Quad Pairings Change

Beginning on January 3rd, we will be using WIN-TD generated pairings for our Quads, instead of the Crenshaw-Berger table.

Players will still be grouped by rating-order (1-4, 5-8, 9-12, etc.) and the 3rd round will remain "toss for color".

The reasons for switching to the new system are:

1. It is far-less labor-intensive & more accurate.
2. It will make our new TDs' task less daunting.
3. It will give our veteran TDs a chance to play occasionally.

Happy Holidays

The Westfield Chess Club wishes its members and friends the happiest of holidays.

We will be closed on Sunday, December 27th.

Our next tournament will be the G/45 Quads on Sunday, January 3rd, 2016.

Lunna, D. Zhurbinsky & B. Ng Win Westfield Ch.

Life Master Todd Lunna, David Zhurbinsky & Brandon Ng won the Westfield CC Championship, which was held December 6th & 13th. It was Todd's 14th WCCC victory.

Albert Tang and Baron Wu were winners of the U1800 Section.

Winston Ni (U2200), Justin Lee, Bharat Karia, Steven Feng, Aayush Ajith (all U2000), Alec Touhey (U1600), Albert Yao (U1400), Warren Bu, Pranav Tholeti & Kyle Wang (all U1200) also won prizes.

A page with the full list of participants, round by round results, photos, standings in tie-break order & other info will be uploaded after Christmas.

Club Championship Starts Today!

The Westfield Chess Club's annual Club Championship begins today (December 6th), with rounds at 12:45 and 4:15 p.m. Registration is from 12:10 to 12:40 p.m.

As in recent years, the event will be a 2-week, 4-round Swiss with a G/85 d5 time control. To encourage participation by lower-rated players, we have added an U1800 section.

The entry fee is $25. Those who played in last year's Championship will receive a $5 discount.

Westfield CC or Kenilworth CC membership is required to participate. 3-month Westfield memberships ($10) are available.

The tournament concludes next Sunday (12/13). For prize & bye information, click here or the image below.

Reminder: Sunday's G/60 Quads Start At 12:30.

A reminder: Registration for Sunday's G/60 Quads is from 11:45 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.

The 1st round will begin at 12:30.

Full Details are below.

Nov. 8   Westfield G/60 Quads
3-RR. G/55 d5. Westfield Y, 220 Clark St., Westfield, NJ 07090. EF: $25, $20 Members. Prizes: $60 to first in each section. Register: 11:45 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. Rounds: 12:30, 2:45, 5:00 p.m. Information: westfieldchessclub@gmail.com, www.westfieldchessclub.com and westfieldchessclub.blogspot.com

Open Section Winners

Trophy winners from the Open Section of today's Westfield Fall Scholastic:

From L-R: Karan Patel (5th place), Abinav Mundayat (9th - no trophy), Daniel Girsh (4th), Steven Feng (3rd), Abhimanyu Mishra (2nd), and Aayush Ajith (1st)

Final Open Section Standings, in tiebreak-order.

Congratulations to the 19 trophy winners and thanks to all 38 who participated.

The U750 & U1250 players who did not receive their trophies this evening (Arav, Pranav, Justin and Omkar) will get them will on their next visit to the Westfield CC.

Our next Scholastic event will be on January 17th, 2016.

U1250 Winners

Trophy winners from the U1250 Section of today's Westfield Fall Scholastic:

From L-R: Asgar Musaji (5th place), Alexander Chen (4th), Brandon Wang (1st), Kyril Kavetsky (2nd) and Harrish Ramanujam (3rd).

Not pictured: Omkar Mahashabde (Honorable Mention)

Final U1250 Standings, in tiebreak-order.

U750 Winners

Trophy winners from the U750 Section of today's Westfield Fall Scholastic:

From L-R: Alan Weintraub (2nd place), Eric Levin (4th), Dhruv Dodda (3rd) and Andrew Deng (1st).

Not pictured: Arav Katakam (5th), Shaurya Singh, Pranav Thota & Justin Liu (Honorable Mention)

Final U750 Standings, in tiebreak-order.

Fall Scholastic Winners

Aayush Ajith (1672), Brandon Wang (911) and Andrew Deng (666) were section winners in today's Westfield Fall Scholastic, which featured 38 participants.

The full list of trophy recipients and some additional photos will follow.

Fall Scholastic This Sunday

On Sunday afternoon (Oct. 18), the Westfield Chess Club will be running its Fall Scholastic tournament.

Registration is from 1:15-1:45 p.m. The 1st round is at 2:00.

