MetroWest Chess Club - Leap Year Swiss
February   3, 10, 17, 24   2004

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Commentary
by Larry Eldrdige

Round 4 - February 24, 2004

Igor Foygel and John Curdo shared top honors, each winning three games and taking a bye for identical scores of 3.5 points. Mark La Rocca finished clear third with three wins and a loss to Curdo for 3.0.

The closely contested U1900 section wound up in a four-way tie for first place among Neil Cousin, Larry Pratt, George Goulding, and Matt Gosselin with 3 points apiece.

There was a three-way deadlock in the U1600 section among Thomas Martin, Brian O’Rourke, and Nikolay Popov, all with 3.5 points.

Meanwhile, the only perfect score in the entire tournament occurred in the U1300 section, where Robert Matthews swept the field 4-0, finishing a full 1 1/2 points ahead of his nearest competitors. Five players tied for runner-up honors at 2.5 points: Stasik Popov, Larry Zhu, Branislaw Cenanovic, Anirudh Arun, and James Taggert.

Justin Grimes staged the biggest upset of the final round, defeating Douglas Thompson despite a 349-point rating difference (1046-1395). Others:

Fred Harvey (1203) defeated Stephen Schnair (1377); Robert Matthews (1138) defeated Stasik Popov (1259); Gus Gosselin (1528) drew Mark Fins (1757); and Chris Berg-Jones (1572) defeated Edwin Burnett (1672). .

The final tally of entries, section-by-section, was 15, 32, 22, and 16, for a total of 85.

Round by Round Upsets: Round 4. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Open
Name                 Pnts     Victim
        None
 

Round by Round Upsets: Round 4. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Under 1900
Name                     Pnts     Victim
Gilbert Gosselin (1528)     114.5     Mark L Fins (1757)
Chris Berg-Jones (1572)     100.0     Edwin F Burnett (1672)
Menno G Koning (1597)        84.0     Severine Wamala (1681)
Matthew W Phelps (1601)      83.0     Mark Kaprielian (1684)
George Goulding (1719)       33.0     Alexand Paphitis (1785)
Ethan Thompson (1567)        20.0     Gatumba Z Abu (1607)
Larry Pratt (1826)           12.0     Neil B Cousin (1850)

Round by Round Upsets: Round 4. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Under 1600
Name                     Pnts    Victim
Justin P Grimes (1046)     349.0     Douglas Thompson (1395)
Fred L Harvey (1203)       174.0     Stephen Schnair (1377)
Brian T O'Rourke (1432)     75.0     Thomas J Martin (1582)

Round by Round Upsets: Round 4. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Under 1300
Name                     Pnts   Victim
Robert Matthews (1138)     121.0    Stasik Popov (1259)
Larry Zhu (1201)            64.0    George A Downey (1265)
 

Round 3 - February 17, 2004

John Curdo defeated expert Joe Perl for his third consecutive victory and the only perfect 3-0 score going into the final round. Since he earlier took a last-round bye, the veteran master is "in the clubhouse," so to speak, with a final tally of 3.5 and assured of at least a tie for top honors. The only ones who can catch him are IM Igor Foygel and Vi Krishnamurthy, each with 2.5 points via a pair of wins and a bye. Krishnamurthy gets the white pieces in their showdown, with the victor gaining a share of the top spot, or, in the case of a draw, Curdo emerging as the sole winner.

The 32-player U1900 section got scrambled once again as Neil Cousin defeated midpoint leader Alexander Paphitis on Board One, while Larry Pratt and George Goulding won their games to make it a three-way tie for first place with 2.5 points apiece. Paphitis heads a group of six players clinging to a mathematical chance to tie for top honors with scores of 2.0 apiece, the others being Mark Fins, Mike Barry, Matthew Gosselin, Bennet Pellows, and Gus Gosselin (one other player, Walter Driscoll, also had 2.0 but is taking a last-round bye and thus out of contention).

Thomas Martin and Brian O’Rourke each won his third straight game, setting up a two-man tie for first place and a Board One showdown in Round 4 of the U1600 section. Nikolay Popov and Terry O’Neill are next with 2.5 points each, but the latter has a last-round bye, so only Popov has a shot for a share of first place if he can win his last game and the top two players split the point..

