Leonid Freyvert bulldozed through the field to take the July Swiss with a perfect 4-0 score. The event, which was ably directed by Dr. Fisher, had 13 participants. Brittany Denniston took 2nd (2.5) on tiebreaks (edging her brother Colin, who also had 2.5). Pretty impressive, considering they both did not play the last round. The USCF has the full crosstable.
As luck would have it, 8 players made it to the club last Monday. Why is that lucky? Because 8 is divisible by 4, 4 is the number of players that make up a quad, and the tournament was the Patriotic Quick Quads.
Quad A featured Leonid Freyvert, Ayman Haoula, David Antonucci, and Michael Mendez.
Quad B was comprised of Lee Brown, Ori Raz, Brian Oneil, and newcomer John Sullivan.
Leo and Ayman were undefeated going into the last round. Leo came out victorious, after an interesting back and forth struggle. John won all his games; a perfect victory is not a bad first tournament result.
Check the club tournament listing on USCF for full crosstable results.
This Monday starts the July Swiss (4 round, G/75 + 10 second delay). The TD will be Dr. Craig Fisher.
Thirteen players took time out from laying in the sun to play in the Junebug Swiss (June 2nd – 23rd). The Summer schedule usually sees a drop in participation, so this was a good turnout.
Going into the last round, Dr. Craig Fisher and Ernie Johnson were tied for the lead (2.5 out of 3), and would face off in the final round. Their game was the last to finish, and when the dust had settled Ernie took the title of Junebug champion. Not that this is a real title. But it does come with a real trophy.
Leonid Freyvert (3/4) ended up in sole 2nd place, with Dr. Fisher and Richard Whearty sharing third.
Prior to the last round a book prize drawing was done, with all players who played all rounds eligible. As a harbinger of his chess result, Ernie also won this event, and walked (drove) home with Jacob Aagard’s Excelling at Technical Chess. Congrats, Ernie!
Shortly the USCF will have the full crosstable available.
Just a reminder that tonight starts the Marist portion of the club calendar. Tonight is the first of a four round Swiss, game in 75 minutes with 10 second delay. As a special bonus, every player who plays in all four rounds will be placed in a drawing, the winner of which will get their choice of one gently used chess book.
The last tournament held at Vassar, the May Swiss, was won by Colin Denniston. Colin went undefeated, and now holds an impressive 1932 rating. He did not have an easy road to victory either, as he defeated Leonid Freyvert – a relative newcomer to the club who has seemed almost unbeatable and sports a (provisional) rating over 2000. Full USCF crosstable here.
Last but not least, our current Dutchess County Champion, Chris Brooks, took a train to the Windy City and competed in the well-attended Chicago Open (U2100 section). He finished at 50% (3.5 out of 7) against a tough field. You can see the full results here.
Thanks to Ernie for letting me know some Vassar-Chadwick members played in the recently completed NY State Open.
Craig Fisher, Ken Evans, and Mark Webb competed in the Senior section (in golf they call that the more charitable Champions league). Craig took a bye in the last round and still finished just out of the money, in a share of 4th place (3 out of 5 points). Ken did well, with 2.5 points and getting three draws against players who ended up in the top 10. Mark also ended with 2.5, but unfortunately had to play Craig in the 4th round. That seems to be always how it is – no matter how far you travel to play in a big tournament, you inevitably end up playing someone from your club.
Middletown Master Lonnie Kwartler got a share of 2nd place in the Open section (and technically, the highest result among NY participants). Who won? GM Ivanov, who out-rated his nearest competitor by almost 300 points.
It’s that time of year again, where we shake off the cold (and Vassar), and head to the sunny shores of the Hudson River on the beautiful Marist campus. Not that Vassar isn’t beautiful or also warm (not like the building doesn’t have radiators). You know what I mean.
Click HERE for the latest schedule, which covers now until Labor Day (when we head back to Vassar to watch the leaves turn, not that Marist doesn’t have trees…you know what I mean).
Chess Analysis Day
Saturday, April 26,
10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
College Center Multi-Purpose Room (MPR); room 223.
Large room on second floor in College Center, Vassar College
Members of Vassar-Chadwick Chess Club are invited to review one of their games with the rest of the club. (15 to 20 minutes maximum time per player).
