New England Norm Hunt is On
August 15, 2008
Vovshalead.jpg
IM Eli Vovsha, Photo Betsy Dynako
The last day of the New England Masters will feature a major norm hunt with at least 7 players with norm chances, including IM Eli Vovsha and Justin Sarkar. Update: Sergey Erenburg takes clear first while Parker Zhao and Victor Kaminski earn IM norms! According to organizer Chris Bird's preliminary calculations, the following players are in the hunt:

GM Norm - Eli Vovsha, currently 5.5/7, needs 7/9
GM Norm - Justin Sarkar, currently 5/7, needs 7/9
 
IM Norm - Victor Kaminski, currently 4.5/7, needs 5/9 (possibly 4.5/9 if high enough opponents)
IM Norm - Parker Zhao, currently 5/7, needs 6 or 6.5/9 depending on opponents
IM Norm - Marc Esserman, currently 4/7, needs 5.5 or 6/9 depending on opponents
IM Norm - Louie Jiang, currently 4/7, needs 5.5 or 6/9 depending on opponents

WGM Norm-
Alisa Melekhina, currently 4/7, needs 5.5/9 or 6/9 depending on opponents.

Meanwhile GMs Timur Gareev, Sergey Erenburg and IM Eli Vovsha lead with 5.5/7 each. Watch the games live on the official website or on the Internet Chess Club, ICC. Read CLO's first report, "New England Masters in Full Swing " and check CLO tomorrow for games, a big photo gallery by Betsy Dynako and thoughts from the players.