Round 2 is Commisso.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on August 17th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508-904-3476 by 7 P.M.
Billerica Chess Club Holds Woody Wink Memorial Swiss Tournament
Starting Friday, August 5, 2016, The Billerica Chess Club will hold a memorial tournament to honor the memory of Woody Wink, long time member & major contributor to the Billerica CC.
The following ratings are in effect for the Harold B. Dondis Memorial 2016,
which starts Wednesday, August 10, at the Wachusett Chess Club in Fitchburg.
♔ ♛ ♖ ♝ ♘ ♙ ♞ ♗ ♜ ♕ ♚
Players most likely to compete in
the 2016 Harold B. Dondis Memorial
are listed below with their current ratings:
(Players at their all time highs are highlighted.)
1
King
2150
2
Kildahl
2144
3
Cesolini
2113
4
Paulson
2029
5
C. Bradley
2011
6
Kochman
1987
7
Cappallo
1953
8
Niemi
1935
9
Mirijanian
1934
10
Godin
1917
11
LePoer
1916
12
Strickland
1888
13
Gurge
1857
14
Harris
1854
15
Brassard
1842
16
Couture
1823
17
Gladding
1819
18
Gaciu
1792
19
Thomas
1791
20
Barlas
1779
21
V. Bradley
1751
22
McNeilage
1714/P7
23
Condon
1704
24
Ganesan
1697
25
Parker
1688
26
Hankard
1684
27
Venezia
1683
28
Meehan
1672
29
P. Lynch
1667
30
J, Bennett
1663
31
Commisso
1656
32
Arsenault
1655
33
Rangan
1655
34
Bastarache
1652
35
Fratturelli
1650
36
E, Rogers
1596
37
Donahue
1569
38
Miller
1556
39
Burke
1532
40
N. Rogers
1521
41
Lingner
1502
42
Biglow
1479
43
Giampietro
1472
44
Lavoie
1459
45
Mathieu
1449
46
Gauthier
1443
47
Briggs
1440
48
Sorel
1410
49
H. McLaughlin
1408
50
O'Rourke
1405
51
Su
1392
52
R. Bennett
1391
53
Koroskenyi
1385
54
Steadman
1384
55
Appelmans
1339
56
Talcott
1323
57
R. McLaughlin
1322
58
K. Lynch
1200
59
Anderson
1167/P3
60
Kiser
1081
61
Scanlon
1066
62
Gawboy
854
63
F. Rogers
829
64
Whistler
758
August 3rd, 2016
2017 Club Championship Qualification Standings
2017 Club Championship Qualification Standings as of August 3rd, 2016, 2016
After 5 of 42 games completed in the 2016-2017 season, the following are the current standings for qualification for the
2017 WCC 'A' Club Championship Tournament. The Top Eight Highest GPP Finishers Qualify.
The tiebreaker, if necessary, is the higher USCF rating after the final regular season tournament is rated! *
A minimum of 21 games must be completed to qualify.
♖ Not playing round 5 were George Mirijanian, Ananth Rangan, Rob King, Arthur Barlas, Jackson Parker, Tom Fratturelli, Bob Mathieu,
Jack Appelmans, Nicholas Anderson, Andrew Kiser, Eric Strickland, Richard Bennett and Steve Koroskenyi,
the last three of whom had already withdrawn from the tournament.
Also withdrawn from the tournament as a result of not playing a game was Tom Giampietro..
King, Cappallo, McNeilage, Barlas, Parker, Hankard, Fratturelli, Commisso, N. Rogers, Lingner, Biglow, Su, O'Rourke,
Steadman, Talcott, Scanlon
1.5
Strickland, Burke, Mathieu, Appelmans, Anderson
1.0
Briggs, Sorel, R. Bennett, Koroskenyi, R. McLaughlin, Kiser, F. Rogers
0.5
Gawboy, Whistler
♔ 2016 Harlow B. Daly Memorial PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:
Tony Cesolini of Rindge, NH
2nd-4th:
Gary Brassard & Ken Gurge, both of Leominster, Alex Venezia of Lunenburg (Top U1600)
Top U1800:
Vince Bradley of Gilsum, NH
Top U1600:
Alex Venezia of Lunenburg
Top U1400:
Wayne Steadman of Lunenburg, & Stan Talcott of Keene, NH
Top U1200:
Francis Scanlon of Fitchburg
The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Alexander Venezia
+ 106
Ed Rogers
+ 94
Jim Donahue
+ 57
Ken Gurge
+ 56
A total of 4 players gained 50 or more rating points:
The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Tony Cesolini
2113
Ken Gurge
1857
Alexander Venezia
1683
Mike Meehan
1672
John Bastarache
1652
Bill Burke
1532
Nicholas Anderson
1167/P3
A total of 7 players reached new all time highs:
REMINDER: The next tournament at the club, the Harold B. Dondis Memorial, begins Wednesday, August 10th.
Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 1 on August 10th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508-904-3476 by 7 P.M.
July 31st, 2016
Chess tactics from the Harlow B. Daly Memorial
Harlow B. Daly Memorial, Round 4 Dave Couture vs. Ananth Rangan
White to play & win
Here's a potential tactic to show on the website. It's white to move and win. It came up in my [Round 4] game this past week and I missed it. George [Mirijanian] was just over to prep for our Chess Chat show tomorrow and I showed it to him. He eventually got it, but it took awhile. -Dave C.
July 30th, 2016
2017 Club Championship Qualification Standings
2017 Club Championship Qualification Standings as of July 30, 2016
After 4 of 42 games completed in the 2016-2017 season, the following are the current standings for qualification for the
2017 WCC 'A' Club Championship Tournament. The Top Eight Highest GPP Finishers Qualify.
The tiebreaker, if necessary, is the higher USCF rating after the final regular season tournament is rated! *
A minimum of 21 games must be completed to qualify.
Seed #
Name
USCF Rating
Games Played This Season
Additional Games Needed
Grand Prix Points
Notes
1.
Tony Cesolini
2097
4
17
4
2.
Ray Paulson
2066
4
17
3
3.
Paul Godin
1927
4
17
3
4.
Ed Harris
1880
4
17
3
5.
Dave Couture
1806
3
18
3
6.
Gary Brassard
1802
4
17
3
7.
Ken Gurge
1801
4
17
3
8.
Alexander Venezia
1577
4
17
3
9.
Ananth Rangan
1602
4
17
2.5
10.
Jim Donahue
1512
3
18
2.5
11.
George Mirijanian
1925
2
19
2
12.
Dave Thomas
1817
4
17
2
13.
Vince Bradley
1744
3
18
2
14.
Jim Hankard
1685
4
17
2
15.
Mike Commisso
1647
4
17
2
16.
John Bastarache
1647
4
17
2
17.
Noah Rogers
1520
4
17
2
18.
Ed Rogers
1502
4
17
2
Notes:
* This is a change since March 16, 2016.
July 30th, 2016
2016 Harlow B. Daly Memorial
Revised Projected Round 5 Pairings
Revised Projected Round 5 Pairings for August 3rd:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
1: Tony Cesolini (4.0) vs. Dave Couture (3.5)
2: Gary Brassard (3.0) vs. Raymond Paulson (3.0)
3: Alexander Venezia (3.0) vs. Paul Godin (3.0)
4: Kenneth Gurge (3.0) vs. George Mirijanian (3.0)
5: Jim Donahue (3.0) vs. Edward Harris (3.0)
6: Vincent Bradley III (2.5) vs. Lawrence Gladding (2.5)
7: Brett Kildahl (2.0) vs. Tom Fratturelli (2.0)
8: Michael Commisso (2.0) vs. Roger Cappallo (2.0)
9: James Hankard (2.0) vs. David Thomas (2.0)
10: Ralph McNeilage (2.0) vs. John Bastarache (2.0)
11: Arthur Barlas (2.0) vs. Noah Rogers (2.0)
12: Michael Meehan (2.0) vs. Jackson Parker (2.0)
13: Ed Rogers (2.0) vs. William Burke (1.5)
14: Gail Lingner (1.5) vs. Hugh McLaughlin (1.5)
15: Jack Applemans (1.5) vs. Brian Biglow (1.5)
16: Nicholas Anderson (1.5) vs. Robert Mathieu (1.5)
17: Donald Briggs (1.0) vs. Wayne Steadman (1.0)
18: Andrew Su (1.0) vs. Randy McLaughlin (1.0)
19: Laurence O'Rourke (1.0) vs. Roland Sorel (1.0)
20: Francis Scanlon II (1.0) vs. Emily Gawboy (0.5)
21: Finneas Rogers (0.0) vs. Tom Whistler (0.5)
July 29th, 2016
2016 Harlow B. Daly Memorial
Recent Pictures posted
Dave Couture has posted some pictures from this year's Harlow B. Daly Memorial tournament.
You may also find them in the "Pics & Video" section of the Main Menu above:
♝ Receiving half-point byes were George Mirijanian, Jim Donahue,
Larry Gladding, Jackson Parker and Brian Biglow.
♖ Not playing round 4 were Rob King, Tom Fratturelli, Tom Giampietro and Andrew Kiser.
♟ Withdrawing from the tournament were Eric Strickland, Richard Bennett and Steve Koroskenyi.
♘ The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes Ralph McNeilage of Worcester, & Jack Appelmans of Acton.
♔ Also returning after a hiatus of several months is NM Brett Kildahl of Worcester
King, Kildahl, Cappallo, Thomas, McNeilage, Barlas, Parker, Hankard, Meehan, Fratturelli, Commisso,
Bastarache, N. Rogers, E. Rogers, Talcott
1.5
(Strickland), Burke, Lingner, Biglow, Mathieu, H. McLaughlin, Appelmans, Anderson
1.0
Briggs, Giampietro, Su, Sorel, O'Rourke, (R. Bennett), Steadman, (Koroskenyi), R. McLaughlin, Kiser, Scanlon
0.5
Gawboy, Whistler
0.0
F. Rogers
Projected Round 5 Pairings for August 3rd:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cesolini vs. Couture
Board 2: Brassard vs. Paulson
Board 3: Venezia vs. Godin
Board 4: Mirijanian vs. Gurge
Board 5: Donahue vs. Harris
Board 6: Bradley vs. King
Board 7: Kildahl vs. Fratturelli
Board 8: Commisso vs. Cappallo
Board 9: Meehan vs. Thomas
Board 10: McNeilage vs. Bastarache
Board 11: Barlas vs. N. Rogers
Board 12: Parker vs. Talcott
Board 13: Hankard vs. E. Rogers
Board 14: Burke vs. Mathieu
Board 15: Lingner vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 16: Appelmans vs. Biglow
Board 17: Anderson vs. Briggs
Board 18: Steadman vs. Su
Board 19: R. McLaughlin vs. Sorel
Board 20: O'Rourke vs. Kiser
Board 21: Gawboy vs. Scanlon
Board 22: F. Rogers vs. Whistler
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 5 on August 3rd.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508-904-3476 by 7 P.M.
A number of active WCC members took part in the New Hampshire Open in Nashua, NH, & the Bradley Open in Windsor Locks, CT. Both tournaments were held this past weekend.
Here are their rating updates:
♙ ♝ ♘ ♜ ♘ ♟ Monday July 25, 2016 Active Member Rating Updates ♗ ♞ ♖ ♞ ♗ ♟
2016 Harlow B. Daly Memorial
Revised Projected Round 4 Pairings
Due to the withdrawls of Steve Koroskenyi and Eric Strickland from the current tournament, and also Tom Giampietro not playing next round, and no news from our newcomer, Nicholas Anderson, the updated projected Round 4 pairings for July 27th now look like this:
Projected Round 4 Pairings for July 27th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Godin vs. Cesolini
Board 2: Mirijanian vs. Couture
Board 3: Rangan vs. King
Board 4: Ray Paulson vs. Arthur Barlas
Board 5: Harris vs. Fratturelli
Board 6: Hankard vs. Gladding
Board 7: Thomas vs. Venezia
Board 8: Brassard vs. Commisso
Board 9: Bastarache vs. Gurge
Board 10: Cappallo vs. Meehan
Board 11: Parker vs. Bradley
Board 12: Burke vs. Mathieu
Board 13: O'Rourke vs. N. Rogers
Board 14: R. Bennett vs. E. Rogers
Board 15: R. McLaughlin vs. Briggs
Board 16: Talcott vs. Biglow
Board 17: Su vs. Kiser
Board 18: Sorel vs. Scanlon
Board 19: Gawboy vs. Lingner
Board 20: Whistler vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 21: Steadman vs. F. Rogers
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on July 27th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508-904-3476 by 7 P.M.
July 21st, 2016
2016 Harlow B. Daly Memorial
Round 3 of 5
Harlow B. Daly Memorial, July 20th, 2016
Round 3 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Tony Cesolini
1-0
Jim Hankard
Ken Gurge
0-1
Paul Godin
Mike Commisso
0-1
George Mirijanian
Eric Strickland
0-1
♔ Ananth Rangan
Mike Meehan
0-1
Dave Couture
Vince Bradley
0-1
♔ Jim Donahue
Rob King
1-0
Bill Burke
Noah Rogers
0-1
Ray Paulson
Brian Biglow
0-1
Ed Harris
Ed Rogers
0-1
Dave Thomas
Don Briggs
0-1
Gary Brassard
Tom Fratturelli
1-0
Andrew Su
Richard Bennett
0-1
John Bastarache
Alexander Venezia
1-0
Francis Scanlon
Tom Whistler
0-1
Bob Mathieu
Roland Sorel
1-0
Wayne Steadman
Hugh McLaughlin
1/2-1/2
Emily Gawboy
Finn Rogers
0-1
Larry O'Rourke
Total of 18 boards, 2 major upsets (♔).
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Larry Gladding, Arthur Barlas, Roger Cappallo, Jackson Parker,
Steve Koroskenyi, Stan Talcott, Andrew Kiser, Gail Lingner and Nicholas Anderson.
♖ Not playing round 3 were Tom Giampietro and Randy McLaughlin.
Burke, N. Rogers, E. Rogers, Briggs, Biglow, Giampietro, Su, Sorel, O'Rourke, R. Bennett, Koroskenyi, R. McLaughlin,
Talcott, Kiser, Scanlon
0.5
Lingner, H. McLaughlin, Gawboy, Whistler, Anderson
0.0
Steadman, F. Rogers
Projected Round 4 Pairings for July 27th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Godin vs. Cesolini
Board 2: Mirijanian vs. Couture
Board 3: Rangan vs, King
Board 4: Paulson vs. Barlas
Board 5: Harris vs. Fratturelli
Board 6: Hankard vs. Gladding
Board 7: Thomas vs. Venezia
Board 8: Brassard vs. Commisso
Board 9: Bastarache vs. Gurge
Board 10: Cappallo vs. Meehan
Board 11: Parker vs. Strickland
Board 12: Mathieu vs. Bradley
Board 13: Burke vs. Sorel
Board 14: O'Rourke vs. N. Rogers
Board 15: R. Bennett vs. E. Rogers
Board 16: Koroskenyi vs. Briggs
Board 17: R. McLaughlin vs. Biglow
Board 18: Giampietro vs. Talcott
Board 19: Su vs. Kiser
Board 20: Scanlon vs. Lingner
Board 21: Whistler vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 22: Gawboy vs. Anderson
Board 23: Steadman vs. F. Rogers
♗ Requesting a half-point bye for Round 4 is Jim Donahue.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on July 27th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508-904-3476 by 7 P.M.
Carissa Yip of Andover, 2014 champion of the Wachusett Chess Club, and Ananth Rangan of Nashua, NH, new member of the Wachusett CC, will represent Massachusetts and New Hampshire respectively in the Dewain Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions that will be held July 30 to August 2 during the U.S. Open in Indianapolis, Indiana. The winner of the event will receive a $ 5,000 college/university scholarship to the school of his or her choice as well as placement in the U.S. Cadet Championship.
Rounds in that event start in the morning, allowing participants, if they choose, to play in the (117th) U.S. Open in the evening. I wonder whether Carissa and/or Ananth will also want to play in the Open. We won't know until the Open starts on July 30.
-George M.
July 20th, 2016
Today (July 20) is International Chess Day, established by UNESCO in 1966.
It is also the 92nd anniversary of the founding of FIDE in Paris, France.
Paulson, Cappallo, Harris, Thomas, Brassard, Parker, Bastarache, Venezia, Burke, N. Rogers, E. Rogers, Briggs, Biglow,
Giampietro, R. Bennett, R. McLaughlin,
0.5
Mathieu, Koroskenyi, Talcott, Kiser, Whistler
0.0
Lingner, Sorel, H. McLaughlin, O'Rourke, Steadman, Gawboy, F. Rogers, Anderson
Projected Round 3 Pairings for July 20th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cesolini vs. Hankard
Board 2: Gurge vs. Godin
Board 3: Commisso vs. Mirijanian
Board 4: Bradley vs. Strickland
Board 5: Meehan vs. Gladding
Board 6: Barlas vs. Rangan
Board 7: Paulson vs. Donahue
Board 8: N. Rogers vs. Harris
Board 9: E. Rogers vs. Thomas
Board 10: Biglow vs. Brassard
Board 11: Parker vs. Briggs
Board 12: Giampietro vs. Bastarache
Board 13: Venezia vs. R. Bennett
Board 14: Scanlon vs. Burke
Board 15: Whistler vs. Mathieu
Board 16: Koroskenyi vs. Talcott
Board 17: Steadman vs. Lingner
Board 18: Sorel vs. Gawboy
Board 19: H. McLaughlin vs. Anderson
Board 20: F. Rogers vs. O'Rourke
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on July 20th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508 ♚ 904 ♚ 3476 by 7 P.M.
July 13th, 2016
2016 Harlow B. Daly Memorial
Round 2 of 5
Upsets Shock Both 2016 WCC Co-Champs!
In round 2 of the Harlow B. Daly Memorial tournament this Wednesday night, both reigning WCC co-champions, Ray Paulson & Roger Cappallo, became the victims of two large upsets. Board two saw Ray Paulson, playing the white pieces, struggle in a very close contest against his 265 point lower rated opponent, Ken Gurge, only to eventually reach a theoretically lost ending, which Ken was able to convert to a full point.
Meanwhile at board three, Roger Cappallo had the better of Jim Hankard for most of the game, winning a pawn & then a second pawn to reach what many would consider an overwhelmingly advantageous position where, in addition to his two extra pawns, Roger still had his bishop pair against Jim's knight & bishop, while each had only one rook & no queens on the board. The most likely result was not to be, however. As both players approached the final few minutes, Jim maneuvered to produce tactical complications which soon led to the capture of Roger's rook & shortly thereafter, a 317 point upset victory for Jim.
Dave Thomas also ran into some rough sledding when he sacrificed a minor piece against Mike Commisso for attacking chances, but failed to obtain sufficient compensation & went on to lose a 188 point upset as he eventually ran short of time. Relative newcomer to the club, Ananth Rangan, was able to hold his 149 piont higher rated opponent, Larry Gladding, to a draw after Larry had traded down to what appeared to be a slightly better ending in which Larry had an extra pawn. However when the pieces on the board eventually became reduced to nothing but Ananth's king & queen against Larry's king, queen & extra pawn, Larry's pieces were sufficiently awkwardly placed such that he could not make progress despite his best efforts & the game ended in a K vs. K draw.
Harlow B. Daly Memorial, July 13th, 2016
Round 2 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Gary Brassard
0-1
Tony Cesolini
Ray Paulson
0-1
♔Ken Gurge
♔Jim Hankard
1-0
Roger Cappallo
Paul Godin
1-0
Jackson Parker
Ananth Rangan
1/2-1/2
Larry Gladding
Dave Thomas
0-1
♔Mike Commisso
George Mirijanian
1-0
Ed Rogers
Bob Mathieu
0-1
Eric Strickland
Andrew Kiser
0-1
Vince Bradley
Jim Donahue
1-0
Tom Whistler
Ed Harris
1-0
Roland Sorel
John Bastarache
1-0
Hugh McLaughlin
Larry O'Rourke
0-1
Alexander Venezia
Bill Burke
1-0
Wayne Steadman
Emily Gawboy
0-1
Noah Rogers
Don Briggs
1-0
Finn Rogers
Nicholas Anderson
0-1
Brian Biglow
Total of 17 boards, 3 major upsets (♔).
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Dave Couture, Arthur Barlas, Mike Meehan, Tom Giampietro, Richard Bennett,
Randy McLaughlin, Francis Scanlon, Steve Koroskenyi and Stan Talcott.
♖ Not playing round 2 was Gail Lingner.
♜ Also not playing the round were Walter Niemi, Vlad Gaciu, Alan Condon, Seeth Ganesan, Joe Bennett,
Lenny Arsenault, Tom Fratturelli, Francois Gauthier and Andrew Su, all of whom were withdrawn from the tournament.
Paulson, Cappallo, Harris, Thomas, Brassard, Parker, Bastarache, Venezia, Burke, N. Rogers, E. Rogers, Briggs, Biglow,
Giampietro, Sorel, R. Bennett, R. McLaughlin, Scanlon
0.5
Mathieu, Koroskenyi, Talcott, Kiser, Whistler
0.0
Lingner, H. McLaughlin, O'Rourke, Steadman, Gawboy, F. Rogers, Anderson
Projected Round 3 Pairings for July 20th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cesolini vs. Hankard
Board 2: Gurge vs. Godin
Board 3: Commisso vs. Mirijanian
Board 4: Strickland vs. Rangan
Board 5: Gladding vs. Bradley
Board 6: Barlas vs. Meehan
Board 7: Paulson vs. Donahue
Board 8: N. Rogers vs. Harris
Board 9: E. Rogers vs. Thomas
Board 10: Biglow vs. Brassard
Board 11: Parker vs. Briggs
Board 12: Giampietro vs. Bastarache
Board 13: Venezia vs. R. Bennett
Board 14: Sorel vs. Burke
Board 15: Scanlon vs. Mathieu
Board 16: Koroskenyi vs. Talcott
Board 17: Whistler vs. Lingner
Board 18: H. McLaughlin vs. Gawboy
Board 19: F. Rogers vs. O'Rourke
Board 20: Steadman vs. Anderson
♗ Requesting half-point byes for Round 3 are Cappallo and Couture.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on July 20th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508 ♚ 904 ♚ 3476 by 7 P.M.
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Walter Niemi, George Mirijanian, Vlad Gaciu, Alan Condon, Seeth Ganesan,
Joe Bennett, Lenny Arsenault, Tom Fratturelli, Tom Giampietro, Bob Mathieu, Francois Gauthier, Andrew Su,
Richard Bennett, Randy McLaughlin, Andrew Kiser, Francis Scanlon and Tom Whistler.
Niemi, Mirijanian, Strickland, Gaciu, Condon, Ganesan, J. Bennett, Arsenault, Fratturelli, Donahue, Giampietro, Mathieu,
Gauthier, Su, R. Bennett, R. McLaughlin, Kiser, Scanlon, Whistler
0.0
Harris, Bastarache, Venezia, Burke, N. Rogers, Briggs, Biglow, Sorel, H. McLaughlin, O'Rourke, Steadman, Koroskenyi,
Talcott, Gawboy, F. Rogers, Anderson
Projected Round 2 Pairings for July 13th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Barlas vs. Cesolini
Board 2: Paulson vs. Gurge
Board 3: Hankard vs.Cappallo
Board 4: Godin vs. Parker
Board 5: Meehan vs. Gladding
Board 6: Thomas vs. Rangan
Board 7: Brassard vs. Commisso
Board 8: Niemi vs. E. Rogers
Board 9: Giampietro vs. Mirijanian
Board 10: Mathieu vs. Strickland
Board 11: Gauthier vs. Gaciu
Board 12: Condon vs. Su
Board 13: R. Bennett vs. Ganesan
Board 14: J. Bennett vs. R.McLaughlin
Board 15: Kiser vs. Arsenault
Board 16: Fratturelli vs. Scanlon
Board 17: Donahue vs. Whistler
Board 18: Harris vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 19: Bastarache vs. O'Rourke
Board 20: Koroskenyi vs. Venezia
Board 21: Burke vs. Steadman
Board 22: Gawboy vs. N. Rogers
Board 23: Briggs vs. Talcott
Board 24: Anderson vs. Biglow
Board 25: Sorel vs. F. Rogers
♗ Dave Couture is requesting a half-point bye for Round 2.
♙ The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes 4th Category player, Ananth Rangan, of Nashua, NH, &
♟ Nicholas Anderson, of Ashby, who is now competing in his first rated tournament.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on July 13th. Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Dave Thomas at 508 ♔ 904 ♔ 3476 by 7 P.M.
NOTE: This is a change from the previous season(s).
The following ratings are in effect for the Harlow B. Daly Memorial,
which starts Wednesday, July 6, at the Wachusett Chess Club in Fitchburg.
Ratings that differ from last stats (06/29/16) on Wachusett CC website are highlighted.
♔ ♛ ♖ ♝ ♘ ♙ ♞ ♗ ♜ ♕ ♚
Players most likely to compete in
the 2016 Harlow B. Daly Memorial
are listed below with their current ratings:
The final round of the Wachusett Chess Club 2016 Championship, with me fighting it out with Black against Ken Gurge (1795).
A win will mean at worst a tie for the Championship.
2014 WCC Champ, Carissa Yip, in playing in the Open Section of the 2016 World Open Tournament in Philadelphia, which runs from June 30 through July 4, 2016. You can watch her progress online at:
http://chessevents.com/tag/world-open-2016-standings/,
as she competes with more than 30 GM's, & numerous other titled players including GM Irina Krush & FM Akshita Gorti.
