Posted by Jim Daniluk on August 16, 2008, 2:57:35

Victor Kaminski achieved his first International Master norm at the New England Masters. He scored an incredible 5.5/9 against opponents rated an average of 2424 FIDE. Along the way he beat GM elect Josh Friedel (2524)and lost only one game to the top rated player Leonid Kritz (2610) of Germany. This can only be described as a staggering achievement. Three other Calgarians took part in this event.Alberta Champion Eric Hansen overcame a slow start to finish a very respectable 5/9 but failed to play enough strong players to have a norm opportunity. Of course, like Victor, Eric is still quite young and we can expect great things in the future from him as well. Dale Haessel struggled early on but won his last two games to finish on 50%. Daniel Kazmaier also struggled but couldn't recover. The rust was evident as he has focussed recently on less important things like University studies and a mission to Africa help fight hunger.