FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn scored 3.5-0.5 to the win the Delectable December Open, held Thursday nights, December 2-30, at the Greater Worcester Chess Club in the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester. Class A players Robert J. King and Michael Odell, both of Worcester, tied for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies. Richard Marseglia of Worcester won the top Under 1800 prize with a 1.5-2.5 result, while Alex Chand of Worcester and Marc Quevillon of Dayville, Connecticut shared the top Under 1600 prize with 1-3 performances. The tournament drew 11 players and was directed by Joseph Alfano of Holden, assisted by Robert J. King, for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The BCF Thursday Night Swiss, held December 9-30 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, ended in a three-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with 3-1 scores were expert Alex Slive, a MACA life member from Cambridge, fellow expert Ted Cross of Arlington, and Class B entrant Khikmet Sadykov of Medford. Slive took half-point byes in rounds 1 and 3 but defeated Cross in the final round. The tournament drew 15 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Michael Manisy, a 16-year-old high school student from Otter River, and Class A player Paul Godin, 61, of Burlington tied for 1st-2nd place in the George Sturgis Memorial tournament,, held Wednesday nights, December 1-29, at the Wachusett Chess Club in the McKay Campus School at Fitchburg State University. Both tallied 4-1 in a field of 30 players. Manisy defeated Godin in their head-to-head matchup in the fourth round. Manisy, who is expected to gain a Class A rating as a result of his performance, including two wins against "A" players, opted not to play the final round, allowing Godin the opportunity of pulling even with him with a win in that round. Tying for 3rd-5th  place with 3.5-1.5 scores were fellow Class A contestants Robert King of Worcester and Bruce Felton of Fitchburg, as well as Brian Biglow of Leominster. Deadlocked in sixth place with 3-2 results were 1999 club champion Geoff LePoer of Westford, 2008 club champion Martin Laine of Lunenburg, Leonard Arsenault of Leominster, and George Miller of Ashburnham. George Mirijanian of Fitchburg, assisted by Dave Couture of Westminster, directed. The tournament honored the memory of George Sturgis (1891-1944), the first USCF president elected in 1939 and a Massachusetts State Chess Association president during the 1930s.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Expert Andrew Hoy of Mansfield, a 2006 graduate of Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, tallied 4.5-0.5 to win the Sven Brask Chess Club's Year End Open tournament, played Wednesday nights, December 1-29, at United Methodist Church in Plainville. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with scores of 3.5-1.5 were fellow expert Lawrence Dean, 59, of Norton, and Class A participant James Aspinall, 43, of Mansfield. The event drew 15 players and was directed by James Aspinall.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Kenneth Robert Ballou has resigned as MACA president and from all MACA committee positions, effective immediately. The 49-year-old Framingham resident, who was elected president in May 2010, had served on the MACA board of directors for the past five years. During those years he served in various capacities, including as vice president (2009-2010), tournament coordinator and subsequently tournament committee chairman, elections commissioner, college chess coordinator, and occasionally as acting clerk. A national tournament director with 156 events and 686 sections directed since January 1, 1991, Ballou is one of the most active TDs in the country and among the top three TDs in New England. He is the chief and most active TD at the Metrowest Chess Club in Natick, the largest club in New England and possibly the largest in the country, based on weeknight attendance at its Tuesday night sessions. He has been a Massachusetts delegate to the USCF for the past several years.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

USCF life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell and international master Igor Foygel of Brookline tied for 1st-2nd place in the Metrowest Chess Club's Holiday Cheer Swiss tournament, held Tuesday nights, December 7-28, at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. Both masters tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round. Tying for third place with 3-1 scores were FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn and national master Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland, Rhode Island. Charlie Fauman, 12, of Newton won the Under 2000 section with a score of 3.5-0.5. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 results were Mark Fins of Newton, MIT professor Oleg Poliannikov of Brookline, and Larry Eldridge of West Newton. The Under 1700 section saw a two-way tie for first place between Rohan Shankar, 13, of Sudbury and Daniel Blessing, 12, of Medfield. Both scored 3.5-0.5. Scott Stapel of Auburn, New Hampshire was the winner in the Under 1400 section, tallying 3.5-0.5. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 scores were Harvey Reed of Natick, Kenneth Brisbois of Framingham, and Sandeep Shankar, 10, of Sudbury. The four-section tournament drew 67 players and was directed by national TD Ken Ballou of Framingham, assisted by Matthew Phelps of Groton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Massachusetts Chess Association, the official governing body for chess in the commonwealth, released today the Top 20 list of the highest-rated players in the state who are current members of the U.S. Chess Federation.  Ratings are based on official USCF ratings as of January 1, 2011. Included are only those players who are registered as Massachusetts residents with the USCF and who have had rating activity within the past year.

• 1. GM Larry Christiansen, 54, of Cambridge - 2665
• 2. GM Alexander Ivanov, 54, of Newton - 2589
• 3. GM Eugene Perelshteyn, 30, of Swampscott - 2588
• 4. Denys Shmelov, 24, of Pepperell - 2515
• 5. IM David Vigorito, 40, of Somerville - 2515
• 6. IM Marc Esserman, 27, of Somerville - 2513
• 7. IM Igor Foygel, 63, of Brookline - 2505
• 8. FM Charles Riordan, 31, of Somerville - 2437
• 9. FM Steven Winer, 29, of Melrose - 2433
• 10. IM William Paschall, 38, of South Yarmouth - 2406
• 11. FM William Kelleher, 61, of Watertown - 2392
• 12. FM Christopher Chase, 54, of Somerville - 2380
• 13. IM James Rizzitano, 49, of Southborough - 2361
• 14. FM Paul MacIntyre, 48, of Malden - 2346
• 15. FM Oliver Kniest, 35, of Boston - 2327
• 16. Alex Cherniack, 46, of Watertown - 2311
• 17. Max Enkin, 21, of Peabody - 2305
• 18. Avraam Pismennyy, 73, of Salem - 2303
• 19. FM John Curdo, 79, of Auburn - 2285
• 20. Lawyer Times, 46, of Hyde Park - 2257

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Expert Raymond Paulson of Lowell and Class A player John Vaughan of Burlington tallied 3-1 to tie for 1st-2nd place in the Billerica Chess Club's December Swiss, held Friday nights during the month at the Billerica Council on Aging Building, aka Senior Center, in Billerica. Vaughan, who was leading the tournament after three rounds, chose not to play the final round. Tying for 3rd-5th place with scores of 2.5-1.5 were expert Arthur Nugent of Beverly (who drew Paulson in the final round), Class A entrant Jeffrey Caruso of Peabody (who drew Paulson in the second round but lost to Vaughan in the third round), and Class B participant Meyer Billmers of Lexington (who lost to Paulson in the third round). The tournament drew 13 players and was directed by Nathan Smith of Derry, New Hampshire.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. and 15-year-old Stuart Finney of Barrington, Rhode Island were among the prize winners in the Atlantic City International Tournament, held December 17-19 at the Sheraton Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Both MACA members competed in the Open section of the event, which saw GMs Gata Kamsky, the reigning U.S. champion, and Loek Van Wely of the Netherlands tie for 1st-2nd place with 5-1 scores. Ivanov, who lost to Kamsky in the third round but defeated fourth-ranked GM Alexander Shabalov in the final round, tallied 4.5-1.5 to tie for 3rd-4th place with fellow GM Nick DeFirmian. Finney chalked up a 3-3 score, including wins against Juan Sena of New York, a USCF life master from the Domincan Republic, and international master Bryan Smith of Pennsylvania. The was good enough for Finney to tie for 1st Under 2300, take home prize money, and achieve a national master's rating of 2208 for the first time in his career. He has been playing rated chess since he was nearly 7 years old in early December 2001. Other Massachusetts players winning prize money were Brandeis University student Evan Rabin, who scored 4-2 to tie for 4th-7th place in the Under 2200 section, and James Krycka of Shirley, who tallied 3-3 to tie for 8th-9th place in the Under 1600 section. The tournament drew 161 players in seven sections and was directed by FIDE arbiter Wayne Clark of Illinois, assisted by international arbiter Christopher Bird of Melrose, Mass., for the sponsoring Illinois-based Bubbacat Chess affiliate. Glenn Panner and Tim Just organized the event.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Brandeis University student Evan Rabin of Waltham tallied 7.5-2.5 in a five-round double Swiss to finish as runnerup in the Atlantic City International Blitz Tournament, held Saturday, December 18, at the Sheraton Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Rabin drew and lost to the tournament winner, international master Bryan Smith of Pennsylvania, who ended up with a score of 8-2. The event drew 20 players in two sections and was directed by international arbiter Christopher Bird, a MACA member from Melrose, Mass. He was assisted by Hal Sprechman of New Jersey.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville won the Harry Lyman Memorial tournament on Saturday, December 18, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The 54-year-old Boylston CC champion tallied 3.5-0.5 to take home first prize in a field of 22 players. Tying for second place with 3-1 scores were 73-year-old USCF life master Avraam Pismennyy of Salem (who drew Chase in the final round) and three Class A contestants: former Florida resident Emmanuel Mevs, 17-year-old Jesse Nicholas of Newton (who lost to Chase in the third round), and 22-year-old Austin, Texas native Tyson Slesnick of Boston (who took a half-point bye in the last round). Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed the tournament, which honored the memory of 1957 U.S. Amateur champion and three-time New England champion Henry "Harry" Lyman (1915-1999) of Saugus. Lyman was the "Dean of Boston Chess" and was active for many years as a player, teacher and patron at the Boylston Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Raymond Paulson regained his expert''s rating by winning the Newburyport Chess Club Tournament #102, held Thursday nights, November 4 through December 16, at Hope Community Church in Newburyport. The 54-year-old Lowell resident tallied 5.5-0.5 in a field of 20 players. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with scores of 3.5-2.5 were Class A participants Ronald Burris, 62, of North Hampton, New Hampshire and Arthur King, 60, of Haverhill. John Elmore of Stratham, New Hampshire directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The 16th Papa Gino's tournament in Waltham on Sunday, December 12, drew 24 players in two sections. Winning section 1 with a perfect 4-0 score was Aashish Welling of Nashua, New Hampshire. Tying for first place in Section 2 with 3.5-0.5 tallies were 7-year-old Carissa Yip of Chelmsford and 8-year-old Maxwell Wang of Acton. They drew in the second round. Matt Gosselin of Medford directed the event for the sponsoring MARI affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton swept to a 5-0 victory in the BCF Quick Chess tournament, held Sunday, December 12, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Finishing as runner-up in the six-player round-robin event was Class B entrant Daniel Schmidt of Somerville. He tallied 3.5-1.5. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