For more information click here.

If your child needs to join the USCF, please sign him up this week or arrive early (before 1:30).

Reminder: Tomorrow's Swiss Starts At 12:15 p.m.

Reminder: Registration for tomorrow's 4x45 Swiss is from 11:30 a.m. to 12:05 p.m.

The 1st round will begin at 12:15.

If you arrive after it is paired you will be given a half-point bye unless we have an odd number.

Full Details are below.

Oct. 11   Westfield 4x45 Swiss
4-SS. G/40 d5. Westfield Y, 220 Clark St., Westfield, NJ 07090. 3 Sections: Open, U1800, U1400. Prizes: (b/16 entries per section) Open $80-60-51, U2000 $50. U1800 $80-60-51, U1600 $50. U1400 $80-60-51, U1200 $50. EF: $25, $20 members. Register: 11:30 a.m.-12:05 p.m. Rounds: 12:15, 2:00, 3:45, 5:30 p.m. Information: John Moldovan email: westfieldchessclub@gmail.com, Bill Cohen: 732-548-8432 or 848-219-1358, www.westfieldchessclub.com

2nd NJ All-Girls Camp

On Sunday, January 3rd, 2016, Alice Dong will be leading a free, NJ All-Girls Chess Camp at the Dean of Chess Academy in Branchburg.

To make a donation, visit http://www.gofundme.com/gcnj2015.

4x45 Swiss Next Sunday. 1st Round: 12:15 p.m.

On Sunday, October 11th, we are running a 3-section (Open, U1800, U1400), 4-round G/45 Swiss.

Registration is 11:15-11:50 a.m. The 1st round is scheduled to start at 12:15!

If you arrive after it is paired you will be given a half-point bye unless we have an odd number.

Westfield CC Closed This Sunday

The Westfield Chess Club will be closed on Sunday, September 6.

Our next event will be the September 13th Octos.

Venue Change For Our August 9th Quads

Our August 9th Quads will held in the YMCA's Bauer Family Branch

 

 

at 422 East Broad Street, which is between Saint Paul Street and South Euclid Avenue. Click on the map below, for directions.

The Y's main location on Clark Street is undergoing construction and will not be available to the club that day.

 
Aug. 9   Westfield G/45 Quads 

3-RR, G/40 d5, Westfield Y, 220 Clark St. Westfield Area Y: Robert and Virginia Bauer Family Branch, 422 East Broad Street, Westfield, NJ 07090. Prizes: $60 to first in each section. EF: $25, $20 Westfield CC & Kenilworth CC members. Register: 1:15-1:45 p.m. Rounds: 2:00-3:45-5:30 p.m. Information: westfieldchessclub@gmail.com

2 p.m. Starting Time, Effective July 26

Beginning on July 26th, our G/45 Quads, G/45 Octos and Scholastic tournaments will begin at 2 p.m. Registration will be 1:15-1:45.

The earlier starts should provide players 15-minute between-round breaks and permit the Chief TD to submit the USCF report on-site.

Paired players will still have the option of starting their games early.

Open Section Winners

Trophy winners from the Open Section of yesterday's Westfield Summer Scholastic:

From L-R: Jason Covey (5th place), Stanley Liu (2nd), Beata Gelman (1st), Luke Drennan (Honorable Mention), Christopher Giordano (Honorable Mention) and Abinav Mundayat (3rd).

Not pictured: Nikhil Vaddepally (4th)

Final Open Section Standings, in tiebreak-order.

Congratulations to the 20 trophy winners and thanks to all 48 who participated.

The Honorable Mention winners in the U750 & U1250 sections will receive their trophies on their next visit to the Westfield CC.

Our next Scholastic event will be on October 18th, 2015.

U1250 Winners

Trophy winners from the U1250 Section of yesterday's Westfield Summer Scholastic:

From L-R: Eric Li (2nd place), Neil Samant (5th), Daniel Dragonoff (1st) and Asgar Musaji (4th).

Not pictured: Dina Brustein (3rd), Michael Xu (Honorable Mention) and Edward Zheng (Honorable Mention)

Final U1250 Standings, in tiebreak-order.

U750 Winners

Trophy winners from the U750 Section of today's Westfield Summer Scholastic:

From L-R: Alexander Kotelnikovov (1st place), Wendy Jin (2nd), Arav Katakam (3rd), Aneek Mahajan (4th) and Rohan Narayanan (5th).

Not pictured: Patrick Xia (Honorable Mention)

Final U750 Standings, in tiebreak-order.