♖ Not playing the final round were:
Rob King, Mike Meehan, Vince Bradley, Brian Biglow, Richard Bennett, Walter Niemi, Gail Lingner, Tom Giampietro and Stan Talcott.
WCC 'B' Championship, June 29th, 2016
FINAL STANDINGS
Points
Players
5.0
Gladding
4.5
-----
4.0
Bastarache
3.5
Venezia
3.0
King, Parker, Hankard, Commisso, Meehan, Sorel, Su
2.5
Fratturelli
2.0
Couture, Gaciu, Bradley, J. Bennett, Mathieu, Biglow, Burke, O'Rourke, Gauthier, Koroskenyi, R. Bennett
Andrew Kiser of Leominster & Francis Scanlon of Fitchburg
Top U1000:
Emily Gawboy of Leominster
The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Andrew Su
+184
Alexander Venezia
+136
Roland Sorel
+131
John Bastarache
+93
Larry Gladding
+60
Roger Cappallo
+56
A total of 6 players gained 50 or more rating points:
The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Rob King
2156
Vince Bradley
1770
John Bastarache
1625
Alexander Venezia
1577
Andrew Su
1436
Roland Sorel
1426
Steve Koroskenyi
1393
A total of 7 players reached new all time highs:
Updated 2016 season-end statistics are at: StatLeaders.
REMINDER: The next tournament at the club, the Harlow B. Daly Memorial, will begin Wednesday, July 6.
Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for Round 1 of 5 on July 6th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 p.m.
With 7 of 9 games completed, Carissa Yip has 4.5 points, which places her tied with WIM Agata Bykovtsev & WFM Evan Xianga, mere half point behind the leaders at this year's US Junior Girls' Championship. The last two rounds of the tournament will be played on Wednesday, June 29th, coincidentally the same day on which this year's WCC Championship finishes.
Projected Round 5 Pairings for July 6th WITHOUT Rob King:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
6 Michael Commisso (3.0) vs. Lawrence Gladding (4.0)
7: John Bastarache (3.0) vs. James Hankard (3.0)
8: Vlad Gaciu (2.0) vs. Alexander Venezia (2.5)
9: Vincent Bradley III (2.0 vs. William Burke (2.0)
10: Jackson Parker (2.0) vs. Roland Sorel (2.0)
11: Andrew Su (2.0) vs. Joseph Bennett (2.0)
12: Richard Bennett (2.0) vs. Robert Mathieu (2.0)
13: Jim Donahue (1.5) vs. Tom Fratturelli (1.5)
14: Walter Niemi (1.0) vs. Hugh McLaughlin (1.5)
15: Dave Couture (1.0) vs. Steven Koroskenyi (1.0)
16: Laurence O'Rourke (1.0) vs. Francis Scanlon II (1.0)
17: Andrew Kiser (1.0) vs. Francois Gauthier (1.0)
18: Wayne Steadman (0.5) vs. Emily Gawboy (1.0)
19: Donald Briggs (0.0) vs. Randy McLaughlin (0.5)
Projected Round 5 Pairings for July 6th WITH Rob King:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
6: Lawrence Gladding (4.0) vs. Robert King (3.0)
7: Michael Commisso (3.0) vs. James Hankard (3.0)
8: John Bastarache (3.0) vs. Alexander Venezia (2.5)
9: Vlad Gaciu (2.0) vs. Robert Mathieu (2.0)
10: Vincent Bradley III (2.0) vs. William Burke (2.0)
11: Jackson Parker (2.0) vs. Roland Sorel (2.0)
12: Andrew Su (2.0) vs. Joseph Bennett (2.0)
13: Tom Fratturelli (1.5) vs. Richard Bennett (2.0)
14: Jim Donahue (1.5) vs. Hugh McLaughlin (1.5)
15: Walter Niemi (1.0) vs. Francois Gauthier (1.0)
16: Andrew Kiser (1.0) vs. Dave Couture (1.0)
17: Gail Lingner (1.0) vs. Steven Koroskenyi (1.0)
18: Laurence O'Rourke (1.0) vs. Francis Scanlon II (1.0)
19: Wayne Steadman (0.5) vs. Emily Gawboy (1.0)
20: Donald Briggs (0.0) vs. Randy McLaughlin (0.5)
Hello all,
This week I played in round 3 of the club championship, as Black against top-seeded Ray Paulson.
I tried a different variation: I lightly analyzed it first, without computer, then did a quick check with the machine.
I also tweaked my sound a bit, as last week's video was a bit unclear. Hopefully you'll like it.
Tony Cortizas, well known New England chess photographer, has made his archive of photographs taken at various events spanning over 16 years from 2000 to present available online.
The permanent archives are arranged chronologically dating back to 2000 & are supplemented by specific groups of photos from more recent events such as the 85th Mass Open & the 2016 US Junior Girls' Championship.
These archives include many present & former WCC members & represent an invaluable resource of New England chess history & we are most grateful for Tony's consistent & continuing quality work.
June 24th, 2016
Carissa Yip to compete in 2016 Junior Girls' Invitational, June 25-29
Carissa Yip & nine other outstanding competitors to play round robin in Manchester, NH
Ten US Junior Girls' Contestants with Officials
2014 WCC Champ, Carissa Yip will compete in the 2016 US Girls' Junior Championship
The nine round, ten player round robin will run from Saturday, June 25th to Wednesday, June 29th 2016
at the Homewood Suites, Manchester, NH.
The ten invited players include:
WCM Maggie Feng, WFM Jennifer Yu, NM Carissa Yip,
WIM Annie Wang, WIM Agata Bykovtsev,
WCM Apurva Virkud, WFM Emily Nguyen,
WFM Joanna Liu, WFM Evan Xiang, & Alice Dong.
Tournament officials include: Chief Arbiter, Larry Cohen, & Deputy Arbiter, Alex Relyea
Paulson & Cappallo
Still in Front of "A" Championship After Four Rounds
With only one round of play to go, Ray Paulson & Roger Cappallo remain in a dead heat at the top of the 2016 WCC "A" Championship. The duo have led the field since round 2, each with a perfect score except fot a draw in their round 3 individual game, hence they will not face each other for a showdown in the final round on Wednesday, June 29th. The Paulson-Barlas pairing next week at board one sets USCF Expert, Ray Paulson, with the white pieces, as a 272 rating point favorite over his Class B opponent, Arthur Barlas, while board two is somewhat closer, yet still on the "major upset" category, pitting Class B, Ken Gurge, as white against Class A, Roger Cappallo, in a pairing with 151 rating point difference favoring Cappallo.
The next nearest competitors, Godin, Gurge, & Brassard, currently stand a full piont & a half behind the two leaders, so there is no combination of wins losses &/or draws on any board that will allow anyone other than Paulson, Cappallo &/or Barlas to share in first place, & it would require full point upsets at both boards one & two for Barlas to enter into the mix for a share of the title. There have been many large upsets at the WCC, so the results are still uncertain until after next Wednesday's games & one should still expect fierce competition at all boards.
WCC 'A' Championship, June 22nd, 2016
Round 4 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
George Mirijanian
0-1
Ray Paulson
Roger Cappallo
1-0
Paul Godin
Arthur Barlas
1-0
Ken Gurge
Alan Condon
1/2-1/2
Ed Harris
Lenny Arsenault
0-1
Gary Brassard
Total of 5 boards, no major upsets.
WCC 'A' Championship, June 22nd, 2016
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points
Players
3.5
Paulson, Cappallo
3.0
-----
2.5
Barlas
2.0
Godin, Gurge, Brassard
1.5
Mirijanian, Harris
1.0
Condon
0.5
Arsenault
Projected Round 5 Pairings for June 29th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Paulson vs. Barlas
Board 2: Gurge vs. Cappallo
Board 3: Godin vs. Arsenault
Board 4: Brassard vs. Condon
Board 5: Harris vs. Mirijanian
June 22nd, 2016
2016 WCC 'B' Championship
Round 4 of 5
Gladding Leads "B" Championship Going Into Final Round
With a score of 4.0/4, Larry Gladding, 3-time WCC Champ & 2-time WCC "B" Champ now stands a full point ahead of his five closest competitors, King, Hankard, Commisso, Meehan, & Bastarache, who are tied at 3.0/4 each in the 36-player WCC "B" Championship. As 3-time winner of the WCC "A" Championship & 2-time winner of the WCC "B" Championship Larry is the only player ever to win both the regular "A" Championship & the "B" Championship multiple times. Larry is scheduled to play 2011 WCC Champ, Robert King, on Wednesday, June 29th.
WCC 'B' Championship, June 22nd, 2016
Round 4 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Larry Gladding
1-0
Jackson Parker
Joe Bennett
0-1
♔John Bastarache
Jim Hankard
1-0
Brian Biglow
Bill Burke
0-1
Mike Commisso
Richard Bennett
0-1
Mike Meehan
Alex Venezia
1-0
Roland Sorel
Jim Donahue
0-1
Vince Bradley
Francois Gauthier
0-1
Vlad Gaciu
Bob Mathieu
1-0
Francis Scanlon
♔Andrew Su
1-0
Gail Lingner
Tom Fratturelli
1-0
Andrew Kiser
Hugh McLaughlin
1-0
Wayne Steadman
Randy McLaughlin
0-1
Walter Niemi
Dave Couture
1-0
Don Briggs
Total of 14 boards, 2 major upsets (♔).
♜ Receiving a full-point bye was Emily Gawboy.
♖ Not playing round 4 were: Rob King, Larry O'Rourke, Steve Koroskenyi, Tom Giampietro and Stan Talcott,
the last two of whom withdrew from the tournament.
♗ ♘ Returning to the club were Walter Niemi & Max Sewell, who haven't played at the club since August 5th, 2015 & April 10, 2013 respectively.
WCC 'B' Championship, June 22nd, 2016
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points
Players
4.0
Gladding
3.5
-----
3.0
King, Hankard, Commisso, Meehan, Bastarache
2.5
Venezia
2.0
Gaciu, Bradley, Parker, J. Bennett, Mathieu, Biglow, Burke, R. Bennett, Sorel, Su
Projected Round 5 Pairings for June 29th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 6: Lawrence Gladding (4.0) vs. Robert King (3.0)
Board 7: Michael Commisso (3.0) vs. James Hankard (3.0)
Board 8: John Bastarache (3.0) vs. Alexander Venezia (2.5)
Board 9: Vlad Gaciu (2.0) vs. Robert Mathieu (2.0)
Board 10: Vincent Bradley III vs. (2.0) William Burke (2.0)
Board 11: Jackson Parker (2.0) vs. Roland Sorel (2.0)
Board 12: Andrew Su (2.0) vs. Joseph Bennett (2.0)
Board 13: Brian Biglow (2.0) vs. Richard Bennett (2.0)
Board 14: Jim Donahue (1.5) vs. Tom Fratturelli (1.5)
Board 15: Walter Niemi (1.0) vs. Hugh McLaughlin (1.5)
Board 16: Dave Couture (1.0) vs. Steven Koroskenyi (1.0)
Board 17: Laurence O'Rourke (1.0) vs. Francis Scanlon II (1.0)
Board 18: Andrew Kiser (1.0) vs. Francois Gauthier (1.0)
Board 19: Wayne Steadman (0.5) vs. Emily Gawboy (1.0)
Board 20: Donald Briggs (0.0) vs. Randy McLaughlin (0.5)
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 5 on June 29th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
A couple of Wachusett CC players were among the prize winners in the Keene Open, held Saturday, June 18, in Keene, NH. ♔ Tony Cesolini, Wachusett CC champion in 2010, scored 3-1 to tie for first place in the Open section with fellow expert Nithin Kavi and Class A rivals Stijn Brand and Ian Dudley. ♔ Joe Bennett posted a perfect 4-0 to win first place in the Under 1750 section.
The 3-section tournament drew a total of 33 players, 12 of whom were Wachusett CC players.
-- George M
June 21st, 2016
Wachusett CC Players' Rating Gains and Losses at Keene Open
12 active WCC members played in the Keene Open tournament held this past weekend, June 18.
Here are their rating updates whice will be current as of 06/22/16:
♙ ♝ ♘ ♜ ♘ ♟ Tuesday June 21, 2016 Active Member Rating Updates ♗ ♞ ♖ ♞ ♗ ♟
Paul Godin of Bedford tallied 4-0 to win the unrated fun tournament on Saturday, June 18, at the Finnish Center at Saima Park's "Kesajuhla" (Summer Festival) in Fitchburg. The 1967 Wachusett CC champion was awarded a scrumptious chicken barbecue dinner as well as chess books and Australian chess magazines for his clean sweep of the field.
Arthur Barlas of Chelmsford finished clear second with a score of 3-1, losing to Godin in the penultimate round. Tying for 3rd-6th place with 2-2 results were Gail Lingner of Fitchburg, Hugh and Randy McLaughlin, both of Groton, and newcomer Nick Anderson of Ashby. Rounding out the 8-player field were Francis Scanlon of Fitchburg, who scored 1-3, and newcomer Karl Lucander of Westminster, who went scoreless.
All participants received chess book prizes. George Mirijanian directed for the Finnish Center at Saima Park, which honored the memory of two-time Wachusett CC champion Evert Siiskonen, who died in 1993 and had been club champion in 1963 and 1966.
-- George M
Event Summer Festival Kesajuhla SWISS 2016
Location Fitchburg, MA
Event Date(s) 2016-06-18
Chief TD George Mirijanian
Non Rated
Time Control: G/20 d5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pair | Player Name Rating | Round | Round | Round | Round | Total |
Num | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
In case you're wondering why Dave Couture has not been playing in the 2016 WCC Championship, you can now view the pictures he took playing chess in Bermuda!
Pictures from Dave's visit to Bermuda can be found in the "Pics & Video" section of the Main Menu
(at the top of his page)
under "2016 WCC Events"
Dave Couture in Bermuda
Dave Couture in Bermuda
June 17th, 2016
Fun (unrated) chess tournament on Saturday,
June 18, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Saima Park
To all chess players:
Just a reminder about the fun (unrated) chess tournament on Saturday, June 18, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Saima Park in Fitchburg. Registration is from 9:30 to 10 a.m. Entry fee is $3, payable when you enter the park at 61 Scott Road, which is off Ashby State Road (Route 31). You will be given some sort of sticker, which is proof that you are there for the Finnish Center at Saima Park's Summer Festival ("Kesajuhla"). The chess tournament will be held in the function hall at the far end of the park. There will be plenty of parking. Visit www.saima-park.org for announcement of this tournament.
Last year's tournament at Kesajuhla drew 14 players and was 4 rounds. If there are enough players this year, I plan to expand the event to 5 rounds, with a time control of Game/15 minutes. If it stays at 4 rounds, the time control will be Game/20. If the turnout is disappointing and we get fewer than 8 players, the tournament will be 3 rounds with a time control of Game/25. The event will finish by 1 p.m.
Chess book prizes will be awarded in various categories, by rating, age, gender, etc. Last year, all 14 participants received prizes! The overall winner will be awarded a chicken BBQ at the park.
I hope you will support this fun tournament at Saima Park by participating. If you are taking part. please bring chess sets and clocks if you have them. However, I do have lots of sets and a limited number of clocks for use at the event.
Yours for chess,
Hello all,
This week I played in round 3 of the club championship, as Black against top-seeded Ray Paulson.
I tried a different variation: I lightly analyzed it first, without computer, then did a quick check with the machine.
I also tweaked my sound a bit, as last week's video was a bit unclear. Hopefully you'll like it.
Projected Round 4 Pairings for June 22nd:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Mirijanian vs. Paulson
Board 2: Cappallo vs. Godin
Board 3: Barlas vs. Harris
Board 4: Condon vs. Brassard
Board 5: Arsenault - BYE
Projected Round 4 Pairings for June 22nd if Gurge plays:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Mirijanian vs. Paulson
Board 2: Cappallo vs. Godin
Board 3: Barlas vs. Gurge
Board 4: Condon vs. Harris
Board 5: Arsenault vs. Brassard
June 15th, 2016
2016 WCC 'B' Championship
Round 3 of 5
WCC 'B' Championship, June 15th, 2016
Round 3 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Rob King
1-0
Jim Hankard
John Bastarache
0-1
Larry Gladding
Jackson Parker
1-0
Richard Bennett
Steve Koroskenyi
0-1
Joe Bennett
Mike Commisso
1-0
Tom Giampietro
Alex Venezia
1/2-1/2
Jim Donahue
♔Roland Sorel
1-0
Gail Lingner
Brian Biglow
1-0
Andrew Kiser
Francis Scanlon
0-1
Bill Burke
Vince Bradley
1-0
Tom Fratturelli
Hugh McLaughlin
0-1
Bob Mathieu
Don Briggs
0-1
♔Francois Gauthier
Wayne Steadman
1/2-1/2
Randy McLaughlin
Emily Gawboy
0-1
Larry O'Rourke
Total of 14 boards, 2 major upsets (♔).
♖ Not playing round 3 were Mike Meehan, Vlad Gaciu, Andrew Su, Dave Couture, Stan Talcott and George Miller,
the last of whom was withdrawn from the tournament.
♘ The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes Francois Gauthier & Vince Bradley (returning after a hiatus), both from New Hampshire.
WCC 'B' Championship, June 15th, 2016
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points
Players
3.0
King, Gladding
2.5
-----
2.0
Parker, J. Bennett, Hankard, Commisso, Meehan, Bastarache, Biglow, Burke, R. Bennett, Sorel
Fratturelli, Steadman, H. McLaughlin, R. McLaughlin
0.0
Couture, Briggs, Talcott, Gawboy
Projected Round 4 Pairings for June 22nd:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 6: Gladding vs. King
Board 7: Burke vs. Parker
Board 8: J. Bennett vs. Biglow
Board 9: Hankard vs. Bastarache
Board 10: Sorel vs. Commisso
Board 11: R. Bennett vs. Meehan
Board 12: Donahue vs. Bradley
Board 13: Mathieu vs. Venezia
Board 14: Su vs. Lingner
Board 15: O'Rourke vs. Kiser
Board 16: Gauthier vs. Scanlon
Board 17: R. McLaughlin vs. Fratturelli
Board 18: H. McLaughlin vs. Steadman
Board 19: Talcott vs. Couture
Board 20: Gawboy vs. Briggs
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. on June 22nd in order to be paired for Round 4.
Players running late who wish to be paired cannot call Ken Gurge by 7:00 p.m.
Since he will be unavailable, expected late arrivals must contact other players to let the TDs know that they wish to be paired.
Revised Projected Round 3 "B" Championship Pairings for June 15th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 6: Robert King (2.0) vs. James Hankard (2.0)
Board 7: John Bastarache (2.0) vs. Lawrence Gladding (2.0)
Board 8: Vlad Gaciu (1.0) vs. Richard Bennett (2.0)
Board 9: Jackson Parker (1.0) vs. Steven Koroskenyi (1.0)
Board 10: Thomas Giampietro (1.0) vs. Joseph Bennett (1.0)
Board 11: Michael Commisso (1.0) vs. Alexander Venezia (1.0)
Board 12: Andrew Su (1.0) vs. Jim Donahue (1.0)
Board 13: Roland Sorel (1.0) vs. Gail Lingner (1.0)
Board 14: Brian Biglow (1.0) vs. Andrew Kiser (1.0)
Board 15: Francis Scanlon II (1.0) vs. William Burke (1.0)
Board 16: Donald Briggs (0.0) vs. Tom Fratturelli (0.5)
Board 17: Hugh McLaughlin (0.5) vs. Robert Mathieu (0.0)
Board 18: Stanford Talcott (0.0) vs. George Miller (0.0)
Board 19: Wayne Steadman (0.0) vs. Randy McLaughlin (0.0)
Board 20: Emily Gawboy (0.0) vs. Laurence O'Rourke (0.0)
June 13th, 2016
IM Danny Kopec (February 28, 1954 - June 12, 2016)
Bill Goichberg has posted on the CCA site news of Kopec's passing. I knew that Danny was younger than both of us [George Mirijanian & Stephen Dann], but I didn't realize he was 62 - having celebrated his birthday on Feb. 28. I am hopeful that Nathan [Smolensky] will have fine tribute to Danny in the next issue of CH.
George M
DANNY KOPEC, (February 28, 1954 - June 12, 2016)
I was very sorry to hear of the passing of IM Dr. Danny Kopec today. Danny was a frequent and popular lecturer/analyst at CCA tournaments in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, having lectured and done analysis of games submitted by players most recently at the New York State Open in Lake George, NY in May and Eastern Class at Sturbridge, MA in April.
He was an active tournament player and prolific chess author and lecturer, also known for devising his "Kopec System" against the Sicilian Defense. His first experience in organized chess was playing in the 1966 Greater New York Elementary School Championship that I directed, where he scored 6 points out of 8 and won a USCF membership. He will be missed by many in the chess world, including CCA players who benefited from his activity at our events.
-Bill Goichberg, 6/12/16
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (March 23, 1931 - June 6, 2016)
Last Monday (6 June) saw the death of one of chess' most iconic figures, the 85 year old Viktor Korchnoi. His famous quote "chess is my life" is one many will connect to. Viktor, however, backed it up, dedicating all his days to the game we love.
The databases record an incredible 70 years of his competitive games. He played in 10 Candidates Tournaments from 1962-1991 and challenged Karpov for the world title twice, losing narrowly in 1978 but finding Karpov too strong in '81.
Viktor surprised everyone by qualifying for the championship matches. Here was a player who was becoming even stronger as he got older. Bear in mind he was 12 years older than Bobby Fischer who had retired in '75, 20 years older than Karpov and was now superior to the stars of his generation (Korchnoi beat both Petrosian and Spassky on the way to the '78 match).
Even in his 60s, he took on the very best, competing in the Intel Grand Prix events against Morozevich, Ivanchuk and Anand. Most people would be proud of that but of course, chess was Viktor's life. He carried on competing, sensationally beating Fabiano Caruana in 2011 at the age of 80!
Ultimately he will be remembered for his fighting ability, his passion for chess and, of course, his games.
Hello all,
The next installment of my chess adventures is ready at YouTube.
This week I played the black side of an Anderssen's opening against Ed Harris.
Sorry about the annoyance of the server connecting and disconnecting.
This month George Mirijanian & co-host Dave Couture discuss the results of the 85th Massachusetts Open Championship tournament which ended in a four-way tie for first place between FM Mika Brattain, IM David Vigorito, FM David Brodsky, of New York, & NM Chris Williams. The Mass open trophy & state championship title will be shared among the three Massachusetts residents, Brattain, Vigorito, & Williams.13-year old New Yorker, David Brodsky, will join the ranks of such notables as Joe fang, Harlow Daly, Robert Perez, & Michael Casella as out-of-staters who have won or tied for first place in the event.
This Chess Chat program features the first round game played between 2012 WCC Champ, Trevor Bierig & 11-year old USCF Expert, Danila Poliannikov in which Trevor sacrificed a minor piece, then his queen for an unstoppable mating attack.
This is Carissa's first IM norm invitational tournament, and she is seeking her first IM norm.
NM Carissa Yip, USCF 2299, FIDE 2196
The tournament is scheduled to run from June 8, 2016 through June 13, 2016.
You can follow the results & view some selected games, but the USChessChamps.com web site seems a bit clunky to navigate.
If you are seeking your very own GM or IM norm, you can find the regulations & requirements
here.
June 8th, 2016
2016 WCC 'A' Championship
Round 2 of 5
Two "Newcomers" At Top After Two
At the end of the first two of five rounds in the 2016 WCC "A" Championship, USCF Expert, Ray Paulson, & Class A rated, Roger Cappallo now share the lead with two wins each. While both Ray & Roger are long term chess veterans & have been consistently strong performers at the WCC & elsewhere for at least this past season, & they rank #1 & #3 respectively by rating at the start of the tournament, neither has ever won the WCC "A" Championship (Roger was WCC "B" Champ in 2014).
In what could prove to be the deciding game of this year's championship, Ray Paulson, & Roger Cappallo will face each other at board one next week. The only former WCC Champs in the remainder of the field, current WCC Champ & 17-time winner, George Mirijanian, & 1967 WCC Champ, Paul Godin, are paired on board two for next week's games.
WCC 'A' Championship, June 8th, 2016
Round 2 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Paul Godin
0-1
Ray Paulson
Ed Harris
0-1
Roger Cappallo
George Mirijanian
1-0
Alan Condon
Ken Gurge
1-0
Gary Brassard
Arthur Barlas
1-0
Lenny Arsenault
Total of 5 boards, no major upsets.
WCC 'A' Championship, June 8th, 2016
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points
Players
2.0
Paulson, Cappallo
1.5
Mirijanian
1.0
Godin, Harris, Gurge, Barlas
0.5
Brassard
0.0
Condon, Arsenault
Projected Round 3 Pairings for June 15th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Paulson vs. Cappallo
Board 2: Godin vs. Mirijanian
Board 3: Gurge vs. Harris
Board 4: Brassard vs. Barlas
Board 5: Arsenault vs. Condon
June 8th, 2016
2016 WCC 'B' Championship
Round 2 of 5
WCC 'B' Championship, June 8th, 2016
Round 2 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Brian Biglow
0-1
Rob King
Larry Gladding
1-0
Alex Venezia
Tom Giampietro
0-1
Jim Hankard
♔Richard Bennett
1-0
Mike Commisso
Mike Meehan
1-0
Roland Sorel
Andrew Kiser
0-1
John Bastarache
Tom Fratturelli
0-1
Jackson Parker
Joe Bennett
1-0
Hugh McLaughlin
Larry O'Rourke
0-1
Vlad Gaciu
♔Steve Koroskenyi
1-0
Don Briggs
Jim Donahue
1-0
Stan Talcott
Bob Mathieu
0-1
♔Andrew Su
Bill Burke
1-0
Emily Gawboy
♔Francis Scanlon
1-0
Wayne Steadman
Total of 14 boards, 4 major upsets (♔).
