The New Knights
NM Leif Pressman (2232 USCL / 2381 USCF / 2301 FIDE) and I will be sharing time on board 3 for the Knights. Leif has been a very active player at the Marshall Chess Club, having notched over 1200 games as a NM. He recently tied for 6th at the World Open U2400 (won by former Knight FM Alex Ostrovskiy) and notched a solid 50% at the New York International. The last 9 months have seen him gain 160 FIDE points and he'll be a formidable weapon for New York.
NM Justus Williams (2165 USCL / 2265 USCF / 2172 FIDE) returns to the Knights after a short, though impressive debut season in 2010. Since then, he's won the National K-8 Championship and shared the NY State High School Championship (along with teammate Ben Gershenov, winning their individual encounter). His crushing performance (13.5/14) at the blitz championship of the latest running of the US Chess School (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11362/639/) should put everyone on notice!
NM Michael Bodek (2199 USCL / 2334 USCF / 2207 FIDE) is the 2011 US Cadet Champion, having scorched the field with a 5.5/7 score, losing only to co-Champ New Jersey's FM Arthur Shen. He continued his hot streak during the first half of the recently completed Metropolitan Chess International, scoring +2 =4 -0 against IM-level opposition, before losing some steam at the end. He's gained a remarkable 1005 USCF rating points (1329 -> 2334) since January 2008.
NM Ben Gershenov (2072 USCL / 2279 USCF / 2168 FIDE) is the lowest rated member of the Knights...as of last September. He's gained over 200 USCF points in the last 12 months and, like Leif, scored 50% at the New York International. His recent trip to Europe alone netted him 61 FIDE points and we look for this reigning NY State High School co-Champion to be a dangerous board 4.
Last but not least is John Fernandez (2134 USCL / 2129 USCF / 2156 FIDE), an original Knight (his scrappy draw against Ilya Krasik was a critical part of the Week 1 draw against Boston back in 2005, the Knights' first-ever match!) who returns after a 5 year hiatus. John co-organized the successful and long-running New York Masters tournaments with league president Greg Shahade.