Summer Scholastic Winners

Beata Gelman (1639), Daniel Draganoff (1234) and Alexander Kotelnikov (708 on the July rating list) were section winners in today's Westfield Summer Scholastic, which featured 48 participants.

The full list of trophy recipients and some additional photos will follow.

Chess Fest Canceled

The Westfield Chess Fest scheduled for August 16 and all of its events have been canceled.

As a replacement, we will be running a dual-rated event, G/45 or G/60 tournament. The starting time, exact format & other details will follow.

My apologizes to those who were looking forward to attending and/or participating in the various attractions.

Any future Chess Fest endeavor will be given more thought and a more appropriate date.

John Moldovan

Summer Scholastic

On Sunday afternoon (July 19), we will be running the Westfield Summer Scholastic, for K-12 students.

Registration is from 1:15 until 2:00 p.m., on site only.

The first round begins at 2:15. Those arriving late will receive a half-point bye for round 1.

The entry fee is $20 for Westfield CC members, $25 for others.

Trophies will be awarded to Top 5 in each section. Tiebreaks will be used, per USCF rule 34E.

The U750 & U1250 Sections will play 4 rounds of G/25 d5. The Open Section will play 3 rounds of G/40 d5.

For additional information, click here.

RIP Ernesto Labate

Long-time Westfield Chess Club member & TD Ernesto Labate passed away on Monday, at the age of 92.

Entombment at Graceland Memorial Park will take place on Friday with guests gathering at the funeral home at 10:30AM.
- See more at: http://www.unionfuneralhome.com/obituary/Leon-Hrebinka/Hillside-NJ/1485834#sthash.SM9xAAfD.dpuf

Entombment at Graceland Memorial Park will take place on Friday with guests gathering at the funeral home at 10:30AM.
- See more at: http://www.unionfuneralhome.com/obituary/Leon-Hrebinka/Hillside-NJ/1485834#sthash.SM9xAAfD.dpuf

Entombment at Graceland Memorial Park will take place on Friday with guests gathering at the funeral home at 10:30AM.
- See more at: http://www.unionfuneralhome.com/obituary/Leon-Hrebinka/Hillside-NJ/1485834#sthash.SM9xAAfD.dpuf

Visitation will be held on Sunday, July 5, 2015 from 3:00-7:00 p.m. at the McCriskin-Gustafson Home For Funerals, 2425 Plainfield Avenue, South Plainfield, NJ 07080. Following the eulogy at 6:00 PM family and friends are invited to share reflections.

Funeral services will begin on Monday July 6 at 11:30 a.m., followed by a funeral mass at Sacred Heart Church at 12:30 PM. Mausoleum entombment will follow at Holy Redeemer Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to JFK Haven Hospice & Palliative Care, Edison, NJ.

Important Notice Re: YMCA Construction

Beginning July 15th, our usual rooms at the Westfield Y's Main Branch (107-109) will be unavailable due to construction.

We are being moved to the Kellogg Room on the 2nd floor but are subject to displacement by birthday parties on short notice and could end-up at the Bauer Branch on East Broad Street or the Garwood Family Center (500 East St.).

If we get advance word (2 days or more) of a venue change, it will be posted on this blog, the club's web site and its Events page.

Should we get less forewarning, prospective players will have to be notified via email. To be included on our contact list email the club or supply your email address at our 6/28-7/12 events.

John Moldovan

2 p.m. Starting Time, Effective July 26

Beginning on July 26th, our G/45 Quads, G/45 Octos and Scholastic tournaments will begin at 2 p.m. Registration will be 1:15-1:45.

The earlier starts should provide players 15-minute between-round breaks and permit the Chief TD to submit the USCF report on-site.

Paired players will still have the option of starting their games early.

YMCA Construction Update

Due to construction at the Westfield YMCA, we cannot run the planned G/60 Quads or 4x45 Swiss.

Thus, we are going with another set of G/45 Quads in late July and early August.

We have no idea when the Y construction will be completed and have been told it is 3 months behind schedule.

Open Section Winners

Trophy winners from the Open Section of yesterday's Westfield Spring Scholastic:

From L-R: Roman Brustein (1st), Ronak Bhatia (5th), Jonathan Qi (Honorable Mention), Daniel Girsh (4th) and Sanjana Vittal (3rd).

Final Open Section Standings, in tie-break order.

Congratulations to the 16 trophy winners and thanks to all 37 who participated.

Our next Scholastic event will be on July 19th, 2015.

