Thursday, September 28, 2017

September Sunday Scholastic








Fellow BCF Chess Players,

After I sent in the results of this tournament, I received a pleased response that the enrollment for this Scholastic tournament was higher than previous ones. Thanks to everyone who came. Despite a delay in Round 3 from a very long game, the Tournament went very smoothly and even finished ahead of schedule. It was great to see the repeat players showing their dedication to BCF Scholastic chess on Sundays.

Winners:
14U
1st Place: Isabella Lai
2nd - 3rd Places (tied):  
           Nicholas Partridge (Trophy),  
           Ryan Wilson, Fedor Beliaev (Medals)

8U
1st Place: Jericho Carlson
2nd Place: Jacob Wu
3rd Place: Raeann Zhou

The October Scholastic is scheduled on 10/22/17. We hope to see you there.

Nicholas P. Sterling, Ph.D.
BCF, Scholastic Tournament Director



Monday, September 25, 2017

BCC FALL GAME 80 :: ABDI / HOY / RAMANATHAN / PFEFER / CAREY / 1-5TH / OPEN / WILL WISDOM CLEAR 1ST / 3-0 // U1800 // 33 PLAY // PRODIGY ARRIVES //

 
3SS 80 MINUTES SUDDEN DEATH 10" DELAY
IN 2 SECTIONS
OPEN SECTION
NM Farzad Abdi, black vs Michael Carey, Round 2
Draw! Both Farzad and Michael finished the event with
2.5 points to share 1-5th place.
BCC benefactor Mark Fins plays black vs NM Farzad
Abdi, in Round 1.
Jerry Li, black vs NM Andrew Hoy, Round 2.
Andrew scored 2.5 points to share 1-5th place.
Jerry scored 2 points for a share of 6-7th place.
Suraj Ramanathan, black vs Lewis Tu, Round 1. 
Suraj scored 2.5 points to share 1-5th place.
[I am watching Suraj's rating which now stands at 2187!]
Jonathan Pfefer, black vs Yue (Kerry) Huang, Round 2.
Joanthan scored 2.5 points to share 1-5th place.
NM Nithin Kavi vs Natasha Christiansen, Round 1. 
Nithin scored 2 points to share 6-7th place.
Natasha also served as Assistant TD for this event.
U1800 SECTION
Will Wisdom, black plays Ruohan Yin. Will scored a
perfect 3-0 to claim clear 1st place and a + 60 to 1562 rating.
Ruohan Yin scored 2 points to take clear 2nd place.
Ruohan started out with a provisional rating of 384 and
increased his numbers to 1041, a +657 hike, the highest
I have ever seen!
[I note 6 yr old Ruohan as BCC's Mozart of Chess!
Ruohan and his family are newly arrived from Beijing,
China. Ruohan speaks no English as yet, but inspecting
his scoresheet, he writes with a penmanship clear and
bold and worthy of the status of calligraphy! He had
been playing a lot of tournament chess in China . . . ]
Ruohan Yin, a 7 and a half yr old calculates.
IMPRESSIONS OF A CHESS TEACHER
Ruohan Yin, black vs Steve Stepak, Round 8.
[Notes by Steve Stepak: I played Ruohan, without
a breather from my intense game vs Will Wisdom.
In my game with Will playing black, I made a brilliant 
exchange sacrifice, arriving at a totally won position.
Pondering and planning, I went into a "trance"
forgetting that my time was running out.
At the very end I made a mis-step which threw away
the win, but maintained a drawn position, barely.
Sadly, my mistake cost me the game. On my last
move, I stepped on a land mine, as my flag fell.
I was totally crushed, psychologically.
So I came into my Round 3 game with Ruohan
without a moment's rest and blundered into a
totally lost position, though Ruohan gave me some
hope. As and as the dust settled, I had a position,
down the exchange but with 2 connected extra pawns
for my efforts.  But the day wore on and my energy was
 sapped. I just lost my focus on the key to a draw: trade my 
remaining rook for one of Ruohan's and play a N plus +2 pawn
advantage vs Rook which would have required a very
precise essaying of moves to secure the draw. 
But I was out of gas, my mind frozen in a fog.
I blundered badly with 5 minutes left, allowing
Ruohan to queen a pawn which he did with a sense of
satisfaction and a gleeful smile on his face as he signaled
to his mother, watching from behind, that he had won.
Ruohan was a very happy little boy from Beijing who
will spend a year in the Cambridge area doing chess
and no doubt becoming fluent in English.  Also, I must
report that at the board during our game, Ruohan was
a model of proper comportment. He was quiet and pleasant,
and totally focused: incredible to behold.
I predict great achievements for Ruohan 
and was so happy to meet him and his father and mother.]
Ruohan Yin: welcome to America!
and welcome to the Boylston Chess Club!
SCENES FROM AROUND
THE HALL
Derek Jin
Daniel Levin vs Qingdong Meng, Round 1.
(above): Ruohan Yin vs Will Wisdom
What is interesting about this photo is that
Qingdong is playing his first tournament and
by his side is his 4 year old daughter.
Qingdong also has a son, Alexander Fang Meng,
who played in the Open Section of this event.
Will Wisdom, the only perfect 3-0 score in the
event. Bravo, Will !
CHESS: ALWAYS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Chess teacher, Steve Stepak listens to Riya Kanury,
as Benjamin Yin looks on.  Photo: ChessPress
CONSTRUCTING A CHECKMATE
Elias Tesfaye, black vs Riya Kanury, Round 2.
This is Elias' first tournament ever! He is
a resident in the condo building in which
the BCC in located. Elias is very
enthusiastic about playing and learning
chess. He is just beginning to learn
how to write down his moves.
Bravo, Elias, for having the courage
to play and to learn.
Kids play chess at the Boylston Chess Club, Cambridge MA
TOURNAMENT ADMINISTRATION
David Milliern, Chief TD

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Dondis Memorial






Banner:  Tony Cortizas, Jr.