♖ Not playing round 2 were Gail Lingner, Dave Couture, George Miller and Tom Whistler,
the last of whom withdrew from the tournament.
WCC 'B' Championship, June 8th, 2016
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points
Players
2.0
King, Gladding, Hankard, Meehan, Bastarache, R. Bennett
1.5
-----
1.0
Gaciu, Parker, J. Bennett, Commisso, Donahue, Lingner, Biglow, Burke, Giampietro, Venezia, Koroskenyi,
Sorel, Su, Kiser, Scanlon
0.5
Fratturelli, H. McLaughlin
0.0
Couture, Briggs, Miller, Mathieu, Steadman, O'Rourke, R. McLaughlin, Talcott, Gawboy
Projected Round 3 Pairings for June 15th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 6: King vs. Meehan
Board 7: Bastarache vs. Gladding
Board 8: Hankard vs. R. Bennett
Board 9: Gaciu vs. Burke
Board 10: Parker vs. Koroskenyi
Board 11: Giampietro vs. J. Bennett
Board 12: Commisso vs. Venezia
Board 13: Su vs. Donahue
Board 14: Sorel vs. Lingner
Board 15: Biglow vs. Kiser
Board 16: Fratturelli vs. Scanlon
Board 17: H. McLaughlin vs. Mathieu
Board 18: Briggs vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 19: Steadman vs. Talcott
Board 20: Gawboy vs. O'Rourke
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on June 15th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
Hello all,
After some serious wrestling with my recording software and a few takes, I've posted this week's game
from Round 1 of the WCC Club Championship up on my website.
I played Arthur Barlas in what turned out to be an interesting Queen's Indian.
Enjoy!
Grandmaster Ben Finegold is impressed with 12 year old Carissa Yip.
Yip played in the 2016 U.S. Women's Championship and is rising fast up the ranks.
See four of her best wins to date. Three from the US Women's Championship plus her victory over GM Kovalev.
June 3rd, 2016
FATV Chess Chat Linked on Keene Site
The Keene Knights Chess Club now has direct links to the FATV Chess Chat programs hosted by George Mirijanian.
This means you can select from a list by topic & watch them online.
Of course you can still do that here on the WCC site, but it's nice to have choices.
June 1st, 2016
2016 WCC 'A' Championship
Round 1 of 5
WCC 'A' Championship, June 1st, 2016
Round 1 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Ray Paulson
1-0
Ken Gurge
Gary Brassard
1/2-1/2
George Mirijanian
Roger Cappallo
1-0
Arthur Barlas
Alan Condon
0-1
Paul Godin
Ed Harris
1-0
Lenny Arsenault
Total of 5 boards, no major upsets.
WCC 'A' Championship, June 1st, 2016
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points
Players
1.0
Paulson, Cappallo, Godin, Harris
0.5
Mirijanian, Brassard
0.0
Gurge, Barlas, Condon, Arsenault
Projected Round 2 Pairings for June 8th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Godin vs. Paulson
Board 2: Harris vs. Cappallo
Board 3: Mirijanian vs. Condon
Board 4: Gurge vs. Brassard
Board 5: Barlas vs. Arsenault
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on June 8th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
In keeping with a long standing tradition of the Wachusett Chess Club, dating back to the Summer of 2014,
duplicate score sheets will be distributed to all players in the "A" Championship Section. A copy of each player's score sheet must be handed in at the end of each round.
(Note: This is covered in Rule 15G of the USCF Official Rules of Chess.)
Game scores will not be posted (in the Games Section) until all championship games are completed.
June 1st, 2016
2016 WCC 'B' Championship
Round 1 of 5
WCC 'B' Championship, June 1st, 2016
Round 1 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Rob King
1-0
Bill Burke
Wayne Steadman
0-1
Larry Gladding
Jackson Parker
0-1
♔Tom Giampietro
♔Alex Venezia
1-0
Joe Bennett
Jim Hankard
1-0
Larry O'Rourke
Hugh McLaughlin
1/2-1/2
Tom Fratturelli
Mike Commisso
1-0
Steve Koroskenyi
Stan Talcott
0-1
Mike Meehan
Don Briggs
0-1
♔Richard Bennett
♔Roland Sorel
1-0
Jim Donahue
John Bastarache
1-0
Andrew Su
♔Andy Kiser
1-0
Bob Mathieu
Gail Lingner
1-0
Francis Scanlon
Emily Gawboy
0-1
Brian Biglow
Total of 14 boards, 5 major upsets (♔).
♖ Not playing round 1 were Dave Couture, George Miller, Randy McLaughlin and Tom Whistler.
Couture, Parker, J. Bennett, Briggs, Miller, Donahue, Mathieu, Burke, Steadman, O'Rourke, Koroskenyi, R. McLaughlin,
Talcott, Su, Scanlon, Gawboy, Whistler
Projected Round 2 Pairings for June 8th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 6: Biglow vs. King
Board 7: Gladding vs. Lingner
Board 8: Giampietro vs. Hankard
Board 9: Venezia vs. Commisso
Board 10: Meehan vs. Sorel
Board 11: R. Bennett vs. Bastarache
Board 12: Fratturelli vs. Kiser
Board 13: Couture vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 14: O'Rourke vs. Parker
Board 15: J. Bennett vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 16: Koroskenyi vs. Briggs
Board 17: Su vs. Miller
Board 18: Donahue vs. Talcott
Board 19: Mathieu vs. Gawboy
Board 20: Burke vs. Whistler
Board 21: Scanlon vs. Steadman
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on June 8th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
Seeth Ganesan opts out of WCC Championship, Alan Condon to play instead.
Seeth Ganesan has decided not to play in this year's WCC Championship, and since the next player on the qualified list is Alan Condon, Alan was invited to play & he has accepted, so now the first round pairings based on this change & the latest rating updates look like:
Projected Pairings for Round 1 of the WCC Championship June 1st:
(Including reordered ranking due to rating changes
for anyone playing in this weekend's Mass Open in Marlborough)
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Ray Paulson (2037) vs. Ken Gurge (1795)
Board 2: Gary Brassard (1789) vs. George Mirijanian 1984)
Board 3: Roger Cappallo (1946) vs. Arthur Barlas (1765)
Board 4: Alan Condon (1728) vs. Paul Godin (1944)
Board 5: Ed Harris (1855) vs. Lenny Arsenault (1692)
May 31st, 2016
Wachusett CC Players' Rating Gains and Losses at 85th Mass Open
Ten active & inactive WCC members played in the 85th Mass Open Championship tournament held this past weekend, May 28, 29, & 30.
Here are their rating updates:
♙ ♝ ♘ ♜ ♘ ♟ Tuesday May 31, 2016 Active Member Rating Updates ♗ ♞ ♖ ♞ ♗ ♟
Hello all,
For a change this week, I annotated the exciting and decisive game on board 1, rather than the quiet draw between me and Ed Harris.
It was between Dave Thomas and Eric Strickland.
Enjoy!
2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings as of May 18, 2016
After 44 of 44 games completed in the 2015-2016 season, the following are the final standings for qualification for the Club Championship.
The top ten winning percentage finishers qualified.
For pairing purposes in the 5 round Swiss System Tournament,
the current USCF ratings listed below (following the tournament concluded on May 25, 2016)
will be revised to reflect the players' then current ratings as of the start of the WCC Championship Tournament on June 1, 2016.
A coin flip conducted by the Tournament Director on May 25, 2016 resulted in the highest rated player as of June 1, 2016, who will be the number one seed in the Championship Tournament, having the White pieces in Round 1.
Normal Swiss System pairing colors will follow from that.
Name
Rating
Games Played This Season
Winning Percentage
Additional Games Needed
Notes
Paulson
2074
33
.864
0
Cappallo
1946
39
.744
0
Godin
1944
43
.733
0
Mirijanian
1984
29
.724
0
Harris
1855
41
.659
0
Gurge
1795
41
.659
0
Barlas
1768
22
.636
0
Brassard
1816
37
.635
0
Ganesan
1697
27
.630
0
Arsenault
1692
34
.618
0
Notes:
♔ All ten of the players list have qualified & will compete in the Championship.
♚ All others are invited to play in the WCC "B" Championship Tournament.
♖ Geoff LePoer is omitted due to his golf commitments.
♗ Larry Gladding is omitted at his request.
♘ Dave Thomas is omitted at his request.
Projected Pairings for Round 1 of the WCC Championship June ist:
(Barring any changes in ranking due to rating changes
for anyone playing in this weekend's Mass Open in Marlborough)
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Ray Paulson (2074) vs. Gary Brassard (1816)
Board 2: Ken Gurge (1795) vs. George Mirijanian 1984)
Board 3: Roger Cappallo (1946) vs. Arthur Barlas (1765)
Board 4: Seeth Ganesan (1697) vs. Paul Godin (1944)
Board 5: Ed Harris (1855) vs. Lenny Arsenault (1692)
Roger Cappallo has posted a video of his game with Dave Thomas from the third round of the Martin Laine Mmemorial tournament played on Wednesday May 18th.
♖ Not playing round 4 were Clay Bradley, Arthur Barlas, Alan Condon, Joe Bennett, Vlad Gaciu, Mike Commisso,
Richard Bennett, Jim Donahue and Stan Talcott.
Barlas, Condon, Fratturelli, Miller, Mathieu, Steadman, Venezia
1.5
Mirijanian, Couture, Gladding, J. Bennett, Gaciu, Lingner, Burke, O'Rourke, R. McLaughlin, Sorel
1.0
Commisso, Bastarache, Biglow, H. McLaughlin, Koroskenyi, R. Bennett, Su
0.5
Donahue, Giampietro, Talcott, Scanlon, Whistler
0.0
Gawboy
♔ 2016 Martin Laine Memorial PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:
Eric Strickland of Brattleboro, VT
2nd:
Ray Paulson of Lowell
Top U1850:
Ken Gurge of Leominster, Dave Thomas of Fitchburg, and Jim Hankard of Antrim, NH
Top U1650:
Jackson Parker of Fitchburg
Top U1450:
Don Briggs of Lunenburg
Top U1250:
Nik Lavoie of Worcester
The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Nik Lavoie
+ 221
Don Briggs
+ 156
Jackson Parker
+ 83
Dave Thomas
+ 63
The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Jackson Parker
1737
Seeth Ganesan
1697
Tom Fratturelli
1689
Don Briggs
1574
Nik Lavoie
1459
Roland Sorel
1295
Andrew Su
1261
♔ Congratulations to all! ♔
REMINDER: The 2016 Wachusett Chess Club Championship starts Wednesday, June 1.
Players in both the "A" and "B" Divisions must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for round 1.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
2014 WCC Champ, Carissa Yip, to Train in Saint Louis Next Week
As reported at: http://en.chessbase.com/post/young-stars-success:
"Training to be the World's best is no easy task, and there is little rest time. Both Sam [Sevian] and Jeffery [Xiong] will be attending a training session with Garry Kasparov and Michael Khodarkovsky in Saint Louis, from May 27-29. They will be joined by other American stars, such as Kayden Troff, John Burke and the rising female star Carissa Yip."
May 20th, 2016
2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings
2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings as of May 18, 2016
After 43 of 44 games completed in the 2015-2016 season, the following are the current standings for qualification for the
Club Championship Tournament.
The Top Ten High Winning Percentage Finishers Qualify.
The tiebreaker, if necessary, is the higher USCF rating after the final regular season tournament is rated! *
A minimum of 22 games must be completed to qualify.
Name
Rating
Games Played This Season
Winning Percentage
Additional Games Needed
Notes
Paulson
2074
32
.859
0
Cappallo
1960
38
.750
0
Godin
1954
42
.726
0
Mirijanian
2004
28
.714
0
Thomas
1773
39
.692
0
Harris
1862
40
.663
0
Gurge
1773
40
.650
0
Barlas
1777
22
.636
0
♝
Brassard
1815
36
.625
0
Ganesan
1687
26
.615
0
Arsenault
1694
33
.606
0
Condon
1727
25
.600
0
Couture
1850
36
.597
0
Fratturelli
1658
37
.595
0
Parker
1654
28
.589
0
Commisso
1680
28
.571
0
Hankard
1679
42
.571
0
Meehan
1646
30
.567
0
Bennett, J.
1734
38
.539
0
Rogers, E.
1502
29
.517
0
Notes:
♟ There is 1 regular season game left to be played.
♟ Players who cannot reach 22 total games played for the season are excluded from the list.
♙ Players with current winning percentages under .500 are omitted from the list.
♝ Arthur Barlas with a current winning percentage of .636 has played 22 games and has qualified based on gamesplayed. If he maintains a sufficientlt high qualifying percentage he would qualify, however, he has indicated that he's still undecided as to whether he'll opt out.
♔ Geoff LePoer is omitted due to his golf commitments.
♚ Larry Gladding is omitted at his request.
* This is a change since March 16, 2016.
Of the 18 pairings for round 3 of the Martin Laine Memorial tournament this Wednesday night, 8 ended in major upsets of 150 rating points or more, & 7 of those 8 were won by the player with the black pieces!
Board 1 featured two qualifiers for this year's WCC Championship, Roger Cappallo & Dave Thomas. Dave lost a pawn & an exchange early in the game only to turn the tables quickly with a powerful winning mating attack.
At board 3, Jackson Parker out played Ed Harris in an opening variation that caught his rival off guard. Ed accidentally left his queen available for the taking & Jackson took it.
At board 6, Westminster resident & chess author, Dave Couture, found himself a full rook down against Nik Lavoie but missed tricky drawing opportunity & soon had to resign.
At board 7, Larry Gladding lost a piece in the opening & resigned on move 11 when Jim Hankard skewered his queen & king thereby producing one of the shortest games in WCC history.
The remaining four upsets were all won by the player with the black pieces as follows:
Board 11: Mike Commisso 0-1 Don Briggs
Board 14: Tom Giampietro 0-1 Roland Sorel
Board 16: John Bastarache 0-1 Steve Koroskenyi
Board 17: Brian Biglow 0-1 Andrew Su
Martin Laine Memorial, May 18th, 2016
Round 3 of 4 Results
White
Result
Black
Roger Cappallo
0-1
♔ Dave Thomas
Eric Strickland
1-0
Tom Fratturelli
♔ Jackson Parker
1-0
Ed Harris
Ray Paulson
1-0
Gary Brassard
Clay Bradley
1-0
Seeth Ganesan
Dave Couture
0-1
♔ Nik Lavoie
Larry Gladding
0-1
♔ Jim Hankard
Alexander Venezia
0-1
Paul Godin
Arthur Barlas
1-0
Bob Mathieu
Hugh McLaughlin
0-1
Alan Condon
Mike Commisso
0-1
♔ Don Briggs
Richard Bennett
0-1
George Miller
Joe Bennett
1-0
Gail Lingner
Tom Giampietro
0-1
♔ Roland Sorel
Larry O'Rourke
1-0
Tom Whistler
John Bastarache
0-1
♔ Steve Koroskenyi
Brian Biglow
0-1
♔ Andrew Su
Wayne Steadman
1-0
Emily Gawboy
Total of 18 boards, 8 major upsets (♔).
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Ken Gurge, Vlad Gaciu, Lenny Arsenault, Jim Donahue and Francis Scanlon.
♖ Not playing round 3 were Randy McLaughlin, George Mirijanian, Bill Burke and Stan Talcott.
♙ Andrew Kiser was withdrawn from the tournament.
Projected Round 4 Pairings for May 25th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Thomas vs. Strickland
Board 2: Paulson vs. Parker
Board 3: Hankard vs. Lavoie
Board 4: Gurge vs. Cappallo
Board 5: Godin vs. Condon
Board 6: Harris vs. Fratturelli
Board 7: Miller vs. Barlas
Board 8: Briggs vs. Couture
Board 9: Arsenault vs. Gladding
Board 10: Ganesan vs. Brassard
Board 11: O'Rourke vs. J. Bennett
Board 12: R. McLaughlin vs. Gaciu
Board 13: Sorel vs. Commisso
Board 14: Mathieu vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 15: Koroskenyi vs. Steadman
Board 16: Venezia vs. R. Bennett
Board 17: Su vs. Mirijanian
Board 18: Donahue vs. Burke
Board 19: Talcott vs. Giampietro
Board 20: Lingner vs. Scanlon
Board 21: Whistler vs. Bastarache
Board 22: Gawboy vs. Biglow
♖ Bradley is not playing the final round.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on May 25th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
Of the twelve players who showed up to do battle in the 2nd annual Keene Knichts Quick Chess Championship, a full two thirds or eight players were from the WCC. Top honors went to Dave Kochman while 2nd -3rd place were shared by Tony Cesolini & Paul Godin, all WCC players.
"She's a national chess master, and she's only 12",
proclaims the headline in the Lowell Sun article by Alana Melanson, as updated this morning.
In addition to some background information & highlights of Carissa's past accomplishments, Alana covers Carissa's performance at the recent US Women's Championship as well as noting that Carissa remains first in the US among girls under age 21 & that she creates instructional videos, and is the only child video author on
ChessKid.com.
May 17th, 2016
Tony Cesolini to Play Simul in NH
Tony Cesolini, USCF rated expert & former scholastic chess champion of NH, will play any number of people simultaneously this Saturday, May 21, from 1:00 PM till 4:00 PM at the Gregg Free Library, 7 Forest Road, Wilton, NH.
The promoters are going to borrow some chess sets, and including his and those we probably will total 10 or 12. Ideally, we'll attract some seniors as well as kids. Please bring sets & boards if you have them.
Roger Cappallo has posted a video of his game with Alan Condon from the second round of the Martin Laine Mmemorial tournament played this past Wednesday.
♝ Receiving half-point byes were:
Clay Bradley, Larry Gladding, Gail Lingner, Bill Burke, Larry O'Rourke, Tom Whistler and Andrew Kiser.
♙ Requesting a zero-point bye was Roland Sorel.
Godin, Barlas, Gaciu, Condon. Commisso, Arsenault, Miller, Mathieu, Venezia, H. McLaughlin, Briggs, R. Bennett, Kiser
0.5
Mirijanian, J. Bennett, Giampietro, Lingner, Burke, O'Rourke, Talcott, Sorel, Whistler
0.0
Donahue, Bastarache, Biglow, Steadman, Koroskenyi, Su, Scanlon, Gawboy
Projected Round 3 Pairings for May 18th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cappallo vs. Fratturelli
Board 2: Strickland vs. Parker
Board 3: Thomas vs. Harris
Board 4: Paulson vs. Brassard
Board 5: Bradley vs. Ganesan
Board 6: Couture vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 7: Gladding vs. Hankard
Board 8: Godin vs. Lavoie
Board 9: Barlas vs. Miller
Board 10: Mathieu vs. Gaciu
Board 11: Venezia vs. Condon
Board 12: Commisso vs. Briggs
Board 13: H. McLaughlin vs. Arsenault
Board 14: Mirijanian vs. R. Bennett
Board 15: J. Bennett vs. O'Rourke
Board 16: Giampietro vs. Talcott
Board 17: Sorel vs. Lingner
Board 18: Burke vs. Whistler
Board 19: Donahue vs. Koroskenyi
Board 20: Bastarache vs. Su
Board 21: Biglow vs. Scanlon
Board 22: Steadman vs. Gawboy
♗ Requesting a half-point bye for Round 3 is Gurge.
♝ Kiser will be paired if he shows up on time to play.
2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings as of May 11, 2016
After 42 of 44 games completed in the 2015-2016 season, the following are the current standings for qualification for the
Club Championship Tournament.
The Top Ten High Winning Percentage Finishers Qualify.
The tiebreaker, if necessary, is the higher USCF rating after the final regular season tournament is rated! *
A minimum of 22 games must be completed to qualify.
Name
Rating
Games Played This Season
Winning Percentage
Additional Games Needed
Notes
Paulson
2074
31
.855
0
Cappallo
1960
37
.770
0
Godin
1954
41
.720
0
Mirijanian
2004
28
.714
0
Thomas
1773
38
.684
0
Harris
1862
39
.679
0
Gurge
1773
40
.650
0
Brassard
1815
35
.643
0
Ganesan
1687
25
.640
0
Barlas
1777
21
.619
1
♝
Couture
1850
35
.614
0
Fratturelli
1658
36
.611
0
Arsenault
1694
33
.606
0
Commisso
1680
27
.594
0
Condon
1727
24
.583
0
Parker
1654
27
.574
0
Meehan
1637
30
.567
0
Hankard
1679
41
.561
0
Bennett, J.
1734
37
.527
0
Rogers, E.
1502
29
.517
0
Notes:
♟ There are 2 regular season games left to be played.
♟ Players who cannot reach 22 total games played for the season are excluded from the list.
♙ Players with current winning percentages under .500 are omitted from the list.
♝ Arthur Barlas with a current winning percentage of .619 has played 21 games and would need to play 1 of the remaining 2 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
♔ Geoff LePoer is omitted due to his golf commitments.
♚ Larry Gladding is omitted at his request.
* This is a change since March 16, 2016.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for Round 3 on May 18th. Players who expect to be late who wish to be paired MUST E-MAIL George Mirijanian by 5:30 p.m. on May 18th.
Ken Gurge cannot be reached by phone on that day.
Mike Meehan ties for 1st in U1600 section of Kaamatan Open
Fresh from winning the Top U1600 prize in the Evert Siiskonen Memorial at the Wachusett Chess Club, WCC member Mike Meehan of Westminster, MA tallied 4-1 to tie for 1st place in the Under 1600 section of the Kaamatan Open, held Saturday, May 7, in West Newbury, MA. Mike gained 9 USCF rating points in the process and raised his rating to 1646. Also competing in the same section was fellow club member Alexander Venezia of Lunenburg, MA, who scored 2.5-2.5 to tie for 6th-8th place, losing 37 points and lowering his rating to 1422. Competing in the Open section were four other Wachusett CC players: Geoff LePoer of Westford, MA, who tallied 2.5-2.5, tying for 6th-9th place, gaining 13 points and raising his rating to 1916; as well as Mike Commisso of Brookline, NH, and Jackson Parker of Fitchburg, MA, both of whom scored 2-3 to tie for 9th-13th place. Mike lost 22 points and lowered his rating to 1680, while Jackson gained 22 points and raised his rating to 1654. Jim Hankard of Antrim, NH rounded out the Wachusett contingent, scoring 1.5-3.5, gaining 6 points and bringing his rating to 1679. The Wachusett CC sextet represented roughly 22 percent of the total field of 27 players in the two sections.
Here are their rating updates:
♙ ♝ ♘ ♜ ♘ ♟ Tuesday May 10, 2016 Active Member Rating Updates ♗ ♞ ♖ ♞ ♗ ♟
Roger Cappallo has posted a video of his game with George Miller from the first round of the Martin Laine Mmemorial tournament played this past Wednesday.
2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings as of May 5, 2016
After 41 of 44 games completed in the 2015-2016 season, the following are the current standings for qualification for the
Club Championship Tournament.
The Top Ten High Winning Percentage Finishers Qualify.
The tiebreaker, if necessary, is the higher USCF rating after the final regular season tournament is rated! *
A minimum of 22 games must be completed to qualify.
Name
Rating
Games Played This Season
Winning Percentage
Additional Games Needed
Notes
Paulson
2074
30
.867
0
Cappallo
1960
36
.764
0
Mirijanian
2004
27
.741
0
Godin
1954
40
.738
0
Thomas
1773
37
.676
0
Harris
1862
38
.671
0
Gurge
1773
39
.654
0
Barlas
1777
20
.650
2
♝
Brassard
1815
34
.632
0
Arsenault
1694
32
.625
0
Ganesan
1687
24
.625
0
Couture
1850
34
.618
0
Commisso
1702
26
.615
0
Condon
1727
23
.609
0
Fratturelli
1658
35
.600
0
Meehan
1637
30
.567
0
Hankard
1673
40
.563
0
Parker
1632
26
.558
0
Bennett, J.
1734
36
.542
0
Rogers, E.
1502
29
.517
0
Notes:
♟ There are 3 regular season games left to be played.
♟ Players who cannot reach 22 total games played for the season are excluded from the list.
♙ Players with current winning percentages under .500 are omitted from the list.
♝ Arthur Barlas with a current winning percentage of .650 has played 20 games and would need to play 2 of the remaining 3 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
♔ Geoff LePoer is omitted due to his golf commitments.
♚ Larry Gladding is omitted at his request.
* This is a change since March 16, 2016.
