2012 Fairfield County Masters & Class Championships

July 21st

Despite two grandmasters failing to make it to the tournament at the last minute, this year’s Fairfield County Masters was still quite strong with 14 players and an average rating of 2355.  The most critical battle was in the third round when top seed GM Joel Benjamin faced off against CCFC instructor GM Mikheil Kekelidze.  In a very hard fought game, Kekelidze finally managed to overcome Benjamin in an endgame when both players had only seconds left on their clocks.  This cemented his lead and a draw against GM Michael Rohde and a final round win against FM Leif Pressman gave Kekelidze clear first with 4.5/5. 

The class championship was also fiercely competitive.  Twenty five players entered this section, including seven experts.  Surprisingly only one of those experts managed to finish in the money.  NM Evan Rabin claimed first place with a perfect 5/5 score!  Close behind was Choketsu Uga who entered the tournament rated in the 1800s and scored 4.5/5 against five strong experts!  Another fine performance was put in by local high schooler Kurt Rubin.  Rubin, rated in the 1400s, had a super solid tournament, losing only to a high expert.  His fine play netted him the top U1600 prize as well as nearly sixty rating points!

Thank you to everyone that participated.  We are looking forward to another very successful Fairfield County Masters next year!

Crosstable