[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: The 12th North American FIDE Invitational: A post-penultimate round report

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
The 12th North American FIDE Invitational: A post-penultimate round report
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1214536335.shtml


   Eight rounds down, one to go at the 12th North American FIDE
   Invitational, and three players are still in the running for norms.
   Coming into the round, FM Florin Felecan was leading with 5.5/7,
   needing a point in his last two games for the IM norm. Round 8 looked
   like an ideal chance to get it done in a single game; after all, he
   had the white pieces against FM Aleksander Stamnov. It's not that
   Stamnov is a bad player, but he is one of the lower-rated players and
   was having a very poor event, tied for last with 2/7. Felecan,
   meanwhile, had been doing extremely well and had White...so you can
   guess what happened: Stamnov won. Felecan will have a second chance to
   acquire the norm tomorrow, if he can defeat FM Jim Dean (languishing
   with 2/8) with Black.
   The other big game for those hunting the elusive IM norm was the FM
   Albert Chow - FM-elect Marc Arnold tussle. Chow entered the round
   needing 2/2 for the norm, while Arnold needed 1.5/2. Only one player
   could conclude the game still in the running, and today that player
   was Arnold - another success for the black pieces. Arnold will get his
   second norm with a win or a draw tomorrow against IM-elect Mehmed
   Pasalic.
   The third norm aspirant is Yuanling Yuan, who came in with 2.5/7.
   Since even Kasparov can't score 4/2, the regular IM norm was
   off-limits, but with 1.5/2 the WIM norm is possible. She took a big
   step in the right direction with a win over IM Emory Tate, who very
   thoughtfully played the Elephant Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5?!/?). At one
   point it seemed he was ok, but when he rejected the trade of queens
   his vulnerable king was a big problem. Yuan's concluding attack was
   well-executed, and if she can draw with Black tomorrow against IM
   Angelo Young, her mission will be accomplished.
   Today's games were very exciting (as I hope you've sensed from the
   descriptions above), so do check them out on the Monroi site. You can
   follow the link to the relevant page, starting from the tournament
   site, [1]here.

References

   1. http://www.nachess.org/fide/