WCC News 2015 ♔

Miscellaneous News & Other Chess Events of Interest:

♗ MACA Event Calendar of Tournaments throughout Massachusetts

♘ NHCA Event Calendar of Tournaments throughout New Hampshire

♝ Billerica Chess Club weekly results are now available on this site as part of the Other Organizations section.

♜ Jan 8-10 or 9-10, 2016 4th Annual Boston Chess Congress 5SS, 40/110, SD/30, d10 (2-day option, rds 1-2 G/60, d10).
Hyatt Boston Harbor Luxurious hotel, free parking, free airport shuttle, $99 room rates
(I-495, exit 24B, Rt. 20W, one mile from exit).

♔ ♕ ♖ ♗ ♘ US Team East February 13-15 Parsippany Hilton, Parsippany, NJ 07054
HR: Chess rate expires 1/16/2016: $119 Single/double; $121 Triple/Quad (973) 267-7373 or 1-800-HILTONS
2nd hotel attached to Hilton, $126 Single/double; $128 Triple/Quad - Hampton Inn (includes breakfast each day)

♔ According to Bleecker Street Online, the movie, Pawn Sacrifice, will be showing in only selected places until Sept 25th, when it should be widely available
Based on this review, it looks like it'll be a pretty good movie, which is a difficult task for a chess related movie.
Here's the schedule for showings at the Kendall Square Cinema.

♟ The Andover Chess Club has found a new site:
St. Augustine's, Center for Education and Ministry, 35 Essex Street, Andover.
The club's first meeting is scheduled for Friday, September 18th and the first tournament for October 23rd. For more information, contact Mike Henroid at AndoverChessClub@gmail.com

♕ Relyea Chess sponsors a WIM Norm Tournament on Thursday-Monday, 19-23 November 2015 at Homewood Suites, Manchester, NH. Ten (10) round event! Six (6) player double round robin.

♕ If you scroll down the page a little, you can see that
Relyea Chess is also holding the 2016 US Girl's Junior Invitational Championship

♖ Maximillian Lu, a 10-year old Whitby School student & Connecticut resident, seen here at the Greenwich Time, Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, has become the youngest chess player to earn the master rating in U.S. Chess Federation history. Max accomplished this by scoring two wins & a loss in the BPCC September Action Quads in Scarsdale, NY on September 2nd of this year (28 days before his tenth birthday). Congratulations Max!
♕ Since Carissa Yip's picture is on the current issue of Chess Life, the USCF announcement of Max's achievement on Twitter was graced with a picture of Carissa! How cool is that?

♔ MACA President, Nathan Smolensky, is featured in this local news story.

♔ Massachusetts resident & 2013 Mass Open Champ, Mika Brattain is competing in this year's US Junior Closed Championship. You can view the games live & in .PGN here.

♕ 2014 WCC Champ, Carissa Yip's game against Annie Wang at the U.S. Girls Junior Championship (Closed) June 22-26 was featured in an article by GM Gregory Serper on Chess.com. Here GM Serper compares Carissa's playing style to that of former World Champion, Mikhail Tal!

♔ Tuesday, December 8: Larry Christiansen Simul at South Station 25 boards, noon to 2:00 PM. Open seating until 1:15pm. No fee.

♟ There's apparently a new movie about the Bobby Fischer story coming out soon.
Pawn Sacrifice Official Trailer #1 (2015) - Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber Movie HD

Here's what Алексей «Sager» Смолянов had to say about it:
"Трейлер невероятного кино про лучшего шахматиста всех времен - Бобби Фишера, злых русских и паранойю - Жертвуя пешкой / Pawn Sacrifice."

♙ A Facebook page for the Chess club at Worcester State University

♚ ♛ An Archive of these & earlier News Links is now available in the "Chess Online" section ♛ ♚

♞ There will soon be an Official Wachusett Chess Club Flyer graced by the now legendary "Barlas Knight". At the moment it's still a work in progress, but feel free to print it out & post it anywhere you like.

YOU CAN NOW EASILY CONVERT YOUR GAMES TO PGN FORMAT & EMAIL THEM! ♗ ♞ ♖

An unofficial but nice to have Glossary of Chess terms ♜ ♘ ♝

December 30th, 2015

2015 George Sturgis Memorial
Round 5 of 5

Cesolini, Paulson & LePoer Top 2015 Sturgis Memorial

**George Sturgis Memorial, December 30th, 2015**
Round 5 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Ray Paulson	1-0	Gary Brassard
Roger Cappallo	1/2-1/2	Paul Godin
Alan Condon	0-1	Geoff LePoer
George Mirijanian	1/2-1/2	Joe Bennett
Larry Gladding	1-0	Mike Commisso
Jackson Parker	1-0	Ken Gurge
Vlad Gaciu	1-0	Brian Biglow
Mike Meehan	0-1	Seeth Ganesan
Larry O'Rourke	1/2-1/2	Lenny Arsenault
Richard Bennett	0-1	Tom Fratturelli
Jim Hankard	0-1	Dave Couture
Wayne Steadman	1/2-1/2	John Bastarache
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Don Briggs

Not playing round 5 were Tony Cesolini, Dave Thomas, Arthur Barlas, Ed Harris, George Miller, Bob Mathieu,
Gail Lingner, Anthony Bracco, Ed Rogers, Noah Rogers, Randy McLaughlin, Stan Talcott, Hugh McLaughlin,
Andrew Kiser, Tom Whistler and Finn Rogers.

**George Sturgis Memorial, December 30th, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
4.0	Cesolini, Paulson, LePoer
3.5	Cappallo, Godin, Gladding, Brassard, J. Bennett, Parker
3.0	Mirijanian, Gaciu, Condon, Ganesan, Fratturelli
2.5	Thomas, Gurge, Arsenault, Commisso, O'Rourke
2.0	Couture, Barlas, Harris, Meehan, Biglow, Miller, Mathieu, Lingner, Bracco, R. Bennett
1.5	Hankard, E. Rogers, Bastarache, Steadman, N. Rogers
1.0	R. McLaughlin, Talcott, Briggs, H. McLaughlin, Kiser. Gawboy. Whistler
0.5	F. Rogers

♔ 2015 George Sturgis Memorial PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st-3rd:	Tony Cesolini of Rindge, NH, Ray Paulson of Lowell, Geoff LePoer of Westford
Top U1850:	Larry Gladding and Gary Brassard, both of Leominster, Joe Bennett and Jackson Parker, both of Fitchburg
Top U1650:	Tom Fratturelli of Leominster
Top U1450:	Anthony Bracco of Winchendon, Richard Bennett of Gardner
Top U1250:	Hugh McLaughlin of Groton, Andrew Kiser and Emily Gawboy, both of Leominster, Tom Whistler of Worcester

The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Larry O'Rourke	+75
Hugh McLaughlin	+50

The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Tony Cesolini	2052
Geoff LePoer	1937
Seeth Ganesan	1689
Jackson Parker	1679
Larry O'Rourke	1571
Emily Gawboy	870

REMINDER: The next tournament at the club, the Reggie Boone Memorial, starts Wednesday, January 6.
Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 1 on January 6th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
♘ ♕ ♔ ♜ ♔ ♕ ♗
♔ ♘ ☕ ♡ ☺ ☮ ♡ ☆ HAPPY NEW YEAR! ☆ ♡ ☮ ☺ ⛄ ♝ ♕
♘ ♕ ♔ ♜ ♔ ♕ ♗

December 23rd, 2015

2015 George Sturgis Memorial
Round 4 of 5

Tony Cesolini, 2010 WCC Champ Leads,
Brassard Closes In

Tony Cesolini of Ringe, NH now holds first place by a half point with 4.0 out of 4 rounds following his solid victory over this year's Fandreyer Memorial winner, Roger Cappallo, while Gary Brassard of Leominster has taken clear second place by defeating WCC Champ George Mirijanian. These scores will result in pairing Cesolini with Brassard in the upcoming final round of the 2015 George Sturgis Memorial tournament.

**George Sturgis Memorial, December 23rd, 2015**
Round 4 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Tony Cesolini	1-0	Roger Cappallo
Gary Brassard	1-0	George Mirijanian
Ken Gurge	0-1	Ray Paulson
Geoff LePoer	1-0	Seeth Ganesan
Lenny Arsenault	0-1	Paul Godin
Joe Bennett	1-0	Arthur Barlas
Tom Fratturelli	0-1	Alan Condon
Brian Biglow	0-1	Larry Gladding
Mike Commisso	1-0	Jim Hankard
Noah Rogers	0-1	Jackson Parker
John Bastarache	0-1	Vlad Gaciu
Dave Couture	0-1	Larry O'Rourke
Randy McLaughlin	0-1	Ed Harris
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Mike Meehan
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Bob Mathieu
Gail Lingner	1-0	Andrew Kiser
Don Briggs	0-1	Ed Rogers
Finn Rogers	0-1	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were Dave Thomas, George Miller, Anthony Bracco, Richard Bennett and Tom Whistler.
Not playing round 4 was Stan Talcott.
The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes new member, Vlad Gaciu, of Holden.

**George Sturgis Memorial, December 23rd, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
4.0	Cesolini
3.5	Brassard
3.0	Paulson, Cappallo, LePoer, Godin, Condon, J. Bennett
2.5	Mirijanian, Gladding, Thomas, Gurge, Parker, Commisso
2.0	Gaciu, Barlas, Harris, Ganesan, Arsenault, Fratturelli, Meehan, Biglow, Miller, Mathieu, Lingner, O'Rourke, Bracco, R. Bennett
1.5	E. Rogers, N. Rogers
1.0	Couture, Bastarache, R. McLaughlin, Talcott, Steadman H. McLaughlin, Kiser, Gawboy, Whistler
0.5	F. Rogers
0.0	Briggs

Projected Round 5 pairings for December 30th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cesolini vs. Brassard
Board 2: Paulson vs. Godin
Board 3: Cappallo vs. J. Bennett
Board 4: Condon vs. LePoer
Board 5: Mirijanian vs. Gurge
Board 6: Gladding vs. Commisso
Board 7: Parker vs. Thomas
Board 8: Gaciu vs. Mathieu
Board 9: Meehan vs. Barlas
Board 10: Harris vs. Lingner
Board 11: Ganesan vs. Biglow
Board 12: O'Rourke vs. Arsenault
Board 13: Bracco vs. Fratturelli
Board 14: N. Rogers vs. R. Bennett
Board 15: E. Rogers vs. Hankard
Board 16: H. McLaughlin vs. Couture
Board 17: Kiser vs. Bastarache
Board 18: Gawboy vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 19: Whistler vs.Steadman
Board 20: Briggs vs. F. Rogers

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 5 on December 30th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
♘ ♕ ♔ ♜ ♔ ♕ ♗
♔ ♘ ☕ ♡ ☺ ☮ ♡ ☆ MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! ☆ ♡ ☮ ☺ ⛄ ♝ ♕
♘ ♕ ♔ ♜ ♔ ♕ ♗

December 22nd, 2015

Individual Upsets, George Sturgis Memorial

Individual Upsets, George Sturgis Memorial After 3 Rounds:
Name (rating)  Points  (= if draw) Victim (rating)
Hugh McLaughlin (1130)  272.5 =  Lenny Arsenault (1675) 
Brian Biglow (1549)  197.0  Edward Harris (1746) 
Richard Bennett (1348) 191.0  Ed Rogers (1539) 
Anthony Bracco (1380) 183.0 =  Edward Harris (1746) 
Laurence O'Rourke (1496)  173.0 =  Lawrence Gladding (1842) 
Tom Fratturelli (1649)  128.0  Dave Couture (1777) 
Arthur Barlas (1766)  80.5 =  Geoff LePoer (1927) 
Kenneth Gurge (1765)  77.0  Lawrence Gladding (1842) 
Roger Cappallo (1959)  61.0  Raymond Paulson (2020)

December 21st, 2015

Revised Projected Pairings

Revised Projected Round 4 pairings for December 23rd:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
1     Tony Cesolini (3.0)     Roger Cappallo (3.0)
2     Gary Brassard (2.5)     George Mirijanian (2.5)
3     Kenneth Gurge (2.5)     Raymond Paulson (2.0)
4     Geoff LePoer (2.0)     Seetharaman Ganesan (2.0)
5     Lenny Arsenault (2.0)     Paul Godin (2.0)
6     Joseph Bennett (2.0)     David Thomas (2.0)
7     Tom Fratturelli (2.0)     Arthur Barlas (2.0)
8     Brian Biglow (2.0)     Alan Condon (2.0)
9     Michael Commisso (1.5)     Lawrence Gladding (1.5)
10     Anthony Bracco (1.5)     James Hankard (1.5)
11     Noah Rogers (1.5)     Jackson Parker (1.5)
12     Dave Couture (1.0)     Richard Bennett (1.5)
13     John Bastarache (1.0)     Edward Harris (1.0)
14     Randy McLaughlin (1.0)     Michael Meehan (1.0)
15     Hugh McLaughlin (1.0)     Robert Mathieu (1.0)
16     Gail Lingner (1.0)     Stanford Talcott (1.0)
17     Wayne Steadman (1.0)     Laurence O'Rourke (1.0)
18     Ed Rogers (0.5)     Andrew Kiser (1.0)
19     Tom Whistler (0.5)     Finneas Rogers (0.5)
20     Donald Briggs (0.0)     Emily Gawboy (0.0)
♗♝  George Miller (1.5)  BYE

December 20th, 2015

Rating Updates, Carissa Earns Life Master Title, & Local News Story

Carissa Yip scored another perfect 4.0 in the Legends of Chess G/60 and is now over 2300 with another Life Master Norm to her credit.
As of this tournament, ♕ Carissa has officially earned the Life Master Title! ♛
Ray Paulson played in the Billerica December Swiss and is now at 2030.
Jim Hankard played in the 6th Saint Nick Quick event on Dec. 12 in Holyoke and is now at 1669.

Carissa Yip -> 2305
Ray Paulson -> 2030
Jim Hankard -> 1669

The December 18th issue of the Leominster Champion features a story with photo of Dave Thomas & Paul Godin analyzing games at a local fast food restaurant.

December 16th, 2015

2015 George Sturgis Memorial
Round 3 of 5

**George Sturgis Memorial, December 16th, 2015**
Round 3 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Paul Godin	0-1	Tony Cesolini
Ray Paulson	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Arthur Barlas	1/2-1/2	Geoff LePoer
Larry Gladding	0-1	Ken Gurge
Jim Hankard	0-1	Gary Brassard
Mike Commisso	0-1	Dave Thomas
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Dave Couture
Ed Harris	0-1	Brian Biglow
Alan Condon	1-0	Gail Lingner
Bob Mathieu	0-1	Joe Bennett
Seeth Ganesan	1-0	Randy McLaughlin
Andrew Kiser	0-1	Lenny Arsenault
Jackson Parker	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
Richard Bennett	1-0	Ed Rogers
Finn Rogers	0-1	Anthony Bracco
Tom Whistler	0-1	Noah Rogers
John Bastarache	1-0	Don Briggs
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Wayne Steadman

Receiving half-point byes were George Mirijanian, George Miller, Larry O'Rourke and Stan Talcott.
Not playing the round was Mike Meehan, who was not given a bye because he had used up his two byes.

**George Sturgis Memorial, December 16th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.0	Cesolini, Cappallo
2.5	Mirijanian, Brassard, Gurge
2.0	Paulson, LePoer, Godin, Thomas, Barlas, Condon, J. Bennett, Ganesan, Arsenault, Fratturelli, Biglow
1.5	Gladding, Hankard, Parker, Commisso, Miller, Bracco, N. Rogers, R. Bennett
1.0	Couture, Harris, Meehan, Mathieu, Lingner, O'Rourke, Bastarache, R. McLaughlin, Talcott, Steadman. H. McLaughlin, Kiser
0.5	E. Rogers. F. Rogers, Whistler
0.0	Briggs, Gawboy

Projected Round 4 pairings for December 23rd:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cesolini vs. Cappallo
Board 2: Mirijanian vs. Brassard
Board 3: Gurge vs. Paulson
Board 4: J. Bennett vs. LePoer
Board 5: Ganesan vs. Godin
Board 6: Arsenault vs. Thomas
Board 7: Biglow vs. Barlas
Board 8: Fratturelli vs. Condon
Board 9: Miller vs. Gladding
Board 10: Bracco vs. Hankard
Board 11: N. Rogers vs. Parker
Board 12: R. Bennett vs. Commisso
Board 13: Couture vs. O'Rourke
Board 14: Bastarache vs. Harris
Board 15: Steadman vs. Meehan
Board 16: R. McLaughin vs. Mathieu
Board 17: H. McLaughlin vs. Lingner
Board 18: E. Rogers vs. Kiser
Board 19: Whistler vs. F. Rogers
Board 20: Briggs vs. Gawboy

For Round 4, Talcott will be paired if he shows up on time to play or lets the TD know that he will be late.

2016 Club Championship Qualification Standings As of December 17, 2015
After 4.6 of 9 Tournaments (23 of 44 Games)
Top Ten High Winning Percentage Finishers Qualify
with a minimum of 22 played games required
The tiebreaker, if necessary, is the higher USCF rating entering the final regular season tournament.
Name	Rating	Games Played This Season	Winning Percentage	Additional Games Needed
Paulson	2020	18	.889	4
Mirijanian	2048	15	.800	7
Cappallo	1959	22	.795	0
Gladding	1842	22	.705	0
Thomas	1833	22	.705	0
Gurge	1765	21	.690	1
Godin	1949	22	.682	0
Brassard	1806	17	.647	5
Harris	1746	21	.643	1
Arsenault	1675	17	.618	5
Condon	1722	18	.611	4
Fratturelli	1649	20	.575	2
Hankard	1665	22	.568	0
Meehan	1596	17	.559	5
Bennett, J.	1744	18	.556	4
Couture	1777	19	.553	3

Notes:
♔ Geoff Lepoer is omitted due to his golf commitments.
♞ Players not having played a minimum of 12 games thus far are omitted from the current standings.
♙ There are 21 regular season games left to be played.
♖ Seeth Ganesan with a current percentage of .714 has played 7 games and would need to play 15 of the remaining 21 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
♗ Arthur Barlas with a current percentage of .700 has played 5 games and would need to play 17 of the remaining 21 games while maintaining a qualifying percentage to qualify.
♟ Other players with high percentages but deemed unlikely to reach the 22 game threshold have been omitted.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on December 23rd.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.
♘ ♕ ♔ ♜ ♔ ♕ ♗
The club will definitely be meeting on December 23rd and December 30th.
♘ ♕ ♔ ♜ ♔ ♕ ♗

December 12th, 2015

Preeminent New England Chess Journalist, Harold Dondis Dies

Subject: Very Sad News
Harold Dondis passed away last night while playing in the Thursday Night Swiss at the BCC. He started feeling poorly, resigned his game and told me when I arrived that he thought he had had a heart attack. As I called 911, he slipped in unconsciousness. The EMTs were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at Mt. Auburn Hospital at around 11:20pm.
There will be a wake sometime next week and I will make sure that you are kept in the loop.
-Chris Chase

The Boylston Chess Club blog - Boylston-chess-club.blogspot.com - has a posting by Steve Stepak with photos.
I am planning on doing the next Chess Chat (on January 4) as a tribute to Harold.
The Harold B. Dondis Memorial (1922-2015) will be held in his honor starting August of 2016.
[Excerpt from George Mirijanian interview of Harold Dondis in Chess Horizons, October - December 2004] -George Mirijanian.
Chess Horizons, October - December 2004

Harold B. Dondis, Of Belmont, MA, passed away December 10, 2015.
Beloved husband of Claire Louise Dondis. Son of the late Joseph and Ida (Povich) Dondis and
brother of the late Meredith Dondis of Rockland, ME. Brother-in-law of Esther Dondis of Rockland, ME,
and the uncle of Jo Dondis of Camden, ME and Lynn Dondis of Washington, DC.

Born in Rockland, Maine, he was educated in Rockland Public Schools.
Mr. Dondis graduated from Bowdoin College and Harvard Law School.
He practiced law and became a senior partner at Rich, May in Boston for his entire legal career.
He was also general counsel for the Algonquin Gas Transmission Company for many years

Mr. Dondis had a great interest in the game of chess and founded the U.S. Chess Trust.
This Trust became the charitable arm of the U.S. Chess Federation.
He wrote the chess column for the Boston Globe for 50 years.

Relatives & Friends are respectfully invited to attend Visiting Hours in celebration of Harold's Life
in the Brasco & Sons Memorial Chapels, 325 Trapelo Rd, BELMONT, on Wednesday, Dec. 16th from 3 - 7 P.M.
Donations may be made in his memory to the Rockland Public Library,
Rockland, ME 04841 or the Boylston Chess Club, Suite B101, Norris St, No. Cambridge, MA 02140.

For complete obituary, guest book & additional information please refer to:
www.BrascoFuneral Home.com

Belmont 617-484-2088
"Creating Meaningful Memories"
Published in The Boston Globe on Dec. 13, 2015
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?n=harold-b-dondis&pid=176869520&fhid=15221

December 9th, 2015

2015 George Sturgis Memorial
Round 2 of 5

**George Sturgis Memorial, December 9th, 2015**
Round 2 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Dave Thomas	0-1	George Mirijanian
Tony Cesolini	1-0	Alan Condon
Dave Couture	0-1	Ray Paulson
Roger Cappallo	1-0	Seeth Ganesan
Joe Bennett	0-1	Paul Godin
Geoff LePoer	1-0	Tom Fratturelli
Larry Gladding	1-0	Jackson Parker
Gary Brassard	1-0	Larry O'Rourke
Ken Gurge	1-0	Anthony Bracco
Lenny Arsenault	1/2-1/2	Hugh McLaughlin
Jim Hankard	1-0	Tom Whistler
Brian Biglow	1-0	John Bastarache
George Miller	1-0	Don Briggs
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Bob Mathieu
Gail Lingner	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were Arthur Barlas, Mike Commisso, Ed Harris, Mike Meehan, Randy McLaughlin, Andrew Kiser, Ed Rogers, Stan Talcott, Noah Rogers, Richard Bennett and Finn Rogers.

**George Sturgis Memorial, December 9th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
2.0	Mirijanian, Cesolini, Paulson, Cappallo, Godin
1.5	LePoer, Gladding, Brassard, Barlas, Gurge, Hankard, Commisso
1.0	Thomas, Couture, Harris, Condon, J. Bennett, Ganesan, Arsenault, Fratturelli, Meehan, Biglow, Miller, Mathieu, Lingner, R. McLaughlin, H. McLaughlin, Kiser
0.5	Parker, E. Rogers, O;Rourke, Talcott, Bracco, N. Rogers, R. Bennett, F. Rogers, Whistler
0.0	Bastarache, Steadman, Briggs, Gawboy

Projected Round 3 pairings for December 16th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Mirijanian vs. Cappallo
Board 2: Paulson vs. Cesolini
Board 3: Godin vs. LePoer
Board 4: Gladding vs. Gurge
Board 5: Hankard vs. Brassard
Board 6: Commisso vs. Barlas
Board 7: Fratturelli vs. Thomas
Board 8: Meehan vs. Couture
Board 9: Harris vs. Biglow
Board 10: Condon vs. Miller
Board 11: Mathieu vs. J. Bennett
Board 12: Ganesan vs. Lingner
Board 13: R. McLaughlin vs. Arsenault
Board 14: Parker vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 15: R. Bennett vs. E. Rogers
Board 16: N. Rogers vs. O'Rourke
Board 17: F. Rogers vs. Talcott
Board 18: Whistler vs. Bracco
Board 19: Bastarache vs Briggs
Board 20: Gawboy vs. Steadman

Kiser will be paired if he shows up to play on time or lets the TD know that he will be late.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on December 16th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

December 8th, 2015

Rating Updates & USCF Dues Rate Changes

Wachusett CC members Noah Rogers, Finn Rogers and Sebastian Tilton played in the Londonderry High School Tournament in Londonderry, NH on Saturday, December 5.
Noah and Finn scored 2-2 to tie for third place in the Open section, while Sebastian tallied 1.5-2.5 to tie for 7th place in the same section.

Wachusett CC members Rob King, Gary Brassard & Joe Bennett played in the tournament while Paul Godin played an extra-rated game at the Pillsbury Memorial in Marlborough on Sunday, December 6.
Congratulations to all!

Updated ratings are as follows:

Rob King -> 2154
Paul Godin -> 1949
Gary Brassard -> 1806
Joe Bennett -> 1744
Noah Rogers -> 1324
Sebastian Tilton -> 947
Finn Rogers -> 911

Rating updates for active WCC members are available here.

USCF Dues Rate Changes Effective January 1, 2016
In August, the US Chess Board of Delegates approved several dues rate changes.
The three-year dues rates are being eliminated.
Most two-year rates were adjusted to reduce the multi-year discount, and
several one-year premium rates were adjusted to more properly reflect the cost of sending magazines.

Here are the changes:
Premium Adult: 1 year goes from $46 to $49, two year goes from $84 to $95, 3 year is dropped.
Regular Adult: 1 year is unchanged ($40), two year goes from $72 to $75, 3 year is dropped.
Senior: 1 year is unchanged ($40), 2 year goes from $72 to $75, 3 year is dropped.
Premium Young Adult: 1 year goes from $33 to $35, 2 year goes from $61 to $65, 3 year is dropped.
Regular Young Adult: 1 year is unchanged ($26), 2 year goes from $47 to $48, 3 year is dropped.
Premium Youth: 1 year goes from $28 to $30, 2 year goes from $51 to $55, 3 year is dropped.
Regular Youth: 1 year is unchanged ($22), 2 year is unchanged ($40), 3 year is dropped.
Premium Scholastic: 1 year goes from $24 to $25, 2 year goes from $43 to $45, 3 year is dropped.
Regular Scholastic: 1 year is unchanged ($17), 2 year is unchanged ($30), 3 year is dropped.
Family Plan 1 goes from $75 to $80. (There are no multi-year rates.)
Family Plan 2 goes from $47 to $50. (There are no multi-year rates.)

2015 George Sturgis Memorial
Round 1 of 5

**George Sturgis Memorial, December 2nd, 2015**
Round 1 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
George Mirijanian	1-0	Brian Biglow
Ed Rogers	0-1	Tony Cesolini
Ray Paulson	1-0	George Miller
Bob Mathieu	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Paul Godin	1-0	Gail Lingner
Larry O'Rourke	1/2-1/2	Larry Gladding
Dave Thomas	1-0	John Bastarache
Stan Talcott	0-1	Dave Couture
Arthur Barlas	1-0	Wayne Steadman
Anthony Bracco	1/2-1/2	Ed Harris
Alan Condon	1-0	Noah Rogers
Don Briggs	0-1	Joe Bennett
Seeth Ganesan	1-0	Richard Bennett
Hugh McLaughlin	1/2-1/2	Jim Hankard
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Finn Rogers
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Mike Commisso

Receiving half-point byes were Geoff LePoer, Gary Brassard, Ken Gurge, Lenny Arsenault, Jackson Parker, Mike Meehan,
Randy McLaughlin, Andrew Kiser and Tom Whistler.

**George Sturgis Memorial, December 2nd, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
1.0	Mirijanian, Cesolini, Paulson, Cappallo, Godin, Thomas, Couture, Barlas, Condon, J. Bennett, Ganesan, Fratturelli, Commisso
0.5	LePoer, Gladding, Brassard, Gurge, Harris, Arsenault, Hankard, Parker, Meehan, O'Rourke, R. McLaughlin, Bracco, H. McLaughlin, Kiser, Whistler
0.0	Biglow, E. Rogers, Miller, Mathieu, Lingner, Bastarache, Talcott, Steadman, N Rogers, R. Bennett, Briggs, F. Rogers, Gawboy

Projected Round 2 pairings for December 9th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Couture vs. Mirijanian
Board 2: Cesolini vs. Barlas
Board 3: Condon vs. Paulson
Board 4: Cappallo vs. Ganesan
Board 5: J. Bennett vs. Godin
Board 6: Fratturelli vs.Thomas
Board 7: Commisso vs. LePoer
Board 8: Gladding vs. Parker
Board 9: Brassard vs. O'Rourke
Board 10: Gurge vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 11: Harris vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 12: Arsenault vs. Bracco
Board 13: Hankard vs. Whistler
Board 14: Biglow vs. Talcott
Board 15: Miller vs Steadman
Board 16: R. Bennett vs. Mathieu
Board 17: Lingner vs. Briggs
Board 18: Bastarache vs. Gawboy

Requesting a half-point bye for Round 2 are Meehan, E. Rogers, N. Rogers and F. Rogers.
Kiser will be given a half-point bye unless he shows up to play.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on December 9th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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November 30th, 2015

Massachusetts Players Competing in National Chess Congress

This weekend thirteen Massachusetts players, including 2014 WCC Champ, Carissa Yip, competed in the National Chess Congress in Philadelphia, PA in six sections. Here are their finishing places within each section & their rating changes.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
USCF MSA - Cross Table for 46TH ANNUAL NATIONAL CHESS CONGRESS
Below is a list of all players from the state of MA competing:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Section 1 - PREMIER
 #: State USCF-ID  Player-Name  Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Opp-List
31: MA 15206958 LUIS FLAQUER R: 2283 -> 2300 Opponents
45: MA 14514636 CARISSA SHIWEN YIP R: 2256 -> 2272 Opponents
47: MA 12720571 EVAN Z RABIN R: 2257 -> 2246 Opponents
74: MA 12806095 ADITYA PRASETYO R: 2091 -> 2076 Opponents

Section 2 - UNDER 2200
 #: State USCF-ID  Player-Name  Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Opp-List
70: MA 12806095 ADITYA PRASETYO R: 2076 -> 2062 Opponents

Section 3 - UNDER 2000
 #: State USCF-ID  Player-Name  Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Opp-List
35: MA 15466651 PINYI HU R: 1816 -> 1840 Opponents

Section 4 - UNDER 1800
 #: State USCF-ID  Player-Name  Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Opp-List
48: MA 14364786 BHARATH HEGGADAHALLI R: 1700 -> 1663 Opponents
68: MA 12931292 JONATHAN JOSEPH CROWE R: 1645 -> 1593 Opponents

Section 5 - UNDER 1600
 #: State USCF-ID  Player-Name  Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Opp-List

Section 6 - UNDER 1400
 #: State USCF-ID  Player-Name  Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Opp-List
1: MA 12887861 ELLIOTT WU R: 1410 -> 1523 Opponents
52: MA 15383635 KRISHNA SAKETH MUTNURI R: 1341 -> 1299 Opponents

Section 7 - UNDER 1200
 #: State USCF-ID  Player-Name  Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Opp-List
37: MA 14837387 RAJANNA HEGGADAHALLI R: 1304 -> 1210 Opponents
57: MA 12903531 TAM YANTSIDES R: 1056 ->  982 Opponents
62: MA 12903531 TAM YANTSIDES R: 1056 ->  982 Opponents

November 29th, 2015

Rating Updates

Ray Paulson & Paul Godin were able to play one game apiece in the Billerica November Swiss, which was rated, Saturday, November 28.
Updated ratings are as follows:

Ray Paulson -> 2020
Paul Godin -> 1926

Rating updates for active WCC members are available here.

November 28th, 2015

Another Big Win!

Carissa Beats GM In Opening Round @ National Chess Congress!

Carissa Yip won her first round game against 2596 rated, GM Vladislav Kovalev, at the National Chess Congress in Philadelphia on Friday. She was unsuccessful in round 2 with the black pieces against 13-year-old life master Praveen Balakrishnan (2402), so after two rounds, Carissa now stands 31st in the 62 player Premier (open) Section which includes 15 FIDE titled players: 3 GM's, 7 IM's, & 4 FM's, & a WIM. Go Carissa!

UPDATE: Carissa's victory over GM Vladislav Kovalev is now posted in the "Games" section along with many of her other games. After four rounds, Carissa is now 27th out of 76 contestants (including 5 GM's, 8 IM's, 3 FM's & 1 WIM) with 2.5/4.

November 27th, 2015

Rating Updates

The Knights Chess Club in Keene, NH ended its Six Slick Sixties tournament on Monday, November 23.
Of the 16 players in the event, more than half (actually 9, if you don't include Tony Cesolini) were members of the Wachusett CC.
Here are updated ratings for all the WCC players:

Dave Thomas -> 1833
Ed Harris -> 1746
Joe Bennett -> 1698
Jim Hankard -> 1665
Ed Rogers -> 1539
Stan Talcott -> 1412
Anthony Bracco -> 1380/5
Noah Rogers -> 1350
Finn Rogers -> 873
Tony Cesolini won one game, but his rating did not change. It's stayed at 2028.

Rating updates for active WCC members are available here.

November 23rd, 2015

Rating Updates

Noah Rogers and Sebastian Tilton played on Saturday, November 21, in the Sunapee Middle High Scholastic tournament in Sunapee, NH.
Noah finished in second place in the Open section, while Sebastian ended up in third place in the same section.

Noah Rogers -> 1286
Sebastian Tilton -> 940

Rating updates for active WCC members are available here.

New pictures are available courtesy of Dave Couture.

November 18th, 2015

2015 Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial
Round 5 of 5

Cappallo Captures Cup At Fandreyer Memorial,
Gladding Clear Second

Roger Cappallo of Groton took top honors in the 2015 Ernest Fandreyer Memorial Chess tournament which wrapped up Wednesday night, with a final score of 4.5 out of 5, while Larry Gladding of Leominster finished as the sole runner up with 4 points. While Roger concluded the tournament with a winning king's side attack against his class A opponent, Geoff LePoer, to take the full point at board 1, Larry was held to a draw by New Hampshire resident, Ed Harris, in a nail biting opposite colored bishop ending at board 2.

The tournament enabled five WCC players to achieve personal all time high ratings, while newcomer, Anthony Bracco, of Wincendon posted a respectable initial rating of 1616, which immediately places him in class B.

♚ The Wachusett Chess Chess club will not meet Wednesday, November 25, the night before Thanksgiving.
Please see the reminder below for additional details & have a happy & safe Thanksgiving.

**Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial, November 18th, 2015**
Round 5 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Roger Cappallo	1-0	Geoff LePoer
Larry Gladding	1/2-1/2	Ed Harris
Paul Godin	1-0	Lenny Arsenault
Dave Thomas	1-0	Alan Condon
Ed Rogers	0-1	Ken Gurge
Dave Couture	0-1	Seeth Ganesan
Gary Brassard	1-0	Anthony Bracco
Arthur Barlas	0-1	Tom Fratturelli
Mike Commisso	0-1	Joe Bennett
Brian Biglow	1/2-1/2	Jim Hankard
Larry O'Rourke	0-1	Mike Meehan
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Bob Mathieu
Gail Lingner	1-0	Randy McLaughlin
Noah Rogers	1-0	John Bastarache
Hugh McLaughlin	1-0	Don Briggs
Richard Bennett	1-0	Finn Rogers
Tom Whistler	1/2-1/2	Emily Gawboy

Not playing round 5 were:
Rob King, Ray Paulson, George Mirijanian, Jackson Parker, George Miller, Stan Talcott, Francis Scanlon and Andrew Kiser.

**Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial, November 18th, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
4.5	Cappallo
4.0	Gladding
3.5	Godin, LePoer, Thomas, Harris, Gurge, Ganesan
3.0	King, Paulson, Brassard, J. Bennett, Arsenault, Fratturelli
2.5	Mirijanian, Condon, Hankard, E. Rogers, Meehan, Parker, Biglow, Mathieu, Lingner,
2.0	Couture, Barlas, Commisso, Bracco. Miller, O'Rourke, R. Bennett, N. Rogers, H. McLaughlin
1.5	R. McLaughlin, Steadman
1.0	Bastarache, Talcott, Briggs, Scanlon, F. Rogers, Kiser, Gawboy
0.5	Whistler

♔ 2015 Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:	Roger Cappallo of Groton
2nd:	Larry Gladdingof Leominster
Top U1900:	Dave Thomas of Fitchburg, Ed Harris of Marlboro, NH, Ken Gurge of Leominster
Top U1700:	Seetharaman Ganesan of South Grafton
Top U1500:	Richard Bennett of Gardner
Top U1300:	Noah Rogers of New Ipswich, NH, Hugh McLaughlin of Groton

The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Noah Rogers	+105
Jackson Parker	+77
Hugh McLaughlin	+59

The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Rob King	2145
Seetharaman Ganesan	1676
Jackson Parker	1660
Noah Rogers	1301
Emily Gawboy	851

REMINDER: The chess club will not meet Wednesday, November 25, the night before Thanksgiving.
The next tournament, the George Sturgis Memorial, will begin Wednesday, December 2.
Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for Round 1. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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November 18th, 2015

Revised Projected pairings

Revised Projected Round 5 pairings for November 18th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
1     Roger Cappallo (3.5)     Geoff LePoer (3.5)
2     Robert King (3.0)     Lawrence Gladding (3.5)
3     Edward Harris (3.0)     Lenny Arsenault (3.0)
4     George Mirijanian (2.5)     Alan Condon (2.5)
5     Ed Rogers (2.5)     Paul Godin (2.5)
6     David Thomas (2.5)     Seetharaman Ganesan (2.5)
7     Jackson Parker (2.5)     Kenneth Gurge (2.5)
8     Dave Couture (2.0)     Tom Fratturelli (2.0)
9     Gary Brassard (2.0)     Anthony Bracco (2.0)
10     Arthur Barlas (2.0)     Brian Biglow (2.0)
11     Michael Commisso (2.0)     Joseph Bennett (2.0)
12     Laurence O'Rourke (2.0)     James Hankard (2.0)
13     Gail Lingner (1.5)     Michael Meehan (1.5)
14     Robert Mathieu (1.5)     Randy McLaughlin (1.5)
15     Wayne Steadman (1.5)     John Bastarache (1.0)
16     Hugh McLaughlin (1.0)     Donald Briggs (1.0)
17     Richard Bennett (1.0)     Finneas Rogers (1.0)
18     Noah Rogers (1.0)     Andrew Kiser (1.0)
19     Tom Whistler (0.0)     Emily Gawboy (0.5)

November 15th, 2015

Rating Updates

A number of WCC members played in the 40th New Hampshire Amateur tournament this past weekend.
Here are their new ratings grouped by the section in which they played:

♔ Championship (U2100):
Roger Cappallo -> 1937

♖ Intermediate (U1750):
Joe Bennett -> 1737
Jim Hankard -> 1698
Michael Commisso -> 1619
Ed Rogers -> 1554
Randy McLaughlin -> 1451
Stan Talcott -> 1446

♘ Novice (U1300):
Noah Rogers -> 1196
Hugh McLaughlin -> 1071
Jeromy Tilton -> 986
Sebastian Tilton -> 895
Finneaas Rogers -> 862

November 11th, 2015

2015 Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial
Round 4 of 5

**Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial, November 11th, 2015**
Round 4 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Ken Gurge	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Geoff LePoer	1-0	Dave Thomas
Larry Gladding	1-0	Jackson Parker
Jim Hankard	0-1	Rob King
Ed Harris	1-0	Mike Commisso
Paul Godin	1-0	Brian Biglow
Tom Fratturelli	1/2-1/2	Gary Brassard
Alan Condon	1-0	Bob Mathieu
Seeth Ganesan	1-0	Gail Lingner
Mike Meehan	0-1	Ed Rogers
Randy McLaughlin	0-1	Dave Couture
Don Briggs	0-1	Arthur Barlas
Joe Bennett	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
George Miller	1-0	Noah Rogers
Andrew Kiser	0-1	Larry O'Rourke
Anthony Bracco	1-0	John Bastarache
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Wayne Steadman
Finn Rogers	1-0	Tom Whistler

Receiving half-point byes were Ray Paulson, Lenny Arsenault, George Mirijanian, Richard Bennett and Francis Scanlon.
Not playing round 4 was Stan Talcott.
The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes Anthony Bracco from Winchendon and he is playing in his first USCF-rated tournament.

**Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial, November 11th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.5	Cappallo, LePoer, Gladding
3.0	King, Paulson, Harris, Arsenault
2.5	Mirijanian, Godin, Thomas, Gurge, Condon, Ganesan, E. Rogers, Parker
2.0	Couture, Brassard, Barlas, J. Bennett, Hankard, Commisso, Fratturelli, Biglow, Miller, O'Rourke, Bracco
1.5	Meehan, Mathieu, Lingner, R. McLaughlin, Steadman
1.0	Bastarache, Talcott, Briggs, R. Bennett, N. Rogers, H McLaughlin, Scanlon, F. Rogers, Kiser
0.5	Gawboy
0.0	Whistler

Projected Round 5 pairings for November 18th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cappallo vs. LePoer
Board 2: King vs. Gladding
Board 3: Harris vs. Arsenault
Board 4: Mirijanian vs. Condon
Board 5: E. Rogers vs. Godin
Board 6: Thomas vs. Ganesan
Board 7: Parker vs. Gurge
Board 8: Couture vs. Fratturelli
Board 9: Brassard vs. Miller
Board 10: Barlas vs. Bracco
Board 11: Commisso vs. J. Bennett
Board 12: Biglow vs. Hankard
Board 13: O'Rourke vs. Meehan
Board 14: Steadman vs. Mathieu
Board 15: Lingner vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 16: H. McLaughlin vs. Bastarache
Board 17: Scanlon vs. Briggs
Board 18: R. Bennett vs. F. Rogers
Board 19: N. Rogers vs. Kiser
Board 20: Whistler vs. Gawboy

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 5 on November 18th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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November 10th, 2015

Carissa's Performance At World Youth Championships Covered in Media.

As expected, Carissa Yip's performance at this year's World Youth & Cadets Chess Championships has generated lots of media attention both online & in print:

Boston Globe Publishes Round 5 Game with annotations by FM Chris Chase.
Chess Life Online has several articles about the tournament, players & coaches.
Chess Maine has an article about Carissa & Cynthia Cui.
Dave Couture's letter to Chess Life was actually published in the magazine.
David R. Sands' Feature article in The Washington Times with annotations on last Carissa's round game.

"Carissa Yip - Our Youngest Female Master!"
Not only that, she's a great kid as well. She was gracious enough to mention my win against her in the August 2015 Chess Life, but I want it to be known that she was a very gracious in defeat as well.
She took time to review the game with me and was pretty much her usual upbeat, positive self while doing it.
She and her parents should be proud of her record-setting achievement, but they can also be very proud of the fact that she's just an all-around good kid. Rock on Carissa! I hope to see you on the cover of Chess Life as world champion in the future.
-Dave Couture
Mr. Couture is the author of:
"Progressive Tactics - 1002 Challenging Chess Tactics".

November 6th, 2015

FIDE World Youth & Cadets Chess Championships Awards Ceremony

Carissa Yip Tied For First Place, Clear Second Place After Tie Breaks, At 2015 World Youth & Cadet Chess Championships
Grand Resort Hotel, Porto Carras, Halkidiki, Greece.
Carissa at the FIDE World Youth Closing Ceremony receiveing her second place trophy.	Carissa studies her position in Round 11.

November 5th, 2015

Round 11 - FINAL, FIDE World Youth & Cadets Chess Championships UPDATE 2015

Carissa Ties For First Place @ World Youth!

While Carissa Yip was busy winning her 11th round game at the FIDE rated World Youth Championships, it seems Bulgarian WFM Nurgyul Salimova, who had been reported to have led by half a point coming into the last round, in fact had drawn her round 6 game with the eventual third place finisher, WCM Saina Salonika of India, & thereby ended the tourney with 9.5/11, the same score as Carissa. This placed both Carissa Yip & WFM Nurgyul Salimova tied for top honors at the conclusion. WFM Salimova's tie break scores were slightly better than Carissa's, so the official championship goes to the Bulgarian, however this does place Carissa at equal first in a FIDE world championship contest, which should result in her gaining a WFM title soon. Congratulations on a fantastic performance!

November 5th, 2015

Round 11 - FINAL, FIDE World Youth & Cadets Chess Championships 2015

Carissa Finishes Clear 2nd @ World Youth!

Carissa Yip completed her 11 round FIDE rated event in Greece today with a fine last round win placing her at 9.5/11. WFM Nurgyul Salimova who had led by half a point coming into the last round won also & finished cleara first with 10/11. A last round draw at board three leaves Carissa Yip in clear second place, yet another outstanding performance for Carissa in the long grind of eleven rounds played halfway around the world!

November 4th, 2015

2015 Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial
Round 3 of 5

**Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial, November 4th, 2015**
Round 3 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Roger Cappallo	1/2-1/2	Larry Gladding
Geoff LePoer	1-0	Ed Harris
Dave Thomas	1-0	Tom Fratturelli
Lenny Arsenault	1-0	Ed Rogers
Jackson Parker	1-0	Seeth Ganesan
Rob King	1-0	George Miller
Larry O'Rourke	0-1	George Mirijanian
John Bastarache	0-1	Jim Hankard
Andrew Kiser	0-1	Mike Commisso
Brian Biglow	1-0	Noah Rogers
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Paul Godin
Richard Bennett	0-1	Mike Meehan
Bob Mathieu	1-0	Emily Gawboy
Gail Lingner	1-0	Francis Scanlon
Finn Rogers	0-1	Joe Bennett
Tom Whistler	0-1	Don Briggs

Receiving half-point byes were Ray Paulson, Ken Gurge, Gary Brassard, Alan Condon, Randy McLaughlin,
Stan Talcott and Hugh McLaughlin.
Receiving retroactive half-point byes for rounds 1 and 2 but not playing round 3 was Arthur Barlas.
Also not playing round 3 was Dave Couture. Withdrawing from the tournament were Paul and Kandy Lynch.

**Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial, November 4th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
2.5	Paulson, Cappallo, LePoer, Gladding, Thomas, Gurge, Arsenault, Parker
2.0	King, Mirijanian, Harris, Hankard, Commisso, Biglow
1.5	Godin, Brassard, Condon, Ganesan, E. Rogers, Fratturelli, Meehan, Mathieu, Lingner, R. McLaughlin
1.0	Couture, Barlas, J. Bennett, Miller, O'Rourke, Bastarache, Talcott, Briggs, N. Rogers, H. McLaughlin, Kiser
0.5	Steadman, R. Bennett, Scanlon, Gawboy
0.0	F. Rogers, Whistler.

Projected Round 4 pairings for November 11th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Gurge vs. Cappallo
Board 2: LePoer vs. Arsenault
Board 3: Gladding vs. Thomas
Board 4: Parker vs. King
Board 5: Hankard vs. Mirijanian
Board 6: Harris vs. Commisso
Board 7: Godin vs. Biglow
Board 8: Fratturelli vs. Brassard
Board 9: Condon vs. Mathieu
Board 10: Ganesan vs. Lingner
Board 11: Meehan vs. E. Rogers
Board 12: R. McLaughlin vs. Couture
Board 13: Barlas vs. Bastarache
Board 14: J. Bennett vs. Briggs
Board 15: Miller vs. N. Rogers
Board 16: H. McLaughlin vs. O'Rourke
Board 17: Talcott vs. Kiser
Board 18: Scanlon vs. Steadman
Board 19: Gawboy vs. R. Bennett
Board 20: F. Rogers vs. Whistler

Paulson will receive a half-point bye unless he appears to play round 4.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on November 11th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

November 4th, 2015

Rating Updates

Rob King -> 2143
Eric Strickland -> 1897
Ed Harris -> 1742
Mike Commisso -> 1651
Noah Rogers -> 1208
Finneaas Rogers -> 903

Rob King & Michael Commisso played in the Spooktacular Amateur tournament and
Eric Srtickland & Ed Harris played in the Vermont Open,
also Both Noah & Finneas Rogers played in the Pelham Memorial Halloween Open
You can see these & other updated ratings at RatingUpdates.html
Congratulations, to all.

October 31st, 2015

Round 6, FIDE World Youth & Cadets Chess Championships 2015

Carissa Leads World Youth By A Full Point After Six Rounds!

Carissa Yip now leaads the Girls Under 12 Section of the World Youth & Cadets Chess Championships by a a full point ahead of her nearest competitors. For round 7, Carissa will be paired with Bulgarian WFM, Nurgyul Salimova, who has the highest FIDE rating of any of the girls in the under 12 section at 2144 vs. Carissa's 2007 FIDE rating. WFM Salimova is one of seven contestants currently tied for 2nd-8th place with five points thus far. While it's true that six rounds is just over halfwaay through an eleven round event, & therefore anything could happen, it's also true that six wins in a row is an outstanding performance & a full point is a commanding lead. It appears that Carissa is once again making history.

Watch Carissa's games live online http://www.wycc2015.org/live-games/girls-12/ at 3:00 PM local time, Greece, which is 8:00 AM here.

October 30th, 2015

Round 5, FIDE World Youth & Cadets Chess Championships 2015

Carissa Tops World Youth After Five Rounds!

The US flag flies high atop the Girls Under 12 Section of the World Youth & Cadets Chess Championships, thanks in no small part to the stellar performance of Carissa Yip, who now stands alongside only one other contender with a perfect 5-0 record after the first five rounds of the eleven round international tournament. Though Carissa is as yet untitled in FIDE competition, she entered field of 120 contestants as the third highest FIDE rated contestant. The field includes no fewer than 23 FIDE titled players with 12 Woman Candidate Masters & 11 Woman FIDE Masters.

Carissa Yip Leads World Youth Championships 2015, Greece After Five Rounds
King's Indian Defense, then a crushing attack.
Carissa Yip on her way to an earlier victory Photo taken after five moves in Round 3.	Mane Hovhannisyan vs Carissa Yip Round 5, World Youth Championships 2015, Greece While her king peers out over a gigantic void of open space, Carissa finishes off her Round 5 opponent following a successful exchange sacrifice.

October 29th, 2015

Round 4, FIDE World Youth & Cadets Chess Championships 2015

Carissa one of four leaders after four rounds at World Youth

♕ 2014 WCC Champion, Carissa Yip, is one of five Massachusetts residents, along with Derek Jin & Winston Zhao, (Open Under 8), Samuel Sevian, (Open Under 16), & Mika Brattain, (Open Under 18), qualified for the 2015 World Youth Championships held in Halkidiki, Greece.
The eleven round FIDE rated event will be held from October 24 - November 5
As the only girl from Massachusetts on the USA Youth Chess Team, Carissa will be competing in the 2015 Girls Under 12 Section.
As the games are played, they may be available for viewing or PGN download at Chess-Results.com
After four rounds, Carissa is one of four leaders with four points & a FIDE tournament performance rating of 2456!
The tournament crosstable shows results after each round & next pairing.
You can follow the games live online, download PGN's &/or vies hundreds of pictures of the event at the main wycc2015.org web site
We wish Carissa the continued success!

October 28th, 2015

2015 Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial
Round 2 of 5

**Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial, October 28th, 2015**
Round 2 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Ray Paulson	1-0	Alan Condon
Jim Hankard	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Mike Commisso	0-1	Larry Gladding
Ed Rogers	1/2-1/2	Dave Thomas
Ed Harris	1-0	John Bastarache
Noah Rogers	0-1	Ken Gurge
Paul Godin	0-1	Jackson Parker
Mike Meehan	0-1	Geoff LePoer
Seeth Ganesan	1-0	Bob Mathieu
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Wayne Steadman
Gary Brassard	1-0	Richard Bennett
Joe Bennett	0-1	Randy McLaughlin
Don Briggs	0-1	Brian Biglow
George Miller	1-0	Finn Rogers
Larry O'Rourke	1-0	Tom Whistler
Emily Gawboy	1/2-1/2	Gail Lingner

Receiving half-point byes were Lenny Arsenault, Rob King, George Mirijanian, Dave Couture, Paul Lynch, Kandy Lynch,
Stan Talcott, Hugh McLaughlin and Francis Scanlon.

**Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial, October 28th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
2.0	Paulson, Cappallo, Gladding, Harris, Gurge
1.5	LePoer, Thomas, Arsenault, Ganesan, E. Rogers, Fratturelli, Parker
1.0	King, Mirijanian, Couture, Brassard, Condon, Hankard, P. Lynch, Commisso, Biglow, Miller, O'Rourke, Bastarache, R.McLaughlin, N. Rogers, K. Lynch
0.5	Godin, Meehan, Mathieu, Lingner, Talcott, Steadman, R. Bennett, H.McLaughlin, Scanlon, Gawboy
0.0	J. Bennett, Briggs, F.Rogers, Whistler

Projected Round 3 pairings for November 4th: (Revised)
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Roger Cappallo (2.0) vs. Lawrence Gladding (2.0)
Board 2: Geoff LePoer (1.5) vs. Edward Harris (2.0)
Board 3: David Thomas (1.5) vs. Tom Fratturelli (1.5)
Board 4: Lenny Arsenault (1.5) vs. Ed Rogers (1.5)
Board 5: Jackson Parker (1.5) vs. Seetharaman Ganesan (1.5)
Board 6: Brian Biglow (1.0) vs. George Mirijanian (1.0)
Board 7: Dave Couture (1.0) vs. George Miller (1.0)
Board 8: Laurence O'Rourke (1.0) vs. Gary Brassard (1.0)
Board 9: John Bastarache (1.0) vs. James Hankard (1.0)
Board 10: Paul Lynch (1.0) vs. Noah Rogers (1.0)
Board 11: Randy McLaughlin (1.0) vs. Michael Commisso (1.0)
Board 12: Kandy Lynch (1.0) vs. Paul Godin (0.5)
Board 13: Wayne Steadman (0.5) vs. Michael Meehan (0.5)
Board 14: Richard Bennett (0.5) vs. Robert Mathieu (0.5)
Board 15: Gail Lingner (0.5) vs. Francis Scanlon II (0.5)
Board 16: Stanford Talcott (0.5) vs. Emily Gawboy (0.5)
Board 17: Finneas Rogers (0.0) vs. Joseph Bennett (0.0)
Board 18: Tom Whistler (0.0) vs. Donald Briggs (0.0)
1/2  Raymond Paulson (2.0)  BYE
1/2  Kenneth Gurge (2.0)  BYE
1/2  Alan Condon (1.0)  BYE
1/2  Hugh McLaughlin (0.5)  BYE

Due to receive half-point byes are Gurge, Condon, H. McLaughlin and Scanlon. King will be paired if he appears for Round 3.
Returning after several months absence are Geoff LePoer & Seeth Ganesan.
We welcome them back & coincidentally, they are projected to be paired with each other next week!

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on November 4th.
Players running late who wish to be paired cannot call Ken Gurge at the club, since he will not be at the club.
Other means of communication must be made by 7 p.m., at the latest.

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October 27th, 2015

Pictures from 82nd Greater Boston Open

WCC Members in 82nd Greater Boston Open
Dave Couture took some photos at the 82nd Greater Boston Open which may be viewed here.
Gary Brassard (L)	Larry Gladding	Gary Brassard (R)

October 24th, 2015

Rating Updates

Dave Thomas -> 1813

Dave Thomas played in the 8th WMCA Memorial tournament last Saturday (October 17), which was rated by the USCF yesterday. Dave increased his rating to 1813. That's a gain of 43 points from the 4th WMCA Memorial he played in Holyoke
Congratulations, Dave.

2015 Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial
Projected Round 2 pairings for October 28th: (Revised October 24)
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
1     Raymond Paulson (1.0)  vs.  Alan Condon (1.0)
2     James Hankard (1.0)   vs.   Roger Cappallo (1.0)
3     Lenny Arsenault (1.0)  vs.  Lawrence Gladding (1.0)
4     Michael Commisso (1.0)  vs.  David Thomas (1.0)
5     Edward Harris (1.0)    vs.  Ed Rogers (1.0)
6     John Bastarache (1.0)  vs.  Kenneth Gurge (1.0)
7     Paul Godin (0.5)  vs.  Noah Rogers (1.0)
8     Jackson Parker (0.5)  vs.  George Mirijanian (0.5)
9     Michael Meehan (0.5)  vs.  Geoff LePoer (0.5)
10     Paul Lynch (0.5)  vs.  Robert Mathieu (0.5)
11     Wayne Steadman (0.5)  vs.  Seetharaman Ganesan (0.5)
12     Tom Fratturelli (0.5)  vs.  Richard Bennett (0.5)
13     Gary Brassard (0.0)  vs.  Kandy Lynch (0.5)
14     Joseph Bennett (0.0)  vs.  Randy McLaughlin (0.0)
15     Donald Briggs (0.0)  vs.  Brian Biglow (0.0)
16     George Miller (0.0)  vs.  Francis Scanlon II (0.0)
17     Laurence O'Rourke (0.0)  vs.  Tom Whistler (0.0)
18     Finneas Rogers (0.0)  vs.   Gail Lingner (0.0)
19     Stanford Talcott (0.0)  vs.   Emily Gawboy (0.0)

October 24th, 2015

Wachusett Chess Club Active & Inactive player lists

In addition to the 49 active players who regularly compete at the club, we now show 111 players on the inactive list in rating order based on their most recent USCF rated event going back as far as November of 1991.

October 21st, 2015

2015 Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial
Round 1 of 5

First Faceoffs in Fandreyer Frays Flabbergast Four!

By defeating class B rated duo of Gary Brassard (1789) & Joe Bennett (1742), class C, John Bastarache (1503) & Class D, Noah Rogers (1224), were the big heroes last night scoring full point upsets of 286 & 518 rating points respectively. Meanwhile, USCF Expert & current club champion, George Mirijanian & class A rated, Paul Godin, had to settle for draws against their Class C rated opponents, Mike Meehan & Bob Mathieu respectively.

**Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial, October 21st, 2015**
Round 1 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
George Mirijanian	1/2-1/2	Mike Meehan
Brian Biglow	0-1	Ray Paulson
Roger Cappallo	1-0	George Miller
Bob Mathieu	1/2-1/2	Paul Godin
Larry Gladding	1-0	Larry O'Rourke
John Bastarache	1-0	Gary Brassard
Dave Thomas	1-0	Stan Talcott
Randy McLaughlin	0-1	Ed Harris
Ken Gurge	1-0	Don Briggs
Noah Rogers	1-0	Joe Bennett
Alan Condon	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
Francis Scanlon	0-1	Jim Hankard
Lenny Arsenault	1-0	Finn Rogers
Tom Whistler	0-1	Mike Commisso
Ed Rogers	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were Rob King, Geoff LePoer, Dave Couture, Paul Lynch, Tom Fratturelli, Jackson Parker,
Wayne Steadman, Richard Bennett and Kandy Lynch.
Declining a half-point bye was Gail Lingner.

**Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial, October 21st, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
1.0	Paulson, Cappallo, Gladding, Thomas, Harris, Gurge, Condon, Hankard, Arsenault, Commisso, E. Rogers, Bastarache, N. Rogers
0.5	King, Mirijanian, Godin, LePoer, Couture, P. Lynch, Fratturelli, Meehan, Parker, Mathieu, Steadman, R. Bennett. K. Lynch
0.0	Brassard, J. Bennett, Biglow, Miller, O'Rourke, Lingner, Talcott, R. McLaughlin, Briggs, H. McLaughlin, Scanlon, F. Rogers, Whistler, Gawboy

Projected Round 2 pairings for October 28th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Paulson vs. Condon
Board 2 Hankard vs. Cappallo
Board 3: Arsenault vs. Gladding
Board 4: Commisso vs. Thomas
Board 5: Harris vs. E. Rogers
Board 6: Bastarache vs. Gurge
Board 7: Godin vs. N. Rogers
Board 8: Parker vs. Mirijanian
Board 9: Meehan vs. LePoer
Board 10: Couture vs. Mathieu
Board 11: Steadman vs. P. Lynch
Board 12: Fratturelli vs. R. Bennett
Board 13: Brassard vs. K. Lynch
Board 14: J. Bennett vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 15: Briggs vs. Biglow
Board 16: Miller vs. Scanlon
Board 17: O'Rourke vs. Whistler
Board 18: F. Rogers vs. Lingner
Board 19: Talcott vs. Gawboy

Requesting a half-point bye for Round 2 is Hugh McLaughlin.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on October 28th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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October 20th, 2015

Rating Updates

Five Wachusett CC members played in the 82nd Greater Boston Open on Sunday in Marlboro. Here are their updated ratings:
Larry Gladding -> 1822
Dave Couture -> 1795
Gary Brassard -> 1789
Jim Hankard -> 1701
Jackson Parker -> 1583

Jackson played in the Open section and gained 16 points.
Dave played in the U1900 section and tied for 3rd, gaining a whopping 71 points.
Larry also played in the U1900 section and lost 7 points
Gary played in the U1900 section and lost 46 points.
Jim tied for first in the U1700 section but lost 5 points.

The biggest story of this tournament was of course that of USCF expert, Joseph Perl, who beat two masters & an A player & held Senior Master Steven Winer to a draw, which placed him tied for first in the Open Section with 2572 GM Alexandar Ivanov, 2442 FM Steven Winer, 2323 NM Michael Villenchuk & 2266 NM Michael Chen & thereby raised his rating from 2116 to near master level of 2173.

Congratulations to all!

October 19th, 2015

Massachusetts Players Competing in the Milloionaire Open 2

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
USCF MSA - Cross Table for MILLIONAIRE CHESS OPEN 2
(Event 201510125682)
Below is a list of all players from the state of MA competing:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Section 1 - U1600
#: State USCF-ID  Player-Name  Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Title-Norm Opp-List
37: MA 10013941 DENNIS L BRADBURY R: 1491 -> 1476 Opponents
62: MA 12887537 MICHAEL STEVENS R: 1490 -> 1424 Opponents

Section 2 - OPEN
#: State USCF-ID  Player-Name  Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Title-Norm Opp-List
42: MA 13493815 SAMUEL SEVIAN R: 2654 -> 2656 Opponents
72: MA 12513936 ALEXANDER IVANOV R: 2606 -> 2572 Opponents
135: MA 15206958 LUIS FLAQUER R: 2315 -> 2300 Opponents

Section 3 - U1800
#: State USCF-ID  Player-Name  Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Title-Norm Opp-List
27: MA 14902922 D G BIRD R: 1690 -> 1698 Opponents

Section 4 - U2200
#: State USCF-ID  Player-Name  Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Title-Norm Opp-List
1: MA 12627137 MICHAEL R MAHONEY R: 2158 -> 2217 Opponents
16: MA 12497363 LIBARDO RUEDA R: 2121 -> 2142 Opponents
32: MA 12685114 BRIAN D SALOMON R: 2147 -> 2150 Opponents
73: MA 12501406 MICHAEL CAVALLO R: 2063 -> 2029 Opponents
88: MA 12659361 JOHN CURCURU R: 2000 -> 2000 Opponents

Section 7 - U2000
#: State USCF-ID  Player-Name  Rtng-In -> Rtng-Out Title-Norm Opp-List
28: MA 12876141 JAMES M APIRI R: 1877 -> 1906 Opponents
52: MA 15466651 PINYI HU R: 1784 -> 1811 Opponents
84: MA 11366805 NATASHA C CHRISTIANSEN R: 1943 -> 1873 Opponents
86: MA 12864842 CALVIN G HORI R: 1884 -> 1847 Opponents
92: MA 14489810 COLLINS APIRI R: 1753 -> 1726 Opponents
112: MA 11366805 NATASHA C CHRISTIANSEN R: 1943 -> 1873 Opponents

October 17th, 2015

Assumption College Intercollegiate Chess Tournament Results

October 14th, 2015

2015 Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial
Round 5 of 5

**Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, October 14th, 2015**
Round 5 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Gary Brassard	0-1	Ray Paulson
Paul Godin	0-1	Rob King
Dave Couture	0-1	George Mirijanian
Lenny Arsenault	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Dave Thomas	1/2-1/2	Mike Meehan
Ken Gurge	1/2-1/2	Ed Rogers
George Miller	0-1	Ed Harris
Brian Biglow	1/2-1/2	Mike Commisso
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Jackson Parker
Jim Hankard	1-0	Finn Rogers
Tom Whistler	0-1	Joe Bennett
Noah Rogers	0-1	Bob Mathieu
Larry O'Rourke	1-0	Wayne Steadman
John Bastarache	1-0	Don Briggs
Gail Lingner	0-1	Stan Talcott
Randy McLaughlin	1-0	Emily Gawboy
Francis Scanlon	0-1	Hugh McLaughlin

Not playing round 5 were Larry Gladding, Alan Condon, Richard Bennett and Kandy Lynch.
Paul Lynch was withdrawn from the tournament.

**Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, October 14th, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
4.5	Paulson
4.0	King, Mirijanian
3.5	Cappallo, Brassard
3.0	Godin, Thomas, Gladding, Harris, Gurge, Couture, Arsenault, Meehan, Hankard, Fratturelli, E. Rogers
2.5	J. Bennett, Commisso, Biglow, Mathieu, O'Rourke
2.0	Condon, Parker, Miller, Bastarache, Talcott, Whistler, F. Rogers
1.5	R. McLaughlin, Steadman, H. McLaughlin, N. Rogers
1.0	Lingner, Briggs, R Bennett, K.Lynch, Gawboy
0.5	Scanlon

♔ 2015 Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:	Ray Paulson of Lowell
2nd-3rd:	Rob King of Framingham, George Mirijanian of Fitchburg
Top U1850:	Gary Brassard of Leominster
Top U1650:	Lenny Arsenault and Tom Fratturelli, both of Leominster, Mike Meehan of Westminster, Jim Hankard of Antrim, NH, Ed Rogers of New Ipswich, NH
Top U1450:	Tom Whistler of Worcester, Finneas Rogers of New Ipswich, NH

The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Finn Rogers	+122
Tom Whistler	+96
Emily Gawboy	+73
Larry O'Rourke	+65
Ed Rogers	+56

The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Rob King	2128
Ed Rogers	1622
Larry O'Rourke	1515
Finn Rogers	924
Emily Gawboy	830

REMINDER: The next tournament at the club will be the Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial, which starts Wednesday, October 21st.
Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 1 on October 21st.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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October 14th, 2015

Rating Updates

The 9th annual Knights Chess Club Championship was rated Tuesday, October 13th by the USCF.
The event ended on Monday.
Those who competed in the KCC Championship and now have new ratings are the following:
Eric Strickland -> 1896
Dave Thomas -> 1787
Ed Harris -> 1767
Jim Hankard -> 1706
Stan Talcott -> 1470
Noah Rogers -> 1218
Finneas Rogers -> 802

Eric Strickland won the KCC club championship with a score of 3.5-0.5, including a half-point bye in round 3.
Ed Harris tied for 2nd-3rd with a 3-1 score.
Noah Rogers increased his rating to his all time high of 1218.
Finneas Rogers increased his rating to his all time high of 802.
Gary Brassard played one game, but his rating of 1827 didn't change.
Congratulations to all.

October 11th, 2015

Rating Updates

Here are updated ratings for Wachusett CC players who competed over this weekend.
Carissa Yip -> 2235
Brandon Wu -> 2066
Ray Paulson -> 2010
Nowell Sheinwald -> 1887

October 7th, 2015

2015 Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial
Round 4 of 5

**Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, October 07th, 2015**
Round 4 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Ray Paulson	1-0	Paul Godin
Ed Rogers	0-1	Gary Brassard
Len Arsenault	1/2-1/2	Dave Couture
Ed Harris	0-1	Rob King
George Mirijanian	1-0	Tom Fratturelli
Larry Gladding	1-0	Brian Biglow
Roger Cappallo	1-0	Wayne Steadman
Ken Gurge	1-0	Larry O'Rourke
Mike Meehan	1-0	Noah Rogers
Joe Bennett	1/2-1/2	Bob Mathieu
Mike Commisso	1-0	John Bastarache
Jackson Parker	1-0	Emily Gawboy
Don Briggs	0-1	George Miller
Finn Rogers	1-0	Francis Scanlon
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Gail Lingner

Receiving half-point byes were Dave Thomas, Alan Condon, Jim Hankard, Tom Whistler, Richard Bennett and Randy McLaughlin.
Not playing round 4 were Paul Lynch, Stan Talcott and Kandy Lynch..

**Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, October 07th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.5	Paulson, Brassard
3.0	King, Mirijanian, Godin, Gladding, Couture, Arsenault
2.5	Cappallo, Thomas, Gurge, Meehan, E. Rogers
2.0	Harris, Condon, Commisso, Fratturelli, Hankard, Parker, Miller, Biglow, Whistler, F. Rogers
1.5	J. Bennett, Mathieu, O'Rourke, Steadman, N. Rogers
1.0	P. Lynch, Bastarache, Lingner, Talcott, Briggs, R. Bennett, K. Lynch, Gawboy
0.5	R. McLaughlin, H. McLaughlin, Scanlon

Projected Round 5 pairings for October 14th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Brassard vs. Paulson
Board 2: Gladding vs. Mirijanian
Board 3: Couture vs. Godin
Board 4: Arsenault vs. Cappallo
Board 5: Thomas vs. Meehan
Board 6: Gurge vs. E. Rogers
Board 7: Miller vs. Harris
Board 8: Biglow vs. Condon
Board 9: Whistler vs. Commisso
Board 10: Fratturelli vs. Parker
Board 11: Hankard vs. F. Rogers
Board 12: Steadman vs. J. Bennett
Board 13: O'Rourke vs. Mathieu
Board 14: N. Rogers vs. P. Lynch
Board 15: Bastarache vs. Briggs
Board 16: Lingner vs. K. Lynch
Board 17: R. Bennett vs. Talcott
Board 18: R. McLaughlin vs. Gawboy
Board 19: Scanlon vs. H. McLaughlin

NOTE: The club welcomes new player Mike Commisso from Brookline, NH.
We are very happy to have him compete In the current tournament.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 5 on October 14th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

September 30th, 2015

2015 Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial
Round 3 of 5

**Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, September 30th, 2015**
Round 3 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Paul Godin	1-0	Larry Gladding
Gary Brassard	1/2-1/2	Len Arsenault
Ray Paulson	1-0	Ken Gurge
Ed Rogers	1-0	Roger Cappallo
Dave Couture	1-0	Jim Hankard
Robert King	1-0	Tom Whistler
Bob Mathieu	0-1	George Mirijanian
John Bastarache	0-1	Dave Thomas
Stan Talcott	0-1	Ed Harris
Wayne Steadman	1/2-1/2	Mike Meehan
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Finn Rogers
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Brian Biglow
Noah Rogers	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
George Miller	1-0	Randy McLaughlin
Gail Lingner	0-1	Don Briggs

Receiving half-point byes were Alan Condon, Larry O'Rourke, Joe Bennett, Kandy Lynch, Richard Bennett and Francis Scanlon.
Withdrawing from the tournament were Geoff LePoer and Eric Strickland.
Not playing round 3 was Paul Lynch.

Here's a link to the video of the end of tonight's board 8 match between John Bastarache & Dave Thomas. Both players running short on time after a tough see-saw battle.

**Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, September 30th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.0	Godin
2.5	Paulson, Brassard, Couture, Arsenault, E. Rogers
2.0	King, Mirijanian, Thomas, Gladding, Harris, Fratturelli, Biglow
1.5	Cappallo, Gurge, Condon, Meehan, Hankard, O'Rourke, Steadman, N. Rogers, Whistler
1.0	J. Bennett, P. Lynch, Miller, Mathieu, Bastarache, Talcott, Briggs, K. Lynch, Gawboy, F. Rogers
0.5	R. Bennett, H. McLaughlin, Scanlon
0.0	Lingner, R. McLaughlin

Projected Round 4 pairings for October 7th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Paulson vs. Godin
Board 2: E. Rogers vs. Brassard
Board 3: Arsenault vs.Couture
Board 4: Gladding vs. King
Board 5: Harris vs. Mirijanian
Board 6: Thomas vs. Fratturelli
Board 7: Biglow vs. Cappallo
Board 8: Gurge vs. O'Rourke
Board 9: Hankard vs. Condon
Board 10: Meehan vs. N. Rogers
Board 11: J. Bennett vs. Steadman
Board 12: P. Lynch vs. Talcott
Board 13: Briggs vs. Miller
Board 14: K. Lynch vs. Mathieu
Board 15: F. Rogers vs. Bastarache
Board 16: R. Bennett vs. Gawboy
Board 17: Scanlon vs. Lingner

Requesting a half-point bye for Round 4 are Tom Whistler, Randy McLaughlin and Hugh McLaughlin.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on October 7th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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September 28th, 2015

Rating Updates

Brandon Wu Finishes First @ BCC!

Here are updated ratings for Wachusett CC players who competed over this weekend
Brett Kildahl -> 2143
Robert King -> 2099
Brandon Wu -> 2078

Brandon Wu scored a perfect 4-0 to win the BCF $15 Open on Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Boylston Chess Club.
He gained 49 rating points and raised his rating to 2078.Brandon's rating of 2078 is now his all-time high.

Rob King scored a respectable 2.5 in the Open Section of the five round 6th Annual Hartford Open &
added 32 points to his rating to reach his all time high rating of 2099.

Brett Kildahl is back playing again. He competed in the September Chess Snippet at the Greater Worcester Chess Club.
The event, which ended Thursday, Sept.24, saw Kildahl lose 29 rating points and drop his rating to 2143.

Congratulations to all!

September 23rd, 2015

2015 Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial
Round 2 of 5

**Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, September 23rd, 2015**
Round 2 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Roger Cappallo	1/2-1/2	Ken Gurge
Ed Harris	0-1	Paul Godin
Dave Thomas	0-1	Lenny Arsenault
Alan Condon	0-1	Gary Brassard
Larry Gladding	1-0	Tom Fratturelli
Larry O'Rourke	0-1	Ray Paulson
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Dave Couture
Jim Hankard	1-0	Noah Rogers
Kandy Lynch	0-1	Ed Rogers
Finn Rogers	1/2-1/2	Joe Bennett
Mike Meehan	1-0	Randy McLaughlin
Wayne Steadman	1-0	George Miller
Brian Biglow	1-0	Don Briggs
Francis Scanlon	0-1	Bob Mathieu
John Bastarache	1-0	Richard Bennett
Emily Gawboy	1-0	Gail Lingner

Receiving half-point byes were Tom Whistler, Robert King, George Mirijanian, Geoff LePoer, Eric Strickland, Paul Lynch and Stan Talcott.

**Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, September 23rd, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
2.0	Godin, Brassard, Gladding, Arsenault
1.5	Paulson, Cappallo, Gurge, Couture, Hankard, E. Rogers, Whistler
1.0	King, Mirijanian, LePoer Strickland, Thomas, Harris, Condon, P. Lynch, Meehan, Fratturelli, Biglow, Mathieu, Bastarache, Talcott, O'Rourke, Steadman, Gawboy, F. Rogers
0.5	J. Bennett, H. McLaughlin, K. Lynch, N. Rogers
0.0	Miller, Lingner, R. McLaughlin, Briggs, R. Bennett, Scanlon

Mike Meehan vs. Randy McLaughlin from the Rocco Pasquale Memorial, Round 2, Board 11
"Good" Bishop vs. "Bad" Bishop?
Mike Meehan (R) plans a decisive breakthrough With all 16 pawns still on the board, & most of them blocked. Note that all 8 white pawns are on the same color as his bishop. Photo by Dave Couture	Diagrammed position from photo at left Mike Meehan - Randy McLaughlin White (Mike) to play. Can he find a way to break through without trading down to a lost ending?

Projected Round 3 pairings for September 30th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Paul Godin (2.0)   vs.   Lawrence Gladding (2.0)
Board 2: Gary Brassard (2.0)  vs.    Lenny Arsenault (2.0)
Board 3: Raymond Paulson (1.5) vs.    Kenneth Gurge (1.5)
Board 4: Ed Rogers (1.5)  vs.   Roger Cappallo (1.5)
Board 5: Dave Couture (1.5)  vs.    James Hankard (1.5)
Board 6: Robert King (1.0)  vs.    Tom Whistler (1.5)
Board 7: Robert Mathieu (1.0)   vs.   George Mirijanian (1.0)
Board 8: Geoff LePoer (1.0)  vs.    Brain Biglow (1.0)
Board 9: Eric Strickland (1.0)   vs.   John Bastarache (1.0)
Board 10: Stanford Talcott (1.0)   vs.   David Thomas (1.0)
Board 11: Laurence O'Rourke (1.0)  vs.    Edward Harris (1.0)
Board 12: Paul Lynch (1.0)  vs.    Wayne Steadman (1.0)
Board 13: Emily Gawboy (1.0)  vs.    Michael Meehan (1.0)
Board 14: Tom Fratturelli (1.0)   vs.   Finneas Rogers (1.0)
Board 15: Joseph Bennett (0.5)   vs.   Kandy Lynch (0.5)
Board 16: Noah Rogers (0.5)  vs.    Hugh McLaughlin (0.5)
Board 17: George Miller (0.0)  vs.   Donald Briggs (0.0)
Board 18: Gail Lingner (0.0)   vs.   Richard Bennett (0.0)
Board 19: Randy McLaughlin (0.0)  vs.    Francis Scanlon II (0.0)
Alan Condon (1.0)  BYE

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on September 30th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

September 20th, 2015

Rating Updates

Carissa Clobbers Two Senior Masters @ BCC!

Here are updated ratings for Wachusett CC players who competed yesterday
in the Harry Lyman Memorial tournament:
Carissa Yip -> 2234
Brandon Wu -> 2029
Nowell Sheinwald -> 1890

12-year old Carissa Yip finished clear first in the Open section of the Harry Lyman Memorial tournament held Saturday at the Boylston Chess Club in Cambridge. Carissa convincingly crashed through the 2200 level once again by sweeping the field with a perfect 4-0 score, including wins against USCF Senior Masters Alexander Katz (2468) & Chris Chase (2407).
Congratulations!

September 16th, 2015

2015 Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial
Round 1 of 5

Whistler Wallups Meehan in WCC Record Breaking Upset!

Tom Whistler, holding a USCF class G rating of 765, made WCC history tonight by defeating his USCF class B 1606 rated opponent, Mike Meehan for an 841 point upset, thereby narrowly eclipsing Rick Evans' previously held WCC upset record of 837. The opening round of the Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial tournament also included Larry O'Rourke's 343 point upset over Joe Bennett & Jim Hankard's 461 point upset draw with George Mirijanian at board one as well as two miniature games that each ended in under 12 moves.
You can see the Tom Whistler vs Mike Meehan game here with light annotations.

**Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, September 16th, 2015**
Round 1 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
George Mirijanian	1/2-1/2	Jim Hankard
George Miller	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Paul Godin	1-0	Brian Biglow
Bob Mathieu	0-1	Dave Thomas
Gary Brassard	1-0	John Bastarache
Randy McLaughlin	0-1	Larry Gladding
Joe Bennett	0-1	Larry O'Rourke
Don Briggs	0-1	Ed Harris
Ken Gurge	1-0	Wayne Steadman
Richard Bennett	0-1	Alan Condon
Lenny Arsenault	1-0	Francis Scanlon
Tom Whistler	1-0	Mike Meehan
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were Ray Paulson, Geoff LePoer, Eric Strickland, Dave Couture, Paul Lynch, Ed Rogers, Stan Talcott, Hugh McLaughlin, Kandy Lynch, Noah Rogers and Finn Rogers.
Declining a bye was Gail Lingner.

**Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, September 16th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
1.0	Cappallo, Godin, Thomas, Brassard, Gladding, Harris, Gurge, Condon, Arsenault, Fratturelli, O'Rourke, Whistler
0.5	Mirijanian, Paulson, LePoer, Strickland, Couture, P. Lynch, Hankard, E. Rogers, Talcott, H. McLaughlin, K. Lynch, N. Rogers, F. Rogers
0.0	J. Bennett, Meehan, Miller, Biglow, Mathieu, Lingner, Bastarache, R. McLaughlin, Briggs, Steadman, R. Bennett, Scanlon, Gawboy

Projected Round 2 pairings for September 23rd:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cappallo vs Gurge
Board 2: Condon vs. Godin
Board 3: Thomas vs. Arsenault
Board 4: O'Rourke vs Brassard
Board 5: Gladding vs. Fratturelli
Board 6: Harris vs. Whistler
Board 7: E. Rogers vs. Mirijanian
Board 8: Hankard vs. Paulson
Board 9: Talcott vs. :LePoer
Board 10 Strickland vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 11: K. Lynch vs. Couture
Board 12: P. Lynch vs. N. Rogers
Board 13: F. Rogers vs. J. Bennett
Board 14: Meehan vs. R.McLaughlin
Board 15: Steadman vs. Miller
Board 16: Biglow vs. Briggs
Board 17: Scanlon vs. Mathieu
Board 18: Gawboy vs. Lingner
Board 19: Bastarache vs. R. Bennett

No e-mails were received from Paulson, Strickland, the Lynches, and Talcott that they were not playing this tournament. So, naturally, they all got properly paired for next week.
If any of them are not planning to play round 2, they should contact George Mirijanian so that the pairings can be revised.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on September 23rd.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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September 9th, 2015

2015 John A. Grefe Memorial
Round 5 of 5

**John A. Grefe Memorial, September 9th, 2015**
Round 5 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Paul Godin	1-0	Roger Cappallo
Larry Gladding	1/2-1/2	Eric Strickland
Dave Thomas	1-0	Ken Gurge
Joe Bennett	0-1	Ed Rogers
Gary Brassard	1/2-1/2	Alan Condon
Bob Mathieu	0-1	Ed Harris
Dave Couture	1-0	George Miller
Larry O'Rourke	1/2-1/2	Len Arsenault
Jim Hankard	1-0	John Bastarache
Don Briggs	0-1	Tom Fratturelli
Noah Rogers	0-1	Mike Meehan
Brian Biglow	1-0	Randy McLaughlin
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Richard Bennett
Hugh McLaughlin	1-0	Tom Whistler
Finn Rogers	0-1	Emily Gawboy

Not playing round 5 were Ray Paulson, Tom Giampietro, George Mirijanian, Vince Bradley, Paul Lynch, Stan Talcott, Gail Lingner,
Kandy Lynch, Francis Scanlon, Sebastian Tilton and Jeromy Tilton.
Jackson Parker withdrew from the tournament.

**John A. Grefe Memorial, September 9th, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
4.5	Godin
4.0	Gladding, Thomas, E. Rogers
3.5	Cappallo, Paulson, Strickland
3.0	Brassard, Harris, Condon, Gurge, Couture, Hankard, Fratturelli, Giampietro
2.5	Mirijanian, J. Bennett, Arsenault, Meehan, Biglow, R. Bennett, O'Rourke
2.0	Mathieu, Miller, Bastarache, Briggs, N. Rogers
1.5	Bradley, P. Lynch, R. McLaughlin, H. McLaughlin, Gawboy
1.0	Talcott, Lingner, Steadman, K. Lynch, Scanlon, S. Tilton, J. Tilton, Whistler
0.5	F. Rogers

♔ 2015 John A. Grefe Memorial PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:	Paul Godin of Bedford
2nd-3rd (tie):	Larry Gladding of Leominster & Dave Thomas of Fitchburg
Top U1800 (tie):	Alan Condon & Ken Gurge, both of Leominster, Dave Couture of Westminster, & Jim Hankard of Antrim, NH
Top U1600:	Ed Rogers of New Ipswich, NH
Top U1400:	Tom Giampietro of Sunderland

The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Ed Rogers	+242
Tom Giampietro	+202
Noah Rogers	+118
Larry O'Rourke	+100
Don Briggs	+78

The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Ed Rogers	1591
Tom Giampietro	1517
Larry O'Rourke	1450
Noah Rogers	1155
Emily Gawboy	757

REMINDER: The next tournament at the club, the Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial, starts Wednesday, September 16th.
Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 1 on September 16th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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September 8th, 2015

Rating Updates

Paulson Plunders 75th NE Open

Here are updated ratings for Wachusett CC players who competed yesterday
in the 75th New England Open tournament:
Carissa Yip -> 2170
Ray Paulson -> 2046
Brandon Wu -> 2031
Roger Cappallo -> 1985 (following an extra-rated game)
Gary Brassard -> 1844
Larry Gladding -> 1779

Ray Paulson finished clear first in the Under 2000 section. Ray tallied 5.5-0.5 and ended up a full point ahead of others.
Congratulations to all!

WCC Members in 75th New England Open
Tony Cortizas took many fine photos of the event which may be viewed here.
Gary Brassard	Brandon Wu	Rob King & Carissa Yip

♔ ♚ 75th New England Open PRIZE WINNERS ♚ ♔
1st-2nd: (NE Co Champs)	Mika Brattain & Steven Winer 5-1
3rd:	IM Denys Shmelov 4.5-1.5
U2200	Nithin Kavi 4-2
1st U2000	Ray Paulson 5.5-0.5
2nd-3rd U2000	James Zhou & Jerry Li 4.5-1.5

September 2nd, 2015

2015 John A. Grefe Memorial
Round 4 of 5

**John A. Grefe Memorial, September 2nd, 2015**
Round 4 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Paul Godin	1/2-1/2	Ray Paulson
Roger Cappallo	1-0	George Mirijanian
Gary Brassard	0-1	Larry Gladding
Eric Strickland	1-0	Tom Fratturelli
John Bastarache	0-1	Dave Thomas
Ken Gurge	1-0	Don Briggs
Ed Rogers	1-0	Dave Couture
Tom Giampietro	1-0	Jim Hankard
Mike Meehan	0-1	Joe Bennett
Len Arsenault	1/2-1/2	George Miller
Ed Harris	1-0	Kandy Lynch
Brian Biglow	1/2-1/2	Paul Lynch
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Bob Mathieu
Gail Lingner	0-1	Larry O'Rourke
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Noah Rogers
Tom Whistler	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were Alan Condon, Randy McLaughlin, Richard Bennett, Francis Scanlon and Finn Rogers.
Not playing the round were Jackson Parker, Stan Talcott, Sebastian Tilton and Jeromy Tilton.
Vince Bradley had already withdrawn from the tournament.

**John A. Grefe Memorial, September 2nd, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.5	Cappallo, Paulson, Godin, Gladding
3.0	Strickland, Thomas, Gurge, E. Rogers, Giampietro
2.5	Mirijanian, Brassard, J. Bennett, Condon
2.0	Harris, Couture, Arsenault, Hankard, Fratturelli, Mathieu, Miller, Bastarache, O'Rourke, Briggs, N. Rogers
1.5	(Bradley), P. Lynch, Meehan, R. McLaughlin, Biglow, R. Bennett
1.0	Parker, Talcott, Lingner, Steadman, K. Lynch, Scanlon, S. Tilton, J. Tilton, Whistler
0.5	H. McLaughlin, F. Rogers, Gawboy

Revised Projected Round 5 Pairings for September 9th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black] (Current score in parentheses)
1     Paul Godin (3.5)     Roger Cappallo (3.5)
2     Lawrence Gladding (3.5)     Eric Strickland (3.0)
3     David Thomas (3.0)     Kenneth Gurge (3.0)
4     Thomas Giampietro (3.0)     Ed Rogers (3.0)
5     George Mirijanian (2.5)     Gary Brassard (2.5)
6     Joseph Bennett (2.5)     Alan Condon (2.5)
7     Robert Mathieu (2.0)     Edward Harris (2.0)
8     Dave Couture (2.0)     George Miller (2.0)
9     Laurence O'Rourke (2.0)     Lenny Arsenault (2.0)
10     James Hankard (2.0)     John Bastarache (2.0)
11     Donald Briggs (2.0)     Tom Fratturelli (2.0)
12     Noah Rogers (2.0)     Paul Lynch (1.5)
13     Brian Biglow (1.5)     Michael Meehan (1.5)
14     Richard Bennett (1.5)     Randy McLaughlin (1.5)
15     Stanford Talcott (1.0)     Jeromy Tilton (1.0)
16     Kandy Lynch (1.0)     Gail Lingner (1.0)
17     Sebastian Tilton (1.0)     Wayne Steadman (1.0)
18     Hugh McLaughlin (0.5)     Tom Whistler (1.0)
19     Finneas Rogers (0.5)     Emily Gawboy (0.5)

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 5 on September 9th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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August 31st, 2015

Rating Updates

Here are updated ratings for Wachusett CC players who competed yesterday in the Keene Super Amateur tournament:
Eric Strickland -> 1879
Larry Gladding -> 1827
Joe Bennett -> 1814
Dave Couture -> 1730
Jim Hankard -> 1600
Stan Talcott -> 1468
Ed Rogers -> 1349
Noah Rogers -> 1037
Finn Rogers -> 739

August 30th, 2015

Rating Update

New rating as of 8/29/15:
Brandon Wu -> 2052

Brandon Wu played on Saturday, Aug. 29, In the BCF Summer G/80 Tournament at the Boylston CC.

August 26th, 2015

2015 John A. Grefe Memorial
Round 3 of 5

Higher Rated Players Post 87.5% of Points

Don Briggs beat 198 point higher rated, Bob Mathieu, in the only decisive upset of the evening & except for the bookend upset draws at first & last board, all other games ended in wins for the higher rated players.

**John A. Grefe Memorial, August 26th, 2015**
Round 3 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Larry Gladding	1/2-1/2	Roger Cappallo
Ray Paulson	1-0	Ken Gurge
Dave Couture	0-1	Paul Godin
Tom Giampietro	0-1	George Mirijanian
Joe Bennett	0-1	Gary Brassard
George Miller	0-1	Eric Strickland
Dave Thomas	1-0	Brian Biglow
Alan Condon	1-0	Wayne Steadman
Jim Hankard	1-0	Noah Rogers
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Larry O'Rourke
Bob Mathieu	0-1	Don Briggs
Ed Rogers	1-0	Gail Lingner
Francis Scanlon	0-1	Ed Harris
Randy McLaughlin	1-0	Finn Rogers
Tom Whistler	0-1	Richard Bennett
Emily Gawboy	1/2-1/2	Hugh McLaughlin

Receiving half-point byes were John Bastarache, Lenny Arsenault, Mike Meehan, Paul Lynch, Stan Talcott,
Kandy Lynch, Sebastian Tilton and Jeromy Tilton.
Withdrawing from the tournament were Tony Cesolini, Walter Niemi, Arthur Barlas and Vince Bradley.
Not playing round 3 was Jackson Parker.

**John A. Grefe Memorial, August 26th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.0	Paulson, Godin
2.5	Mirijanian, Cappallo, Gladding, Brassard
2.0	Strickland, Thomas, Condon, Gurge, Couture, Hankard, Fratturelli, Bastarache, E. Rogers, Briggs, Giampietro
1.5	J. Bennett, (Bradley), Arsenault, Meehan, Miller
1.0	Harris, P. Lynch, Parker, Mathieu, Talcott, R. McLaughlin, Lingner, Biglow, Steadman, R. Bennett, O'Rourke, K. Lynch, N. Rogers, S. Tilton, J. Tilton
0.5	H. McLaughlin, Scanlon, Gawboy
0.0	F. Rogers, Whistler

Projected Round 4 pairings for September 2nd:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Godin vs.Paulson
Board 2: Cappallo vs. Mirijanian
Board 3: Brassard vs. Gladding
Board 4: Strickland vs. Hankard
Board 5: Fratturelli vs. Thomas
Board 6: Bastarache vs. Condon
Board 7: Gurge vs. Briggs
Board 8: E. Rogers vs. Couture
Board 9: Giampietro vs. J. Bennett
Board 10: Meehans. Arsenault
Board 11 Harris vs. Miller
Board 12: Steadman vs. P. Lynch
Board 13: Mathieu vs. R. Bennett
Board 14: O'Rourke vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 15: Talcott vs. K. Lynch
Board 16: Lingner vs. N. Rogers
Board 17: Biglow vs. J. Tilton
Board 18: S. Tilton vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 19: Scanlon vs. Gawboy
Board 20: F. Rogers vs. Whistler

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on September 2nd.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

August 25th, 2015

Rating Updates

The following players have new ratings as of 8/25/15:
Brandon Wu -> 2048
Nowell Sheinwald -> 1916

Brandon Wu and Nowell Sheinwald (he's back!) played on Saturday, Aug. 22, In the Charles Drafts Memorial at the Boylston CC. Brandon played in the Open section and Nowell competed in the U1950 section. Brandon tied for 5th place in his section, while Nowell tied for 2nd place in his section. The event was rated Sunday, August 23rd.

August 19th, 2015

2015 John A. Grefe Memorial
Round 2 of 5

**John A. Grefe Memorial, August 19th, 2015**
Round 2 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Roger Cappallo	1-0	Jim Hankard
Mike Meehan	0-1	Ray Paulson
Paul Godin	1-0	Tom Fratturelli
Larry Gladding	1-0	Bob Mathieu
Gary Brassard	1/2-1/2	George Miller
Ken Gurge	1-0	Ed Rogers
Larry O'Rourke	0-1	Dave Couture
Lenny Arsenault	0-1	Tom Giampietro
Paul Lynch	0-1	Joe Bennett
Kandy Lynch	0-1	Eric Strickland
Richard Bennett	0-1	Dave Thomas
Don Briggs	1-0	Ed Harris
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Alan Condon
Noah Rogers	1-0	Randy McLaughlin
Gail Lingner	1-0	Tom Whistler
Finn Rogers	0-1	Brian Biglow
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Wayne Steadman

Receiving half-point byes were George Mirijanian, Vince Bradley, John Bastarache, Tony Cesolini, Walter Niemi,
Arthur Barlas, Jackson Parker, Stan Talcott, Francis Scanlon, Sebastian Tilton and Jeromy Tilton.

**John A. Grefe Memorial, August 19th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
2.0	Cappallo, Paulson, Godin, Gladding, Gurge, Couture, Giampietro
1.5	Mirijanian, Brassard, J. Bennett, Bradley, Miller, Bastarache
1.0	Cesolini, Niemi, Strickland, Thomas, Barlas, Condon, Arsenault, Hankard, Meehan, Fratturelli, Parker, Mathieu, Lingner, Biglow, Steadman, E. Rogers, O'Rourke, Briggs, N. Rogers
0.5	P. Lynch, Talcott, Scanlon, K. Lynch, S. Tilton, J. Tilton
0.0	Harris, R. McLaughlin, R. Bennett, H. McLaughlin, F. Rogers, Whistler, Gawboy

The top upsets in Round 2 of the John A. Grefe Memorial:
Noah Rogers (1002) 1-0 Randy McLaughlin (1515) - 513 points
Don Briggs (1341) 1-0 Ed Harris (1811) - 470 points
Lenny Arsenault (1665) 0-1 Tom Giampietro (1315) - 350 points
Noteworthy is Tom Giampietro's second upset in a row.

Projected Round 3 pairings for August 26th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Gladding vs. Cappallo
Board 2: Paulson vs. Gurge
Board 3: Couture vs. Godin
Board 4: Giampietro vs. Mirijanian
Board 5: Bastarache vs. Brassard
Board 6: J. Bennett vs. Miller
Board 7: Mathieu vs. Strickland
Board 8: Thomas vs. Lingner
Board 9: Condon vs. Biglow
Board 10: Steadman vs. Arsenault
Board 11: Hankard vs. O'Rourke
Board 12: E. Rogers vs. Meehan
Board 13: Fratturelli vs. Briggs
Board 14: P. Lynch vs. N. Rogers
Board 15: Talcott vs. Scanlon
Board 16: S. Tilton vs. K. Lynch
Board 17: Harris vs. J. Tilton
Board 18: R. McLaughlin vs. F. Rogers
Board 19: Whistler vs. R. Bennett
Board 20: Gawboy vs. H. McLaughlin

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on August 26th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

August 17th, 2015

Rating Updates

The following players have new ratings as of 8/17/15:
Carissa Yip -> 2199
Brandon Wu -> 2036
Dave Couture -> 1724
Noah Rogers -> 1002
SebastianTilton -> 932
Finneas Rogers -> 780

Five played in the 45th Continental Open this past weekend in Sturbridge. Dave Couture, who played in the Continental Open Sunday Quad took some pictures at the event which can be viewed here.

August 12th, 2015

2015 John A. Grefe Memorial
Round 1 of 5

Preferred Players Pounded in Primary Play

Perhaps as a poignant praise of this month's memorial tournament namesake, John Grefe, who famously won the US Chess Championship in 1973 as the lowest rated player in that year's field of 13 top US contestants, a quartet of contestants tonight exceeded expectations by producing four upsets averaging over 428 raitng points each in the opening round.

All four of the dauntless dark horse demons did their damage with the black pieces as follows:
♞ Ed Harris (1811) 0-1 Larry O'Rourke (1350) - 461 points - Board 9
♞ Alan Condon (1755) 0-1 Tom Giampietro (1315) - 440 points - Board 11
♞ Dave Thomas (1829) 0-1 Ed Rogers (1404) - 425 points - Board 7
♞ Eric Strickland (1868) 0-1 John Bastarache (1483) - 385 points - Board 5

**John A. Grefe Memorial, August 12th, 2015**
Round 1 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
George Mirijanian	1-0	Stan Talcott
Randy McLaughlin	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Ray Paulson	1-0	Gail Lingner
Brian Biglow	0-1	Paul Godin
Eric Strickland	0-1	John Bastarache
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Larry Gladding
Dave Thomas	0-1	Ed Rogers
Richard Bennett	0-1	Gary Brassard
Ed Harris	0-1	Larry O'Rourke
Don Briggs	0-1	Vince Bradley
Alan Condon	0-1	Tom Giampietro
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Ken Gurge
Dave Couture	1-0	Francis Scanlon
Noah Rogers	0-1	Lenny Arsenault
Jim Hankard	1-0	Sebastian Tilton
Jeromy Tilton	0-1	Mike Meehan
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Finn Rogers
Tom Whistler	0-1	Bob Mathieu
George Miller	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes for Round 1 were Tony Cesolini, Walter Niemi, Joe Bennett, Arthur Barlas,
Paul Lynch, Jackson Parker and Kandy Lynch.
Requesting half-point byes for Round 2 are Vince Bradley, John Bastarache and Jackson Parker.

**John A. Grefe Memorial, August 12th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
1.0	Mirijanian, Cappallo, Paulson, Godin, Gladding, Brassard, Bradley, Gurge, Couture, Arsenault, Hankard, Meehan, Fratturelli, Mathieu, Miller, Bastarache, E. Rogers, O'Rourke, Giampietro
0.5	Cesolini, Niemi, J. Bennett, Barlas, P. Lynch, Parker, K. Lynch
0.0	Strickland, Thomas, E. Harris, Condon, Talcott, R. McLaughlin, Lingner, Biglow, Steadman, R. Bennett, Briggs, H. McLaughlin, Scanlon, N. Rogers, S. Tilton, J. Tilton, F. Rogers, Whistler, Gawboy

Projected Round 2 pairings for August 19th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Arsenault vs. Mirijanian
Board 2: Cappallo vs. Hankard
Board 3: Meehan vs. Paulson
Board 4: Godin vs. Fratturelli
Board 5: Gladding vs. Miller
Board 6: Mathieu vs. Brassard
Board 7: Gurge vs. E. Rogers
Board 8: O'Rourke vs. Couture
Board 9: Giampietro vs. Cesolini
Board 10: Niemi vs. Barlas
Board 11: P. Lynch vs. J. Bennett
Board 12: K. Lynch vs. Strickland
Board 13: Briggs vs. Thomas
Board 14: H. McLaughlin vs. Harris
Board 15: Scanlon vs. Condon
Board 16: Talcott vs. N. Rogers
Board 17: S. Tilton vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 18: Lingner vs. J. Tilton
Board 19: F. Rogers vs. Biglow
Board 20: Whistler vs. Steadman
Board 21: Gawboy vs. R. Bennett

The following Wachusett CC players are competing this weekend in the 45th Continental Open in Sturbridge:
♕ Carissa Yip
♖ Brandon Wu
♗ Noah Rogers
♘ Sebastian Tilton &
♙ Finneas Rogers.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on August 19th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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August 10th, 2015

Rating Updates

The following players have new ratings as of 8/10/15:
Brandon Wu -> 2047
Carissa Yip -> 2222.

Brandon Wu won the $15 Open at the Boylston CC this Saturday with a perfect score of 4-0!
Carissa Yip lost to an "A" player in round 1 of that same tournament and dropped out.
Eric Strickland & Jim Hankard competed in a G/10 round robin event at the Knights CC in Keene, NH on 8/10/15, but only their quick ratings were affected.

August 5th, 2015

2015 Harlow B. Daly Memorial
Round 5 of 5

**Harlow B. Daly Memorial, August 5th, 2015**
Round 5 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
George Mirijanian	1/2-1/2	Ray Paulson
Larry Gladding	0-1	Ed Harris
Alan Condon	1/2-1/2	Dave Thomas
Stan Talcott	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Vince Bradley	1-0	Paul Godin
Jackson Parker	0-1	Ken Gurge
Joe Bennett	0-1	Mike Meehan
Dave Couture	1-0	Don Briggs
Jim Hankard	1-0	Tom Giampietro
Kandy Lynch	0-1	Wayne Steadman
Brian Biglow	1-0	Jeromy Tilton
Noah Rogers	1-0	Richard Bennett
Gary Brassard	0-1	Walter Niemi
Finn Rogers	0-1	Tom Fratturelli
Randy McLaughlin	1-0	Francis Scanlon
Hugh McLaughlin	1/2-1/2	Gail Lingner
Emily Gawboy	1-0	Tom Whistler

Gary Brassard was withdrawn from the event initially but came back to play the final round,
so he received half-point byes for rounds 1 & 2, and unplayed games for rounds 3 & 4.
Joe Bennett played round 1 but was withdrawn later,
so he received half-point byes for rounds 2 & 3, and an unplayed game for round 4.
Walter Niemi received half-point byes for rounds 1 & 2, and unplayed games for rounds 3 & 4.
McLaugfhlin received half-point byes for rounds 1 & 2, and unplayed games for rounds 3 & 4.

**Harlow B. Daly Memorial, August 5th, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
4.5	Paulson
4.0	Harris
3.5	Mirijanian, Cappallo, Thomas, Condon, Gurge, Bradley
3.0	Gladding, Couture, Hankard, Meehan, Talcott
2.5	Godin, P. Lynch, Arsenault, Parker, Biglow, Steadman, N. Rogers
2.0	Wu, Niemi, J. Bennett, Barlas, Fratturelli, R. McLaughlin, Briggs, Giampietro, K. Lynch
1.5	Mathieu, Lingner, Bastarache, R. Bennett, E. Rogers, O'Rourke, H. McLaughlin, S. Tilton, J. Tilton, F. Rogers
1.0	Brassard, Scanlon, Gawboy
0.5	-----
0.0	Whistler

♔ 2015 Harlow B. Daly Memorial PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:	Ray Paulson of Lowell
2nd:	Ed Harris of Marlboro, NH
Top U1800:	Alan Condon & Ken Gurge, both of Leominster, & Vince Bradley of Gilsum, NH
Top U1600:	Mike Meehan of Westminster
Top U1400:	Stan Talcott of Keene, NH
Top U1200:	Noah Rogers of New Ipswich, NH

♔ ♞ ♖ ♝ Of the eight prize winners in the 2015 Harlow B. Daly Memorial, four are from New Hampshire. ♗ ♜ ♘ ♚
♔ ♚ Every player who gained more than 50 rating points in this tournament won a prize. Congratulations to all! ♔ ♚ ♔

The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Stan Talcott	+112
Vince Bradley	+85
Noah Rogers	+79
Ed Harris	+69
Mike Meehan	+69

The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Walter Niemi	1934
Vince Bradley	1757
Randy McLaughlin	1515
Ed Rogers	1404
Hugh McLaughlin	1247
Kandy Lynch	1194
Noah Rogers	1066
Jeromy Tilton	902
Finneas Rogers	777
Emily Gawboy	732

REMINDER: The next tournament at the club will be the John A. Grefe Memorial (1947-2013), which starts Wednesday, August 12th.
Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 1 on August 12th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

August 2nd, 2015

Carissa Yip on Front Cover of August 2015 Chess Life

WCC Youngsters Continue To Shine!

Carissa Yip "Youngest Female Master" Chess Life, August 2015

2014 WCC Champ, Carissa Yip, is featured on the
front cover of Chess Life (August edition).

There is a nice photo of Carissa on the cover and a good feature story inside, telling the readers how she became the "Our Youngest Female Master."

Also notable is the outstanding perfornamce of recently returning WCC member & USCF rated expert, Brandon Wu, who scored two wins & a draw against a trio of USCF rated experts including Maximillion Yu, who is currently the highest rated 9-year old in the country. This event raised Brandon's rating from 1984 to 2019. Congratulations Brandon!

July 29th, 2015

2015 Harlow B. Daly Memorial
Round 4 of 5

Draws Drench Daly Duels

The Harlow B. Daly Memorial Tournament currently underway at the WCC has thus far produced a number of surprising results mostly in the form of large upset draws. The results of this evening's games included no fewer than four draws between contestants paired with opponents 200 or more USCF rating points away. Those included 338 point underdog, Ed Harris, splitting the point with George Mirijanian, and Vince Bradley holding his 344 higher rated opponent, Roger Cappallo to a draw, at boards two & three respectively. Also Kandy Lynch equalled Bob Mathieu, though he holds a 409 point advantage, & Hugh McLaughlin, tied his game with 231 higher rated Wayne Steadman at boards 12 & 14 respectively.

While draws were certainly abundant, they weren't the only upsets. Stan Talcott, once again claimed a big upset win against Dave Couture, who outrated Stan by 309 points.

This tournament has thus far produced a steady stream of big upsets mostly in the form of draws. For example, last week Ed Rogers drew Paul Godin, a 551 point difference, & two weeks back in round two, Ken Gurge closed a a 285 point rating gap by drawing Roger Cappallo at board one, while Dave Couture surprised Larry Gladding with a 158 upset win, & Stan Talcott beat Tom Fratturelli in a whopping 241 point upset.

Even the first round was not immune to surprises as Gail Lingner forced a threefold repetition to draw against her 446 point higher rated opponent, Paul Godin, in the only game that week that didn't end as predicted by ratings.

Meanwhile, Ray Paulson, who leads the field with a perfect score of four wins & no losses or draws, seems to be bouncing back quite well from his somewhat disappointing fininsh in this year's Club Championship. In fact, with only one more round to go, Ray is already guaranteed at least a share of first place no matter what the outcomes in any of next weeks final round games.

**Harlow B. Daly Memorial, July 29th, 2015**
Round 4 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Dave Thomas	0-1	Ray Paulson
Ed Harris	1/2-1/2	George Mirijanian
Roger Cappallo	1/2-1/2	Vince Bradley
Larry Gladding	1-0	Jim Hankard
Alan Condon	1-0	Don Briggs
Stan Talcott	1-0	Dave Couture
Tom Giampietro	0-1	Paul Godin
Ken Gurge	1-0	Brian Biglow
Richard Bennett	0-1	Paul Lynch
Len Arsenault	1-0	John Bastarache
Ed Rogers	0-1	Jackson Parker
Bob Mathieu	1/2-1/2	Kandy Lynch
Gail Lingner	0-1	Mike Meehan
Hugh McLaughlin	1/2-1/2	Wayne Steadman
Tom Whistler	0-1	Sebastian Tilton
Jeromy Tilton	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were Larry O'Rourke, Noah Rogers, Finn Rogers, Tom Fratturelli and Francis Scanlon.
Not playing round 4 were Brandon Wu, Arthur Barlas and Randy McLaughlin, the last of whom also did not play round 3 but was given retroactive half-point byes for rounds 1 and 2.
Joe Bennett had already withdrawn from the tournament..

**Harlow B. Daly Memorial, July 29th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
4.0	Paulson
3.5	-----
3.0	Mirijanian, Gladding, Thomas, Harris, Condon, Talcott
2.5	Cappallo, Godin, Gurge, P. Lynch, Bradley, Arsenault, Parker
2.0	Wu, Barlas, Couture, Hankard, Meehan, Briggs, Giampietro, K. Lynch
1.5	(J. Bennett), Mathieu, Biglow, Bastarache, Steadman, R. Bennett, E. Rogers, O'Rourke, S. Tilton, N. Rogers, J. Tilton, F. Rogers
1.0	Fratturelli, R. McLaughlin, Lingner, H. McLaughlin, Scanlon
0.5	-----
0.0	Whistler, Gawboy

Projected Round 5 pairings for August 5th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Mirijanian vs. Paulson
Board 2: Gladding vs. Harris
Board 3: Condon vs. Thomas
Board 4: Talcott vs. Cappallo
Board 5: Godin vs. Arsenault
Board 6: Bradley vs. Gurge
Board 7: P. Lynch vs. Parker
Board 8: Couture vs. Briggs
Board 9: Hankard vs. Giampietro
Board 10: K. Lynch vs. Meehan
Board 11: N. Rogers vs. Mathieu
Board 12: Biglow vs. O'Rourke
Board 13: Steadman vs. J. Tilton
Board 14: F. Rogers vs. R. Bennett
Board 15: R. McLaughlin vs. Lingner
Board 16: Scanlon vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 17: Gawboy vs. Whistler

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 5 on August 5th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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July 27th, 2015

Rating Updates

The following players have new ratings as of 7/27/15:
Carissa Yip -> 2239
Brandon Wu -> 2009
Nowell Sheinwald -> 1936

Carissa won the BCF Plus Score tournament on Saturday at the Boylston CC. She scored 3.5-0.5 and raised her rating to 2239. In the final round, she drew Brandon Wu, who has rejoined the Wachusett CC after a long absence.

Carissa also participated in the US Chess School #29 from July 8-11.
Here she is playing a blitz game with 12-year old David Brodsky.
And here is David's article about the camp.
The game is on this site in .PGN format with some of Carissa's other games.

"For those who don't know, the United States Chess School is an invitation only camp in which I invite some of the top rated kids in the nation. Our annual camp in New York is typically the strongest one, as there are a lot of top players focused in the NYC area, and we hold it immediately after the World Open which means that quite a few non local kids are still in the area."
"At this last camp we had three very talented girls in Akshita Gorti, Jennifer Yu and Carissa Yip. They are all 13 or younger, and their average rating is close to 2300. I admit that in past camps I've invited girls simply because they were girls, and maybe overlooked boys who were technically more qualified, but now I don't have to worry about it at all. Also there are at least 3-4 other girls throughout the nation that would easily fit into a camp like this. I also like that at least one of these girls has general contempt for the idea of 'girls chess tournaments'." -U.S. Chess School Founder & President, Greg Shahade

July 24th, 2015

Gary Brassard's Kesajuhla victory covered in Leominster Champion

Gary Brassard's victory at the June 20th Evert Siiskonen Memorial Centennial chess tournament as part of the Summer Kesajuhla at Saima Park appears in the July 24th edition of the Leominster Champion.

There are photos from the event on the Saima Park web site. Just follow this link & click where it says "Click here for photos."

July 22nd, 2015

2015 Harlow B. Daly Memorial
Round 3 of 5

**Harlow B. Daly Memorial, July 22nd, 2015**
Round 3 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Ray Paulson	1-0	Alan Condon
Dave Couture	0-1	Dave Thomas
George Mirijanian	1-0	Ken Gurge
Brandon Wu	1-0	Gail Lingner
Paul Godin	1/2-1/2	Ed Rogers
Larry O'Rourke	0-1	Larry Gladding
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Jim Hankard
Don Briggs	1-0	Bob Mathieu
Tom Fratturelli	0-1	Tom Giampietro
John Bastarache	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
Francis Scanlon	0-1	Richard Bennett
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Noah Rogers
Finn Rogers	1-0	Tom Whistler

Receiving half-point byes were Ed Harris, Roger Cappallo, Vince Bradley, Stan Talcott, Paul Lynch, Lenny Arsenault, Jackson Parker, Brian Biglow, Kandy Lynch, Mike Meehan, Sebastian Tilton and Jeromy Tilton.
Not playing round 3 was Arthur Barlas.
Withdrawn from the tournament were Joe Bennett, Tony Cesolini and Bruce Felton.
As part of this year's tribute to Harlow B. Daly, I'll be adding a few of his more memorable published games to the Games Section.

**Harlow B. Daly Memorial, July 22nd, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.0	Paulson, Thomas
2.5	Mirijanian, Harris
2.0	Cappallo, Wu, Gladding, Barlas, Condon, Couture, Bradley, Hankard, Talcott, Briggs, Giampietro
1.5	Godin, (J. Bennett), Gurge, P. Lynch, Arsenault, Parker, Biglow, Bastarache, R. Bennett, E. Rogers, K. Lynch
1.0	Mathieu, Meehan, Lingner, Steadman, O'Rourke, N. Rogers, F. Rogers
0.5	Fratturelli, McLaughlin, Scanlon, S. Tilton, J. Tilton
0.0	Whistler, Gawboy

Projected Round 4 pairings for July 29th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Thomas vs. Paulson
Board 2: Harris vs. Mirijanian
Board 3: Cappallo vs. Bradley
Board 4: Hankard vs. Wu
Board 5: Gladding vs. Talcott
Board 6: Condon vs. Briggs
Board 7: Giampietro vs. Couture
Board 8: Biglow vs. Godin
Board 9: Gurge vs. Bastarache
Board 10: P. Lynch vs. R. Bennett
Board 11: E. Rogers vs. Arsenault
Board 12: K. Lynch vs. Parker
Board 13: Mathieu vs. Steadman
Board 14: Meehan vs. O'Rourke
Board 15: N. Rogers vs. Lingner
Board 16: F. Rogers vs. Fratturelli
Board 17: McLaughlin vs. S. Tilton
Board 18: J. Tilton vs. Scanlon
Board 19: Whistler vs. Gawboy

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on July 29th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

July 15th, 2015

2015 Harlow B. Daly Memorial
Round 2 of 5

**Harlow B. Daly Memorial, July 15th, 2015**
Round 2 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Ken Gurge	1/2-1/2	Roger Cappallo
Paul Lynch	0-1	Ray Paulson
Larry Gladding	0-1	Dave Couture
Dave Thomas	1-0	Len Arsenault
Jim Hankard	0-1	Ed Harris
Bob Mathieu	0-1	Alan Condon
Jackson Parker	0-1	Vince Bradley
Tom Fratturelli	0-1	Stan Talcott
Brian Biglow	1-0	Francis Scanlon
Noah Rogers	0-1	Wayne Steadman
Ed Rogers	1-0	Sebastian Tllton
Larry O'Rourke	1-0	Jeromy Tilton
Tom Whistler	0-1	Don Briggs
Tom Giampietro	1-0	Finneas Rogers
Kandy Lynch	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were George Mirijanian, Joe Bennett, Arthur Barlas, Tony Cesolini, Paul Godin, Bruce Felton, Gail Lingner,
Mike Meehan, John Bastarache, Richard Bennett and Hugh McLaughlin.
Vince Bradley and Tom Fratturelli received retroactive Round 1 half-point byes.
Gary Brassard and George Miller withdrew from the tournament..

**Harlow B. Daly Memorial, July 15th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
2.0	Paulson, Thomas, Harris, Condon, Couture
1.5	Mirijanian, Cappallo, J. Bennett, Barlas, Gurge, Bradley, Talcott
1.0	Cesolini, Godin, Felton, Gladding, P. Lynch, Arsenault, Hankard, Mathieu, Parker, Biglow, Lingner, Steadman, E. Rogers, O'Rourke, Briggs, Giampietro, K. Lynch
0.5	Fratturelli, Meehan, Bastarache, R. Bennett, McLaughlin, Scanlon
0.0	S. Tilton, N. Rogers, J. Tilton, Whistler, F. Rogers, Gawboy

Projected Round 3 pairings for July 22nd:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Paulson vs. Harris
Board 2: Condon vs. Thomas
Board 3: Couture vs. Mirijanian
Board 4: Cappallo vs. Talcott
Board 5: Gurge vs. J. Bennett
Board 6: Cesolini vs. Biglow
Board 7: Godin vs. Steadman
Board 8: Lingner vs. Gladding
Board 9: E. Rogers vs. P. Lynch
Board 10: Arsenault vs. O'Rourke
Board 11: Briggs vs. Hankard
Board 12: Giampietro vs. Mathieu
Board 13: K. Lynch vs. Parker
Board 14: R. Bennett vs. Fratturelli
Board 15: Scanlon vs.Meehan
Board 16: Bastarache vs. McLaughlin
Board 17: S. Tilton vs. Whistler
Board 18: Gawboy vs. N. Rogers
Board 19: J. Tilton vs. F. Rogers

Requesting half-point byes for Round 3 are Barlas and Bradley.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 3 on July 22nd.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

July 14th, 2015

Rating Updates

The following players have new ratings as of 7/12/15:
Tony Cesolini -> 2024
Gary Brassard -> 1829
Joe Bennett -> 1800
Dave Thomas -> 1796
Ed Harris -> 1751
Jim Hankard -> 1600
Jackson Parker -> 1597
Stan Talcott -> 1398

All 8 players competed in the New Hampshire Open, which was rated Sunday night.

July 8th, 2015

2015 Harlow B. Daly Memorial
Round 1 of 5

**Harlow B. Daly Memorial, July 8th, 2015**
Round 1 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Mike Meehan	0-1	George Mirijanian
Roger Cappallo	1-0	Brian Biglow
Gail Lingner	1/2-1/2	Paul Godin
Ray Paulson	1-0	John Bastarache
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Larry Gladding
Joe Bennett	1-0	Ed Rogers
Richard Bennett	0-1	Dave Thomas
Ed Harris	1-0	Larry O'Rourke
Don Briggs	0-1	Arthur Barlas
Alan Condon	1-0	Tom Giampietro
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Ken Gurge
Dave Couture	1-0	Kandy Lynch
Sebastian Tilton	0-1	Paul Lynch
Len Arsenault	1-0	Noah Rogers
Jeromy Tilton	0-1	Jim Hankard
Bob Mathieu	1-0	Tom Whistler
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Jackson Parker

Receiving half-point byes were Tony Cesolini, Bruce Felton, Gary Brassard. George Miller, Stan Talcott and Francis Scanlon.
Not playing round 1 was Finneas Rogers.

**Harlow B. Daly Memorial, July 8th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
1.0	Mirijanian, Cappallo, Paulson, Gladding, J. Bennett, Thomas, Harris, Barlas, Condon, Gurge, Couture, P. Lynch, Arsenault, Hankard, Mathieu, Parker
0.5	Cesolini, Godin, Felton, Brassard, Miller, Lingner, Talcott, Scanlon
0.0	Meehan, Biglow, Bastarache, Steadman, R. Bennett, E. Rogers, O'Rourke, Briggs, Giampietro, McLaughlin, K. Lynch, S. Tilton, N. Rogers, J. Tilton, Whistler, F. Rogers, Gawboy

Projected Round 2 pairings for July 15th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Mirijanian vs. Condon
Board 2: Gurge vs. Cappallo
Board 3: P. Lynch vs. Paulson
Board 4: Gladding vs. Couture
Board 5: Hankard vs. J. Bennett
Board 6: Thomas vs. Arsenault
Board 7: Parker vs. Harris
Board 8: Cesolini vs. Mathieu
Board 9: Godin vs. Miller
Board 10: Felton vs. Lingner
Board 11: Talcott vs. Brassard
Board 12: Scanlon vs. Meehan
Board 13: Biglow vs. McLaughlin
Board 14: Bastarache vs. S. Tilton
Board 15: K. Lynch vs. Steadman
Board 16: N. Rogers vs. R. Bennett
Board 17: E. Rogers vs. J. Tilton
Board 18: O'Rourke vs. F. Rogers
Board 19: Whistler vs. Briggs
Board 20: Giampietro vs. Gawboy

Requesting a half-point bye for Round 2 is Arthur Barlas.

The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes the following competitors from just north of the border:
Ed Rogers, Sebastian Tilton, Noah Rogers, Jeromy Tilton, and Finneas Rogers, all of New Ipswich, NH.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 2 on July 15th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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July 8th, 2015

Rating Updates

The following players have new ratings &/or title categories as of 7/8/15:
Tony Cesolini -> now 1st Cat.
John Bastarache -> now 4th Cat.
Tom Giampietro -> 1283

Carissa Yip -> 2236
Nowell Sheinwald -> 1862 -> now 1st Cat.

The following MA players competed in the recently completed World Open in Arlington, VA:
Open: D. Vigorito, 6-3; Carissa Yip, 4.5; M. Esserman, 4-5; A. Liu, 4-5; L. Flaquer, 4-5; A. Wang, 3; S. Arun, 3; M. Mahoney; P. Hu.
U2200: L. Rueda, 5-4; B. Wu, 4.5; P. Chubinsky, 3; B. Vernon; W. Tajuddin.
U2000: M. Fins, 4.5; J. Aspinall, 4.5; R. Holmgren, 3; C. Hori, R. Holmgren RE.
U1800: Mayra Beras, 6.5 (tied for 10th)
U1600: Seyhmus Yuksekkaya, 6-3 (tied for 13th); K. Jiles, 4.5; C.F. Snow, 4.5.
U1400: Tom Giampietro, 3.5; M. Trudell.
Congratulations to all.
Full crosstables are available at: https://main.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201507055682-14514636

July 1st, 2015

2015 WCC 'A' Championship
Round 9 of 9

♚ ♔ ♚ ♔ It's Official. ♚ ♔ ♚ ♔ ♚
♔ George Mirijanian Wins 2015 WCC Championship ♔
♚ ♔ ♚ By 8-0 Clean Sweep! ♚ ♔ ♚

**WCC 'A' Championship, July 1st, 2015**
Round 9 of 9 Results
White	Result	Black
George Mirijanian	1-0	Dave Thomas
Roger Cappallo	1-0	Arthur Barlas
Larry Gladding	0-1	Bruce Felton
Gary Brassard	1-0	Joe Bennett

Roll your cursor onto the boxes below for more information.

♔ 2015 WCC CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 9 ♔
Name ▼	Roger Cappallo	George Mirijanian	Ray Paulson	Bruce Felton	Steve Nelson	Larry Gladding	Dave Thomas	Gary Brassard	Joe Bennett	Arthur Barlas	Score ▼
Roger Cappallo 1999		0	1	1	0	1/2	1	1	1/2	1	6
George Mirijanian 1971	1		1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	8
Ray Paulson 1960	0	0		0	0	0	1	0	1/2	1	2.5
Bruce Felton 1932	0	0	1		X	1	0	1	1/2	1/2	4
Steve Nelson 1889		0		F			0	0	0		0
Larry Gladding 1885	1/2	0	1	0	0		0	1	0	1	3.5
Dave Thomas 1837	0	0	0	1	0	1		0	1	0	3
Gary Brassard 1833	0	0	1	0	0	0	1		1	1/2	3.5
Joe Bennett 1829	1/2	0	1/2	1/2	0	1	0	0		1/2	3
Arthur Barlas 1789	0	0	0	1/2	0	0	1	1/2	1/2		2.5

**WCC 'A' Championship, July 1st, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
8.0	Mirijanian
7.5	-----
7.0	-----
6.5	-----
6.0	Cappallo
5.5	-----
5.0	-----
4.5	-----
4.0	Felton
3.5	Gladding, Brassard
3.0	Thomas, Bennett
2.5	Paulson, Barlas

♔ 2015 Wachusett Chess Club Championship PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:	George Mirijanian of Fitchburg
2nd:	Roger Cappallo of Groton
3rd:	Bruce Felton of Fitchburg

The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Randy McLaughlin	+170
George Mirijanian	+109
Wayne Steadman	+107
Ed Harris	+58

The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Tony Cesolini	2030
Dave Thomas	1837
Randy McLaughlin	1510
John Bastarache	1488
Tom Giampietro	1348
Emily Gawboy	730

It's also notable that Michael Meehan narrowly missed the above list with a rating increase of +47 points.

All games played in this year's A Championship are available for viewing &/or downloading here:
2015 WCC Ch

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 1 of the Harlow B. Daly Memorial on July 8th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

July 1st, 2015

2015 WCC 'B' Championship
Round 5 of 5

**WCC 'B' Championship, July 1st, 2015**
Round 5 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Alan Condon	0-1	Tony Cesolini
Eric Strickland	0-1	Ed Harris
Jackson Parker	0-1	Ken Gurge
Randy McLaughlin	1-0	Tom Fratturelli
Lenny Arsenault	1-0	Gail Lingner
John Bastarache	1-0	Jim Hankard
Larry O'Rourke	0-1	Bob Mathieu
Mike Meehan	1-0	Brian Biglow
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Wayne Steadman
Richard Bennett	1-0	Kandy Lynch
Vince Bradley III	1-0	Don Briggs
Francis Scanlon	1/2-1/2	Emily Gawboy

Not playing the final round were Paul Godin, Dave Couture, Tom Giampietro, George Miller, Stan Talcott and Tom Whistler.

**WCC 'B' Championship, July 1st, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
4.5	Cesolini
4.0	Harris
3.5	Strickland, Condon, Gurge, R. McLaughlin
3.0	Godin, Couture, Arsenault, Mathieu, Meehan, Bastarache, Steadman
2.5	Parker, Bennett
2.0	Fratturelli, Bradley, Hankard, Lingner, Biglow, O'Rourke
1.5	Giampietro, H. McLaughlin, Lynch, Gawboy
1.0	Miller, Briggs, Scanlon
0.5	Talcott, Whistler

♔ 2015 Wachusett Chess Club B Championship PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:	Tony Cesolini of Jaffrey, NH
2nd:	Ed Harris of Marlboro, NH
Top U1600:	Randy McLaughlin of Groton
Top U1400:	Wayne Steadman of Lunenburg
Top U1200:	Kandy Lynch of Worcester and Emily Gawboy of Leominster

REMINDER: The next tournament at the club will be the Harlow B. Daly Memorial, stating July 8th.
Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 1 on July 8th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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June 30th, 2015

Rating Updates

Two players have new ratings as of 6/30/15:
Raymond Paulson -> 1967
James Hankard -> 1641

June 28th, 2015

Rating Updates

Two players have new ratings as of 6/27/15:
Carissa Yip -> 2243
Nowell Sheinwald -> 1866

June 24th, 2015

2015 WCC 'A' Championship
Round 8 of 9

♔ George Clinches Clear First In 2015 WCC Championship ♔

**WCC 'A' Championship, June 24th, 2015**
Round 8 of 9 Results
White	Result	Black
Joe Bennett	0-1	George Mirijanian
Larry Gladding	1/2-1/2	Roger Cappallo
Bruce Felton	0-1	Dave Thomas
Ray Paulson	0-1	Gary Brassard

Receiving a zero-point bye was Arthur Barlas.

Roll your cursor onto the boxes below for more information.

♔ 2015 WCC CHAMPIONSHIP CURRENT STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 8 ♔
Name ▼	Roger Cappallo	George Mirijanian	Ray Paulson	Bruce Felton	Steve Nelson	Larry Gladding	Dave Thomas	Gary Brassard	Joe Bennett	Arthur Barlas	Score ▼
Roger Cappallo 1999		0	1	1	0	1/2	1	1	1/2		5
George Mirijanian 1971	1		1	1	0	1		1	1	1	7
Ray Paulson 1960	0	0		0	0	0	1	0	1/2	1	2.5
Bruce Felton 1932	0	0	1		X		0	1	1/2	1/2	3
Steve Nelson 1889		0		F			0	0	0		0
Larry Gladding 1885	1/2	0	1		0		0	1	0	1	3.5
Dave Thomas 1837	0		0	1	0	1		0	1	0	3
Gary Brassard 1833	0	0	1	0	0	0	1			1/2	2.5
Joe Bennett 1829	1/2	0	1/2	1/2	0	1	0			1/2	3
Arthur Barlas 1789		0	0	1/2	0	0	1	1/2	1/2		2.5

**WCC 'A' Championship, June 24th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
7.0	Mirijanian
6.5	-----
6.0	-----
5.5	-----
5.0	Cappallo
4.5	-----
4.0	-----
3.5	Gladding
3.0	Thomas, Felton, Bennett
2.5	Paulson, Brassard, Barlas

Round 9 pairings for July 1st:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Mirijanian vs. Thomas
Board 2: Cappallo vs.Barlas
Board 3: Gladding vs. Felton
Board 4: Brassard vs. Bennett
Board 5: Paulson - bye

June 24th, 2015

2015 WCC 'B' Championship
Round 4 of 5

**WCC 'B' Championship, June 24th, 2015**
Round 4 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Tony Cesolini	1/2-1/2	Eric Strickland
Randy McLaughin	0-1	Alan Condon
Tom Fratturelli	0-1	Edward Harris
Jim Hankard	0-1	Dave Couture
Brian Biglow	1/2-1/2	Len Arsenault
Jackson Parker	1-0	Richard Bennett
Bob Mathieu	1-0	Kandy Lynch
Wayne Steadman	1-0	George Miller
Don Briggs	0-1	John Bastarache
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Larry O'Rourke
Hugh McLaughlin	1-0	Francis Scanlon

Receiving half-point byes were Paul Godin, Ken Gurge, Gail Lingner, Mike Meehan and Stan Talcott.
Withdrawn from the B Championship were Tom Giampietro, Tom Whistler and Keith Kessmann.

**WCC 'B' Championship, June 24th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.5	Cesolini, Strickland, Condon
3.0	Godin, Harris, Couture
2.5	Gurge, Parker, R. McLaughlin
2.0	Fratturelli, Arsenault, Hankard, Mathieu, Lingner, Biglow, Meehan, Bastarache, O'Rourke, Steadman
1.5	Bennett. (Giampietro), H. McLaughlin, Lynch
1.0	Miller, Briggs, Gawboy
0.5	Talcott, Scanlon, (Whistler)

Projected Round 5 pairings for July 1st:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 6: Condon vs. Cesolini
Board 7: Strickland vs. Godin
Board 8: Harris vs. Couture
Board 9: Parker vs. Gurge
Board 10: R. McLaughlin vs. Fratturelli
Board 11: Arsenault vs. Lingner
Board 12: Meehan vs. Hankard
Board 13: Bastarache vs. Mathieu
Board 14: O'Rourke vs. Biglow
Board 15: Bennett vs. Steadman
Board 16: Miller vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 17: Lynch vs. Briggs
Board 18: Talcott vs. Gawboy

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 5 on July 1st.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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June 23rd, 2015

♕ Carissa Yip wins first round in Tulsa Girls' Invittional

Carissa Yip competes in 2015 All Girls US Junior Invitational Championship

Reigning WCC Champ, Carissa Yip, is currently competing in the All Girls US Junior Invitational Championship in Tulsa, OK & she's off to a great start defeating 2282 rated WFM Sarah Chiang in round one of the nine round event. You can take a look at Carissa's first round victory here or view the the tournament results, posted on this site.

June 22nd, 2015

Gary Brassard wins Fun Chess at Saima Park

Gary Brassard, one of the highest nationally rated chess players in Leominster, tallied 3.5 points out of a possible 4 to win first place in the Evert Siiskonen Memorial Centennial chess tournament on June 20 at Saima Park in Fitchburg. The event, held in conjunction with the Finnish Center's 109th annual Summer Festival (Kesajuhla), drew 14 players. Tying as runners-up with 3 points apiece were Fitchburg participants Brian Biglow and Matthew Pires as well as John Perko of Westminster.

The tourney honored the memory of two-time Wachusett Chess Club champion Evert Siiskonen, who was club champion in 1963 and 1966. He was born on January 7, 1915 in Finland, and came to the United States at an early age, lived in Ashburnham and Fitchburg before returning to Finland (after his wife died), where he died on March 31, 1993. He was a life member of the USCF.
Siiskonen played in the Fischer simul on March 2, 1964 in Fitchburg.

Event 		Summer Festival Kesajuhla SWISS 2015
Location 	Fitchburg, MA 
Event Date(s) 	2015-06-20
Chief  TD 	George Mirijanian
Non Rated
Time Control: G/20
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 Pair | Player Name		Rating	| Round	| Round	| Round	| Round	| Total	|
 Num  | 				|  1	|  2	|  3	|  4	| 	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1 | Gary Brassard		1839	| W4	| W3	| W2	| D5	| 3.5	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2 | Brian Biglow		1516	| W10	| W6  	| L1    | W8  	| 3.0	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    3 | Matthew Pires		1411	| W13	| L1	| W12	| W7	| 3.0	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    4 | John Perko		 Unr	| L1	| W14	| W10	| W11	| 3.0	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    5 | Richard Boursy		1970	| bye	| bye	| W8	| D1	| 2.5	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    6 | Randy McLaughlin	1340	| W7	| L2	| D11	| W12	| 2.5	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    7 | Dave Thomas		1828	| L6	| W12	| W9	| L3	| 2.0	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    8 | Edward Stromski		1433	| W14	| W11	| L5	| L2	| 2.0	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    9 | Hugh McLaughlin		1263	| L11	| BYE	| L7	| W13	| 2.0	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   10 | Zachary Koutonen	Unr	| L2	| W13	| L4	| W14	| 2.0	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   11 | Gail Lingner		1516	| W9	| L8	| D6	| L4	| 1.5	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   12 | Francis Scanlon		1212	| BYE	| L7	| L3	| L6	| 1.0	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   13 | Kyle Koutonen		Unr	| L3	| L10	| W14	| L9	| 1.0	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   14 | Owen Pires		Unr	| L8	| L4	| L13	| L10	| 0.0	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 20th, 2015

Saturday June 20th, 2015 Fun Chess at Saima Park

There will be a "fun" chess tournament on Saturday, June 20, at Saima Park in Fitchburg
as part of their 109th Summer Festival Kesajuhla.
It will be a 5-round Swiss, Game/15 in one section, non-rated event.
Read the Sentinel & Enterprise article here: Finnish fest set for Fitchburg

Gary Brassard of Leominster won the Evert Siiskonen Memorial Centennial tournament on Saturday, June 20, at the 109th annual Summer Festival (Kesajuhla) at Saima Park in Fitchburg.
In a field of 14 players, Brassard scored 3.5 points out of 4 to finish in first place.

June 17th, 2015

2015 WCC 'A' Championship
Round 7 of 9

Mirijanian Closes In On 2015 WCC Championship

With seven rounds completed & only two remaining, George Mirijanian appears likely to be this year's Wachusett Chess Club Champ. Having accumulated six full points so far by defeating all six of his regular opponents as well as a 14-move win in round three which will not count since his opponent, Stave Nelson, withdrew from the tournament prior to playing half of his games, George now needs only a single draw out of either of his last two rounds to clinch at least a split of first place. Anything more than that would guarantee George clear first place no matter what the outcomes of all the other games.

Roger Cappallo, the only remaining competitor who could catch (or pass) George, currently stands a distant second with 4.5 points despite his strong performance thus far in only giving up a loss to George & a draw to Joe Bennett. While it is possible for Roger to grab the top prize by winning both of his two remaining games, this sceario would require that George lose both of his last remaining rounds. Since the two were already paired in round four, Roger would need additional assistance from other competitors in order to finish at the top.

Bruce Felton, Larry Gladding & Joe Bennett are currently tied with three points each & two games remaining, so any of them could finish the tournament with a respectable showing of five points. However, since Bruce & Larry have not yet played each other, it is impossible for this trio to all finish with five. Joe Bennett still must face George & Gary, so it is possible for him to convert his dark horse status into as much as a second place finish.

With a current score of two, Dave Thomas could wrap up his tournament with a solid score as high as four points & since he has yet to play George, he shares with Joe the last remaining opportunity to play the role of spoiler.

While Ray Paulson & Arthur Barlas with two & a half points each stand half a point ahead of Dave, both Ray & Arthur are scheduled for a zero point bye in one of their remaining rounds, so neither will finish above three & a half.

Finally Gary Brassard, who could finish with three & a half points by chalking up wins against both of his remaining opponents, George & Joe, currently holds on to a mere point & a half after seven rounds while his USCF rating of 1833 is testament to just how strong this year's championship field is.

**WCC 'A' Championship, June 17th, 2015**
Round 7 of 9 Results
White	Result	Black
George Mirijanian	1-0	Ray Paulson
Roger Cappallo	1-0	Bruce Felton
Dave Thomas	1-0	Joe Bennett
Gary Brassard	1/2-1/2	Arthur Barlas

Receiving a zero point bye was Larry Gladding.

Roll your cursor onto the boxes below for more information.

♔ 2015 WCC CHAMPIONSHIP CURRENT STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 7 ♔
Name ▼	Roger Cappallo	George Mirijanian	Ray Paulson	Bruce Felton	Steve Nelson	Larry Gladding	Dave Thomas	Gary Brassard	Joe Bennett	Arthur Barlas	Score ▼
Roger Cappallo 1999		0	1	1	0		1	1	1/2		4.5
George Mirijanian 1971	1		1	1	0	1		1		1	6
Ray Paulson 1960	0	0		0	0	0	1		1/2	1	2.5
Bruce Felton 1932	0	0	1		X			1	1/2	1/2	3
Steve Nelson 1889		0		F			0	0	0		0
Larry Gladding 1885		0	1		0		0	1	0	1	3
Dave Thomas 1837	0		0		0	1		0	1		2
Gary Brassard 1833	0	0		0	0	0	1			1/2	1.5
Joe Bennett 1829	1/2		1/2	1/2	0	1	0			1/2	3
Arthur Barlas 1789		0	0	1/2	0	0	1	1/2	1/2		2.5

**WCC 'A' Championship, June 17th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
6.0	Mirijanian
5.5	-----
5.0	-----
4.5	Cappallo
4.0	-----
3.5	-----
3.0	Bennett. Felton, Gladding
2.5	Paulson, Barlas
2.0	Thomas
1.5	Brassard

Round 8 pairings for June 24th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Bennett vs. Mirijanian
Board 2: Gladding vs. Cappallo
Board 3: Felton vs. Thomas
Board 4: Paulson vs. Brassard

Arthur Barlas will receive a zero point bye for round 8.

June 17th, 2015

2015 WCC 'B' Championship
Round 3 of 5

**WCC 'B' Championship, June 17th, 2015**
Round 3 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Ed Harris	0-1	Tony Cesolini
Ken Gurge	0-1	Eric Strickland
Alan Condon	1-0	Brian Biglow
Gail Lingner	0-1	Randy McLaughlin
Dave Couture	1-0	Bob Mathieu
George Miller	0-1	Tom Fratturelli
Len Arsenault	1/2-1/2	Mike Meehan
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Jim Hankard
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Richard Bennett
Francis Scanlon	0-1	Jackson Parker
Kandy Lynch	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
John Bastarache	1-0	Stan Talcott

Receiving half-point byes were Paul Godin, Tom Giampietro and Larry O'Rourke.
Receiving a full-point bye was Don Briggs.
Not playing round 3 was Keith Kessmann.
Withdrawing from the B Championship was Tom Whistler.

**WCC 'B' Championship, June 17th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.0	Cesolini, Strickland
2.5	Godin, Condon, R. McLaughlin
2.0	Harris, Gurge, Couture, Fratturelli, Hankard
1.5	Arsenault, Parker, Lingner, Biglow, Meehan, Bennett, Giampietro, Lynch
1.0	Kessmann, Mathieu, Miller, Bastarache, O'Rourke, Steadman, Briggs, Gawboy
0,5	H. McLaughlin, Scanlon, (Whistler)
0,0	Talcott

Projected Round 4 pairings for June 24th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 6: Cesolini vs. Strickland
Board 7: R. McLaughlin vs. Condon
Board 8: Fratturelli vs. Harris
Board 9: Hankard vs. Couture
Board 10: Biglow vs. Arsenault
Board 11: Meehan vs. Parker
Board 12: Bennett vs. Lingner
Board 13: Mathieu vs. Lynch
Board 14: Steadman vs. Miller
Board 15: Briggs vs. Bastarache
Board 16: H, McLaughlin vs. Gawboy
Board 17: Talcott vs. Scanlon

Requesting half-point byes for round 4 are Gurge and Giampietro.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for Round 4 on June 24th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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June 16th, 2015

Rating Updates

Two players have new ratings as of 6/16/15:
Raymond Paulson -> 1965
James Hankard -> 1646

June 11th, 2015

Saturday June 20th, 2015 Fun Chess at Saima Park

June 10th, 2015

2015 WCC 'A' Championship
Round 6 of 9

**WCC 'A' Championship, June 10th, 2015**
Round 6 of 9 Results
White	Result	Black
Arthur Barlas	0-1	George Mirijanian
Bruce Felton	1/2-1/2	Joe Bennett
Ray Paulson	1-0	Dave Thomas
Larry Gladding	1-0	Gary Brassard

Receiving a zero-point bye was Roger Cappallo.
Not playing round 6 was Steve Nelson who withdrew from the tournament.
Players who would have been paired with Steve in rounds 6 through 9 will recieve a zero point bye for that round.
Players who have already played Steve will recieve zero points for that round, but those games will be USCF rated.

