2011 Club Championship

Final Recap

The dust has settled and we have a clear winner - Resident GM Ben Finegold! Congratulations to Ben and to all the other competitors who participated. There were some upsets (Spencer Finegold bested Doug Eckert, Jason Zhou defeated William Nesham) and the games were all exciting. Check out the game section to see the players in action.

When asked how it feels to win the Championship at the best club in the country, GM Finegold responded, "Every game was difficult, and I feel lucky that I was able to win. Also, having three whites didn't hurt."

Finegold will also represent Saint Louis in the 2011 U.S. Championship. This 16-player field of super-talented GMs and IMs will square off from April 13 through April 28 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

If you would like to participate in the 2012 Club Championship, all you need to do is win any standard-rated tournament at the club. Check back soon for more games, annotations and an article on the highlights from the CCSCSL Championship.

Final Standings

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Tot
1	BENJAMIN FINEGOLD	2553	W4	W2	W3	W6	4.0
2	MARK JOEFF FERBER	2149	W10	L1	D5	W9	2.5
3	RICHARD BENJAMIN	2200	W8	D7	L1	D5	2.0
4	JOSHUA FRANK	2055	L1	W5	D8	D7	2.0
5	SPENCER FINEGOLD	2000	W6	L4	D2	D3	2.0
6	DOUG D ECKERT	2223	L5	W10	W7	L1	2.0
7	KENNETH P THOMAS	2068	W9	D3	L6	D4	2.0
8	TONY D RICH	1934	L3	W9	D4	D10	2.0
9	JASON ZHOU	1554	L7	L8	W10	L2	1.0
10	WILLIAM NESHAM	1891	L2	L6	L9	D8	0.5

Round 4

The final round is bringing some interesting pairings, with the two highest-rated players duking it out for first place. If Doug is able to win he will take clear first place and the title of CCSCSL Champion. Can he pull off the upset?!?

Remember you can check out all the pictures by clicking here and replay all of the games here.

Round 4 Pairings

Bd	Res	White	Res	Black
1	1	BENJAMIN FINEGOLD (2553)	0	DOUG D ECKERT (2223)
2	1/2	RICHARD BENJAMIN (2200)	1/2	SPENCER FINEGOLD (2000)
3	1/2	JOSHUA FRANK (2055)	1/2	KENNETH P THOMAS (2068)
4	1	MARK JOEFF FERBER (2149)	0	JASON ZHOU (1554)
5	1/2	WILLIAM NESHAM (1891)	1/2	TONY D RICH (1934)

Round 4 Wall Chart

#	Name/Rtng/ID	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4
1	BENJAMIN FINEGOLD	W 6	B 4	W 3	W 2
	2553 11264417	1.0	2.0	3.0
2	DOUG D ECKERT	B 7	W 9	W 5	B 1
	2223 12107920	0.0	1.0	2.0
3	RICHARD BENJAMIN	W 8	B 5	B 1	W 7
	2200 12399940	1.0	1.5	1.5
4	MARK JOEFF FERBER	B 9	W 1	B 7	W 10
	2149 14426406	1.0	1.0	1.5
5	KENNETH P THOMAS	W 10	W 3	B 2	B 6
	2068 10773571	1.0	1.5	1.5
6	JOSHUA FRANK	B 1	W 7	B 8	W 5
	2055 12541155	0.0	1.0	1.5
7	SPENCER FINEGOLD	W 2	B 6	W 4	B 3
	2000 12665760	1.0	1.0	1.5
8	TONY D RICH	B 3	W 10	W 6	B 9
	1934 12694565	0.0	1.0	1.5
9	WILLIAM NESHAM	W 4	B 2	B 10	W 8
	1891 13135370	0.0	0.0	0.0
10	JASON ZHOU	B 5	B 8	W 9	B 4
	1554 14085162	0.0	0.0	1.0

Round 3

2 Time Club Champ Richard Benjamin The tournament is becoming a mad race with 6 players tied for 3rd, Eckert in clear 2nd and Ben Finegold resting at 1st.