USCF life master Miro Reverby of Providence, Rhode Island tallied a perfect 4-0 to finish first in the Open section of the 110th Rhode Island Pawn Eater tournament on Sunday, December 12, in Providence. Aidan Sowa of North Kingstown, R.I. won the Under 1500 section with a 3-1 score. The two-section event drew 21 players, including one player who contested only a side game. Frank Vogel III directed the tournament for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The 1st Saint Nick Amateur tournament, held Saturday, December 11, at the Holyoke Public Library in Holyoke drew 18 players in two sections. Winning the Top section with a score of 3.5-0.5 was Jesse Anderson of Vermont. Jaime Cintron of Springfield was second with a 3-1 tally. Alexander George finished first in the Booster section with a 3.5-0.5, while fellow Mass. players Lester Hutton and Edward Kostreba of Ware tied for second place with 3-1 results. Vincent Bradley III directed the event for fhe sponsoring Western Massachusetts Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

National master Carey Theil of Arlington and German-born expert Dr. Bernhard Seehaus tallied 3-1 to tie for first place in the Albert Hodges Memorial tournament, held Saturday, December 11, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying as runners-up with 2.5-1.5 scores were FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville, Class A player Vikas Shiva of Lexington, and tournament director Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, the last of whom regained his Class A rating after winning one game and drawing three, including one with Theil in the first round. The tournament drew 14 players and honored the memory of 1895 U.S. champion Albert Hodges (1861-1944), whose main claim to fame was that he played inside Ajeeb, the 19th century chess automaton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Waltham Chess Club's Fireplace Game/60 tournament, held Friday night, December 10, in the cafeteria of the IBM Office Building in Waltham ended in a four-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with 2-0 scores were USCF life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, expert Todd Chase of Weston, Class A entrant Daniel Shapiro of Cambridge, and 9-year-old Class C participant Nithin Kavi of Acton. The tournament drew 18 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Expert Sherif Khater of Nashua, New Hampshire tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the 35th New Hampshire Amateur Championship, held Saturday, December 4, at the Comfort Inn in Manchester, N.H. Tying as runners-up with 2.5-1.5 scores were fellow expert John Elmore of Stratham, N.H., and Class A entrants Jeffrey Ames of Weirs Beach, N.H. and Robert Messenger of Nashua. Thomas Provost Sr., a Class B player from Canterbury, N.H. finished first in the Intermediate section with a score of 3.5-0.5. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 results were fellow "B" participants Thomas Laaman of Madbury, N.H., Jason Havener of Berlin, N.H., and David McGrath of Amherst, N.H. The Novice section ended in a three-way tie for first place among Granite State players Eric Heinecke, Jenny Ma and Donald Ekberg - all with 3-1 tallies. The three-section tournament drew a total of 42 players, including one who played only a side game. Associate national TD Alex Relyea of Bedford, N.H., assisted by his wife, Nita Patel, and New Hampshire Chess Association president John Elmore, directed the event for the sponsoring NHCA.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton chalked up a perfect score of 3-0 to win  first place ih the Blackstone December Derby tournament, held Saturday, December 4, at the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Finishing as runner-up with a 2.5-0.5 tally was USCF life master Miro Reverby of Providence, R.I. Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland, R. I. and fellow Ocean State player Warren MacKenzie tied for third place with 2-1 results. The event drew 11 players and was directed by David Harris of Providence.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

In an impromptu mini-match held Friday, December 3, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, grandmaster Larry Christiansen of Cambridge defeated FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville, The 54-year-old GM downed the 54-year-old BCC champion, 2-0. Match director was Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

USCF life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell scored a perfect 7-0 to win the top section of the Waltham Chess Club's First Friday Tournament #104, held December 3 in the cafeteria of the IBM Office Building in Waltham. Tying as runners-up with 4.5-2.5 tallies were Class A players Roman Brusovankin of Stoughton, a 29-year-old Boston University graduate who has not played rated chess in nearly five years, and 12-year-old Andrew Liu of Westborough. Ten-year-old Allen Wang of Acton tallied 6.5-0.5 to win first place in Section 2. Tying for the runner-up position with 4-3 results were Nicholas Sterling of Needham, 11-year-old Eric Liu of Acton and 10-year-old Brandon Wu of Littleton. The two-section Game/10 tournament drew 19 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Moiz Mutlu, a former USCF member from Worcester, Mass., died Wednesday, December 1, in St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester. He was 69. He was born on May 23, 1941 in Istanbul, Turkey, the son of Sami and Elise (Bahar) Mutlu, and had lived in Worcester from 1960 to 1996 before moving that year to Ra'anana, Israel. He lived in Israel until 2000 and then returned to Worcester. He earned a master's degree in mathematics in 1968 from Clark University in Worcester. Mr. Mutlu had been a computer programmer at various banks, including the Worcester County National Bank, Shawmut Bank, and later Mechanics Bank before he retired. He was an avid chess player and played in the Worcester commerical chess leagues during the 1960s. Besides his father, living in Worcester, he is survived by his wife of 40 years, Dora (Ludvigson) Mutlu; three sons, three daughters, two grandsons, and a younger brother, Izak Mutlu of San Ramon, California, who served on the MACA board of directors during the 1970s. His funeral was held today in Worcester. Burial was in Worcester Hebrew Cemetery in Auburn, Mass.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The following are winners in top sections of rated tournaments held in November at various chess clubs in Massachusetts:

• MCC Thanksgiving Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 79 players): IM Igor Foygel, 4.5-0.5
• BCF $10 Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 31 players): GM Larry Christiansen, 4-0
• Edmund Wheeler Memorial (Wachusett CC, Fitchburg, 28 players): Paul Godin, 4.5-0.5
• Greg Hager Memorial (Boylston CC, 20 players): Charles Riordan, Carey Theil, Dr. Bernhard Seehaus, 3.5-0.5
• Waltham November G/20 (Waltham CC, 20 players): Denys Shmelov, Evan Rabin, 3.5-0.5
• Fall Classic (Sven Brask CC, Plainville, 17 players): John McCauley, Jack Correia, Andrew Hoy, 4.5-1.5
• Waltham Day of Thanks G/60 (Waltham CC, 16 players): Denys Shmelov, Todd Chase, 2-0
• Waltham First Friday #103 (Waltham CC, 16 players): Denys Shmelov, 7-0
• Billerica November Swiss (Billerica CC, 15 players): Jeffrey Caruso, 3-1
• Noble November Open (Greater Worcester CC, 15 players): FM John Curdo, 4.5-1.5
• Nov. 13 BCF Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 14 players): FM Christopher Chase, 3-0
• November Quick Chess (Greater Worcester CC, 9 players): Donna Alarie, 3-0
• BCC Hauptturnier (Boylston CC, Somerville, 9 players): Jonathan Lee, 7-1
• Nov. 28 Scholastic (Boylston CC, Somerville, 2 players): Shuvom Sadhuka, 1.5-0.5

