Tuesday, March 11

Fpawn Rating List - April 2008

I have updated the USCF rating for all of my chess students using the April 2008 supplement that is now available on the MSA site. You may view the entire Fpawn Rating List by clicking on the link. One interesting question posed using these rankings: Who would win a hypothetical 5-board team match between my top elementary age students and best high school players?

Top 5 Students Overall

  1. FM Danya 2266
  2. Gregory 2194
  3. Steven 2099
  4. Alan 2043
  5. Jeff 1971
(Honorary: NM Daniel 2249 and David 2098)

Top 5 Grades K-6
  1. FM Danya 2266
  2. Yian 1928
  3. Sam 1901
  4. James 1762
  5. Alex 1745
Top 5 Grades 7-8
  1. Gregory 2194
  2. Adam 1923
  3. Arthur 1882
  4. Andrew 1737
  5. Samyukta 1648
Top 5 Grades 9-12
  1. Steven 2099
  2. Alan 2043
  3. Jeff 1971
  4. Charles 1901
  5. KevinH 1802

3 comments:

Ivan said...

Hello Mr. fpawn,

I was wondering if you could add my blog to your links.

Getting to 2000:

http://gettingto2000.blogspot.com

I have added yours to mine.

I haven't played you but have played in the US Open in Chicago where my friend DANE M MATTSON

Getting to 2000

Michael Aigner said...

Hello! Right now my links are limited to major worldwide chess sites and Northern California web addresses. I have bookmarked your blog and once I accumulate some more interesting blogs, I'll add a new section in my links.

Of course I remember Dane Mattson. He probably wants to forget the tragic circumstances that brought us together.

For those readers who don't recognize the name Dane Mattson, I have a short story to tell from the 2006 US Open. In round 2, I was paired against a 1975 player and I was totally outplayed in the Winawer French. Black had several short forced wins, including a forced checkmate. Miraculously, I managed to escape all of these in my opponent's time pressure. On the 40th move, the game abruptly ended with an unclear position.

What happened? Many viewers watching live on ICC thought I had resigned. Perhaps the game relay via MonRoi had been broken. No! I claimed a win on time because black's clock had expired on his 40th move. It turns out both of us were using the MonRoi device to keep score; my opponent mistakenly thought that he had completed 40 moves because the move counter on MonRoi said 40.

Understandably, my opponent was devastated. He had blown a dead won game and now lost on time. To his credit, he was a gentleman and admitted his mistake to the TD. This gentleman was Dane Mattson.

After this near brush with defeat, I went on to greater success. At 7.0 out of 8 in the final round, I drew with GM John Fedorowicz to share second place in the US Open! Moreover, I qualified for the 2007 US Championship.

As you can see, chess is not just a game of skill. To achieve success, you usually need both skill and some luck.

Michael Aigner said...

[Event "US Open"]
[Site "Chicago, USA"]
[Date "2006.08.06"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Aigner, Michael"]
[Black "Mattson, Dane"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2311"]
[BlackElo "1975"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Ba5 6.b4 cxd4 7.Qg4 Ne7 8.bxa5 dxc3 9.Qxg7 Rg8 10.Qxh7 Nbc6 11.f4 Qxa5 12.Rb1 Nd4 13.Ne2 Nxe2 14.Bxe2 Bd7 15.g4 O-O-O 16.Qd3 a6 17.Qd4 Nc6 18.Qf2 d4 19.Rg1 f6 20.exf6 e5 21.g5 e4 22.Bg4 Bxg4 23.Rxg4 d3 24.Be3 d2+ 25.Kf1 Qb5+ 26.Rxb5 d1=Q+27.Qe1 Qxg4 28.Rb1 Rh8 29.Qf2 Rh3 30.Ke1 Rf3 31.Qg1 Qh3 32.Ke2 Nd4+ 33.Bxd4 Rxd4 34.Rd1 Re3+ 35.Qxe3 Qg4+ 36.Kf2 Qxd1 37.Qxc3+ Kb8 38.Kg3 Qg1+ 39.Kh3 Qf1+ 40.Kg4 {time} 1-0