February Matches

Monday 2/1 at Summit, 8 p.m.

• Kortchnois (2-2) vs. Summit (1-2-1)

Previous meeting : June 4th, 2009 at Kenilworth. The Kortchnois won 3.5-0.5 &, in doing so, clinched their 2009 crown with a round to spare.


Tuesday 2/2 at West Orange, 8 p.m.

• Kramniks (2-1-1) vs. West Orange (1-2-1)

Previous meeting : June 2nd, 2009 at W. Orange. W. Orange swept 4-0.

• Sparta (2-2) vs. Hamilton (2-0-1)

Previous meeting : April 7th, 2009 at W. Orange. Hamilton won 3-1.


Thursday 2/18 at Kenilworth, 8:15 p.m.

• Staten Island (0-2-1) vs. Karpovs (2-1-1)

Previous meeting : March 3rd, 2009 at W. Orange. Karpovs won 3-1.


To be announced

• Hamilton vs. Staten Island

This match was to take place last month but was postponed. It will be played at Hamilton's convenience.

Sparta Adds Expert

The Sparta team has added Expert David Cole to its roster. The 2049-rated is expected to debut in Tuesday's match vs. league-leading Hamilton.

Leading Scorers

GSCL Individual Scoring Leaders :

1. Bob Sherry, Summit 3.5 (+3-0=1)
2. Charles Miller, Hamilton 3.0 (+3-0=0)
2. Russ Avarella, Sparta 3.0 (+3-1?=0)
2. Fermin Arias, West Orange 3.0 (+3-1=0)
2. Steve Stoyko, Karpovs 3.0 (+2-0=2)
2. John Moldovan, Karpovs 3.0 (+2-0=2)
7. Six players tied with 2.0


GSCL Leading Scorers by Board

Board 1 - Stoyko, Karpovs 3.0
Board 2 - C. Miller, Hamilton 3.0
Board 3 - Moldovan, Karpovs, 3.0
Board 4 - Avarella, Sparta 3.0

Sherry had a win on board 2 & Arias had one on board 3.

Goeller on Thomson-Stoyko

Earlier this month, on his Kenilworthian blog, Michael Goeller annotated Round 4's exciting Thomson-Stoyko game.

More Corrections

A couple of corrections:

• In addition to the mistake noted in my previous post, the Thomson-Stoyko score was a move short. 40...Qe1+ was missing.

• Staten Island's 2nd board in rounds 2 & 3 was Adrian Relingado (not Pelingado).
  

If you notice any other errors, please contact me.

Correction

In the Thomson-Stoyko game posted yesterday, 29...h6 was played - not 29...h5.

The round's replay page & zipped PGN have been corrected.

Race For #1 Tightens

This week's results have tightened an already competitive race for the GSCL top spot. At the moment, Hamilton (which has yet to play its 4th round match), the Karpovs & Kramniks are tied for 1st with 2.5 points.

The Kortchnois & Sparta have 2.0 while Summit & West Orange are at 1.5.

Staten Island, currently bringing-up the rear, can make it an 8-team race if it wins the make-up match.

Hamilton-Staten Island Postponed

This week's match between the Hamliton and Staten Island clubs has been postponed. It will be rescheduled at the former's convenience.

Sparta 2.5 West Orange 1.5

Sparta notched its 2nd victory of the season thanks to Tom Murray's upset draw against Ken Chieu and wins on the lower boards.

West Orange got a win from Bryan Cohen but fell to 1-2-1.

Karpovs 2 Summit 2

This was a very strange match with all 4 games taking unexpected turns.

Bob Sherry gave Summit a 1-0 lead by defeating Ian Mangion, who could have locked Sherry's dame out of play & enjoyed a decisive Q vs. B advantage on the rest of the board.

Next, Kenilworth's Mike Wojcio, who was a Rook-down for no compensation from the opening-on, sacked his other R to lure Raoul Bertorello into a stalemate!

John Moldovan then wasted 2 totally-won positions against Summit's Glen Hart & had to settle for a drawn, opposite Bishops ending.

Finally, the Karpovs' Steve Stoyko evened the score after being outplayed by & lost against Simon Thomson.

You can play through Stoyko's win & Moldovan's fully-annotated draw here or download the games.

Kramniks 2.5 Kortchnois 1.5

The Kramniks received wins by Greg Tomkovich & Gordon Agress plus a match-clinching draw from Lou Sturniolo to earn their 2nd straight victory.

Yaacov Norowitz scored a full-point for the Kortchnois, who again lost to a fellow Kenilworth team.