3rd Annual NYC Blitz Championship April 7, 1997    (Courtesy of USCF's "Chess Life Online" 1997)

Steve Immitt directs this grueling seven round event (in double round-robin format) each year on the concluding Monday of Jose Cuchi's excellently organized New York Open. This year's record attendance of 67 included 15 grandmasters and only four international masters in a very strong field. The Marshall Chess Club (23 West 10th St.) hosted the event and provided refreshments for the players throughout the evening. Marshall Club President Howard Prince and Governor Richard Grogan ably satisfied the needs of the players.

A) Dlugy pockets the first of two points against Kharlov on Board One. Vadim Milov edges Epishin on Board Two.
B) A dispute over insufficient material occurs when Van Wely's flag falls against Ehlvest. "Your material cannot be used against you," pronounced by assistant TD Ron Young (with coffee cup), settled the game as a draw.
C) Krasenkow and Smirin, with poor performances, are relegated to lesser boards.
D) Murderers Row: Boards Three, Four and Five hosted Sherzer-Van Wely, Aleksandrov-Unknown and Bologan-Zamora.

  • 1st-4th: GM Jan Ehlvest, GM Maxim Dlugy, GM Vadim Milov, GM Andrei Kharlov, 10½;
  • 5th-7th: GM Ilya Smirin, GM Aleksei Alexandrov, GM Victor Bologan, 10;
  • 8th-9th: GM Vladimir Epishin, GM Alex Sherzer, 9½;
  • 10th-14th: GM Loek VanWely, GM Dmitry Gurevich, Alexander Reprintsev, IM Norman Weinstein, Carlos Perdoma, 9;
  • 15th-19th: GM Michael Krasenkow, Emory Tate, Eric Cooke, Vinicis Marques, Jayson Gonzales, 8½;
  • 20th-23rd: GM Pavel Blatny, Jorge Hasbun Zamora, Lewis Eisen, Raul Marquez, 8;
  • 24th-30th: IM Osman Palos, Juan Santa, Boris Privman, Alejandro Montalvo, Mark Paragua, Jerry McClinton, Jennifer Shahade, 7½.
  • 33rd: Irina Krush (!), 7.
  • 35th: IM Thomas Oparaugo, 7.
  • 38th-40th: WGM Marsha Klinova, IM Mateo Ramon, Dmitry Schneider, 6½.
  • 52nd: GM Michael A. Rohde, 5.
  • ... 67 players.

  • Dlugy, Ehlvest, Kharlov and Milov Triumph In NY City Blitz:
    4-Way Victory Over 66-Player Field
    _______________________________________________________________

    For the third consecutive year, New York City's venerable Marshall Chess Club saw chess history being made. The strongest New York Open ever held had just ended the day before, and many of the stars from that record-making event ventured downtown the following night to take part in one more Caissian Classic. A true international event was in the making, as over 66 players (12 more than 1996) representing 14 countries on four continents converged on the historic Greenwich Village brownstone Monday April 7th, comprising the strongest blitz tournament held in the U.S. in several years. The talent assembled that night included over forty-two (!) Chess Masters-- no less than fourteen Grandmasters and four International Masters among them. The turnout was actually more than the expected number of entries, and consequently all the prizes were raised over what was advertised!

    In contrast to the rigors of traditional tournament games, which can often last up to six hours, in blitz each player has just five minutes for the whole game-- invariably leading to exciting, and often incredible time-scramble climaxes. Such was the case here too, and the difference between winning and losing was often no more than a few seconds.

    Despite some noteworthy upsets (such as 17-year-old Jorge Zamora's double shellacking of GM Ilya Smirin in Round 2), it was the favorites who finished in the money. Four GM's tied for First, each scoring 10½-3½ to pocket $244: Jan Ehlvest of Estonia (Number 2 on the wallchart at 2695); third-seed Max Dlugy of Englewood, NJ; sixth-ranked Vadim Milov of Israel; and Andrei Kharlov of Russia (ranked ninth at the start). Carlos Perdoma of Columbia scored 9-5 to clinch the $217 Under 2400 Prize, while Jerry "Poe" McClinton and 16-year-old Jennifer Shahade tied for Top Under 2220 (WBCA), each winning $109 for finishing with 7½-6½. Sam Sloan's even score was good enough for $109 too, as the Top Under 2000.

    The tournament was a 7-round, double-round Swiss (each player played 2 games vs. each opponent). The double-round format was very popular, eliminating all "color-problems" (everyone plays one White and one Black), resulting in "pure" pairings. The event was rated by the World Blitz Chess Association (WBCA), with financial support from long-time blitz aficionado Eric Horsboll. Steve Immitt, International Arbiter Sophia Rohde and FM Ron Young directed the tournament for the Chess Center of New York.

