2002-02 Commentary

Commentary will usually be posted to this page late Wednesday or Thursday night.

Igor Foygel, back from his impressive showing in the U.S. Championship where he earned an IM norm, scored a 4-0 sweep, but the big story of this tournament was the spectacular showing of Himanshu Keskar. Moving up to the Open section after his fine U1800 showing in January, Keskar (now rated 1599) continued his surprising play by defeating Joe Kelly (1840) and expert Jared Becker in the first two rounds. This earned the newcomer a shot at John Curdo in Round 3, and he stunned the veteran master for a staggering 643-point rating upset. He finally met his match in Foygel in the last round, but still tied for second place (and picked up a ton of rating points). Also playing well above his rating was Daniel Newman (1656), who knocked off high A players Chamberlain and Walter Smith and finished with 3 points, as did Curdo and Ed Epp to create a four-way tie for second place. George Goulding and Severine Wamala shared U1750 honors with 3.5 points each, followed by Niki Konovalchuk and Howard Goldowsky with 3.0 apiece.

John McLaughlin swept the U1400 section, 4-0. Douglas Thompson, Chris Gagnepain, Clark Ewer, and Justin Grimes divided runner-up honors at 3.0.

Upsets, in addition to those already mentioned, included Paul Felker (1513) over Niki Konovalchuk (1737); Alan Schaefer (1400) over both Felker and Gatumba Abu (1598); Thomas Kane (1326) over Howard Goldowsky (1676); James A Krycka (1375) over Louis P Jacques (1525); Jacob Perkowski (1656) over Alfred G Ward (1800); Ethan Thompson (1379) over Matthew W Phelps (1495); Sanjay Manivannan (1392) over Menno G Koning (1500); and Sam Giler (738) drawing Aaron Klein (1044).

MCC Short Month Swiss: Open -- Upsets Name Pnts Victim Daniel B Newman (1592) 375.0 John Chamberlain (1967) Jacob Perkowski (1656) 144.0 Alfred G Ward (1800) Joseph F Kelly (1840) 96.0 Robert W Powell (1936) Matthew Rothman (1773) 53.0 John W Martin (1826) Larry Eldridge (1751) 43.0 Robert L Harvey (1837) Neil Cousin (1832) 21.5 Jason St Spector (1875)

MCC Short Month Swiss: Open -- Upsets Name Pnts Victim Himanshu Keskar (1599) 643.0 John A Curdo (2242) Larry Eldridge (1751) 92.5 Robert W Powell (1936) Alexander J Rice (1737) 63.0 Eric Ogren (1800) W Bradley Ryan (1800) 26.0 John W Martin (1826)

MCC Short Month Swiss: U1750 -- Upsets Name Pnts Victim Alan D Schaefer (1400) 113.0 Paul Felker (1513) Ethan Thompson (1379) 70.0 Gregor Siciliano (1449) Na Ruthramoorthy (1603) 10.5 William F Stein (1624)

MCC Short Month Swiss: Open -- Upsets Name Pnts Victim Himanshu Keskar (1599) 411.0 Jared Becker (2010) Daniel B Newman (1592) 383.0 Walter Smith (1975) Mark Kaprielian (1707) 93.0 Eric Ogren (1800)

MCC Short Month Swiss: U1750 -- Upsets Name Pnts Victim Thomas A Kane (1326) 175.0 Howard Goldowsky (1676) Ethan Thompson (1379) 116.0 Matthew W Phelps (1495) Sanja Manivannan (1392) 108.0 Menno G Koning (1500) Severine Wamala (1558) 83.0 Philip Mercurio (1641) Gregor Siciliano (1449) 76.0 Louis P Jacques (1525) Timothy Vaughan (1564) 40.0 George Goulding (1644)

MCC Short Month Swiss: U1750 -- Upsets Name Pnts Victim Paul Felker (1513) 224.0 Niki Konovalchuk (1737) Alan D Schaefer (1400) 198.0 Gatumba Z Abu (1598) James A Krycka (1375) 150.0 Louis P Jacques (1525)