Buffalo club hosts USCAK's 2001 chess championship

by Dr. Orest Popovych

BUFFALO, N.J. - The 2001 chess championship of the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada (USCAK) was held on October 20 at the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church hall in Buffalo, N.Y. It was hosted by the local Stepan Popel Chess Club, which dedicated the tournament to the memory of Mykola Onysko, a club member who had died tragically earlier this year.

The Rev. Marian Procyk, pastor of the St. Nicholas Church, organized and directed this event.

Eight players, representing the hosts and the Lviv chess club of Cleveland, Ohio, competed in five rounds of action chess, in which 30 minutes were allotted to each player for the entire game.

The battle for first place ended in a tie between a father and his son - Dr. Ihor Podebryi and Olexa Podebryi - each with a score of 4:1. The co-winners received identical prize money of $250 each, but the title of USCAK champion went to the son, on superior tie-breakers.

Others placed as follows: 3. Dr. Mykhaylo Deputat - 3.5 pts; 4. Vasyl Stefaniuk (Lviv) - 3 pts; 5. the Rev. Procyk - 2.5 pts; 6. Taras Deputat - 2 pts (won the junior prize); 7. Stefan Stefaniuk (Lviv) - 1 pt; 8. Vasyl Stefaniuk Jr. (Lviv) - 0 pts. (Unless otherwise stated, the players represented the host club of Buffalo.)

Following the championship event, a round-robin blitz tournament (five-minute chess) was held, with the Rev. Procyk emerging victorious by a score of 6.5:0.5.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 11, 2001, No. 45, Vol. LXIX

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