Happy Holidays

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

We thank you for making 2016 our best year to date!

Additional Photos From The Club Championship

Here are some additional photos taken during rounds 3 & 4 of our recent Club Championship, sorted by section:

Open 

 

U1800

 

U1200

Sanjana Vittal Wins Westfield Championship

13 year old WFM Sanjana Vittal won the 2016 Westfield Club Championship yesterday, defeating 2 Masters to finish with a perfect 4-0 score.

She dispatched LM James West in round 3 & clinched the crown by upending NM Max Lu, the nation's 3rd-ranked 11 year old.

Here is the latter game:

[Event "Westfield Club Championship"] [Site "Westfield, NJ"] [Date "2016.12.11"] [Round "4"] [White "Lu, Max"] [Black "Vittal, Sanjana"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D01"] [WhiteElo "2262"] [BlackElo "2043"] [Annotator "Moldovan,John"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2016.12.04"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "4"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceDate "2016.12.11"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 {This is playable} ({but} 2. c4 {& a Q's Gambit}) ({or} 2. Nf3 {/\ 3.c4 is more thematic.}) 2... Nf6 (2... c6 3. e4 {makes a Caro-Kann}) ({&} 2... e6 3. e4 {forms a French.}) 3. Bg5 {Veresov's System.} (3. Bf4 {is Barry's Attack.}) 3... Bf5 {Black chooses quick, active development} ({over} 3... Nbd7 {& structural preservation.}) 4. Bxf6 {White seizes the opportunity & gives his foe doubled pawns.} exf6 5. e3 c6 6. Bd3 (6. Nf3 Bd6 7. Be2 $146 { is passive & leaves Black with the B pair.}) (6. Nge2 Bd6 7. Ng3 Bc8 $1 {N} 8. Bd3 g6 $15 {is weaker still.}) 6... Bxd3 7. Qxd3 Bd6 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 { [#] We now have a Tartakower Caro-Kann structure but, since there are fewer pieces here, the 2nd player should, at least in the middlegame, have an easier task compared to 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6, which is rarely seen at the top levels these days.} Bc7 $146 (9... O-O) (9... Bb4+) ({& } 9... Be7 {had been tried previously.}) 10. O-O-O O-O {With the kings residing on opposite sides of the board an interesting fight is on the card.} 11. Ne2 Na6 (11... Nd7 12. d5 Ne5 {was an option. The Na6-Bc7 alignment seems somewhat artificial & I wonder where Black's Q will go.}) 12. Qb3 {[#]} (12. a3 {, keeping the enemy steed from coming into b4, is more solid than pawn-hunting on the Q-side. However, Max needs a win to net a share of 1st place while a draw will do the same for Sanjana.}) 12... Qe7 $1 13. N2g3 ({If} 13. Qxb7 $4 {then} Bf4+ $19) 13... Qe6 14. Qa4 $2 (14. Qxe6 $142 fxe6 15. c3 $11) 14... Qd5 $6 (14... Rfe8 $142 $15) 15. c4 Qa5 $6 (15... Qd8 $142 $11) 16. Qb3 $6 (16. Qxa5 $142 Bxa5 17. d5 $14) 16... b5 17. cxb5 Rab8 18. Qc3 $4 {[#]} (18. Nc3 $142 Bf4+ 19. Kb1 Nc7 $44 20. Nf5) 18... Nb4 $2 (18... Qxa2 $142 $3 $19 19. bxa6 $140 Rb3 $40) 19. Qa3 $2 (19. Qc4 $142 Rxb5 20. Nc3 $17) 19... Qxb5 20. Kb1 Rb6 $2 (20... Bxg3 $142 21. Nxg3 Rb6 $19) 21. Nc5 Rfb8 $5 (21... Bxg3 $142 22. fxg3 Ra6 $17) 22. Qb3 $2 (22. Qa4 $142 Qc4 23. Nd7 Ra6 $15) (22. Nd7 $143 $4 Bxg3 $19 23. Nxb6 $140 $2 Qf5+ 24. Ka1 $2 Nc2+ 25. Kb1 Nxa3+ 26. Ka1 Qb1+ $1 27. Rxb1 Nc2#) 22... Qa5 23. Nd7 $4 (23. Qc4 $142 $17) 23... Nd5 $4 (23... Bxg3 $142 24. Nxb6 Qf5+ 25. Ka1 Bd6 $19 {when White can't save his N with} 26. Nc4 {, for example, because Black has} Nc2+ {discovering on the Q} 27. Kb1 Rxb3 {etc.}) 24. Nxb6 Rxb6 {[#]} 25. Rde1 $2 (25. Qc4 $142 { returning the Exchange} Nc3+ 26. Ka1 Nxd1 27. Rxd1 $11) 25... g6 26. Qc4 Qd2 27. Qc1 Qxd4 28. Ka1 Be5 29. Re2 $2 (29. Rxe5 $8 fxe5 30. Nf5 $1 {(} gxf5 $140 $4 31. Qg5+ $44 {with an inevitable draw by repetition) was the only try but even that may be losing.}) 29... Nf4 $19 30. Rd2 (30. Rxe5 $142 fxe5 31. Rd1 Nd3 32. Qc2 Qxb2+ 33. Qxb2 Nxb2 34. Rd8+ {but that's 2 pawns in the red.}) { Now Black's steed joins the attack upon b2.} 30... Nd3 31. Rhd1 {White is without resource.} ({After} 31. Rxd3 Qxd3 {he loses his Q.}) 31... Qb4 32. Qb1 ({Again} 32. Rxd3 Bxb2+ {is no help.}) 32... Nxb2 {Mate is in the air.} 33. Rd8+ Kg7 34. Re1 Nd1+ {White resigns} 0-1

