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Baruch College defeated NYU 5.5-4.5 BOBBY MOY
May 1, 2005 was Let’s Play Chess Day. The United States Chess Federation held a chess tournament on the corner of Washington Square Park, where Baruch College had two top five finishes in the Adult section, Konstantinos Konstantinidis and Bobby Moy, finished second and fifth respectfully. This was only the beginning of Baruch’s success. Moy, along with Rexford Cristal, NYU’s chess club president, organized a Baruch College versus NYU chess match for the afternoon. It took place at NYU’s Kimmel Center for University Life. Baruch’s team consisted of Michael Layevskiy, Vivek Jagadish, Aziz Zhumashaliev, Bobby Moy, Vitaliy Popov, Konstantinos Konstantinidis, Henri Myftiu, Eric Hess, Jim Papadopoulos, and Mten Halsey. The match was a best of 10 set match in which Baruch won 5.5 to 4.5. Baruch began with a bang, and took an early 3-0 lead. Halsey started the run by sacrificing a bishop that left his opponent dazed and confused, which led to a strong finish. Papadopoulos, who sat next to Halsey, went on a relentless offensive attack that ended in a shut out. Hess masterminded numerous tactical threats throughout his game, which led to his opponent’s inevitable resignation. This set the ambiance early on as all three players made their debut today and already earned respect of veteran members. Next, Konstantinidis, who took an early positional advantage, was unable to close out his game, due to fatigue setting in from the earlier tournament. Popov dominated his match and his opponent’s king was parading around from the get-go and eventually won. At this point, Baruch was now up 4 to 1. Jagadish’s game was a tactical war, where he exchanged pieces back and forth, and as time winded down they agreed to a draw. Baruch was now up 4.5 to 1.5, only needed one more win to clinch the match. The last win did not come so easy. Baruch slightly began to slip and went on a 0-2 run. Layevskiy who maintained a level position for more than two hours made a costly blunder, which ended his game. Zhumashaliev under constant offensive pressure from his opponent was not able to keep his defensive hold and lost. Baruch led 4.5 to 3.5, still looked for that crucial win. Myftiu played a wild game where both players promoted queens and it seesawed back and forth, until he finally won. He gave Baruch’s final win that clinched the match. Moy’s game was a quiet one, which seemed to be a draw until both players clocks had less than five seconds. Pieces went flying off the board and Moy lost on time. In the end, all that matters is that Baruch College beat NYU 5.5 to 4.5. Baruch College has been winning numerous athletic events. However, lately Baruch has shown they can play a different game, chess. Baruch finished along with Duke, Stanford B, and NYU, in the 2004 Pan-Ams. “We beat NYU on their home court. Our debutant players came up huge for us. This means we are making great progress as a chess team. We are far ahead of other CUNYs and a top chess college in NY,” said Jagadish.
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