Norm Fest in New York, Gelashvili Wins

Tamaz Gelashvili won the New York International on Sunday. The Georgian grandmaster was the only player to finish on 7/9, and so he pocketed the $5000 first prize. Like last year, no less than five norms were scored: 2 GM norms and 3 IM norms!

The New York International was organized for the 6th time by the Marshall Chess Club. It was sponsored by the Marshall Chess Foundation and St. John's University, and took place at St. John's University, Manhattan Campus in Tribeca.

There were five sections: a FIDE Norm Tournament (A), an Under 2200 (B), an Under 1900 (C), an Under 1600 (D) and an Under 1300 (E). This year 65 players from 20 countries participated, including 9 GMs and 12 IMs. For may players this strong Swiss was a very good opportunity to accomplish a FIDE norm.

IM Mackenzie Molner managed to score his third and final grandmaster norm with a FIDE performance of 2625. Here's one of his wins:

The surprise of the tournament was 15-year-old Marshall Chess Club member FM Michael Bodek. Before the weekend he had never beaten a grandmaster in classical chess, but in New York he did it three times, winning against Leonid Yudasin, Jaan Ehlvest and Vladimir Dobrov!

Bodek finished shared second place with 6.5/9, which was good for not only his second IM norm, but also his first GM norm! Raven Sturt and Akshat Chandra, both members of the Marshall Chess Club, achieved their first IM norms. 

GM Tamaz Gelashvili of Georgia won the tournament alone with a score if 7/9, and so he cashed the $5,000 top prize.

New York International 2013 | Final standings (top 20)

Official website. Full final standings here. Game & info via USCF.