    The Marshall Chess Club also runs a somewhat less formidable blitz tournament every Friday at 7:30 pm.

     

    3rd Annual NYC BLITZ Championship!

    April 7, 1997 at the Marshall Chess Club
    14 round Swiss system. Two games against each of seven opponents
    Standings
    {CODE: $ means won both games; & means won one and drew one; W means won one and lost one; D means drew one and lost one and L means lost both games}

     
        Name                  rating rd 1  rd 2  rd 3  rd 4  rd 5  rd 6  rd 7   TOT

  1 GM Ehlvest, Jan.......2695 W 32  W 34  $ 27  $ 11  & 10  W  8  $ 15   10 1/2
  2 GM Dlugy, Maxim.......2694 $ 30  $ 18  $ 20  W  8  $  4  D  3  W  6   10 1/2
  3 GM Milov, Vadim.......2660 $ 61  $ 39  $ 52  W  4  W  8  &  2  W  7   10 1/2
  4 GM Kharlov, Andrei....2641 $ 43  $ 25  $ 53  W  3  L  2  $ 21  &  8   10 1/2
  5 GM Smirin, Ilya.......2671 $ 41  L 21  $ 61  & 24  D  9  $ 33  $ 16    10
  6 GM Alexandrov, Aleksei2655 $ 42  $ 22  W 21  W 13  W  7  $ 14  W  2    10
  7 GM Bologan, Victor....2625 $ 44  $ 17  W 10  W 21  W  6  $ 13  W  3    10
  8 GM Epishin, Vladimir..2644 $ 28  $ 23  $ 24  W  2  W  3  W  1  D  4    9 1/2
  9 GM Sherzer, Alex I....2559 $ 47  W 19  $ 56  D 10  &  5  D 15  $ 20    9 1/2
 10 GM Van Wely, Loek.....2699 $ 40  $ 16  W  7  &  9  D  1  W 20  W 12     9
 11 GM Gurevich, Dmitry...2635 W 34  & 32  $ 19  L  1  W 22  & 26  $ 24     9
 12 Reprintsev, Alexander.2509 $ 66  L 53  $ 28  W 26  W 16  $ 41  W 10     9
 13 IM Weinstein, Norman..2467 W 54  $ 51  $ 31  W  6  W 21  L  7  $ 38     9
 14 Perdoma, Carlos.......2380 B---  B---  B---  $ 40  $ 56  L  6  $ 32     9
 15 GM Krasenkow, Michael.2665 $ 33  L 24  $ 18  $ 23  W 20  &  9  L  1    8 1/2
 16 Tate, Emory A.........2499 $ 45  L 10  & 43  $ 39  W 12  $ 38  L  5    8 1/2
 17 Cooke, Eric N.........2322 $ 63  L  7  $ 59  W 52  D 19  W 29  $ 40    8 1/2
 18 Marques, Vinicis......2265 $ 49  L  2  L 15  W 36  $ 57  $ 35  & 28    8 1/2
 19 Gonzales, Jayson......2248 $ 59  W  9  L 11  $ 45  & 17  W 24  W 23    8 1/2
 20 GM Blatny, Pavel......2614 $ 35  $ 26  L  2  $ 53  W 15  W 10  L  9     8
 21 Zamora, Jorge Hasb....2473 $ 62  $  5  W  6  W  7  W 13  L  4  W 22     8
 22 Eisen, Lewis..........2403 $ 36  L  6  W 29  & 32  W 11  & 34  W 21     8
 23 Marquez, Raul G.......2391 $ 50  L  8  $ 30  L 15  W 42  $ 47  W 19     8
 24 IM Palos, Osman.......2418 $ 57  $ 15  L  8  D  5  $ 31  W 19  L 11    7 1/2
 25 Santa, Juan...........2355 $ 48  L  4  & 37  D 38  W 35  & 42  W 27    7 1/2
 26 Privman, Boris........2319 $ 64  L 20  $ 50  W 12  D 38  D 11  & 41    7 1/2
 27 Montalvo, Alejandro...2285 $ 58  L 52  L  1  D 37  $ 63  $ 46  W 25    7 1/2
 28 Paragua, Mark.........2200 L  8  $ 48  L 12  $ 58  $ 53  W 32  D 18    7 1/2
 29 Mc Clinton, Jerry.....2168 L 52  $ 49  W 22  D 31  $ 39  W 17  W 34    7 1/2
 30 Shahade, Jennifer.....2159 L  2  $ 60  L 23  $ 59  L 32  $ 49  & 45    7 1/2
