Here are some impressions and games from the U.S. Masters, held in Chicago from Feb. 28 to March 3. The full crosstable can be found at the end of this article. The winners were Gregory Kaidanov, Alexander Onischuk, Daniel Fridman, Leonid Yudasin, and Alek Wojtkiewicz, with 5.5 of 7. Six people qualified for the 2002 U.S. Championship from this tournament, among them Stanislav Kriventsov, who plays for Phalanx in the Pittsburgh Chess League. There is really nothing like this tournament on the U.S. calendar, for strength per square foot. There were only 101 participants, but the roster at the top was comparable to a National Open or World Open. The five winners were all Grandmasters, and at least ten other Grandmasters can be found in the crosstable. Although I had never played in a U.S. Masters before, in a way I was returning after a long absence. I had played in the Midwest Masters tournaments four times from 1985 to 1989. I recognized the present U.S. Masters as a continuation of that bygone series, not least because it was organized by Jim and Helen Warren. Only the crosstable betrayed the passage of time. It was stronger, of course. In 1985, I had tied for first with two International Masters, Vince McCambridge and Igor Ivanov. Already in 1986, with the arrival of a carload or two of Grandmasters from New York, the tournament had become too strong for the likes of us three. But as I greeted the Warrens in 2002, I announced that I was hoping for lightning to strike again in the same place! (It didn't.) I was also impressed by the contingent of old-timers. When I was starting out in chess, in the 1960's, the leading amateur players around the country included Viktors Pupols (Pacific Northwest), John Curdo (New England), Andrew Karklins (Illinois), and Curt Brasket (Minnesota). They were all at this tournament. This seemed to me like a rare conjunction of planets. I met Alan Watson for the first time, though he has been producing bulletins for major tournaments for a number of years. I also learned something that chess database users have known for years about how tournament bulletins are produced. Watson does very little typing! He moves pieces around on a computer screen using a mouse, and lets the database software produce the score for him. Eureka! But no amount of computer power can enable Watson to read illegible scoresheets. One of the flashiest games was Blatny-Goldin, from the third round: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 O-O Be7 6 Bxc6 (The DERLD, Delayed Exchange Ruy Lopez Deferred. This was fashionable for a while among amateur players after L.M. Pickett wrote a booklet about it in the late 1970's.) 6 ... dxc6 7 Qe1 Nd7 8 b3 O-O (In the next round, Ibragimov played 8 ... c5 against Blatny and drew rather easily.) 