Jeff Sarwer

[Bill Thornton]

Re: Jeff Sarwer

I see that Maquire Math is at work. Maquire math is more like Reaganomics, not voodoo economics. Hashtag 80's

[Daryl Taylor]

Re: Jeff Sarwer

On the tournament blog a person wrote that a TA told Jeff Sarwer about the norm after his loss in R8.

Nice to see that my blog attracted some interest on the other side of the Pond. :)

I explained the lower IM norm in my comments at the end of the blog for the last round. The 5.5-point figure was based on the average strength of the tournament, but players with lower ratings are playing in a slightly stronger event (because you cannot play yourself). The norm was also lower for the tail-ender and for the lowest-rated titled player who finished a point short on 4/9. We really should have noticed this fact before the tournament began.

I understand that Jeff Sarwer will play on board 2 for newly-promoted Kymen Shakki in the top division of the Finnish national chess league next season. They are expecting to bring in some foreign GM to play top board. Most of the clubs have GMs on the top two boards for league matches, so Jeff can look forward to a challenging season.

Before this recent international tournament, Jeff also played on top board for Kymen Shakki in the national rapidplay team championships last March, achieving a creditable individual score of 8/14 against some fairly strong opposition. The event was a double round robin and four of Jeff's seven opponents were IMs: Karttunen (1-1), Agopov (0-2), Sipilä (1-1) and Ebeling (0-2).

You can find the event details here. Ignore the Finnish language and just hit the links to get individual results, crosstables etc.:

http://chess-results.com/tnr167507.aspx?lan=18

I'll be happy to keep you all posted about how this extraordinary comeback progresses if the interest is there.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Jeff Sarwer

Please do, Daryl. And thanks!

[Caesar Posylek]

Re: Jeff Sarwer

Congratulations to Jeff Sarwer for his final score of 5 pts from 9 games, and achieving IM norm!!

[Hans Jung]

Re: Jeff Sarwer

Yes please do Daryl. I for one am very interested. I consider Jeff Sarwer the most interesting Canadian player (personality wise) of his generation and its very interesting to see his competitive chess comeback.

[Daryl Taylor]

Re: Jeff Sarwer

The domestic chess league season in Finland ended last weekend. Jeff played nine out of a possible eleven matches in the top division on board 2 for his club: 5 times with white and 4 times with the black pieces.

The outcome was a complete disaster or a perfect learning experience, depending on your point of view. Jeff scored 0/9. His club was also relegated.

There seems to be no way to attach a pgn file to messages in this forum, so you will have to cut and paste the following games into your pgn viewer:

[Event "Aatos - KymS"]
[Site "Helsinki"]
[Date "2015.09.12"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Seeman, Tarvo"]
[Black "Sarwer, Jeff"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A04"]
[EventDate "2015.09.12"]

1.Nf3 f5 2.d3 d6 3.e4 e5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.exf5 Bxf5 6.d4 Nbd7 7.Bc4 c6 8.O-O e4
9.Nh4 Bg4 10.Be2 Be6 11.f3 Nd5 12.g3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Be7 14.Ng2 exf3 15.Bxf3 O-O
16.Nf4 Bf7 17.Re1 Re8 18.a4 d5 19.Ne6 Qa5 20.Bd2 Bd6 21.c4 Bb4 22.Bxb4 Qxb4
23.cxd5 Nb6 24.Qb1 Qc3 25.Qb3 Qxb3 26.cxb3 Nxd5 27.Bxd5 cxd5 28.Nc7 Rxe1+
29.Rxe1 Rd8 30.a5 a6 31.Kf2 Rd7 32.Ne6 Bxe6 33.Rxe6 Kf7 34.Rb6 Ke7 35.Ke3 Kd8
36.Kf4 Kc7 37.Ke5 Rf7 38.Re6 Rf3 39.Kxd5 Rxb3 40.Re7+ Kb8 41.Rxg7 h5 42.Ke6
Re3+ 43.Kd6 Re4 44.d5 Ra4 45.Ke7 Rxa5 46.Rg8+ Ka7 47.d6 Re5+ 48.Kf6 Rd5
49.Ke6 Rd2 50.d7 1-0

[Event "EtVaS - KymS"]
[Site "Helsinki"]
[Date "2015.09.13"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Sepp, Olav"]
[Black "Sarwer, Jeff"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A04"]
[EventDate "2015.09.13"]

1.Nf3 Nc6 2.d4 d6 3.d5 Ne5 4.Nxe5 dxe5 5.e4 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Bb5+ Bd7 8.dxe6
fxe6 9.Bxd7+ Qxd7 10.Qxd7+ Kxd7 11.f3 Bc5 12.Na4 Bb4+ 13.c3 Be7 14.Be3 Kc6
15.b3 Ba3 16.Rb1 a5 17.c4 Rhg8 18.Ke2 Nh5 19.Rbd1 g5 20.g4 Nf4+ 21.Bxf4 gxf4
22.h4 b6 23.Rd3 Bc5 24.Nxc5 Kxc5 25.a3 a4 26.b4+ Kxc4 27.Rc1+ Kb5 28.Rxc7 h6
29.Rd6 Rac8 30.Rxc8 Rxc8 31.Kd2 Kc4 32.Kc2 b5 33.Rd3 Rb8 34.Rc3+ Kd4 35.Kd2
Rb6 36.Rc5 Rb7 37.Rc6 Rd7 38.Rxe6 Kc4+ 39.Kc2 Kd4 40.Kd2 Kc4+ 41.Kc2 Kd4
42.Rxh6 Ke3 43.g5 Kxf3 44.g6 Rg7 45.h5 Kxe4 46.Rh7 Rg8 47.Rf7 f3 48.g7 Ke3
49.h6 f2 50.Rf8 Ke2 51.h7 Rxg7 52.h8=Q 1-0

[Event "KymS - HSK"]
[Site "Kotka"]
[Date "2015.11.07"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Sarwer, Jeff"]
[Black "Lehto, Antti"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E17"]
[EventDate "2015.11.07"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.d5 exd5 8.Nh4 c6
9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Nf5 Nc7 11.Bf4 d5 12.e4 Nba6 13.Nc3 Nc5 14.Qg4 N5e6 15.exd5
Nxd5 16.Rad1 Kh8 17.Rfe1 Bf6 18.Nd6 Nexf4 19.Nxb7 Qc7 20.gxf4 Bxc3 21.bxc3
Qxb7 22.c4 Nf6 23.Qf3 Rac8 24.Rd6 Qb8 25.Red1 c5 26.Qd3 Rce8 27.Bc6 Re7
28.Ba4 Qc8 29.h3 h6 30.Bc2 Re6 31.Rd5 Re4 32.Kh2 Nxd5 33.Qxe4 Nf6 34.Qe7 Qb8
35.Kg2 Kg8 36.Qe5 Re8 37.Qf5 Re6 38.Qd3 Qxf4 39.Qa3 Qc7 40.Bf5 Re5 41.Qf3 g6
42.Bg4 Kg7 43.Qf4 Qe7 44.Bf3 Rf5 45.Qb8 Rg5+ 46.Kf1 Qe6 47.h4 Qxc4+ 0-1

[Event "Garde - KymS"]
[Site "Helsinki"]
[Date "2015.11.08"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Nouro, Mikael"]
[Black "Sarwer, Jeff"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[EventDate "2015.11.08"]

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.d3 h6 6.Be3 d6 7.Bxc5 dxc5 8.Bb5 Qd6
9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.Nd2 O-O 11.O-O Bg4 12.Qe1 Nh5 13.Nc4 Qe7 14.Qe3 Nf4 15.Kh1 f6
16.Na5 Bd7 17.Na4 Rab8 18.Qxc5 Qf7 19.Qe3 Qh5 20.b3 Rb5 21.Nc4 f5 22.f3 Qg6
23.Rf2 Qf6 24.Nc3 Nh5 25.exf5 Rbb8 26.g4 Nf4 27.Ne4 Qh4 28.Nxe5 Nd5 29.Qe1
Be8 30.Rf1 Qe7 31.d4 c5 32.Nxc5 h5 33.Ne6 Rf6 34.c4 Nb4 35.Qd2 c5 36.d5 Qd6
37.Rae1 hxg4 38.fxg4 Rh6 39.Qf2 Rh3 40.Qxc5 1-0

[Event "KymS - TammerSh"]
[Site "Kotka"]
[Date "2016.02.06"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Sarwer, Jeff"]
[Black "Pohjala, Henri"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B10"]
[EventDate "2016.02.06"]