 31 Schaardenburg, Ivark..2285 W 51  $ 54  L 13  & 29  L 24  W 43  & 47     7
 32 Chandler, Patrick.....2215 W  1  D 11  $ 47  D 22  $ 30  W 28  L 14     7
 33 KRUSH(!), Irina.......2202 L 15  W 57  W 55  $ 48  $ 37  L  5  W 39     7
 34 Shalumov, Oleg........2181 W 11  W  1  D 38  W 46  $ 44  D 22  W 29     7
 35 IM Oparaugo, Thomas...2170 L 20  W 58  W 36  $ 49  W 25  L 18  $ 65     7
 36 Ross, Philip E........2009 L 22  W 42  W 35  W 18  W 41  $ 50  W 44     7
 37 Sloan, Sam............1982 D 56  & 55  D 25  & 27  L 33  W 53  $ 51     7
 38 WGM Klinova, Marsha...2415 & 55  D 56  & 34  & 25  & 26  L 16  L 13    6 1/2
 39 IM Mateo, Ramon.......2411 $ 46  L  3  & 44  L 16  L 29  $ 59  W 33    6 1/2
 40 Schneider, Dmitry.....2221 L 10  W 45  $ 62  L 14  $ 55  & 51  L 17    6 1/2
 41 Times, Jerald W.......2211 L  5  W 62  $ 54  $ 56  W 36  L 12  D 26    6 1/2
 42 Zamora, Elias A.......2202 L  6  W 36  W 57  $ 63  W 23  D 25  W 43    6 1/2
 43 Furdzik, Rafael.......2200 L  4  $ 63  D 16  W 44  W 46  W 31  W 42    6 1/2
 44 Cabrera, Jose A.......2178 L  7  $ 64  D 39  W 43  L 34  $ 56  W 36    6 1/2
 45 Yershov, Vladimir.....2130 L 16  W 40  $ 51  L 19  W 50  $ 60  D 30    6 1/2
 46 Balmaceda, Enrico.....unr. L 39  D 47  $ 66  W 34  W 43  L 27  $ 54    6 1/2
 47 Polyakin, Vladimir....2158 L  9  & 46  L 32  $ 65  $ 61  L 23  D 31     6
 48 Aravena, Peter........1987 L 25  L 28  L 64  L 33  $ 66  $ 55  $ 59     6
 49 Zentmyer, Bradley.....1775 L 18  L 29  B---  L 35  $ 65  L 30  $ 58     6
 50 Salazar, Jeronimo.....unr. L 23  $ 66  L 26  W 57  W 45  L 36  $ 60     6
 51 Campiz, Leonardo......1962 W 31  L 13  L 45  $ 66  $ 54  D 40  L 37    5 1/2
 52 GM Rohde, Michael A...2600 $ 29  $ 27  L  3  W 17  U---  U---  U---     5
 53 Braylovsky, Gregor....2365 $ 60  $ 12  L  4  L 20  L 28  W 37  F---     5
 54 Gebran, Nagib E.......2088 W 13  L 31  L 41  $ 62  L 51  $ 57  L 46     5
 55 Osanyinjobi, Tokun....2024 D 38  D 37  W 33  W 61  L 40  L 48  $ 62     5
 56 Schwartz, Ylon........2320 & 37  & 38  L  9  L 41  L 14  L 44  W 57     4
 57 Del Mundo, Paolo......2025 L 24  W 33  W 42  W 50  L 18  L 54  W 56     4
 58 Del Mundo, Hercules...1904 L 27  W 35  W 65  L 28  L 59  $ 63  L 49     4
 59 Davidov, Mark.........1772 L 19  B---  L 17  L 30  $ 58  L 39  L 48     4
 60 Landolt, Frank........unr. L 53  L 30  L 63  $ 67  $ 62  L 45  L 50     4
 61 Barsky, Sam...........2265 L  3  $ 65  L  5  W 55  L 47  U---  U---     3
 62 Sparbum, Will.........2090 L 21  W 41  L 40  L 54  L 60  $ 65  L 55     3
 63 Iriarte, Boris........1986 L 17  L 43  $ 60  L 42  L 27  L 58  F---     2
 64 D'Lugoff, Raphael.....1977 L 26  L 44  $ 48  U---  U---  U---  U---     2
 65 Lebedovych, Milas.....1600 B---  L 61  W 58  L 47  L 49  L 62  L 35     2
 66 Horsboll, Eric........2153 L 12  L 50  L 46  L 51  L 48  U---  U---     0
 67 Rohde, Sophia-- FILLER1747 U---  U---  U---  L 60  U---  U---  U---     0
     
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