9 Bb2 Bd6 10 d4 exd4 11 Nxd4 Re8 12 Nf5 Be5 13 Nc3 Nc5 14 Rd1 Qg5 15 f4! (Ouch!) 15 ... Bxf4 16 h4 Qg4 17 Nxg7 Qxg7 (If 17 ... Kxg7 18 Rxf4 and 19 Nd5+.) 18 Rxf4 f6 19 Qf2 Nd7 20 Ne2 Ne5 21 Ng3 Bg4 22 Rf1 Rf8 23 Nf5 Bxf5 24 Rxf5 Ng4 25 Qe2 Qg6 26 e5 Rae8 27 h5 Qg7 28 Qc4+, Black resigns. I was particularly interested in Onischuk-Blatny, from the last round, not only because Onischuk played what looked like a daring gambit, but also because it was a must-win situation for both players; a draw would only have been good enough for a tie for 5th, and a much smaller prize. Onischuk's win put him in the tie for 1st. I am grateful to Alex Onischuk for both the game score and the light notes: Onischuk - Blatny [D31] 03.2002 [Onischuk, Alex] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8.Ne2 Ne7!? 9.Qd2! Nd7 10.f3 Qh4+ [ 10...Qxc4?? 11.Nf4] 11.g3 Qf6 12.Bg2 0-0 13.0-0 Re8 14.f4 [ 14.Rad1!? Onischuk - Sevillano, Linsborg 2001.] 14...Nf8 15.Nc3 Nf5 16.Ne4 Qg6 [ 16...Qd4+ 17.Qxd4 Nxd4 18.Nd6 Rd8 19.Rad1 Nc2 20.Bc5! Nd7 21.Bf2+/=] 17.Rae1 e5? [ better 17...b6 18.Nd6!? Nxd6 19.Qxd6 Bb7 20.Qc7 Ba6 21.b3© c5!? 22.Bc3] 18.fxe5 Be6 19.b3 Rad8 20.Nd6 Nxd6 21.exd6+/- Nd7 22.Qf2 Ra8 23.Bc3 f6 24.Re2 Qd3? 25.Bd4[] Qg6 26.Rfe1 Qf7 27.Re4 Rad8 28.Qe2 Nf8 29.Bxa7+- h5(+) [ 29...Rxd6 30.Bc5 Rdd8 31.Bxf8] 30.Bc5 Nd7 31.Bd4 Ne5 32.Bxe5 Bg4 33.Qe3 fxe5 34.Rxe5 Rf8 35.c5 Qg6 36.h3 Bd7 37.Qg5 Qc2 38.Re7 Qf2+ 39.Kh2 Qf6 40.Qxf6 Rxf6 41.Rf1 1-0 Ildar Ibragimov looked good for the first five rounds, but then lost this game to Daniel Fridman. Fridman's play was a model of calm and accuracy, getting the most from a position that seemed hopelessly drawn already on the seventh move: (Fridman-Ibragimov) 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 b6 3 g3 Bb7 4 Bg2 e6 5 O-O Be7 6 Nc3 O-O 7 d4 Ne4 8 Bd2 d5 9 Ne5 Nxc3 10 Bxc3 Nd7 11 cxd5 Nxe5 12 d6! Bxg2 13 dxe7 Qxe7 14 Kxg2 Nd7 15 Qa4 c5 16 Rfd1 Rfd8 17 Rac1 h6 18 dxc5 Nxc5 19 Qg4 Qg5 20 Qxg5 hxg5 21 Bd4 Rac8 22 Be3 Rxd1 23 Rxd1 f6 24 b4 Na6 25 b5 Nc5 26 Kf3 Kf7 27 Rc1 Ke7 28 h4 gxh4 29 gxh4 Rc7 30 Bxc5+ bxc5 31 Ke4 Kd6 32 Kd3 Kd5 33 Kc3 c4 (Around this point, both players were in time trouble.) 