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

National master Alex Fikiet and Class A player Mark Bourque tied for first place in the 30th Williamantic Fall Open, held Sundays, October 31 through November 28, at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Fikiet, a 16-year-old UConn student, and Bourque, who hails from Stafford Springs, Conn., ended up with scores of 5-1. Fikiet's only loss was to Bourque in the third round. Bourque's points included two half-point byes and a forfeit win in the penultimate round. The tournament drew 11 players and was directed by Tom Hartmayer, assisted by Alan Pinto Jr., for the sponsoring UConn Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Igor Foygel of Brookline tallied 4.5-0.5 to win the Metrowest Chess Club's Thanksgiving Swiss, held Tuesday nights, November 2-30, at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. Capturing second place with a 4-1 soore was expert John Chamberlain of Natick. Tying for third place with 3.5-1.5 results were FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, grandmaster Arthur Bisguier of Wellesley and newly certified master Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland, Rhode Island. Ethan Thompson of Ashland scored 4.5-0.5 to finish first in the Under 2000 section. Mark Kaprielian of Framingham was second with a 4-1 tally. Robert Taussig was the winner of the Under 1700 section with a score of 4.5-0.5, while Jenshiang Hong of Lexington ended up as runner-up with a 4-1 performance. The Under 1400 section ended in a three-way for first among Harvey Reed of Natick, Franklin Lu of Boxborough and Kenneth Brisbois of Framingham. The four-section tournament drew 77 players, with two additional players contesting side games. Ken Ballou of Framingham, assisted by Matthew Phelps of Groton, directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Goran Vojinovic, a noted chess coach from Serbia who recently moved to Wayland, Massachusetts from Ohio, tied with fellow IM David Vigorito of Somerville and USCF senior life master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell for 1st-3rd place in the Harry Nelson Pillsbury Memorial tournament on Sunday, November 28, at the Leominster Veterans Center in Leominster. The trio tallied 3.5-0.5 in an Open section field of 23 players. Capturing the top Under 2100 prize with a 3-1 score was Winston Huang of Newton. Sharing the 2nd Under 2100 prize with 2.5-1.5 results were Zaroug Jaleel of Lexington, Jacob Fauman of Newton and John Elmore of Stratham, New Hampshire. Philip Lowell Jr. of Westbrook, Maine, Daniel Pascetta of South Glastonbury, Connecticut and Jason Tang of Belmont shared top honors in the 13-player Under 1900 section, where they finished with scores of 3-1 and divided the top two prizes as well as the top Under 1750 prize. Thomas Brinkmann of Somerville and Andy Li of Acton tallied 3.5-0.5 to finish as the top two scorers in the 25-player Under 1600 section. Taking the 3rd-place prize with a 3-1 result was David Todd of Boxford. William Brown Jr. of Winchendon won the 1st Under 1300 prize with a 3-1 score, while James Zhou of Andover captured the 2nd Under 1300 prize with a 2.5-1.5 tally. The turnout of 61 players was the largest attendance for a Pillsbury Memorial in this decade. Directing the event for the sponsoring Massachusetts Chess Association was associate national TD Alex Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire, assisted by his wife Nita Patel, and national TD and MACA president Ken Ballou of Framingham. Because of the larger attendance, the prize fund was increased by $300 - with more place and under prizes being given in the top and bottom sections. A special feature of the tournament was the broadcast on the Internet of LIVE games from the top two boards in the Open section for all four rounds, made possible by a loan of two DGT electronic boards from MACA life member Walter Champion of Wellesley. This was an historic first for the state association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Harry Nelson Pillsbury Memorial tournament, which will be played Sunday, November 28, at the Leominster Veterans Center, 100 West St., Leominster, Mass., will broadcast LIVE games on the Internet. The top two games from the Open section will be transmitted worldwide for each of the four rounds, starting at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. The broadcast is made possible by two DGT electronic chess boards, made available from MACA life member Walter Champion of Wellesley, Mass., who has graciously allowed MACA president Ken Ballou to use them for this special historic transmission of games from a MACA open tournament. The games can be accessed by either visiting directly http://www.sudburyriverchess.com/MACA/Pillsbury2010.html or clicking on the link on the MACA Website, www.masschess.org Among games that will be transmitted are ones by IM David Vigorito of Somerville, Mass., co-winner of last year's Pillsbury Memorial, and games by FIDE master William Kelleher of Watertown, Mass., winner of the event in 1999.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Greg Hager Memorial tournament, held Saturday, November 27, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, ended in a three-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with scores of 3.5-0.5 were FIDE master Charles Riordan of Somerville as well as national master Carey Theil of Arlington and German-born expert Dr. Bernhard Seehaus. The last two drew each other in the final round, with Riordan counting among his wins victory over top-ranked GM Larry Christiansen of Cambridge in the penultimate round. The Game/60 event drew 20 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Younger members of the Massachusetts Chess Association were among the prize winnners - some of them top prize winners - in the 7th annual New England Scholastic Championships, held Saturday and Sunday, November 20-21, at the Sheraton Hotel at Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. National master Alex Fikiet, a MACA member from Storrs, Conn., who was competing as an 11th-grader in the high school section, captured first place in that section with a score of 6-1. He was the winner in last year's high school championship. Taking the 5th-place trophy on tiebreak with a 4-3 tally was Class A player Max Chia-Hsin Lu of Lexington, Mass., a 9th-grader at Concord (Mass.) Academy. High school senior William Andrade, a non-MACA member from Massachusetts, scored 3-4 to win the 2nd unrated trophy. Other Mass. players finished as follows:

MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP

• 1st: Siddharth Arun of Medfield, grade 7, 6.5-0.5
• 3rd: Max Wiegand of Cambridge, grade 6, 4.5-2.5
•  
• Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge won the top school trophy in the ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP, with the following school players winning as follows:
• 3rd: Benjamin Wiegand of Cambridge, grade 3, 4.5-2.5
• 4th: Jeremy Tang of Southborough, grade 5, 4.5-2.5
• 6th: Siddharth Simon of Newton, grade 4, 4-3
• 9th: William Keating of Cambridge, grade 3, 4-3
• 10th: Aurash Vatan of Lexington, grade 4, 3.5-3.5
• 1st under 800: Andrew Keating of Cambridge, grade 4, 3-4
• 17th: Campbell Bell of Somerville, grade 3, 2-5
• 2nd unrated: Amy Khoshbin of Cambridge, grade 3, 1-6

PRIMARY SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP

• 7th: Nikita Roldan-Levchenko of Allston, grade 1, German International School, Boston, 3-4

The four-section tournament drew 67 players and was directed by Steve Immitt, assisted by Walter Browne Jr., for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. tallied 3.5-0.5 to win the 119th Rhode Island Open, held Saturday, November 20, at the New England Institute of Technology in Warwick, R.I. Finishing second and capturing the championship title as the highest-scoring state resident was 30-year-old expert Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland. He scored 3-1, including a draw with Ivanov in the third round and in the process attained a master's rating of 2201 for the first time in his career. Tying for third place with 2.5-1.5 results were FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn, Mass., and experts John Moran of Jefferson, Mass., and 15-year-old Stuart Finney of Barrington, R.I.  Tom Hartmayer of Storrs, Connecticut and Robert Messenger of Nashua, New Hampshire tied for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1900 section. They scored 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the third round. Tying for third place with a 3-1 performance were John Venditto Jr. of Warwick and Cristian Estrada of Central Falls, R.I. Rhode Island players dominated the Under 1500 section, where Nicholas Liotta finished first with a score of 3.5-0.5. Tying for the 2nd- and 3rd-place prizes with 3-1 tallies were Louis Giarrusso, David Coccio and Michael Coppa. The three section, Game/75  tournament had 38 players, 10 of whom competed in the Open section (with one no-show), 14 players in the Under 1900 section, and 11 players in the Under 1500 section. In addition, side games were played by two more players. Frank Vogel III, assisted by Eric Berkey, directed for the sponsoring Rhode Island Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

By virtue of gaining a forfeit win on board 3, the New England Nor''easters won the 2010 U.S. Chess League Championship on Saturday, November 20, defeating the Miami Sharks, 3-1, The Sharks, the Western Division champions, were at a disadvantage when their third-board player was unable to make it to the playing site after experiencing car trouble. The following are board-by-board results, with the current ratings of the USCL players at the time of the match:

 NEW ENGLAND NOR'EASTERS    vs.       MIAMI SHARKS

• IM Sam Shankland (2559)            1-0        GM Julio Becerra (2612)
• IM Robert Hungaski (2549)          1-0        FM Marcel Martinez (2475)
• FM Christopher Chase (2386)    1F-0F      FM Charles Galofre (2316)
• NM Alex Cherniack (2311)           0-1        Nicholas Rosenthal (2017)

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Sixteen players showed up to compete in the Waltham Chess Club's Day of Thanks Game/60 tournament on Friday night, November 19, in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. Tying for first in Section 1 with 2-0 scores were USCF life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell and expert Todd Chase of Weston. Jesse Klimov, a 14-year-old Class C player from Waban, captured first place in Section 2, also with a 2-0 score. Nicholas Sterling of Needham directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Larry Christiansen of Cambridge swept to a 4-0 victory in the BCF $10 Open, held Saturday, November 20, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying as runners-up with scores of 3.5-0.5 were two German players: FIDE master Oliver Kniest and expert Dr. Bernhard Seehaus. The tournament drew 31 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