DateSaturday, September 30, 2017
Event Format4SS
Time ControlG/60 d5
SectionsOpen & U1800
Entry Fee$40, $25 for BCF members, $5 more at the door
Prizes$$1000 Guaranteed: Open: $400-$200-$100 U1800: $200-$100
Registration9:15am - 9:45am
Round Times10:00am, 1:00pm, 3:30pm, 6:00pm
Entry ListCurrent Pre-Registration List



Monday, September 18, 2017

Sept. Scholastic

Banner:  Tony Cortizas, Jr.


 
 
 
DateSunday, September 24, 2017
Event Format4SS
Time ControlG/30 d5
Sections14 & Under and 8 & Under
Entry Fee$25, $20 for BCF members, $5 more at door
PrizesTrophies for 1st/2nd each age group, medal for 3rd
Registration10:00am - 10:20am
Round Times10:30am, 11:50am, 1:00pm, 2:00pm
Entry ListCurrent Pre-Registration List


Fall Game/80

Banner:  Tony Cortizas, Jr


 
DateSaturday, September 23, 2017
Event Format3SS
Time ControlG/80 d10
SectionsOpen & U1800
Entry Fee$35, $20 for BCF Members, $5 more at the door
Prizes$240 based on 20 paid entries: Open $100 - $60, U1800 $50 - $30
Registration9:15am - 9:45am
Round Times10:00am, 1:45pm, and 5:00pm
Entry listCurrent Pre-Registration List





Masters Sunday photos by Tony Cortizas, Jr.


Banner:  Tony Cortizas, Jr.

View Tony's photos of the Boylston Masters Sunday in September.



Playing room. BCC Masters Sunday Sept 2017
Danila Poliannikov. BCC Masters Sunday Sept 2017

Andrew Trattner. BCC Masters Sunday Sept 2017

Nathan Solon. BCC Masters Sunday Sept 2017

Jerry Li, Denys Shmelov. BCC Masters Sunday Sept 2017

Tony Wang. BCC Masters Sunday Sept 2017

TD Natasha Christiansen. BCC Masters Sunday Sept 2017



BCC $15 OPEN // SEPTEMBER // 51 PLAY // RAJESH COIMBATORE SHANMUGASUNDARAM / SURAJ RAMANATHAN / 1-2ND / OPEN // JONAH ZACHARIAH BUTLER CLEAR 1ST / U1800 // 20+ KIDS ENJOY //

$15 0PEN 4SS IN 2 SECTIONS: OPEN & U1800
GAME 60 / 5" DELAY
OPEN SECTION
NM Rajesh Coimbatore Shanmugasundaram vs Bernie Xu: draw!
Rajesh scored 3.5 points to share 1-2nd place.
Bernie scored 2 points and a rating upgrade of +14 to 1884.
Suraj Ramanathan vs Linh Nguyen, MIT IT: 1-0 !!
Suraj scored 3.5 points to share 1-2nd place and a
+15 to 2180 rating. Linh scored 3 points to share
3-5th place with Max Chen and Dr. Botta.
NM Farzad Abdi vs Ian Dudley, Round 2. Farzad scored
3 points to share 3-5th place.
NM Dr. Alejandro Botta vs Maxwell Chen, Round 2.
Max scored 3 points to share 3-5th place.
U1800 SECTION
(Top):Jonah Zachariah Butler (MIT) vs Lydia Shen, Round 4: draw!
Jonah scored 3.5 points to win clear 1st place with 3.5 points 
for a +45 to 1587 rating. Lydia scored 3 points to share
2-3rd place with Brandon Ni with 3 points 
for a +67 to 1534 rating.
(Bottom):David Martin vs Brandon Ni, endgame: draw!
Brandon scored 3 points to share 2-3rd place and a
rating upgrade of +57 to 1569.
David scored 2.5 points to share 4-8th place.
SCENES FROM AROUND
THE HALL
$15 OPEN: FULL HOUSE
Chess brings out the best in us!
BETWEEN 2 BCC PATRON SAINTS
The quiet considerations of chess as the $15 begins to churn
out moves: portraits of Harry Lyman and Harold Dondis
who enrich the Boylston Chess Club for decades, both 
with their participation in chess events, teaching and
organizing chess and donating their time and money to
make the BCC one of the most wonderful chess clubs in
the USA.
Kids take a break from the challenges
of tournament chess.
A PLACE FOR KIDS TO PLAY CHESS!
KIDS: CURIOUS AND THOUGHTFUL!
NEW CHESS BOARDS ADORN BCC TABLES
BCC photographer, Tony C (right) plays chess!
Nice BCC chess boards!
TOURNAMENT
ADMINISTRATION
NICK STERLING CHIEF TD
NATASHA CHRISTIANSEN ASST TD
PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK
BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB
It's a beautiful place.