34 a4 f5 35 a5 Rc8 37 b6 axb6 38 axb6 Ra8 39 Kb5 Ra2 40 Rxc4, Black resigns. I lost to Alex Goldin and Dmitry Schneider in consecutive rounds, which took the wind out of my sails. Ultimately I finished with 3.5 out of 7. My second round game featured a cute cheapo: (Leverett-Jake Kleiman) 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 e6 5 e3 Nbd7 6 Bd3 dxc4 7 Bxc4 b5 8 Bd3 Bb7 9 O-O a6?! (9 ... b4 is more accurate) 10 e4 Be7? (10 ... b4 was necessary) 11 e5 Nxd5 12 Nxd5 cxd5 (White is better on both sides of the board.) 13 Bd2 b4 14 a3 a6 15 axb4 axb4 (Somewhere in the next few moves I let the advantage slip through my fingers.) 16 Rxa8 Qxa8 17 Qb1 h6 18 Rc1 O-O 19 Rc7 Bc6 20 Qc2 Rc8 21 Rxc8+ Qxc8 22 b3 Qb7 23 Qa2 Bb5 24 Bb1 Kf8 25 Qa5 Ba6? (25 ... Bc6 is better; after 26 Bd3 Nb8! Black will regroup by 26 ... Bd7 and 27 ... Nc6.) Diagram: 5k2/1q1nbpp1/b3p2p/Q2pP3/1p1P4/1P3N2/3B1PPP/1B4K1 26 Bxb4! Qxb4 27 Qxa6 g5! (Black has good counterplay. Probably he could have drawn with best play.) 28 Qc8+ Kg7 29 Qc2 Nf8 30 h3 Ng6 31 g3 h5 32 Qd1 Nf8 33 Kg2 Qc3 34 Qc2 Qb4 35 Qd3 Qa3 36 Qe3 Qb2 37 Bd3 Qxb3 38 Nxg5 Ng6 39 Nxf7 Nf8 40 Ng5 Bxg5 41 Qxg5+, Black resigns. Crosstable U.S. Masters (Martinovsky Memorial) February 28 - March 3, 2002 score 1 KAIDANOV Gregory GM 2694 W 71 W 8 D 3 W 29 D 2 W 16 D 4 5.5 2 ONISCHUK Alexander GM 2735 W 75 W 14 W 30 D 16 D 1 D 6 W 15 5.5 3 FRIDMAN Daniel GM 2522 W 36 W 44 D 1 D 4 W 58 W 28 D 5 5.5 4 YUDASIN Leonid G GM 2649 W 35 W 48 D 29 D 3 W 15 W 31 D 1 5.5 5 WOJTKIEWICZ Alek GM 2675 H W 94 D 62 W 25 W 17 W 7 D 3 5.5 6 GUREVICH Dmitry GM 2646 W101 W 52 D 7 D 13 W 14 D 2 D 8 5 7 ANDRIANOV Nikolay IM 2467 W 45 W 60 D 6 D 9 W 19 L 5 W 28 5 8 WATSON John L IM 2371 W 84 L 1 W 45 W 42 D 10 W 30 D 6 5 9 SERPER Gregory GM 2609 W 65 W 58 D 17 D 7 D 13 W 41 D 11 5 10 FEDOROWICZ John P GM 2583 W 68 W 86 D 13 D 17 D 8 W 40 D 12 5 11 DONALDSON W John IM 2526 D 49 W 74 D 38 W 34 D 12 W 21 D 9 5 12 DOSS Jason R LM 2357 L 20 W 83 W 85 W 46 D 11 W 23 D 10 5 13 PASCHALL William IM 2451 W 96 W 73 D 10 D 6 D 9 D 32 W 29 5 14 LEIN Anatoly Y GM 2441 W 88 L 2 W 77 W 75 L 6 W 58 W 31 5 15 BLATNY Pavel GM 2572 W 57 W 55 W 19 D 28 L 4 W 22 L 2 4.5 16 SHULMAN Yuri GM 2646 W 66 W 72 W 18 D 2 D 28 L 1 D 17 4.5 17 KRIVENTSOV Stanis FM 2461 W 95 W 46 D 9 D 10 L 5 W 38 D 16 4.5 18 ADLER Victor E IM 2492 W 83 W 20 L 16 D 27 D 38 W 62 D 26 4.5 19 GOLDIN Alexander GM 2706 W 54 W 40 L 15 W 47 L 7 D 51 W 32 4.5 20 ARAMIL William J 2098 W 12 L 18 W 61 D 22 L 43 W 79 W 51 4.5 21 GRATZ Glen E 2168 W 59 H