1.c4 c6 2.e4 e5 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 Nd7 5.Nc3 Ngf6 6.Be2 Be7 7.O-O exd4 8.Nxd4 Nc5
9.f3 a5 10.b3 O-O 11.Be3 Re8 12.Qd2 h6 13.Rad1 Qc7 14.g4 Bf8 15.Kh1 Be6
16.Rg1 Nh7 17.f4 Rad8 18.Bf3 Bc8 19.h4 Nf6 20.Qg2 Nfxe4 21.Nxe4 Nxe4 22.Bxe4
Qe7 23.Bxc6 Qxh4+ 24.Qh2 Qxh2+ 25.Kxh2 Rxe3 26.Bd5 Rde8 27.Rg2 g6 28.f5 g5
29.f6 R8e5 30.Rdd2 h5 31.gxh5 g4 32.Kg1 Bh6 33.Rd1 Rc3 34.Nb5 Rh3 35.Bxf7+
Kxf7 36.Nxd6+ Kf8 37.Nxc8 Be3+ 38.Rf2 Rf3 39.Rd8+ Re8 40.Rxe8+ Kxe8 41.Nd6+
Kf8 42.Ne4 g3 43.Kg2 gxf2 44.Kxf3 f1=Q+ 45.Kxe3 Qh3+ 46.Kd4 Qxh5 47.c5 Qd1+
48.Kc4 Qe2+ 0-1

[Event "KymS - MatSK"]
[Site "Kotka"]
[Date "2016.02.07"]
[Round "8.2"]
[White "Sarwer, Jeff"]
[Black "Ebeling, Daniel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D10"]
[EventDate "2016.02.07"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 e5 5.dxe5 d4 6.Ne4 Qa5+ 7.Nd2 Nc6 8.Nf3 Bg4
9.g3 Bxf3 10.exf3 Qxe5+ 11.Qe2 Qxe2+ 12.Bxe2 O-O-O 13.Bd3 g6 14.O-O Bg7 15.f4
Nge7 16.a3 Na5 17.b4 Nac6 18.Nb3 Nd5 19.b5 Nce7 20.Bb2 Nc3 21.Rac1 Nd5 22.Bc4
Kb8 23.Rfe1 Nb6 24.Bxf7 Rhf8 25.Be6 Nba4 26.Ba1 d3 27.Nd2 Ne2+ 28.Kg2 Bc3
29.Rcd1 Nd4 30.Re4 Bxa1 31.Rxa1 Nc5 0-1

[Event "Velhot - KymS"]
[Site "Helsinki"]
[Date "2016.03.11"]
[Round "9.2"]
[White "Sammalvuo, Tapani"]
[Black "Sarwer, Jeff"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackClock "1:00:38"]
[ECO "E10"]
[EventDate "2016.03.11"]
[TimeControl "6000+840"]
[WhiteClock "0:51:13"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.e3 b6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.d5 exd5 7.cxd5 d6 8.Bb5+ Bd7
9.Be2 O-O 10.Nd2 Re8 11.a4 Qc8 12.h3 Na6 13.O-O Nc7 14.e4 Bf8 15.Bf3 Rb8
16.Re1 a6 17.b3 h6 18.Ra2 b5 19.Bb2 Nh7 20.h4 Be7 21.axb5 axb5 22.e5 dxe5
23.Rxe5 Bxh4 24.Nce4 Rxe5 25.Bxe5 Ra8 26.Rc2 Na6 27.Bh5 g6 28.Be2 Qf8 29.Nf3
Bd8 30.Nd6 Nb4 31.Rxc5 Be7 32.Rc7 Bxd6 33.Rxd7 Bxe5 34.Nxe5 Qe8 35.Qd4 Nc2
36.Qf4 Ra1+ 37.Bf1 Ng5 38.Rc7 Re1 39.d6 Ne6 40.d7 Qf8 41.Qf6 1-0

