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October 30th Spring Lake Scholastic
Tournament report by Dr. Tony Palmer
Photo Credit: Joe Singerling
Spring Lake held an open tournament on Saturday, October 30 with 22 students in two Sections: Junior and Scholastic. In the Junior Section, Jacob Johnson again won all four of his games to win the First Place trophy scoring 4-0. Joel Buhrer and Joshua Posthuma tied for Second and Third Place with 3-1 scores and they each earned medals. Erik Erhorn, Prescott Gallagher, Quinn Hatton, Marshall Bailey and Joshua VanderMeulen broke even at 2-2 tying for 4-8th Place. The other competitors in the Junior Section were Paul Buhrer, Mrinnal Muralidhar, Kyle Young and Patrick Brott who all played well and gained valuable experience. In the Scholastic Section, Nathan Peterson won all four games to take home the First Place trophy with 4-0. Schafer Bailey was clear Second Place with an excellent 3-1 score, while Andrew Hylen and Kaleb Packard each had two wins plus a draw for 3-4th Place. Several players scored 1.5 points: Ryan Ross, Trenton Hildenbrand, Ben Kitchel, Jackson Collins and Nick Collins, then Ben Collins had one draw. The focus on this event was taking notation, so their games could be reviewed later; Kyle Young and Ben Collins each won a prize for Best Notation in their Section. Since it was Halloween Eve, Dr. Tony easily won the Costume Contest in his regal King outfit, with Honorable Mention to Andrew Hylen and Joshua Posthuma.
Photo Credit: Joe Singerling
All games were G/15 Unrated; Dr. Tony handled the pairings while Joe Singerling tracked the results. After the four rounds were finished, everyone enjoyed a pizza lunch followed by a teaching session with Dr. Tony reviewing games. Every student who presented their game to the group took home a free Lake Effect Chess Newsletter. The next tournament will be on Saturday, November 20, 2010 which will again be four round Unrated, and open format (play whatever, not thematic). Please bring a two Liter pop to share for lunch.
Photo Credit: Joe Singerling
Most players were unaware of a specific tournament rule for sudden death events. To win a game on time, you must have mating material where you can potentially mate the opposing King, and even a single Pawn would count since it could Queen. There were two examples of a lone King against several pieces and Pawns, which were declared drawn when the superior side's flag fell. Again, you must have at least one Pawn on the board to claim a win on time. On the other side, if you are very close to losing on time, one way to keep the draw in hand is eliminating all of your opponent's pieces and Pawns so they are left with a bare King, then you cannot lose.
All participants are encouraged to review their best games, annotate them, and send them to WestMichiganChess as a surefire way to improve. Here are some puzzles from our tournament:
1) White to Play and Win
2) Black to Play and Win
3) White to Play and Win
4) Black to Play and Win
5) White to Play and Win
6) Black to Play and Win
7) White to Play and Win
8) Black to Play and Win
SOLUTIONS
1) 1. Qf8#.
2) 1 ... Qxf2#.
3) 1. Qxg7#.
4) 1 ... Bh3+ 2. Kg1 Qe1#.
5) 1. Qd5 or 1. Qa4.
6) 1 ... Ne2+ 2. Kh2 Nxg3.
7) 1. Bxf6 Qxf6 2. Nxg4.
8) 1 ... Bh6 2. h4 f6. |
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