The October Legends of Chess Tournament a Success!

This last Saturday (15 October) the Boylston CC October Legends of Chess Tournament was held.

Doc Kinne, Boylston Chess Club's new Clerk, directed, this being his first tournament of this type as Chief Arbiter "without a net" since 1992. Basically things went smoothly, although there were some exciting moments.

Initially we had only 5 players signed up for the Under 1800 Section, so that section was merged into the Open Section and Under 1800 Class prizes were given. In the end 26 people battled across the checkered board on this middle Saturday in October.

The Under 1800 Class Prize (1st and 2nd Place) was split in a four-way tie:

* Mateos Sahakian

* Allen Wang

* Jerry Willams

and

* Osemekhian Omoifo

a promising new player who's recently been attending our tournaments.

They all achieved 2.5 points.

Second Place was garnered with 3 points by International Master Marc Esserman.

Finally, the tournament was swept with a perfect score of 4.0, and First Place was awarded to FIDE Master Christopher Chase!

I'd like to close by reminding everyone that we have a magnificent opportunity both for a good amount of fun and the chance to really promote our Club this Thursday, 20 October. Make sure you attend the "Simul in South Station" this Thursday at 5:00PM. Our own Grandmaster Larry Christiansen will be taking on 20 people across the board. This event is free and will be really watched by the public. Bring your friends! This is the perfect opportunity to introduce that friend who wonders what you do on Saturday afternoons!!

BCC January Monday Night Swiss

The first Monday Night Swiss of the new year ended this evening with FM Chris Chase winning with 4/4. He defeated Boston Globe chess columnist Harold Dondis, who still plays a tough game at age 86, while tinkering with the new (to the club) computer, a gift from Jason Rihel. He was trying to get it set up and show Bernardo Iglesias the new features in anticipation of a big turnout at this Saturday's quads.

Adam Yedidia was second with 3/4 - his only loss from having forgotten to come to the club last week. Adam you may recall started 2007 at around 550 and moved his rating up to nearly 1400. In this tournament, he defeated players rated 1810, 1244, and 1614 and so added some more points. He pulled out a striking win over Frank Frazier - while under time pressure in the end game he found a winning rook sac.

Another GM at the BCC

From the Monday, January 21st Chess Notes column in the Boston Globe:

A preeminent player in New England chess and the dominant force in tournaments in this region is [Grandmaster] Alexander Ivanov of Newton. We had not seen him recently, but he suddenly appeared at the Boylston Club for the Sultan Khan tourney. It turns out that this was Ivanov's first appearance at the Boylston's site in Somerville. He scored a clean sweep of the tournament, winning a last-round hair-raiser against [FM and former BCC Champion] Chris Chase on time forfeit, with a second or so left on Ivanov's clock.

Ivanov's absence from local chess is explained by his participation in the World Cup. The latter, won by Gata Kamsky, was held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Siberia, not particularly far from Ivanov's birthplace. Ivanov won against Peru's Julio Granda Zuniga, but was eliminated in the second round by Joel Lautier of France. Ivanov says he received $6,000 for his effort....

How do we get him to the club more than once a year?

Takchess reports on his New Year's day at the Boylston Chess Club.

BCC Herb Healy Open House 2008

Since 1974 chess players have started the new year with a tournament and open house at the Boylston Chess Club. In 1980 the open house was dedicated to Herb Healy, who is described below by Bernardo Iglesias.

This year there were 41 players and many visitors. Former US Champion GM Larry Christiansen played again this year, along with IM David Vigorito, current BCC and Massachusetts Champion, and FM Paul MacIntyre, current BCC President and BCC Champion (2004, 2003, 2001, & 2000).

Other former BCC Champions playing included FM Bill Kelleher (1987, 1984, 1983, 1981, 1980, & 1979), FM Chris Chase (2006, 1998, 1994, 1990), NM Alex Cherniack (1995, 1989), and FM Jacob Rasin (just visiting; 1997,1995,1993,1992,1991, & 1990).

