This photo was taken by Sam Sloan during the FIDE World Chess Championship in Las Vegas
by Sam Sloan
Total Brutality was also the highest rated team in the event, with an average rating of 2198.50. Rules for the event require that the average rating of the top four players be less than 2200. Total Brutality adopted what has consistently been the winning formula, by creating a team with three strong players and one low rated but preferably underrated player, who can pull the team average below 2200.
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This photo was taken by Sam Sloan during the FIDE World Chess Championship in Las Vegas |
This year there were not as many grandmasters as in past years, with only Joel Benjamin and Arthur Bisguier participating. Joel Benjamin's team, consisting of "Joel Benjamin and the Girls", was tied for first place going into the last round, but flaked out under the weight of the vicious onslaught by Total Brutality.
Nevertheless, Joel Benjamin's girls team, which included Joel himself (2665) plus Elina Groberman (2003) and Yelena Gorlin (2000), did win the mixed doubles prize with their final score of 4 1/2 - 1 1/2 and finished 13th overall. (But why does Joel Benjamin get all the girls?) Joel Benjamin's team was also named "The World Championship is not Enough".
Total Brutality scored 5 1/2 - 1/2 and won on tie-breaking points over CK Fischers and CIS 2K, two teams which also had the same match points score. CK Fischers consisted of Ron Burnett (2463), Brian Mc Carthy (2321), Thomas Bartell (2140) and Jonathan Cohen (1836) for an average rating of 2190. CIS 2K had IM Ben Finegold (2580), Yuri Lapshun (2426), Chris William (1974) and Craig Berger (1781), for an average rating of 2190.25.
Tied for 4th was 75% Pure Shahade which consisted of Gregory Shahade (2497), Jennifer Shahade (2290), Michael Shahade (2273) and Neil Dorosin (1521). Other teams tied with 5-1 were UT Dallas College, Pokemen, Vanderlay Industries, CIS 1, Collins Kids Varsity, Raymond's Keen, CK Lombardys and CHESSDON.
The Sam Sloan special reward for most beautiful girls' team was won easily by the Rookettes, featuring Jillian Alvarez (1199), Christina Dookwah (1195), Sarah Pitari (971), Samantha Schneidt (727), and Marley Kaplan (536).
Marley Kaplan, the captain of that team, also won the special prize for worst played chess game ever, for her last round loss.
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Over a thousand players and over 200 teams participated. The tournament was organized and directed by Steve Doyle, who celebrated 25 years of holding this event.
Here are four games from the event. The games are not very thrilling, except for the Larry Kaufman games:
