BCC GRAND PRIX: KIDS PLAY HARD // 92+ YRS YOUNG HAROLD DONDIS CLEAR 1ST !! // 15 PLAYERS

BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB

APRIL GRAND PRIX

in one section

Harold Dondis, Esq. played first 3 rounds for 3 

points and traditional half-point bye in the last

round (giving other players a chance to overtake

him for 1st place: no one did!).

Here Harold (in cap) plays black vs young man

Charles Bing, first time at BCC Cambridge site.

Welcome Charles.

Charles Bing writes down his move vs Harold Dondis,

Round 1: BCC Grand Prix April.

Harold scored 3.5 points for clear 1st place and a +56 to 1751 rating.
Charles was 2/4 for a share of 4-10th place: bravo, Charles!

[My parenthetical remark here is this: I have made it a goal to take 

my own chess to a master level. My first task on the road to this holy

grail is to learn not to fall asleep during critical points in

my own games.  I simply can't imagine how Harold does it,

at 92. Well, I noticed that he does nap from time to time, but,

not during critical points in his game. Bravo, Harold!

You are an inspiration to us all. This is Harold's 24th event

played at the BCC in 2015, where he has won 3, this event being Harold's

first gold medal in the Open Section of a tournament!]

Boshen Li scored 3 points to claim clear 2nd place in this

event. Boshen played all 4 rounds, with 1 draw. His rating

hovers around 1600. When asked, Boshen attributes his recent

rise to power to his coach FM Chris Chase who is training

this young lad well. Bravo, Boshen. Keep up the good work.

{Here Boshen is playing black in his Round 1 game vs Brendy 

Scully, a BCC member, playing her 3rd rated USCF event.}

NM Hal Terrie plays Varatharajan Venkatraman in Round 1.
Hal scored 2.5 points for clear 3rd place. Varatharjan was 2/4 to share
4-10th place. The critical game of this event was Round 3: Harold
Dondis v NM Hal Terrie, which Harold won. Simply amazing, yes?
Harold Dondis vs NM Hal Terrie, Cambridge, MA [BCC GP R=3] 2015 

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nf3 e6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bd2 0–0 
6.e3 d6 7.Bd3 e5 8.d5 Ne7 

9.0–0 Ng6 10.e4 a6 11.h3 Bc5 12.Ne2 Nh5 
13.b4 Ba7 14.Rc1 Nh4 15.Nxh4 Qxh4 

16.c5 f5 17.exf5 e4 18.Rc4 Bxf5 19.Bxe4 Bxe4 
20.f3 Rae8 21.fxe4 Rxf1+ 

22.Qxf1 Rxe4 23.Bg5 Qxg5 24.Rxe4 Nf6 25.Re7 dxc5 

26.Nf4 cxb4+ 27.Kh1 Bc5 28.Ne6 Qe5 29.Rxg7+ Kh8 

30.Rf7 Ng8 31.Nxc5 1-0

 4th through 10th Pile-up
Griffin, Oresick, Chiu, Zhou, Potula, Bing, Venkatraman

NM Eric Godin plays white vs Skyler Zhou in Round 1.
Eric had to go to work and withdrew from this event
after his Round 1 game. Skyler went on to score 2/4 to 
share 4-10th place. In the game above, Skyler lasted over 
60 moves in a complex endgame. Eric was impressed with 
the young lad's play.  Bravo, Skyler: study your loses 
and reach chess mastery soon!
VETERAN VS NOVICE

Mike Griffin played white vs Ajay Potula in Round 1.

Mike scored 2/4 to share 4-10th place. Ajay also scored

2/4 for a share of 4-10th place. Bravos, both!

BEST HAT

Ed Chiu (yellow hat) MACA Board Member, plays white

vs Jacob Yu Zhang, in Round 1. Ed was 2/4 to share 4-10th

place. This is Jacob's first event at BCC Cambridge.

Welcome Jacob who is just starting out on his chess 

tournament career. (background): Brenda Scully; 

Venkatraman Varatharjan.

Bob Oresick scored 2/4 overall for a share of

4-10th place and a +24 to 1503 rating: way-t-go, Bob!

Pinyi Hu plays white vs Venkatraman Varatharjan, not to be

confused with his father, Varatharjan Venkatraman, who

is noted above playing NM Hal Terrie. This father-son team

plays at BCC Cambridge for the first time: welcome both!

KIDS EXPLORE THE SECRETS OF CHESS

Jacob Yu Zhang plays white vs Boshen Li;

Skyler Zhou discusses chess with Venkatraman 

Varatharjan, Skittles Room, Boylston Chess Club.

JARED BECKER, TD

PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK