Players News

GM Larry Kaufman tied for 1st with 8.5/11 (and took 4th place on tie-breaks) in the World Senior Championship!

View the results at USCF Chess Online,
chess-results.com,and the Official Site.

Player News

GM Larry Kaufman is currently playing in the World Senior Championship and has scored 4.0/5.

Follow the results at USCF Chess Online,
chess-results.com,and the
Official Site's Live Games.

U.S. Women's Championship

Starting this weekend is the U.S. Women's Chess Championship. The field includes two of our own Kingfishers, WGM Sabina-Francesca Foisor and WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg! We wish both of them good luck at this prestigious tournament!

Check out Chess Life Online's coverage and the official schedule. Live coverage will be provided by Internet Chess Club, Monroi, and the official site.

UMBC Championship

The UMBC Championship (20 moves/1 hr + SD/1 hr), held this weekend, saw a 5-way (!) tie for first place with IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat, WGM Sabina-Francesca Foisor, FM Shinsaku Uesugi, NM Adithya Balasubramanian, and Christopher Ventura all scoring 4.0/5. Only WGM Foisor did it by scoring 4 wins, but IM Enkhbat held the best tie-breakers to take the tournament victory. NM Adithya Balasubramanian had the 2nd best tie-breakers, so he took the title of UMBC Student Chess Champion.

The field also included Kingfishers members Ian Harris (3.5/5), WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg (3.0/5), and Jared Defibaugh (2.5/5).

Thanks to the Maryland Chess Association, especially TDs Wilbert Brown and Sathish Nath, for helping to run the tournament. Check out the crosstable here.

Also, check out these photos by Masako Uesugi!

Labor Day Weekend Tournaments

GM Larry Kaufman (5.0/6) finished clear 2nd, behind GM Larry Christiansen (5.5/6) of the Boston Blitz, in the U.S. Senior Open!  Since GM Christiansen is not yet 60, GM Kaufman wins a return to the World Senior Championship in Arco, Italy (Nov. 4th-15th), where he'll have a chance to defend his status as World (Co-)Champion.

More locally, several Kingfishers played in the Maryland Action, Quick, and Blitz Championships, hosted by the Maryland Chess Association.

IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat won the Quick Tournament (G/15) with 6.0/7, ahead of of FM Shinsaku Uesugi (5.0/7), Jared Defibaugh (5.0/7), and WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg (4.5/7).

Jared Defibaugh won the Blitz Tournament (G/5) with a fantastic 9.0/10!  FM Shinsaku Uesugi placed 4th with 6.0/10.  Defibaugh's blitz prowess could be handy in a Championship Tie-break except that Ian Harris already predicted a tie-break won't be necessary!

Finally, FM Ralph Zimmer won the Action Tournament (G/30) with 6.0/7, losing only to Jared Defibaugh (4.5/7), but defeating top seed GM Sergey Erenburg (2nd place with 5.5/7)!  IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat and Ian Harris finished tied for 3rd place with 5.0/7.

We'll see tomorrow if the weekend action warmed up our players for the upcoming match against the Queens Pioneers!

MD Action/Quick/Blitz Championships

Over the Labor Day weekend, the Maryland Chess Association (MCA) sponsored the Maryland Action, Quick, and Blitz Championships. The event was run by TDs Wilbert Brown and Sathish Nath.

In the Action (G/30) tournament, GM Sergey Erenburg won with 6.0/7 with FM Tegshsuren Enkhbat trailing in second with 5.5/7. Other Kingfisher members FM Ralph Zimmer, Scott Low, and Jared Defibaugh finished in a six-way tie for 3rd at 5.0/7.

In the Quick (G/15) tournament, GM Sergey Erenburg, IM Larry Kaufman, and IM Ray Kaufman all tied for first with 6.0/7. They were the only ones to take points off one another as Ray beat Sergey, Sergey beat Larry, and Larry beat Ray in the tournament.

In the Blitz (G/5) tournament, IM Larry Kaufman won with 7.5/10. In second, there was a three-way tie between Kingfishers FM Ray Kaufman, Jared Defibaugh, and possible-future-Kingfisher Shinsaku Uesugi.

You can see the entire tournament crosstables on the USCF's MSA site.