IM Emory Tate seems to be making a serious push for the requisite three GM norms for the title. He has kept a busy schedule and appears to have a focus that he hasn't had before. Tate is currently competing in the 2007 Curaçao Festival and is vying for a GM norm. His competition will be stiff, but as the 10th seed, he has as good a chance as anyone.

Tate has played in this tournament for the past couple of years and always makes an impression with his exciting play and animated analysis. If this tournament is successful, you can count on many more invitations and the world may finally see Tate shine in his radiant brilliance.

Results of IM Emory Tate (2395 ELO)

Round 1: Quirino Richardson (Curaçao, 1850  ELO) - Tate, 0-1
Round 2: Tate - Huib Nieuwland (Netherlands,  Unrated), 1-0
Round 3: GM Victor Mikhalevski (Israel, 2598 ELO) - Tate, 1-0
Round 4: Tate - Jose Torres (Venezuela, Unrated), 1- 0
Round 5: Carlo Marzano (Italy, 2230 ELO) - Tate, 0-1
Round 6: IM Thomas Willemze (Netherlands, 2414 ELO) - Tate, 0-1
Round 7: Tate - GM Jan Gutafsson (Germany, 2606 ELO), 1-0
Round 8: Tate - GM Alexander Shabalov (USA, 2637 ELO), 0-1
Round 9: GM Joel Benjamin (USA, 2576 ELO) - Tate, ½-½

Final Score: 6½-2½

NOTE! Tate missed a GM norm due to his lower than required average opposition. He needed an average opposition of 2435 with 6½ points or 2381 with 7 points. Tate told The Chess Drum that he was misled into believing that a draw would clinch the GM norm. He also had an issue with the color allocation and played the last game under protest.

Official Site

Posted by The Chess Drum:  26 July 2007

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