May 4th, 2016
2016 Martin Laine Memorial
Round 1 of 4
Martin Laine Memorial, May 4th, 2016
Round 1 of 4 Results
White
Result
Black
Ray Paulson
1-0
Jim Donahue
John Bastarache
0-1
Clay Bradley
Roger Cappallo
1-0
George Miller
Brian Biglow
0-1
Paul Godin
Eric Strickland
1-0
Bob Mathieu
Wayne Steadman
0-1
Ed Harris
Dave Couture
1-0
Bill Burke
Alexander Venezia
0-1
Larry Gladding
Arthur Barlas
1-0
Larry O'Rourke
Hugh McLaughlin
0-1
Ken Gurge
Dave Thomas
1-0
Don Briggs
Steve Koroskenyi
0-1
Alan Condon
Mike Commisso
1-0
Richard Bennett
Andrew Su
0-1
Lenny Arsenault
Seeth Ganesan
1/2-1/2
Nik Lavoie
Francis Scanlon
0-1
Jim Hankard
Tom Fratturelli
1-0
Emily Gawboy
Tom Whistler
0-1
Jackson Parker
Total of 18 boards, no major upsets.
♝ Receiving half-point byes were George Mirijanian, Gary Brassard, Joe Bennett, Randy McLaughlin,
Stan Talcott, Roland Sorel and Andrew Kiser.
♗ Declining a half-point bye was Gail Lingner.
Mirijanian, Brassard, J. Bennett, Ganesan, R. McLaughlin, Talcott, Sorel, Lavoie, Kiser
0.0
Donahue, Bastarache, Miller, Biglow, Mathieu, Lingner, Steadman, Burke, Venezia, O'Rourke, H. McLaughlin, Briggs,
Koroskenyi, R. Bennett, Su, Scanlon, Gawboy, Whistler
Projected Round 2 Pairings for May 11th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Gurge vs. Paulson
Board 2: Condon vs. Cappallo
Board 3: Godin vs. Thomas
Board 4: Commisso vs. Strickland
Board 5: Harris vs. Fratturelli
Board 6: Arsenault vs. Couture
Board 7: Hankard vs. Barlas
Board 8: Parker vs. Mirijanian
Board 9: R. McLaughlin vs. Brassard
Board 10: J. Bennett vs. Talcott
Board 11: Sorel vs. Ganesan
Board 12: Lavoie vs. Bastarache
Board 13: Donahue vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 14: Miller vs. Koroskenyi
Board 15: Briggs vs. Biglow
Board 16: Mathieu vs. Su
Board 17: Lingner vs. Scanlon
Board 18: R. Bennett vs. Steadman
Board 19: Gawboy vs. Venezia
Board 20: O'Rourke vs. Whistler
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on May 11th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
Round 1 of the 2016 Martin Laine Memorial will be played this Wednesday night, May 4, in Room C192 in the McKay Complex at Fitchburg State University.
Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for the round.
Players most likely to compete are listed below with their current ratings:
♔ ♛ ♖ ♝ ♘ ♞ ♗ ♜ ♕ ♚
Players most likely to compete in
the 2016 Martin Laine Memorial
are listed below with their current ratings:
1
Tony Cesolini
2091
2
Ray Paulson
2074
3
George Mirijanian
2004
4
Roger Cappallo
1960
5
Paul Godin
1948
6
Ed Harris
1852
7
Dave Couture
1850
8
Larry Gladding
1815
9
Gary Brassard
1815
10
Arthur Barlas
1777
11
Ken Gurge
1773
12
Joe Bennett
1772
13
Dave Thomas
1752
14
Mike Commisso
1702
15
Lenny Arsenault
1694
16
Seeth Ganesan
1687
17
Paul Lynch
1667
18
Jim Hankard
1660
19
Tom Fratturelli
1658
20
Mike Meehan
1637
21
Jackson Parker
1632
22
Jim Donahue
1582
23
John Bastarache
1571
24
George Miller
1550
25
Brian Biglow
1540
26
Bob Mathieu
1514
27
Gail Lingner
1500
28
Wayne Steadman
1480
29
xBill Burke
1480
30
Alexander Venezia
1459
31
Larry O'Rourke
1420
32
Hugh McLaughlin
1419
33
Don Briggs
1418
34
Steve Koroskenyi
1374
35
Randy McLaughlin
1336
36
Stan Talcott
1300
37
Richard Bennett
1275
38
Roland Sorel
1261
39
Andrew Su
1248
40
Nik Lavoie
1238
41
Kandy Lynch
1200
42
Andrew Kiser
1048
43
Francis Scanlon
1043
44
Emily Gawboy
863
45
Tom Whistler
777
May 3rd, 2016
Harold Dondis Remembered on WBUR
Today the WBUR Remembrance Project featured Chris Chase's touching tribute to Harold Dondis.
"Harold Dondis practiced law in Boston for 70 years, but he played the game of chess for 80. His fellow club members will never forget when Harold defeated Bobby Fischer, nor will they forget his last match."
2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings as of May 2, 2016
After 40 of 44 games completed in the 2015-2016 season, the following are the current standings for qualification for the
Club Championship Tournament.
The Top Ten High Winning Percentage Finishers Qualify.
The tiebreaker, if necessary, is the higher USCF rating after the final regular season tournament is rated! *
A minimum of 22 games must be completed to qualify.
Name
Rating
Games Played This Season
Winning Percentage
Additional Games Needed
Notes
Paulson
2068
29
.862
0
Cappallo
1960
35
.757
0
Mirijanian
2004
27
.741
0
Godin
1951
39
.731
0
Thomas
1752
36
.667
0
Harris
1852
37
.662
0
Gurge
1773
38
.645
0
Brassard
1831
34
.632
0
Barlas
1777
19
.632
3
♝
Ganesan
1687
23
.630
0
Arsenault
1694
31
.613
0
Couture
1850
33
.606
0
Commisso
1702
25
.600
2
Condon
1727
22
.591
2
Fratturelli
1658
34
.588
0
Meehan
1637
30
.567
0
Hankard
1660
39
.551
0
Bennett, J.
1772
36
.542
0
Parker
1632
25
.540
0
Rogers, E.
1533
29
.517
0
Notes:
♟ There are 4 regular season games left to be played.
♟ Players who cannot reach 22 total games played for the season are excluded from the list.
♙ Players with current winning percentages under .500 are omitted from the list.
♝ Arthur Barlas with a current winning percentage of .632 has played 19 games and would need to play 3 of the remaining 4 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
♔ Geoff LePoer is omitted due to his golf commitments.
♚ Larry Gladding is omitted at his request.
* This is a change since March 16, 2016.
May 1st, 2016
Happy 60th Birthday, GM Alexander Ivanov
♔ New England Chess Icon, GM Alexander Ivanov, Turns 60 Today ♔
He was born on May 1, 1956 in Omsk, Russia, which is in southwestern Siberia. He came to the United States sometime in the late 1980s (1988 according to his bio on the USCF site) and has lived in Newton, MA for many years. In 1982, Ivanov tied for first place with Anatoly Karpov and Boris Gulko in a Moscow tournament that featured 51 grandmasters.
Ever since his arrival & up until today he is widely considered to be one of the strongest players ever to reside in New England. He is a 15-time Massachusetts state champion and a U.S. Championship co-winner (with GMs Patrick Wolff and Nick DeFirmian) in 1995.
Roger Cappallo has posted a video of his game with Ed Harris from the last round of the Evert Siiskonen memorial tournament that was completed this past Wednesday.
Ray Paulson of Lowell scored 3.5-0.5 to tie for first place with fellow expert Tim Bromley in the Billerica April Swiss that ended Friday night, April 29, at the Billerica Chess Club. Ray's lone draw was against fellow Wachusett CC member Paul Godin of Bedford. The event saw another WCC player, Jim Donahue of Stow, participate in the event. Paulson's updated rating is now 2074, while Godin currently stands at 1949 and Donahue is at 1582.
Here are their updated ratings:
Ray Paulson -> 2074
Paul Godin -> 1948
Jim Donahue -> 1582
Seven Wachusett CC players, a full third of the field of 21 contestants, competed in the Waltham Miles G/5 d0 Blitz Tournament on Friday Night. The tournament consisted of 12 games played as a 6-round double Swiss format. The WCC was well represented in the winners' circle also, as Paul Godin & Geoff LePoer tied for 2nd-3rd place while Mike Commisso won the U1800 prize. First place went to USCF Expert, Todd Chase, who scpred 11.5 out of 12, giving up only a single draw to yet another WCC member, Joe Bennett.
Here are their final scores & new Blitz ratings:
Paul Godin (8.5) -> B: 1903
Joe Bennett (8.0) -> B: 1903
Geoff LePoer (8.5) -> B: 1874
Mike Commisso (7.0) -> B: 1632
Mike Meehan (6.5) -> B: 1630
Jim Hankard (6.0) -> B: 1602
Alex Venezia (4.0) -> B: 1354
♖ Not playing round 5 were Ray Paulson, George Mirijanian, Joe Bennett, Alan Condon, Andrew Kiser, William Burke, Gail Lingner,
Stan Talcott, Jim Donahue, Jeromy Tilton and Jackson Parker.
♙ The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes 9 year old Andrew Su, of Harvard, our newest club member. His one game tonight (against Larry O'Rourke) netted him 44 rating points.
Evert Siiskonen Memorial, April 27th, 2016
FINAL STANDINGS
Points
Players
5.0 ♔
Couture
4.5
-----
4.0
Godin, Brassard, Commisso
3.5
Cappallo, Harris, Ganesan, Meehan
3.0
Paulson, LePoer, Gurge, Barlas, Thomas, Hankard, Steadman, H. McLaughlin
2.5
Mirijanian, Gladding, Arsenault, Bastarache, Miller, Venezia
2.0
J. Bennett, Condon, Fratturelli, Biglow, Mathieu, Koroskenyi, R. McLaughlin, R. Bennett, Sorel, Su, Lavoie, Kiser
The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Hugh McLaughlin
+ 182
Dave Couture
+ 160
Wayne Steadman
+ 95
Nik Lavoie
+ 72
Mike Commisso
+ 71
Alexander Venezia
+ 65
Andrew Kiser
+ 53
Seeth Ganesan
+ 50
The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Alexander Venezia
1459/P17
Roland Sorel
1261
Andrew Su
1248
Nik Lavoie
1238
♟ ♘ ♝ ♖ ♛ ♔ Congratulations to all !
REMINDER: The next tournament at the club, the Martin Laine Memorial (1950-2014), will start Wednesday, May 4th.
Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 1 on May 4th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
While finishing in 9th place with a 4.5/11 score, 12-year-old Carissa Yip of Andover, MA still managed to conjure up yet another big surprise win over 7-time US Women's Champ, GM Irina Krush in round ten of the eleven round round robin event..
Here is Carissa's thrilling round 10 victory against 7-time US Women's Champ, GM Irina Krush:
Of the four Wachusett CC players who competed in the regular sections of the 25th Eastern Class Championships the weekend of April 22-24 in Sturbridge, MA, Jim Donahue of Stow, MA gained the most number of rating points, 33, raising his rating to 1646. Ed Harris of Marlboro, NH, netted 4 rating points to boost his rating to 1842, while Eric Strickland of Brattleboro, VT lost 13 rating points to lower his rating to 1922 and Dave Couture of Westminster, MA took a loss of 15 points to emerge with a rating of 1690. Tony Cesolini of Rindge, NH took part in the Eastern Class Blitz Championship and saw his USCF blitz rating go from 1976 to 1962.
Here are their Regular & Blitz rating updates:
Tony Cesolini -> B: 1962
Eric Strickland -> R: 1922
Ed Harris -> R: 1842
Dave Couture -> R: 1690
Jim Donahue -> R: 1646
April 25th, 2016
Quinsigamond Community College, Intercollegiate Chess Tournament Results
Quinsigamond Community College Intercollegiate Chess Tournament - Saturday April 23, 2016
Hosted by: Jerry Williams, Quinsigamond Community College
Tournament director: Joe Alfano, Assumption College
Place
NAME
School
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
TOTAL
1
Clark Bishop
DHS
( 6) 1.0
( 5) 1.0
( 3) 0.5
( 4) 1.0
3.5
2
Stephen Dann
T&G
(LE) 0.5
( 4) 0.0
( 6) 1.0
( 3) 1.0
2.5
3
Jerry Williams
QCC
( 4) 1.0
( 7) 1.0
( 1) 0.5
( 2) 0.0
2.5
4
Dustin Hopkins
QCC
( 3) 0.0
( 2) 1.0
( 5) 1.0
( 1) 0.0
2.0
5
Aidan Light
QCC
( 8) 1.0
( 1) 0.0
( 4) 0.0
( 7) 1.0
2.0
6
Mike Imse
QCC
( 1) 0.0
( 8) 1.0
( 2) 0.0
(BY) 1.0
2.0
7
Will Pitman
QCC
(LE) 0.5
( 3) 0.0
( 8) 1.0
( 5) 0.0
1.5
8
Mark DeVirgilio
QCC
( 5) 0.0
( 6) 0.0
( 7) 0.0
(WD) 0.0
0.0
DHS = Douglas High School
QCC = Quinsigamond Community College
T&G = Telegram and Gazette
1.0 = Win
0.0 = Loss
0.5 = Draw
BY = Bye: the player had no opponent, and won by default.
LE = Late entry: 0.5 points for an unplayed first round.
WD = Withdrew.
In each round, the player is listed with their opponent and final score.
E.g. in Round 1, Clark Bishop played Mike Imse (player 6) and won.
Re-listening to it, I hear about 10 mistakes that I make - mostly just saying the wrong word, but I also fail to correctly point out a N fork on g4, and claim in another spot that maybe his K should have come forward (through check!). Consider them Easter eggs to be found.
Once again, I tried to be brief, but it's hard to optimize both for brevity and for information content.
Wachusett CC players to compete in Eastern Class Championships
Four Wachusett Chess Club players are registered to compete in the 25th Eastern Class Championships, which will be held April 22-24 at the Host Hotel at Cedar Lake in Sturbridge, MA. Playing in the Class A section are Eric Strickland of Brattleboro, VT and Ed Harris of Marlboro, NH, while Dave Couture of Westminster, MA and Jim Donahue of Stow, MA will compete in the Class B section. The tournament, organized by Bill Goichberg for the Continental Chess Association, is one of the most popular events held annually in Massachusetts.
George M
April 20th, 2016
2016 Evert Siiskonen Memorial
Round 4 of 5
Evert Siiskonen Memorial, April 20th, 2016
Round 4 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Roger Cappallo
0-1
♔ Gary Brassard
Dave Couture
1-0
Lenny Arsenult
Arthur Barlas
0-1
Ray Paulson
Dave Thomas
0-1
Paul Godin
Geoff LePoer
1-0
Alan Condon
Tom Fratturelli
0-1
Ed Harris
Ken Gurge
1-0
Jim Hankard
Mike Commisso
1-0
Joe Bennett
Alexander Venezia
0-1
John Bastarache
Brian Biglow
1-0
Randy McLaughlin
Bob Mathieu
1-0
Richard Bennett
♔ Hugh McLaughlin
1-0
Gail Lingner
Larry O'Rourke
0-1
♔Roland Sorel
♔ Nik Lavoie
1-0
Don Briggs
Francis Scanlon
0-1
Wayne Steadman
Steve Koroskenyi
0-1
♔ Andrew Kiser
Emily Gawboy
1-0
Tom Whistler
Total of 17 boards, 5 major upsets (♔).
♝ Receiving half-point byes were George Mirijanian, Larry Gladding, Seeth Ganesan, Mike Meehan,
George Miller, William Burke, Jim Donahue and Jeromy Tilton.
♖ Not playing round 4 was Stan Talcott.
Jackson Parker had already withdrawn from the tournament.
J. Bennett, Barlas, Thomas, Condon, Fratturelli, Hankard, Biglow, Mathieu, Steadman, H. McLaughlin, Sorel, Lavoie, Kiser
1.5
Miller, Burke, Venezia
1.0
Lingner, O'Rourke, Briggs, Koroskenyi, R. McLaughlin, Talcott, R. Bennett, Scanlon, Gawboy, Whistler
0.5
Donahue, Tilton
0.0
Parker
Projected Round 5 Pairings for April 27th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Brassard vs, Couture
Board 2: Harris vs. Cappallo
Board 3: Godin vs. Gurge
Board 4: Commisso vs. LePoer
Board 5: Mirijanian vs. Ganesan
Board 6: Gladding vs. Meehan
Board 7: Arsenault vs. Bastarache
Board 8: J. Bennett vs. Mathieu
Board 9: Steadman vs. Barlas
Board 10: Sorel vs. Thomas
Board 11: H. McLaughlin vs. Fratturelli
Board 12: Hankard vs. Kiser
Board 13: Biglow vs. Lavoie
Board 14: Venezia vs. Miller
Board 15: Lingner vs. Talcott
Board 16: R. Bennett vs. O'Rourke
Board 17: Briggs vs. Scanlon
Board 18: Gawboy vs. Koroskenyi
Board 19: Whistler vs. R. McLaughlin
♖ Not paired for Round 5 are: Paulson, Condon, Burke, Donahue, Tilton and Parker.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 5 on April 27th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
April 20th, 2016
Carissa draws leader in U.S Women's Championship
In Round 6 of the 2016 U.S. Women's Championship, played Wednesday, April 20, in Saint Louis, 12-year-old Carissa Yip held the tournament leader, IM Nazi Paikidze, 22, of Baltimore, MD to a draw. Paikidze, who had been leading the 12-player round-robin field with a score of 4-1 going into the round, adopted the Caro-Kann Defense against her younger opponent and faced the Advance Variation right away. After a very tricky middlegame, the players traded down to a same-colored bishop and 4 pawns ending that ended peacefully after 43 moves.
The splitting of the point allowed two other contenders, GM Irina Krush and WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, to move into sharing the lead with Paikidze with scores of 4.5-1.5 going into round 7. IM Anna Zatonskih is currently in sole possession of 4th place with a 4-2 tally, while Carissa and WGM Katerina Nemcova are deadlocked in 5th place with 3-3 results. Five rounds remain in the championship.
Carissa even after 5 rounds in 2016 U.S. Women's Championship
With six rounds remaining in the U.S. Women's Championship in Saint Louis, 2014 Wachusett Chess Club champion Carissa Yip is currently tied for 5th place with an even score of 2.5-2.5 after losing in round 5 on Monday, April 18, to 16-year-old WIM Agata Bykovtsev of Goleta, CA in 60 moves of a Sicilian Defense (Najdorf Variation). Carissa and Agata are deadlocked in 5th place with WGM Sabrina Foisor, 26, of Lubbock, TX.
Leading the 12-player round-robin field with a score of 4-1 is IM Nazi Paikidze, followed by GM Irina Krush and WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, both at 3.5-1.5. Four-time U.S. Women's champion IM Anna Zatonskih is in 4th place with a 3-2 tally.
George M
2016 US Women's Championship:
Cross table after round 5
Rank Name Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Score
1 IM Paikidze, Nazi 2346 x 1/2 1/2 1 1 1 4.0
2 GM Krush, Irina 2465 x 1/2 1 1 1/2 1/2 3.5
3 WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev 2342 1/2 x 1 1/2 1/2 1 3.5
4 IM Zatonskih, Anna 2470 1/2 1/2 x 1/2 1/2 1 3.0
5 WIM Bykovtsev, Agata 2219 0 0 x 1 1/2 1 2.5
6 Yip, Carissa 2164 1/2 0 x 1 0 1 2.5
7 WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca 2258 0 1/2 x 1 1/2 1/2 2.5
8 FM Gorti, Akshita 2184 0 0 0 x 1 1 2.0
9 WGM Nemcova, Katerina 2367 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 x 1/2 2.0
10 WFM Yu, Jennifer R 2157 0 0 1/2 1 x 1/2 2.0
11 WIM Eswaran, Ashritha 2225 0 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 x 1.5
12 FM Melekhina, Alisa 2205 1/2 0 0 1/2 0 x 1.0
April 18th, 2016
Non-Rated Blitz At Burger King
Great turnout for yesterday's Burger King Open Blitz Tournament. A great turnout of players in general, actually, as 8 people from the club were there for a fun afternoon of chess, good conversation, and just a little bit of trash talking. Six of the eight in attendance competed in the tournament, a fast paced, 5-round double round robin with G5/d0 time controls.
Congratulations to Tony Cesolini for winning the unrated event with a score of 9/10. Tony sailed through the field, losing only one game on his way to victory to the eventual 2nd place finisher Joe Bennett. Joe finished with a strong 6.5/10. Mike Meehan came in 3rd with 4.5/10, and Gary Brassard, Dave Thomas, and Alexander Venezia rounded out the field with 4th - 6th place, respectively. See the crosstable below for detailed results. Thanks to all that came out and played, and we'll see you at the next one!!
Kindest Regards,
Mike Meehan
Burger King Open Blitz Tournament
17-Apr-16
Double Round Robin
Six Entrants
UNRATED EVENT
♜ ♘ ♝ ♟ ♖
Tony Cesolini
Joe Bennett
Mike Meehan
Gary Brassard
Dave Thomas
Alexander Venezia
TOTAL
Tony Cesolini
1
2
2
2
2
9
Joe Bennett
1
1
1.5
2
1
6.5
Mike Meehan
0
1
1
1
1.5
4.5
Gary Brassard
0
.5
1
.5
2
4
Dave Thomas
0
0
1
1.5
1
3.5
Alexander Venezia
0
1
.5
0
1
2.5
April 18th, 2016
2016 Evert Siiskonen Memorial
Revised (again) Projected Round 4 Pairings for April 20th
Projected Round 4 Pairings for April 20th: (Revised April 18th)Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Roger Cappallo (3.0) Gary Brassard (3.0)
Board 2: Dave Couture (3.0) Lenny Arsenault (2.5)
Board 3: Tom Fratturelli (2.0) Raymond Paulson (2.0)
Board 4: George Mirijanian (2.0) Arthur Barlas (2.0)
Board 5: Michael Commisso (2.0) Paul Godin (2.0)
Board 6: Geoff LePoer (2.0) David Thomas (2.0)
Board 7: Michael Meehan (2.0) Edward Harris (2.0)
Board 8: Kenneth Gurge (2.0) Alan Condon (2.0)
Board 9: Joseph Bennett (2.0) James Hankard (2.0)
Board 10: Alexander Venezia (1.5) John Bastarache (1.5)
Board 11: Brian Biglow (1.0) Randy McLaughlin (1.0)
Board 12: Robert Mathieu (1.0) Stanford Talcott (1.0)
Board 13: Gail Lingner (1.0) Richard Bennett (1.0)
Board 14: Hugh McLaughlin (1.0) Laurence O'Rourke (1.0)
Board 15: Nickolas Lavoie (1.0) Donald Briggs (1.0)
Board 16: Francis Scanlon II (1.0) Wayne Steadman (1.0)
Board 17: Steven Koroskenyi (1.0) Roland Sorel (1.0)
Board 18: Emily Gawboy (0.0) Tom Whistler (1.0)
1/2 Lawrence Gladding (2.0) BYE
1/2 Seetharaman Ganesan (2.0) BYE
1/2 Jim Donahue (0.0) BYE
1/2 William Burke (1.0) BYE
April 18th, 2016
Carissa half point off lead after four rounds in U.S. Women's Championship
2016 US Women's Championship:
Cross table after round 4
Rank Name Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Score
1 WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev 2342 x 1/2 1/2 1 1 3.0
2 IM Paikidze, Nazi 2346 1/2 x 1/2 1 1 3.0
3 GM Krush, Irina 2465 x 1 1 1/2 1/2 3.0
4 IM Zatonskih, Anna 2470 1/2 x 1/2 1/2 1 2.5
5 Yip, Carissa 2164 1/2 x 0 1 1 2.5
6 WFM Yu, Jennifer R 2157 0 1 x 1/2 1/2 2.0
7 WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca 2258 0 1/2 x 1/2 1 2.0
8 WIM Bykovtsev, Agata 2219 0 0 1/2 x 1 1.5
9 WGM Nemcova, Katerina 2367 1/2 1/2 x 1/2 0 1.5
10 FM Melekhina, Alisa 2205 1/2 0 1/2 0 x 1.0
11 WIM Eswaran, Ashritha 2225 0 0 1/2 1/2 x 1.0
12 FM Gorti, Akshita 2184 0 0 0 1 x 1.0
Carissa draws Abrahamyan - both deadlocked in 1st place in U.S. Women's Championship
In an amazing display of defensive play, 12-year-old Carissa Yip of Andover, MA held WGM Tatev Abrahamyan of Glendale, CA to a draw on Saturday, April 16, in Round 3 of the U.S. Women's Championship in Saint Louis. Carissa, playing the white pieces, faced the French Defense, Tatev's favorite defense against 1. e4, and adopted the Tarrasch Variation (3. Nd2) against her 28-year-old opponent. Carissa experienced some difficulties in the middlegame but managed to turn the game around with effective defensive play and the players agreed to a draw after 45 moves.
The splitting of the point allowed both Tatev and Carissa to remain tied for first place with scores of 2.5-0.5 with IM Nazi Paikidze, who defeated WIM Ashritha Eswaran in round 3 in the 12-player round-robin event, so there is a three-way tie for first right now.
George M
Yip vs. Abrahamyan 1/2 - 1/2
by GM Cristian Chririla
"What a miss by Abrahamyan!
The game between the two leaders in the women's section was a one-sided affair in which Black could have finished her opponent on different occasions. Abrahamyan surprised her young opponent by choosing 3...h6. White developed her pieces well, up to a point, but failed to understand the requirements of the position and tried to save a pawn when he should have went for the dynamic compensation. White should have tried to destabilize the center with 13.c4 instead of 13.Ba4?! which was a poor decision. Abrahamyan played a perfect game, improving her pieces and occupying more space with every single move. 29...c4! with the threat of c3 would have almost certainly finished the game in due time but her big mistake was 33...Bb3? Allowing Rc3! A disappointing round for Abrahamyan who is surely going to have a night full of regrets ahead of her."
