2019 Fairfield County Masters & Class Championships

7/13/19

This year's masters and class championships drew a total of 55 players. Of the eight players in the masters section, three were Grandmasters and one was an International Master. The average rating of all the players was just over 2418! After just two rounds, GM Irina Krush was the only player with a perfect score. However, she was unable to continue her run and drew with top seeded GM Giorgi Kacheishvili in round three. A draw in round four against GM Sergey Kudrin put her at 3/4 going into the final round.

Meanwhile IM Yaacov Norowitz, having lost to Krush in round two, was on a serious comeback, winning his remaining games to move onto a tie for first going into the final round. Just behind was NM Ian Harris with 2.5/4 and many players with 2/4, including GM Sergey Kudrin, FM Leif Pressman, and GM Giorgi Kacheishvili. The final round pairings featured IM Norowitz (3) v. NM Harris (2.5) and FM Pressman (2) v. GM Krush (3).

Krush - Pressman ended in a long draw with the players fighting down to bare kings. However, the final standings were still in doubt as Norowitz - Harris was even longer. Norowitz nursed a solid positional advantage against Harris. Despite valient defense, after over 80 moves Harris eventually sucumbed in a difficult position, giving Norowitz the point and clear first place!

Masters Section Winners:

1st Place: IM Yaacov Norowitz (4/5) - $500

2nd Place: GM Irina Krush (3.5/5) - $300

3rd Place: GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (3/5) - $200

This year's class championships was extremely competitive. The many upsets and surprising story lines began as early as round one with Todd Kearns (1786) defeating Derek Meredith (2115) and Robert Chen (1579) defeating Gabriel Andreescu (2014). One of the pre-tournament favorites, Roman Rychkov, played outstandingly. Despite many challenging matches against some of the other favorites, Rychkov managed to score a perfect 5/5 score, a full point ahead of the field! There was a large tie for 2nd - 3rd between six players: Michael Uwakwe, Jake Wang, Hanon Russell, Ismael Pagan, Gabriel Borges and Derek Meredith (who had recovered nicely with a strong finish).

Class Championships Winners:

1st Place: Roman Rychkov (5/5) - $400

=2nd Place: Michael Uwakwe (4/5) - $75

=2nd Place: Jake Wang (4/5) - $75

=2nd Place: Hanon Russell (4/5) - $75

=2nd Place & Top U2000: Ismael Pagan (4/5) - $100

=2nd Place & Top U1800: Gabriel Borges (4/5) - $100

=2nd Place: Derek Meredith (4/5) - $75

Top U1600: Mahammatt Baba (2.5/5) - $100

Crosstable