National master Sinclair Banks, a 51-year-old lawyer from Dighton, posted a perfect 3-0 score to win the Maple Leaf Swiss, held Thursday nights, November 4-18, at the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Finishing as runner-up with a 2-1 tally was 81-year-old Class B participant Paul Gavlick, a Chess Horizons subscriber from North Providence, R.I. The tournament drew only six players and was directed by David Harris of Providence.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn won the Greater Worcester Chess Club's Noble November Open, held Thursday nights, November 4-18, at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester. Curdo, who celebrated his 79th birthday four days before the end of the tournament, finished with a score of 4.5-1.5. Capturing second place with a 4-2 tally was Class A player Robert King of Worcester. Tying for third place with 3.5-2.5 results were expert Muharrem Brahimaj and Class A participant Joshua Marcus, both also of Worcester. Richard Marseglia of Worcester won the Under 1800 prize with a 3-3 performance, while fellow Worcester resident Peter Shtudiner captured the Under 1600 prize with a score of 2.5-3.5. Joe Alfano of Holden, assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Sven Brask Chess Club's Fall Classic, originally scheduled as a four-round Swiss for the month of October, was extended by two rounds and played Wednesday nights, October 6 through November 17, at the United Methodist Church in Plainville. Five players tied for first place with scores of 4.5-1.5. They were experts John McCauley of Fall River, Jack Correia of Attleboro, Andrew Hoy of Mansfield, Lawrence Dean of Norton, as well as Class A entrant George Winsor of South Easton. The tournament drew 17 players and was directed by James Aspinall of Mansfield.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Paul Godin, a Class A player from Burlington, won the Edmund N. Wheeler Memorial tournament, played Wednesday nights, October 20 through November 17, at the Wachusett Chess Club at Fitchburg State University. The 1967 Wachusett CC champion tallied a winning score of 4.5-0.5 in a field of 28 players. Finishing second with a 4-1 result was nationally certified master John Moran of Jefferson. Tying for third place with scores of 3.5-1.5 were George Miller of Ashburnham, Kenneth Gurge of Leominster and Paul Lynch of Northborough. George Mirijanian of Fitchburg, assisted by Dave Couture of Westminster, directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Larry Evans, a five-time U.S. champion and one of this country's most prolific chess writers, died in Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada on Monday, November 15, from complications following gallbladder surgery there more than two weeks ago. He was 78. GM Evans was a widely read chess writer and nationally syndicated columnist. He began his chess journalism career during the early 1960s, when he was principal editor of the American Chess Quarterly, published from 1961 to 1965 by Nature Food Centres Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Copies of American Chess Quarterly were auctioned off last month at the Greater Boston Open in Natick, where bidding for such issues in the silent auction was hot and heavy. Prior to American Chess Quarterly, Evans had published David Bronstein's "Best Games of Chess: 1940-1949"  and the "Vienna International Tournament, 1922" by the age of 18. His book "New Ideas in Chess" was published in 1958 and was later reprinted. In 1965, he edited the 10th edition of "Modern Chess Openings" and made a significant contribution to Bobby Fischer's "My 60 Memorable Games," published in 1969. Evans went on to write scores of other books and was best known for his question-and-answer column, Evans on Chess, for many years in Chess Life and most recently in Chess Life for Kids. He was a member of the Chess Journalists of America, which awarded him the prize for the Best Magazine Column in the country on three separate occasions. He was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 1994. GM Evans is survived by his German-born wife, artist Ingrid (Selver) Evans, and two stepsons, Michael and Gary Selver. For more information on his life and career, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Evans

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmasters Alexander Stripunsky of New Jersey and Michael Rohde of New York tied for 1st-2nd place in the 17th annual Eastern Chess Congress, held November 12-14 at the Holiday Inn Select in Stamford, Connecticut. The two GMs tallied 4.5-0.5, including a draw with each other in the final round. Tying for third place with 4-1 scores were international masters Robert Hungaski of Connecticut and Justin Sarkar of New York, as well as national master Matthew Herman of New York. Woman FIDE master Hana Itkis of New York tied for the top Under 2110 prize with Class A entrant William Graif of New York. Both finished with 3-2 results. The following are the top prize winners in the five other sections:

• SENIOR SECTION
•  
• 1st: Sam Barsky of New York, 4.5-0.5
• 2nd-3rd: Vladimir Polyakin of New York and Hanon Russell of Connecticut, 3.5-1.5
• Top Under 2010: Roger Pedersen of New Jersey and Richard Murphy of New York, 3-2

UNDER 1910 SECTION

• 1st-3rd: John Phythyon Sr. of Maine, Michael Bogaty of New York, Max Krall of Connecticut, 4-1

UNDER 1710 SECTION

• 1st-2nd: Julie Flammang and Alexander Wei, both of New York, 4-1
• 3rd: Bernard Rosenthal of New York, 3.5-1.5

UNDER 1510 SECTION

• 1st-2nd: Leonid Kogan of New York and Joseph Lauer of Connecticut, 4.5-0.5
• 3rd (tie): Augustine Joseph of Connecticut, Rohan and Neev Suryawanshi of New York, 4-1

UNDER 1210 SECTION

• 1st: Eric Hilhorst of Connecticut, 4.5-0.5
• 2nd: Dennis Li of Connecticut, 4-1
• 3rd: Henry Olynik of New York, 3.5-1.5

The tournament drew 135 players in six sections and was directed by William Goichberg for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association. He was assisted by MACA life members Robert Messenger of New Hampshire and Harold Stenzel of New York.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov headed west to compete in the 19th Kings Island Open on November 12-14 in Mason, Ohio, near Cincinnati. Instead of competing closer to home at the 17th annual Eastern Chess Congress in Stamford, Connectict, the GM from Newton, Massachusetts opted to play at the kings Island Resort event, where he shared top honors with fellow GM Alexander Shabalov of Pennsylvania. Both tallied 4.5-0.5 and never faced each other. Ivanov won an additional bonus prize for scoring better tiebreak points than Shabalov and added more points to his ever-increasing Grand Prix point total. Tying as runners-up in the Open section with 4-1 tallies were GM Gregory Kaidanov of Kentucky, life master Iryna Zenyuk of Pennsylvania, national master Bradley Denton of Alabama, and FIDE master Andrew Karklins of Illinois. The event drew 298 players in seven sections and inlcuded 29 masters, among them five GMs and two IMs. Steve Immitt of New York directed for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

New Hampshire experts Kerry Coffin and Robert Cousins tied for first place in the Capital City Chess Club November Saturday Swiss, held Novemer 13 at the Crossroads Church in Bow, N.H. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with each other in the third round. The tournament drew 16 players and was directed by Nathan Smith of Derry, N.H.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The BCF Quads, held Saturday, November 13. at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville drew 14 players in three sections. The sectional winners all posted perfect scores of 3-0. Winning Quad 1 was FIDE master and current Boylston CC champion Christopher Chase of Somerville. Class A contestant Michelle Chen of Concord won in Quad 2, while Class B entrant Jeffrey Yao of Lexington finished first in the six-player Section 3. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Denys Shmelov, a life senior master from Pepperell, and Evan Rabin, a candidate master and a student at Brandeis University, tied for first place in Section 1 of the Waltham November Game/20 Tournament, played Friday night, Nov. 12, at the Waltham Chess Club in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. Both tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with each other in the third round. Runner-up with a 3-1 score was Ross Eldridge of Brighton. Section 2 ended in a three-way tie for first place among Leonardo Lopez Jr., Eric Liu of Acton and Justin Wu of Littleton. All three finished with 3-1 results. The two-section event drew 20 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton visited the Blackstone Chess Center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on Saturday, November 6, and had little trouble winning the November Vamp tournament with a 3-0 score. Tying as runners-up with 2-1 tallies were expert David Harris of Providence, R.I., and 81-year-old Class B entrant Paul Gavlick of North Providence, R.I. The event drew nine players and was directed by David Harris..

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The New England Nor'easters accomplished their goal of advancing to the U.S. Chess League Championship finals, holding the rival Boston Blitz to a 2-2 drawn match Wednesday night, November 10, in Eastern Division semifinal play. The Nor'easters, who sported the best record in the league, needed only a tie to advance to the finals, where they will now face the Miami Sharks on Saturday, November 20, at 4 p.m., Eastern Time. The Sharks disposed of the Arizona Scorpions, 3-1, in the Western Division semifinals to set up the final match with New England. Here are the board-by-board results in the New England vs. Boston seminfinal match:

               NEW ENGLAND NOR'EASTERS vs. BOSTON BLITZ

• IM Sam Shankland (2567)          0-1    GM Larry Christiansen (2665)
• IM Robert Hungaski (2520)        1-0     SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (2603)
• FM Christopher Chase (2382)    0-1     IM Marc Esserman (2492)
• NM Alex Cherniack (2288)          1-0     Grant Xu (2061)

