HOLIDAY GRAND PRIX 2010 RESULTS

On December 18th, we hosted an all time high of forty seven (47) players in four sections. I want to send a special "THANKS" to the following players in the Unrated Urban Queens section, a new section dedicated to encourage scholastic females to participate. In the Urban Queens Section hosted eight players which six were females but all are beginners to tournament play.

The winners were Undefeated 6th grader, Dylan J. Teague from Emmett Belknp School and newest member of the Lockport Knights Chess Club in Lockport NY, 2nd Place - Ruby Z. Soudant, 2nd grader at Olmstead #64, 3rd Place - Jessica C. Dixon, 3rd grader at Charter School for Applied Technology and 4th Place - Shayla Carr, 4th grader at ECC #17, both Jessica and Shayla are also member of the Schiller Park Chess Club which meets every tuesday afterschool program at the George K. Arthur Community Center on Genesee Street in Buffalo.

In the Star Scholastic K-12 Section, hosted 13 scholastic players. The winners were, Champion, Matthew Rzeznik, Bishop Timon, 2nd Place - Wes Darling, Pioneer Chess Club, 3rd Place - Trevor D. Cohn, Kenmore Middle, 4th Place - Kevin Roulhac, Urban Knight Chess Club and 5th Place - Justin Arrington, East High Dark Knight, earns his first chess trophy.

In the U1500 section, hosted 15 players. There was a four way tie for first place. Co-Champions were Urban Queen member, Diane M. Ruminski, Urban Knight Memtor, James P Davis, Esq., Chess Club of Buffalo member, Samuel E. Santora and Mark Meith. Upset leaders were Diane M. Ruminski with 1541 pts, Austin J. Kossow with 238 pts, Mark Meith with 188 pts, Tim Leahy with 147 pts, Nathan Palmisano with 102.5 pts, Steve L Baer with 24 pts and James P. Davis, Esq with 18 pts.

In the Holiday Open section Co Champions were National Master Lionel L. Davis and National Master, Barry Davis. Upset Leaders were Riyath Mallahi with 386 pts, Barry Davis with 72.5 pts, Thomas Warner with 49 pts and Ryan Madden with 45 pts.

Pictured are Thomas A. Warner and Michael A. Mc Duffie, named Co Tournament Directors of the Year 2010 by Mark Meith who awarded each four Excalibur Chess Clock for their efforts to the betterment of Scholastic chess in the Buffalo-Niagara and WNY region. In 2010 Mc Duffie was named the first Tournament Director of the Year and was awarded Chess Sets, boards and Chess Tactic books. We want to thank all the parents, grandparents and educators who continue to help support our scholastic efforts.

SAVE THE DATE! On Friday, June 3rd, Saturday, June 4th and Sunday, June 4th, 2011, we will host the 5th Annual Mayors Cup 2011 Class Championships, Buffalo State College, Campbell Student Union, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY. The 2011 Mayors Cup Championships will have a Grand Masters Section, a 3 day event, 7 Rounds, Swiss, FIDE Open rated, Guaranteed Cash Prizes in the Grand Prix section. All other sections will only be 2 day, 5 Rounds, Swiss event and a one day, 5 rounds, Game 50, Star Scholastic K-12 event.

Garnell Whitfield Jr, Buffalo Fire Commissioner and the Archangel 8 Chess Acadmey want to say "Thank you" to the entire Buffalo Chess Community and The Main Liberty Group for the development, growth and continued support for the Buffalo monthly chess tournaments. Happy New Year 2011!