Bernardo Iglesias was again the able TD, assisted by Walter Driscoll and Scott Caplan. Mike Griffin catered the affair as Irving Yaffee was unable to attend. Tony Cortizas and Steve Stepak, two pre-eminent portrait photographers, documented the event, as they have so often done in the Boston chess world. Robert Oresick also snapped some shots in between getting clobbered by Seth Lieberman and Natasha Christiansen.

********************

Herbert E. Healy was born in 1885 and died on Wednesday, January 9, 1974 in Boston. He was 88 years old and one of the original Charter members of the Boylston Chess Club at its official organization in 1919. He was Secretary Emeritus at his death.

“The Club was saddened by the death of Herbert Healy, Charter Member and Secretary Emeritus, on Wednesday night, January 9, 1974. This occurred only days after the Herbert Healy Appreciation Tournament (the 30-30 New Year’s Event) and Testimony was held in his honor. Wednesday had a 10”-12” snowfall, but Mr. Healy showed up at the Union and peeked into the Chess Quarters. [ He went to his home in the South End on Brookline Ave.] He died in his sleep. (Only Dave Hudnut, in the Providence Rhode Island area, remains as a Charter Club Member.)”

In 1980, the New Year's 30/30 was permanently dedicated to him as Herbert E. Healy Open house. Herbert E. Healy along with Harry Lyman, Irving Yaffee, Myer Edelstein and others customarily provided food to the participants of this event.

This information was taken from minutes of the club from January 27, 1974 and talking with Mr. Harry Lyman and William Lukowiak in past years. There are more testimonies about Mr. Healy that I am omitting.

Bemardo Iglesias

December 2007

New Year's Day at the BCC

Start your new year right at the annual Herb Healy Open House on New Year's day.

This is our Boylston Chess Club annual party and fund raiser.

• If you will be up late celebrating on New Year's eve, not to worry - first round is 11:45.
• If you don't feel like rated games in the rated section, play in the unrated section.
• If game/30 is too quick for your taste, this year again the time control is changed to G/45.
• If you are not a member of the BCF, no problem -- you do not need to be a BCF member to enjoy the tournament and food and fellowship, though it is a traditional time for many to join or rejoin.
  

Tuesday, January 1st: BCF Herb Healy Open House 4SS; G/45; 2 sections: Rated and Non-Rated; Entry fee: $25, $20 BCF members if received by 12/30, $5 extra on site. Registration: 10:45 to 11:40. Rounds: 11:45, 1:20, 3:00, 4:40. Free food and drink served all day long to tournament players. Send advance entries to: Herb Healy Open House, 240B Elm St. Suite B9 Somerville, MA 02144

Adapted from Bob Oresick's e-mail

Kids, Christmas and the BCC

We'll let them spend the holiday with their families, but beyond that the Boylston Chess Club has a week's worth of activities to keep the scholastic set out of trouble.

Sunday, December 23: Sunday Scholastic

4SS; Game/30. Sections: Under 8 years old, Under 11 years old, Under 14 years old; Entry fee: $15; $10 for BCF members; join at the tournament and get the member rate. Prizes: Trophies to top two in each section. Registration: 9:00-9:50 AM; Rounds: 10:00 – 11:00 – 12:30 – 1:30
Boylston School Break Chess Camp Series
December recess: 26th , 27th, 28th 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day

This chess camp is for young chess players who already have a complete understanding of the rules of chess and desire to develop their abilities. With a combination of lecture, question & answer, and hands-on techniques, the instructors will cover:

• Tactics
  
• Strategy
  
• Openings
  
• Middlegames
  
• Endgames
  
• Problems

Students will develop their memory, critical thinking skills, sense of fairness, attention span, and have fun in the process.

The head instructor is Chess Master Jacob Rasin, an experienced coach who has been the coach of many of New England's best young players and has inspired them to many championships.

Who can join?: School-age children, K to 12, interested in getting better at chess from motivated beginner to intermediate.

How much does it cost?: Each camp is $60 for Boylston Chess Club members.

Reserve your place in the December Break camp by contacting Paul MacIntyre, President of the Boylston Chess Foundation at (781) 322-7936 or boylstonchess@aol.com.

Carey Theil wins the 2007 Hauptturnier

While Carey will tell you that he got lucky in a couple of his games, the fact is he thoroughly dominated this year's 12-man field. Carey scored 10 out of 11, going undefeated and allowing only two draws. Further, he went 3-0 against the other experts in the field. Congratulations to Carey on an outstanding performance.

