New England Masters - Final Report

German GM Leonid Kritz winner, US champion Alexander Shabalov tied 2nd

GM Leonid Kritz was the winner of the New England Masters, finishing with 7.0/9, a half-point ahead of US champion GM Alex Shabalov and IM Dean Ippolito. Kritz maintains perfect record of winning tournaments organized by Chris Bird, which includes his joint first in the Las Vegas Masters last year.

Finishing in fourth place was IM Robert Hess with 6.0/9, while IM Lev Milman, IM Josh Friedel and 12 year old FM Ray Robson finished tied for fifth with 5.5/9.

Ippolito's 2nd place finish was also good for the top Under 2400 prize while Robson took second in the same category. FM James Critelli and local youngster Max Enkin took the top Under 2300 prize, both of them finishing with 5.0/9, and both of them notching up a win against English GM Nigel Davies during the course of the tournament.

IM Dean Ippolito's 6.5/9 was good enough for a GM norm performance and FM James Critelli's 5.0/9 was good enough for an IM norm performance. Unfortunately both players played six USA players and the FIDE rules stipulate that a maximum of 60% of your opposition can come from your own federation. FM Ray Robson and Max Enkin both ended up just a half-point shy of IM norm performances, although they would have also failed to play the necessary non-USA opposition.

Final standings:
1. GM Leonid Kritz (GER 2571) 7.0
2-3. GM Alexander Shabalov (USA 2637) and IM Dean Ippolito (USA 2395) 6.5
4. IM Robert Hess (USA 2439) 6.0
5-7. IM Lev Milman (USA 2499), IM Joshua Friedel (USA 2472) and FM Ray Robson (USA 2347) 5.5
8-13. GM Eugene Perelshteyn (USA 2540), IM Justin Sarkar (USA 2403), IM David Vigorito (USA 2393), IM Ronald Burnett (USA 2373), FM James Critelli (USA 2262) and Max Enkin (USA 2213) 5.0
14-16. GM Nigel Davies (ENG 2495), IM David Pruess (USA 2424) and IM James Rizzitano (USA 2328) 4.5 etc

Chris Bird
Organizer, New England Masters Chess Tournament
www.NewEnglandMasters.com