Blitz Player on Winning Team at USATE
February 19, 2008 11:19 pm
Interview by Chris Bird
Blitz GM Eugene Perelshteyn was on the winning team, “GGGg”, at the USATE held in Parsippany, NJ. Eugene’s team finished with a perfect 6-0 and included GMs Zviad Izoria and Roman Dzindzichashvili, along with 5 year old Stephen Fanning. I decided to email Eugene some questions about his exploits and the team.
Congratulations on your recent victory at the USATE. Have you played in USATE before?
Thank you! Yes, I’ve played twice before. Once, a long time ago as part of Collins Kids, we ended up tied for 1st but were edged out on tie-breaks. The second time last year, as board one with Dzindzi, but we had a hard time winning on the lower two boards.
Your team caused a bit of a stir by having 3 Grandmasters and then one player, Stephen Fanning, rated just 178 on board 4. Who is Stephen and how come you ended up on this team?
Yes, there’s a huge difference in rating and in strength We are all good friends. Stephen is a son of John Fanning, who played board three last year. We thought that the five-year old would bring us the strength we needed, plus he’d have so much fun playing side-by-side with three GMs. Who knows, perhaps this tournament will be the first step on his road to becoming a Grandmaster?
Where did the team name “GGGg” come from and who came up with it?
I don’t remember who came up with it, but it means three GMs and a little (future) gm.
Obviously to win, both yourself and Dzindzi had to each go close to 6-0 (which you both did) especially playing on boards 2 and 3 respectively. Was this plan ever in trouble?
It is hard to play from behind psychologically. There’s a lot of pressure on Izoria on board 1. If he loses, we don’t win the match. Dzindzi did great on board 3, winning effortlessly. However, my games were always hard, lasting the longest.
Here is the full interview.
I still think that it’s ridiculous to have 3 GMs in an Amateur event.
I don’t. I think it would be a blast to get to play a GM. It’s not like they were after prize money or anything, they were just doing it for fun.
Cheating. Where is honesty? This is outrageous.
Hopefully they will change the rules to avoid this being repeated. Or at best the organizers better have solid reasons to allow this kind of entry in the future.
The USATE has been a very fun exciting tournament for amateurs. I hope they do not allow GM’s to ruin the event in the future.
I consider this a form of cheating.
The name of the event should be changed to US Team East – drop the amateur – Aren’t we in the open chess era? Only people who are super obsessed with “winning” would mind facing strong players – yes, you’re not as likely to win than say a 1800 or 1900 but how often do you get to play a 2600 international level player? It may bring out the best.