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Schedule Released

The GSCL schedule for 2012-13 has been released.

Teams requesting day or venue changes for round 1 should contact the league promptly.

Please postpone other requests until October 10th, as there is much work to do over the next 2-3 weeks.

Season Starts October 2nd

The 2012-13 Garden State League season will open on Tuesday, October 2nd with Chess Mates hosting West Orange and serving as the venue for the DOCA Knights-Newark-McDonald's match.

On October 4th, Summit visits the Kenilworth Kortchois. Rutgers is scheduled to debut at 3-time defending champion Hamilton, on October 15th.

The Karpovs get the bye.

Post revised 9/21 @ 12:32 p.m.

GSCL To Operate With 9 Teams

The Garden State Chess League will have 9 teams in 2012-13.

Kenilworth managed to piece-together 2 lineups. Rutgers University will play but Newark-Academy won't.

Minutes Of The Pre-Season Meeting

On September 6, 2012, the Garden State Chess League held its annual pre-season meeting.

Kevin Chen (of the DOCA Knights), Jose Fernandez (West Orange), John Hagerty (GSCL President), Arthur Macaspac (Chess Mates), Geoff McAuliffe (Kenilworth Kortchnois), Charles Miller (Hamilton), Donnally Miller (Summit), Nathan Napper (Newark-McDonald's), Ed Selling (Staten Island), Lev Zilbermintz (Essex County College) and John Moldovan (GSCL Vice-President) attended.

Sparta, which sat-out last season, Newark Academy and Rutgers University, both of which expressed interest in joining the league, did not send spoke-persons. Moldovan acted as the Kenilworth Karpovs' proxy.

Incomplete reporting was discussed. Team captains are to list full names on reporting cards (not just "Gary", for example). TDs are to make sure the cards are complete and report results promptly.

The house player loan rule was rescinded.

The official time control was changed to G/75;d5. Analog clocks are to be set at G/75.

The 4-board rating average was increased, to 1925.00.

Use of the USCF's September 2012 Golden Database, to determine this season's ratings, was approved. The database and minutes will be sent to the team captains ASAP. A link to the db will be placed on the GSCL website, in the Downloads category.

The Rules page line that reads "Matches will take place at the West Orange CC on the 1st 
Tuesday of each month...", etc. will be changed to "The league's schedule-maker sets the playing site and takes traveling distance into account. Teams can request a day or venue change."

Last year's frequent forfeitures and single-sided re-scheduling was were strongly criticized.

Teams are to poll their players to judge interest in USCF-rated play during 2013-14.

Team captains and league officials will convene sometime during the season to make preliminary plans for 2013-14.

Summit said it will keep its team name for the present but may play some home matches in 
Parsippany, where the Morris County Industrial League meets, and be re-dubbed.

Seven teams confirmed they will play the 2012-13 season: Chess Mates, DOCA Knights, Hamilton, Newark-McDonald's, Summit, West Orange and a Kenilworth entry to be determined.

Staten Island will not play this season. Upon advice by the President and V.P., ECC was absorbed by Newark-McD. The KCC doubts there will be sufficient interest among its membership to field a 2nd team.

The league expressed concern about Rutgers' ability to travel and reported that our weeknight schedule and starting times may keep Newark Academy from joining.

A September 20th, 9 p.m. deadline was set for Newark Academy, Rutgers University, Kenilworth CC team #2 and others to confirm their participation.

The confirmed teams drew numbers from 1-7 (1. Kenilworth A, 2. Hamilton, 3. Newark-McD, 4. Chess Mates, 5. Summit, 6. West Orange, 7. DOCA) and the undecided teams were assigned numbers from 8-10 (8. Rutgers U, 9. Newark Academy, 10. Kenilworth B). The RR pairing tables on pages 295-296 of the USCF's Official Rules Of Chess (5th edition) will be used to draft schedules.

The possibility of online play and geographic alignment were not brought-up.

If Kenilworth fields the same 2 teams as last year, the Karpovs would be "A" and the Kortchnois would be "B".

Pre-Season Meeting

The Garden State Chess League's annual pre-season meeting will be held at the Kenilworth Community Center on Thursday, September 6th, from 8:00-9:30 p.m.

