My Games from the 2019 Seneca Lake Open

The 5th annual Seneca Lake Open was held on Saturday, November 16 in Geneva, NY. It was a quick four-round event with time control of G/60. My last round game in particular was especially entertaining.

Round 1

My first round was against one of our young talents from Rochester. Unfortunately, he started off on the wrong foot in the opening and things quickly went from bad to worse.

If black does not want to play a Tarrasch defense against the Catalan, he can still (after 4.g3) play 4. ... dxc4 (instead of 4. ... c5 immediately), and then after 5.Bg2 play 5. ... c5, which is actually one of the main lines that Grandmasters use with black.

Round 2

My second round game was also against a class A player. It was pretty sloppy as I completely missed some important tactical details, but had a neat finish in the end.

I actually remember almost playing 21. ... Nd3? in the middlegame but fortunately noticed the strong exchange sac in time - that's an instructive example of how a bishop can actually be stronger than a rook. That was a somewhat up and down game where white missed a big chance on move 12, but after that black got a nearly winning position by move 25 since white's pieces were so restricted.

Round 3

This game was another against a regular Rochester player who I also played a couple weeks ago in the club championship.



Black was doing fine in the opening, but went off the rails quickly with the berserk sacrifice on move 13.

Round 4

This was by far the most fun game I had over the weekend - my opponent played an old romantic line of the King's Gambit and his king staggered up to d3 before move 10!



White actually would have had a playable position with 7.Bxf4! 0-0-0 8.Ke3!? instead of 7.Kd3?! In the game white quickly got in trouble after my strong break 12. ... d5!, opening up the center. Definitely don't miss my note on move 3 - that game from the 1800s is a real treat!

Chess Camp and Special Events Calendar

Mon. Nov. 11: Veterans Day Chess Camp at the Rochester Chess Center. Register: 585-442-2430.

Wed. Nov 13: Community Chess Club Awards Night. Cake, Cookies, Apple Cider & Coffee will be served.

Sat. Nov 16: 5th Annual Seneca Lake Open. Ramada Plaza, Geneva, NY. 2 Sections. Open $1250 prizes and U1600 $750 prizes. EF $40, U18 $25. 4 Round Swiss, G60 d5. 1st Round 10am. Register at the Chess Center. Tournament director: Ron Lohrman.

Note: CCCR will have regular chess games on Wed. Nov. 27th which is the day before Thanksgiving. Registration for Wednesday chess is 6:30pm-7:15. Please be sure to call ahead at 585-442-2430 during the registration period if you think you may arrive later that 7:15pm.

Save the date: The 42nd Marchand Open will be held April 4&5 2020 at Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex (on the MCC Campus) 2700 Brighton Henrietta Town Line Rd, Rochester NY 14623. Details will be linked here soon.

Adam DeSantis Memorial Amateur Team Tournament

The Adam DeSantis Memorial Amateur Team Tournament was held at the Rochester Chess Center in Rochester, New York on Sunday, November 3, 2019.

This first Rochester Amateur Team Tournament held in memory of Adam DeSantis (aka "Mr. Chess") was a well-attended event with six four-person teams.  Four rounds were played at G/60 d5 time control.  The Kharroubi Team was unstoppable, and took first place with Clif on the top board, his son Aidan on second board, his daughter Arianna on third board, and Sathya Mandava on fourth board. The top team in the U1400 rating average class was The Nesci Team, with Matt Nesci on the top board, Oliver Valenti on second board, Ryan Beh on third board, and David Lusignan on fourth board. Awards for best performance on each board was as follows: On board one was Peter Craig, followed by a tie with Trevor Cohn (from Buffalo) and TJ Weaver on board two, Dale Janezic on board three, and Henry Swing on board four.  Ronald Lohrman was the TD and Organizer. Thank you to all the participants.  It was great to have out of town players participate!

Here is Adam DeSantis participating in a chess simultaneous event some years ago.
Adam passed away in 2017 and we are happy to have a chess tournament in his memory.

Click here for photos and complete results.

Click here for the USCF tournament report.  

Team 1: Toby Rizzo, TJ Weaver, Dale Janezic, Henry Swing

Team 2: Clif Kharroubi, Aidan Kharroubi, Arianna Kharroubi, Sathya Mandava 

Team 3: Peter Craig, Trevor Cohn, Jim Attaya, Michael McDuffie

Team 4: David Phelps, Mike Lionti, Blaze Veljovski, Grant Glor

Team 5: Matt Nesci, Oliver Valenti, Ryan Beh, David Lusignan 

Team 6: Jamshed Ahmed, David Lain, Wayne Jarvis, Joe Sarratori

Coming Up Next:  Monday Nov. 11, 2019 - Veterans Day Chess Camp at the Rochester Chess Center.  Call 585-442-2430 to register.