D 22 W 72 D 23 L 11 W 41 4.5 22 PALOS Osman IM 2382 D 32 W 92 D 21 D 20 W 76 L 15 W 42 4.5 23 ZIATDINOV Rashid IM 2502 D 74 D 85 W 35 W 62 D 21 L 12 W 44 4.5 24 GERSHOV Yevgeniy LM 2335 L 46 W 95 W 33 D 30 L 32 W 49 W 40 4.5 25 PEDZICH Dominik IM 2345 H W 81 D 42 L 5 W 33 D 43 W 52 4.5 26 PRIVMAN Boris FM 2256 L 28 W 82 W 64 D 40 D 29 W 59 D 18 4.5 27 LANGER Mikhail LM 2293 L 73 W 96 W 60 D 18 L 41 W 76 W 43 4.5 28 IBRAGIMOV Ildar GM 2703 W 26 W 80 W 31 D 15 D 16 L 3 L 7 4 29 GEORGIEV Vladimir GM 2500 W 93 W 53 D 4 L 1 D 26 W 48 L 13 4 30 SCHNEIDER Dmitry FM 2544 W 89 W 33 L 2 D 24 W 47 L 8 D 34 4 31 MITKOV Nikola GM 2508 W 50 W 37 L 28 W 48 W 44 L 4 L 14 4 32 KLEIMAN Jake 2141 D 22 L 47 W 49 W 80 W 24 D 13 L 19 4 33 HAESSEL Dale R 2177 W 41 L 30 L 24 W 69 L 25 W 66 W 58 4 34 BEREOLOS Peter LM 2321 D 67 D 56 W 53 L 11 D 37 W 77 D 30 4 35 PUPOLS Viktors LM 2249 L 4 W 91 L 23 W 45 L 59 W 85 W 63 4 36 VAN METER Lester FM 2205 L 3 L 43 W 82 L 39 W 87 W 78 W 59 4 37 BARTHOLOMEW John 2166 W 51 L 31 L 58 W 66 D 34 D 63 W 61 4 38 SZPISJAK Steven J LM 2252 B H D 11 D 41 D 18 L 17 W 60 4 39 GORLIN Andrey 2049 H D 61 L 75 W 36 D 54 D 71 W 79 4 40 ZLOTNIKOV Mikhail IM 2432 W 97 L 19 W 66 D 26 W 50 L 10 L 24 3.5 41 SARKAR Justin IM 2410 L 33 W 89 W 65 D 38 W 27 L 9 L 21 3.5 42 CATES James Stephen 2030 D 47 W 79 D 25 L 8 D 71 W 54 L 22 3.5 43 KREIMAN Boris IM 2543 L 44 W 36 W 69 L 58 W 20 D 25 L 27 3.5 44 ESSERMAN Marc NM 2207 W 43 L 3 W 99 W 59 L 31 D 72 L 23 3.5 45 HOOVER Nathan E 2194 L 7 W 63 L 8 L 35 W 86 W 67 D 47 3.5 46 ZILLMER Joshua 2079 W 24 L 17 W 55 L 12 D 61 W 75 - 3.5 47 LEVERETT Bruce W LM 2321 D 42 W 32 W 76 L 19 L 30 D 60 D 45 3.5 48 BETANELI Alexande LM 2315 W 91 L 4 W 56 L 31 W 53 L 29 D 50 3.5 49 TSYGANOV Igor M NM 2206 D 11 L 76 L 32 W 84 W 57 L 24 W 73 3.5 50 DEAN Jim H FM 2202 L 31 D 51 W 84 W 52 L 40 D 61 D 48 3.5 51 YOUNG Angelo IM 2396 L 37 D 50 W 94 D 74 W 85 D 19 L 20 3.5 52 ROWLEY Robert J FM 2285 W 98 L 6 D 78 L 50 W 73 W 74 L 25 3.5 53 DONAHUE Jeremiah 2144 X L 29 L 34 W 65 L 48 D 69 W 77 3.5 54 SIMMS Gary LM 2269 L 19 W 97 D 73 D 78 D 39 L 42 W 74 3.5 55 ANDERSON Renard W FM 2289 W 90 L 15 L 46 L 85 W 95 W 64 D 56 3.5 56 GORLIN Yelena WFM 2104 H D 34 L 48 W 86 L 62 W 65 D 55 3.5 57 GREANIAS Steven D LM 2220 L 15 W 90 L 59 D 64 L 49 W 82 W 76 3.5 58 FORMANEK Edward W IM 2309 W 70 L 9 W 37 W 43 L 3 L 14 L 33 3 59 VIGORITO David E FM 2406 L 21 W 93 W 57 L 44 W 35 L 26 L 36 3 60 ZIMBECK David 2082 W 63 L 7 L 27 W 89 D 75 D 47 L 38 3 61 CHOW