The 7th NA FIDE Invitational will begin this Sunday.
Our cast of characters includes:
IM Ben Finegold (USA)
IM Arjun Vishnuvardhan (IND)
IM Angelo Young (PHI)
FM Mehmed Pasalic (GER)
FM Tom Bartell (USA)
FM Dr. Ricardo Szmetan (BAR)
FM Albert Chow (USA)
Gauri Shankar (IND)
Dr. Tansel Turgut (TUR)
Bill Calton (USA)
Schedule is: 2 rds on Sunday at 10:30am and 4pm CST, 1 rd each night M-F @ 6:30pm CST, 2 rds on Saturday at 10:30am and 4pm CST.
6/9 is required for an IM norm.
Time control is G/90 + 30/sec increments. No draw prior to 30 moves unless repetition of position, stalemate, or no mating material.
Well I spent a pleasant couple of hours at the TMCC last night, watching Ben Finegold win and a few other tightly contested games. The location is a cozy storefront on busy Ashland avenue with several architecturally interesting houses and buildings in the surrounding, lively neighborhood. And I would like to again thank the pleasant and gracious host Mr. Muradian, who sprang for a cup of coffee at McDonalds.
I agree. I’ve spent several pleasant hours at TMCC while my daughter takes a lesson, either knitting or getting in a few games of my own.
McDonalds? Next time mosey about six blocks south and one block east to Clark street, where you’ll encounter the combination Middle Eastern/Swedish neighborhood called Andersonville. Heck, some of drive there just for the food.
Yes first Bill Calton withdrew from the event and then Tom Bartell.
Calton’s withdrawl nearly destroyed the event but with the help of Ben Finegold we were able to salvage the situation, have him play 2 more games against those in norm contention, and have him complete more than 50% of his games. So his score will count and it will remain a 9R event. I validated this with numerous IA’s.
Tom Bartell dropped out. From one standpoint I can’t blame him. 2 played forfeits due to his cell phone ringing and I think he just got down right discouraged. Tom though was nice enough to play one of his games out of order with Calton.
Dr. Szmetan was admitted into the hospital on Thursday afternoon and I am awaiting to hear his situation. The good thing about the 2 withdrawls is that Dr. Szmetan will have 2 days off to recuperate. As far as I know he is still planning on playing his last two games especially since Round 9 is crucial for a norm for FM Mehmed Pasalic.
Lessons learned on my side here - there will be a players agreement that they will sign in the future if they intend on playing where if they withdraw the expenses of the entire event will be borne by that individual. Needless to say I wasn’t happy with Calton’s response when I told him that I would be out the tournament EF’s and still be responsible for the appearance fee’s of the IM’s for nearly a loss of $2k (well that’s a risk you take and it sucks was his response).
Keep forgetting to buy earplugs too. Dogs next door were annoying last night.
You are charitable to sympathize with Mr. Bartell. I’m sorry, but being incapable of remembering to turn off your cell phone is not an acceptable reason for withdrawing from a round robin tournament. Except for health/family emergency situations, I am hard pressed to come up with any acceptable reason for dropping out of a round robin. I presume the two dropouts are not very high on the future invitation list.
One of them will never be invited back and no organizer that I know of will invite him either. Again this issue has prompted me to draft a players agreement which I wanted to avoid but this is the second time I am getting burned for my events.
Dr. Szmetan he forfeited the round this morning because he is still in the hospital (heart condition) and his round 9 game against FM Mehmed Pasalic will be played later this week with my presence. I will be driving FM Pasalic down to Champaign-Urbana, IL where Dr. Szmetan lives to play the final round. Of course that is contingent on FM Pasalic beating or drawing Dr. Turgut.
Dr. Tansel Turgut, a cardiologist in Decatur, IL, has scored his 1st IM norm with a victory over FM Mehmed Pasalic. Regardless of the result in the next round, Dr. Turgut will have secured his norm.
I think Tansel Turgut played extremely well and fully deserved his IM norm. He was winning or better most of the time against me, and lost only to a blunder very late in the game. That was his only loss. Most of his wins were quite crisp.
It was unfortunate that Bartell had cell phone issues, as he would have been a good contender for a norm. He had a nice edge against me when his phone went off in round 1, and had an unclear position against Pasalic, so he could have been +1 or +2 with 4 rounds to play had it not been for his phone.
I would like to commend Sevan for inviting and helping local Chicago players to raise their FIDE ratings and have norm chances. He seems quite dedicated to getting a few more IMs in Chicago. I appreciate a tournament where all of my opponents are FIDE rated, and one round a day for the most part.
I recommend these events to all players FIDE rated 2100-2400.
I would like thank to thank Sevan Muradian for organizing these events and giving us a chance for norms. (he has 2 little kids at home, and I know that it is a great sacrifice to organize these tournaments).
I also would like to thank IM Ben Finegold for dedicating more than a week of his time to play with us. (He is probably the world’s strongest IM, and stronger than a lot of GM’s)
Overall I am happy with my play during this tournament. FM’s Bartell and Pasalic are at least as strong as me (if not stronger), and I believe that they will also make IM norms soon.