Gareev Leads, Norm Hunt Intensifying
After 5 rounds GM Timur Gareev from Uzbekistan leads the way with 4½/5. A quick draw with GM Sergey Erenburg in round 5 was enough to leave him in sole possession of the lead going into the final two days.
Just a half point behind him is four players. Included in this group are the remaining three GMs, Erenburg, Leonid Kritz and Keith Arkell along with IM Eli Vovsha. Round six will see Gareev meet Kritz on board 1 and maybe Kritz will be up for fight, not wanting to relinquish his record of winning the past two previous Masters events.
On the norm front things are starting to heat up with young Canadian Victor Kaminski probably leading the hopeful candidates. He currently sits at 3/5 and, based on his current average opponent of 2468, he would need to score 1½ more points from his remaining four games to secure an IM norm.
A couple of other people in with a shout of an IM norm are Marc Esserman and Raja Panjwani although both of those need to probably finish with 5½ to have a realistic shot. Marc and Raja both currently have 2½/5.
On the GM norm front Jorge Sammour-Hasbun is leading the chase but with his current average opponent of 2417 he would need to finish with 7/9. He currently sits at 3½/5 although he has already played 2 GMs, drawing Arkell in round 5.
Eli Vovsha, meeting his first GM of the tournament in round 6 (Arkell), currently has 4/5 but his average opponent rating needs increasing from the current 2317 (after 5 rounds) to at least a minimum of 2381. Of course he would have to meet a further 3 GMs, which would definitely help with this cause.
One last outside shot at a GM norm is Justin Sarkar but he would need to win his remaining 4 games, although he has already played 2 GMs. Justin currently has 3/5.
Tags: New England Masters 2008
Blog/News | Chris Bird | 14 August 2008 |
