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Chess Life Online 2011 January Raven Sturt's Rating Jumps into 2011
Chess Life Online 2011 January Raven Sturt's Rating Jumps into 2011 | Raven Sturt's Rating Jumps into 2011 |
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| By Steve Immitt | |
| January 9, 2011 | |
Photo Polly Wright
Sturt's upset win opened up the path to victory, after his Round 4 win over NM Evan Rabin left him atop the field with the only perfect score. This time he faced IM Justin Sarkar on Board One in the last round. Raven, playing White, continued to press his higher-rated opponent for the entire game, methodically converting a space advantage into more and more activity for his pieces, and finally sacrificing the Exchange to immobilize Black with a laser-like pair of Bishops and a 800-pound gorilla pawn on the 7th rank. 5235 At the end, Sarkar's flag fell in a position where he was helpless against the White Knight's romp from g5 to c7, making way for the e7-gorilla to become a Queen. Between rounds, FM Nathan Resika, a professional opera singer, dispensed some fiery holiday spirit of his own, serenading the field with some of his favorites by Verdi, as his unmistakable booming baritone echoed throughout all five floors of the historic Greenwich Village brownstone, wafting out onto the festivities of Tenth Street outside. A vocal chorus of "encore!" was sorely disappointed by the necessity of having to begin the final game instead. The New York Winter Game/45 caps off a tremendous recent run by Raven Sturt, one of the Marshall's top junior whizzes. Not quite one month ago, he won the Twelfth Grade Section of the USCF's National K-12 Grade Championships in Orlando, ceding a lone draw to top-seeded IM Marc Arnold while sweeping the rest of the field. And just six days ago, Raven tied for 2nd in the "This Is Just Pure Insanity!" Championship, joining a 50-player(!) "all-nighter" (ten games: Saturday night thru Sunday morning) at the very same Marshall Chess Club, where he ran the table with 7 consecutive victories, including a last-round win over top-seeded IM Yury Lapshun, after losing two early games against lower-rateds! On his way to eclipsing the 2400 barrier, Raven is keeping alive a 12-game winning streak, including wins over 2 IMs and 1 GM! |