Nothing is decided yet, as a win for Eckert would tie him with Ben Finegold for first place and who knows which of the six could grab second or third!

Round 3 Pairings

Bd	Res	White	Res	Black
1	1	BENJAMIN FINEGOLD (2553)	0	RICHARD BENJAMIN (2200)
2	1	DOUG D ECKERT (2223)	0	KENNETH P THOMAS (2068)
3	1/2	SPENCER FINEGOLD (2000)	1/2	MARK JOEFF FERBER (2149)
4	1/2	TONY D RICH (1934)	1/2	JOSHUA FRANK (2055)
5	1	JASON ZHOU (1554)	0	WILLIAM NESHAM (1891)

Round 3 Wall Chart

#	Name/Rtng/ID	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3
1	BENJAMIN FINEGOLD	W 6	B 4	W 3
	2553 11264417	1.0	2.0
2	DOUG D ECKERT	B 7	W 9	W 5
	2223 12107920	0.0	1.0
3	RICHARD BENJAMIN	W 8	B 5	B 1
	2200 12399940	1.0	1.5
4	MARK JOEFF FERBER	B 9	W 1	B 7
	2149 14426406	1.0	1.0
5	KENNETH P THOMAS	W 10	W 3	B 2
	2068 10773571	1.0	1.5
6	JOSHUA FRANK	B 1	W 7	B 8
	2055 12541155	0.0	1.0
7	SPENCER FINEGOLD	W 2	B 6	W 4
	2000 12665760	1.0	1.0
8	TONY D RICH	B 3	W 10	W 6
	1934 12694565	0.0	1.0
9	WILLIAM NESHAM	W 4	B 2	B 10
	1891 13135370	0.0	0.0
10	JASON ZHOU	B 5	B 8	W 9
	1554 14085162	0.0	0.0

Round 2

Mark Ferber (left) vs. GM Ben FinegoldThe tournament is heating up with Round 2 well under way. Thomas-Benjamin and Rich-Zhou were the first games to finish and the other three boards are battling it out. Can William Nesham best Doug Eckert? Will Ben Finegold finally lose a standard-rated game at the club? Check back soon to find out!

Click here to see more photos from all the rounds.

Doug Eckert deep in thought

Round 2 Pairings

Bd	Res	White	Res	Black
1	0	MARK FERBER (2149)	1	BENJAMIN FINEGOLD (2553)
2	1/2	KENNETH P THOMAS (2068)	1/2	RICHARD BENJAMIN (2200)
3	1	JOSHUA FRANK (2055)	0	SPENCER FINEGOLD (2000)
4	1	DOUG D ECKERT (2223)	0	WILLIAM NESHAM (1891)
5	1	TONY D RICH (1934)	0	JASON ZHOU (1554)

Round 2 Wallchart

#	Name/Rtng/ID	Rd 1	Rd 2
1	BENJAMIN FINEGOLD	W 6	B 4
	2553 11264417	1.0	2.0
2	DOUG D ECKERT	B 7	W 9
	2223 12107920	0.0	1.0
3	RICHARD BENJAMIN	W 8	B 5
	2200 12399940	1.0	1.5
4	MARK JOEFF FERBER	B 9	W 1
	2149 14426406	1.0	1.0
5	KENNETH P THOMAS	W 10	W 3
	2068 10773571	1.0	1.5
6	JOSHUA FRANK	B 1	W 7
	2055 12541155	0.0	1.0
7	SPENCER FINEGOLD	W 2	B 6
	2000 12665760	1.0	1.0
8	TONY D RICH	B 3	W 10
	1934 12694565	0.0	1.0
9	WILLIAM NESHAM	W 4	B 2
	1891 13135370	0.0	0.0
10	JASON ZHOU	B 5	B 8
	1554 14085162	0.0	o.0

Round 1

Spencer Finegold (left) battles Doug EckertRound 1 is over, but the competition is just heating up. The higher rated player won on each board except the big upset on board 2. Spencer Finegold played a complicated English against Doug Eckert are brought home the full point.