[What the distinguished commentator above neglected to mention is that with this, Tatev Abrahamyan adds her name to the ever increasing list of people who have almost beaten Carissa Yip!]
2016 Evert Siiskonen Memorial
Revised Projected Round 4 Pairings for April 20th
Projected Round 4 Pairings for April 20th: (Revised April 16th)Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Roger Cappallo (3.0) Gary Brassard (3.0)
Board 2: Dave Couture (3.0) Lenny Arsenault (2.5)
Board 3: Tom Fratturelli (2.0) Raymond Paulson (2.0)
Board 4: George Mirijanian (2.0) Arthur Barlas (2.0)
Board 5: Michael Commisso (2.0) Paul Godin (2.0)
Board 6: Geoff LePoer (2.0) David Thomas (2.0)
Board 7: Michael Meehan (2.0) Edward Harris (2.0)
Board 8: Kenneth Gurge (2.0) Alan Condon (2.0)
Board 9: Joseph Bennett (2.0) James Hankard (2.0)
Board 10: Alexander Venezia (1.5) John Bastarache (1.5)
Board 11: Brian Biglow (1.0 Richard Bennett (1.0)
Board 12: Steven Koroskenyi (1.0) George Miller (1.0)
Board 13: Robert Mathieu (1.0) Roland Sorel (1.0)
Board 14: Hugh McLaughlin (1.0) Gail Lingner (1.0)
Board 15: Nickolas Lavoie (1.0) Laurence O'Rourke (1.0)
Board 16: Francis Scanlon II (1.0) Donald Briggs (1.0)
Board 17: Tom Whistler (1.0) Wayne Steadman (1.0)
Board 18: Emily Gawboy (0.0) Randy McLaughlin (0.5)
1/2 Lawrence Gladding (2.0) BYE
1/2 Seetharaman Ganesan (2.0) BYE
1/2 Jim Donahue (0.0) BYE
1/2 William Burke (1.0) BYE
April 16th, 2016
Carissa wins again! - Still tied for 1st place in U.S. Women's Championship
Carissa Yip continued her winning ways by chalking up her second victory in a row in the 2016 U.S. Women's Championship in Saint Louis. In round 2 of the 12-player round-robin event on Friday, April 15, Carissa, playing the black pieces, defeated WIM Ashritha Eswaran in 71 moves of a Sicilian Defense (Najdorf Variation). The win keeps Carissa tied for first place with WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, who beat WFM Jennifer Yu in round 2. Carissa will now face Abrahamyan with the white pieces in round 3 on Saturday, April 16. An exciting game is expected.
George M
Chess: My Week at the Club #2
My weekly game at the Wachusett Chess Club, in Fitchburg MA.
This week I played on board 1 as Black in a very unusual Reti opening.
Hello All,
Thanks again for all of the good feedback you guys provided me on my first attempt. I've now posted this week's game against Dave Thomas on YouTube, with the URL: Chess: My Week at the Club #2
It seemed like the principal suggestion was to keep it a bit shorter, so I've limited my analysis, attempting to stay out of the analysis weeds where possible.
Hopefully there's still some instructive content still left in it!
Carissa Yip wins Game 1 in U.S. Women's Championship
Carissa Yip faces WIM Akshita Gorti in round 1
2014 Wachusett Chess Club Champion, Carissa Yip, 12, of Andover, MA scored a win in Round 1 of the 2016 U.S. Women's Championship, played Thursday, April 14, at the Chess Center and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. Carissa, playing the white pieces, defeated WIM Akshita Gorti, 13, of Chantilly, VA. The win puts Carissa in a current tie for first place with WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, 28, of Glendale, CA, who beat WIM Agata Bykovtsev, 16, of Goleta, CA in the first round of a 12-player round robin. Four other Round 1 games ended in draws. Round 2 is Friday, April 15. The 11th and final round is Monday, April 25.
George M
Here is Carissa's game from Round 1:
[Event "US Chess Championships (Women)"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2016.04.14"]
[EventDate "2016.04.13"]
[Round "1"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Carissa Yip"]
[Black "Akshita Gorti"]
[ECO "C04"]
[WhiteElo "2164"]
[BlackElo "2184"]
[PlyCount "95"]
The following Wachusett CC players are the only ones currently registered to vote
in the 2016 USCF Executive Board election:
George Mirijanian
Dave Kochman
Larry Gladding
Ken Gurge
Arthur Barlas
Vince Bradley
Dave Couture
Seeth Ganesan
Wayne Steadman
George M
April 13th, 2016
2016 Evert Siiskonen Memorial
Round 3 of 5
Evert Siiskonen Memorial, April 13th, 2016
Round 3 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Dave Thomas
0-1
Roger Cappallo
Ed Harris
0-1
Dave Couture
Seeth Ganesan
0-1
Gary Brassard
Arthur Barlas
1/2-1/2
Lenny Arsenault
Tom Fratturelli
1/2-1/2
Mike Meehan
Ray Paulson
1-0
Brian Biglow
George Miller
0-1
George Mirijanian
Paul Godin
1-0
Bob Mathieu
Gail Lingner
0-1
Geoff LePoer
Larry O'Rourke
0-1
Larry Gladding
Wayne Steadman
0-1
Ken Gurge
Don Briggs
0-1
Joe Bennett
Alan Condon
1-0
Steve Koroskenyi
Jim Hankard
1-0
Hugh McLaughlin
Richard Bennett
0-1
Mike Commisso
John Bastarache
1-0
Francis Scanlon
Jim Donahue
0-1
♔Alexander Venezia
William Burke
1-0
Jeromy Tilton
Roland Sorel
1-0
Emily Gawboy
Total of 19 boards, 1 major upset (♔).
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Randy McLaughlin, Stan Talcott, Nik Lavoie, Andrew Kiser and Tom Whistler.
♙ Withdrawn from the tournament were Vlad Gaciu, Paul Lynch, Noah Rogers, Ed Rogers and Kandy Lynch.
♟ Jackson Parker had already withdrawn from the event.
Biglow, Miller, Mathieu, Lingner, O'Rourke, Burke, Briggs, Steadman, Koroskenyi, R. McLaughlin, Talcott, R. Bennett, H.
McLaughlin, Sorel, Lavoie, Scanlon, Kiser, Whistler
0.5
-----
0.0
(Parker), Donahue, Tilton, Gawboy
Projected Round 4 Pairings for April 20th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cappallo vs. Brassard
Board 2: Couture vs. Arsenault
Board 3: Barlas vs. Paulson
Board 4: Mirijanian vs. Thomas
Board 5: Fratturelli vs. Godin
Board 6: LePoer vs. Condon
Board 7: Meehan vs. Harris
Board 8: Gurge vs. Hankard
Board 9: J. Bennett vs. Ganesan
Board 10: Commisso vs. Bastarache
Board 11: Venezia vs. Miller
Board 12: Biglow vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 13: Mathieu vs. R. Bennett
Board 14: Lingner vs. Sorel
Board 15: H. McLaughlin vs. O'Rourke
Board 16: Whistler vs. Briggs
Board 17: Scanlon vs. Steadman
Board 18: Koroskenyi vs. Lavoie
Board 19: Gawboy vs. Donahue
♗ Requesting half-point byes for Round 4 are Gladding and Burke.
♘ Not paired for round 4 are Talcott, Kiser and Tilton.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on April 20th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
Bob Messenger Shown Below Presenting Carissa Yip with the 2016 Spiegel Cup Trophy
The Chinese-English newspaper "Sampan", published in Boston, has an article about Carissa in its Friday (April 8) edition. The editor, Ling-Mei Wong, called me and asked questions about Carissa. I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with her. Links to the story - in both English and Chinese - are available.
George M
The 26th Mass. Game/60 Championship, held on Sunday, April 10, in Marlborough had a record-breaking turnout: 151 players (posted on rating report as 152 players). Six Wachusett CC players (Tony Cesolini, Gary Brassard, Jack Martin, Dave Martin, Mike Commisso, & Stan Talcott) competed in various sections.
The event was dual-rated, so here are their Regular (R) & Quick (Q) rating updates:
Tony Cesolini R: 2066 -> 2091 Q: 1986 -> 2002
Gary Brassard R: 1766 -> 1807 Q: 1700 -> 1726
Jack Martin R: 1738 -> 1733 Q: 1640 -> 1631
Dave Martin R: 1670 -> 1681 Q: 1565 -> 1571
Mike Commisso R: 1659 -> 1631 Q: 1541 -> 1504
Stan Talcott R: 1344 -> 1300 Q: 1223 -> 1200
Noah Rogers, Finn Rogers and Sebastian Tilton, three of the youngest members of the Wachusett Chess Club, competed in the Junior High section of the 2016 New Hampshire Scholastic Team Championships on Saturday, April 9, at Pelham Elementary School in Pelham, NH.
Finn posted the only perfect score of 4-0 in the section and raised his regular rating by 50 points, while his brother Noah tallied 3.5-0.5 and lost 16 points. Sebastian scored 3-1 but lost 36 rating points.
The event was dual-rated, so here are their Regular (R) & Quick (Q) rating updates:
My Week at the Club #1
My weekly game at the Wachusett Chess Club, in Fitchburg MA.
This week I played as White in a Pirc opening, against Jim Hankard.
Hello All,
I've decided to take a bit of a leap and to post a video each week on my game from the club. If nothing else, it will give you all a chance
to prepare for games with me, exposing the gaping holes in my opening preparations.
(And Jim, sorry for mis-pronouncing your name - I've only known it for 25 years or so!)
If you're interested, here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoQixNXhYo0
2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings as of April 7, 2016
After 37 of 44 games completed in the 2015-2016 season, the following are the current standings for qualification for the
Club Championship Tournament.
The Top Ten High Winning Percentage Finishers Qualify.
The tiebreaker, if necessary, is the higher USCF rating after the final regular season tournament is rated! *
A minimum of 22 games must be completed to qualify.
Name
Rating
Games Played This Season
Winning Percentage
Additional Games Needed
Notes
Paulson
2080
27
.852
0
Cappallo
1971
32
.781
0
Mirijanian
2002
26
.731
0
Gladding
1852
36
.722
0
Godin
1955
36
.708
0
Thomas
1753
33
.697
0
Harris
1838
34
.676
0
Arsenault
1686
28
.661
0
Barlas
1789
16
.656
6
♝
Gurge
1790
35
.643
0
Ganesan
1637
21
.643
1
♘
Brassard
1766
31
.629
0
Fratturelli
1688
31
.629
0
Condon
1732
20
.600
2
Couture
1705
30
.567
0
Meehan
1595
28
.554
0
Commisso
1659
22
.545
2
Bennett, J.
1789
34
.544
0
Hankard
1664
36
.542
0
Parker
1694
25
.540
0
Rogers, E.
1533
29
.517
0
Notes:
♟ There are 7 regular season games left to be played.
♟ Players who cannot reach 22 total games played for the season are excluded from the list.
♙ Players with current winning percentages under .500 are omitted from the list.
* This is a change since March 16, 2016.
♔ Geoff LePoer is omitted due to his golf commitments.
♘ Seeth Ganesan with a current winning percentage of .643 has played 21 games and would need to play 1 of the remaining 7 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
♝ Arthur Barlas with a current winning percentage of .656 has played 16 games and would need to play 6 of the remaining 7 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
♝ Receiving half-point byes were George Mirijanian, Joe Bennett, Vlad Gaciu, Alan Condon, Paul Lynch,
Noah Rogers, Ed Rogers, Bob Mathieu, Larry O'Rourke, Richard Bennett, Kandy Lynch, Francis Scanlon,
Randy McLaughlin and Andrew Kiser.
♙ ♟ Withdrawing from the tournament were Geoff LePoer and Dave Martin.
Paulson, Mirijanian, Godin, Gladding, Gurge, J. Bennett, Gaciu, Condon, P. Lynch, Hankard, Commisso, Biglow, N. Rogers,
Miller, E. Rogers, Mathieu, Lingner, O'Rourke, Briggs, Steadman, Koroskenyi, R. Bennett, H. McLaughlin, K. Lynch,
Scanlon
0.5
Bastarache, Venezia, R. McLaughlin, Talcott, Lavoie, Kiser, Whistler
0.0
Parker, Donahue, Burke, Sorel, Tilton, Gawboy
Projected Round 3 Pairings for April 13th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Thomas vs. Cappallo
Board 2: Harris vs. Couture
Board 3: Ganesan vs. Brassard
Board 4: Barlas vs. Arsenault
Board 5: Fratturelli vs. Meehan
Board 6: Paulson vs. N. Rogers
Board 7: Miller vs. Mirijanian
Board 8: Godin vs. E. Rogers
Board 9: Mathieu vs. Gladding
Board 10: Lingner vs. Gurge
Board 11: O'Rourke vs. J. Bennett
Board 12: Briggs vs. Gaciu
Board 13: Steadman vs. Condon
Board 14: P. Lynch vs. Koroskenyi
Board 15: Hankard vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 16: R. Bennett vs. Commisso
Board 17: K. Lynch vs. Biglow
Board 18: Bastarache vs. Scanlon
Board 19: Venezia vs. Talcott
Board 20: Kiser vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 21: Whistler vs. Donahue
Board 22: Burke vs. Tilton
Board 23: Sorel vs. Gawboy
♗ Requesting a half-point bye for Round 3 is Lavoie. Parker is withdrawing from the tournament.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on April 13th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
April 5th, 2016
Non-Rated Blitz At Burger King
The results are in. Low turnout for the latest Burger King Blitz Open Tournament, but fun was had by all.
The tournament was a G/5 double round robin with four contestants. Paul Godin steamrolled his way into the winner's circle, scoring a perfect 6/6. Alexander Venezia also turned in a nice performance, blanking both Mike Meehan and Mike Commisso, on way to a strong second place finish with 4/6 (losing only to eventual tournament winner, Godin). Meehan and Commisso rounded out the field with 3rd and 4th place, respectively. See the attached crosstable for full results.
Thanks all!! See you at the next one!
Kindest Regards,
Mike Meehan
Burger King Open Blitz Tournament
3-Apr-16
Double Round Robin
Four Entrants
UNRATED EVENT
Paul Godin
Alexander Venezia
Mike Meehan
Mike Commisso
Total
Paul Godin
2
2
2
6
Alexander Venezia
0
2
2
4
Mike Meehan
0
0
2
2
Mike Commisso
0
0
0
0
April 3rd, 2016
Wachusett CC rating updates
Ray Paulson won the Billerica March Swiss with a perfect 4-0 score & achieved a new all time high rating of 2080. Tony Cesolini played only one game which was reported as a side game & thereby previously included in his rating calculation.
The following Wachusett CC players took part in the event, which ended April 1 and was rated April 2:
Ray Paulson -> 2080
Paul Godin -> 1955
Jim Donahue -> 1613
March 30th, 2016
2016 Evert Siiskonen Memorial
Round 1 of 5
Siiskonen Opener Punctuated by Pair of Huge Upsets
Evert Siiskonen Memorial, March 30th, 2016
Round 1 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Ray Paulson
1-0
Jim Donahue
John Bastarache
0-1
Roger Cappallo
Paul Godin
1-0
Brian Biglow
George Miller
0-1
Larry Gladding
Ed Harris
1-0
William Burke
♔Don Briggs
1-0
Ken Gurge
Arthur Barlas
1/2-1/2
Alexander Venezia
Wayne Steadman
0-1
Gary Brassard
Dave Thomas
1-0
Steve Koroskenyi
Randy McLaughlin
0-1
Dave Couture
Jackson Parker
0-1
♔Hugh McLaughlin
Roland Sorel
0-1
Lenny Arsenault
Jim Hankard
1-0
Nik Lavoie
Andrew Kiser
0-1
Mike Commisso
Seeth Ganesan
1-0
Emily Gawboy
Total of 15 boards, 2 major upsets (♔).
Hugh McLaughlin graciously contributed his round one game with comments which may be viewed in the Games Section. Not only is the game a significant upset, but it's a fine example of a good old fashioned double edged slug fest. It's of course sprinkled with miscalculations & oversights, but also lots of excitement & fun. If perfect chess is what you want, you have a much better chance of finding it somewhere like here.
♝ Receiving half-point byes were George Mirijanian, Geoff LePoer, Joe Bennett, Vlad Gaciu, Alan Condon,
Tom Fratturelli, Dave Martin, Paul Lynch, Mike Meehan, Noah Rogers, Ed Rogers, Bob Mathieu, Larry O'Rourke,
Stan Talcott, Richard Bennett, Kandy Lynch, Francis Scanlon and Tom Whistler.
♖ Not playing round 1 were Gail Lingner and Jeromy Tilton.
Mirijanian, LePoer, J. Bennett, Barlas, Gaciu, Condon, Fratturelli, Martin, P. Lynch. Meehan, N. Rogers, E. Rogers,
Mathieu, O'Rourke, Venezia,Talcott, R. Bennett, K. Lynch, Scanlon, Whistler
Projected Round 2 Pairings for April 6th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Couture vs. Paulson
Board 2: Cappallo vs. Hankard
Board 3: Arsenault vs. Godin
Board 4: Gladding vs. Ganesan
Board 5: Commisso vs. Harris
Board 6: Brassard vs. Briggs
Board 7: H. McLaughlin vs. Thomas
Board 8: Mirijanian vs. E. Rogers
Board 9: Mathieu vs. J. Bennett
Board 10: O'Rourke vs. Barlas
Board 11: Venezia vs.Gaciu
Board 12: Fratturelli vs. Talcott
Board 13: R. Bennett vs. Martin
Board 14: P. Lynch vs. Scanlon
Board 15: K. Lynch vs. Meehan
Board 16: N. Rogers vs. Whistler
Board 17: Gurge vs. Steadman
Board 18: Koroskenyi vs. Parker
Board 19: Donahue vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 20: Lavoie vs. Bastarache
Board 21: Biglow vs. Sorel
Board 22: Tilton vs. Miller
Board 23: Gawboy vs. Lingner
Board 24: Burke vs. Kiser
♙ The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes Steve Koroskenyi of Leominster & Jim Donahue of Stow.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on April 6th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
Current rating list for 2016 Evert Siiskonen Memorial
Round 1 of the 2016 Evert Siiskonen Memorial will be played this Wednesday night, March 30, in Room C192 in the McKay Complex at Fitchburg State University.
Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for the round.
Players most likely to compete are listed below with their current ratings:
♔ ♛ ♖ ♝ ♘ ♞ ♗ ♜ ♕ ♚
Players most likely to compete in the 2016 Evert Siiskonen Memorial are listed below
with their current ratings:
1
Tony Cesolini
2064
2
Ray Paulson
2045
3
George Mirjanian
2002
4
Roger Cappallo
1971
5
Paul Godin
1962
6
Geoff LePoer
1916
7
Larry Gladding
1852
8
Ed Harris
1838
9
Ken Gurge
1790
10
Joe Bennett
1789
11
Arthur Barlas
1789
12
Gary Brassard
1766
13
Vlad Gaciu
1761
14
Dave Thomas
1753
15
Dave Couture
1705
16
Jackson Parker
1694
17
Tom Fratturelli
1688
18
Lenny Arsenault
1686
19
Paul Lynch
1667
20
Jim Hankard
1664
21
Mike Commisso
1659
22
Seeth Ganesan
1637
23
Mike Meehan
1595
24
John Bastarache
1584
25
Brian Biglow
1556
26
Noah Rogers
1548
27
George Miller
1546
28
Ed Rogers
1533
29
Bob Mathieu
1517
30
Gail Lingner
1501
31
Larry O'Rourke
1491
32
William Burke
1488
33
Don Briggs
1436
34
Alexander Venezia
1416
35
Wayne Steadman
1385
36
Steve Koroskenyi
1381
37
Randy McLaughlin
1347
38
Stan Talcott
1344
39
Richard Bennett
1287
40
Hugh McLaughlin
1237
41
Roland Sorel
1237
42
Kandy Lynch
1200
43
Nik Lavoie
1166
44
Sebastian Tilton
1103
45
Francis Scanlon
1057
46
Andrew Kiser
995
47
Jeromy Tilton
986
48
Emily Gawboy
852
49
Finn Rogers
823
50
Tom Whistler
807
March 25th, 2016
2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings
2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings as of March 23, 2016
After 35 of 44 games completed in the 2015-2016 season, the following are the current standings for qualification for the
Club Championship Tournament.
The Top Ten High Winning Percentage Finishers Qualify.
The tiebreaker, if necessary, is the higher USCF rating after the final regular season tournament is rated! *
A minimum of 22 games must be completed to qualify.
Name
Rating
Games Played This Season
Winning Percentage
Additional Games Needed
Notes
Paulson
2045
25
.880
0
Cappallo
1971
30
.767
0
Gladding
1852
34
.735
0
Mirijanian
2002
26
.731
0
Godin
1962
34
.721
0
Thomas
1753
31
.677
0
Harris
1838
32
.656
0
Gurge
1790
33
.652
0
Arsenault
1686
26
.635
0
Fratturelli
1688
30
.617
0
Ganesan
1637
19
.605
3
♘
Brassard
1766
29
.603
0
Condon
1732
20
.600
2
Parker
1694
23
.587
0
Commisso
1659
20
.550
2
Bennett, J.
1789
34
.544
0
Hankard
1664
34
.544
0
Meehan
1595
27
.537
0
Couture
1705
28
.536
0
Rogers, E.
1533
29
.517
0
Barlas
1789
14
.643
8
♝
Notes:
♟ There are 9 regular season games left to be played.
♟ Players who cannot reach 22 total games played for the season are excluded from the list.
♙ Players with current winning percentages under .500 are omitted from the list.
* This is a change since March 16, 2016.
♔ Geoff LePoer is omitted due to his golf commitments.
♘ Seeth Ganesan with a current winning percentage of .605 has played 19 games and would need to play 3 of the remaining 9 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
♝ Arthur Barlas with a current winning percentage of .643 has played 14 games and would need to play 8 of the remaining 9 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
March 24th, 2016
Wachusett CC blitz rating updates
The following are updated USCF blitz ratings for those who competed in the Wachusett CC Blitz Championship on March 23rd:
Rob King -> B:2051
Roger Cappallo -> B:1978
Tony Cesolini -> B:1976
Joe Bennett -> B:1900
Larry Gladding v1877
Paul Godin -> B:1876
Geoff LePoer -> B:1854
Gary Brassard -> B:1799
Jackson Parker -> B:1797
Ken Gurge -> B:1756
Jack Martin -> B:1741
Dave Couture -> B:1722
Arthur Barlas -> B:1692
Seeth Ganesan -> B:1657
Dave Martin -> B:1634
Jim Hankard -> B:1619
Mike Meehan -> B:1603
Mike Commisso -> B:1599
George Miller -> B:1579
Dave Thomas -> B:1545
William Burke -> B:1497
John Bastarache -> B:1487
Gail Lingner -> B:1453
Don Briggs -> B:1420
Randy McLaughlin -> B:1364
Alexander Venezia -> B:1362
Larry O'Rourke -> B:1332
Nik Lavoie -> B:1253
Hugh McLaughlin -> B:1202
Francis Scanlon -> B:1086
Tom Whistler -> B:894
Emily Gawboy -> B:808
2011 WCC Champ & USCF rated expert, Rob King, won tonight's WCC Blitz Championship with a convincing 7.0 of 7 games, a point & a half ahead of his closest rival, Roger Cappallo, who finished clear second with 5.5/7. Tied for 3rd through 5th place were Tony Cesolini, Paul Godin, & Jackson Parker
The following players had
a blitz rating increase of
50 or more points in the
Wachusett CC Blitz Championship:
Nik Lavoie
+ 87
Tom Whistler
+ 87
Gary Brassard
+ 86
Rob King
+ 74
Dave Martin
+ 55
Mike Meehan
+ 55
The following players achieved a new all-time high blitz rating:
Rob King
2051
Roger Cappallo
1978
Gary Brassard
1799
Jackson Parker
1797
John W. Martin
1741
Dave Couture
1722
Seeth Ganesan
1657
Mike Meehan
1603
Mike Commisso
1599
Bill Burke II
1497
Randy McLaughlin
1364
Nik Lavoie
1253
Francis Scanlon II
1086
Tom Whistler
894
REMINDER: Next week starts the 2016 Evert Siiskonen Memorial (1915-1993) tournament.
Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 1 on March 30th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
The 2016 Wachusett Chess Club Blitz Championship
will be held Wednesday evening, March 23, in
Room C192 in the McKay Complex, 67 Rindge Road, Fitchburg State University.
This will be a 7-round Swiss in one section, Game/10, no delay.
Players who wish to participate should appear at the club by 7 p.m.
and by 7:10 p.m. at the latest.
Late arrivals will be paired in subsequent rounds.
There has not been a club blitz championship since June 19, 2013, when Bruce Felton scored 5.5-1.5 to capture first place. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 5-2 tallies were Paul Godin and Larry Gladding. The event drew only 16 players.
I am hopeful that we will have many more players compete in this year's club blitz championship. It is an opportunity for many players who do not have a USCF blitz rating to acquire a blitz rating.
Players will be seeded according to their current blitz ratings (B).