14-time champ LM Todd Lunna had to settle for 2nd place & expert Eric Li (the nation's 3rd-ranked nine-year-old!) was 3rd.

The U2200 prize (pooled with U2000 & 2nd U2000) went to David Zhurbinsky, Keshav Rao, NM Maricio Camejo, Abhimanyu Mishra, Louis Leiggi, Michael O'Connor & Boyang Zhao.

U1800 Section Winners

1st place: Abinav Mundayat

2nd place (+ U1600): Ramneek Singh, Tarosh Gurramkonda, Benjamin Ma, Paul Gottlieb & Shravan Varadharajan

U1400: Aiden Lu & Bowen Liu

U1200 Section Winners

= 1st/2nd: Audrey Hu, Ryan Chen & Rohan Narayanan

U1000: Yussef Diakite

U800: Eli Rosenblatt

Revised Open Pairings & Prize List

Revised Open Section Wall Chart & Pairings for the 3rd Round

Radomskyj withdrew. Moldovan reverted to inactive. 2nd bye for Chinnambeti rescinded.

Due to the large turnout in the Open Section, we have increased & added prizes.

The revised list is now:

1st $100

2nd $80

3rd $60

U2200 $50.01

U2000 $50.00

2nd U2000 $40

Revised U1800, U1200 Standings & Pairings

2 mis-marked results from round 2 have been corrected.

We have revised the U1800 & U1200 standings & re-paired those sections:

M. Lu, Lunna & Vittal Lead Club Championship

NM Max Lu, LM Todd Lunna & WFM Sanjana Vittal lead the 2016 Westfield Championship at its midway mark. 6 players are just a half-point behind, including LM James West.

In the Under 1800 Section Abinav Mundayat & Paul Gottlieb Ramneek Singh are tied for 1st.

Rohan Narayanan heads the U1200 section.

A record 51 players are participating, including 31 in the Open Section!!

The event concludes next Sunday, with rounds at 12:30 & 4:00 p.m.

If you are withdrawing, please contact the organizer ASAP.

