Sunday, March 31, 2013

BCC GRAND PRIX: EXCITING AND CHALLENGING

NM Eric Godin, withdraws, after scoring 3 points in a row. He shared 1-3rd place in the Premier Section of the BCC Grand Prix with Carey Theil and Vadlamudi.
Carissa Yip prepares her attack in Round 4 of Premier Section vs Carey Theil.
Michelle Chen vs Carey Theil, Round 3: draw!
Deep into the endgame.
Complex endgame between Jesse Nicholas (right) vs NM Eric Godin, Round 3.
 Sandeep Vadlamudi, 3 points, 1-3rd in Premier Section, GP, good for +93 rating change.
Michelle Chen vs Robert Stewart, Round 2. Michelle finished with 2.5 points, along with Jason Tang and Mike Griffin, good for 4-6th place in the Premier Section of the GP.
 Jason Tang played thoughtful, solid chess against strong competition, good for + 12 rating points.

Mike Griffin uses Monroi to record his moves in game with Conway Xu in Round 4.
Mike's tournament results were good enough for a + 57 rating change. Bravo Mike!
Griffin records move in his draw with Jason Tang in Round 3 with a "Monroi".   
MonRoi: "Mont Roi" (mountain of the king) eg: Montreal, Canada, where the company which developed the device is located.
Carissa Yip scored 2 points in the Premier Section for a +14 rating change!
Eric Scott Matthews (right) scored 3.5 points to claim clear first in the U1800 Section of the GP and a +21 rating change. He is seen here playing Rohan Shankar in Round 3.
Harold Dondis, Esq. scored 3 points in the U1800 Section of the GP good for 2-5th place. Harold, the oldest living active Club player on the planet, at 90+ scored a +11 rating change. Bravo Harold!
Contrary to prevailing rumors on Yawkey Way, however,
 Dondis will not be the Red Sox manager this seasion.
Line-up for Round 2: R. Shankar vs Dan Giaimo. Dan scored 3 points and joined Dondis, Mooney and Birzu for 2-5th place in the U1800 Section of the GP. [background: Cortizas, black vs Chen Bai]
Gabriel Birzu, 3 points: 2-5th in U1800 Section of GP and + 81 rating change.
 Richard Mooney vs Richard Alan Chen, Round 3. [Eric Feng, top left]
Mooney scored 3 points, good for 2-5th in the U1800 Section of the GP and a +31 rating change.
 [left to right] Sandeep Vadlamudi plays James McConville; Arthur Tang vs Conway Xu.
Background: Griffin vs Nicholas.  Round 2.
Letting off steam: between rounds. Skittles and games and lots of laughs!
Michelle Chen vs Conway Xu skittles. Richard Alan Chen, Brandon Wu and Carissa Yip observe.
Lunchbreak: Jesse Nicholas gives Carissa Yip a run for her money. 
The crowd likes it! [Background, left to right: Seth Lieberman, Michelle Chen, Lucy Cai, Percey Yip, Dan Giaimo and Loring Lauretti]
Two of the strongest juniors in Massachusetts: Carissa Yip and Lucy Cai (on the move with white) 
play some skittles games.
What's all the excitement (?): tournament leader, NM Eric Godin decides to withdraw in Round 4. So Bernardo Iglesias, tournament director (left at computer) re-pairs the Premier Section. Carissa Yip will play the strongest remaining player, Carey Theil! Everyone is excited for her!
And. Percey Yip will get to play chess too. 
Here is is paired in an extra game with Sandeep Vadlamudi. The game was drawn.
New face in the hall: Ron Riley. Voted best logo. Ready to weather the storm.
Welcome Ron.
 Bob Oresick, BCC Treasurer receives the tournament accounts 
from BCC Chief TD, Bernardo Iglesias. Bob is looking great, recovering from illness.
Keep up the good work, Bob. Hope to see you playing chess, soon, too!
There were 33 participants in this Grand Prix Event.


