2003-02 Commentary

All the logjams for first place broke apart as the tournament concluded, so after an amazing 17 players had shared the top spots at the halfway point there were only a near-minimum four at the end -- clear winners Charles Riordan and Bill Stein in the top two sections and co-victors Pierre Fleurant and Jenshiang Hong in the other one.

Riordan, after drawing top-seeded John Curdo in Round 2, closed out with victories over John Chamberlain and Randy Brueckner to claim Open section honors with 3.5 points. Curdo kept pace in Round 3, but was held to a draw by Na Ruthramoorthy in the final session and had to settle for runner-up honors at 3.0. The surprise half-point gave Ruthramoorthy a final tally of 2.5 points and a tie for third place with Chamberlain and Jeff Penta, who both won their final tests to also reach that figure.

George Goulding and John McLaughlin each won three straight games and were the clear leaders in the other sections going into the last round, but both were knocked off on Board one and overtaken for top honors.

Stein did the trick in the U1750 section, winning his first two games, taking a half-point bye in Round 3, then defeating Goulding to leapfrog past him into clear first place. The latter wound up in a five-way tie for second place with Mark Kaprielian, Menno Koning, David Martin, and John Stengrevics at 3.0 apiece.

Fleurant defeated McLaughlin in their U1450 showdown, while Hong handed young scholastic player Anabel Bacon her only loss of the tournament to also finish with 3.5 points and tie for first place. McLaughlin held onto a share of third place with Douglas Thompson, John Bottini, and Fred Harvey, all of whom came through the "back door" with last-round victories to catch him at 3.0..

Ruthramoorthy's draw with Curdo was easily the most significant upset of the tournament. Other form reversals in the last two rounds were:

Stengrevics (1481) over Kaprielian (1717), Thomas Simon (1073) over Harvey Reed (1318), Jim Krycka (1295) over Stephen Savage (1461), and Mary Murphy (1052) over Reed (1318).

The tournament broke the magic 70 mark in entries, with the three sections draw 16, 31, and 24 players, respectively, for a total of 71.

Name                             Pnts     Victim
Na Ruthramoorthy (1874) 189.5     John A Curdo (2253)
Jeff Georg Penta (1845)     1.0     Alfred G Ward (1846)

Name                             Pnts     Victim
John Stengrevics (1481)   118.0    Mark Kaprielian (1717)
Matthew W Phelps (1545) 98.0    Howard Goldowsky (1741)
Alan D Schaefer (1449)      12.0    Stephen W Savage (1461)
Harry Henriques (1405)       4.5     Brian T O'Rourke (1414)

Name                             Pnts     Victim
Thomas J Simon (1073)     245.0     Harvey G Reed (1318)
John J Bottini (1266)          89.0     Donald Lacroix (1355)
Fred L Harvey (1260)          87.0     Normand Delisle (1347)
Pierre Fleurant (1324)         44.0    John Mc Laughlin (1368)

Name                         Pnts     Victim
Calvin G Hori (1662)     52.5     Ames M Abbot (1767)
Neil B Cousin (1855)       5.5     Robert L Harvey (1866)

Name                         Pnts     Victim
James A Krycka (1295 166.0     Stephen W Savage (1461)
David W Martin (1572)   84.5     Howard Goldowsky (1741)
Ethan Thompson (1512) 65.5     Phillip Lee (1643)
James H Rafferty (1528) 48.0     Walter Champion (1624)
Brian T O'Rourke (1414) 35.0     Alan D Schaefer (1449)
George Goulding (1578) 15.0     Menno G Koning (1593)
Mark Kaprielian (1717)      9.0     John W Martin (1726)

Name                         Pnts     Victim
Mary L Murphy (1052)     266.0     Harvey G Reed (1318)

Round 2 - February 11, 2003

Multiple first-place ties feature all three sections at the halfway point, with an amazing seven players sharing the lead in the Open section and five-way logjams in both other sections.

An avalanche of draws in the 15-player top section has wiped out all perfect scores after just two rounds, leaving John Curdo, Charles Riordan, John Chamberlain, Derek Slater, Randy Brueckner, Navan Ruthramoorthy, and Vishwa Krishnamurthy deadlocked with 1.5 points each. One of those draws came in Round 2 between the top-seeded Curdo and No. 2 Riordan, who just broke the 2200 barrier in the latest USCF ratings and is the only other master in the field.

These two would thus appear to be co-occupants of the driver’s seat in the last two rounds, as both will be paired down the rest of the way against opponents rated 200 or more points below them. But they’re still sure to be tested by the various experts and rising young A-players in the field - and the way things have been going so far, anything can still happen. Bill Stein, Menno Koning, George Goulding, Carl Phillips, and John Stengrevics all won their first two games in the 31-player U1750 section, while John Mc Laughlin, Normand Delisle, Fred Harvey, Jenshiang Hong, and Anabel Bacon make up the perfect-score quintet in the U1400 group, which numbers 24 competitors, making a grand total of 70 entries overall this month. The top upset in the first two rounds occurred in the bottom section, where Sam Giler (874) defeated Harvey Reed (1318) for a 444-point differential. Meanwhile, those most significant in affecting the top spots in the standings were:

U1750: Stengrevics (1481) staged upsets in both rounds, defeating Phil Mercurio (1600) and Phillip Lee (1643) in succession. Phillips (1486) defeated Walter Champion (1624). And James Rafferty (1528) knocked off No. 2 seed Howard Goldowsky (1741). U1400: Bacon (1111) defeated John Bottini (1266) to gain her share of the halfway lead.

Other upsets meeting our 100-point criterion (both in the bottom section): Travis A Nilsson (841) drew Douglas Thompson (1317) and Justin P Grimes (1069) drew Donald Lacroix (1355) .