2007 KCC Championship Awards

FM Steve Stoyko, Club Champion

Awards were distributed at our last meeting to the winners of the 2007 Kenilworth Chess Club Championship. As in 2006 and 2005, the title of Club Champion belongs to FM Steve Stoyko (above), who finished this year with 7.5/8 in the double-round-robin event (see crosstable). The under-1800 tournament was won by Justin Roach with 10.5/12 (see crosstable). Unrated player Joe Renna took under-1400 honors. (Time to try your luck in the World Open, Joe!) Trophies also went to Greg Tomkovich (2nd in the under-1800 tournament, on tie-break) and Harry Smith (2nd under-1400). Coverage of both events, with almost all of the games, can be found at The Chess Coroner blog. My favorite games from the event were Bliznikas-Stoyko and Stoyko-Kernighan, which are both rich in ideas if imperfectly played.

Justin Roach, Under-1800 Champion

Joe Renna, Best Under-1400

Stoyko Clinches 2007 KCCC

Black to play and secure at least equality.

John Moldovan (The Chess Coroner) reports that FM Steve Stoyko has clinched the 2007 Kenilworth Chess Club Championship with one round remaining. Stoyko escaped with a fortunate draw against NM Mark Kernighan in a messy time scramble, where Kernighan had to take a draw with mere seconds remaining on his clock in sudden death.

The most interesting game of the night may have been Tomkovich-Sokolosky (see diagram above), where Sokolosky pulled off what should have been a stunning combination to assure at least equal chances despite his poor opening. However, he did not fully comprehend his own brilliance and allowed Tomkovich to win a piece for two pawns, leaving only a technical task to secure the point.

Special thanks to The Chess Coroner for posting all the games from the championship, including Games from Round 9, which can be viewed online or downloaded as a zipped .pgn file.

Round 9 action in the 2007 KCC Championship.