Please minimize interruptions – let the speaker get through his/her comments !!!
Volunteers will be taken in descending rating sequence (highest rated goes first).
Speaker will use a demonstration board and play through one of their more interesting and educational games.
While not everyone will be able to play through their games this time, there will be other days scheduled if there are enough interested people.
Sixteen players decided to stay indoors on the first nice day of the year, to participate in one of great tournaments of the year, the Vassar-Chadwick Memorial. For the first time it was held in the Vassar College Center area, which was convenient in many ways – not only was it located in the Main building, but the cafeteria was open at noon. Intense chess play builds an appetite.
The tournament was run by Brother John McManus, who graciously drove down to provide his very capable (Senior TD level) services. His computer and printer setup had this TD drooling.
Out of the 16 players, 7 of them were Class A or above – it was a tough, hard-fought event, even if it didn’t draw as many as the club championship.
Speaking of the DCC, trophies were available to hand out, but only Chris Brooks (unable to play the Memorial, but did show up after work) was there to pick it up. But don’t worry, trophies don’t have expiration dates, they will be at the club waiting for you.
Going into the final round, Ernie Johnson had the only perfect score (3), and was paired with Scott Strattner (alone in 2nd with 2.5). See below for the game, but the game in summary: Black gets an early (but slight) advantage, through inaccuracy it turns into a small advantage for White. After many moves White’s advantage grows (to over +1), but a late blunder allows Black to swindle a win.
As both the winner of the game (and the tournament) and the writer of this post, I want to be as impartial as possible, instead of tooting my own horn. But I will say, after going through the game with a chess engine, I am happy with most of my moves, and the plans I decided on were actually valid (even if all my follow-through moves were not). For G/40, I cannot complain.
Of course, if I had avoided playing in the DCC, this win would have propelled my rating to over 2000. I would have thrown a party and brought doughnuts to the club. Alas, DCC did happen, and I’ll need to win about 3 more Memorial tournaments before I can sniff Expert again. That is chess for you, much like life it is filled with regrets, pain, misery – oh, and success and joy.
Other trophy results:
Ernie Johnson gets top A, and Andre Van Dommele takes top E (other classes did not have the required 4+ players).
The results have not been posted to USCF yet, but thanks to Brother John’s printer, I have the full crosstable:
1. Scott Strattner (3.5)
2. Ernie Johnson (3.0)
3. David Antonucci (3)
4. Brandon Wang (2.5)
5. Rudy Van Dommele (2.5)
6. Alan Lasser (2.5)
7. Craig Fisher (2)
8. Al Musumeci (2)
9. Thomas Roddy (2)
10. George Oliveras (2)
11. Andre Van Dommele (2)
12. Michael Mendez (1.5)
13. Seamus Gould (1.5)
14. Uriel Calixto (1)
15. Robert Mortensen (1)
16. Richard Dobbins (0)
As mentioned earlier, Chris Brooks is the 2014 Dutchess County Chess Champion. Second place goes to Leonid Freyvert, whose rating will hopefully soon catch up to his actual skill. Both will receive trophies, but more importantly the adoration of chess fans all over the world. Ok, maybe just parts of the Mid-Hudson Valley.
Class trophies will be handed out to the following people (those listed underneath each winner are honorable mentions, to show at least 4 participants in each class):
Top A (1999 – 1800) : Chester Bean
Colin Denniston
Ken Evans
David Antonucci
Top B (1799 – 1600) : Darius Jafary
George Oliveras
Daniel Rosa
Michael O’Connor
Top C (1599 – 1400) : Courtney Denniston
James Lynch
Mark Webb
Richard Whearty
Top D & Unrated (1399 and below) : Adrien Cadwallader
Krishnan Ram
Robert Jedlicka
John Weigand
Congratulations to every winner and thanks to all who participated.
There’s a minor membership issue that needs to be worked out with the USCF, so look for the actual crosstable in a couple days.
In the meantime, click RIGHT HERE to see the final standings and tiebreaks for all participants.
More details to come in the next couple days, but I wanted to announce the new club champion, Chris Brooks. Even though he lost in the last round against the very tough Leonid Freyvert (who ends up 2nd), superior tiebreaks give Chris the win and his name on the plaque of champions.