For those without blitz ratings, quick ratings (Q) will be used.
For those without quick ratings, regular ratings (R) will be used.
The event will be blitz-rated. Regular ratings will not be affected.
I encourage you all to participate.
George Mirijanian, Wachusett CC Program Director
♔ ♛ ♖ ♝ ♘ ♞ ♗ ♜ ♕ ♚
Here is the current ranking of
past and current members,
for this Wednesday's blitz event:
Carissa Yip
2147Q
Tony Cesolini
1982B
Brett Kildahl
1980Q
Robert King
1977B
George Mirijanian
1944Q
Walter Niemi
1944Q
Joe Bennett
1939B
Bruce Felton
1920B
Dave Kochman
1914B
Larry Gladding
1897B
Paul Godin
1868B
Eric Strickland
1865B
Ray Paulson
1855Q
Roger Cappallo
1846Q
Steve Nelson
1795Q
Vince Bradley
1770B
Jackson Parker
1730B
Paul Lynch
1730B
Gary Brassard
1713B
Dave Couture
1704B
Arthur Barlas
1653Q
Geoff LePoer
1637Q
Jim Hankard
1633B
Vlad Gaciu
1622Q
Ed Harris
1613B
Lenny Arsenault
1603B
George Miller
1595B
Mike Commisso
1570B
Ken Gurge
1565Q
Mike Meehan
1548B
Dave Thomas
1547B
Brian Biglow
1542Q
Alan Condon
1529Q
Ed Rogers
1518B
Bob Mathieu
1517R
John Bastarache
1508B
William Burke
1488R
Gail Lingner
1461Q
Don Briggs
1442Q
Alexander Venezia
1416Q
Tom Fratturelli
1402Q
Percy Yip
1366Q
Vince Premus
1315Q
Larry O'Rourke
1306Q
Seeth Ganesan
1263Q
Richard Bennett
1257Q
Randy McLaughlin
1254Q
Roland Sorel
1237R
Wayne Steadman
1227Q
Stan Talcott
1223Q
Hugh McLaughlin
1140Q
Andrew Kiser
1079Q
Sebastian Tilton
1078Q
Francis Scanlon
1056Q
Nik Lavoie
1033Q
Kandy Lynch
1011B
Noah Rogers
978B
Jeromy Tilton
952Q
Finn Rogers
780Q
Tom Giampietro
690Q
Emily Gawboy
683Q
Ervin Brown
676R
Tom Whistler
622Q
Duncan Premus
472Q
March 21st, 2016
Carissa Yip Wins 14 & Under Section in Spiegel Cup
2014 Wachusett Chess Club champion Carissa Yip, 12, of Andover posted a perfect 4-0 score to capture first place in the 14 & Under section of the Barry S. Spiegel Cup (Massachusetts State Scholastic Singles Championship), held Sunday, March 20, in Marlborough.
Carissa raised her USCF rating to 2315, which is now her all-time high. Because of the ending dates of the New England Masters & this tournament, the USCF rerated this tournament as shown below.
Carissa Yip First place age 14 & under at Spiegel Cup 2016 Chess Championships
Carissa Yip at 2016 Spiegel Cup Championship
First Place age 14 & under.
♕ ♛ ♕ ♛
2014 Wachusett Chess Club champion Carissa Yip, 12, of Andover posted a perfect 4-0 score to capture first place in the 14 & Under section of the Barry S. Spiegel Cup (Massachusetts State Scholastic Singles Championship), held Sunday, March 20, in Marlborough.
Carissa raised her USCF rating to 2315, which is now her all-time high. Because of the ending dates of the New England Masters & this tournament, the USCF rerated this tournament as shown below.
Three of the youngest members of the Wachusett Chess Club, Noah Rogers, Finn Rogers and Sebastian Tilton, all of New Ipswich, NH, competed in the 2016 New Hampshire Individual Scholastic Championships, held Saturday, March 19, at Londonderry High School in Londonderry, NH.
Noah and Sebastian tallied 3-1 to tie for 2nd-3rd place in the Junior High section, while Finn scored 3-1 to finish in a tie for 2nd-5th place in the Elementary section.
The event was dual rated, so here are their Regular (R) & Quick (Q) rating updates:
Carissa Yip ties for 3rd-5th in strong invitational New England Masters tournament
2014 WCC Champ, Carissa Yip finished in fine style at the FIDE invitational tournament this weekend at Boylston CC in Cambridge. Her final score was 4.5/7 which placed her in a tie with strong Senior Master Jacob Chudnovsky & local GM, Alexander Ivanov & boosted her USCF rating to 2319. While her score was somewhat buoyed by three half point byes, she also defeated two National Masters, Tim Sage & Lawyer Times, & made draws with Candidate Msster, Nithin Kavi & IM Denys Shmelov, so somewhere in there she had to play some quality chess. Unfortunately while more that 60 games were played in her section, not a single scoresheet is available.
Carissa stands at 3.0 After four rounds of play, a full point ahead of GM Alexander Ivanov. Also with 3.0 scores are 2014 New England Open co-champ, Farzad Abdi, & IM Denys Shmelov, whom she will face in round five.
Four Wachusett Chess Club players competed in the Waltham March G/5 tournament on Friday night, March 18, at the Waltham Chess Club. Tying for 4th-5th place with scores of 7.5-4.5 were 2010 Wachusett CC champion Tony Cesolini of Rindge, NH and 2011 Wachusett CC champion Robert King of Framingham. Both drew each other twice in the 22-player event. Other club participants were Mike Meehan of Westminster, who tallied 6-6 for a tie for 9th-12th place, and Jim Hankard of Antrim, NH, who scored 5.5-6.5, tying for 13th-15th place.
New blitz ratings for the Wachusett quartet are as follows:
Tony Cesolini -> 1982
Robert King -> 1977
Jim Hankard -> 1633
Mike Meehan -> 1548
March 18th, 2016
Cesolini wins Knights CC Amateur Open
2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings
2010 Wachusett Chess Club champion Tony Cesolini scored 4-1 (three wins, two draws) to capture first place in the Knights Chess Club Amateur Open, held Feb. 15 through March 14 in Keene, NH.
Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3.5-1.5 tallies were two other Wachusett CC players, Dave Kochman and Anthony Bracco, the latter of whom is reported to be moving to New Mexico. Other WCC players who competed in the 13-player event were Eric Strickland (4th place, 3-2), Ed Harris and Jim Hankard (tied for 6th-9th, 2-3), and Vince Bradley and Stan Talcott (tied for 10th-13th. 1-4). Chief TD was Ed Harris.
2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings as of March 16, 2016
After 35 of 44 games completed in the 2015-2016 season, the following are the current standings for qualification for the Club Championship Tournament.
The Top Ten High Winning Percentage Finishers Qualify.
The tiebreaker, if necessary, is the higher USCF rating entering the final regular season tournament.
A minimum of 22 games must be completed to qualify.
Name
Rating
Games Played This Season
Winning Percentage
Additional Games Needed
Notes
Paulson
2045
25
.880
0
Cappallo
1971
30
.767
0
Gladding
1852
34
.735
0
Mirijanian
2002
26
.731
0
Godin
1962
34
.721
0
Thomas
1753
31
.677
0
Harris
1838
32
.656
0
Gurge
1790
33
.652
0
Arsenault
1686
26
.635
0
Fratturelli
1688
30
.617
0
Barlas
1789
14
.643
8
♝
Ganesan
1637
19
.605
3
♘
Brassard
1766
29
.603
0
Condon
1732
20
.600
2
Parker
1694
23
.587
0
Commisso
1659
20
.550
2
Bennett, J.
1789
34
.544
0
Hankard
1664
34
.544
0
Meehan
1595
27
.537
0
Couture
1705
28
.536
0
Rogers, E.
1533
29
.517
0
Notes:
♟ There are 9 regular season games left to be played.
♟ Players who cannot reach 22 total games played for the season are excluded from the list.
♙ Players with current winning percentages under .500 are omitted from the list.
♔ Geoff LePoer is omitted due to his golf commitments.
♘ Seeth Ganesan with a current winning percentage of .605 has played 19 games and would need to play 3 of the remaining 9 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
♝ Arthur Barlas with a current winning percentage of .643 has played 14 games and would need to play 8 of the remaining 9 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
Ed Harris of Marlboro, NH, overcame long odds & finished in clear first place with a score of 4.5/5 by beating USCF expert Ray Paulson in the final round of the George E. O'Rourke Memorial tournament which concluded this Wednesday. Ed entered the tournament as a middle Class B player rated 1712 & roared to an undefeated finish giving up only a single draw to USCF expert George Mirijanian, thereby boosting his own rating to a solid class A 1838. On the way, he also beat strong competitor, Roger Cappallo, a Candidate Master currently rated 1984, & two lower rated players.
♖ Not playing the final round were Roger Cappallo, Dave Thomas, Tony Cesolini, Dave Couture, Anthony Bracco, Nik Lavoie,
Andrew Kiser, Paul Lynch, Stan Talcott, Kandy Lynch and Ervin Brown.
George E. O'Rourke Memorial, March 16th, 2016
FINAL STANDINGS
Points
Players
4.5
Harris
4.0
Paulson, Mirijanian, Godin, Gladding
3.5
LePoer, Fratturelli, Arsenault, Hankard
3.0
Barlas, Gurge, Brassard, Parker, N. Rogers, Venezia, Briggs
2.5
Cappallo, Thomas, Ganesan, E. Rogers, Bastarache, Steadman, H. McLaughlin
The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
John Bastarache
+ 96
Don Briggs
+ 168
Nik Lavoie
+ 160
Alexander Venezia
+ 138
Ed Harris
+ 126
Noah Rogers
+ 88
Andrew Kiser
+ 84
Jim Hankard
+ 64
Jeromy Tilton
+ 63
The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Jackson Parker
1694
Tom Fratturelli
1688
Anthony Bracco
1665
John Bastarache
1584
Noah Rogers
1559
Alexander Venezia
1416
Nik Laavoie
1166
Ervin Brown
676
The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes William Burke of Leominster, who joined tonight.
REMINDER: The next tournament on Wednesday, March 23rd, will be the 2016 Wachusett CC Blitz Championship,
a 7-round Swiss in one section, Game/10, no delay. (See USCF Blitz Rules excerpts.)
Players MUST APPEAR by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for round 1. No exceptions.
The next regular rated event, the Evert Siiskonen Memorial, will begin on the following Wednesday, March 30
2016 George E. O'Rourke Memorial
Revised Projected Pairings for Round 5
Projected Round 5 pairings for March 16th: (Revised March 14th)
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
1 Raymond Paulson (4.0) Edward Harris (3.5)
2 Lenny Arsenault (3.5) Paul Godin (3.0)
3 George Mirijanian (3.0) Kenneth Gurge (3.0)
4 Arthur Barlas (3.0) Lawrence Gladding (3.0)
5 Gary Brassard (3.0) Geoff LePoer (2.5)
6 James Hankard (2.5) David Thomas (2.5)
7 John Bastarache (2.5) Tom Fratturelli (2.5)
8 Joseph Bennett (2.0) Ed Rogers (2.0)
9 Dave Couture (2.0) Gail Lingner (2.0)
10 Seetharaman Ganesan (2.0) Alexander Venezia (2.0)
11 Noah Rogers (2.0) Jackson Parker (2.0)
12 Donald Briggs (2.0) Michael Meehan (2.0)
13 Nickolas Lavoie (2.0) George Miller (2.0)
14 Francis Scanlon II (1.5) Robert Mathieu (1.5)
15 Jeromy Tilton (1.5) Wayne Steadman (1.5)
16 Andrew Kiser (1.5) Hugh McLaughlin (1.5)
17 Richard Bennett (1.0) Michael Commisso (1.0)
18 Paul Lynch (1.0) Roland Sorel (1.0)
19 Kandy Lynch (1.0) Brian Biglow (1.0)
20 Laurence O'Rourke (1.0) Sebastian Tilton (1.0)
21 Emily Gawboy (0.0) Randy McLaughlin (0.5)
March 12th, 2016
2016 George E. O'Rourke Memorial
Revised Projected Pairings for Round 5
Projected Round 5 pairings for March 16th: (Revised March 10th)
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
1 Raymond Paulson (4.0) Edward Harris (3.5)
2 Lenny Arsenault (3.5) Paul Godin (3.0)
3 George Mirijanian (3.0) Kenneth Gurge (3.0)
4 Arthur Barlas (3.0) Lawrence Gladding (3.0)
5 Gary Brassard (3.0) Geoff LePoer (2.5)
6 James Hankard (2.5) David Thomas (2.5)
7 John Bastarache (2.5) Tom Fratturelli (2.5)
8 Noah Rogers (2.0) Tony Cesolini (2.0)
9 Joseph Bennett (2.0) Ed Rogers (2.0)
10 Dave Couture (2.0) Gail Lingner (2.0)
11 Seetharaman Ganesan (2.0) George Miller (2.0)
12 Jackson Parker (2.0) Alexander Venezia (2.0)
13 Donald Briggs (2.0) Michael Meehan (2.0)
14 Nickolas Lavoie (2.0) Michael Commisso (1.5)
15 Francis Scanlon II (1.5) Robert Mathieu (1.5)
16 Jeromy Tilton (1.5) Wayne Steadman (1.5)
17 Andrew Kiser (1.5) Hugh McLaughlin (1.5)
18 Paul Lynch (1.0) Richard Bennett (1.0)
19 Kandy Lynch (1.0) Brian Biglow (1.0)
20 Laurence O'Rourke (1.0) Roland Sorel (1.0)
21 Stanford Talcott (1.0) Sebastian Tilton (1.0)
22 Emily Gawboy (0.0) Randy McLaughlin (0.5)
Don't forget to set your clocks ahead & change the batteries in your chess clock!
March 9th, 2016
2016 George E. O'Rourke Memorial
Round 4 of 5
George E. O'Rourke Memorial, March 9th, 2016
Round 4 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Paul Godin
0-1
Ray Paulson
Ed Harris
1/2-1/2
George Mirijanian
Tom Fratturelli
0-1
Lenny Arsenault
Larry Gladding
1-0
Seeth Ganesan
George Miller
0-1
Arthur Barlas
Ken Gurge
1-0
Jackson Parker
Anthony Bracco
0-1
Gary Brassard
Dave Thomas
1/2-1/2
John Bastarache
Bob Mathieu
0-1
Geoff LePoer
Ed Rogers
1/2-1/2
Dave Couture
Mike Meehan
1/2-1/2
Noah Rogers
Jim Hankard
1-0
Andrew Kiser
Roland Sorel
0-1
Joe Bennett
Brian Biglow
0-1
♔Don Briggs
Gail Lingner
1-0
Kandy Lynch
Wayne Steadman
1/2-1/2
Francis Scanlon
Richard Bennett
0-1
♔Nik Lavoie
Sebastian Tilton
0-1
Alexander Venezia
Randy McLaughlin
0-1
♔Jeromy Tilton
Larry O'Rourke
1-0
Emily Gawboy
Total of 20 boards, 3 major upsets (♔).
♝ Receiving half-point byes were Roger Cappallo, Hugh McLaughlin, Mike Commisso and Ervin Brown.
♖ Not playing round 4 were Tony Cesolini, Paul Lynch and Stan Talcott.
Alan Condon withdrew from the tournament.
Cesolini, J. Bennett, Couture, Ganesan, Parker, Meehan, Bracco, Miller, E. Rogers, Lingner, N. Rogers, Venezia, Briggs,
Lavoie
1.5
Mathieu, Steadman, H. McLaughlin, Scanlon, J. Tilton, Kiser
1.0
Commisso, P. Lynch, Biglow, O'Rourke, Talcott, R. Bennett, Sorel, K. Lynch, S. Tilton, Brown
0.5
R. McLaughlin
0.0
Gawboy
Projected Round 5 Pairings for March 16th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Paulson vs. Harris
Board 2: Arsenault vs. Godin
Board 3: Mirijanian vs. Gurge
Board 4: Barlas vs. Gladding
Board 5: Brassard vs. LePoer
Board 6: Hankard vs. Thomas
Board 7: Bastarache vs. Fratturelli
Board 8: N. Rogers vs. Cesolini
Board 9: J. Bennett vs. E. Rogers
Board 10: Couture vs. Lingner
Board 11: Ganesan vs. Miller
Board 12: Parker vs. Venezia
Board 13: Briggs vs. Meehan
Board 14: Lavoie vs. Commisso
Board 15: H. McLaughlin vs. Mathieu
Board 16: Kiser vs. Steadman
Board 17: P. Lynch vs. Scanlon
Board 18: R. Bennett vs. Biglow
Board 19: K. Lynch vs. O'Rourke
Board 20: Talcott vs. Sorel
Board 21: Gawboy vs. R. McLaughlin
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 5 on March 16th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
Big story in Scientific American suggests that we're about to witness the silicon robots consume yet another pastoral pastime.
Tanguy Chouard, an editor with Nature, saw Google-DeepMind's AI system AlphaGo defeat a human professional for the first time last year at the ancient board game Go. This week, he is watching top professional Lee Sedol take on AlphaGo, in Seoul, for a $1 million prize.
As I'm sure you've heard, one of humanity's best Go players, Lee Sedol, just lost his first game in a best-of-five series against AlphaGo, the artificial intelligence system created by Google DeepMind. "I'm in shock," Lee said at the post-match press conference.
I was surprised too by my emotional reaction to the result. Before I saw the game, which I watched alongside DeepMind's CEO Demis Hassabis, and David Silver, one of the lead researchers on AlphaGo, I didn't know who I wanted to win.
Now-to my surprise-I find myself rooting for the very personable and human Lee Sedol.
...
"AlphaGo played like a human professional player, but with the emotional element carved out," said one Korean commentator, Kim Sung-ryong. He said that all top-level pro players were in shock. Silver said that-judging from the statistics he'd seen when sitting in Google's technical room-"Lee Sedol pushed AlphaGo to its limits".
Does this mean that AI has finally defeated humanity at what may be the most complex board game we've ever invented? Not quite. There are still four games to go; tomorrow (10 March) we may see a different kind of match, as AlphaGo will play first, with the black stones, rather than second, with the white ones.
Lee said he wouldn't be affected psychologically by the loss. "This game is not going to affect how I play in the next games," he said. As Redmond told me after the game: "he's a very tough guy".
March 7th, 2016
Non-Rated Blitz At Burger King
Congratulations to Tony Cesolini for winning the "Burger King Open Blitz Tournament" with a perfect score of 10/10. The event was an unrated double round robin, with each player playing each other player twice, once with white and once with black, for a total of 10 games played.
It was an exciting evening of chess. We had it all: Hotly contested games, mad time scrambles with pieces flying and clocks knocked over, and heartbreakingly short games ending with hung queens and slumped shoulders...
Congratulations as well to Gary Brassard (2nd place, 6/10 points) and Alexander Venezia (3rd place, 5.5/10 points). All other placements and details can be viewed in the attached results crosstable.
Fun was had by all. Hope to see y'all at the next one!
Kindest Regards
Mike Meehan
Burger King Open Blitz Tournament
6-Mar-16
Double Round
Robin
Six Entrants
UNRATED EVENT
Mike Meehan
Anthony Bracco
Dave Thomas
Alexander Venezia
Tony Cesolini
Gary Brassard
Total
Tony
Cesolini
2
2
2
2
2
10
Gary
Brassard
2
1
2
1
0
6
Alexander
Venezia
1.5
2
1
0
1
5.5
Mike
Meehan
2
1
0.5
0
0
3.5
Dave
Thomas
1
1
1
0
0
3
Anthony
Bracco
0
1
0
0
1
2
The big story here is of course newcomer Alexander Venezia, who was able to split with veterans Gary Barassard & Dave Thomas on his way to a respectable third place.
If all goes well and we don't have any makeup round for the current club tournament, we will be holding the Wachusett CC Blitz Championship on Wednesday, March 23.
2016 George E. O'Rourke Memorial
Revised Projected Pairings for Round 4
Projected Round 4 pairings for March 13th: (Revised March 6th)
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
1 Paul Godin (3.0) Raymond Paulson (3.0)
2 Edward Harris (3.0) George Mirijanian (2.5)
3 Tom Fratturelli (2.5) Lenny Arsenault (2.5)
4 David Thomas (2.0) Tony Cesolini (2.0)
5 Lawrence Gladding (2.0) Seetharaman Ganesan (2.0)
6 George Miller (2.0) Arthur Barlas (2.0)
7 Kenneth Gurge (2.0) Jackson Parker (2.0)
8 Anthony Bracco (2.0) Gary Brassard (2.0)
9 John Bastarache (2.0) Geoff LePoer (1.5)
10 Robert Mathieu (1.5) Dave Couture (1.5)
11 Michael Meehan (1.5) Ed Rogers (1.5)
12 James Hankard (1.5) Noah Rogers (1.5)
13 Andrew Kiser (1.5) Joseph Bennett (1.0)
14 Paul Lynch (1.0) Alexander Venezia (1.0)
15 Sebastian Tilton (1.0) Brian Biglow (1.0)
16 Gail Lingner (1.0) Donald Briggs (1.0)
17 Wayne Steadman (1.0) Roland Sorel (1.0)
18 Stanford Talcott (1.0) Kandy Lynch (1.0)
19 Richard Bennett (1.0) Francis Scanlon II (1.0)
20 Randy McLaughlin (0.5) Nickolas Lavoie (1.0)
21 Ervin Brown (0.5) Jeromy Tilton (0.5)
22 Laurence O'Rourke (0.0) Emily Gawboy (0.0)
1/2 Roger Cappallo (2.0) BYE
1/2 Michael Commisso (0.5) BYE
1/2 Hugh McLaughlin (1.0) BYE
March 6th, 2016
Weekend rating updates: Billerica, MA & New Ipswich, NH
Ray Paulson and Paul Godin played in the Billerica February Swiss, which ended this past Friday, and scored 2.5-1.5 to tie for 3rd-7th place. Ray lost 7 points to bring his rating to 2046, while Paul gained 6 points to raise his rating to 1956.
Had Ray won his final round game (instead of losing it) to expert Tim Bromley, he would have come into first place. Paul also would have come into first place or a tie for it if he had played the final and won instead of sitting out the round.
Sebastian Tilton scored a perfect 4-0 to win first place in the Boynton Middle School March Tournament on Saturday, March 5, in New Ipswich, NH. Sebastian gained 80 (!) rating points and now stands at 1101. The tournament was dual rated, so his quick rating also increased to 1065. Lest one surmise that he was simply foraging on the misfortunes of players having a bad tournament, it is notable that each of his opponents also increased his own rating despite losing to Sebastian.
Ray Paulson -> 2046
Paul Godin -> 1956
Sebasian Tilton -> R: 1101, Q: 1065
March 2nd, 2016
2016 George E. O'Rourke Memorial
Round 3 of 5
George E. O'Rourke Memorial, March 2nd, 2016
Round 3 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Ray Paulson
1-0
Anthony Bracco
Jackson Parker
0-1
Paul Godin
John Bastarache
0-1
Ed Harris
Tom Fratturelli
1-0
Mike Meehan
Lenny Arsenault
1-0
Bob Mathieu
Roger Cappallo
1-0
Paul Lynch
Geoff LePoer
1/2-1/2
Jim Hankard
Joe Bennett
0-1
♔ George Miller
Brian Biglow
0-1
Larry Gladding
Arthur Barlas
1-0
Richard Bennett
Kandy Lynch
0-1
Ken Gurge
Gary Brassard
1-0
Wayne Steadman
Nik Lavoie
0-1
Dave Thomas
Francis Scanlon
0-1
Seeth Ganesan
Mike Commisso
0-1
♔ Noah Rogers
Jeromy Tilton
0-1
Ed Rogers
♔ Don Briggs
1-0
Larry O'Rourke
Alexander Venezia
1-0
Emily Gawboy
Total of 18 boards, 3 major upsets (♔).
Receiving half-point byes were George Mirijanian, Tony Cesolini, Dave Couture, Andrew Kiser, Gail Lingner, Stan Talcott,
Roland Sorel, Hugh McLaughlin, Randy McLaughlin and Ervin Brown.
Not playing round 3 were Alan Condon and Sebastian Tilton.