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The 16th Boston University Open, held Saturday, November 6, in the backcourt of the George Sherman Union on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, ended in a four-way tie for first place. It also set a new attendance record of 107 players. Sharing top honors in the Open section with scores of 3.5-0.5 were international master Robert Hungaski, a junior at the University of Connecticut at Storrs, and FIDE master William Kelleher of Watertown, both of whom drew each other in the final round, as well as national master Alex Fikiet of Storrs, Conn., a high school student enrolled at UConn, and candidate master Andrew Wang of Cambridge. Thomas Hartmayer of Storrs, Conn., the tournament director at UConn, tallied a perfect 4-0 to win first place in the Under 1900 section. Tying for second place with 3-1 results Charlie Fauman of Newton, Mark Kaprielian of Framingham, Northeastern University student Michael Raphael, Nicholas Plotkin of Sharon, UConn junior Matthew Morra, , Seth Lieberman of Jamaica Plain, and Wesley Parker of Maine. Eduardo Valadares of Framingham, a longtime member of the Wachusett Chess Club at Fitchburg State University, and first-time player Lino Fabiani, a student at Boston University, posted perfect scores of 4-0 to tie for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1600 section. Winning the top Under 1200 prize with a score of 2.5-1.5 was Benjamin Hansel of Maine. Capturing the award for the top-scoring collegiate team was UConn, with the trio of Hungaski, Fikiet and Morra scoring 10 out of 12 possible points. The three-section tournament was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, assisted by BU associate dean Robert Oresick of Norton, for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Club on behalf of the host Boston University Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

USCF life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell posted a perfect score of 7-0 to win first place in Section 1 of the Waltham Chess Club's First Friday Tournament, held November 5 at the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Watham. Brandon Wu of Littleton and Allen Wang of Acton tied for first place in Section 2 with 6.5-0.5 tallies, including a draw with one another in the third round. The two-section Game/10 event drew 16 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master David Vigorito, the proud manager of the super-hot New England Nor''easters in the U.S. Chess League, has managed to become proud about something else in his life. The Somerville resident and his wife, the former Heather Kroll, are now the super-thrilled parents of a baby girl, Zoe Denison Vigorito, born at 11:31 p.m. on Friday, October 22, weighing 8 lb., 3 oz.  MACA and the entire New England chess community congratulate David and Heather on the arrival of the new member of their family.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Chess fans in New England are jumping for joy. Two suburban Boston-based teams in the U.S. Chess League - the New England Nor'easters and the Boston Blitz - will square off on Wednesday, November 10, in the USCL Eastern Division semifinals to determine who will represent the East in the league's championship match later this month. Both teams advanced to the semifinals as a result of winning key matches on Monday, November 1. The Nor'easters, an expansion team that plays its matches at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, upended the league's defending champions, the New York Knights, 2.5-1.5. The Blitz, which plays its matches at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, prevailed over the Baltimore Kingfishers by the same 2.5-1.5 score. Here are results of Monday's quarterfinal play:

           NEW ENGLAND NOR'EASTERS vs. NEW YORK KNIGHTS

• IM Sam Shankland (2567)        1-0    GM Alex Lenderman (2608)
• IM Robert Hungaski (2520)      1-0     GM Pascal Charbonneau (2566)
• FM Christopher Chase (2382)  0-1     FM Alec Getz (2377)
• NM Alex Cherniack (2288)      1/2-1/2  NM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (2289)

                       BOSTON BLITZ vs. BALTIMORE KINGFISHERS

• GM Larry Christiansen (2665)  0-1      GM Sergey Erenburg (2646)
• IM Marc Esserman (2492)        1-0       IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2425)
• NM Vadim Martirosov (2248) 1/2-1/2   FM Ralph Zimmer (2279)
• NM Ilya Krasik (2253)               1-0      NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2255)

In the semifinals, the Nor'easters need only a draw to advance to the finals - based on their superior regular season record.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Alex Fikiet, a 16-year-old master from Storrs, Connecticut, posted a perfect score of 4-0 to win the 77th Greater Boston Open ,held Sunday, October 31, at the Katherine Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. Among his wins were victories against three of the four top-rated masters in the Open section. Tying for second place with 3-1 tallies were top-ranked FIDE master William Kelleher of Watertown, who lost to Fikiet in the final round, and national master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park, who lost to Fikiet in the second round. Tying for the Under 2150 prize with 2-2 results were Winston Huang of Newton and Alan Shalk of Berwick, Maine. Richard Judy of York Beach, Maine won the Under 2000 section with a score of 3.5-0.5. Siddharth Arun was second with a 3-1 tally. Capturing the Under 1850 prize with a 2.5-1.5 performance was Nicholas Zhang of Lexington. The Under 1700 section ended in a tie between John Watters of Gloucester and Kostandinos Sideras, a visitor from Rochester, Minnesota. Both tallied 3-1. Deadlocked in a tie for the Under 1550 prize with scores of 2.5-1.5 were Mark Seedner of York Beach, Maine, Jason Tang of Belmont, and Daniel Blessing of Medfield. Andy Li of Acton won the Under 1400 section with a score of 3.5-0.5. Tying for 2nd-3rd place and sharing the Under 1200 prize with 3-1 results were Rahul Krishnan of Hopkinton and Conway Xu of Lexington. The four-section tournament drew a disappointing 45 players and was directed for the sponsoring Massachusetts Chess Association by associate national TD Alex Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire. He was assisted by his wife, Nita Patel,  national TD Ken Ballou of Framingham, and senior TD Bob Messenger of Nashua, N.H.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Billerica Chess Club champion Patrick Sciacca of Salem, New Hampshire tallied 4-1 to win the Billerica October Swiss, held Friday nights, October 1-29, at the Council on Aging building in the town. Tying as runners-up with 3.5-1.5 results were Class A contestants Raymond Paulson of Lowell and Michelle Chen of Concord, as well as Class B entrant Meyer Billmers of Lexington. The tournament drew 20 players and was directed by Nathan Smith of Derry, N.H., assisted by Patrick Sciacca.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The following are winners in top sections of rated tournaments held in October at various chess clubs in Massachusetts:

• MCC Trick or Treat Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 70 players): IM Igor Foygel, GM Arthur Bisguier, 3.5-0.5
• Hervey Brisson Mermorial (Wachusett CC, Fitchburg, 27 players): John Moran, 4.5-0.5
• BCF Fall Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 22 players): Lawyer Times, Mika Brattain, 3.5-0.5
• Oct. 2 BCF Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 21 players): Lawyer Times, Carey Theil, 2-1
• Billerica October Swiss (Billerica CC, 20 players): Patrick Sciacca, 4-1
• BCF Thursday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, Somerville, 19 players): FM Oliver Kniest, 3.5-0.5
• National Chess Day Tornado (Boylston CC, Somerville, 17 players): IM Marc Esserman, 3.5-0.5
• Waltham Fright Night! G/60 (Waltham CC, 16 players): LSM Denys Shmelov, 2-0
• Newburyport CC Tournament #101 (Newburyport CC, 15 players): John Elmore, 4-0
• Waltham Sukkot G/20 (Waltham CC, 14 players): LSM Denys Shmelov, 4-0
• Waltham First Friday #102 (Waltham CC, 14 players): Todd Chase, 6.5-0.5
• Ernst Grunfeld Memorial (Boylston CC, Somerville, 14 players): Dr. Bernhard Seehaus, 4-0
• BCF Davis Square Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 13 players): FM Oliver Kniest, 4-0
• Obviously October Open (Greater Worcester CC, 11 players): Muharrem Brahimaj, 4-0
• October Quick Chess (Greater Worcester CC, 7 players): Alonzo Ross, 3.5-0.5
• 2010 Boylston CC Championship (Somerville, 7 players): FM Christopher Chase, 4.5-0.5 (with 1 unplayed game)

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Dr. Bernhard Seehaus, a 48-year-old FIDE-rated expert from Germany, chalked up a perfect score of 4-0 to win the Ernst Grunfeld Memorial tournament, held Saturday, October 30, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Finishing in second place with a 3-1 score - losing to Seehaus in the second round - was Northeastern University student Timothy Sniffin of New York, whose rating jumped from 1491 to 1634. The tournament drew 14 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton. The event honored the memory of Austrian grandmaster Ernst Franz Grunfeld (1893-1962), one of strongest players in the world for a short period after World War I.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The Purity Spring Open, held Saturday, October 30, at the Purity Spring Resort in East Madison, New Hampshire, turned into an "Italian Swiss" in the top two sections, where sectional winners ended up playing the same player twice due to the low number of players in each section. GM Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. tallied 4-0 to finish first in the five-player Open section, which had one of the participants drop out after the penultimate round - causing a repeat match-up on top board. Class A entrant John Elmore of Stratham. N.H. took second place with 2.5-1.5 score, including a full-point bye in the second round. Expert Patrick Sciacca of Salem, N.H. ended up in third place with a 2-2 result. In the four-player Under 1900 section, Philip Lowell Jr. of Maine and Arthur King of Haverhill, Mass. tied for 1st-2nd place with 3-1 tallies. The Under 1300 section had a more respectable nine players and saw New Hampshire entrants Aashish Welling and Jason Davis tie for first place with scores of 3.5-0.5. The 18-player tournament was directed by associate national TD Alex Relyea of Bedford, N.H., assisted by his wife Nita Patel.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Muharrem Brahimaj, an expert from Worcester, scored a perfect 4-0 to win the 2010 Obviously October Open, held Thursday nights, October 7-28, at the Greater Worcester Chess Club at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn and Class D entrant Marc Quevillon of Dayville, Connecticut. Richard Marseglia of Worcester, who had been absent from rated chess for more than two years, won the Under 1800 prize with a 2-2 performance. Peter Shtudiner, also of Worcester, captured the Under 1600 prize with a 1.5-2.5 score. The tournament drew 11 players and was directed by Joe Alfano of Holden, assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Oliver Kniest, a FIDE master from Germany who is now a resident of Massachusetts, won the Thursday Night Swiss, held October 7-28 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Kniest tallied 3.5-0.5, including a half-point bye in the second round. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 scores were national master Eric Godin of Boston, who took a half-point bye in the final round, and expert Alex Slive of Cambridge, who lost to Kniest in the final round. The tournament drew 19 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

