Anyway, going into the fifth and final round of the Game/50, GM Ehlvest was 4-0, and IM Lenderman had 3.5/4, as did Adam Maltese (~2300). IMs Bercys, Sarkar, and Bonin, and expert Allen Weiss, had 3/4.

Round 5 Pairings:
IM Lenderman (3.5) - GM Ehlvest (4)
IM Bercys (3) - NM Maltese (3.5)

[IMs Bonin and Sarkar were paired well down, don't remember colors. They were expected to win, and they did. Weiss beat NM Bierkens]

Before the games started, there was some commotion: Lenderman was apparently complaining that Bercys would agree to dump the game with Maltese so Maltese could get a big prize which they would then split. However, this did not make much sense, because a win by Bercys would certainly put him in the money.

Lenderman played White and opened with his Smith-Morra Gambit against Ehlvest's Sicilian. After around 10 moves, Ehlvest offered a draw, which Lenderman accepted (the correct thing to do strategically: IM vs. strong GM, guarantee a tie for second). That left Bercys (White) against Maltese. Adam played his usual Pirc.

Now, all the attention was on Bercys-Maltese. They kept going outside and chatting with friends (I won't go into details who) and each other. Lenderman was upset the entire time, but the others don't like Lenderman and he and Bercys are known to be enemies. This is suggested in Michael Weinreb's THE KINGS OF NEW YORK--although the Murrow team all hate the way the author wrote the book (I know them all quite well), some things are accurate. B and L are the superstars on the team.

In a time scramble, Bercys mated Maltese and tied for second. You can see the prizewinners (and the money won!) at <http://www.chesscenter.cc/jun07/fs-...;. <http://www.chesscenter.cc>; is the website of the organizer and you can also see other NY events here.

When the winners waited on the prize line to get their prize checks, Maltese, Bercys, and others were saying many unkind things about Alex. I (mistakenly!) suggested that this was the "Fock Lenderman" line. I never expected them to make a facebook group about it! Soon, Alex offered Adam ten dollars as a peace offering for making the accusations, but this upset Adam even more.

Where does "Fock Lenderman" come from?

A couple of years ago, Lenderman agreed to play on a team at the U.S. Amateur Team East. At the last moment he backed out (I'm not sure why), and they named their team "Fock Lenderman" (the movie "Meet the Fockers" was popular at the time). "Fock Lenderman" actually won the team tournament 6-0 that year.

I know, this is a lot of gossip, but I insist it is all true. Someone asked about the incident, so there it is.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O Qe7 9. Qf3 d6 10. Bg5 Be6 11. e5 Bxc3 12. bxc3 dxe5 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Qxf6 gxf6 15. f4 c5 16. fxe5 fxe5 17. c4 f5 18. Rab1 e4 19. Be2 Rab8 20. g3 Rb6 21. Kg2 Rfb8 22. Rb3 a5 23. Rfb1 a4 24. Rxb6 Rxb6 25. Rxb6 cxb6 26. a3 Kf7 27. Kf2 Kf6 28. Ke3 Ke5 29. c3 h6 30. Bd1 Bf7 31. Bxa4 Bxc4 32. Bd1 Bf7 33. Be2 Be8 34. h3 Bd7 35. h4 Ba4 36. Bf1 Bc2 37. Be2 Bd3 38. Bh5 Bf1 39. Bd1 Kd5 40. Bb3+ Bc4 41. Bd1 b5 42. Bh5 Ke5 Game drawn by mutual agreement 1/2-1/2