Happy New Norm Year in Berkeley!
January 9, 2011
DanielN225.jpg
IM-elect Daniel Naroditsky, Photo Inga Gurevich
It was a happy new year for norm-hunters at the Berkeley International (January 2-8). Denys Shmelov, Keaton Kiewra and US Junior Champ Sam Shankland earned GM norms while Roman Yakovsky, Conrad Holt and Daniel Naroditsky earned IM norms. Organizer Arun Sharma said "That makes three GM norms (Shankland, Denys Shmelov, Keaton Kiewra) along with three IM norms, all of which come with the completion of the IM title (Conrad Holt, Naroditsky and Yankovsky.)" Update: Tatev Abrahamyan also earned a WGM norm. See some key games below:

5236

5237

5238

GM Loek Van Wely finished clear first with 8/10 to take home the $3000 first prize.  GM Sergey Erenburg took clear second with 7.5/10 for $1500. See full standings and play through games on the official website . Congratulations to our happy norm-hunters!