What has 200 dancers, 200 chess players, three fire trucks, two talented girls, one smoke machine, and does not mix well? Today’s Dr. David Ostfeld Memorial Tournament. Wooowee was this an event to remember.
As February unfurls its frosty charm and the glow of holiday lights give way to the promise of spring, the chess community once again gathers in eager anticipation. This time, it's for the celebrated Dr. David Ostfeld Memorial ICA Championship tournament, a beacon in the chess world hosted by the International Chess Academy of New Jersey. This tournament, one of five annual events each signifying a different season, holds a special place in the hearts of its participants. It serves as a living tribute to Dr. Ostfeld, a beloved chess coach from Bergen County Academies, whose passion and dedication have left an indelible mark on the game and its enthusiasts. As competitors and spectators alike convene for the February edition, they continue to honor Dr. Ostfeld's memory, celebrating the strategic depth and communal spirit that chess embodies.
This edition of the tournament saw players spanning a broad spectrum of skill levels, from the greenest novices to those at the master tier and even beyond, competing in seven distinct sections. After a one-time venue change to Paramus in December, the tournament returned to its traditional home at the Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, reinstating a familiar backdrop to this esteemed competition. The early sections consisted of two unrated, U800, and U1200 categories.
Sections 1 and 2, the unrated sections, were very competitive. There were many players in each section, and all of them were fighting for 2.5 points or higher for a trophy. In sections 3 and 4, this is where there were so many strong players with a lot of potential. There were many players who had tie breaks with 3.0 points. The 5th section (U1400) was very interesting. Although this is usually not the largest section, there were players ranging from elementary school kids to adults! It was very interesting to see these players verse each other.
We now move into the Open Section. Most everyone arrived on time and round one went off without a hitch. One player did run late and arrived with just ten minutes left on his clock. For a while it looked like he could pull off a win. He was up material and had a good position on the board. But ten minutes dwindled to five, then two and a half, and finally he was playing blitz-style chess against an opponent with half an hour on his clock. In the end having just 10 minutes on his clock was too much of a handicap to withstand.
In the “unexpected results” department for round one, Tanush Kulkarni (1842) managed a draw against #1 seed Gary Lechinsky (2236). Sasha Schaefer (1834) similarly pulled off a draw against #2 seed Yefim Treger (2217). Luke Shin (1698) won against Ryan Chen (1905), who perhaps wisely decided this wasn’t going to be his day and withdrew. Like in poker, knowing when to walk away from the table is an important skill to learn.
With just 14 players at 1.0 point at the start of round two, the race to the coveted 4.0 score was underway. There were no upsets of note this time around, and the 14 quickly became seven. In the 0.5 point group Leqi Han (1907) pulled off an upset against Gary Lechinsky (2236), who being a wise and experienced player elected to withdraw. Chess may not be a luck-based game, but sometimes it sure feels that way.
As round three got underway I took a good look around the room. That’s when it dawned on me just how male it was. 37 of the 39 players were men. The only two female players were nine year-old girls Aimee Yang and Sujia Diao. It dawned on me just how difficult it must be for them. Which makes their accomplishments that more impressive.
I looked them up on the USCF website. With a live rating of 1934, Sujia is the 2nd-highest (regular) rated nine-year-old girl in the country, and the 14th highest rated nine-year-old of either sex. At 2070 Aimee is only nine-year-old girl in the United States rated higher, and the 9th highest-rated nine-year-old overall. The fact they’ve reached these levels in rooms like these makes it all the more impressive. So kudos to you, Aimee and Sujia. (Epilogue: Aimee tied for 2nd place today, and Sujia tied for 8th place as well as “top under 13”.)
With just seven players at 2.0 points, the race for 4.0 continued. Roman Malyshev took out Sujia Diao. Michael Uwakwe did the same to Lucas Cirasella. Aiden Kennedy bested David Slatin. Aaryan Mummidi, the final 2.0-er, fell to 1.5-point Yefim Treger. (That’s the challenge of being in the lead - there are always eager challengers looking to usurp their place.)
Before we continue the report, here is some exclusive commentary from Aiden Kennedy in his match against David Slatin!
