Dave Gertler sends this report:
Kevin Pytel earned his place in Delaware chess history by winning the top section of the 2006 First State Junior Invitational. Sponsored by the Bear Scholastic Chess Club, sixteen of Delaware’s top players under age 20 assembled at the Howard Johnson Inn in Newark on two Saturdays in January. Delaware Chess Association president Richard Martin and vice president Bob Wilder, known for their fine work with the Bear club, organized and directed the new event.
The players were divided into two eight-player sections by rating. The “round-robin” format meant that each player played the other seven players in his or her section. A time control of game/60 meant that four games could be squeezed into the first day, while the other three were held a week later.
In the Championship section, there was a tough battle at the top. First place was up for grabs even during the last round. Leader Kevin Pytel, with 5 points in the first six rounds, got into early trouble against top seed Jonathan Martin. One point behind Kevin was the rapidly improving Andrew Shermeyer, playing Black against state elementary school champion Aaron Gertler (who had lost an easily winning ending against Kevin in the previous round).
Andrew hoped that Kevin would lose and he would win, leading to a tie for first and a playoff. His hopes were raised early in the round, as Jon applied heavy pressure to Kevin’s King. Meanwhile, Aaron and Andrew maintained roughly equal chances in a closed position.
When Jon missed a couple of strong tactical shots, Kevin managed to trade down into an endgame where he was one pawn down but had more active pieces. At the same time, Andrew started to make some headway against Aaron’s solid setup.
Jon was finally persuaded to give the Kevin the draw he’d been asking for, which clinched the championship for Kevin. Seeing this result, Andrew offered Aaron a draw, wrapping up second place.
After an early loss to Andrew and a later one to James Sloven, Jon bounced back well enough to tie for third. Surprisingly, he was caught by Michael Escobar, who scored two losses and a draw in his first three games but finished the tournament by winning four in a row. Michael’s final win dropped his opponent, James, who played unusual openings such as 1.g4 and 1. … f6, from third to fifth place.
Rounding out the field were the three lowest-rated players in the Championship section: Aaron Gertler, Christian Martin, and Michael Pergeorelis. All of them gave tough battles to the leaders and gained a lot of valuable experience.
The plot was much simpler in the B section. Top-ranked Joe Reynolds won every game to finish with a 7-0 record. Apart from a lucky escape against John Hughes, he cruised pretty smoothly through the field.
Below Joe, though, the parity was remarkable. Aric Lu finished at 4.5-2.5; Alisa Spitelle and John Hughes were right behind him at 4-3; Francis Fish scored an even 3.5-3.5; and Josiah Martin went 3-4. The other participants were Brian Frame, who played in only the first four rounds, and Jacob Martin.
Each section’s winner was awarded a Ron Curry trophy, honoring the long-time Delaware chess player, teacher, and author. By winning the B section, Joe Reynolds also earned an automatic entry into next year’s Championship section.
He will probably face an even tougher field, as only about half of the 16 highest-rated Delaware juniors entered the tournament this year. After such a successful start, this tournament is likely to attract more of the top players next time.
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Games and crosstables available at: http://bear.delawarechess.org/FSJI_06_rpt.htm