2013 Christmas Blitz Results

Traditionally, this tournament only draws a select few fast chess players, however, this year we hosted 30 players!  The only thing missing was our traditional Santa Clause, Erwin Kett.  Start time was delayed nearly a half hour in order to register the large number of players, mostly of elementary age.  But, there were about a dozen of the experienced players ready to vie for the title of BCSD Chess Rage Blitz Champion.

I always want my tournaments to be fun, competitive, and a comfortable learning environment for all, including the anxious parents.  I think the games actually got better as the rounds progressed and players started to get the hang of it.  Blitz rules confused some players and parents so I reminded them during the first few rounds and also gave pointers to all on how to have a more successful tournament.

Conrad Foster (left in hoodie) holds his prize and Garin Beste's mom plays as guest (right).

Blitz rules now include touch move but the clock still dictates the end of a move.  In blitz there are several ways to win:  checkmate (of course!), take the king if they leave it in check, recognize an illegal move after the clock was hit (once called, you win), or your opponent runs out of time.

We popped the requisite popcorn in between rounds and included drawings for swag:  Christmas colored board and pieces, chess bag, notebook scorepad, and Northwest Chess Magazines.  The drawings always illicit excitement as players that don't win the prizes, can still win a prize.  My poor kids already own all the "cool" chess stuff so when Darwin's name was drawn first for a notebook scorepad, he graciously allowed us to draw another name.  Keegan Crowson did the same.  I appreciate the kindness of chess players (when they are not playing on the board!).

Cooper Dean eating and playing at the same time.

We also try to make sure everyone that shows up for the tournament gets to play every round so I try to find parents to fill the bye slots by including them as guest players.  After the first round, a parent will usually step up to the board and play a respectable game, though when they lose, they are surprised and need to be coaxed into additional games.

We played eight rounds and actually finished early.  With so many elementary students that registered at the tournament, I quickly checked my stash of prizes and was able to pull out three nice rosette ribbons for first - third place.  As a TD, I learned that extra prizes and materials need to be on hand.  Also, suckers for the child that won't stop crying over a loss.  Candy will sequester the emotional breakdown quite quickly.  Once we started, round transitions were smooth and progressed without any issues, except for the occasional "illegal move" rule clarification or the affirmation that you can take the king in blitz.

In the elementary section, Quentin Van Law won 1st place (5.5 pts.), Darwin Porth won 2nd place (5.0 pts.), and Luke Baker won 3rd place (5.0 pts.).  Darwin exclaimed on the way home, "I beat some big kids!"  And some of the high schoolers described both Quentin and Darwin as hard.  I am thankful of Kristy Turco for her support in getting the word out to the elementary schools.  She offers chess during lunch and recess breaks in three of the elementary schools in the Wood River Valley during the week.  She also came to support the kids and helped them find their boards.

As I now teach at Silver Creek High School, our club has been transformed into school district-wide chess club for all age kids and their families.  Hence, our Christmas Blitzkrieg is a club-wide championship and not meant for just the high schoolers.  Anyone could have ended up on our perpetual plaque (except for adults, of course).

Place	Name/Team	Score	Solk	MMed	Cum	CumOp
1	Crowson, Keegan (16)	6.5	39.5	36	29.5	186.5
2	Murphy, Andre (3)	6.5	37.5	37	26.5	179
3	Porth, Desmond (1)	6	41	38	30	191
4	Avila, Tyler (6)	5.5	36	35.5	27.5	168
5	Van Law, Quentin	5.5	34	32.5	22.5	163.5
6	Brimstein, Wesley (2)	5	44.5	40	26	198
7	Porth, Darwin (5)	5	35.5	33	23	165.5
8	Baker, Luke (9)	5	32	29	21	152
9	Kriesen, Walther (24)	5	31	29.5	22	146
10	CantangCatang, Levi	4.5	33.5	30.5	19	151.5
11	Dean, Cooper (17)	4	36.5	27	22	167
12	Baker, Alex (7)	4	36	27	20	149
13	Porth, Dylan (4)	4	33.5	27	24	151.5
14	Beste, Garin (11)	4	32.5	24	18	149.5
15	Bayro, Llantoy (10)	4	30	22	18	128
16	Beste, Kathy (12)	4	17.5	13.5	12	80
17	Sorensen, Noah (25)	3.5	34	27.5	19	154.5
18	Wilson, Gage (27)	3	34	28	14	137.5
19	Hidalgo, Jefferson	3	28	21.5	15	123
20	Gaudreau, Spencer	3	27.5	22	14	114.5
21	Foster, Conrad (18)	3	26	21	12	94
22	Johnson, Judas (21)	3	22.5	17.5	9	94
23	Keefe, Jesse (22)	2	24.5	20	9	98
24	Crespo, Chris (14)	2	24	18.5	5	91.5
25	Baker, Erik (8)	2	20.5	15.5	7	87
26	Cross, Kaiden (15)	1	10.5	6	6	45
27	Kendall, Preston (23)	0	24	17.5	0	98

This is the second year we have Co-champions:  Keegan Crowson and Andre Murphy.  Any of the top three players could have won first prize.  Desmond Porth (3rd place) beat Keegan (1st place),  Andre (2nd place) beat Desmond, and Keegan beat Andre, but Andre beat Desmond!  What a web!  In the end tie-breakers decided the placements.  Great work from all and Congratulations to all winners.

The next tournament:  Santa's Bughouse, Thursday, 12/22/13, 4 pm.

2013 Christmas Blitzkrieg is coming!

Santa loves Blitz!

Join the Blaine County Chess Rage this Thursday, December 12  for a Christmas Blitz tournament.  We begin at 4 pm and will play 8 rounds, 5 minutes per side, with Swiss System of pairing.  The scholastic winner will be declared the Blitz champion for the club and their names will be engraved for perpetuity on our Champions Plaque.  Trophies will be awarded to the top 3 scholastic players (sorry, no trophies for the adults).  Next week, we offer the Bughouse Championship (Santa's Bughouse) with prizes instead of trophies.