Vassar-Chadwick Chess Club

After three postponements due to SNOW we finally completed the Year of the Goat Swiss! Yea! William Fisher scored 3 wins and no losses taking first place.  A tremendous battle took place between Ernie Johnson and Leo Freyvert, two top experts, which, while ending in a draw, provided much exciting chess to watch!. Darius Jafary won the “Booster” Trophy.  He scored 2 wins and only lost to William Fisher after an exciting game.   Richard Whearty won the biggest upset by a narrow margin.

David Antonucci finished on top of an 8 man field with a perfect score of 7 wins and no losses.  Newcomer Alqi ‘Archie’ Dore won the “Booster class” with a score of 5.5 – 1.5.  George Oliveras won the biggest upset prize with a win over perennial Blitz guru Eric Horsboll.  Thanks for participating everyone!  Click here for the USCF cross table results.  (While there is no discrepancy in the rating or games of any type the order of rounds was listed differently than what was actually played. I am sure that it does not effect ratings in any way as the ratings are calculated based upon the averages of who you played.)

Join us next Monday (4/6) for the start of the weather-delayed Year of the Goat Swiss (3 round G/75 +10sec delay). And our first tournament to use Accelerated pairings for rounds 1 and 2.

More information (including entire wallchart/standings and official trophy results) to follow later, but here are the top standings, by class:

DCC 2015  Wall Chart after completion of Round 4
Name/Rtng/ID   Rd 1  Rd 2   Rd 3   Rd 4
1 William Fisher B  17 W  11 B    7 W    5
2433 12910347   1.0   2.0     2.5       3.5
2 Leonid Freyvert B  18 W  27 W  19 B  14
2039   15388062   0.0  1.0     2.0      3.0
3 Ayman Haoula W  19 W  24 B  26 B  23
2019   14624013   0.5  0.5     1.5      2.5
4 Ernie Johnson B  20 W  15 B  10 W  16
2013   10089115   1.0  2.0     2.0      3.0
5 Chris Brooks W  21 B  14 W  12 B    1
2003   12666518   1.0  2.0     2.5      2.5
6 Eric Horsboll B  22 W  28 B  16 W  26
1999   10661935   0.0  1.0     1.0      2.0
7 Colin Denniston W  23 B  16 W    1 B  12
1980   14196285   1.0  2.0      2.5      3.5
8 Scott Strattner B  24 bye   W  29 B  13
1978   12542932   0.0  0.5     1.5      2.0
9 Michael Semel W  25 bye   B  20 W  18
1921   12394665   0.5  1.0     2.0       3.0
10 Mark Courtney B  26 W  18 W    4 B  24
1866   11403387   1.0  2.0     3.0       4.0
11 Kenneth Evans W  27 B    1 bye   B  19
1856   10122627   1.0  1.0     1.5      2.0
12 Craig Fisher B  28 W  22 B    5 W    7
1840   10124743   1.0  2.0     2.5      2.5
13 George Cole W  31 bye   B  24 W    8
1830   12365860   1.0  1.5     1.5      2.0
14 Robert Simmons B  29 W    5 B  22 W    2
1800   10104424   1.0  1.0      2.0     2.0
15 Darius Jafary W  32 B    4 W  23 B  22
1746   14321073   1.0  1.0      1.0     2.0
16 Keith D’Elia B  33 W    7 W    6 B   4
1668   12518100   1.0  1.0       2.0    2.0
17 Daniel Rosa W    1 bye   B  18 B  29
1661   12799045   0.0  0.5       0.5    1.5
18 Michael O’ConnorW    2 B  10 W  17 B   9
1653   12592786   1.0  1.0       2.0    2.0
19 Brittany DennistonB  3 W  25 B    2 W  11
1636   14196264  0.5  1.5        1.5    2.0
20 Michael Mendez W    4 B  31 W    9 B  28
1630   12595089  0.0  1.0        1.0     2.0
21 Courtney DennistonB  5 W  29 B  25 W  31
1621   14196270  0.0  0.5        1.0     2.0
22 George Oliveras W    6 B  12 W  14 W  15
1609   12520533  1.0  1.0        1.0     1.0
23 Seamus Gould B    7 W  33 B  15 W   3
1580   15321555  0.0  1.0         2.0    2.0
24 Hernan Salazar W    8 B    3 W  13 W  10
1565   15210316  1.0  2.0        3.0     3.0
25 Mark Webb B    9 B  19 W  21 —-
1560   12840342  0.5  0.5        1.0     1.0
26 Ron Holland W  10 B  32 W    3 B    6
1550   13576350  0.0  1.0         1.0    1.0
27 Brian O’Neil B  11 B    2 W  30 —-
1348   15467832  0.0  0.0         0.0    0.0
28 Lee Brown W  12 B    6 W  32 W  20
1314   13869692  0.0  0.0         1.0    1.0
29 Bob Jedlicke W  14 B  21 B    8 W  17
1135   15388077  0.0  0.5           0.5  0.5
30 William Karafelisbye   —- B  27 —-
1010   15457568  0.5  0.5        1.5  1.5 withdrawn
31 Richard Dobbins B  13 W  20 B  33 B  21
663   14777790  0.0  0.0         1.0  1.0
32 Anshul Bhargava B  15 W  26 B  28 —-
unr.   15678692  0.0  0.0          0.0  0.0
33 Nimesh Bhargava W  16 B  23 W  31 —-
unr.   15678686  0.0  0.0          0.0  0.0

Before the 2nd round of the 2015 Dutchess County Chess Championship, the annual club meeting was held. The agenda covered election of club officers, a summary of the member survey, overview of suggestions, the treasurer’s report, and an open discussion of ideas.

A. Election

After announcing the end of his 2nd term, the outgoing president (Scott Strattner) took suggestions for a new president. No one volunteered, so Dr. Craig Fisher graciously threw his hat in the ring. He gave two conditions however: that at least two major (4-5 round) tournaments would be directed by others in the club (which was quickly agreed to by Michael O’Connor and Scott), and a plea that players understand that those who direct tournaments and manage the club do so out of a volunteer spirit – there should be minimal drama and disputes should be handled in a respectful manner. Being a quite reasonable request, this was also quickly agreed to. Congrats to Craig, the once and current president!

Ernie Johnson was elected as vice-president, as well as keeping his tenure as club secretary. Dan Rosa remains as treasurer and Scott agreed to continue as webmaster.

B. Survey results

In general, players prefer longer time controls, although there is also a contingent who enjoy G/5 Blitz; the tournament schedule should include both types of events going forward. There is not enough interest in creating a local chess league, nor do many have a desire to become tournament directors. Having the TD also act as house player when needed is considered an accepted practice by almost everyone; although not ideal, it prevents a player from having to take a bye.

C. Treasurer report

The club ended in the red by about $240. Part of this was due to the various special events that were held last year – from the William Fisher simul to the Coldenham Open and other weekend tournaments. Most of the costs come from trophies, and ideas were brought forward to minimize this expenditure – such as buying trophies in bulk and then obtaining plaques after each tournament has concluded. A printer was also purchased for the club, so that TDs could easily print out wall charts and pairings each round.

D. Suggestions

Getting the word out needs to be made a higher priority, and events should be posted in places like the Poughkeepsie Journal more often. Scott offered to provide access to the club site (and blog), so that other members could post club news and other items of interest. At a future date he will provide a demonstration of how to do this to those who are interested.

After the meeting, a book raffle was held and four people got their pick of some gently used chess books.