Chess
By Jack Peters
International Master
October 11, 2009
Texas Tech University, home of Susan Polgar’s SPICE program, hosted two invitational tournaments. Dmitry Andreikin (Russia), Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukraine) and Rauf Mamedof (Azerbaijan) scored 5 1/2 -4 1/2 to tie for first place in the SPICE Cup A double round robin, which featured six young grandmasters. Varuzhan Akobian of Glendale, the oldest player at age 25, tied for fourth with 4 1/2 -5 1/2 .
Ben Finegold of Michigan fulfilled the requirements to become a grandmaster by sharing first place in the SPICE Cup B tournament. Finegold, GM Vinay Bhat (Berkeley) and GM Eugene Perelshteyn (Massachusetts) scored 6-3 in the 10-player round robin. Ray Robson (Florida) was fourth at 5 1/2 -3 1/2 , missing his final GM norm by a half-point. Robson, 14, will become the youngest U.S. grandmaster ever if he makes a GM norm before Jan. 12.
Source: LA Times
Ben! Ben! Ben!