Albert C FM 2294 D 64 D 39 L 20 W 95 D 46 D 50 L 37 3 62 ANDREWS Todd D FM 2308 D 78 W 67 D 5 L 23 W 56 L 18 - 3 63 KARKLINS Andrew FM 2354 L 60 L 45 W 67 W 83 D 77 D 37 L 35 3 64 GIBSON Blake 2021 D 61 D 69 L 26 D 57 W 90 L 55 D 68 3 65 STEIN Kurt W NM 2222 L 9 W 70 L 41 L 53 W 83 L 56 W 84 3 66 ARAVENA Peter Sloan NM 2231 L 16 W 87 L 40 L 37 W 94 L 33 W 88 3 67 KIEWRA Keaton F 2073 D 34 L 62 L 63 W 92 D 68 L 45 W 86 3 68 FEUERSTEIN Arthur LM 2220 L 10 W 98 D 80 L 76 D 67 D 73 D 64 3 69 CURDO John A FM 2242 H D 64 L 43 L 33 W 88 D 53 D 70 3 70 HEYER Jon 2027 L 58 L 65 L 95 D 82 W 91 W 81 D 69 3 71 DAVIS Loal W LM 2252 L 1 D 84 W 92 D 73 D 42 D 39 - 3 72 DELAUNE Richard K IM 2375 W 87 L 16 W 86 L 21 D 74 D 44 - 3 73 KINGREY Chaene 2010 W 27 L 13 D 54 D 71 L 52 D 68 L 49 2.5 74 BROWNSCOMBE Tom FM 2200 D 23 L 11 W 79 D 51 D 72 L 52 L 54 2.5 75 STAMNOV Aleksanda LM 2279 L 2 W 88 W 39 L 14 D 60 L 46 - 2.5 76 ROGERS Bradley K 2009 H W 49 L 47 W 68 L 22 L 27 L 57 2.5 77 ROWLAND Todd W NM 2246 H D 78 L 14 W 88 D 63 L 34 L 53 2.5 78 STEVANOVIC Miomir 2025 D 62 D 77 D 52 D 54 - L 36 D 83 2.5 79 MOTE David B NM 2285 H L 42 L 74 W 94 W 81 L 20 L 39 2.5 80 ZAREMBA Andrei A FM 2379 W 82 L 28 D 68 L 32 W 93 - - 2.5 81 QUAN Zhe 2141 H L 25 - W 96 L 79 L 70 W 90 2.5 82 FELDBERG Victor 2103 L 80 L 26 L 36 D 70 W 92 L 57 D 87 2 83 SHARP Dale Eugene LM 2200 L 18 L 12 W 91 L 63 L 65 D 87 D 78 2 84 CHRISTIAN King P 2100 L 8 D 71 L 50 L 49 D 97 W 96 L 65 2 85 VOELKER James 2178 H D 23 L 12 W 55 L 51 L 35 - 2 86 HANKEN Jerry LM 2200 X L 10 L 72 L 56 L 45 W 97 L 67 2 87 RUDOLPH Roger 2100 L 72 L 66 L 93 W 98 L 36 D 83 D 82 2 88 O'DONNELL Robert 2178 L 14 L 75 W 98 L 77 L 69 W 94 L 66 2 89 WALLACH Kenneth T LM 2208 L 30 L 41 W 97 L 60 - W 90 - 2 90 KARKLINS Erik 2009 L 55 L 57 W 96 D 93 L 64 L 89 L 81 1.5 91 FELBER Joseph J 2029 L 48 L 35 L 83 D 97 L 70 L 92 W 94 1.5 92 CARSWELL George 2159 H L 22 L 71 L 67 L 82 W 91 - 1.5 93 BRASKET Curt J FM 2200 L 29 L 59 W 87 D 90 L 80 - - 1.5 94 BENESA Arnulfo 2000 W100 L 5 L 51 L 79 L 66 L 88 L 91 1 95 KLUG Steffen 2186 L 17 L 24 W 70 L 61 L 55 - - 1 96 SCHNEIDER Igor 2179 L 13 L 27 L 90 L 81 W 98 L 84 - 1 97 DORSEY Philip A 2178 L 40 L 54 L 89 D 91 D 84 L 86 - 1 98 MAROVITCH Mark 2000 L 52 L 68 L 88 L 87 L 96 B - 1 99 ARDAMAN Miles F FM 2383 F W100 L 44 - - - - 1 100 LEIGHTON George N 1803 L 94 L 99 - - - - - 0 101 SOLON Nathan W FM 2230 L 6 - - - - - - 0 Thanks to Jim Warren for this crosstable, and to Bill Smythe for converting it to ASCII.