Second place went to David Glickman with 8.5, a game and a half behind the winner. Eddie Chisam secured third with 8.

Here are the final standings:

10.0 - Carey Theil (2031)

8.5 - David Glickman (2027)
8.0 - Eddie Chisam (2063)
7.0 - Ken Newman (1909)
6.0 - Joshua Haunstrup (1898)
6.0 - Ruben Portugues (1823)
5.5 - Alex Slive (2000)
5.0 - Jon Lee (1724)
4.0 - Walter Driscoll (1800)
4.0 - Frank Frazier (1600)
2.0 - Robert Oresick (1472)
0.0 - Ted Gorczyca (1380)

Click here for the final crosstable.

IM David Vigorito is the BCC Champion for 2007

The BCC champion for 2007 is IM David Vigorito. David earned 8 of 9 points and $300 and a year's free entry to BCC events.

NM Charles Riordan finished in 2nd place (6 of 9; $200) and FM Paul MacIntyre was 3rd ( 5.5 of 9; $100).

Congratulations to all the winners and all who played in this challenging tournament. David demonstrated what is meant by a professional chess player in a strong field.


The Hauptturnier has two rounds remaining. Carey has 8 and David, Eddie, and Ken have 6.5.

Just as Walter offered Carey a draw, Carey's fiance rushed in to say there was a fire in the greyhound office. Carey took the draw and ran off to investigate.

Somerville firemen and trucks arrived shortly and asked us to leave the building.

The TD couldn't find anything about fires in the rule book, and a police officer insisted we leave, so we all milled about watching the firemen, except for Greg and Libardo who finished their game in a coffehouse.

Two games were adjourned. After about a half hour, they determined that it was an electrical fire in a light fixture and cleared us to resume play.

BCC Championship update

David Vigorito (6.5 of 7) continued on his ineluctable march to the Championship - he needs only a draw in the remaining two rounds to clinch. Paul MacIntyre (5.5 of 7) and Charles Riordan (4.5 of 7) will try to stop the juggernaut as they play the last two rounds with the IM.

In the Hauptturnier, Carey "the haupt-vigorito" Theil is now 7 of 7, having just defeated his chief rival, David "the blog meister" Glickman (5 of 7). Eddie "the cicada" Chisam is trying to repeat his ten year cycle (5 of 7) and Ken Newman (5 of 7) is hanging back waiting to make his move if Carey falters.

Vigorito by a length

2007 BCC Championship after Week 6

Only three rounds to go and David Vigorito maintains his one point lead over Paul MacIntyre. The two are scheduled to meet in Round 8. Charles Riordan has moved up the leaderboard the last few weeks and now finds himself in sole possession of third place. He faces MacIntyre next week.

5.5/6 - IM Vigorito (2432)
4.5/6 - FM MacIntyre (2276)
4.0/6 - NM Riordan (2331)
3.5/6 - NM Williams (2302)
3.0/6 - FM Chase (2338)
2.5/6 - NM Cherniack (2296)
2.5/6 - NM Wang (2249)
2.5/6 - Kaden (2071)
1.5/6 - NM Times (2241)
0.5/6 - NM Rueda (2261)

2007 Hauptturnier after Week 6

Several Round 6 games were postponed due to the Kasparov event. As a result, only 4 players have completed a full schedule to date. Of those, David Glickman continues to lead Eddie Chisam and Ken Newman by half a point. Carey Theil is still lurking with an undefeated record and two games to play. Next Monday's matchups include Glickman-Theil and Chisam-Newman.

5.0/6 - Glickman (2027)
4.5/6 - Chisam (2063)
4.5/6 - Newman (1909)
2.0/6 - Lee (1724)
----------
2.5/5 - Frazier (1600)
2.0/5 - Haunstrup (1898)
2.0/5 - Portugues (1823)
1.0/5 - Oresick (1472)
0.0/5 - Gorczyca (1380)
----------
4.0/4 - Theil (2031)
1.5/4 - Driscoll (1800)
----------
1.0/3 - Slive (2000)

A Game from the Hauptturnier

Ok, this is not the greatest game ever, but it is one free of major mistakes, and an opportunity to take a look at the Cambridge Springs Defense.

