Sunday, January 25, 2015

BCC: FRIDAY NIGHT BLITZ AT THE BCC // $200 GUARANTEED PRIZE FUND // 6 ROUNDS //

BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB
BLITZ CHESS
THIS FRIDAY!
FEBRUARY 6, 2015
BLITZ CHESS
THE OLD-FASHION WAY
NO DELAY!
THE DETAILS:
6 ROUNDS SWISS PAIRING
PLAY EACH OPPONENT WITH WHITE & BLACK
TOURNAMENT IN 1 SECTION 
$10 entry fee to BCC members
$20 entry fee to non-members.
PRIZES: $200 GUARANTEED
$100-$50; U2000 $30; U1800 $20
REGISTRATION 6:30 - 7:20 PM
Round 1 starts at 7:30 PM; rest ASAP
BCC: 40 Norris Street, Cambridge MA
BCF CHESS PRODUCTION
CAMBRIDGE MA USA

BCC JANUARY GRAND PRIX: REPORT // GODIN / KAVI / SULLIVAN / DONDIS / EXCEL // 18 PLAY // NEW FACES

BCC WINTER WONDERLAND
HOSTS 1ST GP OF 2015
ERIC IS BACK
NM Eric Godin (right) appraises his position with black, 
 in the late stages of Round 1 vs Gabriel Birzu.
(background): Nithin Kavi vs Seth Lieberman: draw!
Richard Alan Chen vs Bob Sullivan;
Loring Lauretti vs Ed Chiu.
Eric scored a perfect 4 - 0 to top the charts in the first
BCC Grand Prix of the 2015 season. This GP is a 
"mini" series lasting 6 months, so every point counts,
even if the event is held during a winter blast of snow!
NM Eric Godin (right) was firing on all 8 cylinders Saturday to
win every one of his games. Here he plays white vs Pinyi Hu,
PhD graduate student at BU in chemistry.
(background, center): William Karafelis.
SERIOIUS TONE
NM Eric Godin (right) faces off with Noah Schleshinger in
Round 4. This is Noah's first USCF tournament in which he
earned a 1899 provisional rating. Bravo, Noah!
Eric up'd his rating +8 to 2208. Way-ta-go, Eric!
(background): Nithin Kavi vs Terrence Fricker;
William Karafelis vs Gabriel Birzu.
2-3th Place
Nithin Kavi scored 3/4 for 2-3rd place shared
with BCC veteran Bob Sullivan. Nithin's
rating now stands at 2164 and climbing.
Bravo, Nithin.
ON THE MARK
Nithin Kavi (right) scored the full point vs
junior chess talent Carissa Yip in Round 2.
Nithin Kavi played white vs Bob Sullivan for the win in Round 3.
(background): William Karafelis vs Terrence Fricker.
Bob Sullivan recovered from his loss to Kavi in
Round 3 and went on to win his Round 4 game
to share a piece of 2-3rd place. Bravo, Bob!
92 YEARS YOUNG 
Harold Dondis, Esq. scored 2.5 points to take clear
4th place in the BCC January GP.  Harold up'd his
rating +1 to 1722, coming off his 1st place finish
in the U1950 Section of the $5 Open last weekend.
In spite of the snow, Harold shines. Bravo, Harold!
JIN WATCH
7 yr old Derek Jin (right) played Pinyi Hu in Round 3.
Derek won this game and earned a +26 to 1632 rating.
Bravo, Derek!
NEW FACES AT THE BCC
Antony Khalilov played his first tournament at the BCC,
seen in this photo facing off with Richard Alan Chen in
Round 2. Welcome Antony!
(background): Kate Gasser , black vs Ed Chiu.
William Karfelis II, first time at the BCC
plays his first USCF event. Welcome, William!
 Alexander Hirsch, newcomer to BCC and first
USCF tournament. Welcome, Alexander!
(background, right): Pinyi Hu.
Here Alexander is playing black vs Ed Chiu in Round 3.
(background): Pinyi Hu
KATE HAS ARRIVED
BCC veteran woman chess player, Katherine Gasser plays
Round 2 of GP, her first appearance at the 40 Norris Street venue.
PARTING SHOT
Nithin Kavi vs Bob Sullivan. William Karafelis (right);
(background): Soran Pedersen vs Paul Mishkin playing
the Polar Vortex event run concurrently with the BCC
January Grand Prix.
DIRECTING 2 TOURNAMENTS AT THE SAME TIME!
 Senior TD Bernardo Iglesias organizes the prize fund for the
BCC Polar Vortex & keeps track of the BCC January Grand Prix.
PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK
LATE BREAKING NEWS:
World Chess Champion
Magnus Carlsen wins Wija aan Zee!
Way-ta-go, Magnus!
GMs Sam Shankland and Sammy Sevian
excel!  Bravo, to the Sammys. . .

