Macaspac & West Win Machan Open

National masters Art Macaspac and Jim West tied for first place in yesterday's Dr. Luzviminda Machan Open.

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Jim West (USCF 2205) - Art Macaspac (USCF 2234), Rahway NJ 11/29/2014

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Nbd7 8.f4 Nc5 9.f5 Be7 10.Qf3 O-O 11.Be3 Nxb3 12.axb3 d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Nxd5 Qxd5 15.Qxd5 exd5 16.O-O-O Bf6

17.Rhf1 Re8 18.Bg1 Bd7 19.h3 h5 20.b4 Re4 21.c3 Rae8 22.Nf3 Bb5 23.Rf2 Ba4 24.Rdf1 d4 25.cxd4 Bxd4 26.Nxd4 Rxd4 27.f6 Red8 28.b3 Bxb3 29.fxg7 Be6 30.Rb2 Rc4+ 31.Kb1 Kxg7 32.Bc5 Rd5

33.Be7 Rf5 34.Rxf5 Bxf5+ 35.Ka2 Be6 36.Kb1 Bf5+ 37.Ka2 Re4 38.Bc5 Be6+ 39.Kb1 Bd5 40.Rd2 Bc6 41.Kb2 b6 42.Bd4+ Kg6 43.Kc3 a5 44.Bxb6 axb4+ 45.Kb3 Bb5 46.Bd4 Re2 47.Rxe2 Bxe2 48.g3 Kf5

49.h4 Ke4 50.Bc5 Kd5 51.Be3 Ke4 52.Bf4, draw.

Chess Mates Closed Tomorrow (11/26)

Chess Mates will be closed tomorrow, due to a winter weather advisory in Rahway and winter storm warnings in other locales.

We will re-open on Friday, November 28th at 7:00 p.m.

4th Round Of November G/90 Postponed To 12/3

Tomorrow's November G/90 finale has been postponed due to an impending winter storm. It will be played on December 3rd.

The start of December's G/90 will be pushed back 1 week, to Wednesday, December 10th.

Adelson Wins October G/90

Serge Adelson won the October G/90, which took place October 8-29.

There was a 4-way tie for 2nd, between John Moldovan, John Lekocevic, Robert Vinson and Gabe Moreira.

Paragua Wins Cherry Street Open #2

GM Mark Paragua (pictured above) won today's Cherry Street Open #2 with 3.5/4.

GM Bryan Smith, FM Boris Privman and Rudy Tia tied for 2nd.

Tia earned the U2300 prize.
Ryan Feng and Ken Cohen tied among the U2100s.
Feng will receive the U2100 prize. Cohen was awarded the U1900 and he also scored the biggest upset.

Shikhar Ahuja was tops among U1600s.

4th round photos:

The all-GM battle for 1st: Paragua 1-0 Smith

 Mujumdar 1/2-1/2 Privman

Polyakin 0-1 Tia

Cohen 1/2-1/2 Ravishankar

Cherry Street Open - Round 3 Photos

Photos from round 3 of today's open:

Cherry Street Open - Round 2 Photos

Here are some photos from round 2 of today's open:

Cherry Street Open #2 Underway

Chess Mates' Cherry Street Open #2 is underway, albeit some 15 minutes late, with 14 players. The field includes GMs Bryan Smith & Mark Paragua.

Late-joins will be accepted until the start of round 2, which is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. but is likely to begin at 1:30.

Here are some photos taken at the start of round 1:

The twins vs. the GMs! Roshan Idnani vs. Smith (top, in a Sicilian) & Paragua vs. Taran Idnani (bottom, in an English).

English Opening #2: FM Boris Privman (b) vs. Timothy Hoang.

LM Vladimir Polyakin (b) & Shikhar Ahuja waiting.

Ryan Hoang vs. NM Arthur Macaspac's Sicilian.

Yet another English! NM Sameer Mujumdar vs. Ryan Feng.

Ramitha Ravishankar vs. Rudy Tia & Bird's Opening.

Macaspac Wins Friday G/45

NM Arthur Macaspac won the Friday G/45 which began on November 7 & concluded last night.

NM Mauricio Camejo & Lev Zilbermintz tied for 2nd.

Another G/45 will begin next Friday (11/21).

Friday G/45 Starts Tonight

Chess Mates will be starting a 4-round, G/45 Swiss tonight (Friday 11/7), with rounds at 7:15 & 9:00 p.m. Rounds 3 and 4 will be played next Friday (11/14).

See the online TLA or click on the the image below for details.