2007 Hauptturnier -- Round 5
October 8, 2007

Edward Chisam (2063) vs. David Glickman (2027)

1. c4

[In my last Hauptturnier (2000), I relied solely on 1. e4 in order to minimize the number of likely adjournments in a long tournament. But adjourned games are a thing of the past now.]

1.... c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5

[There was a time when the development of the queen's bishop early in the Queen pawn openings was frowned upon, because of black's possible counterplay on the queenside with the bishop absent for defensive purposes. Boylston chess club member Harry Pillsbury was among the first to demonstrate the strength of this bishop move in Queen pawn games.]

5.... Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5

Glickman chooses the Cambridge Springs Defense.

7. cxd5

[I was aware that 7. Nd2 is the most popular move here, but this would not surprise Glickman, who would be well versed in those lines.]

7...... Nxd5 8. Qd2 N7b6

[This surprised me. I remembered that ...Bb4 was a system here, but did not consider this move, remembering that Tarrasch said that a knight on b6 is always misplaced. ]

9. e4!?

[A sign of ambition. Of course, I could play 9. Nxd5 Qxd2+ 10. Nxd2 exd5 11. Bd3 and shake hands a few moves from now. However, this would have the drawback of me being greeted by FM Chris Chase in the tournament room, chastising me for yet another boring game in this tournament. After due deliberation, I decided that it was critical not to allow this to occur.]

9...... Nxc3 10. bxc3 Na4!

[After this move, I knew that Glickman had outwitted me. Black would not be playing this way, so quickly, without a reason. Sure enough, after 11. Rc1? Black plays ....Nxc3 anyway and white is in serious trouble. Still, staying calm, one realizes that White does have a development lead, so he can just gambit this pawn and get the king into safety, with reasonable compensation.]

11. Bd3! Qxc3!

[After 11..... Nxc3 12. 0-0 Black has some problems. Aside from white's development lead, black is in an inconvenient pin, and has to deal with ideas like Ne5 and Nc4.]

12. Qxc3 Nxc3 13. a4

[Black is confronted with the problem of how to rescue his knight.]

13....... b5

[The alternative 13.....f5 lead to a draw in the game Johner-Becker, Carlsbad 1929, with 14. exf5 exf5 15. 0-0 Bd6 16. Rfe1+ Kf7 17. Ne5+ Bxe5 18. Rxe5 19. Bd2 Nd5 20. Bxf5 Bxf5 21. Rxf5+]

14. axb5 Nxb5

[The alternative is 14....cxb5 15. Bd2 b4 16. Bxc3 bxc3 17. Ke2, and analysis shows that black cannot prevent white from winning back the pawn.]

15. 0-0! Be7

[White is a pawn down, but black needs several moves to complete his development, while white is already mobilized. White must do something in the next few moves to address his pawn deficit.]

16. d5

[This is ok, but stronger was 16. Be3 avoiding the exchange and eying a7.]

16...... Bxg5

17. dxc6

[White does not recapture his piece right away, but takes advantage of the opportunity to remove one of the two black queenside pawns that in the long run could win the game for black. With two pieces attacked, black cannot hang onto both.]

17...... Be7

[More natural is 17..... Bf6 18. e5 Nc7 19. exf6 gxf6, and black is an extra doubled pawn ahead on the kingside, and slightly better. This would be punishment for white's failure to play 16. Be3.]

18. Bxb5 0-0 19. Ba6

[This is OK because black is prevented from running his a pawn down the board. The drawback is that black can exchange off the c8 bishop which has no scope. 19. Rfd1 is an alternative.]

19..... Bc5 20. Rfc1 Bb6 21. Kf1 Bxa6+ 22. Rxa6 f6!

[The last few moves have been good play by both sides. With ....f6, Glickman keeps white's knight out of e5.]

23. Nd2

[Here 23. Ra4 is more flexible, because white is going to have to double rooks on the c file soon anyway, to preserve the c6 pawn.]