[Event "US Amateur Team Ch East"] [Site "Parsippany NJ (USA)"] [Date "2000.02.21"] [Round "6"] [White "Benjamin, Joel"] [Black "Burnett, Ron"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2665"] [BlackElo "2463"] [PlyCount "112"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 d6 6. d4 Bd7 7. dxc5 dxc5 8. Be3 Nf6 9. Nbd2 b6 10. Qa4 Qc7 11. Bf4 Qxf4 12. Bxc6 Qc7 13. Bxd7+ Nxd7 14. Nc4 a6 15. Rad1 b5 16. Qa5 Ra7 17. Qxc7 Rxc7 18. Ne3 c4 19. Nd5 Rc8 20. Rfe1 e6 21. Nb4 a5 22. Nc2 Ke7 23. Nfd4 Rc5 24. Re2 Rb8 25. Red2 Rb7 26. Kf1 Ne5 27. Ne2 Nd3 28. Ne1 Ne5 29. h3 b4 30. f4 Nc6 31. Nf3 a4 32. e5 f6 33. exf6+ Bxf6 34. Ng3 bxc3 35. bxc3 Bxc3 36. Rc2 Bg7 37. Ne4 Rd5 38. Rdc1 Na5 39. Re1 h6 40. Nc3 Bxc3 41. Rxc3 Kf6 42. Ra3 Rb4 43. Rae3 Rd6 44. Ne5 h5 45. Nf3 Nc6 46. Ng5 Kf5 47. Nxe6 c3 48. Rxc3 Rxe6 49. Rxe6 Rxf4+ 50. Kg1 Kxe6 51. Rxc6+ Kf5 52. Rc5+ Kf6 53. Rc6+ Kg7 54. Ra6 h4 55. a3 Kh6 56. Kh2 Rc4 1/2-1/2 [Event "US Amateur Team Ch East"] [Site "Parsippany NJ (USA)"] [Date "2000.02.21"] [Round "6"] [White "McHugh, Ted"] [Black "Finegold, Ben"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "2281"] [BlackElo "2580"] [PlyCount "114"] 1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6 7. h3 Bh5 8. O-O Nc6 9. Be3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Bxe2 11. Qxe2 Be7 12. Rd1 O-O 13. Nd2 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 Qc6 15. Qc4 Rfc8 16. Qxc6 Rxc6 17. Nf3 Nd5 18. Ne5 Rc7 19. c4 Nb4 20. Bc3 f6 21. Nd3 Nxd3 22. Rxd3 Rac8 23. Re1 e5 24. Re4 Rxc4 25. Rxc4 Rxc4 26. Rd7 Bb4 27. Rxb7 Bxc3 28. bxc3 Ra4 29. Rb2 Kf7 30. Kf1 Ke6 31. Ke2 Kd5 32. Kd3 g5 33. Rc2 e4+ 34. Ke3 f5 35. g3 Ra3 36. h4 h6 37. hxg5 hxg5 38. f3 exf3 39. Kxf3 Kc4 40. g4 Kd3 41. Rh2 f4 42. Rh5 Ra5 43. Rh7 Kxc3 44. Rd7 $1 44... a6 45. Rd6 Kc4 46. Ke4 Rxa2 47. Rc6+ $4 47... Kb4 48. Rg6 Ra5 49. Kd4 Kb3 50. Kd3 Kb2 51. Rf6 $2 51... Kc1 52. Rf5 Rb5 53. Rf6 Kd1 54. Rxa6 Ke1 55. Ke4 Kf2 56. Ra3 Kg2 57. Ra2+ Kg3 0-1 [Event "US Amateur Team Ch East"] [Site "Parsippany NJ (USA)"] [Date "2000.02.21"] [Round "5"] [White "Fleischman, Eric"] [Black "Kaufman, Larry"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C12"] [WhiteElo "2232"] [BlackElo "2459"] [PlyCount "66"] 1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Ne4 8. Qg4 g6 9. h4 c5 10. Bd3 Nxd2 11. Kxd2 Bd7 12. Nf3 Qe7 13. h5 g5 14. Rhb1 Bc6 15. Bb5 a6 16. Bxc6+ Nxc6 17. Ng1 O-O-O 18. Ne2 Kb8 19. f4 gxf4 20. Qxf4 Rdg8 21. g4 Rg5 22. Rf1 Rh7 23. Rf3 Rhg7 24. Rg1 Qc7 25. Qf6 Qa5 26. Qxh6 cxd4 27. Rxf7 dxc3+ 28. Kd1 Rxf7 29. Qxg5 d4 30. Qg8+ Nd8 31. h6 d3 32. h7 dxe2+ 33. Ke1 Qd5 0-1 [Event "US Amateur Team Ch East"] [Site "Parsippany NJ (USA)"] [Date "2000.02.21"] [Round "6"] [White "Kaufman, Larry"] [Black "Rohricht, Wayne"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A42"] [WhiteElo "2459"] [BlackElo "2183"] [PlyCount "69"] 1. d4 d6 2. c4 f5 3. Nc3 g6 4. e4 Bg7 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. exf5 Bxf5 7. d5 Ne5 8. Nd4 Bd7 9. Be2 Nf6 10. f4 Nf7 11. Ne6 Bxe6 12. dxe6 Nh6 13. g4 Nfg8 14. Be3 Qc8 15. Bd4 Nf6 16. g5 Qxe6 17. gxf6 exf6 18. Qd2 O-O 19. O-O-O Nf5 20. Bf2 Rae8 21. Bd3 Bh6 22. Kb1 Ng7 23. Rhg1 Nh5 24. Ne2 Kh8 25. Bd4 c5 26. Bc3 d5 27. cxd5 Qxd5 28. Qc2 Qf3 29. Rdf1 Qd5 30. f5 Be3 31. fxg6 Bxg1 32. Rxg1 Ng7 33. Nf4 Qd6 34. Qc1 c4 35. Bc2 1-0