IM Salvijus Bercys: Qualifier Champion!

Bercys and Six Others Head to Miami!

Although GM Ronen Har-Zvi may have taken first place in the first leg of the Miami Open Qualifier, scoring 12.0/15.0, he logged in Sunday to report he was unable to play in the Finals, as did two others. This narrowed the Finals to a three-man field, helping clear the way for University of Texas Dallas student IM Salvijus "Revengerred" Bercys to previal in the Sunday playoff, winning a free ticket to the 2008 Miami Open! "I've heard the tournament is strong, so I am excited to be going," Bercys stated.

The finals contests in the Open Section played a double round-robin for the grand prize. "I had a bit of trouble in my first two games," Bercys remarked, "but I managed to draw them both. I came back to win the rematches and that was what it took for first. After I learned that Ronen [Har-Zvi] had dropped out, I was the top seed, so I just kept thinking, 'don't blow it, don't blow it.'"

The freakiest tale from the Qualifier must surely have been that of IM Ray Robson, who finished just a half-point behind Ronen in the fifteen games on Saturday. Robson's ulta-low USCF Quick Rating--only 1888 going into the event--allowed him to compete in the U1900 Qualifier! Yet, in the action on Sunday, Robson lost to "TonyC1018" on the White side of a dramatic Sicilian in which both sides castled queenside. TonyC1018, actually the strong junior NM Tony Cao of Illinois, went on to take first place in the U1900 Section, netting himself a well-deserved ticket to Miami; Robson was forced to be content with second.

The complete list of prizewinners can be found here. Be sure to check out the full tournament crosstable of Saturday's action as well, along with the complete list of those who qualified for the finals. Congratulations to the winners--and to everyone who played and received $50 off their Miami Open entry fee!

Photo (Bercys) above: Betsy Dynako

Sergey Erenburg Strikes Again

GM Sergey Erenburg, currently at #6 in the Grand Prix Standings, is on top of his game. This week he swept the field at the prestigious New England Masters Tournament (August 11-15) at the Blackstone Chess Club in Rhode Island with 7.5/9.0, indicating that the Israeli GM's impressive series of first-place finishes in tournaments across the country is likely to continue. Be sure to look in TLA Section of the upcoming September issue of Chess Life Magazine, which will feature a short highlight of Erenburg by Jonathan Hilton.

Audio Interview with Denker Champ Julian Landaw

Of the three co-winners of the Denker Tournament of High School Champions, (which began in Dallas, Texas, just two weeks ago today), only one had already graduated from high school and was thus ineligible for the University of Texas Dallas full 4-year scholarship prize. In our latest WCL Newsletter audio segment, we have that very Denker co-Champion on the air! You can hear firsthand about his style and attitude towards the tournament, and what was key in helping him achieve Denker success. Don't miss it!

KibBlitzing with Macauley Peterson

Our own Macauley Peterson was recently named Chess Journalist of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America. He bested three other esteemed journalists--GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, NM Dan Heisman, and Mark Donlan--to be voted the very best in chess journalism for 2007-2008. You can read his supporting statement on the CJA webpage.

Want to learn more about Chess.FM's traveling camera genius, including his three principles for life? Then check out the latest KibBlitz! It's filled with the normal KibBlitz questions, but with a twist: everything revolves around chess journalism.

Chess.FM Update

This week, WCL's own GM Ronen Har-Zvi follows up on the success of his "Winter Blunderland" special from last year. With the Anand-Kramnik match looming on the horizon, Ronen takes a look at blunders of the World Champions. Yes, blunders can happen to the very best! Watch the Blunderland video now!