HERE IS SOMETHING NEW

Just a short introduction. I'm Bill Little, and Phil Ferguson and I have been talking about trying to get more content for the enyca blog. One idea is to follow Mig, the Chess Ninja, and post some background info about the local chess scene as he does for the international chess world. Very likely it won't be as good as Mig's efforts, but it may have some interest for those of us playing in the area. I am beginning with an update on play in the Schenectady Club Championship. Later there will be something on the Saratoga Championship and some of the local tourneys. If it is of interest, then we have moved forward. Any comments or suggests are welcome.

NEWS FROM THE LOCAL CHESS SCENE

The current situation in the Schenectady Chess Club Championship tournament is full of interest. The event is divided into two preliminary sections. The sections have a more or less even distribution of players by USCF Ratings. Each of the preliminary sections will qualify three players into the finals to decided the club champion. Both preliminary sections have at least five players who, based on USCF rating, are expected to contend for a qualifying spot.

Section A, with Dean Howard, Mike Mockler, Bobby Rotter, Alan LeCours and Bill Little as the highest rated contenders, is shaping up as a careful battle for the three qualifying slots among this group. Rotter has drawn with Howard, Mockler, and Little. All of the top rated competitors have given up a draw or two but none have lost a game - yet. There have been some games postponed and rescheduled, and not everyone has played the same number of games. This makes making statements about just who is the leader overall near impossible.

Last Thursday night Mockler played LeCours. Mike came up with different opening try; the Center Game: 1 e4, e5; 2 d4. When I had to leave the club rooms this contest had not yet become clear. Mike was attacking his opponent’s King as is his style and Alan defending stubbornly. It appeared to me, if LeCours beats back the attack, he would have an advantage. In club level chess attack often trumps defense so the betting probably favors Mockler.

Also worth noting in Section A is the performance of Charles Eason. He has won two games, one from David Connors and one from Yogi Kanakamedala. Charles is the bottom rated player at 818 on the USCF scale. His win from Connors, rated at 1533, is 700 point upset. Charles victory over Yogi was less of a surprise, "only" 200 rating points separated the players. Good work Mr. Eason! Unfortunately for Charles his game against Richard Chu, the club president Thursday seemed to be going according to what the ratings predict. The 700 point rating bulge Chu has says he should win and was doing so when I left. I heard later that the game ended with a win for Chu.

Chen Qu, a fast improving scholastic player, has shown a mature level of play in this section. While he has not yet upset anyone, such an occurrence will not be a shock.

Section B, with Phil Sells, Patrick Chi, Jonathan Lack, John Phillips and John Barnes as the top rated contestants is a different situation. Two of the highest rated group have stumbled. Lack lost two games, one to Brij Saran and another to Cory Northrup. The loss to Saran is not a complete surprise. Brij has qualified for the club finals in the past and taken full points from Class A players and Experts before. The loss to Northrup, on the other hand, certainly qualifies as an upset. At -2 ½ Lack may be out of contention for the finals. It is safe to say Jonathan is in poor form for this year’s tourney. When I left the playing site Thursday night Lack was completing a more-or-less standard demolition of a miss-played Scandinavian Defense tried by Dilip Aaron. I did notice Jonathan was playing with serious attention to technique by killing off all counter-play as he mopped up. Could be he is righting his ship and hoping for some good luck to maybe qualify if the other contenders falter.

John Barnes lost to John Phillips in an earlier round. This by no means says Barnes is out of the running, but with Sells, Phillips and Chi undefeated, Barnes may need to defeat one of the leaders if he wants to qualify. I have not had an opportunity to watch any of Barnes games, or to play them over, and can’t offer an opinion on his form this year.

The foregoing gives the fight here the story line of an established contender, Lack, holding on while hoping some others stumble; the other established contender with qualifying concerns, Barnes, needing to play for a win from his immediate competitors to prevent the leaders running away. The leaders, Sells, Chi and Phillips can continue just avoiding losses with reasonable expectations of making the finals.

All together the Schenectady Club Championship has twenty-one entrants, eleven in section A and ten in section B. This is about average for Schenectady in recent years. Some regulars were not able to play this time; Carl Adamec, the many time Champion, Sal Capitummino and Lee Battes did not enter this time. Had they done so, this would made the number of contestants near to the largest fields for the past championships. Schenectady continues to be the local club with the largest membership. That situation can credited to the efforts of Richard Chu and Bill Townsend over many years.

More on this event next Friday.