BCC: POLAR VORTEX REPORT // CHERNIACK / SAGE / MISHKIN / HOY / 10 PLAY // 4SS / G120 5" d //

BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB WINTER WONDERLAND
POLAR VORTEX: MASTER / EXPERT / A PLAYER
HARD WORK PAYS OFF
NM Alex Cherniack put in a 4 - 0 perfect performance
in 2 consecutive Saturdays to take clear 1st place
in the BCC's first Polar Vortex.  This was good for
a +12 to 2309 rating. Bravo, Alex!
PHYSICS IS FUN!
NM J Timothy Sage, Professor of Physics, Northeastern
University scored 3 point to take clear 2nd place.
Paul Mishkin, Esq. scored 2.5 points to take clear 3rd place.
Paul earned a +4 to 1930 rating for his performance.
CLOSING THE GAP
Andrew Hoy scored 2 points
to take clear 4th place and
up'd his rating to 2186.
Thank you to all the players who made
the BCC 1st Polar Vortex a success
inspite of the snowstorm!
ROUND 3 ACTION
Adam Banakus plays white vs NM Alex Cherniack in Round 3.
TOURNAMENT BENEFACTOR
Natasha Christiansen (right) deep in thought, playing
black, vs Soren Sandmann Pedersen in Round 3.
The game was a draw.  In a generous spirit, Natasha
guaranteed the prize-fund for the 1st Polar Vortex event.
Thank you, Natasha!
BERNARDO IGLESIAS, TD
PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK

Friday, January 23, 2015

3RD BOSTON CHESS CONGRESS 2015 / HYATT HARBORSIDE / LOGAN AIRPORT / 229 PLAY / 55 BCC REGULARS PARTICIPATE // RIORDAN / C WILLIAMS / KELLY / TRATTNER / KATZMAN // SHINE //

CONTINENTAL CHESS 
1st place on tie-breaks: Cuban born GM Corrales Jimenez (center)
picks up $978.50 for his efforts. IM Steven Zierk (left) is impressive
with wins over former BCC President and Club Champion, 
IM David Vigorito (seen here, right) in Round 4; and
IM Zierk takes the full point from GM Alexander Ivanov in Round
5 (!),  all for a share of 1-2nd place and a $880.50 cash prize award.
BCC Vice President (& former BCC President & Club Champion)
 FM Charles Riordan (right, in photo with black) plays Joshua Specht
in Round 4. Charles went on to win this game and his Round 5
game vs 2321 master Brandon Ashe for clear 3rd place.
For his efforts, Charles earned $392. Bravo, Charles!
1-2nd U2300 
NM Chris Williams took home $367.50 for his
3.5 point total, going 1-2nd place U2300 with
13 yr old FM David Brodsky from 
Westchester County, New York.  Bravo, Chris!
FM David Brodsky executes his drawn endgame vs NM Yefim 
Treger in Round 4. (background): Nithin Kavi, playing black 
and winning (!) vs NM Michael Vilenchuk; NM Hal Terrie
vs NM Chris Williams, a game won by Chris on his way to 1-2nd
U2300 place and his cash prize! Nithin was +15 to 2165 rating!
NOTABLE SUCCESS STORIES IN 
U2100 SECTION
(7 player pile-up for 1st place)
Michael Mahoney (Boston Blitz US Chess League), Shelly Mays (PA),
Mark Borque (CT),  Andrew Trattner (MIT),  Joe Kelly (MA),
WFM Martha Samadashvili (NY), Haotian Wang (CHINA) 1-7th:
payout: $251.82 each!
Joe Kelly (MA) (center) executes his endgame win vs Alex 
Esterkin (MA).  Joe a BCC veteran for many decades, made
his weekend activities worth $251.82.  Bravo, Joe!
11 yr old WFM Martha Samadashvili (NY) draws her last round
game vs expert Shelly Mays (PA) for a piece of 1-7th and $251.82.
Brava, Martha! Keep up the good work!
MIT Chess Empresario and BCC player Andy Trattner defends with 
black vs BCC player Adam Banakus in Round 5 of this event, picking
up the full point for his 4 point total and a bucket of $251.82. Bravo, Andy!
NO. 1 7 YR OLD IN MA FOR 2015
One of BCC's junior stars, Derek Jin continues to impress
as he cogitated his way to 3.5 points and a 5-8th place
finish. Though out of the money, Derek's rating is now 1606.
[Look at Derek's concentration! Is this a pose of a 7 yr old?!]
Nice going, Derek, slowly but surely, you are on the road
to chess mastery.
A DETERMINED, FOCUSED YOUNG LAD
8 yr old David Katzman, a BCC junior player, scored 4 
points to share the 2-5th place and $85.75 prize money for his
efforts in the U1300.  Bravo, David!  David is ranked 551 
out of 964 on the adult list for Massachusetts chess players.
PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK