Day two saw an increase in drama going into round 4. There were multiple possible outcomes. Melchol S., Mike D., and Julian W had 2 pts each. Damian B. Mike D., and Artem A. had 2.5 each!

Mike withdrew from round 4 leaving Damian, and Artem at the top with 2.5 pts. If either drew their round 4 match they would tie for first place. If either won, they would win the tournament outright edging out the others with that extra half point.

Melchol, Julian and Joe all need wins for a chance to win or tie for first.

As fate would have it Melchol defeated Artem, and Damian and Julian drew, and Joe won his match. And so there was a 3 way tie!

Here are the final standings:

And Anna and Tom split the Best under 800. Tom played very well, lasting into end games with Billy Z. and Alex L. and drawing with Anna K.! And Anna and Billy also played a very impressive closed Sicilian that neither were very familiar with.

Congrats to all the players and thanks for coming out! It was a blast! Many players reported how much fun they had.

Select Games from The Piermont October Classic 2024

Anna K vs. Billy Z

A complete draw until a critical miscalculation on move 21. where White played 21. c5?? losing a rook and ultimately the game. Despite the out come for White, very high marks for both players.

Joseph B vs. Ben W

This was a wild back and forth while maintaining mostly drawish positions. Both players struggled to find their footings with the Caro-Kann Defense. Black was first to break through and gain some tactical advantages, but a subtle blunder at 31…Qxf3?? almost cost the game. However, White didn’t find a way to capitalize. Even after getting both rooks on the 7th rank the attack wasn’t panning out even after a clever queen sac for a mating position really only led to another even position. Black had one way to save the draw with 39…Qg4+, but neither the rook mate or repeating queen checks seemed to be on the radar.

Day 1 of the two day October Classic USCF tournament is complete!

Here are the standings after round 2!

Melchol and Gennaro had a marathon session last week at Piermont Chess. They stayed way past closing and must have played at least 15 blitz games!

Check out the first Piermont Chess videos from Saturday July 6th 2024

IT’S OVER! We have the results from the Big Spring Classic event!

First Place U2400 : Danilo Cuellar! 

Congrats to Danilo, a real chess powerhouse!  Finishing with a perfect score and winning the cash prize! His first win at Piermont Chess in a standard format.

First Place U1200 : Stephane Derveaux and Jacob Kim! (tied) 

This section was remarkably evenly matched.  They were in a dead heat with 4 players entering the last game with 2 pts each. It was anyone’s game with multiple possible outcomes. Congrats to Stephane, who is the latest to have crossed the 1000 ELO threshold in regular time control!  He turned his tournament around after an early loss to Joseph and worked carefully to upset Peter, who was on a similar streak and in the lead for most of the tournament.  And congrats to Jacob, who also started with a loss to Damian only to even the score in the last round.  He entered as the youngest and lowest rated player of this section, but is leaving with a significant jump in ELO, and we’re sure to only see this trend continue!

First Place U800 : Serena Cuellar! 

Running away with her first tournament at Piermont Chess, Serena (like her Dad!) achieved a perfect 4 pts!  And we must mention David Ganassi who performed very well, coming in second with 3pts! This section was also quite evenly matched, and we can’t wait to see the results of future events!

Games from Round 4

Peter Graham vs. Stephane Derveaux

One of the title matches for the U1200 section, Black found their chance and turned things around in the endgame. White lost a tempo with 41. Nxb5?? which gave Black time to swing the rook around to h1 to trade rooks, win a knight, while also positioning a passed pawn to promote. All this and white’s king was essentially trapped in the corner. With little counterplay for white, Black swiftly won the game and the tournament with a well earned checkmate.

Seth Courtwright vs. Artem Aleksenko

Easily one of the highest rated performances ever by two of the highest rated players at Piermont Chess club. It was a real treat to see these two go at each other in a serious classical game when they are usually found blitzing casually. See for yourself as you scroll through the game!

Michael Dugan vs. Danilo Cuellar

Fantastic final game for both Danilo and Michael who performed well above rating against the section leader. Very strong play by both until the usually powerful mate threat 14. Bh6?? this time allowed 14…Bxe5! taking a pawn, winning a tempo on the a1 rook, defending the g7 square, taking control of the center and ultimately winning material after pushing the White queen off the g-file and taking the bishop on h6 with 15…f5 16.Qh3 gxh3!

Anna Kupchik vs. Serena Cuellar

A demonstration of the dominating tactical power of the Cuellars! Things were very even until move 14. A common position but Black found a tactic that white failed to equalize on. 14. Bg5? permitted 14…Nxd5!. Here white took back with the e pawn, though the engine preferred the c pawn. But more importantly prioritized the wrong bishop after 15…Nd4. Here white could have kept the trading equal with Bxe7 forcing the queen to take back buying time to defend the f3 bishop. But White chose to protect with the queen and left the g5 bishop hanging. The was enough to bring down the defenses after some sharp knight maneuvers. With that the U800 section had its winner!