23....... Rac8! 24. Ra4 Rfd8 25. Nb3 e5

[After 25...... Rd3 26. Rb4 is OK for white.]

26. Ke2 Rd6 27. Rac4 Kf7 28. f3 Ke7 29. Nd2

[White dreams of putting this knight on d5, but Black makes sure this doesn't happen.]

29.... Rd4 30. R4c2! Rd6 31. Nf1 Bd4 32. Ne3 Bxe3

Draw Agreed.

1/2 - 1/2

[33. Kxe3 a5 will soon lead to the trade of black's a pawn for white's c6 pawn.]

Championship Makes The Turn

2007 BCC Championship after Week 5

With just four rounds to go, only FM Paul MacIntyre remains within a point of the leader, IM David Vigorito. Greg Kaden's remarkable unbeaten streak finally came to an end against NM Frank Wang.

4.5/5 - IM Vigorito (2432)
3.5/5 - FM MacIntyre (2276)
3.0/5 - FM Chase (2338)
3.0/5 - NM Riordan (2331)
2.5/5 - NM Williams (2302)
2.5/5 - Kaden (2071)
2.0/5 - NM Cherniack (2296)
2.0/5 - NM Wang (2249)
1.5/5 - NM Times (2241)
0.5/5 - NM Rueda (2261)

Games from the first four rounds of the Championship are now available for replay.

2007 Hauptturnier after Week 5

Less than half the field has completed their full schedule to date, making it somewhat difficult to determine the actual standings. Of those who have played five games, David Glickman leads Eddie Chisam and Ken Newman by a half point. However, Carey Theil has a perfect score with two games in hand.

4.0/5 - Glickman (2027)
3.5/5 - Chisam (2063)
3.5/5 - Newman (1909)
2.0/5 - Haunstrup (1898)
2.0/5 - Lee (1724)
----------
1.5/4 - Frazier (1600)
1.0/4 - Portugues (1823)
0.0/4 - Gorczyca (1380)
----------
3.0/3 - Theil (2031)
1.5/3 - Driscoll (1800)
1.0/3 - Oresick (1472)
----------
1.0/2 - Slive (2000)

Kaden-mania overtakes the club

2007 BCC Championship after Week 4

IM Vigorito continues to lead the Championship by a full point, however, all the talk is about his 4th round opponent, Reubens-Landey qualifier Greg Kaden. Still the lowest rated player in the field, Greg remains undefeated and tied for 2nd place after holding Vigorito to a draw -- something none of the Masters have been able to do so far. While I haven't reviewed the game myself, I'm told that Greg uncorked a nice exchange sacrifice which turned his bishop into a monster.

You'll notice a slight change to how the standings are displayed. Going forward, those players who have fallen behind in their schedule will be listed after those who have completed the requisite number of rounds to date.

3.5/4 - IM Vigorito (2432)
2.5/4 - FM MacIntyre (2276)
2.5/4 - Kaden (2071)
2.0/4 - NM Riordan (2331)
2.0/4 - NM Cherniack (2296)
1.5/4 - NM Times (2241)
0.5/4 - NM Rueda (2261)
----------
2.0/3 - FM Chase (2338)
1.5/3 - NM Williams (2302)
----------
0.0/2 - NM Wang (2249)

2007 Hauptturnier after Week 4

David Glickman and Ken Newman share the lead by half a point over Eddie Chisam, though several players, who have only played two games to date, could make their presence known among this group as they make-up postponements.

3.5/4 - Glickman (2027)
3.5/4 - Newman (1909)
3.0/4 - Chisam (2063)
2.0/4 - Lee (1724)
1.5/4 - Frazier (1600)
1.0/4 - Portugues (1823)
0.0/4 - Gorczyca (1380)
----------
1.0/3 - Oresick (1472)
0.5/3 - Haunstrup (1898)
----------
2.0/2 - Theil (2031)
1.0/2 - Slive (2000)
1.0/2 - Driscoll (1800)

High Horses

Two local players share very divergent recent tournament experiences: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Vigorito leads, Kaden still undefeated