Robert Matthews is the clear leader in U1300 with a perfect 3.0, followed by Stasik Popov with the only 2.5 score. They meet on Board One with Matthews needing a win or a draw to take clear first place, while a win by Popov would vault him into sole top honors.

After following form closely for the first two rounds, the tournament provided several upsets in Round 3 topped by Jim Merullo’s 535-point conquest of youngster Michael Oliveri, who despite his tender age of 7(!) outrated his foe 1032-497.

Others:

Achutha Raman (1149) drew Joey Kagan (1692); Na Ruthramoorthy(1908)defeated Bijan Haririan(2080); John Chamberlain(2010)drew Charles Riordan (2286); Michael Kaye 1496)drew Seth Johnson (1715); Chris Oliveri (1318)defeated Hen Forber-Pratt(1436); Terry M O'Neill (1421) defeated James H Rafferty (1526); and Andrew D Ossmann (1273) defeated Stephen Schnair (1377).

Two more players jumped in for Round 3, raising the total entries to 85.
 

Round by Round Upsets: Round 3. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Open
Name                     Pnts     Victim
Na Ruthramoorthy (1908)     172.0     Bijan Haririan (2080)
John Chamberlain (2010)     138.0     Charles Riordan (2286)
Paul A Mishkin (1881)        67.0     Ilya Krasik (2015)
Vi Krishnamurthy (1877)       6.0     Jeff Georg Penta (1883)

Round by Round Upsets: Round 3. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Under 1900
Name                     Pnts    Victim
Achutha Raman (1149)       271.5     Joey Kagan (1692)
Michael W Kaye (1496)      109.5     Seth P Johnson (1715)
David W Martin (1626)       55.0     Severine Wamala (1681)
Calvin G Hori (1635)        49.0     Mark Kaprielian (1684)
Walter Champion (1606)      33.0     Edwin F Burnett (1672)

Round by Round Upsets: Round 3. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Under 1600
Name                     Pnts     Victim
Christop Oliveri (1318)     118.0     Hen Forber-Pratt (1436)
Terry M O'Neill (1421)      105.0     James H Rafferty (1526)
Andrew D Ossmann (1273)     104.0     Stephen Schnair (1377)
Gregory Siciliano (1336)     59.0     Douglas Thompson (1395)

Round by Round Upsets: Round 3. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Under 1300
Name                     Pnts     Victim
Jim Merullo (497)           535.0     Michael Oliveri (1032)
Anirudh Arun (1042)          79.5     Larry Zhu (1201)
Robert Matthews (1138)       32.0     Gregory W Cermak (1170)

 

Round 2 - February 10, 2004

Exciting battles are shaping up in all four sections at the halfway point of this month’s tournament.

The small field in the Open section produced early showdowns among the top contenders, with Igor Foygel defeating Charles Riordan, John Curdo besting Mark La Rocca, and Joe Perl topping Bijan Haririan to create a three-way tie for the halfway lead with perfect 2.0 scores each. Foygel has a half-point bye in Round 3, however, leaving the other two to fight it out for a chance at the clear lead on Board One.

In the U1900 section, a 13-player tie for the lead dissolved in a rash of second-round draws, leaving Alexander Paphitis alone in first place with the only 2.0 tally. But an amazing 10 players are breathing down his neck with 1.5 scores, setting up what should be quite an interesting last two rounds.

Thomas Martin heads a group of five players still perfect in the U1600 section, while young Stasik Popov tops a trio with 2.0 scores in the U1300 competition.

Four players jumped in for Round 2, raising the total field in all four sections to 83.

As for upsets, form continues to be followed in this tournament about as well as it ever has been, with only one Round 2 result meeting our 100-point criterion -- and that only barely -- a draw by Harry Henriques (1480) against Mark Kaprielian (1684).