U1250 Winners

Trophy winners from the U1250 Section of yesterday's Westfield Spring Scholastic:

From L-R: Neil Samant (5th place), Warren Bu (3rd), Albert Yao (2nd) and Alexander Chen (1st).
Not pictured: Dina Brustein (4th).

The final U1250 standings, in tie-break order.

U750 Winners

Trophy winners from the U750 Section of yesterday's Westfield Spring Scholastic:

From L-R: Erika Mihaylov (4th), Michael Pylypovych (3rd), Alec Choi (5th), Rohan Narayanan (1st) and Justin Liu (2nd).

Final U750 Standings, in tiebreak-order.

Spring Scholastic Winners

Roman Brustein (1668), Alexander Chen (1215) and Rohan Narayanan (495) were section winners in yesterday's Westfield Spring Scholastic, which featured 37 participants.

The full list of trophy recipients and some additional photos will follow.

Scholastic Correction

In yesterday's Spring Scholastic, we misread/mis-entered the ID# for Julian Clark.

 

Our apologies to the player and his opponents. A correction has been sent to the USCF.

 

A report on the event will follow later today.

Thank You For Supporting Our New Events

To our patrons: Thank you for the positive feedback about our recent G/60 Quads & $-Per-Point Quads.

We will certainly run the G/60 again but, since an earlier start time in late June or early July is not possible, plans to hold another have been pushed back a month.

As for the $-Per-Point format... We'll try it within an Octos tournament in late-summer. To be honest, I'm kicking myself for not thinking of this tweak earlier.

The G/80 Quads?... They deserve another shot. Look for it in late-September, if the YMCA gives us the green light.

John Moldovan

Future YMCA Construction & Our TLA

Construction at the Westfield YMCA in the coming months will make rooms 107-109 unavailable to the club. At present, the Y cannot tell us when the construction is to begin or guarantee us use of the Kellogg Room (or anywhere else) when it does.

Thus, we have decided not to place TLA for our June 21-July 12 events in May's Chess Life. We will list them in the June issue, place online TLAs and await developments.

If the Y can give us a guarantee by April 10th, we will return to the usual 2-issue advertising for July 19-August 9. If not, we will continue going month to month.

Open Section Winners

Trophy winners from the Open Section of today's Westfield Winter Scholastic:

From L-R: Miguel Ramirez (Honorable Mention), Ramneek Singh (4th), Shikhar Ahuja (Honorable Mention), Marcello Berger (1st) and Aayush Ajith (2nd).
 

Not pictured: Steven Feng (3rd), Dilsher Maini (5th), Sumer Maini (5th) and Baron Wu (Honorable Mention).

Final Open Section Standings, in tie-break order.

Congratulations to the 23 trophy winners and thanks to all 35 who participated.

Our next Scholastic event will be on April 19th, 2015.

U1250 Winners

Trophy winners from the U1250 Section of today's Westfield Winter Scholastic:

Tied with 3.0/4: Neil Samant (2nd place) and David Zhao (1st).

Tied with 2.5/3: Winston Li (5th), Alexander Chen (4th) and Aiden Lu (3rd).

The final U1250 standings, in tie-break order.

U750 Winners

Trophy winners from the U750 Section of today's Westfield Winter Scholastic:

1st thru 5th places, from L-R (with trophies): Alec Choi (2nd), Siddarth Lal (4th), Pranav Sitaraman (1st) and Kris Sethi (3rd). Not pictured: Raghav Krishnan (5th).
 

Honorable Mention trophy recipients: Justin Liu (back row), Riaan Sheth, Aryan Nair, Arjun Nair (front row may not be in L-R order).

Final U750 Standings, in tiebreak-order.

Winter Scholastic Winners

Marcello Berger (1771), David Zhao (1159) and Pranav Sitaraman (690) were section winners in today's Westfield Winter Scholastic, which featured 35 participants.

The full list of trophy recipients and some additional photos will follow.

Garden State Chess League Quads: FYI

The Garden State Chess League Quads we are running on January 25th are just a longer version of the G/45 Westfield Quads. The EF & prizes are the same. The event is open to everyone.

As a GS official, I believe the league needs to expand and find a weekend venue to prosper. Hopefully, the 1/25 promotion will help do that & give the Westfield CC staffers a chance to push some wood.

If there is sufficient interest, Westfield could field a GSCL team in 2015-16 and host matches every month or two, prior to the G/45 Quads or Octos.

John Moldovan
Member of the 2013-14 GSCL Champion Kenilworth CC Team