Roger Langen successfully defended his title as provincial champion and won over tough competition with a very nice 4/5 score. Congratulations Roger! This is his 7th NL Open win. The Newfoundland and Labrador Open 2018 was held at the MUN Engineering building in St. John’s from October 19-21.
Langen was instrumental in starting the annual championship in 1969 and in stirring interest in chess in the province in the 70’s. Winning the NL Open two years in a row – at 68 and 69 years of age – is a testament to his longevity and tenacity.
Four players finished a half point below Roger in shared 2nd with 3.5/5: Daley Merrigan, Nihad Dervisevic, Lawrence Cohen, and myself.
Under-1700 prize was shared between Ben Chislett and Jacob Burton with 2/5 points.
Congrats to all the winners! Here are the complete standings:
| # | Player | Old | Perf | New | High | Results | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Langen, Roger | 2048 | 2158 | 2070 | 2288 | +8 +15 +7 =6 =2 | 4.0 |
| 2 | Cohen, Lawrence | 1943 | 2163 | 1972 | 2026 | =0 =0 +11 +3 =1 | 3.5 |
| 3 | Merrigan, Daley | 2077 | 2025 | 2060 | 15 | +12 =6 +9 -2 +7 | 3.5 |
| 4 | Martin, Steve | 2107 | 2007 | 2096 | 2107 | =0 -7 +16 +9 +6 | 3.5 |
| 5 | Dervisevic, Nihad | 2044 | 1900 | 2030 | 2113 | +14 =0 -6 +11 +8 | 3.5 |
| 6 | Kowsari, Mohammadreza | 1930 | 2068 | 1979 | 1979 | +13 =3 +5 =1 -4 | 3.0 |
| 7 | McIsaac, Raymond | 1891 | 1909 | 1895 | 1928 | +16 +4 -1 =8 -3 | 2.5 |
| 8 | Pickard, Ryan | 1718 | 1854 | 1763 | 1763 | -1 +14 +12 =7 -5 | 2.5 |
| 9 | Fudge, Brandon | 1816 | 1761 | 1796 | 11 | =11 +0 -3 -4 +13 | 2.5 |
| 10 | Byrne, Michael | 1761 | 1657 | 1742 | 1761 | -15 -11 +17 =12 +16 | 2.5 |
| 11 | Chislett, Benjamin | 1580 | 1772 | 1623 | 1623 | =9 +10 -2 -5 =12 | 2.0 |
| 12 | Huang, Xingbo | 1744 | 1683 | 1714 | 10 | -3 +13 -8 =10 =11 | 2.0 |
| 13 | Burton, Jacob Stephen | 1679 | 1681 | 1680 | 8 | -6 -12 +14 +16 -9 | 2.0 |
| 14 | Bamzad, Sayyedvahid | 1702 | 1476 | 1573 | 7 | -5 -8 -13 +0 +17 | 2.0 |
| 15 | Berson, Jordan S. | 2106 | 1905 | 2091 | 2201 | +10 -1 -0 -0 -0 | 1.0 |
| 16 | Payne, Morley | 1611 | 1460 | 1582 | 1701 | -7 +0 -4 -13 -10 | 1.0 |
| 17 | Clowe, Issiah | 1262 | 1332 | 1276 | 10 | =0 -0 -10 =0 -14 | 1.0 |
Thanks to everyone for coming out. Daley Merrigan, Michael Byrne, and Ray McIsaac all came quite a long way from the west coast to play, while Morley Payne came for the second time this year from the Northern Peninsula. We also had Roger Langen from Nova Scotia and Lawrence Cohen who traveled here from the US.
Thanks so much to Mohammad Kowsari for booking the Engineering conference room playing area, and also the lounge nearby as an analysis room.
Also thanks to Jordan Berson for providing coffee and snacks on Saturday. 🙂
Thanks as well to Brian Oliver who donated several books as door prizes again this year. Almost everyone participating got a book, and there were some nice ones.
I have added some more pictures below. I’ll try to share some games from the event soon. Keep an eye on the ‘Games Corner’ link for updates. It was a pleasure to play and see you all. Hope to see you soon.