I hope the team captains and representatives of prospective teams can make it as there is a lot to discuss and resolve before the 2012-13 season.

Team Scoring Leaders

The leading scorers for each team in 2011-12 were:

Chess Mates... Roger Pedersen, NM Arthur Macaspac 4.0

DOCA Knights... Doug Pecota 4.5 (+4-1=1)

Essex County College... Matthew Taylor 1.0?

Hamilton... LM Dragan Milovanovic 8.0 (+7-0=2)

Kenilworth Karpovs... FM Steve Stoyko 7.0 (+6-0=2)

Kenilworth Kortchnois... NM Richard Mattern 4.5 (+3-2=3)

Newark-McDonald's... Nathan Napper 5.0 (+5-0=0)

Staten Island... Ed McCormack 4.5 (+4-2=1)

Summit... John Moldovan 6.5 (+5-1=3)

West Orange... Matt Boxer 4.5 (+3-1=3)

Top Scorers

LM Dragan Milovanovic of Hamilton led the Garden State League in scoring this season.

GSCL Top Scorers, 2011-12

Player	Team	GP	W	L	D	Points
LM D. Milovanovic	Hamilton	9	7	0	2	8.0
Charles Miller	Hamilton	9	6	1	2	7.0
Ed Sytnik	Hamilton	9	5	0	4	7.0
FM Steve Stoyko	Karpovs	8	6	0	2	7.0
Richard Lewis	Karpovs	9	6	2	1	6.5
John Moldovan	Summit	9	5	1	3	6.5
Nathan Napper	Newark-McD	5	5	0	0	5.0
Joe Demetrick	Karpovs	7	5	2	0	5.0
Max Sherer	Karpovs	9	4	3	2	5.0

Five players had 4.5 points.

Chess Mates Edge West Orange

Chess Mates closed-out the 2011-12 GSCL schedule, last night, with a 2.5-1.5 win over West Orange.

Arthur Macaspac and Roger Pedersen led the way with victories on boards 1 & 2.

Hamilton Players Sweep Board Prizes

Hamilton players Dragan Milovanovic, Charles Miller, John Chladnicek and Ed Sytnik were the top scorers on boards 1-4 this season.

Top Scorers, Board 1:
1. LM Milovanovic (Hamilton) 8.0
2. FM Steve Stoyko (Kenilworth Karpovs) 7.0
3. NM Richard Mattern (Kenilworth Kortchnois) 4.5

Top Scorers, Board 2:
1. C. Miller (Hamilton) 7.0
2. Dr. Richard Lewis (Karpovs) 5.5
3. Dr. Ian Mangion (Kortchnois) 3.5

Top Scorers, Board 3:
1. Chladnicek (Hamilton) 4.5
2. John Moldovan (Summit) 4.0
2. Max Sherer (Karpovs) 4.0
2. Matt Boxer (West Orange) 4.0

Top Scorers, Board 4:
1. Ed Sytnik (Hamilton) 7.0
2. Doug Pecota (DOCA Knights) 4.5
3. Joe Demetrick (Karpovs) 4.0

Kortchnois Forfeit To Newark-McD

The Kenilworth Kortchnois have forfeited their postponed match vs. Newark-McDonald's. It was originally scheduled for April 3rd.

Chess Mates 3.5 Kortchnois 0.5

On June 7th in Rahway, Chess Mates defeated the Kenilworth Kortchnois 3.5-0.5.

The winners will finish their season against West Orange this Tuesday (6/12). The Kortchnois have a match with Newark-McDonald's remaining.

Thanks to Arthur Macaspac and Geoff McAuliffe for promptly relaying the results.

Hamilton Wins 3rd Straight Title

Hamilton CC won by forfeit over Newark-McDonald's last night and captured its 3rd straight GSCL title.

In other matches, the Kenilworth Karpovs collected a forfeit win vs. Essex County College and set a league record with its 7th victory of the season while Summit came from behind to draw West Orange 2-2.

John Moldovan (S) 1823 - Damon Garrett (W.O) 1775

Board 3

A10 English Opening