New England chess profoundly changed on Labor Day weekend in 1941, when the first New England Open Championship was contested in Boston. Just over a year earlier, Harold Morton of Providence, R.I., the longstanding match champion, died on the icy roads of Arcadia, Iowa, in a car crash that injured his passenger, Israel Albert Horowitz. Morton has never received the acclaim he deserved for promoting chess, not only in New England but across the country, giving lectures and writing for Chess Review magazine.

Today, the 73rd New England Open continues at Doubletree by Hilton, formerly the Four Points Sheraton in Leominster, with rounds 3 and 4. Tomorrow you can view the final two rounds at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Tomorrow’s scholastic side event is for Grades K-6 in two rated sections, with late registration closing at 10:30 a.m. at the hotel. There were 100 advance entries as of Thursday, and about 200 players are expected for the 11 sections, including the speed event tonight after round 4. Details at www.masschess.org.

Last week was another busy one. The U.S. Chess League (www.uschessleague.com) began its ninth season, with Connecticut sweeping Baltimore, and New England drawing with Boston in the Northeast Division. New York and Philadelphia teams are in a new Atlantic division this year. Play continues Tuesday with Boston vs. Connecticut, and Baltimore vs. New England, with live games beginning at 7 p.m. at www.chess.com.

Ray Paulson of Lowell scored 4.5 points of 5 to win the 34-player Lubomir Kavalek Septuagenarian Open in Fitchburg. David Couture of Westminster took clear second at 4-1. Details at www.wachusettchess.org, with info on Wednesday’s new event.

Siddharth Arun of Medfield won the top section (eight masters!) of the 85-player Hot Summer Days Open in Natick. Follow this at www.metrowestchess.org.

Hal Terrie of Manchester, N.H., won the 34-player, 20th Charles Drafts Memorial in Somerville. This writer remembers Drafts contributing to early issues of Chess Horizons 40 years ago, typing by using a stick in his mouth, due to his paralysis. See more at www.boylstonchessclub.com.

Russians Dmitry Andreikin and Vladimir Kramnik are contesting their final four-game match of the World Cup in Tromso, Norway, to end tomorrow. The 128-player knockout event can be viewed at www.fide.com or www.theweekinchess.com.

At www.uschess.org, we recommend Franc Guadalupe’s Aug. 22 FIDE issues update, a most comprehensive report of where the U.S. stands in the world of chess. A sad report is the passing of Mitchell Denker on Aug. 24 in North Carolina. Mitchell helped sponsor the Denker tournament (since 1985) of high school champions, in the name of his father Arnold Denker, who was a two-time U.S. champion.

Source: http://www.telegram.com/article/20130901/NEWS/309019959/-1/NEWS04

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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