The 24th North American Masters, Sponsored by Vince W. Berry Real Estate Services,  kicked off tonight, Friday February 5, 2010 at the Holiday Inn North Shore Hotel (site of the 2010 World Amateur Chess Championships ).

Returning for the final 5 rounds are:

• IM Florin Felecan
• IM Mehmed Pasalic
• IM Arjun Vishnuvardhan
• FM Robby Adamson
• FM Gauri Shankar
• Jon L. Burgess

When last we left them in January, FM Adamson was on fire, scoring 4 out of 5 and in clear 1st place. Everyone else was trailing well behind him. For his 2nd IM norm, he needs 2 out of his first 4 games (2 wins or 4 draws). Both other norm seekers, FM Shankar and Jon L. Burgess, require perfect scores in the second leg of this double round robin for their norms.

Results from Round 6:

FM Adamson - IM Pasalic: 1/2  - 1/2
FM Shankar - IM Felecan: 0 - 1
IM Vishnuvardhan - Jon L. Burgess: 0 - 1

FM Shankar is eliminated from the norm hunt. Jon L. Burgess needs 4/4 to complete his first IM norm (a tall task). FM Adamson is slowly creeping his way to his norm.

Round 7 and 8 will be on Saturday February 6 at 10:30am and 3:30pm respectively.

Good Chess to All,

Sevan A. Muradian, Founder
North American Chess Association
International Arbiter and International Organizer