In the next to the last round we again see 3 out of 4 games decided. The Berlin Pro seems to have gone into conservative mode and ended the game against the Polgar with a draw in 56 moves. The Atlanta turned in a sharp performance against the Emerald from the Black side of a Petrov, the Lyon beat the GK2000 and the Star Diamond managed to pull one out against the Sapphire in something of a seesaw battle. The Sapphire had several chances but never cashed in.

Now after 13 rounds and only one to go, we have this leader board:

Berlin Pro 9.5
Atlanta 9.0
Lyon 8.0
Star Diamond 7.5

Only the Berlin Pro and the Atlanta remain with chances to win. The top Novag model, the Star Diamond can only come in 3rd at best. Hopefully Novag has something in the works to improve this situation.

As of 13 rounds, the full crosstable and all games played so far are available at:

http://sentinelusa.tripod.com/Chess/...litz/index.htm

Here are the games from Round 13:

[Event "Wilson Winter"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "2.6"]
[White "Mephisto Lyon"]
[Black "Saitek GK2000"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2085"]
[BlackElo "1887"]
[PlyCount "137"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Be7 {GK2000 last book move} 6. Qe2 Nd6 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. dxe5 Nf5 9. Rd1 Bd7 10. Nc3 {Lyon last book move} O-O 11. Bf4 Qe8 12. Rd2 Bb4 13. Qc4 c5 14. Qd3 Rd8 15. Bg5 f6 16. exf6 gxf6 17. Bf4 Be6 18. Qxd8 Qxd8 19. Rxd8 Rxd8 20. Ne4 Nd4 21. Nxd4 Rxd4 22. Nxf6+ Kf7 23. Be5 Rd2 24. Nxh7 Rxc2 25. Ng5+ Ke7 26. Nxe6 Kxe6 27. f4 Kf5 28. h3 Bd2 29. Rf1 Be3+ 30. Kh1 Bd4 31. g4+ Ke4 32. Bxd4 cxd4 33. f5 d3 34. f6 d2 35. f7 d1=Q 36. Rxd1 Rf2 37. Rd7 Ke5 38. g5 Ke6 39. g6 Rf1+ 40. Kg2 Rf6 41. g7 Rg6+ 42. Kf1 Rxg7 43. f8=Q Rxd7 44. Qe8+ Kd6 45. Qg6+ Kc5 46. b4+ Kc4 47. Qe6+ Rd5 48. Qe4+ Rd4 49. Qxb7 Rd2 50. a3 Ra2 51. Qxc7+ Kb3 52. Qf7+ Kxa3 53. Qxa7+ Kb2 54. Qxa2+ Kxa2 55. b5 Kb3 56. b6 Kc4 57. b7 Kd3 58. Kf2 Ke4 59. Kg3 Ke3 60. Kg4 Ke4 61. b8=Q Ke3 62. h4 Ke4 63. h5 Kd5 64. h6 Ke4 65. h7 Kd5 66. h8=Q Kc4 67. Qhe5 Kd3 68. Qbb2 Kc4 69. Qbc3# 1-0

