September Calvin Challenge and Scholastic
Eugene Brumley reports.
Scholastic Winner Leah Ziegler shows her mettle.
Photo Credit: David Ziegler
This month’s Calvin Challenge saw the marathoners of chess crossing swords. Coming the weekend after the State’s annual Championship, few expected a large crowd at Grand Rapids’ monthly tournament. Even so, nineteen people came to play, including six in the scholastic section and thirteen in the open section. Notably, tournament director Katy Ford, Eric Fischvogt and Ratko Bojanovic were at their third chess tournament in two weeks. All three competed in the 2009 Michigan Open and the 2009 Michigan Open Sharpener invitational in Grand Haven.
Eric Fischvogt at 2009 Michigan Open
Photo Credit: Rose Homa
The competition was tough for everyone Saturday. No one had a perfect score. Eric and his student Leah Ziegler each took clear first in their sections—is there a connection here?--but not without a couple of fighting draws along the way. Eugene Brumley had Eric on the ropes for a short while, and neither competitor offered a draw until both sides were left with only a King and Rook (although Eugene wanted to keep pressing on, searching for an advantage).
Eugene Brumley with a Chess Set
Photo Credit: Katie Brumley
Leah shone, in a round robin of her peers, with 4½ points out of 5. Leah is eight years old and has been serious about chess for about a year. Her hard work has paid off. This tournament is the first one Leah has won. Her dad, David Ziegler, is proud of Leah’s diligence in chess and in other pursuits. She practices guitar and poetry, and studies both Chinese and Spanish, among other activities. Her stellar performance barely eclipsed Praneet Gogireddy – who saw his rating double to 362 with a score of 4 points.
The open section drew five players rated Class A or higher, including a rare appearance by Tim McGrew who filled in for three rounds as a house player. Eric won the section with 3½ out of 4, surviving the gamut of three of the top five place finishers. Eugene and Belton Shumpert tied for second place with 3 out of 4 points. Belton took the first place under 1500 prize, while Eugene was awarded second place overall.
Belton Shumpert at Common Ground
Photo Credit: Eugene Brumley
Belton is relatively new to the Grand Rapids chess scene and tournament life as well. This month’s tournament was his third Calvin Challenge (in a row!) and he had a great one. Along the way to scoring 3 points he lost only to Kalamazoo Expert, Tim McGrew. All of his victories were upsets – Belton’s defeated opponents outrated him by an average of more than 100 points. His success Saturday pushed his rating up nearly 200 points to 1507. When I asked him about his tournament success he told me, “In past Calvin Challenges I would play not to lose. For this one, I played to win.”
Congratulations Belton!
A selection of games from the September Calvin can be found here:
http://www.westmichiganchess.com/Shared%20Documents/2009_2/200909calvin.htm
The USCF-rated cross tables can be found here:
http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200909120871-12630415