As the Alan Benson IM Norm Tournament wraps up this week at the Mechanics' Institute, it has become clear that a single game will determine the fate of both of the top norm contenders. FM Sam Shankland (photo at left) took care of business by defeating former US Champion IM John Grefe and now merely has to win his final game with the black pieces to earn his second IM norm. However, his opponent will be none other than FM Danya Naroditsky (photo at right), back home after several weeks of intense chess training in Moscow. In fact, Danya still hopes for his own norm, needing to score 3.0 out of 4 games, including today's contest against tournament leader IM Ricardo DeGuzman. Who will win the crucial Naroditsky vs Shankland game? Stay tuned on Thursday!
Update on Wednesday afternoon: Naroditsky lost to DeGuzman and now needs to win his final three games. Kudos to IM Ricardo DeGuzman for dominating the Alan Benson IM Norm Tournament!
Update on Thursday night: Naroditsky and Shankland drew their head-to-head encounter, thereby knocking both competitors out of norm contention. On the bright side, Naroditsky played a brilliant sacrificial attack this morning to defeat Grefe.
Final Standings
- 8.0/9 IM Ricardo DeGuzman (2389 +287)
- 6.0/9 FM Sam Shankland (2368 +69)
- 6.0/9 IM Vladimir Mezentsev (2400 +34)
- 5.5/9 FM Daniel Naroditsky (2311 +91)
- 4.0/9 NM Michael Aigner (2234 +59)
- 4.0/9 NM Gregory Young (2233 +60)
- 3.0/9 IM Odondoo Ganbold (2380 -184)
- 3.0/9 IM John Grefe (2369 -172)
- 3.0/9 FM Richard Lobo (2261 -52)
- 2.5/9 FM Bela Evans (2279 -117)
- +7 DeGuzman
- +3 Mezentsev, Shankland
- +2 Naroditsky
- -1 Aigner, Young
- -3 Ganbold, Grefe, Lobo
- -4 Evans
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