As promised last week, here is a list of all the winners at last month’s Eastern Open in Washington, D.C., as well as a nice game from Open section champion IM Daniel Ludwig.
The inaugural Washington International produced a worthy winner as former U.S. national champion Gata Kamsky triumphed over a strong field in the ambitious nine-round open event sponsored by the Maryland Chess Federation. Kamsky, a onetime candidate in the world championship cycle, was undefeated at 7-2 and won $5,000 for his efforts.
While much of the rest of the world is checking out vacation schedules and beach condo rental rates, the U.S. chess world is gearing up for perhaps its busiest stretch of the year, with tournaments galore in the coming days to keep a columnist busy.
For two weeks and two days starting late next month, the Rockville Hilton will be the chess epicenter of the country as Maryland Chess Association officials plan five major events in the space of 16 days, including a strong open tournament featuring former U.S. champion Gata Kamsky and Potomac-based former world senior champ GM Larry Kaufman.
They can analyze complex positions 15 moves deep, memorize reams of opening variations and endgame theory, rattle off the moves of games played a decade ago — but they can't remember to set their clocks an hour ahead.
The powerhouse University of Maryland-Baltimore County squad did not capture the recent collegiate team chess championship, but GM Sergey Erenburg, UMBC's second board, bounced back with a fine second-place result in the strong Berkeley International, which concluded Jan. 8.