Roll your cursor onto the boxes below for more information.

♔ 2015 WCC CHAMPIONSHIP CURRENT STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 6 ♔
Name ▼	Roger Cappallo	George Mirijanian	Ray Paulson	Bruce Felton	Steve Nelson	Larry Gladding	Dave Thomas	Gary Brassard	Joe Bennett	Arthur Barlas	Score ▼
Roger Cappallo 1999		0	1		0		1	1	1/2		3.5
George Mirijanian 1971	1			1	0	1		1		1	5
Ray Paulson 1960	0			0	0	0	1		1/2	1	2.5
Bruce Felton 1932		0	1		X			1	1/2	1/2	3
Steve Nelson 1889		0		F			0	0	0		0
Larry Gladding 1885		0	1		0		0	1	0	1	3
Dave Thomas 1837	0		0		0	1		0			1
Gary Brassard 1833	0	0		0	0	0	1				1
Joe Bennett 1829	1/2		1/2	1/2	0	1				1/2	3
Arthur Barlas 1789		0	0	1/2	0	0	1		1/2		2

**WCC 'A' Championship, June 10th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
5.0	Mirijanian
4.5	-----
4.0	-----
3.5	Cappallo
3.0	Bennett, Felton, Gladding
2.5	Paulson
2.0	Barlas
1.5	-----
1.0	Brassard, Thomas

Round 7 pairings for June 17th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Mirijanian vs. Paulson
Board 2: Cappallo vs. Felton
Board 3: Thomas vs. Bennett
Board 4: Brassard vs. Barlas
Board 5: Gladding - bye

June 10th, 2015

2015 WCC 'B' Championship
Round 2 of 5

**WCC 'B' Championship, June 10th, 2015**
Round 2 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Tony Cesolini	1-0	Len Arsenault
Tom Fratturelli	0-1	Paul Godin
Eric Strickland	1-0	Bob Mathieu
Jim Hankard	0-1	Ed Harris
Ken Gurge	1-0	Wayne Steadman
Larry O'Rourke	0-1	Alan Condon
Jackson Parker	0-1	Randy McLaughlin
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Gail Lingner
Brian Biglow	1-0	Kandy Lynch
Tom Whistler	0-1	Dave Couture
Stan Talcott	0-1	George Miller
Mike Meehan	1-0	Don Briggs
Tom Giampietro	1-0	John Bastarache

Receiving half-point byes were Keith Kessmann, Richard Bennett and Francis Scanlon.
Receiving a full-point bye was Emily Gawboy.

**WCC 'B' Championship, June 10th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
2.0	Cesolini, Godin, Strickland, Harris, Gurge
1.5	Condon, Lingner, Biglow, R. McLaughlin
1.0	Couture, Fratturelli, Arsenault, Kessmann, Hankard, Mathieu, Miller, Meehan, Steadman, Giampietro, Gawboy
0.5	Parker, Bennett, O'Rourke, H. McLaughlin, Scanlon, Lynch, Whistler
0.0	Bastarache, Talcott, Briggs

Projected Round 3 pairings for June 17th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 6: Harris vs. Cesolini
Board 7: Godin vs. Strickland
Board 8: Condon vs. Gurge
Board 9: Lingner vs. Biglow
Board 10: R. McLaughlin vs. Fratturelli
Board 11: Miller vs. Couture
Board 12: Arsenault vs. Meehan
Board 13: Steadman vs. Mathieu
Board 14: Gawboy vs. Hankard
Board 15: H. McLaughlin vs. Parker
Board 16: Scanlon vs. Bennett
Board 17: Lynch vs. O'Rourke
Board 18: Bastarache vs. Whistler
Board 19: Briggs vs. Talcott

Requesting a half-point bye for round 3 is Tom Giampietro.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for Round 7 on June 17th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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June 3rd, 2015

2015 WCC 'A' Championship
Round 5 of 9

**WCC 'A' Championship, June 3rd, 2015**
Round 5 of 9 Results
White	Result	Black
George Mirijanian	1-0	Larry Gladding
Joe Bennett	1/2-1/2	Ray Paulson
Gary Brassard	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Steve Nelson (forfeit)	0-1	Bruce Felton
Dave Thomas	0-1	Arthur Barlas

A welcome visitor last night was 2011 WCC Champ & USCF expert, Robert King, who did not play in either event, but stuck around long enough to review & analyze some of the games.
Not playing round 5 was Steve Nelson.

Roll your cursor onto the boxes below for more information.

♔ 2015 WCC CHAMPIONSHIP CURRENT STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 5 ♔
Name ▼	Roger Cappallo	George Mirijanian	Ray Paulson	Bruce Felton	Steve Nelson	Larry Gladding	Dave Thomas	Gary Brassard	Joe Bennett	Arthur Barlas	Score ▼
Roger Cappallo 1999		0	1				1	1	1/2		3.5
George Mirijanian 1971	1			1	1	1		1			5
Ray Paulson 1960	0			0		0			1/2	1	1.5
Bruce Felton 1932		0	1		X			1		1/2	3.5
Steve Nelson 1889		0		F			0	1	0		1
Larry Gladding 1885		0	1				0		0	1	2
Dave Thomas 1837	0				1	1		0			2
Gary Brassard 1833	0	0		0	0		1				1
Joe Bennett 1829	1/2		1/2		1	1				1/2	3.5
Arthur Barlas 1789			0	1/2		0	1		1/2		2

**WCC 'A' Championship, June 3rd, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
5.0	Mirijanian
4.5	-----
4.0	-----
3.5	Cappallo. Felton, Bennett
3.0	-----
2.5	-----
2.0	Gladding, Barlas, Thomas
1.5	Paulson
1.0	Nelson. Brassard

Round 6 pairings for June 10th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Barlas vs. Mirijanian
Board 2: Felton cs. Bennett
Board 3: Cappallo vs. Nelson
Board 4: Paulson vs. Thomas
Board 5: Gladding vs. Brassard

June 3rd, 2015

2015 WCC 'B' Championship
Round 1 of 5

**WCC 'B' Championship, June 3rd, 2015**
Round 1 of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
George Miller	0-1	Tony Cesolini
Paul Godin	1-0	Mike Meehan
John Bastarache	0-1	Eric Strickland
Edward Harris	1-0	Stan Talcott
Richard Bennett	0-1	Ken Gurge
Couture	0-1	Wayne Steadman
Don Briggs	0-1	Tom Fratturelli
Len Arsenault	1-0	Tom Giampietro
Francis Scanlon	0-1	Jim Hankard
Bob Mathieu	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were Alan Condon, Keith Kessmann, Jackson Parker, Gail Lingner, Brian Biglow, Larry O'Rourke,
Randy McLaughlin, Hugh McLaughlin and Tom Whistler..

**WCC 'B' Championship, June 3rd, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
1.0	Cesolini, Godin, Strickland, Harris, Gurge, Fratturelli, Arsenault, Hankard, Mathieu, Steadman
0.5	Condon, Kessmann, Parker, Lingner, Biglow, O'Rourke, R. McLaughlin, H. McLaughlin, Whistler
0.0	Couture, Miller, Meehan, Bastarache, Talcott, Bennett, Briggs, Giampietro, Scanlon, Gawboy

Projected Round 2 pairings for June 10th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 6: Cesolini vs. Arsenault
Board 7: Fratturelli vs. Godin
Board 8: Strickland vs. Mathieu
Board 9: Hankard vs. Harris
Board 10: Gurge vs. Steadman
Board 11: R. McLaughlin vs. Lingner
Board 12: Biglow vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 13: Whistler vs. O'Rourke
Board 14: Talcott vs. Couture
Board 15: Giampietro vs. Miller
Board 16: Meehan vs. Briggs
Board 17: Gawboy vs. Bastarache

Requesting half-point byes for round 2 are Joe Bennett and Francis Scanlon.

A number of players have new ratings as of 6/3/15:
Tony Cesolini -> 2022
Joe Bennett -> 1834
Dave Thomas -> 1828
Jim Hankard -> 1630
Stan Talcott -> 1428
Jackson Parker is now a 4th Category player.

Joining the WCC 'B' Championship tournament tonight are:
Eric Strickland (1861) of Brattleboro, VT & Edward Harris (1728) of Marlboro, NH.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for Round 2 on June 10th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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May 29th, 2015

Martin Laine Memorial Tournament Officially Rated

The recently completed Martin Laine Memorial Tournament is now officially rated including several new all time highs & two players' increasing their ratings by more than fifty points. Congratulations to all.
The tournament crosstable is linked on the WCC Crosstables Page.

May 27th, 2015

2015 WCC 'A' Championship Round 4 of 9 &
2015 Martin Laine Memorial Round 4 of 4

Mirijanian Marches, Joe Bennett Clear Second

After four rounds, of this year's scheduled 9-round Wachusett CC Championship Tournament, George Mirijanian has taken a full point lead & appears to be in the process of setting a new WCC record of 17 Championship victories. His closest rival as we approach the halfway mark is Joe Bennett, who was held to a draw in this round by Arthur Barlas & thereby remains in second place by a full point. Joe, while still undefeated, faces a strong class A competitor, Ray Paulson, this coming week.

In fact of Joe's five remaining games three will be against players rated in the top half of the tournament field. George, in stark contrast, though he has yet to play Ray, who is nearly the same rating, will play four of his remaining five games against opponents rated in the lower half of the field.

This tournament is far from finished though. One need only look as far as this week's final round 308-point upset game between Francis Scanlon & Stan Talcott in the Martin Laine Memorial Tournament to realize that surprises, even big ones, are still possible.

Roger Cappallo & Bruce Felton each lost to George & hold onto two & a half points, but trail George by a point & a half and have yet to play each other. Larry Gladding, with two points & perhaps the toughest schedule for the remainder of the tournament faces George in round five. Larry realistically needs a win there to keep his hope alive. Roger, Bruce, or Larry & certainly Joe could still push the outcome down to the wire.

Like Ray Paulson, Steve Nelson, Gary Brassard & Arthur Barlas each have but a single point after four rounds. Unlike Ray, however, it seems unlikely that any of these three will put together a long enough winning streak to challenge the leader, though their combined effect could determine the eventual winner. Ray could have a very strong showing & still finish the tournament with 5, 5.5, or even 6 points. However, even if this were to happen, George would have to go on a simultaneous losing streak of similar proportions to bring Ray into contention for the title. Dave Thomas & Larry Gladding still have significant spoiler potential.

**WCC 'A' Championship, May 27th, 2015**
Round 4 of 9 Results
White	Result	Black
Roger Cappallo	0-1	George Mirijanian
Arthur Barlas	1/2-1/2	Joe Bennett
Larry Gladding	0-1	Dave Thomas
Bruce Felton	1-0	Ray Paulson
Steve Nelson	1-0	Gary Brassard

Roll your cursor onto the boxes below for more information.

♔ 2015 WCC CHAMPIONSHIP CURRENT STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 4 ♔
Name ▼	Cappallo	Mirijanian	Paulson	Felton	Nelson	Gladding	Thomas	Brassard	Bennett	Barlas	Score ▼
Roger Cappallo 1999		0	1				1		1/2		2.5
George Mirijanian 1971	1			1	1			1			4
Ray Paulson 1960	0			0		0				1	1
Bruce Felton 1932		0	1					1		1/2	2.5
Steve Nelson 1889		0					0	1	0		1
Larry Gladding 1885			1				0		0	1	2
Dave Thomas 1837	0				1	1		0			2
Gary Brassard 1833		0		0	0		1				1
Joe Bennett 1829	1/2				1	1				1/2	3
Arthur Barlas 1789			0	1/2		0			1/2		1

**WCC 'A' Championship, May 27th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
4.0	Mirijanian
3.5	-----
3.0	Bennett
2.5	Cappallo, Felton
2.0	Thomas, Gladding
1.5	-----
1.0	Paulson, Nelson, Brassard, Barlas

Round 5 pairings for June 3rd:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Mirijanian vs. Gladding
Board 2: Bennett vs. Paulson
Board 3: Brassard vs. Cappallo
Board 4: Nelson vs. Felton
Board 5: Thomas vs. Barlas

**Martin Laine Memorial, May 27th, 2015**
Round 4 of 4 Results
White	Result	Black
Dave Couture	0-1	Tony Cesolini
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Bob Mathieu
Jim Hankard	1-0	Brian Biglow
George Miller	1/2-1/2	Mike Meehan
Larry O'Rourke	0-1	Tom Giampietro
John Bastarache	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
Francis Scanlon	1-0	Stan Talcott
Wayne Steadman	1-0	Emily Gawboy
Don Briggs	0-1	Richard Bennett
Tom Whistler	0-1	Randy McLaughlin

Not playing round 4 were Paul Godin, Ken Gurge, Lenny Arsenault, Keith Kessmann, Jackson Parker & Alan Condon.
Kandy Lynch and Rick Evans were withdrawn from the tournament.

**Martin Laine Memorial, May 27th, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.5	Cesolini
3.0	Godin, Hankard, Fratturelli
2.5	Miller, Giampietro
2.0	Couture, Gurge, Arsenault, Kessmann, Mathieu, Parker, Biglow, Meehan, Bastarache, Steadman, Scanlon
1.5	Condon, Bennett, O'Rourke
1.0	Talcott, R. McLaughlin, H. McLaughlin, Gawboy
0.5	Briggs, Whistler

♔ 2015 Martin Laine Memorial PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:	Tony Cesolini of Jaffrey, NH
2nd-4th:	Paul Godin of Bedford, Jim Hankard of Antrim, NH (also tied for top U1700), Tom Fratturelli of Leominster (also tied for top U1700)
Top U1500	Tom Giampietro of Sunderland
Top U1300	Francis Scanlon of Fitchburg

The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Francis Scanlon	+133
Tom Fratturelli	+70

The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Tony Cesolini	2017
Jackson Parker	1608
John Bastarache	1465
Richard Bennett	1403
Tom Giampietro	1318
Francis Scanlon	1212

REMINDER: The Wachusett CC "B" Division Championship begins Wednesday, June 3rd.
Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for Round 1 on June 3rd.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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May 26th, 2015

2015 Massachusetts Open

WCC Champ, Carissa Yip, Wins Prize at 84th Mass Open

Over the Memorial Day weekend, current WCC Champ, Carissa Yip tied with Nithin Kavi for the U2300 prize in the Championship Section of the Massachusetts Open, held May 23-25 at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlboro.
Also competing in the tournament in the U2100 Section were WCC class A players, Larry Gladding, Trevor Bierig, Gary Brassard, & Jackson Parker.
The Official USCF crosstables for this tournament are now available here:
https://main.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201505259962.0-14514636.

♔ ♕ 2015 Massachusetts Open PRIZE WINNERS ♕ ♔
1st: (State Champ)	GM Alexandar Ivanov 5-1
2nd:	IM Denys Shmelov 4.5-1.5
3rd-6th:	IM David Vigorito, Mika Brattain, Lawyer Times, & FM David Brodsky 4-2
Top U2300	Carissa Yip & Nithin Kavi 3.5-2.5

Congratulations to all!

As a result of this tournament, the following WCC players will have new ratings:
Carissa Yip -> 2259
Trevor Bierig -> 1891
Larry Gladding -> 1876
Gary Brassard -> 1839
Jackson Parker -> 1604 (all-time high)

MAY 22nd, 2015

Free Tactics Book

I have a version of my tactics book available for free for the next 3 days on Amazon. As long as you have a PC (or a Mac) you can get a copy that you can read right on your PC - no Kindle necessary. Go to this link and you can download the Kindle Reader for the PC:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201245960

The free book is available here (75 tactical problems that you guys have "inflicted" on me):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XWFQJM8

The full book with 1002 problems is available here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K4IFBVQ

Enjoy!
-Dave Couture

MAY 21st, 2015

Advance entries in this weekend's 84th Massachusetts Open

The following Wachusett CC players are advance entries in this weekend's 84th Massachusetts Open in Marlborough:
Championship: Carissa Yip
U2100 section: Trevor Bierig, Larry Gladding, Gary Brassard
U1500 section: Stan Talcott.

MAY 20th, 2015

2015 WCC 'A' Championship, Round 3 of 9
Martin Laine Memorial, Round 3 of 4
2015 Westminster Championship

Mirijanian in Front After 3

With the first third of the tournament completed & six more rounds to go, 16-time WCC Champ, George Mirijanian has taken an early lead by winning all three of his games. in this year's WCC Championship. Coming into round three, George had been the co-leader of the tournament alomg with Larry Gladding. Tonight he was able to spring ahead in fine style by defeating #5 seed, Steve Nelson, in a mineature of only 14 moves using a sharp & dangerous version of the "Fried Liver Attack" against Steve's "Two Knights' Defense". Interestingly, Steve Nelson, who has yet to win or even draw a single game, still must face three of his top four opponents. It looks like he has one of the steepest hills to climb in this tournament. 1976 WCC Champion, Steve has been known to play surprisingly strong chess, however, so it's still a bit early to count him out.

Roger Cappallo defeated Dave Thomas tonight & remains only a half point off the lead with two & a half, having given up a draw to Joe Bennett last week. As Roger is only a few rating points above George, next week's board one match up has to be considered a statistical dead heat. A tie game there or a victory by Roger would leave an opportunity for #9 seed, Joe Bennett, to share the lead should he win his upcoming game against #10 seed, Arthur Barlas. If Joe wins his game early, Roger may be inclined to press for a win as a draw would leave him back at third place with several "must win" games on the horizon.

Playing at boards 3, 4, & 5 next week are several contestants who need the full point to preserve realistic chances, so there is likely to be a lot of exciting chess.

**WCC 'A' Championship, MAY 20th, 2015**
Round 3 of 9 Results
White	Result	Black
Joe Bennett	1-0	Larry Gladding
George Mirijanian	1-0	Steve Nelson
Dave Thomas	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Gary Brassard	0-1	Bruce Felton
Ray Paulson	1-0	Arthur Barlas

Roll your cursor onto the boxes below for more information.

♔ 2015 WCC CHAMPIONSHIP CURRENT STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3 ♔
Name ▼	Cappallo	Mirijanian	Paulson	Felton	Nelson	Gladding	Thomas	Brassard	Bennett	Barlas	Score ▼
Roger Cappallo 1999			1				1		1/2		2.5
George Mirijanian 1971				1	1			1			3
Ray Paulson 1960	0					0				1	1
Bruce Felton 1932		0						1		1/2	1.5
Steve Nelson 1889		0					0		0		0
Larry Gladding 1885			1						0	1	2
Dave Thomas 1837	0				1			0			1
Gary Brassard 1833		0		0			1				1
Joe Bennett 1829	1/2				1	1					2.5
Arthur Barlas 1789			0	1/2		0					0.5

For those wondering where I got the inspiration to produce a crosstable chart with such a high density of information, an explanation is provided in this month's Webmaster's Message.

**WCC 'A' Championship, May 20th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.0	Mirijanian
2.5	Cappallo, Bennett
2.0	Gladding
1.5	Felton
1.0	Paulson, Brassard, Thomas
0.5	Barlas
0.0	Nelson

Round 4 pairings for May 27th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cappallo vs. Mirijanian
Board 2: Barlas vs. Bennett
Board 3: Gladding vs. Thomas
Board 4: Felton vs. Paulson
Board 5: Nelson vs. Brassard

Godin Leads After 3, Cesolini Sole Second

In a round of routine results, i.e. the higher rated players winning every decisive game, Paul Godin has taken the lead in the Martin Laine Memorial tournament by means of three consecutive wins including tonight's victory over Tom Fratturelli. Tony Cesolini, having won rounds two & three & taken a first round bye trails by a half point. With ten players bunched back at two points each, no matter what the result of next week's board one game between Paul & Tony, one of those two will win the tournament.

**Martin Laine Memorial, May 20th, 2015**
Round 3 of 4 Results
White	Result	Black
Paul Godin	1-0	Tom Fratturellli
Tony Cesolini	1-0	George Miller
Jackson Parker	1/2-1/2	Len Arsenault
Mike Meehan	0-1	Dave Couture
Bob Mathieu	1-0	John Bastarache
Stan Talcott	0-1	Jim Hankard
Brian Biglow	1-0	Francis Scanlon
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Larry O'Rourke
Tom Whistler	0-1	Tom Giampietro
Randy McLaughlin	0-1	Wayne Steadman

Receiving half-point byes were Ken Gurge, Keith Kessmann, Alan Condon, Don Briggs and Richard Bennett.
Not playing the round were Hugh McLaughlin, Kandy Lynch and Rick Evans.

**Martin Laine Memorial, May 20th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.0	Godin
2.5	Cesolini
2.0	Couture, Gurge, Arsenault, Kessmann, Mathieu, Hankard, Fratturelli, Miller, Parker, Biglow
1.5	Condon, Meehan, O'Rourke, Giampietro
1.0	Bastarache, Talcott, Steadman, H. McLaughlin, Lynch, Scanlon, Evans, Gawboy
0.5	Briggs, Bennett, Whistler
0.0	R. McLaughlin

Projected Round 4 pairings for May 27th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 6: Cesolini vs. Godin
Board 7: Couture vs. Hankard
Board 8: Fratturelli vs. Arsenault
Board 9: Miller vs. Kessmann
Board 10: Biglow vs. Mathieu
Board 11: Condon vs. Parker
Board 12: O'Rourke vs. Meehan
Board 13: Bastarache vs. Giampietro
Board 14: Evans vs. Talcott
Board 15: Steadman vs. Scanlon
Board 16: H. McLaughlin vs. Gawboy
Board 17: Briggs vs. Bennett
Board 18: Whistler vs. R. McLaughlin

♔ Couture Captures Coveted Crown

Due to an unexpectedly fortuitous third round pairing of the Martin Laine Memorial Tournament on Wednesday night, Dave Couture of Westminster, MA faced Mike Meehan, the only other WCC member also from Westminster in what turned out to be the only rated game this season between the two highest rated Westminster residents, thus the townwide title was theirs to take.

As if inspired by the singular auspiciousness of the event, Dave rose to the occasion by selecting one of his favorite weapons against Mike's queen pawn opening, i.e. the Dutch defense. Mike, sensing he might be playing into some of Dave's most familiar territory chose a more obscure yet quite playable variation by pushing his pawn to e3 on move two. After the routine sequence 2... Nf6 3. Bd3 g6, Mike again tried to sidestep some of Dave's likely studied lines & played the less familiar 4. Nd2. However, after 4... Bg7 5. f4 O-O 6. Ngf3, they'd reached the position last seen in round two of the Pan American U12 Girls Championship in 1998 between Mery Z Sierra Parada & Lenita Leite Pinho. There, Pinho had continued 6... e6 & gone on to win in 67 moves, but Dave was looking to press things much sooner, so he chose the dynamic & even more obscure 6... d6. Both Dave & Lenita Leite's games can be found in the 2015 Westminster Championship section of this web site.

**Westminster Championship, May 20th, 2015**
Round 1 of 1 Results
White	Result	Black
Meehan	0-1	Couture

**Westminster Championship, May 20th, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
1.0	Couture
0.5	----
0.0	Meehan

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for Round 4 on May 27th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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May 13th, 2015

WCC Championahip, Round 2 of 9
Martin Laine Memorial, Round 2 of 4

Mirijanian & Gladding in Front After Two Rounds

With only two rounds completed & seven to go in the 2015 Wachusett CC Championship Tournament, already two clear leaders have emerged. Of the top five highest rated players coming into the tournament, only one, 16-time WCC Champ, George Mirijanian, has survived two rounds with a perfect 2-0 score. The first round matchup between #1 seed Roger Cappallo & #3 seed Ray Paulson resulted in Roger's taking the full point. #4 seed, Bruce Felton fell to #2 seed George Mirijanian, while 1976 WCC Champ & #5 seed, Steve Nelson failed to break through the defensive resources of #9 seed, Joe Bennett following what turned out to be a speculative piece sacrifice.

Round two was nearly as exciting as Mirijanian pressed on by defeating #8 seed Gary Brassard & Roger Cappallo was held to a draw to split the point with Joe Bennett. While back at the #6 seed position, Larry Gladding who had handily outplayed #10 seed, Arthur Barlas in the first round, achieved an overwhelming attack against his #3 seed opponent, Ray Paulson.

While it is not at all unexpected to see George leading with Roger only a half point behind, it is quite surprising for #3 seed & current WCC Quick Chess Co-Champ, Ray to begin his tournament by losing two consecutive games. However, there's more going on here than might be predicted by the statistical rating formula. A few brief casual glances at the games as they were played left me with the distinct impression that #6 seed, Larry Gladding may be playing something close to his best chess in a few years & the ever resourceful #9 seed, Joe Bennett, who nearly missed even qualifying for the Championship this year, may prove to be not only an unexpected disruption, but a strong contender as the tournament progresses.

#7 seed, Dave Thomas also has the capability to spice things up as his second round win against former USCF Expert, Steve Nelson demonstrates. These two players have somewhat similar styles with a lot of overlap in their knowledge & experience of chess, & the typical outcome of such encounters is that the lower rated player gets destroyed. The second round featured exactly that pairing with Nelson vs. Thomas at board five & the result was in fact the exact opposite.

Way back at #10 seed, 2012 WCC Quick Chess Champ, Arthur Barlas also has potential to disturb the "Vegas betting line" (if it exists for this event). By his draw with 2-time WCC Champ, Bruce, in round two, Arthur overcame a 143 point rating deficit & earned half a point against one of the toughest & most persistent opponents he'll likely face in this event. Just as one swallow doesn't make a summer, one game doesn't make a tournament, however Arthur has a moderately impressive record against a few of the club's top guns & he also seems to be playing at or near his three year peak as reflected by his recent rating surge which put him briefly into USCF class A.

**2015 Wachusett CC Championship, "A" Division**
Round 2 Results
White	Result	Black
Roger Cappallo	1/2-1/2	Joe Bennett
Gary Brassard	0-1	George Mirijanian
Larry Gladding	1-0	Ray Paulson
Bruce Felton	1/2-1/2	Arthur Barlas
Steve Nelson	0-1	Dave Thomas

Roll your cursor onto the boxes below for more information.

♔ 2015 WCC CHAMPIONSHIP CURRENT STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 2 ♔
Name ▼	Cappallo	Mirijanian	Paulson	Felton	Nelson	Gladding	Thomas	Brassard	Bennett	Barlas	Score ▼
Cappallo 1999	x		1						1/2		1.5
Mirijanian 1971		x		1				1			2
Paulson 1960	0		x			0					0
Felton 1932		0		x						1/2	0.5
Nelson 1889					x		0		0		0
Gladding 1885			1			x				1	2
Thomas 1837					1		x	0			1
Brassard 1833		0					1	x			1
Bennett 1829	1/2				1				x		1.5
Barlas 1789				1/2		0				x	0.5

**Wachusett CC Championship, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
2.0	Mirijanian, Gladding
1.5	Cappallo, Bennett
1.0	Brassard, Thomas
0.5	Felton, Barlas
0.0	Paulson, Nelson

Round 3 pairings for May 20th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: (7) Bennett vs. (1) Gladding
Board 2: (5) Mirijanian vs. (3) Nelson
Board 3: (6) Thomas vs. (2) Cappallo
Board 4: (4) Brassard vs. (10) Felton
Board 5: (8) Paulson vs. (9) Barlas

**Martin Laine Memorial, 2015**
Round 2 Results
White	Result	Black
Jim Hankard	0-1	Paul Godin
Alan Condon	0-1	Tom Fratturelli
Ken Gurge	1/2-1/2	Mke Meehan
George Miller	1-0	Bob Mathieu
Stan Talcott	0-1	Tony Cesolini
Len Arsenault	1-0	Larry O'Rourke
Tom Giampietro	0-1	Keith Kessmann
Jackson Parker	1-0	Tom Whistler
Richard Bennett	0-1	Dave Couture
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Brian Biglow
John Bastarache	1-0	Randy McLaughlin
Francis Scanlon	1-0	Don Briggs

Emily Gawboy received a full-point bye.
Receiving half-point byes were Hugh McLaughlin, Kandy Lynch and Rick Evans.
Gail Lingner withdrew from the tournament.
Tom Giampietro returned to the club after a few months off.

**Martin Laine Memorial, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
2.0	Godin, Fratturelli, Miller
1.5	Cesolini, Gurge, Arsenault, Kessmann, Parker, Meehan
1.0	Condon, Couture, Mathieu, Hankard, Biglow, Bastarache, Talcott, H. McLaughlin, Lynch, Scanlon, Evans, Gawboy
0.5	O'Rourke, Giampietro, Whistler
0.0	Briggs, Bennett, R. McLaughlin, Steadman

Projected Round 3 pairings for May 20th:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 6: Godin vs. Fratturelli
Board 7: Cesolini vs. Miller
Board 8: Meehan vs. Arsenault
Board 9: Kessmann vs. Parker
Board 10: Talcott vs. Condon
Board 11: Couture vs. Bastarache
Board 12: Mathieu vs. Scanlon
Board 13: Lynch vs. Hankard
Board 14: Biglow vs. Evans
Board 15: Gawboy vs. O'Rourke
Board 16: Whistler vs. Giampietro
Board 17: Briggs vs. Steadman
Board 18: R. McLaughlin vs. Bennett

Requesting a half-point bye is Ken Gurge.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for Round 3 on May 20th.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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May 11th, 2015

Carissa on BBC
Carissa Yip on PBS (WGBH Channel 2)

BBC News World US & Canada: "Girl, 11, is youngest US chess master" Video clip interview with Carissa & Percy Yip.

Carissa's piece is airing tonight on the PBS (WGBH Channel 2) broadcast of 'World News America'. I believe that is at 5:30PM in the Boston area, but you can check your local listings. It is also repeated a few times throughout the evening.

May 10th, 2015

Rating Updates
Carissa Yip Beats Two Masters in 4-0 Sweep!

Two club players underwent rating changes in the past two days:
Carissa Yip -> 2252 at the Saturday Legends of Chess Alexander Petrov &
Nowell Sheinwald -> 1867 at the Friday night Waltham G/30 Quads
Once again, WCC Champ Carissa continues to dazzle. This time, her 4-0 performance included wins over NM Chris Williams (again) & NM Lawyer Times, both of whom were rated above 2300!

Carissa Yip, Round 3, another Sicilian Dragon

For a headline story with game details & some pictures by Steve Stepak from this event, including several photos of Carissa, please be sure to visit the Boylston Chess Club web site blog.

May 7th, 2015

Kesajuhla at Saima Park
Siiskonen Memorial Centennial Chess Tournament

Kesajuhla at Saima Park will be held Saturday, June 20. The Saima board of directors have approved our running a "fun chess tournament" there on that day for adults and youngsters. I suggested a [non-rated] fun tournament to attract more players. I am proposing a five-round Swiss, with a time limit of Game/15, with the first round starting at 10 a.m. Registration would be from 9:30 to 10 a.m. Play would be in the nice function hall at Saima. Because there is a handmade chess table at Saima in memory of Everett [sic] Siiskonen and this year marks the 100th anniversary of his birth, I would like to call this event the Evert Siiskonen Memorial Centennial Chess Tournament. Evert and his wife were very active in the Finnish/American community here. After his wife died, Evert returned to Finland - where he died in March 1993 at age 78.
I will talk to more about this event tonight at the club,
George Mirijanian

May 6th, 2015

WCC Championahip, Round 1 of 9
Martin Laine Memorial, Round 1 of 4

**2015 Wachusett CC Championship, "A" Division**
Round 1 of 9 Results
White	Result	Black
(8) Ray Paulson	0-1	(2) Roger Cappallo
(5) George Mirijanian	1-0	(10) Bruce Felton
(9) Arthur Barlas	0-1	(1) Larry Gladding
(7) Joe Bennett	1-0	(3) Steve Nelson
(6) Dave Thomas	0-1	(4) Gary Brassard

♔ 2015 WCC CHAMPIONSHIP CURRENT STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 1 ♔
Name ▼	Cappallo	Mirijanian	Paulson	Felton	Nelson	Gladding	Thomas	Brassard	Bennett	Barlas	Score ▼
Cappallo 1999	x		1								1
Mirijanian 1971		x		1							1
Paulson 1960	0		x								0
Felton 1932		0		x							0
Nelson 1889					x				0		0
Gladding 1885						x				1	1
Thomas 1837							x	0			0
Brassard 1833							1	x			1
Bennett 1829					1				x		1
Barlas 1789						0				x	0

**Wachusett CC Championship, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
1.0	Cappallo, Mirijanian, Gladding, Brassard, Bennett
0.5	-----
0.0	Paulson, Felton, Nelson, Thomas, Barlas

Round 2 Pairings - May 13, 2015:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: (2) Cappallo vs. (7) Bennett
Board 2: (4) Brassard vs. (5) Mirijanian
Board 3: (1) Gladding vs. (8) Paulson
Board 4: (10) Felton vs. (9) Barlas
Board 5: (3) Nelson vs. (6) Thomas

Stan Talcott Scores Whopping 354-Point Upset in Marty Laine Memorial Tournament

While it was pretty much business as usual on the other 14 boards of the initial round of the first Martin Laine Memorial tournament, Class D contender Stan Talcott, rated 1387 took the full point from his class B 1741 rated opponent, Dave Couture, after only 22 moves of play at board 8. Although Stan holds a relatively modest rating of 1387, he has occasionally proven to be quite a tough customer & last night was no exception. His deadly kingside attack ended abruptly when he checkmated Dave in the diagrammed position. This position bears a close resemblance to a familiar pattern known by the somewhat unimaginitive name of the "Minor Piece Mate" or "Bishop & Knight Mate".

Stan's finale involved his queen rather than a bishop & Dave's queen rather than the knight as in the 1903 game B Blumenfeld vs NN, so until I can unearth an existing name for this pattern, I'm going to label this as "Stan's Mate" (unless he'd prefer "Talcott's Mate" or te more formal, "Stan Talcott's Mate")

Stan Talcott's Miniature Victory, Final Position
A very pretty finish using "Stan's Mate"
The "Minor Piece Mate" position from Blumenfeld v. NN 1903 Note how the bishop checks, while the knight on e7 cuts off escape.	"Stan Talcott's Mate" from Dave Couture v. Stan Talcott 2015 Here Stan mates with the queen as Dave's queen obstructs.

**Martin Laine Memorial, 2015**
Round 1 Results
White	Result	Black
Paul Godin	1-0	John Bastarache
Don Briggs	0-1	Alan Condon
Dave Couture	0-1	Stan Talcott
Brian Biglow	0-1	Ken Gurge
Bob Mathieu	1-0	Richard Bennett
Randy McLaughlin	0-1	Jim Hankard
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Wayne Steadman
Francis Scanlon	0-1	George Miller
Mike Meehan	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were Lenny Arsenault, Keith Kessmann, Jackson Parker, Gail Lingner, Larry O'Rourke, Hugh McLaughlin, Kandy Lynch, Rick Evans and Tom Whistler.

**Martin Laine Memorial, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
1.0	Godin, Condon, Gurge, Mathieu, Hankard, Fratturelli, Miller, Meehan, Talcott
0.5	Arsenault, Kessmann, Parker, Lingner, O'Rourke, H. McLaughlin, Lynch, Evans, Whistler
0.0	Couture, Biglow, Bastarache, Briggs, Bennett, R. McLaughlin, Steadman, Scanlon, Gawboy

Projected Round 2 pairings for May 13:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 6: Hankard vs. Godin
Board 7: Condon vs. Fratturelli
Board 8: Gurge vs. Meehan
Board 9: Miller vs. Mathieu
Board 10: Talcott vs. Arsenault
Board 11: Kessmann vs. O'Rourke
Board 12: Evans vs. Parker
Board 13: Lingner vs. Lynch
Board 14: Whistler vs. Couture
Board 15: Steadman vs. Biglow
Board 16: Bastarache vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 17: Gawboy vs. Briggs
Board 18: Bennett vs. Scanlon

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for round 2.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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May 5th, 2015

Three New Links

World Champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. comments on San Francisco Street Chess

Nalimov Endgame Tablebases Perfect endgame play (as long as you have 6 pieces or less (including the kings)):

Clark University Chess Tournament Report

May 4th, 2015

Rating Updates

Two club players underwent rating changes in the past day or two:
Raymond Paulson -> 1960
Nowell Sheinwald -> 1907
Also notable is the outstanding performance at Metrowest CC in April by our current champion,
Carissa Yip -> 2219
All as a result of rated play outside the Wachusett Chess Club.

April 29th, 2015

2015 Evert Siiskonen Memorial
Round 5 of 5

Geoff Grabs Gold & Goes Golfing

Geoff LePoer finished the Evert Siiskonen Memorial tournament Wednesday with a big win over Nowell Sheinwald. This 106 point upset victory at board one enabled LePoer to sprint past Ray Paulson, & take clear first place with his score of 4.5 out of 5 consisting of four wins & a fourth round bye. Paulson, who chose not to play the last round but won every game he played, finished with a respectable 4-1 score.

Geoff, who is also an avid golfer as well as USCF class A rated chess competitor expects to take a few months off from his chess endeavours to pursue his other passion, so we wish him luck & look forward to his return to the WCC in the fall.

Meanwhile at board two, Steve Nelson, having lost in round 3 to Paulson, unleashed an explosive attack against Joe Bennett's inadequately protected king & took a full point in the last round to match Paulson's second place score of 4-1. Board three saw another surprise as Gary Brassard scored a 148 point upset by defeating Paul Godin. The biggest upset of the night came at board five, where Dave Couture climbed a 167 rating point hill to beat Dave Thomas.

While the 264 point upset draw at board 12 between 1372 rated Larry O'Rourke & 1636 rated Jim Hankard, may appear to be a large surprise even if you correct for the result by halving the difference (hence 132), it also moves Hankard into contention for this year's "Carl Schlecter Award" by matching Gary Brassard's total of 7 behind Roger Cappallo & Lenny Arsenault with 8 draws each for the season.

Though tonight's action consisted of 30 players at 15 boards, there were actually a total of 40 players in the event, with 4 coming from the Lowell area, 3 from Worcester, 2 from the Boston area, 2 from western Mass., 3 from southern New Hampshire, and 3 from Groton. The remaining 23 players were from the Fitchburg-Leominster area.

♔ 2015 Evert Siiskonen Memorial PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:	Geoff LePoer of Westford
2nd-3rd:	Ray Paulson of Lowell, Steve Nelson of Fitchburg

**Evert Siiskonen Memorial, 2015**
Final Round of 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Geoff LePoer	1-0	Nowell Sheinwald
Steve Nelson	1-0	Joe Bennett
Gary Brassard	1-0	Paul Godin
Bruce Felton	1-0	Lenny Arsenault
Dave Thomas	0-1	Dave Couture
Richard Bennett	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Arthur Barlas	1-0	Keith Kessmann
Gail Lingner	0-1	Alan Condon
Ken Gurge	1-0	Don Briggs
John Bastarache	0-1	Bob Mathieu
Randy McLaughlin	0-1	George Miller
Larry O'Rourke	1/2-1/2	Jim Hankard
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
Tom Whistler	0-1	Wayne Steadman
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Francis Scanlon

Not playing the final round were Ray Paulson, George Mirijanian, Larry Gladding, Tony Cesolini, Brian Biglow,
Mike Meehan, Jackson Parker, Stan Talcott, Seeth Ganesan and Kandy Lynch.
Walter Niemi was withdrawn from the tournament.

**Evert Siiskonen Memorial, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
5.0	-----
4.5	LePoer
4.0	Paulson, Nelson
3.5	Felton, Brassard, Couture
3.0	Cappallo, Sheinwald, J. Bennett, Barlas, Condon, Gurge
2.5	Mirijanian, Godin, Gladding, Thomas, Arsenault, Mathieu, Miller, R. Bennett
2.0	Cesolini, Kessmann, Fratturelli, Lingner, Biglow, Meehan, Briggs, O'Rourke, Steadman
1.5	Hankard, Parker, Talcott, Bastarache, R. McLaughlin, Scanlon
1.0	Ganesan, H. McLaughlin, Lynch. Whistler
0.5	-----
0.0	Gawboy

REMINDER: Wednesday, May 6, marks the start of the Martin Laine Memorial, a 4-round Swiss in one section.
Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for round 1.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

Wednesday, May 6 will also be the start of the Wachusett CC Championship, a 10-player round robin,
with the following players who qualified to compete for the 2015 club crown:
Roger Cappallo, George Mirijanian, Bruce Felton, Ray Paulson, Larry Gladding,
Steve Nelson, Dave Thomas, Joe Bennett, Gary Brassard and Arthur Barlas.
Paul Godin qualified for the championship but declined to participate because of his work schedule.

In keeping with a long standing tradition of the Wachusett Chess Club, dating back to the Summer of 2014,
duplicate score sheets will be distributed to all players in the Championship Section.
A copy of each player's score sheet must be handed in at the end of each round.
(Note: This is covered in Rule 15G of the USCF Official Rules of Chess.)
Game scores will not be posted (in the Games Section) until all championship games are completed.

♔ 2015 Wachusett Chess Club Championship: ♔

Schedule of Rounds

Round 1 - May 6, 2015:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: (8) Paulson vs. (2) Cappallo
Board 2: (5) Mirijanian vs. (10) Felton
Board 3: (9) Barlas vs. (1) Gladding
Board 4: (7) Bennett vs. (3) Nelson
Board 5: (6) Thomas vs. (4) Brassard

Round 2 - May 13, 2015:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: (2) Cappallo vs. (7) Bennett
Board 2: (4) Brassard vs. (5) Mirijanian
Board 4: (10) Felton vs. (9) Barlas
Board 3: (1) Gladding vs. (8) Paulson
Board 5: (3) Nelson vs. (6) Thomas

Round 3 - May 20, 2015:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 3: (6) Thomas vs. (2) Cappallo
Board 2: ((5) Mirijanian vs. (3) Nelson
Board 4: ((4) Brassard vs. (10) Felton
Board 5: ((8) Paulson vs. (9) Barlas
Board 1: ((7) Bennett vs. (1) Gladding

Round 4 - May 27, 2015:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: (2) Cappallo vs. (5) Mirijanian
Board 4: (10) Felton vs. (8) Paulson
Board 3: (1) Gladding vs. (6) Thomas
Board 5: (3) Nelson vs. (4) Brassard
Board 2: (9) Barlas vs. (7) Bennett

Round 5 - June 3, 2015:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board ?: (4) Brassard vs. (2) Cappallo
Board ?: (5) Mirijanian vs. (1) Gladding
Board ?: (3) Nelson vs. (10) Felton
Board ?: (7) Bennett vs. (8) Paulson
Board ?: (6) Thomas vs. (9) Barlas

Round 6 - June 10, 2015:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board ?: (2) Cappallo vs. (3) Nelson
Board ?: (9) Barlas vs. (5) Mirijanian
Board ?: (10) Felton vs. (7) Bennett
Board ?: (8) Paulson vs. (6) Thomas
Board ?: (1) Gladding vs. (4) Brassard

Round 7 - June 17, 2015:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board ?: (2) Cappallo vs. (10) Felton
Board ?: (5) Mirijanian vs. (8) Paulson
Board ?: (3) Nelson vs. (1) Gladding
Board ?: (6) Thomas vs. (7) Bennett
Board ?: (4) Brassard vs. (9) Barlas

Round 8 - June 24, 2015:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board ?: (1) Gladding vs. (2) Cappallo
Board ?: (7) Bennett vs. (5) Mirijanian
Board ?: (10) Felton vs. (6) Thomas
Board ?: (8) Paulson vs. (4) Brassard
Board ?: (9) Barlas vs. (3) Nelson

Round 9 (final) - July 1, 2015:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board ?: (2) Cappallo vs. (9) Barlas
Board ?: (5) Mirijanian vs. (6) Thomas
Board ?: (1) Gladding vs. (10) Felton
Board ?: (3) Nelson vs. (8) Paulson
Board ?: (4) Brassard vs. Bennett

April 28th, 2015

Rating Updates

Here are the players who will undergo rating changes as of 4/29/15:
Carissa Yip -> 2202
Tony Cesolini -> 2009
Nowell Sheinwald -> 1951
All as a result of rated play outside the Wachusett Chess Club.

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April 23rd, 2015

2015 WCC Championship Qualifiers

2015 Club Championship Qualification Standings As of April 23, 2015
After 7.8 of 8 Tournaments (39 of 40 Games)
Top Ten High Winning Percentage Finishers Qualify
with a minimum of 20 played games required
#	Name	Rating	Games Played This Season	W	L	D	Winning Percentage	Notes
1	GEORGE MIRIJANIAN	1972	22	14	3	5	.750
2	PAUL GODIN	1960	27	20	7	0	.741	b
3	ROGER CAPPALLO	2020	37	23	6	8	.730
4	RAYMOND PAULSON	1906	32	21	7	4	.719	a
5	BRUCE FELTON	1929	22	14	5	3	.705
6	STEVE SCOTT NELSON	1843	33	21	9	3	.682
7	ARTHUR BARLAS	1790	20	13	6	1	.675	a
8	DAVID THOMAS	1837	38	21	11	6	.632	b
9	LARRY GLADDING	1874	28	17	10	1	.625
10	GARY BRASSARD	1812	33	17	9	7	.621
11	JOSEPH BENNETT	1826	28	15	10	3	.589
12	KEN GURGE	1717	33	15	12	6	.545
13	ALAN CONDON	1738	21	10	9	2	.524
14	LEONARD ARSENAULT	1681	29	11	10	8	.517
15	ROBERT MATHIEU	1625	29	14	13	2	.517

Notes: a = Participation confirmed (yay Ray!)[OK, yay Arthur too, but that doesn't even rhyme.]
b = Participation availability questionable
In the event of a tie in winning percentage, the player with the higher USCF rating entering the final game shall qualify.

For more information about previous Wachusett Chess Club Champions, be sure to visit the Club Champs Section ♔

April 22nd, 2015

2015 Evert Siiskonen Memorial
Round 4 of 5

Back to Normal For a Change

Ray Paulson extended his winning streak at board one by defeating Bruce Felton & thereby taking sole possession of the lead in this year's Evert Siiskonen Memorial tournament. Ray opened with his usual queen's pawn & Bruce chose the solid & reliable Semi-Slav Defense. It was a close & well played game but eventually Ray was able to accumulate small positional advantages & dominate in the later phases of the game for the victory. Clearly the game was tough struggle as both players had used up nearly all their allotted time & became the last game to finish.

Round 4 also featured one 234 point upset & three big underdog draws, but otherwise each of the higher rated players defeated their lower rated opponents though some had to work harder than others. For example, at board 5, Hubbardston native Joe Bennett defeated Chelmsford resident Arthur Barlas by first letting his game slip to a queen & pawn ending where he was not only significantly worse positionally, but down a pawn against his 36 point lower rated opponent. However with about a dozen or so minutes remaining on his clock & searching for a way to convert his advantage into a win, Arthur blundered his queen & had to resign. In an ironic twist, this happened to be Arthur's 20th game of the season which places him on the list of eligible contenders for this year's WCC Championship. As he himself put it, "Even though I blew a queen to Joe Bennett, I qualified tonight for the WCC Championship Tournament."

By far the biggest upset of the night occurred at board ten when USCF class B rated Jim Hankard of Antrim, NH & 45th on the Granite State's top 100 liat came out of the opening phase of his game two pawns down against Lunenburg resident & USCF class C player, Don Briggs. Shortly thereafter, Jim made a claim of a type of touch move violation by Don, but chief Tournament Director, George Mirijanian denied the claim so the game continued. Briggs then proceeded to play consistently & well for the remainder of the game & came away with the full point against his 234 higher rated opponent. This single result will add more than 24 points to Don's current 1402 USCF rating.

**Evert Siiskonen Memorial, 2015**
Round 4 Results
White	Result	Black
Ray Paulson	1-0	Bruce Felton
Nowell Sheinwald	1-0	Larry Gladding
Alan Condon	0-1	Steve Nelson
Len Arsenault	1/2-1/2	Richard Bennett
Joe Bennett	1-0	Arthur Barlas
Jackson Parker	0-1	Dave Thomas
Gary Brassard	1-0	Stan Talcott
John Bastarache	0-1	Dave Couture
Keith Kessmann	1-0	Randy McLaughlin
Don Briggs	1-0	Jim Hankard
Bob Mathieu	1/2-1/2	Larry O'Rourke
Kandy Lynch	0-1	Gail Lingner
Brian Biglow	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
Wayne Steadman	1/2-1/2	Tom Fratturelli
Francis Scanlon	0-1	George Miller
Tom Whistler	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were: Geoff LePoer, George Mirijanian, Paul Godin, Roger Cappallo & Mike Meehan.
Not playing the round were: Tony Cesolini, Ken Gurge & Seeth Ganesan, the last of whom had already withdrawn from the tournament.
Walter Niemi was withdrawn from the event.

**Evert Siiskonen Memorial, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
4.0	Paulson
3.5	LePoer
3.0	Sheinwald, Nelson, J. Bennett
2.5	Mirijanian, Godin, Felton, Gladding, Thomas, Brassard, Arsenault, Couture, R. Bennett
2.0	Cappallo, Cesolini, Barlas, Condon, Gurge, Kessmann, Lingner, Biglow, Meehan, Briggs
1.5	Mathieu, Miller, Parker, Talcott, Bastarache, R. McLaughlin, O'Rourke
1.0	(Ganesan), Hankard, Fratturelli, Steadman, H. McLaughlin, Lynch, Whistler
0.5	Scanlon
0.0	Gawboy

As a result of several updates & revisions due to changes in schedules & availibility, including the latest news that
Ray Paulson will not be playing the last round, the projected pairings now look like this:

Projected Round 5 (final) pairings for April 29:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: LePoer vs. Sheinwald
Board 2: Nelson vs. J. Bennett
Board 3: Mirijanian vs. Arsenault
Board 4: Brassard vs. Godin
Board 5: Felton vs. Couture
Board 6: R. Bennett vs. Thomas
Board 7: Cappallo vs. Kessmann
Board 8: Lingner vs. Barlas
Board 9: Biglow vs. Condon
Board 10: Meehan vs. Gurge
Board 11: Miller vs. Briggs
Board 12: Bastarache vs. Mathieu
Board 13: R. McLaughlin vs. Parker
Board 14: Talcott vs. O'Rourke
Board 15: Hankard vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 16: Fratturelli vs. Lynch
Board 17: Whistler vs. Steadman
Board 18: Gawboy vs. Scanlon

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. on April 29th in order to be paired for Round 5.
Players running late who wish to be paired MUST CALL Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

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April 21st, 2015

Carissa Yip's 31 Board Simul
Andover Chess Club

WCC Champ Gives Chess Lecture & Simul:
A lecture at Andover Chess Club and a simul with 31 boards. Carissa won 30 games and drew 1.
From Carissa's Facebook page	Carissa is about to play 2. e5. After 1. e4 Nf6.	Carissa takes questions from the audience
Carissa deeply immersed in the middlegame Along with 31 opponents.	Parents & teachers tried their luck too From the position on the board, it doesn't look like the guy in the striped shirt got the only draw..	Carissa with demo board Position looks like it's from a Sicilian Dragon.

Misha Smirnov, father of a chess kid drew his game against Carissa. That was the last game to finish.

April 20th, 2015

Final results from non-rated chess tournament
University Center at Clark University in Worcester

Final scores:
(Clark Univ. Worcester G/20 unrated Tournament)
Tom Whistler was the only WCC member who played.
Maik Sohn 4
Paul Herron 4
Josh Burger 4
Bill Shakalis 3
William Staso 3
Larry Legros 3
John Kaplan 3
Utsav Shrestha 3
Angel Gonzalez 3
Michael Gaiewski 2.5
Luke Schoppert 2
Danny Neuman 2
Steven Dan 2
Gary Orcutt 1.5
Tom Whistler 1
Matthew Clauss 0.5
Owen Connell 0.5

April 17th, 2015

non-rated chess tournament (no entry fee) on Sunday, April 19
University Center at Clark University in Worcester

ATTENTION: All Wachusett CC players

There will be an unrated chess tournament (no entry fee) on Sunday, April 19, held in the Lurie Conference room of the University Center at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.
This will be either a 4 or 5-round Swiss, depending on entries. The time control is Game/20, Registration at the playing site is from 10 to 11 a.m., with the first round scheduled to start shortly after 11 a.m. There will be gift cards to winners. There will also be FREE FOOD!

The address of Clark University in Worcester, Mass. is 950 Main St. The University Center is known as the Higgins University Center. Directions to the site are available if you Google the university and/or contact Willy Staso at WStaso@clarku.edu He should also be able to tell you about parking.

If you are interested In playing and need more information, go to Clark University Chess Club Events or you can contact Willy Staso by email at: WStaso@clarku.edu

Yours for chess in Worcester County,
George M

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April 15th, 2015

2015 Evert Siiskonen Memorial
Round 3 of 5

Ray Paulson & Geoff LePoer Pace the Pack

Three moderate upsets & one whopper tonight left class A players, Ray Paulson of Lowell & Geoff LePoer of Westford, tied in front at three each after three rounds of this year's Evert Siiskonen Memorial chess tournamnet. Larry Gladding scored a 146 point upset by defeating Roger Cappallo at board 3, Jackson Parker won his game against his 128 point higher rated foe at board 10 & John Bastarache was able to overcome George Miller's 136 rating point advantage & win at board 11. Meanwhile, class D competitor, Richard Bennett, with a rating of 1305 scored an upset of 398 rating points by defeating class B player, Keith Kessmann, at 1703. This upset was just 12 points shy of the sum total of the other three listed above!

Also worthy of note are Randy McLaughlin & Jackson Parker, who are now in third & ninth places respectively in the 2015 USCF Junior Grand Prix Top Standings for Massachusetts.

**Evert Siiskonen Memorial, 2015**
Round 3 Results
White	Result	Black
Steve Nelson	0-1	Ray Paulson
Alan Condon	0-1	Geoff LePoer
Larry Gladding	1-0	Roger Cappallo
Dave Thomas	0-1	Bruce Felton
Nowell Sheinwald	1-0	Gary Brassard
Paul Godin	1-0	Brian Biglow
Arthur Barlas	1-0	Bob Mathieu
Keith Kessmann	0-1	Richard Bennett
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Lenny Arsenault
Tom Fratturelli	0-1	Jackson Parker
George Miller	0-1	John Bastarache
Jim Hankard	1-0	Wayne Steadman
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Gail Lingner
Don Briggs	1-0	Tom Whistler

Receiving half-point byes were:
Tony Cesolini, George Mirijanian, Joe Bennett, Ken Gurge, Dave Couture, Mike Meehan, Stan Talcott,
Randy McLaughlin, Seeth Ganesan, Kandy Lynch and Francis Scanlon.
Not playing the round were: Walter Niemi and Larry O'Rourke.

**Evert Siiskonen Memorial, April 15th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.0	Paulson, LePoer
2.5	Felton, Gladding
2.0	Cesolini, Mirijanian, Sheinwald, Godin, Nelson, J. Bennett, Barlas, Condon, Gurge, Arsenault, R. Bennett
1.5	Cappallo, Thomas, Brassard, Couture, Parker, Meehan, Talcott, Bastarache, R. McLaughlin
1.0	Niemi, Kessmann, Ganesan, Hankard, Mathieu, Lingner, Biglow, Briggs, O'Rourke, H. McLaughlin, Lynch
0.5	Fratturelli, Miller, Steadman, Scanlon
0.0	Whistler, Gawboy

Projected Round 4 pairings (revised 17APR15) for April 22:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Paulson vs. Felton
Board 2: Cesolini vs. Gladding
Board 3: Mirijanian vs. J. Bennett
Board 4: Barlas vs. Sheinwald
Board 5: Arsenault vs, Godin
Board 6: Condon vs. Nelson
Board 7: R. Bennett vs. Thomas
Board 8: Brassard vs. Talcott
Board 9: Bastarache vs. Couture
Board 10: Parker vs, R. McLaughlin
Board 11: Kessmann vs. Briggs
Board 12: Biglow vs. Hankard
Board 13: Mathieu vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 14: Lynch vs, Lingner
Board 15: Steadman vs. Fratturelli
Board 16: Scanlon vs. Miller
Board 17: Whistler vs. Gawboy

Requesting half-point byes are Cappallo, LePoer, Gurge, & Meehan.
Seeth Ganesan withdrew from the tournament.

Special note:
The Knights Chess Club in Keene NH has a new location. Check it out here: Knights Chess Club, Keene NH

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. in order to be paired for Round 4 on April 22.
Players running late who want to be paired must call by 7 P.M.

April 14th, 2015

USCF Top Rated Female Players
Massachusetts

All Four WCC Women on Top 30 MA List!

This month's USCF Top Rated lists for female players in Massachusetts, based on recent USCF statistics, include four Wachusett Chess Club Members.

Certainly due to her recent meteoric rise and with some assistance from Katrine Tjoelsen, who while slightly higher rated, hasn't played a USCF rated game in over a year & hence has dropped off the active player list, 11-yead old Carissa Yip now tops the list of highest rated female players in the state. Joining Carissa in the top 30 list are Gail Lingner of Fitchburg at 12th place with an official published rating of 1588, Kandy Lynch of Worcester in 19th place at 1186 & Emily Gawboy of Leominster, who with a 693 official USCF rating, holds 28th place in the state. Congratulations to all!

♕ ♛ Top Rated Female Players in MA ♛ ♕
1st:	Carissa Yip of Andover (2203)
12th:	Gail Lingner of Fitchburg (1588)
19th:	Kandy Lynch of Worcester (1186)
28th:	Emily Gawboy of Leominster (693)

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April 8th, 2015

2015 Evert Siiskonen Memorial
Round 2 of 5

Two Mac's To Max!

The father son duo of Hugh & Randy McLaughlin claimed the two largest upsets in round two of the Evert Siiskonen Memorial tournament last night as class D rated Randy Mclaughlin, a 262 point underdog & relative newcomer, won his game against class B rated tournament veteran Jim Hankard. Meanwhile Randy's dad, Hugh McLaughlin, also a class D player rated 1261, scored an even bigger upset of 291 points over class C ranked Gail Lingner. 1738 rated Alan Condon managed an upset of 222 rating points when he eventually prevailed at board 3 against his 1960 rated opponent, Paul Godin. Rounding out the evening's surprises were Steve Nelson, who played sharply & well to overcome a 123 rating point imbalance by defeating Nowell Sheinwald & a pair of upset draws as both the George Mirijanian vs Gary Brassard (160 point rating difference) & the Wayne Steadman vs George Miller (233 point rating difference) games ended in ties.

**Evert Siiskonen Memorial, 2015**
Round 2 Results
White	Result	Black
Gary Brassard	1/2-1/2	George Mirijanian
Nowell Sheinwald	0-1	Steve Nelson
Alan Condon	1-0	Paul Godin
Ray Paulson	1-0	Arthur Barlas
Geoff LePoer	1-0	Keith Kessmann
Roger Cappallo	1-0	Tom Fratturelli
Jackson Parker	0-1	Tony Cesolini
Bruce Felton	1-0	John Bastarache
Dave Thomas	1-0	Kandy Lynch
Randy McLaughlin	1-0	Jim Hankard
Bob Mathieu	1-0	Don Briggs
Wayne Steadman	1/2-1/2	George Miller
Gail Lingner	0-1	Hugh McLaughlin
Brian Biglow	1-0	Francis Scanlon
Tom Whistler	0-1	Mike Meehan
Stan Talcott	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were:
Larry Gladding, Joe Bennett, Ken Gurge, Walter Niemi, Lenny Arsenault, Dave Couture, Larry O'Rourke,
Richard Bennett and Seeth Ganesan.

**Evert Siiskonen Memorial, April 8th, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
2.0	Paulson, LePoer, Nelson, Condon
1.5	Cappallo, Cesolini, Mirijanian, Felton, Gladding, Thomas, J. Bennett, Brassard, Gurge
1.0	Sheinwald, Godin, Niemi, Barlas, Kessmann, Arsenault, Couture, Mathieu, Biglow, Meehan, Talcott, R. McLaughlin, O'Rourke, R. Bennett, H. McLaughlin
0.5	Ganesan, Fratturelli, Miller, Parker, Bastarache, Steadman, Lynch
0.0	Hankard, Lingner, Briggs, Scanlon, Whistler, Gawboy

Projected Round 3 pairings for April 15:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Nelson vs. Paulson
Board 2: Condon vs. LePoer
Board 3: Gladding vs. Cappallo
Board 4: Cesolini vs. Thomas
Board 5: Mirijanian vs. J. Bennett
Board 6: Brassard vs. Felton
Board 7: Mathieu vs. Sheinwald
Board 8: Godin vs. Biglow
Board 9: Barlas vs. Talcott
Board 10: Kessmann vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 11: R. Bennett vs. Couture
Board 12: Ganesan vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 13: Fratturelli vs, Steadman
Board 14: Miller vs. Bastarache
Board 15: Lynch vs. Parker
Board 16: Hankard vs. Whistler
Board 17: Scanlon vs. Lingner
Board 18: Briggs vs. Gawboy

Requesting half-point byes are Gurge and Meehan.

2015 Club Championship Qualification Standings As of April 8, 2015
After 7.4 of 8 Tournaments (37 of 40 Games)
Top Ten High Winning Percentage Finishers Qualify
with a minimum of 20 played games required
Name	Rating	Games Played This Season	Winning Percentage	Additional Games Needed	Notes
Kildahl	2172	18	.917	2	a
Cappallo	2020	36	.750	0
Mirijanian	1972	22	.750	0
Godin	1960	26	.731	0	a
Felton	1929	20	.725	0
Paulson	1906	30	.700	0	b
Nelson	1843	31	.694	0
Barlas	1790	18	.694	2	a
Thomas	1837	36	.639	0
Gladding	1874	26	.635	0
Brassard	1812	31	.629	0
Condon	1738	19	.579	1
Bennett, J.	1826	27	.574	0
Gurge	1717	33	.545	0
Mathieu	1625	27	.537	0
Arsenault	1681	27	.500	0
Lingner	1552	27	.481	0

Notes: a = Participation availability questionable
b = Participation declined
In the event of a tie in winning percentage, the player with the higher USCF rating entering the final game shall qualify.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. on April 15th in order to be paired for Round 3.
Players running late who want to be paired must call by 7 P.M.

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April 1st, 2015

2015 Evert Siiskonen Memorial
Round 1 of 5

Higher Rated Players Take All But Two of 15 Pairings

The opening round of the 2015 Evert Siiskinen Memorial finished with only a pair of split point upsets as 13 of the 15 games ended decisively in favor of the higher rated player at each board. At board one, 2020 rated USCF expert Roger Cappallo of Groton had to work for 98 of his 100 minutes to hold a draw when his 1670 class B opponent, Dave Couture of Westminster fought his way to an ending with four dangerous passed pawns against Roger's lone rook. You can see this game with some comments & analysis in the Games Section.

Meanwhile at board 9, Dave Thomas of Fitchburg with his Class A rating of 1837 found himself in trouble against 1433 class C rated John Bastarache of Fitchburg to the tune of his queen against John's two rooks & a knight with several pawns each remaining on the board, but Dave managed to force a draw by threefold repetition.

**Evert Siiskonen Memorial, 2015**
Round 1 Results
White	Result	Black
Dave Couture	1/2-1/2	Roger Cappallo
George Mirijanian	1-0	Seeth Ganesan
Jim Hankard	0-1	Nowell Sheinwald
Paul Godin	1-0	Bob Mathieu
George Miller	0-1	Ray Paulson
Larry Gladding	1-0	Brian Biglow
Mike Meehan	0-1	Geoff LePoer
Steve Nelson	1-0	Stan Talcott
John Bastarache	1/2-1/2	Dave Thomas
Joe Bennett	1-0	Randy McLaughlin
Don Briggs	0-1	Gary Brassard
Arthur Barlas	1-0	Wayne Steadman
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Alan Condon
Ken Gurge	1-0	Tom Whistler
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Keith Kessmann

Receiving half-point byes were:
Bruce Felton, Walter Niemi, Lenny Arsenault, Tom Fratturelli, Jackson Parker, Larry O'Rourke and Richard Bennett.
Not playing the round was Gail Lingner.

**Evert Siiskonen Memorial, April 1st, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
1.0	Mirijanian, Sheinwald, Godin, Paulson, Gladding, LePoer, Nelson, J. Bennett, Brassard, Barlas, Condon, Gurge, Kessmann
0.5	Cappallo, Felton, Niemi, Thomas, Arsenault, Couture, Fratturelli, Parker, Bastarache, O'Rourke, R. Bennett
0.0	Ganesan, Hankard, Mathieu, Miller, Lingner, Biglow, Meehan, Talcott, Briggs, R. McLaughlin, Steadman, H. McLaughlin, Whistler, Gawboy

Projected Round 2 pairings for April 8:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Nelson vs. Mirijanian
Board 2: Sheinwald vs. J. Bennett
Board 3: Brassard vs. Godin
Board 4: Paulson vs. Barlas
Board 5: Condon vs. Gladding
Board 6: LePoer vs. Kessmann
Board 7: Cappallo vs. Fratturelli
Board 8: Felton vs. Couture
Board 9: Niemi vs. Bastarache
Board 10: Thomas vs. O'Rourke
Board 11: R. Bennett vs. Arsenault
Board 12: Ganesan vs. Briggs
Board 13: Talcott vs. Hankard
Board 14: Mathieu vs, R. McLaughlin
Board 15: Steadman vs. Miller
Board 16: Lingner vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 17: Biglow vs. Gawboy
Board 18: Whistler vs. Meehan

Ken Gurge is requesting a half-point bye.

The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes Keith Kessmann of Fitchburg back to the club after an absence dating back to 2012. His rating as of 4/1/15 is 1703. His all-time high rating is 1735/18. His current quick rating is 1453/13.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. on April 8th in order to be paired for Round 2.
Players running late who want to be paired must call by 7 P.M.

April 1st, 2015

New Look & Feel for WCC Web Site
First time ever WCC logo by Joe Bennett

You can read some of the details & descriptions of the web site you're now looking at in this month's Webmaster's Message. Even though it's traditionally April Fools' Day, this is no joke. Things are actually starting to come together in useful, logical & informative ways. Not the least of which is an official Wachusett Chess Club logo (shown to the left of this paragraph & elsewhere on this site) designed by Joe Bennett.

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March 29th, 2015

2015 Mass Game/60 Championship
Pictures by Tony Cortizas

Over the weekend, some WCC members competed in the Massachusetts Game/60 Championship. Tony Cortizas was on hand to take pictures which can be seen at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/108837361324770661497/2015MassG60Championship329?authuser=0&feat=directlink

March 25th, 2015

2015 WCC Quick Chess Championship
Five Rounds @ G/15 d3

Quartet Tie in Quick Tourney

Reigning WCC Quick chess Champion, Paul Godin had to "do it the hard way" after a first round loss to WCC visitor Jack Martin to come from behind & catch the pair of front runners Tony Cesolini & Ray Paulson. Meanwhile Gary Brassard of Leominster, having suffered his only loss at the hands of Godin in round four, then in the final round faced Roger Cappallo, who while holding a solid 1919 Quick rating might have been expected to play considerably tougher than that considering he also maintains a USCF expert rating at regular tournament speeds. Gary prevailed however, & thus joined the group at the top rounded out by Tony Cesolini, who having given up only two draws to Joe Bennett & Nowell Sheinwald in rounds three & four respectively, was the sole undefeated first place finisher.

While Gary was busy at board three, board one action consisted of a close round five struggle between Ray Paulson, who led the tournament at that point with four wins, & Paul Godin, who came into the final round with three wins & a loss. The game was not without flaws, but teetered at near equality throughout as both players whittled each other's forces down to a two pawn vs. two pawn ending in which Godin had the upper hand & easily won. There may be some pictures &/or video from this game as much of it was played under the watchful eye of Dave Couture's camera.

This year's Quick Chess contest was played at the relatively fast time control of 15 minutes for the entire game for each player plus a three second delay per move. While this is not considered "blitz" chess, it is significantly faster than past WCC Quick Chess tourneys which have been run at 25 minutes for the game rather than 15. The USCF will rate this event as "Quick Chess", & as such, none of these results will affect any player's regular or blitz rating.