John Elmore, a high-rated Class A player from Stratham, New Hampshire, tallied a perfect 4-0 to win the Newburyport Chess Club Tournament #101, held Thursday nights, October 7-28, at Hope Community Church in Newburyport. Finishing as runner-up with a 3-1 score was Class A rival Arthur King of Haverhill. The event drew 15 players and was directed by John Elmore.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Expert Clay Bradley of Marlow, New Hampshire scored 4-0 to win the 4th annual Knights Chess Club Championship,held Monday nights, October 4-25, at the E.F. Lane Hotel in downtown Keene, N.H. Ending up as runner-up with a 3-1 tally was Class A contender Jesse Anderson of Williamsville, Vermont, who lost to Bradly in the third round. The championship drew eight players and was directed by Thomas Cassar of Keene.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

International master Igor Foygel of Brookline and grandmaster Arthur Bisguier of Wellesley tied for first place in the Metrowest Chess Club's Trick or Treat Swiss, held Tuesday nights, October 5-26, at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick. The duo ended up with scores of 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the final round. Nikita Konovalchuk of Ashland scored 3.5-0.5 to win first place in the Under 2000 section, while Alex Kahn and Alex Fauman of Newton chalked up the same score to tie for first place in the Under 1700 section. Robert Taussig and Franklin Lu of Boxborough were co-winners in the Under 1400 section, finishing at 3.5-0.5 The four-section tournament drew 70 players and was directed by national TD Ken Ballou of Framingham, assisted by fellow Framingham resident Mark Kaprielian.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

A silent auction will be held on October 31st at the Greater Boston Open in Natick, Mass. to sell hundreds of chess magazines donated by the estate of Andrus Varnik, and also a Berkshire Folding Chess Table with a $350 retail value donated by Chess Cafe (http://www.chesscafe.com).  Advance bids may be sent to auction2010@masschess.org .  E-mail bids must be in whole dollar amounts and must be received by Friday, October 29th.  Bidding for each item will start at the highest bid that was sent by e-mail.  The silent auction will close at 3:30 p.m.  If lots aren't picked up at the tournament they can be picked up at a Boston-area chess club or else mailed.  Winning bidders are responsible for paying all postage costs.  

 Bob Messenger, Treasurer, Massachusetts Chess Association  

 List of lots in the auction: 

 LOT    TITLE

32        New in Chess: 2002, No. 1-8 -- 8 issues

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

USCF life master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park and expert Mika Brattain of Lexington tied for 1st-2nd place in the BCF Fall Open, held Saturday, October 23, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Both tallied 3.5-0.5 in an Open section field of 16 players. Tying for third place with 3-1 scores were FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville, who drew both Brattain and Times, and Class A entrant Emmanuel Mevs, formerly of Florida, whose only loss was to Brattain. Kurt Milligan, a Class C player from Stoneham, finished first in the five-player Under 1800 section with a 3-1 result, including a full-point bye in the final round. Tying for second place with 2.5-1.5 tallies were Evan Meyer of Newton and Sandeep Vadlamudi of Lexington. The tournament drew a total of 22 participants, including house player Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, who played two extra rated side games and was the chief TD.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

USCF life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell scored 2-0 to win Section 1 of the Waltham Fright Night! Game/60 tournament, held October 22 at the Waltham Chess Club in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. Brandon Wu of Littleton and Peter Teodorescu of Marlborough also tallied 2-0 to tie for first place in Section 2. The event drew 16 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

The following are winners in top sections of rated tournaments that were played in September 2010 in chess clubs in Massachusetts:

• MCC Memorial Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 81 players): Lawyer Times, 3.5-0.5
• BCF $10 Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 36 players): IM Marc Esserman, 3.5-0.5
• Michael Glinski Memorial (Wachusett CC, Fitchburg, 30 players): G. Mirijanian, M. Manisy, 4-1
• Newburyport CC 100 (20 players): Frank Sisto, 4-1
• Sept. 11 BCF Quads 10-9 (Boylston CC, Somerville, 19 players): Mika Brattain, 2.5-0.5
• 9-11 Memorial (Sven Brask CC, Plainville, 17 players): Andrew Hoy, 4.5-0.5
• Waltham 1st Friday #101 (Waltham CC, 17 players): Andrew Liu, 6-1
• Waltham Sukkot G/60 (Waltham CC, 17 players): Denys Shmelov, 2-0
• September Swiss (Billerica CC, 16 players): Patrick Sciacca, Raymond Paulson, 3.5-0.5
• September Chess Snipp (Greater Worcester CC, 16 players): FM John Curdo, 4.5-0.5
• Michael Tomlinson Memorial (Boylston CC, Somerville, 15 players): Dr. Bernhard Seehaus, 4-0
• BCF Thursday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, Somerville, 13 players): Eric Godin, Alex Slive, 3.5-0.5
• September Quick Chess (Greater Worcester CC, 12 players): Donna Alarie, 4.5-0.5
• Sept. 2 Early Bird Rapid Quads (Boylston CC, Somerville, 8 players): Oliver Kniest, 3-0
• Sept. 12 Scholastic (Boylston CC, Somerville, 4 players): Shuvom Sadhuka, 3-0

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

John Moran, a certified national master from Jefferson, tallied 4.5-0.5 to win the Hervey Brisson Memorial tournament, held Wednesday nights, September 15 through October 13, at the Wachusett Chess Club at Fitchburg State University. Capturing second place with a 4-1 score was former New Hampshire state champion Patrick Sciacca of Salem, NH, who drew Moran in the final round. Tying for third place with 3.5-1.5 results were 1967 Wachusett Chess Club champion Paul Godin of Burlington, Michael Manisy of Otter River, and Mark Marshall of Worcester. The tournament drew 27 players and was directed by George Mirijanian of Fitchburg, assisted by Dave Couture of Westminster.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

 Q1 Winners

• 8&U Samuel Qiu (1083) of Acton
• 11&U Evan Meyer (1369) of Newton
• 14&U Michelle Chen (1926) of Concord
• HS Jesse Nicholas (2010) of Newton

 Primary (Age 8 & Under) Section:

•  Jason Tang (1484) of Belmont
• Isabella Shih (1013) of Andover
• Rohan Krishnan (887) of Hopkinton
• Eric Feng (884) of Sudbury
• Justin Lin (850) of Lexington
• Justin Wu (796) of Littleton
• Andrew The (761) of Lexington
• Ben Wiegand (731) of Cambridge
• Alexander Kohler (717/P12) of South Hamilton
• Matthew Ding (707) of Westford
• Adam Itani (693) of South Easton
• Maxwell Zhao (661) of Bolton
• Rohan Singh (649/P20) of Acton
• Eddie Wang (608) of Acton

 Elementary (Age 11 & Under) Section:

• Jeffrey Yao (1711) of Lexington
• Mateos Sahakian (1580) of Medford
• Alex Fauman (1569) of Newtonville
• Jason Tang (1484) of Belmont
• Arnav Ghosh (1399) of Winchester
• Nithin Kavi (1348) of Acton
• Eric Liu (1293) of Acton
• Michael Isakov (1282) of Sudbury
• Sandeep Shankar (1268) of Sudbury
• Sabrina Zhang (1268) of Lexington
• Brandon Wu (1283) of Littleton
• Sandeep Vadlamudi (1210) of Lexington
• Jesse Sun (1182) of Sudbury
• Anton Barash (1171) of Brighton
• Alan Sikarov (1159) of Newton
• Allen Wang (1102) of Acton
• Christopher H. Wang (1059) of Lexington
• Sathwik Karnik (1035) of Plainville
• Rahul Krishnan [1018] of Hopkinton
• Daniel Plotkin (1004) of Sharon

 Age 14 & Under Section:

