Steve Stoyko Goes 7-3-1 in Tough Simul

2005 Kenilworth Chess Club Champion Steve Stoyko played a simultaneous exhibition against 11 strong players at the club last night. He played from 8:45-10:45 p.m. in a speedy performance, usually making his moves immediately upon arriving at each board. His opponents, who included one master and several Class A and Expert players, were allowed the time he took to circle the room plus two passes they could use at any time. Within an hour or so, Ari Minkov took the first of three wins against the FIDE Master after Steve miscalculated a combination. A bit later, he was forced to resign to Richard Lewis and NM Mark Kernighan. But the rest of his opponents were not as fortunate. I hung on in a dismal position, where Steve had all of the attacking chances, until he missed one or two best moves to let me squeak into an equal ending and get a draw. The rest of his opponents fell one by one, despite stiff resistance all around. Steve's final score was 7 wins, 3 losses, and one draw.

It was a pleasure to see some new and returning players at the event. Especially welcome was Richard ("Doc") Lewis, who had been a frequent visitor in the past and a longstanding member of the Westfield Chess Club, which he led as President through many of its best years. We hope he will consider coming by again from time to time.

Here are some pictures from the event:

Steve makes his first move on Board 1 of 11.

Contemplating a piece sac by Greg Tomkovich.

Each of the 11 players paid $5 to play, with half going to the club to support our activities. I collected several game scores from the event (more would be welcome) and will be posting them in the next couple of days, after I get a chance to convert them to PGN files.