FM Tom Bartell Simul at KCC

Max Sherer (foreground) seems to be practicing
for his own simuls as he awaits Bartell's move.

NM Mark Kernighan (left, playing Black) won a
marathon Q v R ending against Bartell.

New Jersey FM Tom Bartell finished +10 =2 -1 in a simultaneous exhibition last night at the Kenilworth Chess Club. The Chess Coroner -- club president John Moldovan -- has posted all of the games online in Java replay and zipped PGN format. Both John and I took early draws (I achieved a winning position with my Left Hook Grand Prix with a3 line -- proving that Tom should read my blog more often!) while club champion NM Mark Kernighan kept the former NJ Open champion (2004 and 2005) late into the evening with a marathon Queen versus Rook ending. We joked that Mark was sure working hard to get back $10, but if you play over that game you might understand that the victory was well deserved and worth the effort.

Bartell - Kernighan
Black to Play and Win

I especially enjoyed Kernighan's method of winning the Rook ending, which is a study in itself. But in the diagram above I should say, "Black to Play and Win -- in almost 50 more moves!" A typical nail-biter for our club champion, who seems to enjoy the challenge of these long and difficult endings.

Despite the loss, Bartell had a good showing. We should also congratulate him for graduating last week from Rutgers University with a B.A. in Sociology. We wish him the best of luck in his job search and in his continuing IM-title hunt.