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Hello there, I'm happy to report on a fun side event from today at Kingston Easter Chess. It was our first Material Odds Blitz, with ALL of the proceeds going to Ukraine war relief (organization TBD)
22 players ("El Predicto" Victor Plotkin predicted 20, it's incredible how he does that), and we've raised a wonderful $565 (and counting, players coming up to me during KEC Round 6 tonight with more!)
Everyone was encouraged to NOT be quiet, even to go for funny trash-talk (house player Alex Ferreira was remarkably fluid with this) - but the HUGE success was bringing back the old-school king-chop!
Players rated below 1600 got to play with all their pieces, but as a player's rating got higher, he had to always exclude a piece (f-pawn for U1900, Qside-knight for U2200, Qside-rook for Zonal players).
This formula (devised on lunch napkins yesterday with KEC Pairings Arbiter Alex Ferreira) actually worked well to equalize players. All except a little speed prodigy, Aaron Reeve Mendes, who shocked the tournament by scoring 11/12 across 6 double-rounds, THREE POINTS ahead of both 2nd&3rd place IMs Nikolay Noritsyn and Mark Plotkin. The only game he didn't win was a very elegant endgame ground down by Nikolay, with dozens of us admiring. Everyone could tell who the champ would be!
As this was totally a fundraiser (Ukraine war relief), there were no prizes. So I just made up some:
- First King-Chop of the Day: John Upper, emphatically with both hands (yes I do know that rule!)
- Best Novelty Opening: Nicolae Oancea, playing White without Qside-knight, 1.b4 and 2.b5 - and when you think about it, why not prioritize opening the file not cluttered with a bothersome piece?!
- Best Face of the Day: IM Michael Barron, for his utterly joyous smile after king-chopping a little kid!
- Best Abuse of an Arbiter: Henry Hughes, I guess tired of his material odds, and my nagging chatter: "Where's YOUR f-pawn Aris?!"
- Best Abuse of a Player: Unidentified Arbiter, calling a flag-fall by hitting the table with a clipboard.
- Best Range of Emotions: John Hay, who got king-chopped in his very first game of 12, but then in his very last game of 12, he king-chopped someone else, bringing a certain look of peace to his face.
- Best Use of as Many Chess Rules as Possible: Jerry Lan, who in one game, promoted to a R and a N.
Finally, thanks to Karen Wan and Alex Ferreira for their seamless help in running this fun event!
22 players ("El Predicto" Victor Plotkin predicted 20, it's incredible how he does that), and we've raised a wonderful $565 (and counting, players coming up to me during KEC Round 6 tonight with more!)
Everyone was encouraged to NOT be quiet, even to go for funny trash-talk (house player Alex Ferreira was remarkably fluid with this) - but the HUGE success was bringing back the old-school king-chop!
Players rated below 1600 got to play with all their pieces, but as a player's rating got higher, he had to always exclude a piece (f-pawn for U1900, Qside-knight for U2200, Qside-rook for Zonal players).
This formula (devised on lunch napkins yesterday with KEC Pairings Arbiter Alex Ferreira) actually worked well to equalize players. All except a little speed prodigy, Aaron Reeve Mendes, who shocked the tournament by scoring 11/12 across 6 double-rounds, THREE POINTS ahead of both 2nd&3rd place IMs Nikolay Noritsyn and Mark Plotkin. The only game he didn't win was a very elegant endgame ground down by Nikolay, with dozens of us admiring. Everyone could tell who the champ would be!
As this was totally a fundraiser (Ukraine war relief), there were no prizes. So I just made up some:
- First King-Chop of the Day: John Upper, emphatically with both hands (yes I do know that rule!)
- Best Novelty Opening: Nicolae Oancea, playing White without Qside-knight, 1.b4 and 2.b5 - and when you think about it, why not prioritize opening the file not cluttered with a bothersome piece?!
- Best Face of the Day: IM Michael Barron, for his utterly joyous smile after king-chopping a little kid!