Standings, after 2 rounds of 4:

(Contains errors. click here for corrections)

 3rd Round Pairings (subject to change)

(Contains errors. click here for corrections)

Post updated 12/6/2016 at 8:10 a.m.

Westfield Club Championship Starts Today!

 

The Westfield Club Championship starts today!

Registration is from 11:45 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.

Rounds 1 & 2 are at 12:30 & 4:00 p.m.

Rounds 3 & 4 are next week (Dec. 11) at the same times.

Click on the photo above to view details.

Westfield Team Drops GSCL Opener

On November 20th, Westfield dropped its inaugural Garden State Chess League match to Newark-McDonald's 2.5-1.5.

 

We started on a good note, with Kevin Dresher holding his game & Brandon Ng providing a lead, but faltered on the lower boards, where Newark rallied to tie & emerge ahead, with wins by Greg Shaw & Alex Hu.

 Lev Zilbermintz (bottom left) vs. Dresher & Ng (top right) vs. Michael O'Connor.

Hu (bottom right) vs. Donnally Miller & Ram Damodaran vs. Shaw (top right).

Westfield's remaining schedule.

Westfield's New Garden State League Team

Westfield Players...

You are invited to play for Westfield's new Garden State Chess League team.

The date, time & location of our first match is:
Sunday, November 20, 2016
11 a.m.
Westfield YMCA
220 Clark St.
Westfield, NJ 07090

Per league rules, our lineup will feature 4 players with an average rating of 1925.0 or lower.
If you'd like to play, please respond ASAP.

There is no entry fee or membership required.
The matches are non-rated.

Info regarding subsequent matches will be forthcoming.

Sorry for the late notice.

Fall Scholastic Wrap-Up

Congratulations to the 16 trophy winners & thanks to all 47 who took part in today's Westfield Fall Scholastic.

Our next Scholastic tournament will be held on Sunday, January 15th, 2017.

Open Section Winners

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

1st place
Benjamin Ma

2nd place
Mythrea Dharani

 4th place
Pardhav Chakka

Honorable Mention

Brandon Wang

(Tied for 5th-6th but had the weaker tiebreaks.)

Not pictured: Marc Sorrentino (3rd place), Alexander Wang (5th place)


Final Standings, in tiebreak order.

U1250 Winners

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

From L-R: Jessica Lee (2nd place), Darren Zheng (1st), Ryan Zhu (4th) and Moksh Patwari (5th).

Not pictured: Kevin Cisneros (3rd).

Final Standings in tiebreak order.

U750 Winners

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

From L-R: Florina Zhu (2nd place), Gordon Fan (1st) and Sahasra Goli (4th).

Not pictured: Jesse Li (3rd) and Anoushka Singh (5th).

Final Standings, in tiebreak order.

Fall Scholastic Winners

Benjamin Ma (1398),  Darren Zheng (1244) and Gordon Fan (639 on the October rating list) were section winners in today's Westfield Fall Scholastic.

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

Summer Scholastic Wrap-Up

Congratulations to the 20 trophy winners & thanks to all 73 who took part in Sunday's record-breaking  Westfield Summer Scholastic.

 Hopefully, our frenzied TD's Variegated Tomato (above) and Fish Pepper (below)

will be spared further deer attacks and bear fruit well before the October 16th Fall Scholastic.

Open Section Winners

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

From L-R: Sriram Kumar (1st place), Frank Prestia (2nd), Alexander Hu (3rd) & Vishan Ramanathan (4th).

Not pictured: Bryce Powell (5th), Suraj Oruganti (Honorable Mention), Abinav Mundayat (Honorable Mention) & Ronak Bhatia (Honorable Mention).

Final Open Section Standings, in tiebreak-order.

U1250 Winners

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

From L-R: Sudyut Sinha (4th place), Ryan Chen (5th), Kevin Cisneros (3rd), Pardhav Chakka (1st) & Sujeeth Shanmugam (2nd).

Final U1250 Standings, in tiebreak-order.