Mike Shpan Final Round

Mundwiler - Atem 0-1

White was in big trouble for a long time until James went pawn grubbing with 47...Nxf5.
But it was still tricky for White. As severe time trouble neared, White blundered.

Les and James ended up sharing first place with 5-1

Greenberg - Schulz 0-1

14. Nd2 can't be correct (I think Nxe5 is required), but Black somewhat returned the favour by not playing 16...Nxc5. White eventually stepped into a mate in a roughly equal position.

Kwiatek - Fromme 0-1

In the position below


Black played the startling 11...Bxa3 ! Move of the night !
After 12. Rxa3 Nb4 Black will end up material ! Black went on to win.

Schulz and Fromme finished 3rd-4th with 4.5 points.

Kong - Kaptsan 0-1
Perhaps a historic moment in recent Manitoba chess - I don't think Aron has ever played anyone 70 years younger than him ! But the burning question is, how old is Costales ?

Hanrahan - Oberton 0-1
White initiated a dubious combination that led to an interesting material imbalance. From then on both players played well, but White eventually lost on time. Nigel has some commentary at his Exclam ! blog.

Rutter - Campbell 1-0
Black left his e5 pawn en prise, which was the beginning of the end.

Green, Jim - Wasserman, Arie 0-1
White lost the thread in the endgame and got his Rook locked in on the queenside. White is lost after 35. d5. Note that after the game's 36. Rc3, a quick end could be obtained by 36...Rxc3 37. bc3 b4 ! and White's king is too far away to prevent a queen.

Kernetsky - Trueman 1-0
Due to a forfeit and a bye, neither player had an opponent. So they decided to have a game !

Swift- Weirda 0-1

I observed some of this game; it looked interesting. Unfortunately, I could not reconstruct it from the scoresheet