2007 BCC Championship after Week 3

3.0/3 - IM Vigorito (2432)
2.0/3 - Kaden (2071)
1.0/2 - FM Chase (2338)
1.5/3 - NM Riordan (2331)
1.5/3 - NM Williams (2302)
1.5/3 - NM Cherniack (2296)
1.5/3 - FM MacIntyre (2276)
1.5/3 - NM Times (2241)
0.5/3 - NM Rueda (2261)
0.0/2 - NM Wang (2249)

2007 Hauptturnier after Week 3

2.0/2 - Theil (2031)
2.5/3 - Glickman (2027)
2.5/3 - Newman (1909)
2.0/3 - Chisam (2063)
2.0/3 - Lee (1724)
1.0/2 - Slive (2000)
1.0/2 - Driscoll (1800)
1.0/2 - Oresick (1472)
1.0/3 - Portugues (1823)
0.5/3 - Haunstrup (1898)
0.5/3 - Frazier (1600)
0.0/3 - Gorczyca (1380)

A couple of Round 2 Championship games

What the heck, they're fairly easy to post like this. By the way, games from Round 1 are playable in a more traditional web-based format at the BCC Games page.

Kaden-MacIntyre

Cherniack-Times

Qualifier Kaden no pushover in Championship

2007 BCC Championship after Week 2

In past years, it may have been the case that Masters in the BCC Championship looked upon their games with Reubens-Landey qualifiers as breathers from the week after week intensity of Master vs. Master competition. However, if two weeks make a trend, then this is unlikely to be the case in 2007. Greg Kaden, the winner of this year's qualifier and the lowest rated player in the Championship, remains undefeated after scoring a week 2 victory over FM Paul MacIntyre. Do we have a Cinderella story brewing?

Here are the standings after week 2 (note that a few Round 2 games were postponed and will be made up later):

1.0/1 - IM Vigorito (2432)
1.0/1 - NM Riordan (2331)
1.5/2 - NM Cherniack (2296)
1.5/2 - Kaden (2071)
0.5/1 - NM Williams (2302)
0.5/1 - NM Rueda (2261)
0.5/2 - FM MacIntyre (2276)
0.5/2 - NM Times (2241)
0.0/1 - FM Chase (2338)
0.0/1 - NM Wang (2249)

2007 Hauptturnier after Week 2

Carey Theil has joined the junior circuit, making it a 12-player field. For those who like fighting (or perhaps more accurately, decisive) chess, we can report that so far there have been no drawn games in the Hauptturnier.

Here are the current standings (a couple of Round 1 games still need to be made up):

2.0/2 - Chisam (2063)
2.0/2 - Glickman (2027)
2.0/2 - Newman (1909)
2.0/2 - Lee (1724)
1.0/1 - Theil (2031)
1.0/1 - Driscoll (1800)
0.0/1 - Slive (2000)
0.0/1 - Oresick (1472)
0.0/2 - Haunstrup (1898)
0.0/2 - Portugues (1823)
0.0/2 - Frazier (1600)
0.0/2 - Gorczyca (1380)

Championship Standings - Week 1

2007 BCC Championship after Round 1

1.0 - IM Vigorito (2432)
1.0 - NM Riordan (2331)
0.5 - NM Williams (2302)
0.5 - NM Cherniack (2296)
0.5 - FM MacIntyre (2276)
0.5 - NM Rueda (2261)
0.5 - NM Times (2241)
0.5 - Kaden (2071)
0.0 - FM Chase (2338)
0.0 - NM Wang (2249)

2007 Hauptturnier after Week 1

1.0/1 - Chisam (2063)
1.0/1 - Glickman (2027)
1.0/1 - Newman (1909)
1.0/1 - Lee (1724)
0.0/0 - Slive (2000)
0.0/0 - Driscoll (1800)
0.0/0 - Oresick (1472)
0.0/1 - Haunstrup (1898)
0.0/1 - Portugues (1823)
0.0/1 - Frazier (1600)
0.0/1 - Gorczyca (1380)

BCC Championship Round 1 Games

It is not my intent to post the Championship games this year since they will eventually be available on the BCC Website. However, I thought readers might be interested in this new, sophisticated game score viewing technology. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.

Vigorito-Chase
Riordan-Wang

Rueda-Cherniack

Times-KadenWilliams-MacIntyre