Round by Round Upsets: Round 2. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Open
Name                     Pnts    Victim
Joseph Perl (2068)         12.0      Bijan Haririan (2080)

Round by Round Upsets: Round 2. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Under 1900
Name                    Pnts     Victim
Harry Henriques (1480)    102.0      Mark Kaprielian (1684)
Bennet Pellows (1640)      84.0      Joseph A Francis (1808)
Gilbert Gosselin (1528)    78.0      Walter Champion (1606)
Michael W Kaye (1496)      69.5      Calvin G Hori (1635)
George Goulding (1719)     53.5      Larry Pratt (1826)
Mark L Fins (1757)         46.5      Neil B Cousin (1850)
Matthew W Phelps (1601)    12.5      David W Martin (1626)

Round by Round Upsets: Round 2. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Under 1600
Name                    Pnts     Victim
Andrew D Ossmann (1273)    64.0      William Luff (1337)
Thomas J Simon (1278)      58.5      Douglas Thompson (1395)
Alan D Schaefer (1400)     41.0      Plamen Krastev (1441)
Stephen W Savage (1400)    36.0      Hen Forber-Pratt (1436)
Terry M O'Neill (1421)      8.0      Jenshiang Hong (1429)

Round by Round Upsets: Round 2. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Under 1300
Name                    Pnts     Victim
Gregory W Cermak (1170)    95.0      George A Downey (1265)
 

Round 1 - February 3, 2004

The strongest top-to-bottom field in memory is contesting this month’s Open section, with IM Igor Foygel heading a 14-player lineup that boasts an average rating of 2055!

Foygel is one of three masters in the field, followed by five experts, six A-players.

Form held up fairly well in the first round, with Foygel, fellow masters Charles Riordan and John Curdo, and experts Mark La Rocca, and Joe Perl all winning their initial tests. The lone upsets, both of the relatively mild variety, were Vishwa Krishnamurthy (1877) defeating Ilya Krasik (2003) and Jeff Penta (1883) holding Bijan Haririan (2080) to a draw.

The small field means things heat up early, with the six leaders pairing up in Round 2 thus: La Rocca - Foygel, Riordan-Perl, and Krishnamurthy-Curdo.

The full opening-round turnout for all four sections was 79 players -- quite a number by most standards though not up to the fields of 100 or so that have been showing up in recent months. But as usual there will undoubtedly be some "jump-ins" in Round 2.

The Under-1900 section is the biggest so far, with 31 entrants, 13 of whom won their first-round tests to share the early lead.

Ten competitors scored full points in Round One of the 22-player U1600 section, while a half dozen players share the lead in the U1300 section, which is the smallest with only 12 entrants so far.

There were no big upsets in Round One. Those meeting our 100-point criterion, in addition to the ones mentioned above, were:

Stephen Schnair (1377) defeated James Rafferty (1526)
Harry Henriques (1480) defeated Matthew Phelps (1601)
Joey kagan (1692) defeated Joe Francis (1808)
George Goulding (1719) defeated Walter Driscoll (1829)
Bennet Pellows (1640) defeated Mike Barry (1748)


Round by Round Upsets: Round 1. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Open
Name                     Pnts   Victim
Vi Krishnamurthy (1877)     138.0    Ilya Krasik (2015)
Jeff Georg Penta (1883)     98.5    Bijan Haririan (2080)

Round by Round Upsets: Round 1. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Under 1900
Name                     Pnts    Victim
Harry Henriques (1480)     121.0     Matthew W Phelps (1601)
Joey Kagan (1692)          116.0     Joseph A Francis (1808)
George Goulding (1719)     110.0     Walter Driscoll (1829)
Bennet Pellows (1640)      108.0     Michael Barry (1748)
Michael W Kaye (1496)       55.5     Gatumba Z Abu (1607)
Chris Berg-Jones (1572)     54.0     David W Martin (1626)
Ethan Thompson (1567)       48.0     John Stengrevics (1615)
William A Schley (1599)     36.0     Calvin G Hori (1635)

Round by Round Upsets: Round 1. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Under 1600
Name                     Pnts   Victim
Stephen Schnair (1377)     149.0    James H Rafferty (1526)
Christop Oliveri (1318)     55.5    Jenshiang Hong (1429)

Round by Round Upsets: Round 1. MCC Leap Year Swiss: Under 1300
Name                     Pnts     Victim
                    None