Tag Archives: chess

Jordan Berson Wins NL Open 2019

The Newfoundland and Labrador Open 2019 was held on the weekend of October 19-21 at the Guv’nor Inn and MUN Science Building. Jordan Berson won the event in clear first with an undefeated 4.5/5 score. This is his third NL Open win. Congratulations, Jordan!

Berson2019

Considering the long time control of 120 minutes + 30 seconds increment per game, playing five games in three days made for a gruelling event, but Jordan was up to the task. Two key games against second place Xingbo Huang and third place Steve Martin are included in the Games Corner link.

Congratulations also go out to Xingbo Huang, who finished in second place, just a half point behind Jordan with 4/5. Xingbo was also the only junior participating. Daniel Efford, Gary Mahon, and Steve Martin finished in a tie for third place, while Daniel won best performance prize with 3/5 and the biggest rating jump.

Ten players in total participated including three players – Martin Whelan, Amit Neghandi, and Jonathan Gosse – who were playing their first classical tournament. Blair Ozon and Gary Mahon were playing their first event in two years. Notable absences included the NL Open 2017 and 2018 champion Roger Langen, Ray MacIsaac, Morley Payne, and Nihad Dervisevic. We hope to see you playing again soon. Big thank you to Blair Ozon who donated a puzzle book and a Budapest Gambit book which were won by Xingbo Huang and Jonathan Gosse as door prizes.

The next event will be the weekend of November 29-December 1. It will be similar structure, but 60 minutes + 30 second increment per game. I hope to see some of you back for that event. Below is the complete crosstable with updated ratings. Thanks to everyone for participating! 🙂

# Player Old Perf New High Results Total
1 Berson, Jordan S. 2053 2037 2063 2201 +5 +2 +4 +6 =3 4.5
2 Huang, Xingbo 1827 1855 1832 24 +8 -1 =3 +0 +4 3.5
3 Efford, Daniel 1583 1846 1676 1676 +6 -4 =2 +8 =1 3.0
4 Martin, Steve 2003 1774 1972 2107 +7 +3 -1 +5 -2 3.0
5 Mahon, Gary 1582 1761 1629 19 -1 +8 +9 -4 +6 3.0
6 Gosse, Jonathan 0 1540 1540 5 -3 +7 +10 -1 -5 2.0
7 Wong, Danny 1336 1445 1372 12 -4 -6 -8 +10 +0 2.0
8 Negandhi, Amit 0 1404 1404 4 -2 -5 +7 -3 -0 1.0
9 Whelan, Martin 0 1345 1345 2 =10 =0 -5 -0 -0 1.0
10 Ozon, Blair R. 1636 1168 1461 8 =9 =0 -6 -7 -0 1.0

Roger Langen Wins NL Open 2018

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.