Study like Ending

Today Kramnik vs Carlsen at london chess classic witnessed a study like ending .. something I have never come across. Carlsen was in a totally lost position a piece down and made a tricky move ...Rg5-c5 (Diagram 1)inviting what would seem to everyone a tactic that Kramnik latched onto immediately. So white played Rxd6+ and forked the king and rook next move and to reach diagram 2. One would think this is easy win for white.... plan is to simply sac the bishop for the black's a pawn (when it advances) mean while the king collects black queen side pawn. Amazingly, black does not bother with the a pawn but tries to box the white king out. Kramnik could not win. But there are several GM as I type this one trying to find a win for white in this very complicated study like endgame. I will comment when I understand more on this. Meanwhile, if you have the time play it out and enjoy. The full game can be replayed at http://chessbase.com/news/2010/london/games/lcc06.htm ( Look into Kramnik vs Carlsen there )

Season's Greetings / Chess Analysis

Dear Buffalo Friends, Warm greetings of the season. Still busy with term and much else. However, as part of a trade of favors, I've annotated two games from the London Classic at The Chess Mind, which I thought you would like to see. And you should follow Dennis Monokroussos' excellent annotations there generally... Sincerely, ---Ken R.

URBAN QUEENS "FREE" CHESS WORKSHOP

The Urban Queens Chess Club and The Schiller Park Chess Club are hosting a FREE Chess workshop for females of all ages to learn chess basics.

The workshop will be held on Saturday, December 18, 2010 at the George K Arthur Community Center, 2056 Genesee Street, Buffalo, NY. Lessons will start at 11am until 1pm. Chess sets, chess boards and scoresheets are provided.

Please register online no later than midnight, December 10th at arcangel8chess@yahoo.com with full name and telephone number.

Thanks for all your help and cooperation.

Reminder of the Holiday Grand Prix Chess Tournament, Sat. Dec 18th at the Main Place Mall, Upper level, 390 Main Street, Buffalo, NY. Free parking under the Mall. Advance registrations must be received by wednesday, December 15th, checks are made payable to The Archangel 8 Chess Academy, 60F Guilford Lane, Buffalo, NY 14221. Please include full name, USCF Id nnumber and telephone number.

Submitted by Mc Duffie, Chess Ambassador and Founder - Urban Queens Chess Club

26th USA Jr. Chess Olympic results

The 26th USA Jr Chess Olympics set a new record (71 entries!) last Saturday. The event was held at the Pioneer Middle School, Yorkshire,NY. This tournament showcased some of the strongest scholastic players and teams in Western New York, Western Pennsylvania, and Canada.

In the grade 7-12 section, The International Dark Knights team, made up of mostly Buffalo players with 1 Canadian student and coached by Michael A. Mc Duffie, took 1st place out of 9 teams. The host team Pioneer finished 2nd, while the Wilson Foundation Academy of Rochester took 3rd. Other teams were Barker Road Middle School(Rochester) Bishop Timon (Buffalo), Fairport (Rochester),Johanna Perrin School (Rochester), Mackenzie team (Erie,Pa) and newcomers to the USCF Cattaraugus/Little Valley.

Ryan Madden of Pioneer took the individual gold in the section on tiebreaks as there were 6 students tied with 4pts! Abe Glasser and Ethan Yung, both of Barker Road Middle School took silver and bronze. Nathan Braasch, Webster Kehoe, and Nolan Henrie also had 4pts.

In the K-6 section the Gold was won by the Global Concepts Charter School of Lackawanna, coached by Antonio Cirrillo. Pioneer took 2nd and the Mackenzie team of Erie,Pa finished 3rd. Also competing were the French Road School, Scribner school, Indian Landing School (all of Rochester), SS Peter and Paul (Hamburg NY) and the International Dark Knights (Buffalo).

Individual gold in this section was won by Alden Mackenzie of Erie,Pa. Reagan Lyle of Global Concepts won the silver and Jacob Chen the bronze. Sam Santora finished 4th. All four players had 4pts.

In the unrated section Zach Yung of Rochester went undefeated 5-0 to win the gold. Hunter Witt took the silver and Mike Pinzel won the bronze. Both are Pioneer students and had 4pts. Mike Dunaevsky of Rochester also had 4pts.

There was also an adult tournament with 6 players. Pat Patterson continued his fine play of late and won with 4 wins 0 losses.

Thanks to all the coaches, parents, and kids for making this event a memorable one. Also to Dr. Meith for donating the medals and Bob Simpson for doing a fine job emceeing at the awards ceremony! Lets do it all again next December!