| North
Carolina Chess News - by NM Leland Fuerstman Last weekend, the North Carolina Senior Championship took place in Hendersonville, NC. - A convenient location for the Organizers and Directors, but not so much for other North Carolina players. From my recollection, this event was originally designed as a "closed" event to N.C. Seniors only, in order to determine a true Senior State Champion. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. For reasons unknown, they have allowed out-of-state players to compete, which completely destroys the credibility of the event. Subsequently, this year, an FIDE Master from Tennessee, NM Peter Bereolos (2232) finished clear 1st Place with 4.5-.5 and took home the bulk of the prize fund?! In fact, 9 of the 25 players in the Top section were from out-of-state. Last years champion, CCC Member Michael Kliber, had the highest score below the out-of-state winners - and won $50. This year, Kliber played 3 out of 4 out-of-state players?! In my opinion, this should be a sovereign event "closed" to N.C. Seniors only. It should also be held in a more central location and the entry fee should be FREE! (Considering the fact that the NCCA should have as much as $100,000 in their treasury!) One player lamented that, "if it were closed, there wouldn't be enough players." I maintain that if the event were to be properly designed and funded well in advance, it could become a special tournament celebrating our most talented Senior players. Simply put, the current design does not celebrate nor protect North Carolina players. On another note, it was reported to me (by a concerned chess pundit) that, without much fanfare, two talented young N.C. players had achieved some remarkable results from a recent event in Morrisville, N.C. The event, Triangle Chess League Fall 2017 shows that 14 year old Neo Zhu (2094) defeated NM Steven Barry (2200) in 2 consecutive games! It also shows that 14 year old Christopher Dill (1971) defeated NM Steven Barry (2200) in 2 consecutive games! The resulting rating increase for Mr. Zhu to (2120) caused his rating to rise above the 2100 level for the first time in his career! And, amazingly enough, the resulting rating increase for Mr. Dill to (2011) caused his rating to rise above the 2000 level for the first time in his career! Therefore, please allow me to be the first to congratulate each of these young gentlemen for their remarkable achievements! -- Yet, not one peep about these extraordinary results was reported on their website, nor was there even a single blurb on the NCCA forum? After all, many interested N.C. players would love to see the games of a Life Master whose rating has been as high as 2328, but was so handily defeated by these two talented upstarts! Therefore, please submit those games to charlottechessclub@gmail.com for publication. NMLF |