•  Grant Xu (2089) of Shrewsbury
• Mika Brattain (2082) of Lexington
• Andrew Liu (1993) of Westborough
• Danny Angermeier (1965) of Franklin
• Tian Rossi (1957) of West Newton - 9th grade
• Max C. Lu (1924) of Lexington - 9th grade
• Charlie Fauman (1893) of Newtonville
• Fangru Jiang (1881) of Chelmsford
• Siddharth Arun (1848) of Medfield
• Ashvin Nair (1831) of Winchester - 9th grade
• Alex Z. Hu (1791) of Acton
• Nicholas Trieu (1750) of Watertown - 9th grade
• Nicholas Plotkin (1696) of Sharon
• Nicholas Zhang (1666) of Lexington
• Oron Propp (1654/P4) of Brookline
• Luke Lung (1641) of Boxborough
• Matthew Lee (1640) of Walpole
• Clara Wang (1603) of Sharon
• Jimmy Wang (1600) of Acton - 9th grade
• Bowen Wang (1563) of S. Easton
• Timothy Lung (1581) of Lexington
• Bary Lisak (1571) of Wayland
• Edward Andy Li (1568) of Acton
• Alex Sorets (1548) of Newton
• Varun Palnati (1492) of Westford
• David Ter-Ovanesyan (1488) of Newton
• Rohan Shankar (1412) of Sudbury
• Max Wiegand (1404) of Cambridge

 High School Section:

•  Andrew Wang (2183) of Sharon
• Winston Huang (2084) of Auburndale
• James Lung (2074) of Lexington
• Zaroug Jaleel (2066) of Lexington
• Jacob Fauman (2024) of Newtonville
• Felix Yang (2023) of Dover
• Lior Rozhansky (2011) of Newton
• Elliot Strassman (2009) of Jamaica Plain
• Tian Rossi (1957) of West Newton - 9th grade
• Embert Lin (1954) of Acton
• Vikas Shiva (1953) of Lexington
• Darwin Ding (1942) of Lexington
• Max C. Lu (1924) of Lexington - 9th grade
• Winber Xu (1894) of Newton
• Alexander J. Hu (1852) of Wellesley
• Richard Lunetta II (1834) of Burlington
• Ashvin Nair (1831) of Winchester - 9th grade
• Richard Han (1752) of Newton
• Nicholas Trieu (1750) of Watertown - 9th grade

Steve Frymer
Assistant TD

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn and Class A player Thomas Cantin of Chicopee tied for first place in the 11th Western New England Open, held October 16-17 at Holyoke Community College. In a field of 15 players the duo tallied 3.5-0.5, including a draw with one another in the final round. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 scores were Class A entrant Morris Lainer of Easthampton and Class B participant Steven Bixby of Southwick. Edward Kostreba directed the tournament for the sponsoring Western Massachusetts Chess Association (WMCA).

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Burger King and Papa Gino's Scholastic Events in 2010: [3 prizes to be awarded]

• 1. James Zhou..............................................21.0 points..........10 events
• 2. Aashish Welling.......................................18.5 points.............8 events
• 3. Lauren Smorgonsky................................17.5 points.............8 events
• 4. Anton Barash.............................................15.0 points.............6 events
• 5. Isabella Shih..............................................15.0 points............7 events
• 6. Sean Cheng................................................15.0 points..........8 events
• 7. Leonardo Cheng........................................14.0 points..........6 events
• 8. Rahul Krishnan.........................................13.5 points.........5 events
• 9. Rohan Krishnan.......................................13.5 points..........5 events
• 10. Eric Feng..................................................13.0 points..........5 events
• 11. Maxwell Zhao............................................13.0 points.........5 events 
• 12. Ari Xuan......................................................12.5 points........5 events 
• 13. Alex Shih....................................................12.5 points..........6 events

Steve Frymer
Assistant TD

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

Mongoose Press, Chess Books from Europe, and Back Pages Books in Waltham, MA will be sponsoring a special day of chess activities to promote new chess fiction anthology, "Masters of Technique." On Saturday, September 11, 2010, Senior Master Denys Shmelov will give a 20-board simultaneous exhibition at 12:30pm, followed by a blitz tournament at 4pm, at Back pages Books in Waltham, MA. Tickets for the simul are free with the purchase of a copy of the anthology. (Contact Back Pages to buy a book and reserve a ticket. First come, first served.) Prizes to players who win or draw will be donated by Back Pages Books. Entry to the blitz tournament is free, with prizes for the tournament donated by Chess Books from Europe. Please bring sets, boards, and clocks. All profits from the sale of "Masters of Technique" go to charity. 

For directions or more information about the event contact 
Back Pages Books
http://www.backpagesbooks.com
289 Moody Street
Waltham, MA 02453 
781.209.0631 
info@backpagesbooks.com 

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

July 3, 2010.................Quads: #1 B. Pellows...2.5-0.5; #2 E. Lin...3-0; #3 A.Z. Hu...3-0; #4 S. Lieberman and V. Amrit...2.5-0.5;

July 10, 2010...............Swiss #29: T. Slesnick...3.5-0.5;

July 17, 2010...............Legends: Open- D.K. Shmelov...3.5-0.5; U1800- A. Cortizas, Jr....4-0;

July 18, 2010...............Scholastic: A. Guo...3.5-0.5;

July 24, 2010..............Summer Open: Open- C. Chase...4-0; U1800- A.Z. Hu...4-0;

July 8-29, 2010...........Thursday Night Swiss:  A. Psphitis...4-0;

July 31, 2010...............$10 Open: Open- D.K. Shmelov...4-0; U1800- A. Cortizas, Jr....3.5-0.5

Steve Frymer
MACA Board Member

Held on 10-11 July 2010...124 players...Open Section: A. Ivanov and D. Shmelov 1st-2nd 3.5-0.5; S. Kudrin and N. Castenada 3rd-4th 3-1;

NH state champion: J. Fang 2.5-1.5; Top U2060: T. Chase 3.5-0.5, Top U1860: O. Chase 4-0, Top U1660: L. Stolov and J. Kuehne 3.5-0.5,

Top U1460: H. Clark 3.5-0.5, Top U1260: A. Franke 4-0. Sunday Swiss: F. Sisto 3-0.

Alex Relyea was chief TD for the NHCA.

Steve Frymer
MACA Correspondent

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Massachusetts scored 4-0 to win the Connecticut State Championship, held June 19-20 at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 results were two Connecticut players - FIDE master Nelson Castaneda of New Britain and now provisionally rated master Sivasankar Balakumar, formerly of Toronto, Canada - and USCF life master Max Enkin of Peabody, Mass.  Balakumar defeated Enkin in the third round but lost to Ivanov in the final round. Confirmation is still awaited on which Connecticut player - Castaneda or Balakumar - was awarded the Connecticut state championship title and trophy. In the Reserve section, first place with a perfect 4-0 score went to Noah Arthurs of Connecticut. He gained a Class B rating for the first time in his career. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 tallies were Class B contestants David Gaston, Max Krall and Kevin Zimmerman, all of Connecticut, as well as Class C entrant Eric Nechayev, also of Connecticut.  The two-section tournament drew 36 players and was directed by Timothy Hartley, assisted by John Fikiet, for the sponsoring UConn Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

National master Alex Fikiet, a MACA member from Storrs, Connecticut, tallied a perfect 4-0 to win the UConn Strength Builder Tournament, held Thursday nights, June 10 and 17, at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Capturing second place with a 3-1 score was expert Sarathi Ray, a fellow UConn Chess Club member. Fellow MACA member Tom Hartmayer of Storrs finished with a 2.5-1.5 result to take third place. The tournament drew eight players and was directed by Timothy Hartley for the sponsoring UConn Chess Club.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville scored 3.5-0.5 to capture first place in the BCF Tornado #102, held Saturday, June 19, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. Tying for 2nd-4th place with 3-1 tallies were life senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell (who drew Chase in the final round), life master Lawyer Times of Hyde Park (who lost to Chase in the third round), and expert William Collins of Boston (who lost to Chase in the second round). The tournament drew 15 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Senior master Denys Shmelov continued to prove his dominance at the Waltham Chess Club, winning the Waltham June Game/20 Tournament on Friday night, June 18, at the club's playing site in the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. The 23-year-old Pepperell resident tallied 4-0 to finish clear first. Tying as runners-up with 3-1 scores were Andrew Liu of Westborough and Erik Siggelkoe of Millis. The quick-rated event drew 13 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Tony Cesolini, a Class A player from Jaffrey, New Hampshire, won the 2010 Wachusett Chess Club Championship, held Wednesday nights, May 5 through June 16, at the McKay Campus School at Fitchburg State College. Cesolini tallied 4.5-0.5, yielding a sole draw to George Mirijanian of Fitchburg. Mirijanian finished as runner-up with a 3-1 score with one unplayed game. Third place with a 2.5-2.5 result went to Glenn Rochon of Leominster. Martin Laine of Lunenburg and Dave Couture of Westminster shared top honors in the "B" Division Championship, scoring 5.5-1.5. Tying for 3rd-4th place with 5-2 tallies were Ken Gurge and Leonard Arsenault, both of Leominster. The two--section championship event drew 30 players and was directed by George Mirijanian, assisted by club Webmaster Dave Couture.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Massachusetts scored a perfect 5-0 to win the 7th annual Vermont Spring Open, held June 11-13 at the Stratton Mountain Inn in West Wardsboro, Vermont.  Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3.5-1.5 tallies were FIDE master Nelson Castaneda of New Britain, Connecticut, who lost to Ivanov in the third round, and Class A contestant Chen Qu of New York, who lost to Ivanov in the final round. Gabriel Katz of Vermont won first place in the Under 1750 section with a score of 4-1. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3.5-1.5 results were Andrew Palmer of Vermont and Mark Dreher of New York. Henry Olynik of White Plains, New York was the winner in the Under 1350 section with a score of 4.5-0.5. Jameson Voll of Vermont was second with a 4-1 performance. Tying for third place with 2.5-2.5 tallies were Jeffrey Qu of Clifton Park, New York, and Andrew Berzolla of Connecticut. The three-section tournament drew 32 players and was directed by Bill Goichberg for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Expert William "Billy" Collins was the surprise winner in the BCF Somerville Open, held Saturday, June 12, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville. The Boston player tallied a perfect 4-0, including wins against life master Alex Cherniack of Watertown (round 2), international master David Vigorito of Somerville (round 3), and FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville (round 4).  Senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, who took a half-point bye in the first round, finished second with a score of 3.5-0.5 Tying for first place in the Under 1800 section with 3-1 results were Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Nicholas Lesieur of Cambridge, and George Duval of Sudbury. In individual encounters, Iglesias beat Lesieur (round 2) but lost to Duval (round 3), while Duval lost to Lesieur (round 4). The two-section tournament drew 23 players and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

