December Tournaments: Christmas Blitzkrieg and Santa's Bughouse

One of my new favorite chess pictures, Charles Sluder plays River Shepard.

Santa's Bughouse Teams Prize List

Place	Name/Team	Score	Solk	CumOp	Cum	MMed
1	Desmond Porth & Levi Catangcatang (2)	5.5	17.0	62.5	20.0	15.5
2	Andre Murphy &  Wesley Brimstein (1)	5.0	17.5	69.5	17.5	16.0
3	Otto Olson &  Dylan Porth(6)	3.0	19.0	70.5	13.0	12.0
4	Zane Barckholtz &  Cameron ?? (9)	3.0	19.0	65.0	9.5	12.0
5	Kaiden Cross &  Darwin Porth(5)	3.0	15.5	54.5	10.5	10.5
6	River Shepard &  Peter ??(7)	2.5	18.5	67.0	8.5	13.0
7	Spencer Gaudereau &  Froilan Enriquez(8)	2.5	17.5	69.5	6.0	12.0
8	Dusty Dickerson & Winter Stevens(3)	1.5	21.0	69.0	8.0	15.5
9	Edgar Enriquez & Dakota ??(4)	1.0	4.5	17.5	3.0	1.5

Santa's Bughouse Crosstable

No.	Name	Pts	Rnd1	Rnd2	Rnd3	Rnd4	Rnd5	Rnd6
1	Desmond Porth & Levi Catangcatang	5.5	W7	W5	W8	W4	D2	W6
2	Andre Murphy &  Wesley Brimstein	5.0	W6	D3	W5	W8	D1	W4
3	Kaiden Cross &  Darwin Porth	3.0	-B-	D2	L4	D6	D5	D7
4	Otto Olson &  Dylan Porth	3.0	D8	W7	W3	L1	D6	L2
5	Zane Cam	3.0	W9	L1	L2	D7	D3	W8
6	River Shepard &  Peter ??	2.5	L2	-B-	D7	D3	D4	L1
7	Spencer Gaudereau &  Froilan Enriquez	2.5	L1	L4	D6	D5	W8	D3
8	Dusty Dickerson & Winter Stevens	1.5	D4	W9	L1	L2	L7	L5
9	Edgar Enriquez & Dakota ??	1.0	L5	L8	-B-	-U-	-U-	-U-

Santa's Bughouse is a favorite of the kids as they can be loud, hyper, and themselves without stern glances from the chief TD, me!  Desmond and Levi dominated board one throughout the tournament while Wesley and Andre plotted their demise.  In 5th round, they faced off with Desmond playing Andre first and the battle ended with a victory for Desmond and Levi, but in a change of partners and their luck, Andre and Wesley pulled off a victory in the 2nd match to produce a draw. Their hard fought efforts were dashed in round 2 as Kaiden and Darwin worked hard for a draw against Wesley and Andre.  Unless some tragedy happened to Levi and Desmond in Round 6, they were destined for 2nd place.  Winners won chess bags, 2nd place shared hard cover scorebooks, and 3rd place selected the Bobby Fischer books.  Swag is always a good thing.

Christmas Blitzkrieg Prize List

Place	Name/Team	Score	Solk	CumOp	Cum	MMed
1	Porth, Desmond (12)	7.0	36.0	165.5	32.0	33.5
2	Murphy, Andre (9)	6.0	36.5	171.0	27.0	33.5
3	Brimstein, Wesley (2)	6.0	32.5	143.0	27.0	30.5
4	Catangcatang, Levi (3)	5.0	40.0	180.5	30.0	37.0
5	Gaudereau, Spencer (6)	5.0	35.5	157.0	23.0	33.5
6	Pulliam, Jordan (14)	5.0	29.0	128.5	17.0	29.0
7	Shepard, River (16)	4.0	34.5	132.5	17.0	25.5
8	Llantoy, Bayro (8)	4.0	31.0	139.0	17.0	23.0
9	Porth, Dylan (13)	3.5	14.5	59.0	18.5	7.5
10	Dean, Cooper (4)	3.5	11.5	47.0	19.5	6.5
11	Porth, Darwin (11)	3.0	37.0	165.0	18.0	30.0
12	Enriquez, Froilan (5)	3.0	28.5	112.0	17.0	22.5
13	Van Law, Leam (19)	3.0	25.5	95.0	5.0	18.5
14	Shiner, Abby (17)	2.0	29.0	116.0	7.0	23.0
15	Sluder, Charles (18)	2.0	16.0	64.5	10.0	11.5
16	Baker, Eric (1)	2.0	15.5	56.0	5.0	9.5
17	Renner, Levi (15)	1.0	18.5	76.0	7.0	12.5
18	Porth, Adam (10)	1.0	7.0	35.0	8.0	3.0
19	Georgakopoulos, Maryanna (7)	0.0	16.0	64.5	0.0	11.0

