Being Eric Rosen

Chicago-area junior beats GM, earns master title at U.S. Open

Several years ago some creative, young chess players of the kind New York City has in abundance put on an act at the Marshall Chess Club entitled "Being John Fedorowicz," an allusion to a popular movie of the day about experiencing the bizarre thrill of actually "being" the actor John Malkovich, even if only for a few minutes.

The exact context all that may be fuzzy to us a decade later, but it remains nevertheless clear that John Fedorowicz, the well-known East Coast grandmaster is, like John Lennon's working-class hero of lore, someone to be.

On this particular Monday, however, an equally cool person to be is Niles North High School sophomore, Blaze player, and newly minted chess master Eric Rosen, who beat GM Fedorowicz in a miniature yesterday at the U.S. Open.

Young Eric, with the Black pieces, kept his powder dry while the grandmaster's early kingside pawn push created an open diagonal for Eric's queen, which he thrust with alacrity onto White's sixth rank, there to wreak havoc. The senior player resigned on move 16.

It was the first victory against a grandmaster for the rapidly advancing young chess star and came just days after Eric achieved a draw against GM Jesse Kraai at the same tournament.

Oh, yes, and by the way: The game capped off an impressive 6.5/9 performance for Eric at the Open, which will put his rating over the 2200 mark. He is now a national master. Congratulations, Eric.

See the Fedorowicz game below.

Eric Rosen Draws GM at U.S. Open

Congratulations to one of the newest members of the Chicago Blaze, Niles North High School sophomore Eric Rosen, of Skokie, who played GM Jesse Kraai to a draw at the U.S. Open in Indianapolis yesterday. Eric, a strong expert playing at a deficit of several hundred rating points vis-a-vis the New Mexico grandmaster, hung on to force a stalemate.

Though down a pawn in the endgame, Eric, with the Black pieces, managed the exchange of rooks in a way that prevented GM Kraai from promoting his last remaining pikeman. Congratulations, Eric.

See the game below.

Gulko Wins Open on Tiebreaks

Former U.S. chess champion GM Boris Gulko has won the 2007 U.S. Open Chess Tournament on statistical tiebreaks after seven players tied for the lead with 7.5/9.0 at the end of the nine-round tournament.

The other players who tied for first were Alexander Shabalov, Sergey Kudrin, Benjamin Finegold, Michael Rohde, Michael Mulyar and Anton Del Mundo.

Though participation by Chicago and Illinois players was light, Tony Cao, the Land of Lincoln’s top high school player, finished 40th in a field of over 400. Other Illinois players who made the pilgrimage to the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, N.J., for the meet included Eric Rosen, James Egerton, Lawrence Cohen, Tenzing Shaw, and Andrew Chen.

I haven’t looked closely at any of the games, but you can go to MonRoi if you want to see them. Also:

Final standings
Report by Jennifer Shahade for the U.S. Chess Federation
Final standings for Denker and Polgar competitions
Report on the Polgar tournament
Report on Denker competition

Photo: Jennifer Shahade

Illinois Rising: Kudos to several chess people in our fair state who have recently achieved national milestones and recognition. Sevan Muradian took Organizer of the Year honors from the U.S. Chess Federation, while Donna and Fred Gruenberg got USCF Distinguished Service awards. Meanwhile, chess promoter Betsy Dynako, one the best photographers in the game, has added the title of Associate National Tournament Director to her resume. Congratulations all around!

Cao Places in Denker Competition

Illinois luminaries stay home, but local kids soldier on in U.S. Open; sleeper IM beats Nakamura

In a U.S. Open tournament that is light on high-profile participants from Chicago and Illinois, the Prairie State has nevertheless made itself felt in the person of Tony Cao, who finished second in the Denker competition for the top high school chess player in the United States.

Tony, who hails from downstate, finished with a splendid 5.0/6.0—that’s five victories in six rounds—against the other 49 state champions. The only player to finish ahead of him was the winner, Warren Harper of Texas, with 5.5/6.0. Tony’s only loss came in the fourth round to Warren. Maxx Coleman of Kansas also finished with the same record as Tony but ended up in third place on tiebreaks.

The Denker tournament is named for the late, great International Master Arnold Denker and is taking place in conjunction with the 2007 U.S. Open and the Susan Polgar Invitational for Girls. Julia Kerr of New York won the Polgar tournament—Illinois had no representative, I believe—and the main event, the U.S. Open, continues. After six rounds, Tony is in 42nd place in a field of 416 players, while Eric Rosen of Skokie in is 56th place, with 4.5/6.0.

Eric, an eighth-grader-to-be and a strong Class A player (1900+) got a draw in the third round against strong master Daniel Shapiro of New York. While Eric has beaten masters before, Shapiro (2300+) is the strongest player against whom he has gotten at least a draw. Incidentally, considering the problems that tournament officials have had getting results from the tournament up on the Web, I and others around here are indebted to Eric’s mother Andi Rosen, who has sent home regular dispatches from the scene.

In other action, IM Amon Simutowe, not a player I’d ever heard of before, staged an upset in beating former U.S. Champion Grand Master Hikaru Nakamura in round 6. I’ve heard of him now! Simutowe is in second place behind leader Benjamin Feingold of Michigan. More as it becomes available.

Update: This just in. Eric Rosen got a draw in his final round against Maxx Coleman, who finished third in the Denker competition. Eric, it's worth noting, isn't eligible for the Denker competition, since he's not in high school yet, but as the Cubs say, wait'll next year (though, of course, it has a completely different meaning in Eric's case).