Draws on the first two boards left top-seeded Senior Master Igor Foygel and expert Charles Riordan tied for first place with 4 points each heading into the last round. No. 2 seed Alexander Beider, who began Round five a half-point down, battled Foygel to a deadlock on Board One, while high school star Jason Spector did the same with Riordan on Board 2. Meanwhile John Chamberlain defeated Dan Newman to join Beider and Spector in a three-way tie at 3.5. So, theoretically at least, any of this quintet could at least share first place if everything went right for him in the final round, though only Foygel or Riordan have a chance to win the tournament outright.

Because many of the leaders have already met, the last-round pairings are Foygel-Spector, Riordan-Beider, and Chamberlain-John Curdo (the highest-rated player with 3 points). The middle section also has a two-way tie at the top between Fred Smith and Bill Stein with 4 points each, followed by five players with 3.5 -- again creating a last-round situation which could produce anything from a lone winner to a multiple tie for top honors.

In the U1750 section it’s Stein-Smith for all the marbles, but if they should draw, any one, two, or three members of the next quintet -- Alan Beck, Gatumba Abu, Menno Koning, seventh-grader Gabe Frieden, or Dave Martin -- could join them at the top. Their match-ups are Beck-Koning, Martin-Abu, and Frieden-Jim Todhunter (the highest-rated player with 3 points).

Confusion really reigns in the bottom section, where four players -- Al Schaefer, John McLaughlin, Lanny Sun, and Vishwa Krishnamurthy are tied for top honors at 4 points, with Plamen Krastev a half-point back. The pairings are Schaefer - McLaughlin, Krishnamurthy - Sun, and Krastev vs. Douglas Thompson( the highest-rated player at 3 points), with possibilities including any of the top four winning outright, any two of them emerging as co-winners, a four-way tie for first place, or even a five-way tie at the top.

Not too many big upsets occurred in Round 5 in terms of rating difference, though several of the milder form reversals had a big bearing on the standings. Tops in terms of numbers were Lanny Sun (942) over Lomer Cormier (1314), Clark Ewer (1336) over James Rafferty (1613), Doug Hull (1081) over Jeffry Gibson (1310), and Ed Astrachan (1806) over Robert Harvey (1906).

Not quite hitting our usual 100-point criterion but more noteworthy in terms of the tournament standings were the Boards 1 and 2 draws in the Open section, preventing Foygel and/or Riordan from pulling away from the rest of the field and keeping Beider and young Spector in contention. A similar key upset in the middle section was young Frieden’s victory with the black pieces over perennial top contender Mark Kaprielian, whose losses have been few and far between in this section. It just missed the century mark (ratings 1518-1616), but made a big impact on the standings, vaulting the youngster into last-round contention while knocking out Kaprielian, who had swept the September tournament 4-0 and finished tied for second place in October at 4-1. Finally, even in Round 5 there was one more "jump-in," raising the total entries to another new high-water mark of 82.

Name Pnts Victim
Edward Astrachan (1806) 100.0 Robert L Harvey (1906)
Jason St Spector (1953)  84.5 Charles Riordan (2122)
Alexander Beider (2395)  73.5 Igor Foygel (2542)
Robert W Powell (1953)   37.5 Edward R Epp (2028)
Larry Pratt (1812)        4.0 Paul A Mishkin (1816)

Name Pnts Victim
Clark R Ewer (1336) 277.0 James H Rafferty (1613)
Gabriel Frieden (1518)   98.0 Mark Kaprielian (1616)
Ethan Thompson (1446)    71.0 John Stengrevics (1517)
Robert J Oresick (1478)  69.0 Joey Kagan (1547)
Charles Ewer (1269)      66.0 Gregor Siciliano (1335)
Frederick Smith (1713)    6.5 Alan P Beck (1726)

Name Pnts Victim
Lanny Sun (942) 372.0 Lomer J Cormier (1314)
Doug Hull (1081) 114.5 Jeffry R Gibson (1310)
John Mc Laughlin (1317)  77.0 Douglas Thompson (1394)

Round 4 - November 26, 2002

The big news in Round 4 was the addition of two late "jump-ins, raising the total entries for the tournament to 81 -- the first time the club has ever broken the 80 mark for a weekly event.