Christmas Blitzkrieg Crosstable

No.	Name	Pts	Rnd1	Rnd2	Rnd3	Rnd4	Rnd5	Rnd6	Rnd7	Rnd8
1	Porth, Desmond	7.0	W13	W10	W12	W2	L4	W8	W3	W5
2	Brimstein, Wesley	6.0	W18	W15	W14	L1	L3	W4	W12	W7
3	Murphy, Andre	6.0	W5	L4	W18	W6	W2	W11	L1	W12
4	Catangcatang, Levi	5.0	W7	W3	W9	W12	W1	L2	L5	L6
5	Gaudereau, Spencer	5.0	L3	W19	W6	W11	L8	W7	W4	L1
6	Pulliam, Jordan	5.0	W15	L9	L5	L3	W13	-X-	W8	W4
7	Llantoy, Bayro	4.0	L4	L8	W19	W18	W12	L5	W11	L2
8	Shepard, River	4.0	L17	W7	L10	W16	W5	L1	L6	W15
9	Dean, Cooper	3.5	W19	W6	L4	-H-	-H-	-H-	-N-	-U-
10	Porth, Dylan	3.5	W16	L1	W8	-H-	-H-	-H-	-N-	-U-
11	Enriquez, Froilan	3.0	L12	W16	W15	L5	W14	L3	L7	L13
12	Porth, Darwin	3.0	W11	W17	L1	L4	L7	W15	L2	L3
13	Van Law, Leam	3.0	L1	L18	L16	L15	L6	W14	-B-	W11
14	Baker, Eric	2.0	-U-	-U-	L2	W19	L11	L13	L15	-B-
15	Shiner, Abby	2.0	L6	L2	L11	W13	L16	L12	W14	L8
16	Sluder, Charles	2.0	L10	L11	W13	L8	W15	-F-	-U-	-U-
17	Porth, Adam	1.0	W8	L12	-U-	-U-	-U-	-U-	-U-	-U-
18	Renner, Levi	1.0	L2	W13	L3	L7	-U-	-U-	-U-	-U-
19	Georgakopoulos, Maryanna	0.0	L9	L5	L7	L14	-U-	-U-	-U-	-U-

Abby feels the Christmas Cheer as she finally plays OTB!

Tis' the season (for chess!). . . The Christmas Blitzkrieg was held on Dec. 11 at our regular chess club meeting and was great success with 19 participants spanning Kindergarten through 12th grade.  This particular tournament has been around for the past 8 years.  The champion wins a plaque on the perpetual plaque (statue) with the previous years champions.  This particular 8 round event featured G/5 0d and a fairly standard, fun BCSD Chess Club event.  The club was able to supply each table with a digital clock (thanks to Kuberan!) and stacks of candy canes.  I suspect the pieces need a washing after all the sticky fingers from Christmas cheer.  Winners were awarded a donated antique chess board, Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess Book, or Chess Exam: Matches against Chess Legends You Verses Bobby Fischer.  I always have prizes as well as trophies in the holiday tournaments.  Desmond chose the chess set.  Andre and Wesley split the books up, but I was unsure of which went to who as they kept switching.

Desmond is having a great senior year in chess as he holds our Perpetual Statue!

Desmond Porth won the event clearly with 7.0 in 8 games.  His only loss was to Levi Catangcatang, whom lept in the air after snatching Desmond's king!  Levi was enjoying one of his best tournaments and his hard work and chess study is paying off as he is frequently in the top group nowadays.  Desmond is the club's oldest veteran and was truly a champion as he helped the younger kids in their games in between rounds.  Desmond also helps me spread the rules around the tournament when players get confused.

Desmond plays Spencer in the final round.

Another rising star to keep an eye on is Spencer Gaudereau.  He had a great tournament with clear victories.  Spencer has already distinguished himself by completing 200 chess problems during our summer camp.  Bayro Llantoy struggled in chess and the English language when he first came to us last year, but his game has improved as well as his ability to communicate.  I love the fact that chess fosters cross-cultural relationships among the kids.  Happy Holidays to All!