LePoer, Couture, Meehan, Hankard, Mathieu, E. Rogers, N. Rogers, Kiser
1.0
J. Bennett, Condon, P. Lynch, Biglow, Lingner, Steadman, Talcott, R. Bennett, Venezia, Briggs, Sorel, K. Lynch,
H. McLaughlin, Scanlon, S. Tilton,
0.5
Commisso, R. McLaughlin, J.Tilton, Brown
0.0
O'Rourke, Gawboy
Projected Round 4 pairings for March 9th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Godin vs. Paulson
Board 2: Harris vs. Mirijanian
Board 3: Fratturelli vs. Arsenault
Board 4: Thomas vs. Cesolini
Board 5: Gladding vs. Ganesan
Board 6: Miller vs. Barlas
Board 7: Gurge vs. Parker
Board 8: Bracco vs. Brassard
Board 9: Bastarache vs. LePoer
Board 10: Mathieu vs. Couture
Board 11: Meehan vs. E. Rogers
Board 12: Hankard vs. N. Rogers
Board 13: Kiser vs. J. Bennett
Board 14: Condon vs. Venezia
Board 15: P. Lynch vs. Briggs
Board 16: S. Tilton vs. Biglow
Board 17: Lingner vs. K. Lynch
Board 18: Steadman vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 19: Talcott vs. Scanlon
Board 20: R. Bennett vs. Sorel
Board 21: R. McLaughlin vs. Lavoie
Board 22: Brown vs. J. Tilton
Board 23: O'Rourke vs. Gawboy
Requesting half-point byes for Round 4 are Cappallo and Commisso.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on March 9th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
2016 George E. O'Rourke Memorial
Revised Projected pairings for Round 3
Projected Round 3 pairings for March 2nd: (Revised March 2nd)
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
1 Raymond Paulson (2.0) Edward Harris (2.0)
2 Jackson Parker (2.0) George Mirijanian (2.0)
3 Anthony Bracco (2.0) Paul Godin (2.0)
4 John Bastarache (2.0) Tony Cesolini (1.5)
5 Tom Fratturelli (1.5) Michael Meehan (1.5)
6 Lenny Arsenault (1.5) Robert Mathieu (1.5)
7 Roger Cappallo (1.0) Seetharaman Ganesan (1.0)
8 Geoff LePoer (1.0) Paul Lynch (1.0)
9 Joseph Bennett (1.0) James Hankard (1.0)
10 Brian Biglow (1.0) Lawrence Gladding (1.0)
11 Arthur Barlas (1.0) George Miller (1.0)
12 Richard Bennett (1.0) Kenneth Gurge (1.0)
13 Gary Brassard (1.0) Wayne Steadman (1.0)
14 Kandy Lynch (1.0) David Thomas (1.0)
15 Francis Scanlon II (1.0) Alan Condon (1.0)
16 Dave Couture (1.0) Sebastian Tilton (1.0)
17 Nickolas Lavoie (1.0) Michael Commisso (0.5)
18 Stanford Talcott (0.5) Ed Rogers (0.5)
19 Gail Lingner (0.5) Noah Rogers (0.5)
20 Jeromy Tilton (0.5) Laurence O'Rourke (0.0)
21 Alexander Venezia (0.0) Emily Gawboy (0.0)
22 Ervin Brown (0.0) Donald Briggs (0.0)
1/2 Randy McLaughlin (0.0) BYE
1/2 Roland Sorel (0.5) BYE
1/2 Hugh McLaughlin (0.5) BYE
1/2 Andrew Kiser (1.0) BYE
Two Wachusett CC players were prize winners in the 3rd Queen City Tornado, held Saturday, Feb. 27, in Manchester, NH.
Dave Kochman tallied 3-1 to tie for 2nd-4th place in the Open section of the event, while Mike Commisso also scored 3-1 to tie for 3rd place in the Under 1800 section.
Dave raised his rating to 1973 and Mike's rating went up to 1719. Also competing in the tournament were club members Gary Brassard, whose rating went down to 1765, and Jim Hankard, whose rating remained the same at 1600.
Dave Kochman -> 1973
Mike Commisso -> 1719
Gary Brassard -> 1765
Jim Hankard -> 1600
Women's World Chess Championship Match 2016 between the current World Champion Maria Muzychuk of Ukraine and her challenger Hou Yifan of China (former World Champion 2010-2012 & 2013-2015) is taking place in Lviv, Ukraine, on March 1-18, 2016.
Maria Muzychuk
Current Women's World Champion
2554 FIDE
February 24th, 2016
2016 George E. O'Rourke Memorial
Round 2 of 5
George E. O'Rourke Memorial, February 24th, 2016
Round 2 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Dave Thomas
0-1
Ray Paulson
George Mirijanian
1-0
Gary Brassard
Ed Harris
1-0
Roger Cappallo
Paul Godin
1-0
Dave Couture
Larry Gladding
0-1
♔ Jackson Parker
♔ Anthony Bracco
1-0
Arthur Barlas
Ken Gurge
0-1
♔ John Bastarache
Tony Cesolini
1-0
Nik Lavoie
♔ Bob Mathieu
1-0
Mike Commisso
Hugh McLaughlin
0-1
Tom Fratturelli
Don Briggs
0-1
Joe Bennett
Seeth Ganesan
1-0
Randy McLaughlin
Jim Hankard
1-0
Alexander Venezia
Emily Gawboy
0-1
Brian Biglow
Larry O'Rourke
0-1
♔ Andrew Kiser
Wayne Steadman
1-0
Ervin Brown
Total of 16 boards, 5 major upsets (♔)
Receiving half-point byes were Lenny Arsenault, Mike Meehan, Geoff LePoer, Alan Condon, Paul Lynch, George Miller,
Richard Bennett, Kandy Lynch, Francis Scanlon, Sebastian Tilton, Ed Rogers, Gail Lingner, Noah Rogers, Stan Talcott,
Roland Sorel and Jeromy Tilton.
Withdrawing from the tournament were Tom Whistler and Finn Rogers.
Cappallo, LePoer, J. Bennett, Gladding, Barlas, Gurge, Brassard, Thomas, Condon, Couture, Ganesan, P. Lynch, Hankard,
Biglow, Miller, Steadman, R. Bennett, K. Lynch, Scanlon, S. Tilton, Lavoie, Kiser
0.5
Commisso, E. Rogers, Lingner, N. Rogers, Talcott, Sorel, H. McLaughlin, J. Tilton
0.0
O'Rourke, R. McLaughlin, Venezia, Briggs, Gawboy, Brown
Projected Round 3 pairings for March 2nd:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Paulson vs. Harris
Board 2: Parker vs. Mirijanian
Board 3: Bracco vs. Godin
Board 4: Bastarache vs. Cesolini
Board 5: Fratturelli vs. Meehan
Board 6: Arsenault vs. Mathieu
Board 7: P. Lynch vs. LePoer
Board 8: J. Bennett vs. Hankard
Board 9: Biglow vs. Gladding
Board 10: Barlas vs. Miller
Board 11: R. Bennett vs. Gurge
Board 12: Brassard vs. Steadman
Board 13: K. Lynch vs. Thomas
Board 14: Couture vs. Scanlon
Board 15: S. Tilton vs. Ganesan
Board 16: Lavoie vs. Commisso
Board 17: Talcott vs. E. Rogers
Board 18: Lingner vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 19 J Tilton vs. N. Rogers
Board 20: O'Rourke vs. Briggs
Board 21: R. McLaughlin vs. Gawboy
Board 22: Venezia vs. Brown
Requesting half-point byes for Round 3 are Cappallo, Sorel and Kiser. Condon will be paired if he shows up for the round.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on March 2nd.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
Robert King scored 2.5-1.5 to tie for 4th-6th place in the Metrowest Chess Club's Groundhog Day Swiss,
which ended Tuesday night, Feb. 23. Rob's rating for the 2/24/16 spreadsheet is 2138.
Robert King scored 3-1 to tie for 2nd-3rd place in the Waltham Chess Club's "Levin Game/30" tournament Friday night, Feb. 19. Rob raised his rating to 2135, drawing in the final round with life master Lawyer Times, with whom he shared the runner-up spot.
Robert King -> 2135
October 19th, 2015
40 Massachusetts Players Competing in the 2016 World Team Event
A total of forty players from Massachusetts, including WCC member Rob King, competed in the 2016 World Team Tournament held this past weekend in Parsippany, NJ. They are listed here in order of finishing place, with their rating changes & hyperlinks to their opponents.
The 2016 George E. O'Rourke Memprial tournament began with a bang at as John Bastarache beat Joe Bennett at board 5 while newcomer Nik Lavoie bested Seeth Ganesan at board 14. Hugh McLaughlin held Mike Commisso to a draw at board 13 with each of the 15 remaining boards concluding in wins for the higher rated players. The 366 point upset at board five started off "normal" enough as Joe, playing white, used his familiar Bird's opening to achieve a rather complex & unusual position involving his uncastled king & several ambitious pawn moves. Somewhere in the middlegame manouvers, John managed to capture Joe's queen in exchange for only a minor piece & a couple pawns which turned out to be too big a deficit for Joe to overcome & he resigned fairly early in the evening.
Meanwhile on the other side of the room at board 14, Nik Lavoie took his 672 point higher rated opponent, Seeth Ganesan, to task winning a piece & soon more material & eventually the game to chalk up his third victory this season & one of the biggest upsets in WCC history.
Several of the other games, though they ended in victorys for the higher rated & hence statistically favored players, contained much excitement as well. A few examples would include Jim Hankard's solid handling of the opening phase of his game against USCF expert, Ray paulson's familiar queen pawn opening at board one. However Ray soon got the better of Jim & demonstrated strong consistent technique to assure his win. Arthur Barlas was on his way to a textbook example of a classical positional win at board seven wherein he held several small adavantages & was preparing to prove that to be sufficient for the full point when his opponent, Wayne Steadman, lost his queen to a simple knight fork & immediately resigned. Larry Gladding had an interesting double edged game against Noah Rogers with kings castled on opposite sides of the board & both players trying to simultaneously attack & defend. Ultimately Larry's 373 rating point advantage was confirmed as he finished in the winners' circle as well.
George E. O'Rourke Memorial, February 17th, 2016
Round 1 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Ray Paulson
1-0
Jim Hankard
Brian Biglow
0-1
George Mirijanian
Roger Cappallo
1-0
Larry O'Rourke
Ed Rogers
0-1
Paul Godin
Joe Bennett
0-1
John Bastarache
Noah Rogers
0-1
Larry Gladding
Arthur Barlas
1-0
Wayne Steadman
Randy McLaughlin
0-1
Ken Gurge
Gary Brassard
1-0
Stan Talcott
Alexander Venezia
0-1
Dave Thomas
Dave Couture
1-0
Don Briggs
Roland Sorel
0-1
Ed Harris
Mike Commisso
1/2-1/2
Hugh McLaughlin
Nik Lavoie
1-0
Seeth Ganesan
Jackson Parker
1-0
Jeromy Tilton
Andrew Kiser
0-1
Lenny Arsenault
Mike Meehan
1-0
Emily Gawboy
Ervin Brown
0-1
Anthony Bracco
Receiving half-point byes were Tony Cesolini, Geoff LePoer, Alan Condon, Tom Fratturelli, Paul Lynch, George Miller,
Bob Mathieu, Richard Bennett, Kandy Lynch, Francis Scanlon, Sebastian Tilton, Tom Whistler and Finn Rogers.
Not playing round 1 was Gail Lingner, who declined a half-point bye.
Cesolini, LePoer, Condon, Commisso, Fratturelli, P. Lynch, Miller, Mathieu, R. Bennett, K. Lynch,
H. McLaughlin, Scanlon, S. Tilton, Whistler, F. Rogers
0.0
J. Bennett, Ganesan, Hankard, Biglow, O'Rourke, E. Rogers, Lingner, N. Rogers, Steadman,
R. McLaughlin, Talcott, Venezia, Briggs, Sorel, J. Tilton, Kiser, Gawboy, Brown
Projected Round 2 pairings for February 24th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Thomas vs. Paulson
Board 2: Mirijanian vs. Couture
Board 3: Harris vs. Cappallo
Board 4: Godin vs. Parker
Board 5: Gladding vs. Arsenault
Board 6: Bracco vs. Barlas
Board 7: Gurge vs. Meehan
Board 8: Bastarache vs. Brassard
Board 9: Cesolini vs. Lavoie
Board 10: LePoer vs. R. Bennett
Board 11: K. Lynch vs. Commisso
Board 12: H. McLaughlin vs. Fratturelli
Board 13: Scanlon vs. P. Lynch
Board 14: Miller vs. Whistler
Board 15: F. Rogers vs. Mathieu
Board 16: Talcott vs. J. Bennett
Board 17: Ganesan vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 18: Hankard vs. Venezia
Board 19: Briggs vs. Biglow
Board 20: O'Rourke vs. Sorel
Board 21: J. Tilton vs. E. Rogers
Board 22: Lingner vs. Kiser
Board 23: Gawboy vs. N. Rogers
Board 24: Steadman vs. Brown
Requesting a half-point bye for Round 2 is Sebastian Tilton.
The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes Ervin Brown of Ayer, MA.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on February 24th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
At just 12 years of age, Carissa Yip has quickly become one of the top female players in America. Known for her creativity over the board, she enters the tournament with an all time high rating of 2305.
Yip has been on a record-shattering pace ever since she learned how to play the game from her father at age 6. Three years later, at age 9, she became the youngest ever to reach the title of Expert.
Two years later she broke the record for youngest female to achieve the title of National Master at the age of 11 years, 5 months, and 18 days -- breaking the record previously held by Annie Wang. Along the way to Master, she set the record for youngest female player to beat a Grandmaster for her win against GM Alexander Ivanov in the New England Open a few days before her 11th birthday.
Wachusett CC members Sebastian Tilton and Finn Rogers competed on Saturday, Feb. 13, in the 14th Annual February Freeze tournament in New London, NH. Both scored 2-2 to tie for 3rd place. Sebastian's rating now stands at 1021, while Finn's rating is now 788. Due to the time control, G/30;d5, the tournament was dual rated, so both players have new quick ratings as well.
Sebastian Tilton R: -> 1021, Q: -> 943
Finn Rogers R: -> 788, Q: -> 731
The locally distributed newspaper, The Leominster Champion has an article about the results of the recently completed George Sturgis Memorial Chess Tournament at which three Leominster residents, Larry Gladding, Gary Brassard & Tom Fratturelli finished with prizes.
Joe Bennett's regular rating is now 1854. The event he played in last weekend, the 2016 Greater New Haven Winter Open in Connecticut, has been rated by the USCF. Joe scored 2-2, including wins against a 2033-rated expert and a 2330-rated master. He gained 53 rating points & the event was dual rated, so his Quick rating was also increased. Joe was the only player from Massachusetts to compete in the event & he finished tied for 4th-6th place in the Open Section. Congratulations, Joe!
Joe Bennett
R: -> 1854
Q: -> 1838
(Due to the chronological sequence of Joe's last two Quick rated events & the late reporting of the New Haven tournament, the USCF may rerate the WCC Quick Championship.)
Paul Godin took top honors in this year's WCC Quick Chess Championship with a score of 4.5 out of 5. Paul gave up only a half point by obtaining a second round draw against Dave Thomas while winning rounds 1, 3, 4, & 5, against Don Briggs, Jackson Parker, George Mirijanian & Tony Cesolini respectively. The tournament was played at a fast paced 15 minutes per player per game with a 3 second delay & hence all five rounds could be completed in one night.
The formidable thirty player field included two USCF regular rated experts, two first place finishers from last year's quick championship, Tony Cesolini, who also won the 2010 quick championship, & Gary Brassard, two time quick champ, George Mirijanian & 2012 quick champ, Arthur Barlas.
Four players, Tony Cesolini, Joe Bennett, Larry Gladding, & Jackson Parker, tied for second through fifth place each scoring 4.0 out of 5. Also notable is only other player besides Godin to finish undefeated, Jim Hankard of Antrim, NH, who won his first & last rounds & drew each of the middle three to finish with 3.5 out of 5.
WCC Quick Chess Championship, February 10th, 2016
Round 5 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Godin
1-0
Cesolini
Cappallo
0-1
Gladding
Bennett
1-0
Commisso
Brassard
0-1
Parker
Barlas
0-1
Mirijanian
Hankard
1-0
Gurge
Meehan
0-1
Thomas
Ganesan
0-1
Biglow
Lingner
1-0
Venezia
R. McLaughlin
1-0
Briggs
Bracco
0-1
Lavoie
LePoer
1-0
Steadman
Kiser
0-1
O'Rourke
Scanlon
0-1
Bastarache
Gawboy
0-1
H. McLaughlin
WCC Quick Chess Championship, February 10th, 2016
FINAL STANDINGS
Points
Players
4.5
Godin
4.0
Cesolini, Bennett, Gladding, Parker
3.5
Mirijanian, Hankard
3.0
Cappallo, Brassard, Thomas, Biglow, Lingner, Commisso, R. McLaughlin, Lavoie
The following players had quick rating increases of 50 or more points:
Jackson Parker
+ 294
Nikolas Lavoie
+ 268
Randy McLaughlin
+ 70
Seeth Ganesan
+ 68
Jim Hankard
+ 52
The following players achieved a new all-time high quick rating:
Paul Godin
1991
Tony Cesolini
1967
Jackson Parker
1532
Brian Biglow
1530
Alex Venezia
1415
Seeth Ganesan
1262
Randy McLaughlin
1254
Anthony Bracco
1038
Nik Lavoie
1006
REMINDER: Next week starts the 2016 George E. O'Rourke Memorial (1929-2007).
Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 1 on February 17th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
Dave Kochman, Dave Thomas and Aanthony Bracco scored 2.5-1.5 to tie for 2nd-4th place at the 1st Crazy Clock Open held at the Knights' Chess Club in Keene, NH this past month.
These three plus seven other WCC members participaated in the tournament which resulted in the following rating changes:
Tony Cesolini -> 2053
Paul Godin -> 1947
Eric Strickland -> 1921
Dave Kochman -> 1905
Joe Bennett -> 1802
Dave Thomas -> 1774
Ed Harris -> 1726
Jim Hankard -> 1600
Anthony Bracco -> 1575P15
Stan Talcott -> 1399
The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Noah Rogers
+161
Mike Commisso
+127
Anthony Bracco
+91
Sebastian Tilton
+58
Arthur Barlas
+53
Mike Meehan
+51
The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Arthur Barlas
1813
Ken Gurge
1808
Noah Rogers
1471
Kandy Lynch
1210
Sebastian Tilton
1038
Nik Lavoie
1006P24
2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings As of February 3, 2016
After 30 of 44 games completed in the 2015-2016 season, the following are the current standings for qualification for the Club Championship Tournament.
The Top Ten High Winning Percentage Finishers Qualify.
The tiebreaker, if necessary, is the higher USCF rating entering the final regular season tournament.
A minimum of 22 games must be completed to qualify.
Name
Rating
Games Played This Season
Winning Percentage
Additional Games Needed
Notes
Paulson
2032
20
.900
2
Cappallo
1984
27
.778
0
Gladding
1843
29
.724
0
Godin
1964
29
.707
0
Mirijanian
1994
22
.705
0
Thomas
1764
27
.685
0
Gurge
1808
28
.661
0
Arsenault
1657
22
.614
0
Harris
1707
27
.611
0
Brassard
1790
24
.604
0
Condon
1732
20
.600
2
Fratturelli
1677
26
.596
0
Commisso
1696
16
.594
6
Parker
1677
18
.583
4
Bennett, J.
1800
25
.580
0
Meehan
1641
23
.565
0
Couture
1714
25
.540
0
Rogers, E.
1518
25
.520
0
Hankard
1600
29
.517
0
Notes:
♟ There are 14 regular season games left to be played.
♟ Players who cannot reach 22 total games played for the season are excluded from the list.
♙ Players with current winning percentages under .500 are omitted from the list.
♔ Geoff LePoer is omitted due to his golf commitments.
♖ Tom Giampietro is omitted due to his likely inability to reach 22 games played due to work commitments.
♘ Seeth Ganesan with a current winning percentage of .643 has played 14 games and would need to play 8 of the remaining 14 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
♝ Arthur Barlas with a current winning percentage of .667 has played 9 games and would need to play 13 of the remaining 14 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
♞ Paul Lynch with a current winning percentage of .563 has played 8 games and would need to play 14 of the remaining 14 games while achieving a qualifying percentage to qualify.
REMINDER: The 2016 Wachusett CC Quick Chess Championship, a 5-round Swiss, G/15 d3,
will be played weather permitting, on Wednesday, February 10th. (See list of previous winners here.)
Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 1.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
Sebastian Tilton scored 3-1 to tie for 2nd-4th place in the Oyster River MS tournament, held on Saturday, January 30, in Durham, NH.
Sebastian gained 19 points to raise his rating to 980. Also competing was Finn Rogers, who tallied 1-3 to tie for 9th-11th place. He lost 65 rating points and now stands at 810. Since this tournament was played at a time control of G/30 d5, it was dual rated, so both Sebastian & Finn now have new quick ratings as well as new regular ratings.
Regular:
Sebastian Tilton -> 980
Finn Rogers -> 810
Robert J. King -> 2132
Joe Bennett -> 1801
Mike Commisso -> 1569
♞ Robert King - 2132 - scored 1.5-2.5 in Northeastern University Open on Sunday, Jan. 31, in Boston. Lost 22 points.
♔ Joe Bennett - 1801 - scored 3.5-0.5 to tie for 1st place in U1800 section of Northeastern University Open. Gained 33 points.
♖ Mike Commisso - 1569 - scored 2.5-1.5 to tie for 3rd place in U1800 section of West Newbury Class Clash, in West Newbury, MA. Lost 24 points.
January 31st, 2016
Six WCC players "Represent WCC!!" at Waltham Blitz.
♔ ♖ ♜ ♗ ♘ ♞
2010 Wachusett CC champion Tony Cesolini of Rindge, NH & Joe Bennett of Fitchburg tied with 8 points out of 12 for 2nd-4th place with IM Denys Shmelov Friday at the Waltham January G/5 d0 blitz chess tournament, held at the Waltham Chess Club. WCC members Rob King, Joe Bennett, Jackson Parker, Mike Commisso, & Mike Meehan also competed in the event.
Their blitz ratings were affected as follows:
Tony Cesolini -> B: 2016
Rob King -> B: 1991
Joe Bennett -> B: 1939P22
Jackson Parker -> B: 1730
Mike Commisso -> B: 1570P22
Mike Meehan -> B: 1562P22
Hey Mike,
Thanks in abundance to all the players who came from Fitchburg and the Wachusett Chess Club. You guys made the night a spirited and fun one for all. I'll post this notice on the Waltham CC Facebook page when I get my computer on the internet again.
We look forward to seeing you all again at our next blitz event, and we'll have a trampoline ready for Joe. Smiling face with open mouth and tightly-closed eyes Great job to you all!
-Nick [Sterling]
Good day, all.
Great tournament in Waltham last night. Wachusett Chess Club was well represented, with six members showing up. The field totaled 18.
The tournament was won by Siddharth Arun (Blitz rating: 2265), with a total score of 10.5 out of 12. Joe Bennett and Tony Cesolini kicked butt (as Joe Bennett said: "Represent WCC!!"), and tied with Denys Shmelov (Blitz rating: 2559) for second place with 8 points out of 12.. To be fair, it is entirely likely that the only reason why Shmelov, with a sky high rating like that, only ended up tying for second, was that he did not play the first two rounds. In the 8 games he did play (there were two per round) he scored 7 wins and 1 draw. Rob King took sole possession of 3rd place, scoring 7.5. Jackson Parker had a great tournament, tying with one other player for 4th place and scoring 6.5 out of 12. Throughout the course of the tournament, Jackson drew with a 2021 rated player, and took a game from a 2063 rated player (provisional rating). His rating shot up nearly 80 points as a result of his performance. Nice job, Jackson. Mike Meehan, current Westminster champ, tied with 4 other players for 5th place with 6 out of 12 (OK, OK, I admit, I am taking advantage of the fact that the crosstables were not presented in order of tiebreaks, because given the 4 way tie, and the ties further up in the standings, I was actually somewhere down around 10th, but that will be my dirty little secret), and Michael Commisso took 10th place with 2.5 out of 12. Mike had a tough row to hoe, 3 out of the 6 players he faced had ratings above 1900 (2 of them in fact had ratings over 2000).
Anyway, many thanks for Dr. Nick Sterling and the Waltham Chess Club for hosting such an enjoyable event. We will be back!
See you all next Wednesday.
-Mike [Meehan]
January 27th, 2016
2016 Reggie Boone Memorial
Round 4 of 5
Gurge Surges to Lead After 4;
WCC Attendance Record Matched
Veteran class B player, Ken Gurge, by defeating his class B rival, Joe Bennett, at board one tonight, has most likely increased his USCF rating sufficiently to cross the 1800 threshold & thereby place himself into class A at his all time high. Ken, with the white pieces, somewhat uncharacteristically opened with his queen pawn to which Joe responded with a variant of the Old Benoni Defence known as the Mujannah formation. The game, while not without numerous tactical opportunities for both sides, was a tight positional contest in which Ken was able to maintain a slight advantage & gradually increase his edge until eventually he sacrificed an exchange to reach a winning ending with barely four minutes on his clock.
Ken's win tonight places him in sole possession of the tournament lead & sets up a showdown next Wednesday between himself & class A rated, Dave Kochman, of Swanzey, NH, who while currently rated 1915 has yet to face anyone within 340 points of that in this tournament.
With the exception of Mike Commisso's 184 point upset of Dave Thomas at board six & Noah Rogers' 252 point upset of Larry O'Rourke at board eleven, most other games, while fiercely contested, finished as the ratings would predict. A couple other notable minor upsets included Mike Meehan's win over Seeth Ganesan & Ed Rogers' draw with Gary Brassard.
Once again the WCC equalled our recent record turnout for the club at FSU, and once again, the combined total (42) of regular competitors plus relatively new attendees extended the pairing list to 21 boards. This time however, WCC program director & chief TD, George Mirijanian, had the situation well in hand by producing additional board number tags as needed.