[Event "Wilson Winter"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "2.6"]
[White "Mephisto Polgar"]
[Black "Mephisto Berlin Pro"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "1982"]
[BlackElo "2264"]
[PlyCount "112"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 e6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Na3 Nc6 7. Be2 Qd8 8. Nc2 Be7 {both last book move} 9. Bf4 O-O 10. O-O Bd6 11. Bg5 b6 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. Qxd8 Rxd8 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Rad1 Bb7 16. Rfe1 Ne5 17. Nxe5 fxe5 18. Bd3 e4 19. Bc4 Rac8 20. b3 a6 21. a4 a5 22. Ne3 Bf8 23. h3 Bg7 24. Rxd8+ Rxd8 25. Rd1 Rxd1+ 26. Nxd1 Bd5 27. Bxd5 exd5 28. Ne3 Bxc3 29. Nxd5 Bd4 30. Kf1 Kg7 31. Ke2 f5 32. g4 fxg4 33. hxg4 Kg6 34. f4 exf3+ 35. Kxf3 Kg5 36. Nf4 Kf6 37. Ke4 Bc5 38. Nd3 Be7 39. Ne5 Kg5 40. Kf3 Bc5 41. Nd7 Bg1 42. Ke4 h6 43. Ne5 Bc5 44. Kf3 Bd4 45. Nd7 Bg1 46. Kg2 Be3 47. Kf3 Bd4 48. Ke4 Bf2 49. Kf3 Bd4 50. Ke4 Bg1 51. Ne5 Bf2 52. Kf3 Bc5 53. Nf7+ Kg6 54. Ne5+ Kg5 55. Nf7+ Kg6 56. Ne5+ Kg5 {repetition} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Wilson Winter"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "2.6"]
[White "Novag Emerald CP"]
[Black "Mephisto Atlanta"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C43"]
[WhiteElo "2026"]
[BlackElo "2232"]
[PlyCount "61"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. e5 Ne4 5. Qxd4 d5 6. exd6 Nxd6 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. Qf4 g6 9. Bd2 Qe7+ 10. Be2 Be6 11. O-O-O Bg7 12. h4 h6 13. Rhe1 O-O-O {both last book move} 14. Kb1 f5 15. a3 Qf6 16. Bd3 Bd5 17. h5 g5 18. Qg3 Rde8 19. b3 Rxe1 20. Rxe1 Be4 21. Be2 Rd8 22. Kc1 Bxc2 23. Ne5 Ne4 24. Nxc6 Nxg3 25. Nxd8 Nxe2+ 26. Rxe2 Bxb3 27. Nxb7 Qa6 28. Na5 Bxc3 29. Nxb3 Qxe2 30. Bxc3 Qxf2 31. Nd2 0-1

[Event "Wilson Winter"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "2.6"]
[White "Novag Star Diamond"]
[Black "Novag Sapphire"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A96"]
[WhiteElo "2154"]
[BlackElo "2176"]
[PlyCount "146"]

1. c4 f5 2. d4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 a5 8. b3 Ne4 9. Bb2 Bf6 10. Qc2 {both last book move} Nxc3 11. Bxc3 Nd7 12. Qd2 a4 13. Rfd1 Qe7 14. Rac1 Rf7 15. e3 h6 16. h3 e5 17. Rb1 e4 18. Ne1 Rf8 19. Nc2 c5 20. dxc5 Bxc3 21. Qxc3 dxc5 22. Rd5 Nf6 23. Rd2 Rd8 24. Rbd1 Rxd2 25. Qxd2 Bd7 26. Qc3 axb3 27. axb3 Ra2 28. Rd2 b6 29. Ne1 Rxd2 30. Qxd2 Qe5 31. Kf1 Kh8 32. Qa2 Qc3 33. Qa8+ Kh7 34. Qa2 b5 35. Nc2 Qd3+ 36. Kg1 Qe2 37. Bf1 Qd1 38. Na3 b4 39. Qb1 Qd2 40. Nc2 Be6 41. Ne1 Bg8 42. Ng2 Nd7 43. Qa1 Bf7 44. Qa7 Qd6 45. Nf4 Ne5 46. Be2 g6 47. Nd5 Kg7 48. Bf1 Nf3+ 49. Kg2 Kg8 50. Qd7 Qa6 51. Be2 Ng5 52. h4 Nh7 53. Qd8+ Kg7 54. Qe7 Qa2 55. Qe5+ Kg8 56. Bh5 Qa6 57. Ne7+ Kf8 58. Nxg6+ Bxg6 59. Qh8+ Ke7 60. Qg7+ Kd8 61. Bxg6 Nf6 62. Qf8+ Kc7 63. Qxc5+ Qc6 64. Qe7+ Kb8 65. Bxf5 h5 66. Kf1 Qa6 67. Qxb4+ Kc7 68. Bxe4 Qa1+ 69. Kg2 Qe5 70. Bd5 Nd7 71. Qb7+ Kd8 72. b4 Qf5 73. b5 Qe5 1-0

For the 14th and final round, we'll see the following matchups:

GK2000 v. Star Diamond
Sapphire v. Emerald
Atlanta v. Polgar
Berlin Pro v. Lyon

Given these matchups, the chances are not bad that the Atlanta could overtake the Berlin Pro in the final round.

Cheers,

Chuck