- Best Abuse of an Arbiter: Henry Hughes, I guess tired of his material odds, and my nagging chatter: "Where's YOUR f-pawn Aris?!"
- Best Abuse of a Player: Unidentified Arbiter, calling a flag-fall by hitting the table with a clipboard.
- Best Range of Emotions: John Hay, who got king-chopped in his very first game of 12, but then in his very last game of 12, he king-chopped someone else, bringing a certain look of peace to his face.
- Best Use of as Many Chess Rules as Possible: Jerry Lan, who in one game, promoted to a R and a N.
Finally, thanks to Karen Wan and Alex Ferreira for their seamless help in running this fun event!
| # | Name | ID | Rtng | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Tot |
| 1 | Aaron Reeve Mendes | 167084 | 1453 | WW4 | WW14 | WW3 | WL2 | WW6 | WW5 | 11.0 |
| 2 | Nikolay Noritsyn | 132534 | 2615 | WW19 | WL6 | WL8 | WL1 | WL4 | WW11 | 8.0 |
| 3 | Mark Plotkin | 141086 | 2562 | WW16 | WW15 | LL1 | WL5 | WL11 | WW4 | 8.0 |
| 4 | Victor Plotkin | 142063 | 2421 | LL1 | WW7 | WW10 | WW17 | WL2 | LL3 | 7.0 |
| 5 | Eddie Xu | 166274 | 2119 | B--- | WW18 | WL6 | WL3 | WW9 | LL1 | 7.0 |
| 6 | Vincent Latorre | 162297 | 2046 | WW13 | WL2 | WL5 | WW14 | LL1 | WL8 | 7.0 |
| 7 | Elliot Tseng | 175135 | 1002 | WL8 | LL4 | WL19 | WL18 | WW21 | WW17 | 7.0 |
| 8 | Rafael Adam | 165899 | 2024 | WL7 | WW20 | WL2 | LL9 | WW12 | WL6 | 7.0 |
| 9 | Michael Barron | 134840 | 2245 | WL18 | LL10 | WW12 | WW8 | LL5 | WW16 | 7.0 |
| 10 | Etienne Latreille | 154563 | 1853 | WL20 | WW9 | LL4 | DL16 | WL15 | WW19 | 6.5 |
| 11 | Robert Gillanders | 108202 | 1599 | B--- | B--- | B--- | WW15 | WL3 | LL2 | 6.0 |
| 12 | Japveer Narula | 173922 | 1138 | LL17 | WW19 | LL9 | WW20 | LL8 | WW18 | 6.0 |
| 13 | Justin Lim | 173268 | 1057 | LL6 | LL16 | WW22 | WW21 | WL17 | WL14 | 6.0 |
| 14 | John Upper | 101925 | 2163 | WW22 | LL1 | WW21 | LL6 | WL16 | WL13 | 6.0 |
| 15 | Nicolae Oancea | 139674 | 1907 | WW21 | LL3 | WL16 | LL11 | WL10 | WW22 | 6.0 |
| 16 | Henry Hughes | 160188 | 1761 | LL3 | WW13 | WL15 | WD10 | WL14 | LL9 | 5.5 |
| 17 | Alex T. Ferreira | 127516 | 2054 | WW12 | H--- | H--- | LL4 | WL13 | LL7 | 5.0 |
| 18 | Justin Wen | 174383 | 1390 | WL9 | LL5 | WL20 | WL7 | WL19 | LL12 | 4.0 |
| 19 | Hal Bond | 111830 | 1773 | LL2 | LL12 | WL7 | WW22 | WL18 | LL10 | 4.0 |
| 20 | Jerry Lan | 175563 | unr. | WL10 | LL8 | WL18 | LL12 | WL22 | WL21 | 4.0 |
| 21 | Danté Brown | 175339 | unr. | LL15 | WW22 | LL14 | LL13 | LL7 | WL20 | 3.0 |
| 22 | John Hay | 162669 | 1174 | LL14 | LL21 | LL13 | LL19 | WL20 | LL15 | 1.0 |
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