The theme of the weekend was without a doubt "upsets," as many strong
players suffered disappointing starts and decided to withdraw. Persevering
in the 18-player Open Section (including 11 masters, nine of whom were rated
over 2300!) was third seed Joe Fang, who scored 3.5-0.5 to win clear first
place. Tying for 2nd-4th at 3-1 were Igor Foygel, William Paschall and
Foong Yin Wong. Chris von Krogh was the U2300 winner with 2.5-1.5. The
U2200 prize was split by experts Daniel Woods and Eugene Perelshteyn and
B-player (!) Joe Robillard, at 2-2.
The U2100 section was an unusual case: a five-way tie for first between the
top five rated players! Upsets were apparently not the order of the day for
Rigel Cappallo, Roger Capallo, Gilberto Kernahan, David Stokkink and Antonio
Gellineau, who fought their way to 3-1 scores. Peter Hedge, Amir Zargari
and Ken Ho scored 2.5-1.5 to split the U1950 prize.
In the 21-player U1800 section, Robert Cromwell and Charles Riordan were the
winners, scoring 3.5-0.5. John Hallahan, Dennis McCoy, Mike Bentley and
John Fields tied for third with 3-1.
Last but not least, Joshua Dunton and Ross Viselman won their first three
games and then fought to a draw in their last-round battle to share first
place with 3.5 points. This was Ross's first tournament, and many Swiss
veterans might well envy his 87.5% lifetime winning percentage! Cameron
Wood and Joshua Meltzer shared U1350 honors with 3 points apiece.
The tournament was directed by Gus Gosselin, assisted now and then by
myself. I don't think I've ever seen an event as smoothly run as this one!
Thanks are in order not only to Gus, but also to the players themselves. If
there were any disputes, I sure didn't hear them!
73 players showed up to compete in the 23rd Harvard Open, held on May 13-14
at the Harvard Law School. For the second year in a row, I had the
privilege to be the chief organizer of this historic tournament.
Wang Lee (2285)-Arnold Dubow (2142), Rd. 1 King's Indian/ Classical 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Ne8 10. Nd3 f5 11. Bd2 Kh8 12. f3 f4 13. g4 fxg3?! 14. hxg3 Ng8 15. Kg2 Ngf6 16. Bg5 Qd7 17. Rh1 Kg8 18. a4 c5 19. a5 Rb8 20. Qb1 Qf7 21. b4 Nh5 22. Be3 Nf4+!? 23. gxf4 exf4 24. Bd2 Qe7 25. Qg1 Bd4 26. Qh2 cxb4 27. Nxb4 Nf6 28. Nb5 Nxe4 29. Bxf4 Bxa1 30. Rxa1 Ng6 31. Ra2 Bh3+ 32. Kf2 Ne4+ 33. Kg1 Qh4 34. Nd3 Rbe8 35. fxe4 Rxe4 36. Qf2 Rexf4 37. Nxf4 Qg5+ 38. Kh2 Rxf4 39. Qg3 Qe5 40. Kxh3 Qe4 41. Bd3 Qe5 42. Bxg6! Kh8 43. Re2 Qxe2 44. Qxf4 hxg6 45. Qf6+ Kg8 46. Qxg6+ Kh8 47. Qh6+ Kg8 48. Qe6+ [1-0] Eugene Perelshteyn (2128)-Foong-Yin Wong (2323), Rd. 1 Sicilian/ Alapin 1. e4 c5 2. c3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. d5 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 Ne5 8. Bb5+ Ned7 9. c4 g6 10. Bd2 Bg7 11. Bc3 O-O 12. Bxd7 Qxd7 13. a4 e5 14. O-O Nh5 15. Bd2 f5 16. Nc3 Nf6 17. Qh3 Rf7 18. f3 Raf8 19. Rae1 Ne8 20. g3 a6 21. Qg2 Nc7 22. a5 Ne8 23. Qe2 f4 24. g4 h5 25. h3 Bf6 26. Qd3 Rh7 27. Kg2 Kg7 28. Rb1 Rfh8 29. Rh1 Bd8 30. Ne2 hxg4 31. hxg4 Rxh1 32. Rxh1 Rxh1 33. Kxh1 Qa4 34. Qc3 Qd1+ 35. Ng1 Bh4 36. Kg2 Nf6 37. Qc1?! Qxc1 38. Bxc1 Be1 39. Kf1 Ba5 40. Nh3 Nh7 41. Ke2 Kf6 42. b3 Ng5 and eventually 0-1 John Curdo (2380)-Foong-Yin Wong (2323), Rd. 2 Pirc 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. e5 dxe5 7. fxe5 Nd5 8. Bc4 c6 9. O-O Bf5 10. Qe2 h6 11. Nh4 Be6 12. Nxd5 Bxd5 13. Bd3 Bc6 14. Be3 c5 15. Nf3 Nc6 16. dxc5 Qe7 17. Bf4 Kh7 18. c3 Bg4 19. Rae1 a5 20. Qe3 Qd7 21. Bc4 Rad8 22. a3 Be6 23. Bxe6 Qxe6 24. b4 Qb3 25. Nd4 Nxd4 26. cxd4 Qc4 27. Rd1 axb4 28. axb4 Rd5 29. Rf3 Rfd8 30. Bh6 Rxd4 31. Rxd4 Rxd4 32. Bxg7 Rd1+ 33. Kf2 Kxg7 34. Kg3 Rd4 35. Qb3 Rg4+ 36. Kh3 Rh4+ 37. Kg3 Qg4+ 38. Kf2 Qd4+ 39. Kg3 Rg4+ 40. Kh3 e6 41. b5 Rg5 42. g3 Qc5 43. Rf4 Rh5+ 44. Kg2 Re5 45. Qf3 Qc2+ 46. Kf1 Qc1+ 47. Kg2 Qd2+ 48. Kh3 Rh5+ 49. Rh4 Rxb5 50. Rh7+ Kxh7 51. Qxf7+ Kh6 52. Qf8+ Kg5 53. Qe7+ Kf5 54. g4+ Ke5 55. Qg7+ Kd6 56. Qf8+ Kc7 57. Qf7+ Qd7 58. Qf4+ Qd6 [0-1] Adam Ruttenberg (1896)-Matthew Bruce (1887), Rd. 4 Sicilian/ Scheveningen 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. f4 Qc7 7. Bd3 Bg4?! 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. h3 Bd7 10. Be3 e6 11. g4 h6 12. Qe2 Be7 13. O-O-O Rc8 14. Qf2 Nb4 15. g5 Nxd3+ 16. Rxd3 Nh5 17. Nd4 Qa5 18. Nxe6! Rxc3! (not 18... Bxe6?? 19. Bb6 Qb4 20. a3) 19. Nxg7+ Nxg7 20. Rxc3 Qa2 21. Ra3 Qe6 22. Bd4 Kf8 23. Re1 (perhaps 23. Rg1!?, threatening 24. gxh6) 23... hxg5 24. f5 Qh6 25. f6 g4+ 26. Kb1 Bxf6 27. Qxf6?! (better 27. Bxf6) 27... Qxf6 28. Bxf6 Rxh3 29. Bxg7+?! Kxg7 30. Rxh3 gxh3 31. Kc1 f5 32. Kd2 fxe4 33. Rxe4 Bc6 34. Rh4 Bg2 35. Ke3 Kg6 (35... Kf6!) 36. Kf4 d5 37. Rg3 d4?! 38. Rxd4 Kf5 39. c3 Ke5 40. Kh2 Bf1 41. Kg3 Bg2 42. b4 Bf1 [1/2-1/2]