Why is Valentine’s Day the most important holiday for a chess player? Because it means it is USATE time again!

This year our club fielded two teams (members listed in board order):

Vassar-Chadwick AAAA, consisting of Robert Sulman, Mark Courtney, Al Lawrence, and Dr. Craig Fisher

Vassar-Chadwick Earth Wind and Skewer (this wins the unofficial best Vassar-Chadwick themed name), consisting of Ernie Johnson, Peter Barkman, Bob Simmons, and Darius Jafary

Team AAAA had an average rating of 2023 and finished with 3 points, while EWaS had an average rating of 1838 and finished with 4 points. It appears AAAA did not play the last round; anyone who has played in USATE well understands the pull of home after 5 long and stressful rounds packed into 3 long days.

At the individual level, team AAAA: Sulman and Fisher ended with 3.5 points, Courtney had 3 and Lawrence ended with 2.5.

Team EWaS: Johnson, Barkman and Jafary all had 3 points, while the star of the team, Simmons, ended with 5 points! If only the Vikings were as good as their biggest fan…

Final Wall Chart HERE

USCF Rating Crosstable HERE

Those who were there, please share your games. So far I have one game from Ernie, but what a game it is – a last round draw against IM Eugene Meyer!

[Event “USATE 2020”]
[Date “2020.2.17”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Johnson, Ernest”]
[Black “Meyer, Eugene”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d6 6.e4 Nbd7 7.Nge2 a6 8.O-O Rb8 9.a4 c6 10.b4 a5 11.b5 c5 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Be3 Nfd7 14.Qc2 Ne5 15.Rad1 Qe8 16.Nd5 f5 17.f4 Ng4 18.Bxc5 dxc5 19.h3 Nf6 20.Nc7 Qf7 21.e5 Ne4 22.Kh2