The Waltham Chess Club's Flag Day Game/60 Tournament, held Friday night, June 11, at the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham, ended in a three-way tie for first place. Sharing top honors with scores of 1.5-0.5 were senior master Denys Shmelov of Pepperell, expert Todd Chase of Weston, and Class C entrant Stephen DeSousa of Waltham. In the final round, Chase held Shmelov to a draw. The event drew 10 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass. and international master David Vigorito of Somerville, Mass. tied for first place in the Seacoast Open, held Saturday, June 5, at the Holiday Inn in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The duo tallied 3.5-0.5, incuding a draw with one another in the third round.  Tying as runners-up with 3-1 scores were FIDE master Nelson Castaneda of New Britain, Connecticut and expert Michael Niemczyk of New York, the latter of whom won the Under 2300 prize. Philip Lowell Jr. and Andry Savov, both of Maine, scored 3.5-0.5 to tie for 1st-2nd place in the Under 1900 section. William Bonney of Maine posted the tournament's only perfect score of 4-0 in winning the Under 1250 section. Second place with a 3-1 tally went to Benjamin Hansel of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The three-section tournament drew 49 players and was directed by FIDE arbiter F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire, who was assisted by his wife, Nita Patel

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

The following are winners of top sections of rated tournaments held in May 2010 at various USCF-affiliated chess clubs in Massachusetts:

• MCC 27th Anniversary Swiss (Metrowest CC, Natick, 80 players): NM Lawyer Times, Pablo Pena, 3.5-0.5
• BCF $10 Open (Boylston CC, Somerville, 33 players): IM David Vigorito, FM Christopher Chase, 3.5-0.5
• Yefim Geller Memorial (Boylston CC, Somerville, 21 players): IM David Vigorito, 4-0
• 51st Club Championship (Sven Brask CC, Plainville, 18 players): Lawrence Dean, Jerry Giambo, 5.5-1.5
• Newburyport CC Tournament #96 (17 players): John Elmore, 4-0
• BCF Quads 10-5 (Boylston CC, Somerville, 17 players): FM Christopher Chase, 3-0
• BCF Paramount (Boylston CC, Somerville, 17 players): FM Christopher Chase, 9.5-0.5
• BCF May Thuisday Night Swiss (Boylston CC, Somerville, 17 players): Andrew Hoy, Daniel Shapiro, 3.5-0.5
• Mayte in Four Open (Greater Worcester CC, 16 players): FM John Curdo, 3.5-0.5
• Waltham Memorial Day G/60 (Waltham CC, 16 players): SM Denys Shmelov, NM Lawyer Times, 2-0
• Waltham May G/20 (Waltham CC, 16 players): SM Denys Shmelov, 4-0
• Waltham First Friday #97 (Waltham CC, 13 players): SM Denys Shmelov, 7-0
• BCF Spring Quick Chess (Boylston CC, Somerville, 11 players): IM Marc Esserman, 4.5-0.5
• May Early Bird (Boylston CC, Somerville, 7 players): IM Marc Esserman, 3-0

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

The BCF Quads, held Saturday, June 5, at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville drew 16 players. Capturing first place in Quad #1 with a 3-0 score was FIDE master Christopher Chase of Somerville. Quad #2 saw a four-way tie for first among Class A players Gabriel Frieden of Cambridge, Benjamin Smith of Melrose, Max Lu of Lexington, and first-time USCF tournament player Jens Nusser of Germany. All four tallied 1.5-1.5. Siddharth Arunm, a Class A player from Medfield, won Quad #3 with a score of 2.5-0.5, while Class C contestant Seth Lieberman of Jamaica Plain finished on top in Quad #4 with a 3-0 performance. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton directed.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

As reported by Beebe Wiegand, MACA Election Commission, and Bob Messenger 

Tellers were: Beebe Wiegand, David Yasinovsky and Jane Angermeier 

128 total ballots

2 invalid ballots: 1 deceased (Paul Jandron), 1 hand written 

Candidates with vote totals.  Candidates elected are marked with an asterisk (*) 

President:               

* Ken Ballou: 91     

Robert King: 28        

Maryanne Reilly: 2

George Mirijanian: 1

Vice President:               

* Maryanne Reilly: 113     

Sam Lurie: 1                   

Alex Relyea: 1                

Treasurer:

* Bob Messenger: 118

Marcus Luzzi: 1

Steve Frymer: 1 

Clerk:

* Brian Mottershead: 98

Nicholas Sterling: 2

Director: 

* Steve Frymer: 110           * Margaret King: 78

* Alex Relyea: 104             * George Mirijanian: 5

Maryanne Reilly: 103          Ken Ballou: 4

Brian Mottershead: 87       * Nicholas Sterling: 3

* Brian Lafferty: 85            * John Curdo: 2

* Ken Belt: 84                  * Beebe Wiegand: 2

* Stephen Dann: 83          * Donna Alarie: 2

* Robert King: 79

Bylaws Amendments: 

Ratification #1 (Section 7.2) 

Yes: 100

No: 6 

Ratification #2 (Section 4.6) 

Yes: 91

No: 20 

Tiffany Wang
MACA Webmaster

Denys Shmelov, a senior master from Pepperell, showed his dominance once again at the Waltham Chess Club - scoring a perfect 7-0 to win the Waltham First Friday Tournament #98 on June 4 at the IBM Office Building cafeteria in Waltham. MACA life member Todd Chase of Weston finished second with a 5.5-1.5 tally, while MACA junior member Andrew Liu of Westborough ended up third with a 4.5-2.5 result. The tournament drew 10 players and was directed by Nicholas Sterling of Needham.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

Lawrence Dean, an expert from Norton, and Jerry Giambo, a Class A player from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, are the 2010 Sven Brask Chess Club co-champions. The duo tallied 5.5-1.5 in a field of 18 contestants to tie for first place in the 51st  Club Championship, held Wednesday nights, April 7-May 26, at the United Methodist Church in Plainville. In their invidual encounter in the fifth round, Giambo defeated Dean. This was Dean's first time as a club co-champion. Giambo was club co-champion in 1997. Finishing as runners-up with 5-2 scores were two-time club champion Jack Corriea of Attleboro and James Aspinall of Mansfield. Aspinall was the TD.

George Mirijanian
MACA Correspondent

FIDE master John Curdo of Auburn continued his winning ways at the Greater Worcester Chess Club, scoring 3.5-0.5 to capture first place in the club's Mayte in Four Open, held Thursday nights, May 6-27, at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester. Tying for 2nd-3rd place with 3-1 tallies were national master Predrag Cicovacki of Auburn, who drew Curdo in the final round, and Class A contestant Mikhail Bocka of Worcester, who lost to Curdo in the first round. Peter Shtudiner of Worcester and David Branagan posted scores of 3-1 to tie for first place in the Under 1700 section. Sharing the Under1500 prize with 2-2 results were Alex Chand and Irving Wolfson, both of Worcester, and Marc Quevillon of Dayville, Connecticut. The two-section tournament drew 16 players and was directed by Joseph Alfano of Holden, assisted by Donna Alarie of Rutland, for the sponsoring ChessPals affiliate.

George Mirijanian
MACA Board Member

Lloyd Winston Buckley Jr., a USCF and MACA life member from Worcester, Mass., died Monday, May 24, in St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester. He was 63. He was born December 30, 1946 in Worcester, the son of Lloyd W. Buckley Sr. and Edith (Bastille) Buckley, and had lived here most of his life. He received a bachelor's and a master's degree from Assumption College in Worcester and later earned an MBA from Anna Maria College in Paxton, Mass. Mr. Buckley was a self-employed CPA for many years. Previously, he was a nursing home administrator. He was a member of the Worcester Chess Club for many years, starting in the 1970s. His last rated USCF tournament at the club was the 1991 November Sectional, in which he finished third in his section. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Geraldine P. (Laukaitis) Buckley; two brothers, three sisters, aunts, cousins, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, and many nephews, nieces, great-nephews and great-