Vassar-Chadwick Chess Club

This Monday featured the start of the first tournament of the year, the G/75+5 Deep Freeze Swiss. Twelve players took the plunge into the frigid waters of Rockefeller Hall, but it is never too late to join us next Monday (you may even get a first round 1/2 point bye for your trouble).

Three new players joined us for this event, including a strong HS student from Marlboro, Nicholas Polizzi, who was able to take down Bob Simmons – not an easy task! Good to see new blood to the club (especially if I don’t have to play them…)

Full results:

Board 1: Alex Sinnott 1-0 James Reap
Board 2: Bertrand Topcyzlko 0-1 Ernie Johnson
Board 3: Trevor Brooks 1-0 David Sperber
Board 4: Nicholas Polizzi 1-0 Bob Simmons
Board 5: Gilad Drillich 1-0 Luca Rader
Board 6: Michael O’Connor 0-1 Ron Sperber

Great news from Albany – one of our regulars, Bob Simmons, has just shared the news that he shared first place in the Under 2000 section of the Empire State Open!

You can see the standings here: https://chessevents.com/event/empirecity/2021/standings/u2000

I don’t have a full list of all Vassar participants, but I did notice Ernie Johnson and Peter Barkman played in the Open section: https://chessevents.com/event/empirecity/2021/standings/open

Nice to see OTB chess still going strong, and great to see Vassar folk making their mark. Congrats again to Bob!

Just a reminder that there will be an unrated Blitz event tonight, and it is the last event of the year. Unfortunately Ernie cannot make it tonight, but feel free to come and play – and even if Blitz is not your thing, there is no rule against informal chess at whatever time controls against whoever else shows up.

The next event is not until the end of January:

January 24,31 and Feb.7
Deep Freeze
3 Round G/75 d5
$5.00 EF

By all accounts a successful event, especially considering the situation we find ourselves in. Lots of new faces too, which is always wonderful to see.

After the dust had settled, three players ended up with the same score (Trevor Brooks, Alex Sinnott, Ron Sperber), and it was time to dust off the tiebreak rules. Trevor Brooks came out on top and now has a Dutchess County Chess Championship title (likely the first of many) to add to his portfolio.

Second place goes to club newcomer (but 2100+ Expert) Alex Sinnott – congrats Alex!

The class A prize goes to Ron Sperber. From his player page on USCF it appears that Ron took a 20 year hiatus from tournament play, returning earlier this year. But he certainly didn’t play like it – welcome back Ron! Just to show I do my homework, did you know that Ron tied for first (but just like in DCC lost on tiebreaks) in the Novice section of the National High School Championship in 1972?

The class B (and under) prize went to Bertrand Topczylko, who, while only listed on paper as a class E player, ended up with a better score than anyone else class B and below. I am not a psychic, but I predict Bertrand will soon be class B (say that five times fast). Congrats, Bertrand!

The results have not been posted to USCF yet as we are waiting on a player to send in his membership, but we will do so shortly. When it has been processed I’ll update Facebook with the full crosstable results.

Thanks everyone who played and helped to keep Vassar-Chadwick the most active club in the region, and the DCC the most prestigious event of the year. But chess is far from over in 2021, as the next two Mondays feature a four round G/30 event, for those exhausted from the long games. And for speed junkies, the last event of the year, December 6, will be blitz.

You can never be sure how things will turn out after a long absence. Have players moved on during the pandemic, more used to playing online than in person? Will other pursuits grab their attention or have Monday nights just become not available? Some of those questions were answered at the conclusion of the first tournament of 2021 that ended on Monday.

Fifteen players – including some new faces! – made the trek to Vassar and played some real in person chess. With a long time control. For real rating points. What a great turnout!

Another surprising result – if only on paper – was the winner and how he did it – three wins, no losses, no draws. While coming in as the 5th seed by rating, Bob Simmons took no prisoners (or byes) and took down the 1 and 2 seed in the process. I hope the trophy for this one is made of real gold, because he deserves it. Perhaps this is a yin and yang thing, where the bad situations in life (being a Vikings fan) are balanced by the good. In any case, good job Bob!

Second place (and perhaps only because he took a bye in round 2) was Trevor Brooks, our young powerhouse who (if he doesn’t jet to Hollywood) might be the only one able to take down Ernie’s record of Dutchess County Chess Championships (coming soon btw!).

Booster prize goes to James Reap, a relative newcomer (joining us in 2019, before the troubles), but sports a healthy 1500 rating. After losing the first game to the top seed he recorded two wins to close it out.

Reminder that next Monday is unrated blitz, perfect for those who aren’t sure if paying USCF dues and rated tournament chess is right for you, or who are just used to playing very fast online. Note to those players, nothing beats the thrill of smashing a chess clock 30 times a minute during the end of an over the board blitz game. Online chess can’t compete with that.

After that is the premier event of the year, the Dutchess County Chess Championship! Five round event, G/90, this is the big one. Will Ernie add another jewel to his crown? Will Matan come back to defend his title? Or will Bob run undefeated through the gauntlet while wearing some gaudy purple Vikings uniform? Since we are not televised, there’s only one way to find out – join us!