DCC 2024 Spring Classic
10:27am Thursday, April 11th, 2024
Given with a calm voice and never in any way demeaning to the player.
Long time Colorado chess players will remember when 40-50 players at a chess tournament was a good attendance. The first DCC Spring Classic had a registration of 90 players. This year I am pleased to say we added 48 players to have a total of 138 players in the 2024 DCC Spring Classic. The best part is we are attracting new players to DCC tournaments.
DCC President and Chief TD Earle Wikle getting the pairings right...
... with the assistance of assistant TD Peter Barlay
Frequently new players will say they got into chess after watching The Queen's Gambit movie, starring Beth Harmon, on Netflix. I am glad I now have something good to say about Hollywood :-) When I mention the movie was based on a book by Walter Tevis, I'll often hear "I didn't know that" Mr. Tevis also wrote "The Hustler" which was also made into a movie, starring Paul Newman. Pool is another game that is all you. Your move. Your shot. In either game, you are under pressure with money on the line. Although I think with chess for most players, it's more about gaining USCF rating points. Going from one rating class to the next level up is well worth striving for and is a genuine accomplishment when done.
An extra added attraction in this tournament was Mike Maloney's donation of a 100 dollar Best Game prize. Thank you kindly, Mr. Maloney. Of course, now we'll expect you to do that at all DCC weekend tournaments :-)
It was good to see two players at this tournament who were essential to the DCC becoming what it is today. Dean Clow created caissachess and thus we have a better than SwissSys pairing program, in addition to an accurate history of DCC tournaments going back to 2014. Chris Peterson built the DCC webpage "from flint and stone" as Chess Mom Nicole Harris said in her American Chess Magazine article, "Purveyors of Hope and Possibility". By all accounts, the DCC has an excellent webpage. Which I'm glad to say also makes these DCC Reports possible :-)
Mr. Peterson took a break from medical school in Idaho and came to this tournament to see friends and donate his time to analyzing players' games, to determine who would win the 100 dollar best game prize that was benevolently donated by Mike Maloney. See NM Peterson's analysis of the prize winning game, after John Brezina's photo links below.
NM Chris Peterson analyzing a player's game with spectators looking on...
...and here reviewing a Dean Clow game. Even Expert players value NM Peterson's advice.
I was impressed by how Mr. Peterson interacted with players who brought him games. It was first rate instruction on how to think about chess positions and play better moves. Given with a calm voice and never in any way demeaning to the player.
Some prize winners may be in this Sherley Herman photograph...
... and here is Shirley Herman herself at the board.
So then, who won prize money and gained rating points at the 2024 DCC Spring Classic? In the Championship section, Once again, Sullivan McConnell was once again paired against his brother, Griffin in the last round. I knew that they would play a few moves and call it a draw. So I went up to their board when the game had just started and said to Griffin, "Take one from your brother just this one time." They both smiled. I asked TD Peter Barlay if the pairing could have been tweaked to prevent the pairing. Mr. Barlay explained that USCF rules do not allow last round pairing "tweaks". I think occasional exceptions to all rules should be allowed.
A dynamic duo. Griffin and Sullivan McConnell.
Anyway, the McConnell brothers and Suhaas Narayanan - the Colorado Closed Challenger winner - all ended up with 4.5 points and they share the combined 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prize, with each player winning 500 dollars. Matthew Wofford won the 250 dollar U2200 prize. I am sure Mr. Wofford's rating will be back over 2200 soon, if not from this tournament. DCC Treasurer, Luis Jimenez gets to write a 250 dollar check for himself by winning the U2000 prize with 3.5 points. I'm also sure Mr. Jimenez will be a USCF Expert before long. In addition to being sure he won't add anything extra to his prize check :-)
Matthew Wofford is ready to play...
... and the DCC Treasurer, Luis Jimenez has started his game.
In the U1800 section, Maxin Millan and long time Colorado player Ken Doykos both finished with 4.5 points. Mr. Millan played very well to have four upsets against higher rated players, including a draw against Mr. Doykos in round 4. They share the combined 1st and 2nd place prize with each player winning 350 dollars. I'm sure Mr. Doykos points were all just lucky. I'm also sure he will remind me I said that next time we play :-) Seth Lichtenstein and Leif McFadden tied for 3rd place with 3.5 points and they each won 100 dollars.