Wednesday, March 27, 2013

BCC GRAND PRIX: SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 2013

BCC GRAND PRIX
This Saturday, March 30th!
60/SD (+5"delay)
see Boylston Chess Club Home Page "Calendar of BCC Events" for details.
The BCC Grand Prix is a fan favorite. Mark your
events calendar for Saturday, March 30th; get your entry fee in by tomorrow
and have the time of your life.
"BCF* Grand Prix Series Open" standings as of February 2013:
"U2400": Marc Esserman 7; Andrew Wang 5; Eric Godin 5
"U2200": Jesse Nicholas 5; Arthur Nugent 3; Emanuel Mevs 4; Philip Nutzman 2;Tony Blum 1.5
"U2000": Mateos Sahakian 5.5; Nithin Kavi 4; Mike Griffin 4; Carissa Yip 3; Luke Lung 3;
Arthur Tang 2; Michelle Chen 2; Walther Driscoll 2; Loring Lauretti 2; Aidan Sowa 1.5; Ross
Eldridge 1.5; Oliver Traldo 1.5; Jason Tang 1.5; Nathan Smolensky 1; Katherine Gasser 1;
Jerry Williams 1; Allen Wang 1; Joel Wald 1. "U1800": Harold Dondis 3; Robert Holmgren 1.5.
"U1600": Chen Bai 4.5; Eddie Wei 3; Eddie Wang 3; Eric Feng 2.5; David Martin 2.5;
Mark O'Brien 2; William Wisdom 2. "U1400": Matthew Manzo 3; Brandon Wu 2; Lucy Cai 2.
"U1200": Larry Jin 2; David Sun 1; Richard Chen 1. [*BCF = Boylston Chess Foundation = BCC]
Deadline for Discount
PayPal: 11:59 PM tomorrow (Friday)!
Cash or Check: Tonight (Thursday) at BCC TNS

Sunday, March 24, 2013

BCC LEGENDS OF CHESS: FM CHRIS CHASE 4-0

FM Chris Chase has done it again: back to back perfect performances, this time in the Legends of Chess (Ed Lasker).
FM Chris Chase wins Premier Section of Legends of Chess March 23, 2013.
NM Godin vs FM Chase, Round 3
NM Eric Godin was clear 2nd in Premier Section with a 3-1 score.
Expert Billy Collins, black vs Arthur Tang.  Collins went 2.5-1.5 good for 3-4th in Premier Section.
Robert Holmgren scored 2.5 points in Premier Section good for 3-4th Place.
Holmgren pushed his rating +30!
Hands across the board: Ross Eldridge vs Natasha Christiansen, Round  2 Premier Section.
Richard Mooney, clear first, U1800 Legends of Chess, with 3.5 points.
Mooney vs Eric Feng, who looks over at "queen collection" and wonders how many 
queens will it take Mooney to beat him!
Lucy Cai Jiaying 3 points and 2nd-4th in U1800: +81 points in rating.
Chris Burkhart, black vs Eddie Wei. Eddie scored 3 points and placed 2-4th, 
putting up a +20 rating change.
Eric Feng vs Edward Morris, Round 2. Feng scored 3 points and
came in 2-4th in U1800 section.
Larry Jin, Eddie Wei and Lucy Cai Jiaying share some fun during lunch break.
Gabriel Birzu, black vs Mark O'Brien. 
Special welcome to first-time BCC participant Gabriel Birzu.
Also, a heartfelt welcome to 8 yr old Larry Jin, to BCC tournament participation. 
Larry just started to play chess a few months ago!  Keep up the good work, Larry!
Between rounds: Eric Godin, Chris Burkhart and Mark O'Brien at the key-board,
 share a search for a viable move for Mark in his game against Gabriel Birzu.
Eddie Wei, Larry Jin, Carissa Yip and Lucy Cai share a new 
game during lunchbreak: MONOPOLY.
"I thought my position contained amusing positional novelty" quips Iris Tang, U2, Arthur Tang's younger sister. It was her first visit to the Boylston Chess Club and she thoroughly enjoyed it.
A round of applause for Bernardo Iglesias, TD, who ran a top-notch tournament.
See you Monday evening for Round 5 of the PARAMOUNT
Come and observe.

LONDON: CANDIDATES TOURNAMENT: PHOTOS

LUCK OF THE IRISH: SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 2013
Jenny Lu from Newton, Massachusetts, and a recent graduate of Wellesley College, sends greetings to the Greater Boston Chess Community.  Jenny is stationed in London, working in the area of neuroscience. And at my direction, she and her friends took a walk over to IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) at 2 Savoy Place, WC2R 0BL to see what they could see, and take some photos of the FIDE Candidates Tournament, London, special for the Boylston Chess Club WebLog.
Magnus Carlsen, London 2013, Round 3.                              Photo: JennyLu
Magnus Carlsen: waiting for Destiny.           Photo: JennyLu
Boris Gelfand: pre-game sip.                                                     Photo: JennyLu
Gelfand vs Carlsen, London, Round 3.                                     Photo: JennyLu
Could this be the fateful win that brings the chess world its new champion?
Ivanchuk vs Aronian, London, Round 3.                                Photo: JennyLu
Kramnik vs Grischuk, Round 3.                      Photo: JennyLu
Svidler vs Radjabov, Round 3. Photo:                                                JennyLu
                                                                              Photo: JennyLu
FIDE Candidates Tournament, London, 2013, Round 3
Electronic Demonstration Boards
"Prescient: having or showing knowledge of events before they take place. . . "
                                                           Photo: JennyLu
Magnus Carlsen: the pressure is on.