♔ 2015 WCC Quick Chess PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st-4th:	Paul Godin of Bedford, Tony Cesolini of Jaffrey, NH, Ray Paulson of Lowell, and Gary Brassard of Leominster
Top under 1300:	Don Briggs of Lunenburg

**Quick Chess Championship 2015**
Round 1 Results
White	Result	Black
Dave Couture	0-1	Walter Niemi
Paul Godin	0-1	John Martin
Ken Gurge	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Steve Nelson	0-1	Brian Biglow
George Miller	0-1	Tony Cesolini
Ray Paulson	1-0	Larry O'Rourke
Richard Bennett	0-1	Nowell Sheinwald
Joe Bennett	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
Don Briggs	1-0	Bruce Felton
Gary Brassard	1-0	Wayne Steadman
John Bastarache	1-0	Arthur Barlas
Larry Gladding	1-0	Randy McLaughlin
Tom Whistler	0-1	Jim Hankard
Dave Thomas	1-0	Emily Gawboy

**Quick Chess Championship 2015**
Round 2 Results
White	Result	Black
Niemi	1-0	Gladding
Cappallo	1-0	Hankard
Cesolini	1-0	Thomas
Martin	0-1	Paulson
Sheinwald	1-0	Briggs
Biglow	0-1	J. Bennett
Bastarache	0-1	Brassard
O'Rourke	0-1	Godin
H. McLaughlin	0-1	Nelson
Felton	1-0	R. Bennett
Barlas	0-1	Steadman
R. McLaughlin	0-1	Couture
Whistler	0-1	Gurge
Gawboy	0-1	Miller

**Quick Chess Championship 2015**
Round 3 Results
White	Result	Black
Paulson	1-0	Niemi
Sheinwald	0-1	Cappallo
J. Bennett	1/2-1/2	Cesolini
Brassard	0-1	Godin
Nelson	0-1	Martin
Gurge	0-1	Felton
Gladding	1-0	Biglow
Hankard	0-1	Miller
Thomas	1-0	Briggs
Steadman	0-1	Couture
O'Rourke	0-1	Bastarache
R. McLaughlin	0-1	Barlas
R.Bennett	1-0	Whistler
Gawboy	0-1	H. McLaughlin

**Quick Chess Championship 2015**
Round 4 Results
White	Result	Black
Cappallo	0-1	Paulson
Cesolini	1/2-1/2	Sheinwald
Niemi	1-0	J. Bennett
Godin	1-0	Thomas
Couture	1-0	Felton
Martin	0-1	Brassard
Miller	1/2-1/2	Gladding
Hankard	1-0	Bastarache
Briggs	1-0	Nelson
Barlas	1-0	R. Bennett
H. McLaughlin	0-1	Gurge
Biglow	1-0	Steadman
Whistler	0-1	O'Rourke
Gawboy	0-1	R. McLaughlin

**Quick Chess Championship 2015**
Round 5 Results
White	Result	Black
Paulson	0-1	Godin
Cesolini	1-0	Niemi
Brassard	1-0	Cappallo
Sheinwald	1-0	Couture
J. Bennett	1-0	Gladding
Felton	1-0	Miller
Gurge	0-1	Barlas
Briggs	1-0	Hankard
Thomas	0-1	Biglow
Bastarache	0-1	Martin
Steadman	0-1	Nelson
O'Rourke	0-1	H. McLaughlin
R.Bennett	0-1	R McLaughlin
Gawboy	0-1	Whistler

**Wachusett CC Quick Chess Championship, March 25, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
5.0	----
4.5	----
4.0	Godin, Cesolini, Paulson, Brassard
3.5	Sheinwald, J. Bennett
3.0	Niemi, Cappallo, Felton, Barlas, Couture, Martin, Biglow, Briggs
2.5	Gladding, Miller
2.0	Nelson, Hankard, Thomas, Gurge, H. McLaughlin, Bastarache, R. McLaughlin
1.5	----
1.0	O'Rourke, R. Bennett, Steadman, Whistler
0.5	----
0.0	Gawboy

The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Don Briggs	+204
Brian Biglow	+117
John Bastarache	+104
Ray Paulson	+61
George Miller	+61
John Martin	+60

The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Nowell Sheinwald	1st Cat.
Seetharaman Ganesan	3rd Cat.
Robert Mathieu	4th Cat.

Pictures from the 2015 WCC Quick Chess Championship:
Photos by Dave Couture
Round 4 Board 1:	Round 4 Board 1:	Round 4 Board 1:	Tony vs Walter. Board 2:

Foreground, Board 9:	Foreground: Larry O'Rourke(R); Middle: Steve Nelson(L), Wayne Steadman(R); Far: John Martin	Gary Brassard(L) vs Roger Cappallo	Foreground: Richard Bennett(L) & Ray Paulson(standing far R) watch Gary & Roger at board 3

REMINDER: The next tournament at the club, the Evert Siiskonen Memorial, begins Wednesday, April 1.
Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for round 1.
Players running late but still want to be paired must call Ken Gurge by 7 p.m.

March 24th, 2015

2015 Spiegel Cup State Championship Pictures
by Tony Cortizas

	Over the weekend, current WCC Champion Carissa Yip competed in the Spiegel Cup Championship Tournament in the "Age 14 & Under" section. Though the competition was tough, she managed to finish with 3 out of 4 to come in tied for first place with Evan Meyer whose post tournament rating was 2121 & Anton Barash, who ended the tournament with a rating of 1904. Carissa's performance caused her to drop 2 rating points, which pushed her back to 2201. Once again Tony Cortizas Jr. took some great pictures which he's posted at: https://picasaweb.google.com/108837361324770661497/2015SpiegelCupStateChampionship

Quick ratings for all WCC members are now posted at http://www.wachusettchess.org/QuickRatings.pdf. You may also click on the "Statistics button in the main menu (above) & select the last tab "Quick ratings".

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March 18th, 2015

George E. O'Rourke Memorial
Round 5 of 5

Walter Wins With White

Class A rated Walter Niemi of Leominster triumphed over USCF rated expert, Roger Cappallo of Groton in Wednesday evening's fifth & final round game to take clear first place in the 2015 George E. O'Rourke Memorial tournament. While there were no perfect scores in the tournament, Walter's 4.5 out of 5 & resulting first place finish was accomplished by his taking a second round half point bye & winning all four of his actual played games. This performance should add more than 20 points to his rating. Joe Bennett of Hubbardston who took half point byes in both his first & second rounds also turned in a strong 2nd place finish by winning all three of his remaining rounds including a 145 point upset over Larry Gladding of Leominster this evening & a 208 point upset over Ray paulson of Lowell last week.

Third through sixth place at 3.5/5 was shared by George Mirijanian of Fitchburg, Dave Thomas of Fitchburg & Gary Brassard of Leominster each of whom won their last round game & Nowell Sheinwald of Lowell, who had opted not to play round 5.

Walter's 34 move win with the white pieces at board one, was the result of both players expertly following established chess theory for at least 12 moves of the "Steinitz, Boleslavsky Variation" of the French Defense, then some additional precise manouvering on both sides of the board which Walter seemed to generally get the better of. Roger made some tactical miscalculations & Walter found a strong winning attack. This entire game may be seen along with Walter's other three wins from this tournament here in the Games section.

The top Under 1600 honor went to Seetharaman Ganesan of South Grafton, who ended the tournament with 3 points including a 126 point upset in tonight's game over Lenny Arsenault of Leominster.

Finally, Larry O'Rourke of Acton, son of the tournament's namesake George E. O'Rourke, scored a 222 point upset draw by splitting the point with Gail Lingner of Fitchburg. Larry played the popular "Dragon Variation" of the Sicilian Defense and through some minor inaccuracies allowed Gail to generate what might have been a winning king's side attack were it not for Larry's careful alert defense in a several difficult positions & eventual extrication by means of a mating threat of his own which Gail could only defend by repeating the position for the draw.

♔ 2015 George E. O'Rourke Memorial PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:	Walter Niemi of Leominster
2nd:	Joe Bennett of Hubbardston
3rd-6th:	George Mirijanian of Fitchburg, Nowell Sheinwald of Lowell, Dave Thomas of Fitchburg & Gary Brassard of Leominster
Top under 1600:	Seetharaman Ganesan of South Grafton

**George E. O'Rourke Memorial, March 18, 2015**
Round 5 (Final) Results
White	Result	Black
Walter Niemi	1-0	Roger Cappallo
Larry Gladding	0-1	Joe Bennett
George Mirijanian	1-0	Dave Couture
Tom Fratturelli	0-1	Dave Thomas
Brian Biglow	0-1	Gary Brassard
Ray Paulson	1-0	Randy McLaughlin
Seeth Ganesan	1-0	Len Arsenault
Jim Hankard	1-0	George Miller
Ken Gurge	1-0	Mike Meehan
Bob Mathieu	1-0	John Bastarache
Gail Lingner	1/2-1/2	Larry ORourke
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Stan Talcott
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Rich Bennett
Emily Gawboy	1-0	Tom Whistler

**George E. O'Rourke Memorial, March 18, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
5.0	----
4.5	Niemi
4.0	J. Bennett
3.5	Mirijanian, Sheinwald, Thomas, Brassard
3.0	Cappallo, Paulson, Gladding, Hankard, Ganesan
2.5	Gurge, Couture, Mathieu, Fratturelli, Biglow, R. McLaughlin
2.0	Felton, Barlas, Arsenault, Lingner, Miller, Talcott, Briggs, O'Rourke, R.Bennett
1.5	Condon, Meehan, Bastarache, Steadman
1.0	Parker, H. McLaughlin, Gawboy
0.5	Whistler
0.0	-----

The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Randy McLaughlin	+144
Joe Bennett	+91
Walter Niemi	+68
Seeth Ganesan	+52

The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Nowell Sheinwald	1988
Walter Niemi	1923
Dave Thomas	1837
Seeth Ganesan	1645
Randy McLaughlin	1374
Hugh McLaughlin	1316
Emily Gawboy	740

2015 Club Championship Qualification Standings As of March 18, 2015
After 7 of 8 Tournaments (35 of 40 Games)
Top Ten High Winning Percentage Finishers Qualify
with a minimum of 20 played games required
Name	Rating	Games Played This Season	Winning Percentage	Additional Games Needed	Notes
Kildahl	2172	18	.917	2	a
Cappallo	2036	34	.750	0
Mirijanian	1965	20	.750	0
Godin	1960	24	.750	0	a
Barlas	1786	16	.719	4	a
Felton	1928	19	.711	1
Paulson	1943	28	.679	0	b
Nelson	1843	29	.672	0
Thomas	1823	34	.632	0
Brassard	1806	29	.621	0
Gladding	1880	25	.620	0
Bennett, J.	1806	26	.558	0
Mathieu	1646	25	.540	0
Gurge	1748	32	.531	0
Condon	1763	17	.529	3
Arsenault	1719	27	.500	0
Lingner	1588	26	.500	0

Notes: a = Participation availability questionable
b = Participation declined

REMINDER: The next tournament at the club will be the Wachusett CC 2015 Quick Chess Championship,
a 5-round Swiss in one section played at Game/15, 3-second delay (on digital clocks).
The entire tournament will be played Wednesday, March 25.
Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for round 1.

March 17th, 2015

Carissa Yip News Story
Front Page of Boston Globe

Carissa Yip on Front Page of Boston Globe

As expected, the story of Carissa's latest achievement has hit the printed media, in addition to several internet postings. You can now read the latest in print or online,

Boston Globe: "Andover girl is youngest US female chess master"
Lowell Sun: "Checkmate! Andover 11-year-old achieves chess notoriety"
The Valley Dispatch: "Checkmate! Andover 11-year-old achieves chess notoriety"
or
watch a video clip from the interviews with Carissa & her mom & dad titled "Carissa Yip, 11, becomes youngest US female chess master" on the Daily Mail UK web site. [Warning: I'm actually in this video too.]

March 14th, 2015

Carissa Yip News Story
Picked up by other newspapers

Carissa's recent record breaking achievement now in Chinese newspapers:
The Boston Globe has decided to run the story about Carissa's recent record breaking achievement on the front page of the Monday (March 16) edition. The Chinese story has been replicated to appear in the local papers in NY, LA, SF, DC and many other cities (March 12th 2015):
	Online versions of newspapers: Boston New York San Francisco Los Angeles Many more weekly DJY offices such as Washington DC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle, et. al. published today (March 13th 2015) also ran the story. For example: Washington DC I'm sure people who can read Chinese will get more out of it, but even without the translation, it's still a thrill! She's now making headline news across the country in multiple languages.

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March 11th, 2015

George E. O'Rourke Memorial
Round 4 of 5

Sheinwald Topples Cappallo at Board 1.
Nowell Now Neck & Neck With Niemi

UMass Lowell student & class A (1985) rated player, Nowell Sheinwald, after warming up with a somewhat lackluster performance earlier this week in a 7-round online 3-minute blitz tournament, took control at board one against USCF (2036) rated expert, Roger Cappallo, in this evening's regular (100 minutes per player for the entire game) rated round 4 event. Nowell played an aggressive counter gambit in response to Roger's queen pawn opening, won a minor piece & continued to press, which led to Roger's resignation just past the halfway point of the allotted playing time. This win leaves Cappallo with 3 points while Walter Niemi & Sheinwald have surged ahead with three & a half each. Nowell, who has increased his rating by at least 25 points with his performance here thus far placing him well into the expert class, is not expecting to be present for the final round next week, so the range of possibile first place finishers in this tournament is quite large.

Meanwhile five other higher rated players were defeated by their lower rated opponents this round. Most notable were:
♜ Class D (1230) rated Randy McLaughlin, who continued to shine tonight by outplaying his class B (1646) rated opponent, Bob Mathieu to achieve a 416 point upset victory!
♝ Class C player, Brian Biglow (1481) beating class B, Ken Gurge (1748) in a 267 point upset, by his skillful handling of an extremely unbalanced queen vs. rook + knight middlegame.
♚ Class A, Ray Paulson (1943) couldn't contain Class B player, Joe Bennett (1735), who opened with his signature "Bird's Opening" & through complex double edged maneuvering eventually converted to a piece up rook & pawn ending for the 208 point upset at board 3.
And to round out the upset list,
♞ Don Briggs (1375) over 171 point higher rated, Jackson Parker (1546), & finally
♞ Tom Fratturelli (1616), who got the upper hand & made it look easy against his 147 point higher rated rival, Alan Condon (1763).

**George E. O'Rourke Memorial, March 11, 2015**
Round 4 Results
White	Result	Black
Roger Cappallo	0-1	Nowell Sheinwald
Dave Thomas	0-1	Walter Niemi
Joe Bennett	1-0	Ray Paulson
Len Arsenault	0-1	Larry Gladding
Gary Brassard	1-0	Jim Hankard
Alan Condon	0-1	Tom Fratturelli
Brian Biglow	1-0	Ken Gurge
Dave Couture	1-0	John Bastarache
Randy McLaughlin	1-0	Bob Mathieu
Mike Meehan	1/2-1/2	Gail Lingner
Stan Talcott	0-1	George Miller
Jackson Parker	0-1	Don Briggs
Richard Bennett	0-1	Larry O'Rourke
Tom Whistler	0-1	Wayne Steadman
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Hugh McLaughlin

Once again, Dave Couture has provided some excellent photos from tonight's games, which may be seen at:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zi55rhpff58d63o/AACkqrYCD6_R_dGsGF6qMeN_a?dl=0

**George E. O'Rourke Memorial, March 11, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
4.0	----
3.5	Sheinwald, Niemi
3.0	Cappallo, Gladding, J. Bennett
2.5	Mirijanian, Thomas, Brassard, Couture, Fratturelli, Biglow, R. McLaughlin
2.0	Godin, Paulson, Felton, Barlas, Arsenault, Hankard, Ganesan, Miller, Briggs
1.5	Condon, Gurge, Mathieu, Lingner, Meehan, Bastarache, O'Rourke, Steadman
1.0	Nelson, Parker, Talcott, H. McLaughlin, R. Bennett
0.5	Whistler
0.0	Gawboy

Projected Round 5 (final) pairings for March 18:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Niemi vs. Cappallo
Board 2: Gladding vs. J. Bennett
Board 3: Mirijanian vs. Couture
Board 4: Fratturelli vs. Thomas
Board 5: Biglow vs. Brassard
Board 6: Paulson vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 7: Hankard vs. Felton
Board 8: Ganesan vs. Barlas
Board 9: Miller vs. Arsenault
Board 10: Briggs vs. Meehan
Board 11: Lingner vs. Condon
Board 12: Gurge vs. Steadman
Board 13: Mathieu vs. Talcott
Board 14: Bastarache vs. R. Bennett
Board 15: H. McLaughlin vs. O'Rourke
Board 16: Gawboy vs. Whistler

Not expected to play the final round are Sheinwald, Godin, Nelson and Parker.

The Wachusett Chess Club welcomes Michael Meehan of Westminster, who renewed his USCF membership at the club Wednesday night. His rating as of 3/11/15 is 1501. His all-time high rating is 1642.

Visiting the club but not competing in this tournament was current WCC Champion, Carissa Yip, who stopped by with her parents for a photo session with the Lowell Sun & a few casual blitz games.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. on March 18 in order to be paired for Round 4.
Players running late who want to be paired must call Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

March 7th, 2015

Rating Updates

Here are the players who will undergo rating changes as of 3/7/15:
Nowell Sheinwald - 1985
James Hankard - 1624
Stanford Talcott - 1463
Hugh McLaughlin - 1316/9 (no doubt due to a re-rate)
All as a result of rated play outside the Wachusett Chess Club.

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March 4th, 2015

George E. O'Rourke Memorial
Round 3 of 5

Cappallo Continues Winning Ways
Carissa Confirmed Youngest Ever Female USCF Master

Once again USCF rated expert, Roger Cappallo, took the full point in Wednesday night's third round play of the George E. O'Rourke Memorial tournament. Facing class A opponent and two time WCC Champion, Larry Gladding, Roger resorted to his reliable "Benko Gambit" against Larry's Queen Pawn Opening. Gladding declined the gambit pawn & instead opted for a more gradual positional game, but was out manuvered by Cappallo's consistent accurate play & eventually found himself a pawn down with a bad knight against a good bishop & was unable to hold. Interestingly, while this was going on on board 1, at board 2, Dave Thomas also chose to play the Benko Gambit against Ray paulson's Queen pawn, & Ray also declined the pawn ultimately leading to situation where he had a knight & bishop plus two pawns vs Dave's rook plus two pawns, which Dave was able to draw in the last few minutes of the allotted time.

The only upset of the night came at board 11 where 1230 rated Randy McLaughlin beat 1366 rated Larry O'Rourke in a solid close positional struggle which was nearly equal throughout most of the game.

At board 8, recently published author [Progressive Tactics: 1002 Progressively Challenging Chess Tactics], Dave Couture, narrowly escaped a loss to his much (212 points) lower rated opponent, Brian Biglow who, following a misstep by Dave, was able to trap a bishop & thereby go a full minor piece ahead with numerous winning opportunities. Dave, however held the draw when Brian gave back the extra material in a near pawnless ending.

At age 11, Carissa Yip has beaten Annie Wang's record by four months.
2203 rated Carissa Yip is now the youngest ever female USCF master!
♕ NM Carissa Yip ♕	As expected, the USCF has announced on the main page of their web site, that the new all time record for the youngest ever female to achieve the master's rating of 2200 now belongs to Carissa Yip. This means that her recent triumph at the the "Legends of Chess: Oscar Panno" event held in Cambridge & the "Billerica February Swiss" held in Billerica have been officially rated & re-rated & the results are almost certainly verified to be correct as initially published. ♙ ♖ ♗ ♘ ♕ ♔ ♘ ♗ ♖ ♙

George E. O'Rourke Memorial, March 4th, 2015

Round 3 Results
White	Result	Black
Larry Gladding	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Ray Paulson	1/2-1/2	Dave Thomas
Nowell Sheinwald	1-0	Gary Brassard
Tom Fratturelli	0-1	Walter Niemi
George Miller	0-1	George Mirijanian
Ken Gurge	1/2-1/2	Seeth Ganesan
Joe Bennett	1-0	Jackson Parker
Dave Couture	1/2-1/2	Brian Biglow
Jim Hankard	1-0	Richard Bennett
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Bob Mathieu
Larry O'Rourke	0-1	Randy McLaughlin
Gail Lingner	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
Stan Talcott	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were:
Bruce Felton, Arthur Barlas, Lenny Arsenault, Paul Godin, Alan Condon, John Bastarache, Don Briggs and Tom Whistler.
Not playing the round were Geoff LePoer and Steve Nelson.

Pictures & puzzles from tonight's club games:
While each of the positions in these photos may be relatively more or less challenging, since they were not necessarily taken at critical points in the games, & since there are currently no grndmasters at the club, they were all taken directly from games played last night, March 4th 2015. Enjoy.
Randy McLaughlin(R), on the move, is ahead a knight & a couple of pawns. Is his knight trapped? Board 11:	Randy confidently places his pawn on e2 attacking Larry's rook on d1. Board 11:	This picture shows that the queens have been traded & Randy still has his knight & both extra pawns. Board 11:	Randy completes recording his move as Larry studies his position during the last few minutes of play. Board 11:


Foreground, Board 4:	Board 6:	Board 10:	Foreground, Board 1:
Walter & Tom go at it with an analog clock. Black (Walter) to move.	Ken(R) 21 min. to Seetharaman's 53 min. White (Ken) to move.	Bob Mathieu(L) with plenty of extra time & plenty of extra pawns. Black (Bob) to move.	Close (25-26min) game on the clock. Black (Roger) to move.

**George E. O'Rourke Memorial, March 4, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.0	Cappallo
2.5	Sheinwald, Niemi, Thomas
2.0	Mirijanian, Paulson, Felton, Gladding, Barlas, J. Bennett, Arsenault, Hankard
1.5	Godin, Brassard, Condon, Gurge, Couture, Mathieu, Fratturelli, Ganesan, Biglow, Bastarache, R. McLaughlin
1.0	LePoer, Nelson, Lingner, Miller, Parker, Talcott, Briggs, R. Bennett
0.5	O'Rourke, Steadman, Whistler
0.0	H. McLaughlin, Gawboy

Projected Round 4 pairings for March 11:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cappallo vs. Sheinwald
Board 2: Thomas vs. Niemi
Board 3: Mirijanian vs. Gladding
Board 4: J. Bennett vs. Paulson
Board 5: Arsenault vs. Felton
Board 6: Brassard vs. Hankard
Board 7: Condon vs. Fratturelli
Board 8: Biglow vs. Gurge
Board 9: Couture vs. Bastarache
Board 10: R. McLaughlin vs. Mathieu
Board 11: Parker vs. LePoer
Board 12: Lingner vs. Talcott
Board 13: Briggs vs. Miller
Board 14: R. Bennett vs. O'Rourke
Board 15: Whistler vs. Steadman
Board 16: Gawboy vs. H. McLaughlin

Requesting a half-point bye in the upcoming round 4 is Seeth Ganesan.
Not expecting to play round 4 are Barlas, Nelson and possibly Godin.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. on March 11 in order to be paired for Round 4.
Players running late who want to be paired must call Ken Gurge by 7 P.M.

February 24th, 2015

February 24th, 2015
Rating Updates

Here are the players who will undergo rating changes as of 3/4/15:
Carissa Yip 2203
Nowell Sheinwald 1979
Gary Brassard 1806
James Hankard 1613
Stanford Talcott 1441
Hugh McLaughlin 1315/9
Randy McLaughlin 1230
All as a result of rated play outside the Wachusett Chess Club.
See Carissa's big win against Chris Williams (2309)
[with her annotations] from her previous tournament.

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March 1st, 2015

Carissa Yip 2203
Billerica February Swiss 2015

♕ Carissa Yip Now Rated 2203 ♕
New All Time USCF Record !!!

The USCF Official Tournament Report is in & Carissa Yip is now rated 2203!
This makes her the youngest female ever to break the 2200 mark, beating the record recently set by Annie Wang by nearly four months.
Congratulations on your inspirational effort to a superb achievement against long odds!

By winning rounds 1 & 3, against class A rated Jeff Caruso, who finished the tournament at 1929 & USCF expert Tim Bromley, who ended with a 2027 rating, respectively, taking a half point bye in the second & not playing round 4, Carissa Yip has increased her USCF rating to the rank of National Master at 2203.

This tournament provided the final two games in what might be described as a four month chess binge consisting of 21 rated games in November, 14 games in December, 32 games in January (including some ICC activity which didn't count toward her regular rating) & finally 19 games played in February concluding with the February Billerica Swiss which put her over 2200 to an all time high of 2203. That activity rate is nearly double the rate at which she'd been playing for the past year or more & shows evidence of considerable determination & persistence while successfully taking on a steady stream of strong competition.

Carissa Yip is now living the dream of over 99% of all tournament chess players. Who would have guessed that taking the 2014 Wachusett Chess Club Championship by a 7-0 sweep would so soon be considered "only the beginning"?

The Wachusett Chess Club wishes our current Club Champion & now National Master, Carissa Yip all the best in continued chess success. We also wish to commend Percy Yip for his dedicated efforts throughout.

Event 		BILLERICA FEBRUARY SWISS 2015  (201502285442)
Location 	CONCORD, MA  01821  
Event Date(s) 	2015-02-01 thru 2015-02-28
Sponsoring Affiliate 	BILLERICA CHESS CLUB  (A6004920)
Chief  TD 	NATHAN A SMITH  (12824896)
Processed 	Received: 2015-02-28   Entered: 2015-02-28   Rated: 2015-02-28

Section 1 - FEBRUARY
Chf. Asst. TD 		JEFFREY LAWRENCE CARUSO  (12350410)
Section Date(s) 		2015-02-01 thru 2015-02-28
Processed 		Received: 2015-02-28   Entered: 2015-02-28   Rated: 2015-02-28
Stats 		4 Rounds,  19 Players;  K Factor: F  Rating Sys: R  Tnmt Type: S
Time Control: G/90;d5
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Pair | Player Name                     |Total|Round|Round|Round|Round| 
 Num  | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post)       | Pts |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  | 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    1 | AASHISH WELLING                 |3.5  |W  18|D   5|W   7|W  10|
   NH | 14343251 / R: 2122   ->2123     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    2 | TIM G BROMLEY                   |3.0  |W  19|W   4|L   3|W   5|
   MA | 13151866 / R: 2010   ->2027     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    3 | CARISSA SHIWEN YIP              |2.5  |W   6|H    |W   2|U    |
   MA | 14514636 / R: 2194   ->2203     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    4 | ARTHUR P NUGENT                 |2.5  |W  13|L   2|D   6|W  15|
   MA | 10011191 / R: 2002   ->2000     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    5 | NOWELL RYAN SHEINWALD           |2.5  |W  16|D   1|W  10|L   2|
   NY | 12890962 / R: 1929   ->1937     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    6 | JEFFREY LAWRENCE CARUSO         |2.5  |L   3|W  17|D   4|W   8|
   MA | 12350410 / R: 1855   ->1929     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    7 | JAMES TAGGART                   |2.5  |D  17|W  19|L   1|W  18|
   MA | 12924551 / R: 1604   ->1675     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    8 | SHERIF A KHATER                 |1.5  |H    |W  11|U    |L   6|
   NH | 12748218 / R: 2196   ->2180     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    9 | RAYMOND PAULSON                 |1.5  |W  15|H    |U    |U    |
   MA | 12401616 / R: 1943   ->1943     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
   10 | ROBERT E STEWART                |1.5  |W  14|H    |L   5|L   1|
   MA | 12456989 / R: 1876   ->1858     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
   11 | BRUCE W BLASCHKE                |1.5  |H    |L   8|W  12|U    |
   MA | 12436277 / R: 1655   ->1667     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
   12 | MEYER A BILLMERS                |1.5  |H    |U    |L  11|W  19|
   MA | 10018307 / R: 1547   ->1553     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
   13 | SILVERIO GABRIEL JOHNSON        |1.5  |L   4|H    |W  16|L  14|
   MA | 15620163 / R: 1338P4 ->1220P7   |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
   14 | MAURICE LESSARD                 |1.5  |L  10|L  18|H    |W  13|
   MA | 12633257 / R: 1087   ->1131     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
   15 | GIRISH WELLING                  |1.5  |L   9|D  16|W  18|L   4|
   NH | 15462176 / R:  874P17-> 943P21  |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
   16 | THOMAS A KANE                   |1.5  |L   5|D  15|L  13|B    |
   MA | 12478723 / R:  746   -> 758     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
   17 | JOSEPH F KELLY                  |1.0  |D   7|L   6|H    |U    |
   MA | 12508122 / R: 2037   ->2012     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
   18 | MATTHEW A CATER                 |1.0  |L   1|W  14|L  15|L   7|
   MA | 12760291 / R: 1666   ->1615     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
   19 | GEORGE NORMAN                   |0.5  |L   2|L   7|H    |L  12|
   MA | 12376330 / R: 1573   ->1536     |     |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Section 2 - EXTRA
-----------------------------------------------------
 Pair | Player Name                     |Total|Round| 
 Num  | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post)       | Pts |  1  | 
-----------------------------------------------------
    1 | SHERIF A KHATER                 |1.0  |W   2|
   NH | 12748218 / R: 2180   ->2180     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------
    2 | MAURICE LESSARD                 |0.0  |L   1|
   MA | 12633257 / R: 1131   ->1131     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------------

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February 25th, 2015

George E. O'Rourke Memorial
Round 2 of 5 Results

Some Thrilling Games Yield Mostly Predictable Results

While there was certainly no shortage of excitement & close calls in tonight's round 2 games of the 2015 George E. O'Rourke Memorial, the vast majority of the outcomes followed expectations based on ratings. The only two exceptions of note were Tom Fratturelli's holding Gary Brassard to a draw at board 4 despite Gary's 157 rating point advantage. In fact Tom had won the exchange with a big advantage on the board, but Gary was able to find a way to repeat moves for the draw. Playing at board ten, John Bastarache out maneuvered his 160 higher rated opponent, Gail Lingner & won the full point.

Though the eventual outcomes were somewhat as expected on all the other boards, class B ranked Ken Gurge, at board 2, forced his class A opponent, Larry Gladding into a king & pawn ending in which despite his extra pawn, Larry was only able to win because he correctly achieved a "zugzwang" position whereby Ken had no moves available to maintain his blockade. Meanwhile at board 8, relative newcomer & nearly 300 rating point underdog, Randy McLaughlin, had the upper hand for most of his game against class B ranked Jim Hankard but found himself in a close but tough knight plus 2 pawns vs bishop plus three pawns ending which he was unable to hold. Having taken a half point bye in the first round, George Mirijanian, rated 1965, found himself way down at board 14 but paired with Nowell Sheinwald rated 1923, a rather unusual situation. Nowell with the black pieces, played into a subvariant of George's "Blackmar-Diemer Gambit" which is known to lead to ultra sharp forcing sequences & tactical positions with abundant opportunities for blunders on both sides. The game was sharp & tricky throughout, eventually leading to a forced sequence in a multiple minor piece ending to split the point. You can view it here, in the 2015 Games section.

**George E. O'Rourke Memorial, February 25th, 2015**
Round 2 Results
White	Result	Black
Roger Cappallo	1-0	Alan Condon
Larry Gladding	1-0	Ken Gurge
Dave Thomas	1-0	Dave Couture
Gary Brassard	1/2-1/2	Tom Fratturelli
Bob Mathieu	0-1	Ray Paulson
Bruce Felton	1-0	Larry O'Rourke
Wayne Steadman	0-1	Len Arsenault
Randy McLaughlin	0-1	Jim Hankard
Seeth Ganesan	1-0	Stan Talcott
John Bastarache	1-0	Gail Lingner
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	George Miller
Jackson Parker	1-0	Tom Whistler
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Brian Biglow
George Mirijanian	1/2-1/2	Nowell Sheinwald

Receiving half-point byes were:
Walter Niemi, Arthur Barlas, Paul Godin, Geoff LePoer, Steve Nelson, Joe Bennett, Richard Bennett and Don Briggs.

Not playing the round were:
Brett Kildahl, Paul Lynch, Robert Walton, Kandy Lynch, Francis Scanlon & Rick Evans.

Returning to active play tonight from a brief hiatus since July of last year was Larry O'Rourke.

Pictures & puzzles from tonight's club games:
While each of the positions in these photos may be relatively more or less challenging, since they were not necessarily taken at critical points, they were all taken directly from games played last night, February 25th 2015. Enjoy.
Foreground - Tom Fratturelli on left Board 4: Background Dave Thomas(R) @ Board 3	Randy McLaughlin(R) retreats his knight to try to catch Jim's h-pawn. Board 8: Jim Hankard(L) vs. Randy McLaughlin(R)	Board 8: Jim now studies the position.
Board 4: Tom's up an exchange. Black to move. Can he win?	Board 8: Black (Jim) to move.	Board 8: Black (Jim) to move.
Foreground Board 2: Larry Gladding(L) vs. Ken Gurge(absent)	Board 11: Hugh McLaughlin(L) vs. George Miller(R)	Board 9: Seeth Ganesan(L) vs. Stan Talcott(R)
Larry 55 min to Ken's 2 min & 34 sec. What must Larry play here to win?	Hugh 34 min to George's 17 min. George is a pawn down. Can he draw or win?	Close (:25-:26) game on the clock. Black (Stan) to move. Is it close on the board as well?

**George E. O'Rourke Memorial, February 25, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
2.0	Cappallo, Gladding, Thomas
1.5	Paulson, Felton, Sheinwald, Niemi, Barlas, Brassard, Arsenault, Fratturelli
1.0	Mirijanian, Godin, LePoer, Nelson, Condon, Gurge, J. Bennett, Couture, Hankard, Ganesan, Miller, Parker, Biglow, Bastarache, R. Bennett
0.5	Mathieu, Briggs, O'Rourke, Steadman, R. McLaughlin
0.0	Lingner, Talcott, H. McLaughlin, Whistler, Gawboy

Projected Round 3 pairings for March 4:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Gladding vs. Cappallo
Board 2: Paulson vs. Thomas
Board 3: Arsenault vs. Felton
Board 4: Sheinwald vs. Brassard
Board 5: Fratturelli vs. Niemi
Board 6: Couture vs. Mirijanian
Board 7: Hankard vs. Godin
Board 8: LePoer vs. Ganesan
Board 9: Miller vs. Nelson
Board 10: Condon vs. Parker
Board 11: Gurge vs. Bastarache
Board 12: Biglow vs. J. Bennett
Board 13: R. Bennett vs. Mathieu
Board 14: Briggs vs. Steadman
Board 15: O'Rourke vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 16: Lingner vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 17: Talcott vs. Gawboy

Tom Whistler is requesting a half-point bye.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. on March 4th in order to be paired for Round 3.

February 24th, 2015

Rating Updates

The following players will have a change of rating as of 2/25/15:
Carissa Yip 2191
Nowell Sheinwald 1942
Percy Yip 1565
All as a result of rated play outside the Wachusett Chess Club.

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February 22nd, 2015

Exciting Carissa Yip News!

Carissa Yip Triumphs Over Strong Trio @ BCC
Ties for First With NE Open Champ, NM Farzad Abdi
& Gains 41 Rating Points to Jump to 2191!!!

Tournament Crosstables Here
To Harold Dondis @ Boston Globe:

I have some exciting news for you and your chess column.
Carissa Yip competed in Saturday's tournament at the Boylston Chess Club.
You would know that since you also played there. Besides tying for first place, Carissa raised her USCF rating to 2191 - gaining 41 rating points after beating three players (including 2309-rated Chris Williams in the final round) after taking a half-point bye in the first round.

Carissa is now just 9 rating points away from making U.S. chess history,
i.e. becoming the youngest female in the country to become a master.
Carissa is 11 years old. She turns 12 on September 10 of this year.
The girl who holds the record as the youngest female to become a master is Annie Wang of California, who became a master on March 2, 2014 - 77 days before her 12th birthday. [Annie was born on May 18, 2002.]
If Carissa can break 2200 by mid-June, she will break Annie's record.

Here are the results in Saturday's tournament at the Boylston CC.
The event was called the Legends of Chess: Oscar Panno. Chris Chase directed.
Perhaps he has Carissa's win against Chris Williams and will annotate the game for your column.
1st-2nd: National master Farzad Abdi of Rockland and candidate master Carissa Yip of Andover, both 3.5-0.5
3rd-5th: National master Chris Williams of Brighton, Andrew Hoy of Mansfield, Evan Meyer of Newton, all 2.5-1.5
NOTE: Carissa defeated
Ross Eldridge (1954) in round 2,
Andrew Hoy (2181) in round 3,
and Chris Williams (2309) in round 4.
NOTE also that all the top scorers are MACA members.