[Event "KymS - TuTS"]
[Site "Helsinki"]
[Date "2016.03.12"]
[Round "10.2"]
[White "Sarwer, Jeff"]
[Black "Tuominen, Risto"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D10"]
[EventDate "2016.03.12"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Bf4 a6 6.e3 Nc6 7.Bd3 Bg4 8.Nge2 e6
9.O-O Be7 10.h3 Bh5 11.Rc1 O-O 12.Na4 Nd7 13.a3 Rc8 14.b4 b5 15.Nb2 Nb6 16.g4
Bg6 17.Bxg6 hxg6 18.Nd3 Nc4 19.Ra1 a5 20.a4 Nxb4 21.axb5 Qb6 22.Nxb4 Bxb4
23.Qa4 Qb7 24.Rfb1 Nb6 25.Qd1 Qd7 26.Nc1 Qxb5 27.Nd3 Rfd8 28.Qb3 Rc4 29.Ne5
Rdc8 30.Qd3 Qe8 31.Nxc4 dxc4 32.Qc2 c3 33.e4 Nc4 34.Bc1 Nd2 35.Bxd2 cxd2
36.Qd1 Qb5 37.Qxd2 Qd7 38.Rxb4 axb4 39.Qxb4 f5 40.e5 Rd8 41.Ra4 Kh7 42.Ra6
fxg4 43.Rd6 Qe7 44.hxg4 Rc8 45.Qb3 Rc1+ 46.Kg2 Qh4 47.Qf3 Qh1+ 48.Kg3 Rg1+
49.Kf4 g5+ 50.Ke3 Re1+ 0-1

[Event "KymS - Velhot"]
[Site "Helsinki"]
[Date "2016.03.13"]
[Round "11.2"]
[White "Sarwer, Jeff"]
[Black "Pihlajasalo, Antti"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D35"]
[EventDate "2016.03.13"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.e3 O-O 7.h3 c5 8.dxc5 Bxc5
9.Nf3 Nc6 10.Be2 d4 11.exd4 Nxd4 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 13.Qxd4 Bxd4 14.O-O Bxc3
15.bxc3 Nd5 16.Bd2 Be6 17.c4 Ne7 18.Rab1 b6 19.a4 Rac8 20.Rfc1 Rfd8 21.Rb2
Nc6 22.Be3 Na5 23.Rb4 h6 24.Rc3 Nb7 25.Bf3 Nc5 26.Be2 a5 27.Rb1 Bf5 28.Ra1
Rd6 29.Bxc5 Rxc5 30.Rb3 Kf8 31.Rb5 Ke7 32.Ra3 Rxb5 33.axb5 Rd2 34.Bf3 Kd6
35.Bd5 Rd3 36.Ra1 Be6 37.Bxe6 fxe6 38.g3 Kc5 39.Re1 Kxc4 40.Rxe6 Kxb5 41.Re7
g5 42.Re6 a4 43.Rxh6 a3 0-1

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Jeff Sarwer

On a more positive note...Jeff did win $70k in a poker event in January.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Jeff Sarwer

A psychological blow. I hope Jeff recovers and keeps on playing. He is a real fighter and I like his style. Maybe new goals need to be set.

[Daryl Taylor]

Re: Jeff Sarwer

You can find Jeff's full record in all competitions here:
http://www.shakki.net/cgi-bin/selo?d...elaaja_id=9774

Events at normal time limits are listed as "norm" and speed chess events are listed as "nop" in the "Laji" column. Here I am only reviewing the normal time limit results. The league match results ("Seurajoukkueiden SM") are listed individually. Following the ShakkiNet International tournament held in June 2015, Jeff played in the Lahti Chess weekend congress A-division, scoring 3.5 out of 5 to gain third prize. He got the same score and placing a month later in the Helsinki Chess Club autumn congress, but with no losses. In October he was in Las Vegas for the II Millionaire Chess Open (5 out of 9 with losses in rounds 2, 4, 5 and 6), and then in January he played in the Rilton Cup in Stockholm, Sweden, scoring only 3.5 out of 9. This makes a total of 74 games rated under the Finnish ELO system (selo). Jeff's selo grade fell from an initial estimate of 2265 in June 2015 to a current level of 2222.

The most interesting aspect of this table is the contrast between the forecast result ("odotustulos") and the actual result ("tulos"). In only one league game (7 November 2015) was Jeff listed as the favourite to win (forecast of more than 0.5). In all of the other league games he was outgraded by his opponent. With the singular exception of the comback event in June 2015, Jeff's tournament results were all either slightly or significantly below par.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Jeff Sarwer

Jeff Sarwer is playing currently in the Finnish Championship. You can find it on: www.chessbomb.com. In round 4 he played a lovely game imo against Ronka. Congratulations Jeff on a sweet win! (I enjoy showing that opening to my students with the pawn levers on the queenside and the resulting dynamics)