The World Open drew the big guns, many having become a fixture in the American  circuit. Ten players would tie for 1st place with 7-2! They were: GM Jaan Ehlvest, GM Ilya Smirin, GM Alexander Onischuk, GM Alek Wojtkiewicz, GM Leonid Yudasin, GM Alexander Goldin, GM Alexander Shabalov, GM Gennadi Zaitshek, IM Nazar Firman, GM Babacouly Annakov. Each player took home $3050.00. The first four players also shared 1st place last year. For the tiebreak, Ehlvest chose the "disadvantage" of the black pieces and 5:6 time odds against Smirin in blitz tiebreak! Ehlvest held and has declared the champion… with the tiebreak win came a $500.00 bonus.

Other notable prize winners were in the under-2450 group. At 6-3 the following players tied for 1st: Romanian IM Adrian Negulescu, IM-elect Stephen Muhammad, FM Matthew Hoekstra, FM David Vigorito, NM John Rouleau, IM Dean Ippolito, FM Slava Mikhailuk. Each player took home $642.86.

In this year's competition for qualification, only two spots were awarded (as opposed to five last year). The new format has been stretched over a two-year period and players will actually have several chances to earn a berth. Those qualifying for a spot at the U.S. Championship as a result of paying the $75.00 qualification fee were IM Yury Lapshun and FM Matthew Hoekstra. Both scored 6-3 and had the best tiebreaks. Also in the running with 6-3 were:  IM Jesse Kraai, IM Dean Ippolito, FM Slava Mikhailuk, IM-elect Stephen Muhammad and IM Anthony Saidy. In other news, WGM Anna Zatonskih earned an IM norm and was the only player to norm the tournament.

There weren't many new chess faces in the Open Section other than GM Sarunas Sulskis of Lithiuania and WGM Alexandra Kosteniuk, who has been touring the American circuit since the early part of the year.  Perhaps the most intriguing player in the tournament is actually noted for playing another board game called Shogi.

World Champion Yoshiharu Habu of Japan competed in the World Open and by looking at his piece play during his chess games, one can see the strong of influence of Shogi. Yoshiharu is considered the greatest Shogi player of all time and is said to be close to IM strength in chess.

GM Joel Lautier did an interesting interview with the Shogi Master which appeared at ChessBase.com. In the World Open, Yoshiharu scored a respectable +1  including a draw with GM Joel Benjamin.  In the interview, Yoshiharu noted the differences between Shogi and chess.

Players of African descent were in the mix in the Open section. Despite the conspicuous absence of GM Maurice Ashley, FM Emory Tate (2437), Muhammad (2421), FM William Morrison (2384), IM Oladapo Adu (2288), and FM Norman Rogers (2220) came to do battle.

In the super-tough Open Section, here are players in the order of points scored: Muhammad scored 6-3 and shared 1st under-2450; Tate tallied 5½ points; both Rogers and Adu scored 5; Morrison scored 3½-3½ before withdrawing.

FM "Pete" Rogers and IM-elect Stephen Muhammad do battle while FM William Morrison is four boards down.

Expert Kimani Stancil (2132) had a stellar tournament toppling IM Richard K Delaune, three other Masters, and drawing two others to end with 5 points and a performance rating of close to 2500. Having received his Ph.D. in physics from M.I.T. last year, Stancil is seeking to break the ranks of National Master! Other players included former Jamaican Olympiad player Abiodun Nelson (2248) who flew in from England to compete in his 1st World Open. He scored 3-6 in his debut.

In the under-2200 (Expert) Section, Jamaican national and New York resident Devlin Sinclair won his last four games to score 6½-2½ to tie for 8th-12th. Ervin (Maliq) Matthew, who played in the under-2000 section last year scored 6-3. Peter Roberts scored 5½ points; Nigerian native Sylvester Smarty tallied 5-4;  Lawyer Times, Everest Tucker Jr. and Thomas Oparaugo, who lives in Germany, scored 4½ as did blitz demon, Thomas Murphy; Daaim Shabazz and Zachary Perry scored 4 points with Perry sitting out the last round. Boyd Cook (1794) scored 3½ points; Bernard Parham Sr., Sinclair Gray and Rodney Thomas ended with 3 points.

In the Under-2000 Section, Calvin Marshall of Cleveland, Ohio redeemed last year's poor showing with 7½ points and tie for 3rd-5th.  Jerome Mitchell scored 6-3, but tragically lost his last two games. Other notable performances occurred in the under-1800 section with Nigeria's  Abdlaji Ogunshola in six-way tie for 1st place with 7½ points.

In other news, Severine Wamala, a Ugandan national, brought his clan to the tournament… Jessica (3-3), Yowana (2-7) played in the under-1200 section. They could be seen milling around his board and Jessica was helping him take score! The elder Wamala scored 5½ points in the under-1800 section. NM Geoffrey Byfield brought six junior players with him from Jamaica.

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Posted by The Chess Drum: 10 July 2003