George M

A picture from the Legends of Chess: Oscar Panno tournament by Steve Stepak with diagram added:
Carissa Yip takes on 2300+ rated NM Chris Williams February 21st 2015 in the final round.
Just five minutes into the game Board 1: NM Chris Williams(L) vs. Carissa Yip(R)	White to move: Round 4 @ Legends of Chess: Oscar Panno

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February 18th, 2015

George E. O'Rourke Memorial
Round 1 of 5 Results

A 505 Point Upset Draw
& A Cavalcade of Close Calls
Open O'Rourke Memorial

Class B rated Jim Hankard held on for a long tough struggle in a slightly worse position against his USCF expert rated opponent Roger Cappallo but eventually Roger was able to out manuver him & convert his extra pawn to a first round win at board one. At board two Newcomer, class A rated Nowell Sheinwald defended accurately against a potentially dangerous attack in a complex middle game featuring uncharacteristically very few captures until he found a way to execute a winning tactical combination against class C rated Seeth Ganesan.

There were some near misses & might have beens on the middle boards. Class C rated Jackson Parker played an impressive theoretical variation of the French Defense against his much higher rated class A opponent, Walter Niemi, who easily won when Jackson encountered some positional difficulties, then went astray & gave away a minor piece. With a rating advantage of 348 points & playing the white pieces, Arthur Barlas, running a bit short on time, successfully navigated through a long troublesome sequence of positional & tactical shots generated by John Bastarache who ultimately could not combine his forces effectively enough & had to cede the whole point to Arthur. A 388 rating point deficit didn't stop Don Briggs from keeping his winning chances alive against Alan Condon throughout most of the game into a single rook with bishop vs knight ending in which he eventually allowed Alan to win his rook & soon thereafter the game, with a knight forking check.

The only game of the evening that actually resembled an upset came at board ten when 1214 rated Randy McLaughlin, barely into class D, & playing the black pieces, held his notoriously solid mid class B, 1719 rated opponent, Lenny Arsenault to a draw.

George E. O'Rourke Memorial, February 18, 2015

Round 1 Results
White	Result	Black
Jim Hankard	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Nowell Sheinwald	1-0	Seeth Ganesan
George Miller	0-1	Larry Gladding
Walter Niemi	1-0	Jackson Parker
Brian Biglow	0-1	Dave Thomas
Arthur Barlas	1-0	John Bastarache
Stan Talcott	0-1	Gary Brassard
Alan Condon	1-0	Don Briggs
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Ken Gurge
Len Arsenault	1/2-1/2	Randy McLaughlin
Tom Whistler	0-1	Dave Couture
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were:
George Mirijanian, Paul Godin, Bruce Felton, Geoff LePoer, Steve Nelson, Joe Bennett, Bob Mathieu &
Richard Bennett.

Not playing the round were:
Brett Kildahl, Ray Paulson, Paul Lynch, Gail Lingner, Robert Walton, Wayne Steadman, Kandy Lynch,
Francis Scanlon & Rick Evans.

The club would like to welcome new member, UMass-Lowell student & strong class A player, Nowell Sheinwald.

The only rating change as of 2/18/15 is for Carissa Yip.
Due to her recent perfect 5-0 score in Billerica &
her outstanding 5.5-0.5 score at the World Amateur Team Championships in Parsippany NJ, She is now 2150.

Pictures & puzzles from tonight's club games:
While each of the positions in these photos may be relatively more or less challenging, since they were not necessarily taken at critical points in the games, & since there are currently no grndmasters at the club, they were all taken directly from games played last night, February 18th 2015. Enjoy.
Foreground (Brian on left), Board 5: Biglow(L) - Thomas(R)	First round, George Mirijanian (standing) observs Larry Gladding (background) reaching for his score book. Barlas(R) - Bastarache(L) Near table from left: Alan Condon, Stan Talcott, Don Briggs, Gary Brassard, John Bastarache, Arthur Barlas, Brian Biglow, Dave Thomas Far table from left: Roger Cappallo, Seeth Ganesan, Nowell Sheinwald, Larry Gladding

Brian 1:14 to Dave's 33 minutes. Dave's rook attacks Brian's queen. What should Brian do?	"A very complicated position..." -David Bronstein White to move.

**George E. O'Rourke Memorial, February 18, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
1.0	Cappallo, Sheinwald, Gladding, Niemi, Thomas, Barlas, Brassard, Condon, Gurge, Couture, Fratturelli
0.5	Mirijanian, Godin, Felton, LePoer, Nelson, J. Bennett, Arsenault, Mathieu, R. Bennett, R. McLaughlin
0.0	Hankard, Ganesan, Lingner, Miller, Parker, Biglow, Bastarache, Talcott, Briggs, H. McLaughlin, Whistler, Gawboy

Projected Round 2 pairings for February 25:
(Current scores in parentheses)
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cappallo(1.0) vs. Condon(1.0)
Board 2: Brassard(1.0) vs. Sheinwald(1.0)
Board 3: Gladding(1.0) vs. Gurge(1.0)
Board 4: Couture(1.0) vs. Niemi(1.0)
Board 5: Thomas(1.0) vs. Fratturelli(1.0)
Board 6: J. Bennett(0.5) vs. Mirijanian(0.5)
Board 7: Godin(0.5) vs. Arsenault(0.5)
Board 8: Mathieu(0.5) vs. Feltonv
Board 9: LePoer(0.5) vs. R. Bennett(0.5)
Board 10: R. McLaughlin(0.5) vs. Nelson(0.5)
Board 11: Bastarache(0.0) vs. Hankard(0.0)
Board 12: Ganesan(0.0) vs. Talcott(0.0)
Board 13: Briggs(0.0) vs. Lingner(0.0)
Board 14: H. McLaughlin(0.0) vs. Miller(0.0)
Board 15: Parker(0.0) vs. Whistler(0.0)
Board 16: Gawboy(0.0) vs. Biglow(0.0)

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. on February 25th in order to be paired for Round 2.

OK, I don't think it's going to snow:
I was too busy shoveling snow today to listen to any weather reports, but by now you know the drill.
If McKay building is closed on Wednesday, February 18th the club meeting will be cancelled for that night.
Check weather reports & school closings.

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February 11th, 2015

Reggie Boone Memorial
Round 5 of 5

Roger Cappallo Wins Reggie Boone Memorial by Full Point

USCF rated expert, Roger Cappallo of Groton, took care of business tonight by defeating his 5th round class A opponent, Paul Godin of Bedford, in a tactically tense struggle culminating in a mild time scramble where each player had less than two minutes remaining on his clock. Roger chose the Max Lange Attack against Paul's Two Knights' Defense & both players proceded to play a complex though somewhat well known variation for 13 moves of theoretically correct chess. On his 14th move, Roger chose to underplay his slightly better position by executing a forcing knight fork which led to another long sequence of intricate manuvering including a couple minor missed opportunities by both players. On his 31st move, with six minutes remaining on his clock & five minutes on Roger's in a dynamically equal position, Paul seriously misplayed his defense allowing Roger to win a piece. For the remaining ten moves, Paul was unable to present Roger any significant difficulties on his road to victory despite dwindling clock time. This victory will boost Roger's rating by approximately 14 points in addition to the approximately 8 points he's gained for his performance in rounds 1 through 4 combined & solidify his expert status.

Class C competitor, Gail Lingner scored the only decisive upset of the night by defeating her class B opponent, Lenny Arsenault thereby defying his 236 rating point advantage. The only two draws of the evening were also mild upsets as Dave Thomas vs Walter Niemi and Jim Hankard vs Joe Bennett both ended in ties. Interestingly, both Dave & Jim had played into what would have been easily winning positions had they not decided to split the point with their opponents who outrated them by 61 & 156 points respectively.

Gail's upset win tonight combined with her two other victories in previous rounds for a total of three points easily placed her at the top of the under 1600 rated players. In fact Gail (1506), along with Dave Thomas (1768) of Fitchburg & Dave Couture (1625) of Westminster, were the only players under 1800 to score three or more points in the tournament. Congratulations Gail on a solid performance!

♔ 2015 Reggie Boone Memorial PRIZE WINNERS ♔
1st:	Roger Cappallo of Groton
2nd-5th:	George Mirijanian of Fitchburg, Geoff LePoer of Westford, Walter Niemi of Leominster, Dave Thomas of Fitchburg
Top under 1600:	Gail Lingner of Fitchburg

Reggie Boone Memorial, February 11, 2015

Round 5 (Final) Results
White	Result	Black
Roger Cappallo	1-0	Paul Godin
Dave Thomas	1/2-1/2	Walter Niemi
George Mirijanian	1-0	Ken Gurge
Geoff LePoer	1-0	Arthur Barlas
Steve Nelson	1-0	George Miller
Jim Hankard	1/2-1/2	Joe Bennett
Lenny Arsenault	0-1	Gail Lingner
Dave Couture	1-0	Brian Biglow
Tom Fratturelli	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Richard Bennett
Randy McLaughlin	1-0	Tom Whistler

Not playing the final round were:
Ray Paulson, Bruce Felton, Gary Brassard, Brett Kildahl, Larry Gladding, Alan Condon, Bob Mathieu,
Stan Talcott, Seeth Ganesan, Jackson Parker, Robert Walton, John Bastarache, Don Briggs, Paul Lynch,
Wayne Steadman & Rick Evans.
Withdrawn from the tournament were:
Carissa Yip (after Round 1) as well as Kandy Lynch & Francis Scanlon, both of whom did not play a single game.

Pictures & puzzles from tonight's club games:
While each of the positions in these photos may be relatively more or less challenging, since they were not necessarily taken at critical points in the games, & since there are currently no grndmasters at the club, they were all taken directly from games played last night, February 11th 2015. Enjoy.
Foreground (Roger on left), Board 1: Cappallo(L) - Godin(R) Both players finally out of book. Roger has just played 22.Re2-d2. With 39 minutes remaining on his clock to Roger's 22, Paul studied this position for 5 minutes & played 22...Ne5. Can you suggest a better move?	Background (Walter on left), Board 2: Thomas(R) - Niemi(L) Material is even, but look at how Walter's pieces get in each other's way. It looks like Dave has a lasting positional advantage with his better pawn structure including the passed pawn on e5, which should be enough to win in the long run. However, Dave didn't wait for an endgame, instead he broke through quickly with a winning combination (and chose to offer Walter a draw, which Walter alertly accepted). Can you find it (using the diagrammed position)? [The position in the picture doesn't match the diagram because it's from analysis as the game was already over, even though it looks like Dave's clock is still running.]	Geoff LePoer vs. Arthur Barlas, Board 4: LePoer(L) - Barlas(R) Geoff(L) is up a pawn here. With just under 12 minutes remaining on his clock (to Geoff's 47), Arthur couldn't get out of check & safely defend this position. Is there any feasible defense at this point, or is Arthur lost?

**Reggie Boone Memorial, February 11, 2015**
FINAL STANDINGS
Points	Players
5.0	-----
4.5	Cappallo
4.0	-----
3.5	Mirijanian, LePoer, Niemi, Thomas
3.0	Godin, Paulson, Felton, Nelson, Couture, Lingner
2.5	Barlas, Brassard, J. Bennett, Gurge, Hankard
2.0	Kildahl, Gladding, Condon, Arsenault, Fratturelli, Mathieu, Miller, Biglow, Talcott, R. McLaughlin
1.5	Ganesan, Parker, Walton, Bastarache, Briggs, R. Bennett
1.0	P. Lynch, Steadman, Evans, Gawboy, H. McLaughlin
0.5	-----
0.0	(Yip, Scanlon), Whistler

The following players had a rating increase of 50 or more points:
Emily Gawboy	+140
Gail Lingner	+82
Dave Couture	+68
Dave Thomas	+55

The following players achieved a new all-time high rating:
Dave Thomas	1823
Hugh Mclaughlin	1312
Francis Scanlon	1081
Emily Gawboy	693

The following table shows the standings to qualify for this year's (2015) club championship with six tournaments completed and two to go.
The top ten highest winning percentage finishers with a minimum of 20 games played this season will qualify.

Name	Current Rating as of 2015.02.11	Games Played This Season	Winning Percentage	Additional Games Needed	Notes
Brett Kildahl	2190	18	.917	2	a
Roger Cappallo	2036	29	.776	0
Paul Godin	1960	24	.750	0	a
George Mirijanian	1965	17	.735	3
Arthur Barlas	1786	15	.700	5	a
Bruce Felton	1928	18	.694	2
Ray Paulson	1943	24	.688	0	b
Steve Nelson	1843	29	.672	0
Larry Gladding	1880	20	.625	0
Dave Thomas	1823	29	.621	0
Gary Brassard	1773	24	.604	0
Alan Condon	1763	14	.571	6	a
Ken Gurge	1748	26	.558	0
Bob Mathieu	1646	21	.548	0
Lenny Arsenault	1719	23	.522	0

Notes: a = Participation availability questionable
b = Participation declined

REMINDER: The next tournament at the club, the George E. O'Rourke Memorial, will start February 18, 2015.
Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. in order to be paired for round 1.

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February 4th, 2015

Reggie Boone Memorial
Round 4 of 5

STATEWIDE SNOW EMERGENCY, MAYBE:
If McKay building is closed on Wednesday, February 11th the club meeting will be cancelled for that night.
Check weather reports & school closings.

Roger Cappallo Retains Lead Following Fighting Draw With Walter Niemi

USCF rated expert, Roger Cappallo, continues as tournament leader despite being held to a draw by his seasoned class A opponent, Walter Niemi, in round four of the 2015 Reggie Boone Memorial Tournament. (You may now view this entire game in the 2015 Games Section.) Class B player, Dave Thomas scored a 101 rating point upset over his class A opponent, Steve Nelson, in only 35 moves, thereby pulling to within half a point of the lead along with Niemi & three other class A players. Tonight's biggest upset (268 rating points) came when class D ranked Stan Talcott took the full point from his class B opponent, Tom Fratturelli when Fratturelli fumbled his queen in a roughly equal position late in their game. Also worthy of note was unrated Emily Gawboy, who won her first ever rated game by defeating Tom Whistler in a somewhat flawed but tactically exciting game at board 11.

Reggie Boone Memorial, February 4, 2015

Round 4 Results
White	Result	Black
Walter Niemi	1/2-1/2	Roger Cappallo
Ken Gurge	0-1	Paul Godin
Dave Thomas	1-0	Steve Nelson
Joe Bennett	0-1	Geoff LePoer
Lenny Arsenault	1-0	Jackson Parker
Stan Talcott	1-0	Tom Fratturelli
George Miller	1-0	Wayne Steadman
Randy McLaughlin	0-1	Jim Hankard
Brian Biglow	1-0	Hugh McLaughlin
Richard Bennett	0-1	John Bastarache
Tom Whistler	0-1	Emily Gawboy

Receiving half-point byes were:
Ray Paulson, Bruce Felton, George Mirijanian, Arthur Barlas, Gary Brassard, Alan Condon, Bob Mathieu,
Dave Couture, Seeth Ganesan, Robert Walton, Don Briggs and Kandy Lynch.

Not playing the round were: Brett Kildahl, Larry Gladding, Gail Lingner, Paul Lynch & Rick Evans.
Francis Scanlon was withdrawn from the tournament. Carissa Yip had already withdrawn after the first round.

**Reggie Boone Memorial, February 4, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
4.0	-----
3.5	Cappallo
3.0	Godin, Paulson, Felton, Niemi, Thomas
2.5	Mirijanian, LePoer, Barlas, Brassard, Gurge
2.0	Kildahl, Gladding, Nelson, Condon, J. Bennett, Arsenault, Mathieu, Couture, Miller, Hankard, Lingner, Biglow, Talcott
1.5	Ganesan, Parker, Walton, Bastarache, Briggs
1.0	P. Lynch, Fratturelli, Steadman, R. McLaughlin, K. Lynch, Evans, Gawboy H. McLaughlin
0.5	R. Bennett
0.0	(Yip, Scanlon), Whistler

Projected Round 2 pairings for February 11:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cappallo vs. Godin
Board 2: Paulson vs. Niemi
Board 3: Thomas vs. Felton
Board 4: Brassard vs. Mirijanian
Board 5: LePoer vs. Barlas
Board 6: Kildahl vs. Gurge
Board 7: Couture vs. Gladding
Board 8: Nelson vs. Miller
Board 9: Hankard vs. Condon
Board 10: Lingner vs. J. Bennett
Board 11: Arsenault vs. Biglow
Board 12: Mathieu vs. Talcott
Board 13: Bastarache vs. Ganesan
Board 14: Parker vs. Walton
Board 15: P. Lynch vs. Briggs
Board 16: Fratturelli vs. K. Lynch
Board 17: Steadman vs. R. McLaughlin
Board 18: Gawboy vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 19: R. Bennett vs. Whistler

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. on February 11th in order to be paired for the final round.

SNOW STORM WARNING:
If McKay building is closed on February 4th the club meeting will be cancelled for that night.
Check weather reports & school closings.

The following players will see a change in rating as of 2015.02.04:
Brett Kildahl 2189
Carissa Yip 2151
Raymond Paulson 1941

CHESS CLUB CANCELLED JANUARY 28 DUE TO BLIZZARD:
McKay Complex, IS CLOSED Wednesday, January 28!
Round 4 of the Reggie Boone Memorial is postponed to Wednesday, February 4.

BLIZZARD WARNING:
If McKay building is closed on January 28th the club meeting will be cancelled for that night.
Check weather reports & school closings.

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February 21st, 2015

Reggie Boone Memorial
Round 3 of 5

Four Draws in Round 3, Cappallo Now Front Runner

With his win against Gary Brassard, Roger Cappallo has taken sole possession of the lead in the 2015 Reggie Boone Memorial Tournament as four of tonight's thirteen games ended in draws. Class B players, Ken Gurge & Dave Thomas were each able to split the point with their class A opponents, Bruce Felton & George Mirijanian respectively, while class B matchups between Len Arsenault & Jim Hankard as well as Tom Fratturelli & Seeth Ganesan ended in ties. All other games ended as expected based on ratings. These results will most likely produce a Board-1 pairing next week between expert rated Roger Cappallo & near expert rated Ray Paulson, who closely follows Roger in the standings with two & a half points.

Reggie Boone Memorial, January 21, 2015

Round 3 Results
White	Result	Black
Roger Cappallo	1-0	Gary Brassard
Bruce Felton	1/2-1/2	Ken Gurge
George Mirijanian	1/2-1/2	Dave Thomas
Bob Mathieu	0-1	Ray Paulson
Walter Niemi	1-0	Dave Couture
Paul Godin	1-0	Brian Biglow
Don Briggs	0-1	Steve Nelson
Robert Walton	0-1	Joe Bennett
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Gail Lingner
Jim Hankard	1/2-1/2	Len Arsenault
Tom Fratturelli	1/2-1/2	Seeth Ganesan
Tom Whistler	0-1	George Miller
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Randy McLaughlin

Receiving half-point byes were:
Brett Kildahl, Larry Gladding, Arthur Barlas, Geoff LePoer, Alan Condon, Jackson Parker, Paul Lynch, Stan Talcott,
Wayne Steadman, Rick Evans, John Bastarache, Richard Bennett and Kandy Lynch.

Not playing the round was Francis Scanlon.
Carissa Yip had already withdrawn from the tournament.

The following players will see a change in rating as of 1/28/15:
Brett Kildahl 2195
Carissa Yip 2125
James Hankard 1600

Pictures & puzzles from tonight's club games:
While each of the positions in these photos may be relatively more or less challenging, since they were not necessarily taken at critical points in the games, & since there are currently no grndmasters at the club, they were all taken directly from games played last night, February 11th 2015. Enjoy.
Foreground (Gary on left): Cappallo(R) - Brassard(L) a tense middlegame struggle. It's Roger's move here. What should he play to win this game against Gary? Gary was unable to hold a draw from this position. Can you?	Mirijanian(L) - Thomas(R) B+P vs B+P ending, Walter Niemi observing With 3 minutes & 41 seconds remaining on his clock, Dave Thomas held George Mirijanian to a draw from this position. Can you see how?	Felton(L) - Gurge(R) B+4P vs N+4P ending With 4:28 on his clock, Bruce was unable to find a win from this position. Can you? How should Ken defend if he wants to hold the draw with only a minute & 56 seconds left to do it?

**Reggie Boone Memorial, January 21, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
3.0	Cappallo
2.5	Paulson, Felton, Niemi, Gurge
2.0	Kildahl, Godin, Mirijanian, Gladding, Nelson, Barlas, Thomas, Brassard, J Bennett, Lingner
1.5	LePoer, Condon, Mathieu, Couture, Parker
1.0	Arsenault, P. Lynch, Fratturelli, Miller, Hankard, Ganesan, Biglow, Walton, Talcott, Steadman, Briggs, R. McLaughlin, Evans, H. McLaughlin
0.5	Bastarache, R. Bennett, K. Lynch
0.0	(Yip), Whistler, Scanlon, Gawboy

Projected Round 4 pairings for January 28:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Paulson vs. Cappallo
Board 2: Niemi vs. Felton
Board 3: Gurge vs. Kildahl
Board 4: Thomas vs. Godin
Board 5: Barlas vs. Mirijanian
Board 6: Brassard vs. Gladding
Board 7: Nelson vs. J. Bennett
Board 8: Lingner vs. LePoer
Board 9: Mathieu vs. Condon
Board 10: Couture vs. P. Lynch
Board 11: Arsenault vs. Walton
Board 12: Talcott vs. Fratturelli
Board 13: Miller vs. Steadman
Board 14: R. McLaughlin vs. Hankard
Board 15: Ganesan vs. Briggs
Board 16: Biglow vs. Evans
Board 17: R. Bennett vs. H. McLaughlin
Board 18: K. Lynch s. Bastarache
Board 19: Whistler vs. Gawboy

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. on January 28th in order to be paired for Round 4.

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January 14th, 2015

Reggie Boone Memorial
Round 2 of 5 Results

Briggs Beats Miller in Second Round of Tournament Sprinkled With Surprises.

Donald Briggs, of Lunenburg, overcame Ashburnham resident & class B player, George Miller's 267 rating point advantage to post the biggest upset of the week. This single victory may raise Briggs' current class D rating by as much as 43 points which, though that would place him at 1382, amazingly would still leave him 18 points shy of breaking into class C & 77 points below his all time high. Congratulations on a stellar performance Don!

In addition to the Miller - Briggs encounter, round two of the 2015 Reggie Boone Memorial tournament concluded with a few other mild upsets mixed in with mostly expected results. Dave Thomas of Fitchburg was able to hold his 202 point higher rated opponent, Ray Paulson of Lowell, to a draw while 1625 rated Dave Couture of Westminster split the point with the club's most recent addition to class A, 1801 rated Arthur Barlas of Chelmsford.

Gary Brassard of Leominster scored a 113 point upset by beating Fitchburg native, Steve Nelson & Leominster resident, Ken Gurge, also scored a big upset by winning his game with his 118 point higher rated opponent, Geoff LePoer of Westford. The remaining games finished within statistical expectation based on published ratings of players.

Formerly unrated Hugh McLaughlin of Groton tallied his first win in rated competition by beating 1448 rated John Bastarache of Fitchburg. This result places Hugh's tournament performance rating at 1548 thus far (having lost last week to 1648 rated Bob Mathieu of Ashburnham), which is a highly promising beginning for a recent entrant into the rated chess arena.

Reggie Boone Memorial, January 14, 2015

Round 2 Results
White	Result	Black
Alan Condon	0-1	Roger Cappallo
Ray Paulson	1/2-1/2	Dave Thomas
Joe Bennett	0-1	Bruce Felton
Steve Nelson	0-1	Gary Brassard
Ken Gurge	1-0	Geoff LePoer
Arthur Barlas	1/2-1/2	Dave Couture
Brett Kildahl	1-0	Lenny Arsenault
Paul Lynch	0-1	George Mirijanian
Larry Gladding	1-0	Tom Fratturelli
Seeth Ganesan	0-1	Walter Niemi
George Miller	0-1	Don Briggs
Wayne Steadman	1/2-1/2	Jim Hankard
Randy McLaughlin	0-1	Jackson Parker
Gail Lingner	1-0	Richard Bennett
Brian Biglow	1-0	Tom Whistler
Emily Gawboy	0-1	Robert Walton
John Bastarache	0-1	Hugh McLaughlin

Receiving half-point byes were:
Bob Mathieu, Paul Godin, Stan Talcott, Richard Bennett and Rick Evans.

Not playing the round were:
Kandy Lynch and Francis Scanlon.
Carissa Yip withdrew from the tournament.

The club welcomes Seetharaman Ganesan of South Grafton, who has returned after a three year hiatus.

The following players will see a change in rating as of 1/21/15:
Carissa Yip 2135
Robert Walton 1422
Stanford Talcott 1381

**Reggie Boone Memorial, January 14, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
2.0	Cappallo, Felton, Brassard, Gurge
1.5	Kildahl, Mirijanian, Paulson, Gladding, Niemi, Barlas, Thomas, Mathieu, Couture
1.0	Godin, Nelson, LePoer, Condon, J. Bennett, Parker, Lingner, Biglow, Walton, Briggs, H. McLaughlin
0.5	Arsenault, P. Lynch, Fratturelli, Hankard, Ganesan, Talcott, Steadman, Evans
0.0	(Yip), Miller, Bastarache, R. Bennett, R. McLaughlin, K. Lynch, Scanlon, Whistler, Gawboy

Projected Round 3 pairings for January 21:
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Cappallo vs. Brassard
Board 2: Felton vs. Gurge
Board 3: Niemi vs. Kildahl
Board 4: Mirijanian v. Barlas
Board 5: Mathieu vs. Paulson
Board 6: Thomas vs. Gladding
Board 7: Couture vs. Godin
Board 8: Lingner vs. Nelson
Board 9: Walton vs. Condon
Board 10: Briggs vs. J. Bennett
Board 11: Parker vs. Biglow
Board 12: H. McLaughlin vs. P. Lynch
Board 13: Arsenault vs. Ganesan
Board 14: Fratturelli vs. Steadman
Board 15: Hankard vs. Talcott
Board 16: Evans vs. Miller
Board 17: K. Lynch vs. Bastarache
Board 18: R. Bennett vs. Gawboy
Board 19: Whistler vs. R. McLaughlin

Geoff LePoer is requesting a half-point bye.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. on January 21st in order to be paired for Round 3.

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January 7th, 2015

Reggie Boone Memorial
Round 1 of 5 Results

Reigning WCC Champ Stunned by 514 Point Upset!

2014 Wachusett Chess Club Champion & USCF rated Expert, Carissa Yip, on returning to the WCC after a hiatus from the club of several months found herself running short of time when confronted by veteran Class B player & chess author, Dave Couture's obscure but playable gambit variation of the Sicilian Defense. In what appeared to be the byproduct of considerable pre-game preparation, Dave played the opening phase of the game exceptionally fast yet precisely enough so as to cause his much higher rated opponent, Carissa, to expend an inordinately large amount of her own time deciphering the potential complications. There were several interesting tactical pitfalls for both players along the way, but ultimately Dave managed to hang tough long enough to cause Carissa to overstep the time limit allotted for the entire game thereby resulting in a time forfeit victory for him in what was the only upset of the night. This loss ends Carissa's long winning streak at the WCC at 21 games & will most likely boost Dave's USCF rating by 30 points or more. While it's probably premature to expect Dave to win this five round tournament based on this single game performance, he's certainly off to a great start!

Reggie Boone Memorial, January 7, 2015

Round 1 Results
White	Result	Black
Dave Couture	1-0	Carissa Yip
Roger Cappallo	1-0	George Miller
Jackson Parker	0-1	Ray Paulson
Bruce Felton	1-0	Brian Biglow
Bob Walton	0-1	Steve Nelson
Geoff LePoer	1-0	John Bastarache
Stan Talcott	0-1	Arthur Barlas
Dave Thomas	1-0	Wayne Steadman
Richard Bennett	0-1	Alan Condon
Gary Brassard	1-0	Randy McLaughlin
Rick Evans	0-1	Joe Bennett
Ken Gurge	1-0	Emily Gawboy
Hugh McLaughlin	0-1	Bob Mathieu

Receiving half-point byes were:
Brett Kildahl, Paul Godin, George Mirijanian, Larry Gladding, Walter Niemi,
Lenny Arsenault, Paul Lynch & Tom Fratturelli.

Not playing the round were:
Jim Hankard, Gail Lingner, Don Briggs, Kandy Lynch, Francis Scanlon & Tom Whistler.

The following players will see a change in rating as of 1/7/15:
Brett Kildahl 2194
Raymond Paulson 1934
David Thomas 1768
James Hankard 1602
Stanford Talcott 1414
Carissa Yip 2139

The club would like to welcome new member, Hugh McLaughlin, Randy's father. We'd also like to welcome returning members Robert Walton, who last played at the club in the Harlow B. Daly Memorial July 2012 & Carissa Yip, who last played at the club in the 2014 Club Championship. It's good to have them back.

**Reggie Boone Memorial, January 7, 2015**
CURRENT STANDINGS
Points	Players
1.0	Cappallo, Paulson, Felton, Nelson, LePoer, Barlas, Thomas, Condon, Brassard, J. Bennett, Gurge, Mathieu, Couture
0.5	Kildahl, Godin, Mirijanian, Gladding, Niemi, Arsenault, P. Lynch, Fratturelli
0.0	Yip, Miller, Hankard, Parker, Lingner, Biglow, Walton, Bastarache, Talcott, Steadman, Briggs, R. Bennett, R. McLaughlin, K. Lynch, Scanlon, Evans, Whistler, Gawboy, H. McLaughlin

Projected Round 2 pairings for January 14:
(revised 13JAN15)
(Current scores in parentheses)
Board #: [White] vs. [Black]
Board 1: Condon(1.0) vs. Cappallo(1.0)
Board 2: Paulson(1.0) vs. David Thomas(1.0)
Board 3: J. Bennett(1.0) vs. Felton(1.0)
Board 4: Nelson(1.0) vs. Brassard(1.0)
Board 5: Mathieu(1.0) vs. LePoer(1.0)
Board 6: Barlas(1.0) vs. Gurge(1.0)
Board 7: Kildahl(0.5) vs. Couture(1.0)
Board 8: Arsenault(0.5) vs. Godin(0.5)
Board 9: Mirijanian(0.5) vs. P. Lynch(0.5)
Board 10: Fratturelli(0.5) vs. Gladding(0.5)
Board 11: Niemi(0.5) vs. Hankard(0.5)
Board 12: Miller(0.0) vs. Ganesan(0.5)
Board 13: R. McLaughlin(0.0) vs. Parker(0.0)
Board 14: Lingner(0.0) vs. R. Bennett(0.0)
Board 15: Biglow(0.0) vs. K. Lych(0.0)
Board 16: Scanlon(0.0) vs. Walton(0.0)
Board 17: Bastarache(0.0) vs. Evans(0.0)
Board 18: Whislter(0.0) vs. Talcott(0.0)
Board 19: Steadman(0.0) vs. H. McLaughlin(0.0)
Board 20: Gawboy(0.0) vs. Briggs(0.0)

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 P.M. on January 14th in order to be paired for Round 2.

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First Tournament of 2015,
Reggie Boone Memorial Scheduled for:
Jan. 7, 14, 21, 28, Feb. 4

5SS, G/100, d/5
Fitchburg State University, McKay Campus School, Room C159.
67 Rindge Road, Fitchburg, MA 01420 Click Here for Directions

Rounds Time: 7:10 p.m.

Byes: 1-4, limit two.
Prize Info: Chess books.
Inquiry: Phone: George Mirijanian, 978-345-5011
E-mail: mailto:miriling2@aol.com
Requirement: USCF membership required. MACA membership optional.
Registration Information: Entry Fee: $1 per game played; free to Wachusett CC members.
Registration - Onsite: 7-7:10 p.m.

On-line ratings as of first night of each tournament will be used.

REMINDER: Players must be present by 7:10 p.m. on January 7th in order to be paired for Round 1.

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Save the Boston Globe Chess Column!

"Recently, the Boston Globe became the latest publication to join the unfortunate trend of chess column cancellation, announcing that its weekly's long and historic (over 60 years) run would soon be coming to a close, and depriving us of Boylston stalwarts Harold Dondis and Chris Chase's regular writings."
Read the full story & find out what you can do to save the Boston Globe Chess Column on the BCC blog http://boylston-chess-club.blogspot.com/

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♘ ♘ ♘ 2015 WCC News Summary:
30DEC15 George Sturgis Memorial
18NOV15 Ernest E. Fandreyer Memorial
06NOV15 ♕ Carissa Equal First @ WYCC
17OCT15 ACICT Results
14OCT15 Rocco R. Pasquale Memorial
09SEP15 John A. Grefe Memorial
02AUG15 Carissa Yip Chess Life Cover
05AUG15 Harlow B. Daly Memorial
20JUN15 2015 Fun Chess @ Saima Park
22JUN15 Gary Wins @Saima Park
01JUL15 ♙ 2015 WCC "B" Championship
20MAY15 Westminster Championship
27MAY15 Martin Laine Memorial
01JUL15 ♞ 2015 "A" Championship Table
01JUL15 ♚ 2015 WCC "A" Championship
29APR15 Evert Siiskonen Memorial
21AAPR15 Carissa Yip Andover Simul
14APR15 Top Rated Female Players in MA
01APR15 New Web Site Look
29MAR15 Members @ MA G/60
25MAR15 Quick Chess Championship
18MAR15 George E. O'Rourke Memorial
01MAR15 - Carissa Yip, Master
22FEB15 - Carissa Yip @ 2191
04FEB15 - Reggie Boone Memorial

WCC News 2015 ♔

International News & RSS Feeds:

Nearby Chess Events

Miscellaneous News & Other Chess Events of Interest:

YOU CAN NOW EASILY CONVERT YOUR GAMES TO PGN FORMAT & EMAIL THEM! ♗ ♞ ♖

An unofficial but nice to have Glossary of Chess terms ♜ ♘ ♝

The USCF Official Tournament Report is in & Carissa Yip is now rated 2203!
This makes her the youngest female ever to break the 2200 mark, beating the record recently set by Annie Wang by nearly four months.
Congratulations on your inspirational effort to a superb achievement against long odds!

Rounds Time: 7:10 p.m.

On-line ratings as of first night of each tournament will be used.

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Save the Boston Globe Chess Column!

Return to top of page

WCC News 2015 ♔

International News & RSS Feeds:

Nearby Chess Events

Miscellaneous News & Other Chess Events of Interest:

YOU CAN NOW EASILY CONVERT YOUR GAMES TO PGN FORMAT & EMAIL THEM! ♗ ♞ ♖

An unofficial but nice to have Glossary of Chess terms ♜ ♘ ♝

The USCF Official Tournament Report is in & Carissa Yip is now rated 2203! This makes her the youngest female ever to break the 2200 mark, beating the record recently set by Annie Wang by nearly four months. Congratulations on your inspirational effort to a superb achievement against long odds!

Rounds Time: 7:10 p.m.

On-line ratings as of first night of each tournament will be used.

♔ ♚ ♔ ♚ ♔

Save the Boston Globe Chess Column!

Return to top of page

The USCF Official Tournament Report is in & Carissa Yip is now rated 2203!
This makes her the youngest female ever to break the 2200 mark, beating the record recently set by Annie Wang by nearly four months.
Congratulations on your inspirational effort to a superb achievement against long odds!