Reggie Boone Memorial, January 27th, 2016
Round 4 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Ken Gurge
1-0
Joe Bennett
Anthony Bracco
0-1
Dave Kochman
Larry Gladding
1-0
Tom Fratturelli
Tony Cesolini
1-0
Jackson Parker
Paul Lynch
0-1
Paul Godin
Mike Commisso
1-0
Dave Thomas
Mike Meehan
1-0
Seeth Ganesan
Gary Brassard
1/2-1/2
Ed Rogers
Kandy Lynch
0-1
Lenny Arsenault
Gail Lingner
0-1
Jim Hankard
Noah Rogers
1-0
Larry O'Rourke
Bob Mathieu
1-0
Richard Bennett
Sebastian Tilton
0-1
George Mirijanian
Roland Sorel
0-1
Dave Couture
Ed Harris
1-0
Wayne Steadman
Brian Biglow
1-0
Don Briggs
Hugh McLaughlin
0-1
Stan Talcott
Randy McLaughlin
1-0
Emily Gawboy
Francis Scanlon
1-0
Tom Whistler
Nik Lavoie
1-0
Jeromy Tilton
Andrew Kiser
0-1
Alexander Venezia
Receiving half-point byes were Roger Cappallo, Arthur Barlas, Geoff LePoer and Vlad Gaciu.
Not playing round 4 were John Bastarache and Finn Rogers.
Ray Paulson was withdrawn from the tournament.
Reggie Boone Memorial, January 27th, 2016
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points
Players
4.0
Gurge
3.5
Kochman, Gladding
3.0
Cesolini, Cappallo, Godin, J. Bennett, Barlas Commisso, Meehan
2.5
Fratturelli, Arsenault, Hankard, Mathieu, Bracco, N. Rogers
2.0
Mirijanian, LePoer, Brassard, Gaciu, Thomas, Couture, Harris, Ganesan, P. Lynch, Parker, Biglow, E. Rogers, Bastarache, Talcott
1.5
O'Rourke, Lingner, R. McLaughlin, R. Bennett, K. Lynch, Scanlon, S. Tilton, Venezia
1.0
Steadman, Briggs, Sorel, H. McLaughlin, Lavoie, F. Rogers
0.5
J. Tilton, Gawboy, Whistler
0.0
Kiser
Projected Round 5 pairings for February 3rd:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Kochman vs. Gurge
Board 2: Gladding vs. Cesolini
Board 3: Cappallo vs. Barlas
Board 4: Godin vs. Commisso
Board 5: J. Bennett vs. Meehan
Board 6: Fratturelli vs. Mathieu
Board 7: Arsenault vs. Bracco
Board 8: Hankard vs. N. Rogers
Board 9: Mirijanian vs. Ganesan
Board 10: P. Lynch vs. LePoer
Board 11: Parker vs. Brassard
Board 12: Thomas vs. Biglow
Board 13: E. Rogers vs. Couture
Board 14: Bastarache vs. Harris
Board 15: Talcott vs. O'Rourke
Board 16: Lingner vs. K. Lynch
Board 17 Scanlon vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 18: R. Bennett vs. S. Tilton
Board 19: Venezia vs. Steadman
Board 20: Briggs vs. Lavoie
Board 21: H. McLaughlin vs. Sorel
Board 22: Whistler vs. F. Rogers
Board 23: Kiser vs. Gawboy
Not paired for Round 5 are Gaciu and J. Tilton.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 5 on February 3rd.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
January 27th, 2016
Rating Update
Robert King scored 3.5-0.5 to tie for first place Tuesday night in the Metrowest Chess Club's New Year Swiss in Natick. Rob's score equaled that of master Lawyer Times, whom he drew in round 2. Rob's rating is now back to 2154, his all-time high. Congratulations Rob!
2016 Reggie Boone Memorial
Revised Projected pairings for Round 4
Revised Projected Round 4 pairings for January 27th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Gurge vs. Bennett
Board 2: Kochman vs. Barlas
Board 3: Gladding vs. Fratturelli
Board 4: Bracco vs. Cesolini
Board 5: Parker vs. Godin
Board 6: Commisso vs. Thomas
Board 7: Meehan vs. Ganesan
Board 8: P. Lynch vs. Bastarache
Board 9: Brassard vs. E. Rogers
Board 10: Lingner vs. Gaciu
Board 11: R. Bennett vs. Arsenault
Board 12: N. Rogers vs. Hankard
Board 13: S. Tilton vs. O'Rourke
Board 14: Mathieu vs. K. Lynch
Board 15: Steadman vs. Mirijanian
Board 16: Briggs vs. Couture
Board 17: Harris vs. Sorel
Board 18: Biglow vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 19: F. Rogers vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 20: Scanlon vs. Whistler
Board 21: J. Tilton vs. Gawboy
Board 22: Lavoie vs. Venezia
Requesting half-point byes for Round 4 are Cappallo & LePoer.
January 20th, 2016
2016 Reggie Boone Memorial
Round 3 of 5
Many Upsets but Few Real Surprises as
Near Record Setting Attendance Continues
Reggie Boone Memorial, January 20th, 2016
Round 3 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
Paul Godin
0-1
Joe Bennett
Dave Thomas
0-1
Ken Gurge
Arthur Barlas
1/2-1/2
Tony Cesolini
Geoff LePoer
0-1
Larry Gladding
Larry O'Rourke
0-1
Dave Kochman
Tom Fratturelli
1-0
Ed Rogers
George Mirijanian
0-1
Anthony Bracco
Jim Hankard
1/2-1/2
Gary Brassard
Dave Couture
0-1
Mike Meehan
Mike Commisso
1-0
Ed Harris
Seeth Ganesan
1-0
Brian Biglow
Wayne Steadman
0-1
Paul Lynch
Don Briggs
0-1
Jackson Parker
Lenny Arsenault
1/2-1/2
Gail Lingner
Jeromy Tilton
0-1
Bob Mathieu
Sebastian Tilton
1-0
Randy McLaughlin
Alexander Venezia
0-1
Kandy Lynch
Roland Sorel
1-0
Nik Lavoie
Andrew Kiser (Forfeit)
0-1
Hugh McLaughlin
Emily Gawboy
1/2-1/2
Francis Scanlon
Receiving half-point byes were Roger Cappallo, John Bastarache, Vlad Gaciu, Richard Bennett, Noah Rogers,
Stan Talcott, Finn Rogers and Tom Whistler.
Not playing round 3 was Ray Paulson.
Alan Condon withdrew from the tournament.
Cesolini, Godin, Thomas, Ganesan, P. Lynch, Parker, Commisso, Meehan, Bastarache
1.5
LePoer, Brassard, Gaciu, Arsenault, Hankard, O'Rourke, Mathieu, E. Rogers, Lingner, R. Bennett, N. Rogers, K. Lynch, S. Tilton
1.0
Paulson, Mirijanian, Couture, Harris, Biglow, Talcott, Steadman, Briggs, Sorel, H. McLaughlin, F. Rogers
0.5
R. McLaughlin, Scanlon, J. Tilton, Gawboy, Whistler, Venezia
0.0
Lavoie, Kiser
Projected Round 4 pairings for January 27th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Gurge vs. J. Bennett
Board 2: Kochman vs. Barlas
Board 3: Gladding vs. Fratturelli
Board 4: Bracco vs. Cesolini
Board 5: Parker vs. Godin
Board 6: Commisso vs. Thomas
Board 7: Meehan vs. Ganesan
Board 8: P. Lynch vs. Bastarache
Board 9: E. Rogers vs. LePoer
Board 10: Brassard vs. Mathieu
Board 11: Lingner vs. Gaciu
Board 12: R. Bennett vs. Arsenault
Board 13: K. Lynch vs. Hankard
Board 14: N. Rogers vs. O'Rourke
Board 15: S. Tilton vs. Mirijanian
Board 16: Steadman vs. Couture
Board 17: Harris vs. Briggs
Board 18: Biglow vs. Sorel
Board 19: H. McLaughlin vs. Talcott
Board 20: F. Rogers vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 21: Scanlon vs. Whistler
Board 22: J. Tilton vs. Gawboy
Board 23: Lavoie vs. Venezia
Requesting a half-point bye for Round 4 is Cappallo.
Kiser was withdrawn from the tournament.
♚ Westminster Championship Changes Hands ♔
Once again, a third round pairing, this time in the Reggie Boone Memorial Tournament on Wednesday night, pitted reigning Westminster champ, Dave Couture, of Westminster, MA against rival resident, Mike Meehan, the only other WCC member also from Westminster, hence another chapter of the continuing Westminster Chess Championship saga was written.
Last yeaar's matchup between these two resulted in Couture's claiming the cup. However, 2016 ushered in a new champ as Meehan took control by winning a king & pawn ending aagainst his class B rated opponent & author of "Progressive Tactics", Dave Couture.
Westminster Championship, January 20th, 2016
Round 1 of 1 Results
White
Result
Black
Couture
0-1
Meehan
Westminster Championship, January 20th, 2016
FINAL STANDINGS
Points
Players
1.0
Meehan
0.5
----
0.0
Couture
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on January 27th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
January 20th, 2016
Carissa Yip to Compete in 2016 US Women's Championship!
According to very reliable sources, the 2014 WCC Champ, Carissa Yip, has been invited to play in the next US Womens Championship in St Louis in April 2016.
Carissa Yip at 2015 World Youth Championships
January 19th, 2016
Pair of WCC NH Residents Compete in Portsmouth
Ed Harris and Jim Hankard played in the FIDE rated Portsmouth Open this past weekend (Saturday and Sunday). Ed scored 3-1 in the Under 1750 section and tied for second place, sharing the second-place guaranteed prize money. He lost 4 rating points. His rating is now 1731. Jim, playing in the same section, tallied 2.5-1.5, and his rating of 1600 remained the same.
Ed Harris -> 1731
Jim Hankard -> 1600
January 13th, 2016
2016 Reggie Boone Memorial
Round 2 of 5
Barlas Prevails at Board One as
WCC Sets FSU Attendance Record!
Arthur Barlas, considered by many to be the "Rodney Dangerfield of the WCC", scored a huge 269 rating point upset over USCF Expert & reigning WCC club champ, George Mirijanian at board one in round two of the 2016 Reggie Boone Memorial tournament. Arthur, playing the white pieces, achieved a solid positional advantage early in the middlegame with his bishop against George's knight while each player still had several other pieces & pawns on the board. This proved to be sufficient to win the full point as Barlas used his lone cleric to tie down his opponent's weaker minor piece by means of a deadly pin & some back rank tactics. This allowed Arthur to force exchanges & reach a technically won yet still challenging ending. Ultimately, George was unable to generate sufficient counterplay & resigned as both competitors approached the time control. Except for Noah Rogers' draw upset of Mike Meehan at board ten, this was the only upset of the night.
Buoyed by the recent addition of several new players, namely: Vlad Gaciu, Roland Sorel, Nik Lavoie, Anthony Bracco, & Andrew Kiser plus the return of Jeromy & Sebastian Tilton, the WCC attained a record turnout for the club at FSU! The combined total (42) of regular competitors plus relatively new attendees extended the pairing list to 21 boards, thereby exceeding the number of available board number tags!
Receiving half-point byes were:
Geoff LePoer, Dave Kochman, John Bastarache, Ray Paulson, Alan Condon, Lenny Arsenault, Bob Mathieu,
and newcomer Alexander Venezia of Lunenburg.
George Miller withdrew from the tournament.
Not playing round 2 was a new player, Alexander Venezia of Lunenburg. He has been paired for Round 3.
Reggie Boone Memorial, January 13th, 2016
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points
Players
2.0
Cappallo, Godin, Thomas, J. Bennett, Gurge, Barlas
1.5
Cesolini, LePoer, Kochman, Gladding, Fratturelli, O'Rourke, E. Rogers, Bastarache, Bracco
1.0
Paulson, Mirijanian, Brassard, Gaciu, Couture, Harris, Condon, Ganesan, P. Lynch,
Parker, Arsenault, Hankard, Commisso, Meehan, Biglow, Lingner, Steadman, R. Bennett, N. Rogers, Briggs
0.5
Mathieu, R. McLaughlin, Talcott, K. Lynch, J. Tilton, S. Tilton, F. Rogers, Venezia
0.0
Sorel, H. McLaughlin, Scanlon, Lavoie, Kiser, Gawboy, Whistler
Projected Round 3 pairings for January 20th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Godin vs. J. Bennett
Board 2: Thomas vs. Gurge
Board 3: Barlas vs. Cesolini
Board 4: O'Rourke vs. Kochman
Board 5: Gladding vs. E. Rogers
Board 6: Fratturelli vs. Bastarache
Board 7: Mirijanian vs. Bracco
Board 8: Hankard vs. Brassard
Board 9: Commisso vs. Gaciu
Board 10: Couture vs. Meehan
Board 11: Biglow vs. Harris
Board 12: Ganesan vs. Lingner
Board 13: Steadman vs. P. Lynch
Board 14: N. Rogers vs. Parker
Board 15: Arsenault vs. R. Bennett
Board 16: Briggs vs. Mathieu
Board 17: J. Tilton vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 18: S. Tilton vs. Talcott
Board 19: Venezia vs. K. Lynch
Board 20: Sorel vs. F Rogers
Board 21: H. McLaughlin vs. Gawboy
Board 22: Kiser vs. Scanlon
Board 23: Lavoie vs. Whistler
Requesting half-point byes for Round 3 are Cappallo and LePoer.
Paulson and Condon will be paired if they show up to play Round 3.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on January 20th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
January 11th, 2016
4th Boston Chess Congress rating updates
Here are updated ratings for Wachusett CC players as a result of playing in the 4th Boston Chess Congress, which ended Sunday night, January 10:
Robert J. King -> 2126
Vlad Gaciu -> 1788
Dave Thomas -> 1777
Sebastian Tilton -> 961
Jeromy Tilton -> 951
January 10th, 2016
Four WCC players compete in Waltham, 7 at Boston Chess Congress.
♔ ♗ ♘ ♙
2010 Wachusett CC champion Tony Cesolini of Rindge, NH scored 6-1 to finish clear second in the Waltham "Not First Friday" tournament, a G/10 d3 quick chess event, held on January 8 at the Waltham Chess Club.
Tony's only loss was to IM Denys Shmelov of Newton, formerly of Pepperell, who won the tournament with a perfect 7-0 score. Fellow Wachusett CC member Joe Bennett of Fitchburg tallied 4-3 to finish in a tie for 4th place. Other Wachusett CC members competing in the 15-player event were Mike Commisso of Brookline, NH and Mike Meehan of Westminster.
Their quick ratings were affected as follows:
Tony Cesolini -> Q 1960
Joe Bennett -> Q 1792
Mike Commisso -> Q 1469
Mike Meehan -> Q 1372
Congratulations to Tony Cesolini for his strong 2nd place finish at the Waltham G/10 tourney last Friday night. Tony racked up 6 points (out of 7) to take home his prize, losing only to the eventual tournament winner [IM] Denys Shmelov (a 2333 rated player who swept the field, going 7 for 7).
Joe Bennett took 5th place with 4/7 points, Mike Commisso came in 12th place with 2/7, and yours truly, with great skill, NAILED last place with a totally impressive 1/7. Well, I actually escaped TRUE last place due to one player who withdrew after losing his first 3 games. Phew!!
Fun was had by all. Dr. Nick Sterling runs a tight tournament, like clockwork, and the venue was pleasant and comfortable.
-Mike Meehan
The following current and former Wachusett CC players are competing in the 4th Boston Chess Congress:
Premier Section: Carissa Yip, Robert J. King and Brandon Wu
Under 1900 Section: Dave Thomas and Vlad Gaciu
Under 1300 Section: Jeromy Tilton and Sebastian Tilton
The tournament concludes later today.
Among other notables competing in the Premier section is England's #4 ranked & FIDE World #71, GM Luke McShane, whose current USCF rating is 2815!
Two WCC players advance in USCF title norms categories.
♗ The next rating list update will show the highest "USCF Norms-Based Titles" earned by Jackson Parker as a 3rd Category player and Larry O'Rourke as a 4th Category player. Congratulations on continued progress.
Though there was no shortage of dramatic close calls, the top five & bottom nine boards finished tonight's first round according to rating expectations, but boards six, seven, & eight featured upsets of nearly 400 points each.
Class A rated Gary Brassard's knight & four pawns were overrun by his 385 point lower rated opponent, John Bastarache's seven pawns, at board 6. Board 7 finished in a split point as relative newcomer, Anthony Bracco, overcame a 409 point rating mismatch by playing his class A opponent, Larry Gladding, to a draw. Finally at board 8, Wayne Steadman broke through with a successful mating attack & scored a 443 rating point upset victory over class A rated, Vlad Gaciu.
These results, combined with the expected return of several contestants opting for first round byes, are likely to create a number of significant mismatches in the second round & hence the potential for additional large upsets as the Reggie Boone Memorial tournament proceeds.
Reggie Boone Memorial, January 6th, 2016
Round 1 of 5 Results
White
Result
Black
George Mirijanian
1-0
Jim Hankard
Mike Commisso
0-1
Roger Cappallo
Paul Godin
1-0
Brian Biglow
Bob Mathieu
0-1
Geoff LePoer
Dave Kochman
1-0
Gail Lingner
John Bastarache
1-0
Gary Brassard
Larry Gladding
1/2-1/2
Anthony Bracco
Wayne Steadman
1-0
Vlad Gaciu
Dave Thomas
1-0
Richard Bennett
Don Briggs
0-1
Joe Bennett
Ken Gurge
1-0
Roland Sorel
Hugh McLaughlin
0-1
Arthur Barlas
Dave Couture
1-0
Francis Scanlon
Nik Lavoie
0-1
Ed Harris
Seeth Ganesan
1-0
Andrew Kiser
Emily Gawboy
0-1
Paul Lynch
Jackson Parker
1-0
Tom Whistler
Receiving half-point byes were Tony Cesolini, Ray Paulson, Alan Condon, Tom Fratturelli, Lenny Arsenault, Mike Meehan,
Larry O'Rourke, George Miller, Ed Rogers, Randy McLaughlin, Stan Talcott, Noah Rogers, Kandy Lynch, Jeromy Tilton,
Sebastian Tilton and Finn Rogers.
Reggie Boone Memorial, January 6th, 2016
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points
Players
1.0
Mirijanian, Cappallo, Godin, LePoer, Kochman, Thomas, J. Bennett, Gurge, Barlas, Couture, Harris, Ganesan, P. Lynch,
Parker, Bastarache, Steadman
0.5
Cesolini, Paulson, Gladding, Condon, Fratturelli, Arsenault, Meehan, O'Rourke, Miller, E. Rogers, Bracco, R. McLaughlin,
Talcott, N. Rogers, K. Lynch, J. Tilton, S. Tilton, F. Rogers
0.0
Brassard, Gaciu, Hankard, Commisso, Biglow, Mathieu, Lingner, R. Bennett, Briggs, Sorel, H. McLaughlin,
Scanlon, Lavoie, Kiser, Gawboy, Whistler
Projected Round 2 pairings for January 13th:Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Harris vs. Mirijanian
Board 2: Cappallo vs. Couture
Board 3: Ganesan vs. Godin
Board 4: P. Lynch vs. Thomas
Board 5: J. Bennett vs. Parker
Board 6: Bastarache vs. Gurge
Board 7: Barlas vs. Steadman
Board 8: Cesolini vs. E. Rogers
Board 9: Bracco vs. Paulson
Board 10: R. McLaughlin vs. Gladding
Board 11: Talcott vs. Condon
Board 12: Fratturelli vs. N. Rogers
Board 13: K. Lynch vs. Arsenault
Board 14: Meehan vs. J. Tilton
Board 15: S. Tilton vs. O'Rourke
Board 16: Miller vs. F. Rogers
Board 17: Brassard vs. Briggs
Board 18: Gaciu vs. Sorel
Board 19: Hankard vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 20: Scanlon vs. Commisso
Board 21: Biglow vs.Lavoie
Board 22: Kiser vs. Mathieu
Board 23: Lingner vs. Gawboy
Board 24: R. Bennett vs. Whistler
Requesting half-point byes for Round 2 are LePoer and Kochman.
The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes three new members:
Dave Kochman, of Swanzey, NH, Roland Sorel, of Westford, & Nik Lavoie, of Worcester.
REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on January 13th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
♚ Top 25 Active New England Players ♔ 2016-JANUARY-6 ♚
Place
Name
Rating
State
1
GM SAMUEL SEVIAN
2670
MA
2
GM LARRY M CHRISTIANSEN
2661
MA
3
GM EUGENE PERELSHTEYN
2596
MA
4
GM ILDAR IBRAGIMOV
2584
CT
5
IM STEVEN C ZIERK
2581
MA
6
GM ALEXANDER IVANOV
2578
MA
7
GM SERGEY KUDRIN
2550
CT
8
IM JAN VAN DE MORTEL
2528
CT
9
IM DAVID VIGORITO
2510
MA
10
IM MARC ESSERMAN
2501
MA
11
IM DENYS K SHMELOV
2486
MA
12
IM IGOR FOYGEL
2466
MA
13
MIKA ANDREW BRATTAIN
2455
MA
14
CHRISTOPHER GU
2450
RI
15
IM DANNY EDELMAN
2447
CT
16
FM STEVEN WINER
2446
MA
17
FM KAPIL CHANDRAN
2429
CT
18
FM CHRISTOPHER W CHASE
2404
MA
19
FM JACOB CHUDNOVSKY
2396
MA
20
EDWARD F MCHUGH
2378
CT
21
VADIM MARTIROSOV
2377
MA
22
FM NELSON CASTANEDA
2367
CT
23
FM CHARLES RIORDAN
2353
MA
24
CHRIS WILLIAMS
2342
MA
25
HANS MOKE NIEMANN
2342
CT
January 6th, 2016
Rating Updates for start of 2016 Reggie Boone Memorial Tournament
The following up-to-date ratings are in effect for the Reggie Boone Memorial, which starts Wednesday, January 6, at the Wachusett CC.
Some players have undergone re-rates by the USCF.
Updated ratings are as follows: (Outdated ratings are listed in parentheses.)
Robert J. King -> 2149
Tony Cesolini -> 2049 (2052)
Ray Paulson -> 2032
George Mirijanian -> 2029 (2030)
Roger Cappallo -> 1971
Paul Godin 1963 -> (1953)
Geoff LePoer -> 1937
Walter Niemi -> 1934
Bruce Felton -> 1923
Eric Strickland -> 1918
Gary Brassard -> 1843 (1844)
Larry Gladding -> 1834
Vlad Gaciu -> 1817
Dave Thomas -> 1812 (1835)
Joe Bennett -> 1768 (1774)
Ken Gurge -> 1762
Vince Bradley -> 1762
Arthur Barlas -> 1760
Dave Couture -> 1739 (1740)
Ed Harris -> 1735 (1715)
Alan Condon -> 1732 (1733)
Seeth Ganesan -> 1689
Paul Lynch -> 1686
Jackson Parker -> 1679
Tom Fratturelli -> 1658
Lenny Arsenault -> 1650
Jim Hankard -> 1600 (1613)
Mike Commisso -> 1593 (1594)
Mike Meehan -> 1590
Brian Biglow -> 1574
Larry O'Rourke -> 1571
George Miller -> 1540
Ed Rogers -> 1524 (1516)
Tom Giampietro -> 1517
Gail Lingner -> 1500
John Bastarache -> 1459
Anthony Bracco -> 1440/P11 (1425/P8)
Randy McLaughlin -> 1437 (1436)
Stan Talcott -> 1391 (1406)
Wayne Steadman -> 1374 (1373)
Richard Bennett -> 1369 (1368)
Noah Rogers -> 1319 (1317)
Don Briggs -> 1307
Kandy Lynch -> 1187
Hugh McLaughlin -> 1179 (1180)
Francis Scanlon -> 1062
Jeremy Tilton -> 986
Sebastian Tilton -> 947
Andrew Kiser -> 900
Finn Rogers -> 875 (876)
Emily Gawboy -> 870
Tom Whistler -> 828
In between the holidays, six Massachusetts players competed in the 25th Aannual North American Open in five sections. Here are their finishing places within each section & their rating changes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
USCF MSA - Cross Table for 25TH ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN OPEN
Below is a list of all players from the state of MA competing:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Section 1 - OPEN
#: State USCF-ID Player-Name Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Title-Norm Opp-List
21: MA 13433622DENYS K SHMELOV R: 2486 -> 2480 OpponentsSection 2 - UNDER2300
#: State USCF-ID Player-Name Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Title-Norm Opp-List
72: MA 12580336ILYA KRASIK R: 2278 -> 2260 OpponentsSection 3 - UNDER2100
#: State USCF-ID Player-Name Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Title-Norm Opp-List
48: MA 12659361JOHN CURCURU R: 2000 -> 2006 Opponents
123: MA 15466651PINYI HU R: 1815 -> 1806 OpponentsSection 5 - UNDER 1700
#: State USCF-ID Player-Name Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Title-Norm Opp-List
115: MA 12931292JONATHAN J. CROWE R: 1625 -> 1537 OpponentsSection 6 - UNDER 1500
#: State USCF-ID Player-Name Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Title-Norm Opp-List
42: MA 15328077MICHAEL SAMUELS R: 1486 -> 1479 Opponents
The following Wachusett Chess Club players have FIDE ID numbers:Robert J. King ID No. 2077204 Rating: 2001 Birth year: 1983
Ray Paulson ID No. 2055775 no rating Birth year: 1956
George Mirijanian ID No. 2071177 no rating Birth year: 1943
Roger Cappallo ID No. 30924006 no rating Birth year: 1949
Vlad Gaciu (Canada) ID No. 2602423 no rating Birth year: 1991
Ed Harris ID No. 2044625 no rating Birth year: 1957
Joe Bennett ID No. 2045842 no rating Birth year: 1988
Ratings & Stats
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