Going into this game, I was 2/2. I was playing a person named David Slatin, and he was slightly higher rated than me. I was playing black and decided to play a line in the Sicilian. He played the Rossolimo, and I played a pretty aggressive line with the idea to push my pawns to attack the king. Pretty early in the game, I decided to push my pawns. In the opening, I kicked his knight around the board and it eventually found itself in a bad position. Then, I brought my knight and queen to the kingside, and then I had a lot more pieces that could attack his king than he could defend. I pushed my pawns towards his king, and they got inside of his position and made a lot of weaknesses around his king. I got one of my pawns to f3, and it made all of the light squares around his king very weak. I had made a slight mistake at the end of the game, but it didn’t matter and I forced a position with an unstoppable checkmate. I think I played a good attacking game, and I am happy about it.
Round 4 began with three perfect scores vying for first place, and a host of others trying to snag a chunk of the prize money, or at least to regain some of the rating they feared they lost earlier in the day. But before the round could get very far, it happened.
BRRRRR! BRRRRR! BRRRRR!
The fire alarm went off. Everyone paused for a moment as we waited to see if the sound would stop. It didn’t.
“Pause your clocks, everyone. Then head for the building exit.”
Everyone evacuated the room in an orderly if slightly confused fashion. One slightly stunned player attempted to bring their clock with them. I went back and set it on the table. Another person - I’m not sure if it was a parent or player - picked up their cell phone and went to take a photo of the games. I put a stop to that. Not only were the building staff now calling for everyone to leave, I wasn’t about to allow anyone to study a photo of their game outside the room. Disruptions like this are bad enough; I don’t want anyone compounding anyone’s (dis)advantage by studying their game or running it through a chess computer while I wasn’t looking.
As we left the building we were joined by the tournament staff and players from Section 6 who were just as surprised as we were. No one had any idea what was going on.
We began to get a clue outside. Fire trucks were pulling up outside the building. They appeared not to be in any particular hurry, but immediately proceeded into the building to investigate. Their first order of business was to shut off the fire alarms, something everyone appreciated.
Meanwhile a group of approximately 200 dancers(?) exited the building from another entrance. They huddled directly outside the building to stay out of the wind. Turns out this had an unforeseen drawback. At some point like a herd they began stampeding back into the building. I was amused to watch an officer run into the building ahead of them to halt their progress and tell them to move back out.
This turned out not to be the least bright thing the dancers did. Whoever organized the event had the brilliant idea of running a smoke machine. The smoke set off the fire alarm, and voila! Everyone vacates the building for 45 minutes.
Fortunately there was no fire so when the all clear came through we were re-admitted to the building. Everyone returned to their boards and resumed their already-in-progress games.
Many players in the U1600 section were on 2.5 out of 3 points going into the final round. Nobody, however, had a perfect score. One of the players leading the charge was ICA Coach and tournament debutante Moshe Gorbunov, who had to face ICA Coach and professional *mind games specialist* Alan Salnikov in the final round. In said match, Moshe was white, while Alan was black.
The first inaccuracy of the match came on Alan’s side, where, instead of continuing his development, he played 6. … c5, giving Moshe a tempo. While Moshe used the tempo to develop well, Alan’s king was still in the center and his knight on g8 had no good squares. To attempt to break free, he played 9. … f6. Moshe tried to break through, but was way too eager, playing 12. Qg4??, allowing Alan to correctly find 12. … f5, attacking the queen and creating a discovered attack on the knight. After an initial exchange, it was then Alan’s turn to be rash, playing 14. … Bxh5?, allowing Moshe to create space for a pawn storm. From there, Moshe played a flawless match: first, he pushed his f-pawn up to f5, forcing Alan’s knight back. Then, he placed his rook on c1, taking the open file. The game ended as a contest with the move 20. Qf7! With that one move, four tactical weaknesses were created. As the very best case, from Alan’s perspective, one black piece would be captured. Regardless of the sequence of moves after move 20, a resignation was inevitable.
And that is exactly what happened, as Moshe won the coach derby, allowing him to finish in a SEVEN WAY TIE for first place!
In the Open Section, the battle for first place came down to two games. Michael Uwakwe (2000) defeated Yefim Treger. This gave Michael the 4th point he coveted. Then it was up to Aiden Kennedy (1892) and Roman Malyshev (2159), both with 3 points. That game ended in a draw, giving Michael the undisputed first place victory and the entire $300 prize.
Thanks to everyone who came along to the tournament. Fire alarm aside, it was a pleasure working for all of you.
We’ll be back at Bergen Academies for our next Ostfeld event on April 21st. We hope to see you all there.
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