Just Some Chess News

No games today, but news instead.

Once more Bill Townsend, our Schenectady Gazette chess columnist, has assembled his list of local chess players. Twice each year Bill publishes in his column the names and ratings of the top fifty local players. He generously provided me with a copy of the latest list.

At the top USCF Life Master Matt Katrein (2243) returns to the top spot after GM Ronen Har-Zvi left the area to coach chess in Texas. A question only Townsend can answer; how many times has Matt been number 1 on the list? My guess is more than twenty.

Deepak Aaron (2216) the current NYS High School Champion is second. Deepak is now in California participating in the Denker Tournament of High School Champions.

Troy’s Steve Taylor (2122) holds down third place. He dropped by the Schenectady Club last night and we played a few games of speed chess. I was beaten like a drum, again. Taylor may be approaching middle age, but he hasn’t lost a step on the chessboard, at least not so I noticed.

Rounding out the top four is Jonathan Feinberg (2075). Jon returned to active play a couple of years ago joining the Har-Zvi Saturday group. Now that is no more, we hope Mr. Feinberg continues to participate. He plays a classy style of chess and is a challenge to the top players on the list.

Other noteworthy places were: Patrick Chi 7th (2022) and Philip Sells, 8th (2015). With three of four regular members of the Schenectady A team in the top ten (Aaron, Chi and Sells) it is easy to understand how Schenectady A won the Capital District League this year.

This “humble correspondent” managed to stay in the top twenty-five at a 1906 (22) rating.

Other news: Preparations for the giant Albany - Schenectady chess match continue. Bill Townsend told me Thursday evening he has commitments from thirteen or fourteen players so far. With the Aarons, father and son, in California, Bill did not have conformation of their participation. Dad Ashok Aaron (2068) is number five on Bill’s list and may be prevailed upon to play for Schenectady.

The big match is planned for Thursday August 19th . The starting time is 7:00 pm in the Schenectady club room at the Niskayuna Community Center, 2682 Aqueduct Road, Niskayuna, NY. The goal is to have twenty players for each side.

Wednesday evening at the Albany Area Club, some bad news for the Albany side was made known. Jon Leisner and Peter Henner, two of the stalwarts of the top Albany CDCL team are not going to be able to play in the big match. Offsetting these absences, Tim Wright, club president and leader of the Albany effort, was able to recruit Gordon Magat (2006), number 11, for the Albany team. If Tim can get Matt Katrein and John Morse (2028) number 6 out for this event, Albany will be very tough at the top of the order.

Townsend is checking with his editor at the Gazette to find out if we may get some coverage of the match, with pictures perhaps. He has found in the archives of the Schenectady Club a copy of a news story of this match being played in 1934. That year the match was really big - it was played on 34 (!) boards. Maybe the notion of an activity that has a history might help move the editor to cover our match. We can only hope.

More later.