2009 SPICE Cup - Norm Watch Update

Wow! Well, I knew it would be a bust when I tried to snatch looks at the Antal-Robson game in progress today at the office. DID NOT WORK! Meh! I figured it would be an epic battle, as both players were in do or die situations as far as their norm hopes. After an exhausting game, the players agreed to a draw. That pushed Antal out of contention to score a GM norm, as he needed 3.0/3; the half point in Round 7 grounds any chance. Hope for Robson remains alive by a slim margin, however; he now needs to win his final two games to earn that third GM norm. Can he do it? How much pressure can a person take? How much pressure can a 14 year old person take? The result of Finegold's game was the first to be reported. He needed to score 1.0/3 for his final GM norm, and he moved toward that goal with a draw today against GM Andre Diamant. He now only needs 0.5 in his final 2 games to clinch his title. After Round 6, FM Rensch needed to score 1.5/3 for his third IM norm and title. He drew his game today with GM Bhat and so he needs to score 1.0 in his final 2 games. Stay tuned!