Billy Zifchak vs. Joseph Burns

Joe and Billy had a rough run this tournament but neither got shut out in the end. Billy got the white pieces in the final round and used the Scotch to devastating effect to end his slump. The opening was strong for both, but Black pushed the g pawn with 11…g5 to relieve some pressure from the bishop pin, but this weakened the king defenses a bit too much and White capitalized after 15…f6?? which left g6 available for the queen to infiltrate with check. The final tactic that sealed Blacks fate was 19. Be5, a bit of zugzwang for Black, but white actually had a faster way to checkmate with a similar bishop + queen pattern: 19. Rxf8+ Qxf8, THEN 20. Be5+ Qf6 21. Bxf6#

---

A small but great selection of games this week! Really strong showings from Jacob Kim, and Serena Cuellar. Both young players are having stellar tournaments. But topping the list this week is Damian with a standout game against Peter. Very high accuracy and performance for both players yet Damian showed mastery of the London system.

Stay tuned for the finale! This Saturday June 15th is round 4, and we’ll finally have our winners!

Games from Round 3

Joseph Burns vs. Jacob Kim

Damian Bias vs. Peter Graham

Serena Cuellar vs. Tom Nassisi

Tournament Standings after round 2:

Games from Round 2

Kareem Khan vs. Amin Eshtiaghi

---

David Ganassi vs. Serena Cuellar

---

Jacob Kim vs. Billy Zifchak

---

Peter Graham vs. Joseph Burns

---

Josh Pinchuk vs. Michael Dugan

---

Anna Kupchik vs. Tom Nassisi

---

Stephane Derveaux vs. Damian Bias

---

Artem Aleksenko vs. Alex Lexy

---

Seth Courtwright vs. Danilo Cuellar

---

Great start to the first round of the tournament! Challenging games for all. Scroll down to see a selection of games and commentary.

Standings after round one

Select Games from Round 1

Damian Bias vs. Jacob Kim

A relatively balanced game at first that White got the better of and steadily increased the pressure. Both played a good opening (London met with Indian Defense), but the middle game was a bit reckless with the first blunders and missed opportunities. White was the one first at risk with 16. Rxb7?? which allowed 16…h5! This would have trapped the g4 knight and turned the game over to Black significantly. But neither Black nor White was not focused on the kingside at the moment. 16. h4 was the only way to give the knight an out. Instead Black seemed desperate to simplify after the second error 17…Rb8? Ultimately White obliged the precarious piece trades Black designed despite having some effective counterplay options. Black was right to head to the endgame as play improved for both, but White was confident enough to convert thanks to some significant pawn advantages. One final attempt to stalemate didn’t pan out and White won by resignation.

---

Joseph Burns vs. Stephane Derveaux

A tough game lost by a mistake. Black missed a chance to get ahead early with move 6 in this Rossolimo Sicilian. 6…Nxc3! would have removed the defender for the b5 bishop while winning a tempo on the queen while disrupting White’s plans significantly. A relatively hard to see idea so early on when the focus is more on position but 6…Nc7? turned out to be too passive. Funny enough, White did something similar on the very next move pulling the bishop back instead of trading in a similar fashion. The beginning of the end came with 13…f6?? Black was hyper focused on the e5 pawn and wanted it out of there but this allowed 14. Qh5+! Addressing e5 became a self fulfilling prophecy and all of Black’s worst fears were realized when that pawn made its way to the f file and promoted.

---

Tom Nassisi vs. Kareem Khan

This was a wild game with lots of back and forth favoring Black until Black allowed a winning attack. 17…N37?? to block the rook check was ill advised pinning the only material advantage and giving White time to create the rook battery. Castling was also shortsighted as it disregarded the king as an effective defender of the knight so Kd7 was actually preferable. The endgame started evenly but White managed to shoulder Black’s king and convert for the win.

---

Billy Zifchak vs. Peter Graham

This was was lost soon after the opening for White. White tried to increase offensive pressure on the d4 square with too few attackers instead of neutralizing Black’s attackers, for example 8. h3?! where 8. Qa4! pinning the knight would have been much better as b5 was not possible impeded by the bishop. Black’s pawns tied things up on the dark squares and White was too distracted by the queenside pressure and fell too far behind to capitalize on the opportunities they had tried to create in the center. One such tactic that was hard to see: After 19. Bd5 Rab8 White had the simple 20. e5! After the obligatory-or face a discovered check-20…dxe5 there was 21. Bxf2! luring the king but also winning a pawn, cracking open the center, and preparing to take the knight while delivering check with Rxd7+! But Black expertly used rooks, pawns, and tempo to keep White on their heels.

---

Saturday May 4th, 2024, The Jedi Order trounced The Dark Side yet again!

Don’t be complacent! The Sith are never to be counted out. Until next time!