Ken Doykos allowed one draw and otherwise won all his games.
Not knowing the following prize winners, I'm resorting to room shots. What can I say?
In the U1600 section Andrew Stolzmann and Rugal Thiyagarajan both ended up with 4 points. Both players had upset wins in rounds 3, 4, and 5 and they split the combined 1st and 2nd place prize of 575 dollars. Darshan Satishkumar and Mark Brando share the 3rd place prize of 125 dollars.
Unrated James Robertson ruled the U1400 section. His perfect 5-0 score put 325 dollars in his pocket. Brent Ranzi and Ashwin Mathimaran tied for 2nd and 3rd place and both players won 162 dollars and 50 cents.
My bad for not being able to properly identify prize winners.
In the U1200 section, Robert Konerth upset two higher rated players on his way to winning the 1st place prize of 300 dollars with 4.5 points. Then, tying for 2nd and 3rd place, Jason Wuu, Ariana Dani, and Kenny Weinreis each won 100 dollars with 4 points. The U1000 prize of 150 dollars was shared by Hansit Ravada, Connor Romero, Alison Walker, and Benjamin Smith.
So many players, winning so much money. It can not be denied that the DCC spreads the wealth as wide as possible at DCC tournaments. It is also true that with our many sections and Under prizes, everyone - regardless of their USCF rating - has a chance of winning prize money.
TD Earle Wikle trying to get the attention of the room. Thanks again to Chris Peterson - standing on the left - for analyzing player's games. I'm sure that was greatly appreciated by one and all.
A big THANK YOU to all the players who played in the DCC Spring Classic. It is you who makes DCC tournaments great. Thanks are also due to TD's Earle Wikle and Peter Barlay, who ran the tournament quite well. And also, many thanks to the DCC Treasurer, Luis Jimenez. I'm sure his hand gets tired when he is writing all those prize checks :-) Thanks to Rhett Langseth for in addition to playing his last round opponent, he also played a simul against another player, who otherwise would not have had a game. Thanks especially to John Brezina and Shirley Herman for most of the photos used in this report.
Rhett Langseth is on the left playing against two players at once.
See all of Mr. Brezina's photography of the tournament here:
Round 3: https://photos.app.goo.gl/emrZt4NFmwpbnfuk7
Best Game Prize Winner
by NM Christofer Peterson
It was fun, exhilarating, and nostalgic being back at a chess tournament again. Seeing some of my chess-playing buddies again and rooting for them was great. It made me miss competing and I seriously considered joining the event and seeing if I still have what it takes. As it was, I decided to stick to the plan and help a little bit with the event, analyze games, and be the judge of this best game prize. Mike Maloney generously donated $100 to the game that I thought deserved the “best” game prize.
Considering the subjective nature of the “best” game, it falls on me to be as objective as possible. There were several characteristics that I wanted to see in the game that I considered the best of the tournament. Of course, I must caveat that I was given a severely limited game sample. I could only choose from the games submitted to me via email or recorded on the DGT boards. With that said here are the criteria I was looking for:
The game should be decisive. Especially if the game was not submitted to me, I cannot award a single prize to a game that ended in a draw.
Being fond of tactical complexity, I want to see a game that has tactics.
I also wanted to select an inspiring game. This means it can inspire people to better their play with the lessons learned in the game.
I was not overly concerned with the accuracy of play as we are humans and the computer makes fools of us all.
Finally, I was looking for a real struggle. A game where both players were putting their all into winning the game.
With these criteria in mind, I dove into the games and I found several that fit. It was difficult to select a single winning game but I believe this game deserves the best game prize. Not because it is the most precise tactical slugfest of the lot, but because it has qualities that can inspire people to play better chess. Please play through the game, read my analysis, and see if you agree.
Powers, Max (1053) - Konerth, Matthew (919)
Round 2.12 of DCC Spring Classic 2024
2024.04.06
Max Powers finished the tournament with 2.5/5 in the U1200 section. A respectable performance given it is only his 6th tournament. His attacking intuition and willingness to sacrifice material indicate he will be a strong chess player. He should continue to hone his tactics and practice his over-the-board move technique. He will dazzle us all with his brilliant attacking play in no time.
Thank you kindly, Chris. We want to see you at the board for the 2024 Denver Open. Or, from my selfish point of view, a repeat of your excellent analysis of players games.
J.C. MacNeil