Rock n’ Roll on all boards

Another very exciting round with full of action. I love this type of norm tournament where everyone is going all out in every game.

Hansen 0-1 Antal (Hansen needs this game to inch closer toward his final IM norm while this is a must win for Antal to be on pace for his final GM norm. As expected, there are plenty of fireworks on the board. Antal is launching an all out assault on the Queenside of the Black side of the Sicilian. He even sacrifice a piece for 2 pawns to maintain pressure rather than playing safe. Both are in severe time pressure. Hansen blundered in time pressure. Now he falls a little bit behind the pace for his norm while Antal gains momentum with 2 straight wins.)

Becerra 1-0 Yang (The battle of the experience vs. the young phenom. They’re tied for the lead. But neither is playing safe to sit on their lead. Becerra sacrificed 2 pawns for big developmental advantage. Young Yang defended vigorously and eventually gave back some materials for breathing room. Now it is down to Queen and Rook with 5 pawns for Yang and 4 pawns for Becerra. But GM has plenty of compensation for the pawn. The pressure was too much and Yang finally went down. What a fight by both players. Yang is temporarily down but there is no doubt that he will bounce back immediately.)

Papp 1-0 Krush (After a wild make up game against Finegold this morning, Krush has to take on another top seed, IM Papp. They are even in material but Papp is trying to outmaneuver the 2-time U.S. women’s champ in the endgame. Krush hangs tough and she is ahead on time. Papp continues to push hard. At the end, he scores a full point in a hard fought battle.)

Ippolito 1/2 Kraai (Ippolito is +1 and he is fighting hard every game to try to get to +3 for his 1st GM norm. This game is quite messy and it can go either way, especially when it gets down to just seconds left. What a game! What a tough way to earn 1/2 point for both players.)

Kuljasevic 1/2 Finegold (What else can be said about this game? Kuljasevic has been waiting since last year to revenge his loss against Finegold in the 2009 SPICE Cup B. They are even in material but Kuljasevic maintains a slight edge in my opinion. But he has a tough task ahead as Finegold is not an easy opponent to beat. Kuljasevic is not able to convert his advantage for a full point and they settle for a draw.)