In an intense battle where his opponent, IM Marc Esserman, went all out to try to win to keep his GM norm hope alive, Yang kept his composure and converted his one pawn advantage for a full point.

With this win, Yang earned his third and final IM norm! In addition, both he and Naroditsky are still in contention for a GM norm. Yang will have Black against Diamant and Naroditsky will have Black against Esserman. They both need to win to make it happen.

Congratulations to Darwin! He earned his first IM norm at the 2010 SPICE Spring Invitational, second norm at the 2010 SPICE Cup, and the final norm at this one. I believe he is now the youngest IM in Texas chess history.

I have to give a lot a credit to Esserman and Aleskerov. They went all out and gave everything they have for the norm opportunity. They did not do it this time but you cannot fault them for not trying. They sure did.

Photos so far: https://picasaweb.google.com/SPICEChess/SPICESpring2011

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Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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