Final Four in Baltimore
By Jennifer Shahade   
April 6, 2008
Erenburglead.jpg
Sergey Erenburg, Photo Michael Atkins
The Final Four of College Chess consists of a four-team, three-round round robin, with Miami Dade, New York University, University of Texas at Dallas, and University of Maryland Baltimore County qualifying through the 2007 Pan-American Championships. The first round began with an exciting slugfest between Mackenzie Molner of NYU and GM Sergey Erenburg of UMBC. TD Michael Atkins told CLO how the time control of G/120+30 second increment affected the game:

"After about 15 moves, Molner was a couple pawns down and down to around 1 minute and Erenburg had over an hour. The game lasted into the 50's and Molner kept improving his position, winning back the two pawns, activating his pieces. Although he finally lost, this is  a good example of how increment chess, ala FIDE, is very different than delay as Molner would have never survived that long in so much time pressure with delay."

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The action will come down to the final round on Sunday, when powerhouses UTD and UMBC face off. Check out the most updated standings, see Monroi for games and read CLO on Monday for a final report.