Senior Master Igor Foygel and rising young expert Charles Riordan continued their winning ways, defeating John Chamberlain and Dan Newman, respectively, to continue atop the standings. The co-leaders drew their head-to-head clash in Round 3 and have each won all three of their other games games to lead the way with 3.5 points each. Master Alexander Beider and high school star Jason Spector also won to remain in the chase with 3 points apiece heading into the stretch run of this six-round event.

Frederick Smith and Gatumba Abu lead the middle section, also with 3.5 each, followed by a four-way tie for the next spot.

Meanwhile, the only perfect score after four rounds belongs to Vishwa Krishnamurthy, who has rolled to four straight victories in the bottom section.

All the top upsets in Round 4 occurred in the bottom section, where Richard
Albee(920) knocked off Donald Lacroix 1332); Lanny Sun (942) defeated Jeffry Gibson (1310); and John J Bottini (1079) beat Tom Powers (1424) . (Krishnamurthy’s string of successes don’t count officially as "upsets" since he entered the tournament unrated). The only other form reversal meeting our 100-point criterion was a draw between Robert Powell (1953) and John Curdo (2238) in the Open section.

Name Pnts Victim
Robert W Powell (1953) 142.5 John A Curdo (2238)
Jason St Spector (1953)  83.0 Geoffre Polizoti (2036)
Mark L Fins (1795)  11.5 Navan Ruthramoorthy (1818)

Name Pnts Victim
Menno G Koning (1539) 80.5 James Todhunter (1700)
Gatumba Z Abu (1547) 69.0 Mark Kaprielian (1616)
Stephen W Savage (1400) 49.5 Louis P Jacques (1499)
Gabriel Frieden (1518) 29.0 Joey Kagan (1547)

Name Pnts Victim
Richard Albee (920) 412.0 Donald Lacroix (1332)
Lanny Sun (942) 368.0 Jeffry R Gibson (1310)
John J Bottini (1079) 345.0 Thomas E Powers (1424)

Top-seeded Igor Foygel headed a group of nine players starting off with victories in the 2002 Stanley Crowe Memorial Open. Foygel, who was stung by a rare upset loss in Round 2 of last month’s tournament, defeated Neil Cousin in his opening test of the annual six-round event. Joining him with first-round victories were fellow master John Curdo, experts Charles Riordan, Geoff Polizoti, Ed Epp, and Derek Slater, A-players Robert Powell and Dan Newman, and 1611-rated Calvin Hori, who pulled off the biggest upset in the Open section by defeating Jason Spector (1953).

Alexander Beider (2395), winner of last month’s tournament in a 5-0 sweep, was the one who felt the upset sting this time as rising star Navan Ruthramoorthy (1818) held him to a surprise draw. Also noteworthy: Niki Konovalchuk (1790), winner of last month’s U1800 section, moved up to the Open section and started off with an upset draw against John Chamberlain (1991).

Eleven players including a lot of up setters won their opening tests in both the U1750 and U1450 sections. The biggest surprise was Sam Giler (874) knocking off Donald Lacroix (1332) in the bottom section. Others, all in the middle section, were: Nic D Alessandro (1307) over Matthew Phelps (1568); Clark Ewer (1336) over Severine Wamala (1570); Stephen Savage (1400) over Phil Mercurio (1613), and Robert Oresick (1478) over George Goulding (1624). One other upset meeting our 100-point criterion: Brian O’Rourke (1289) drew Joey Kagan (1547).

Twenty-two players turned out for Round One in the Open section, 24 in the U1750, and 22 in the U1450 for a total of 68 -- a figure that is virtually certain to go well over 70 with jump-ins during the next couple of weeks.