A bit late in the day comes this account of the first and second rounds of the Handicap Tournament which took place on January 24, writes Tournament Organiser Arnold Hunt.
A total of twenty-four competitors were willing to put their skills to the test in this challenging and unusual contest. The tournament kicked off in an atmosphere of cheerful chaos.
Pairs if names were drawn from a hat to establish pairings for the first round. The results are given below.
Colours were dependent upon grade difference (see rules) but where there was parity (grades within one hundred of each other) colous were decided by the toss of a coin and records have not been kept.
FIRST ROUND
Hendrik Wessels 1654 0 – I Roshaan Nazir 1420
Alan Palmer 1712 1 – 0 Steve Barry 1690
George Ainsworth 1982 1 – 0 Marco Flaccavento 1138
Paul Stokes 1886 0 – 1 Djuna Tree 1605
Anand Batsukh 2203 1 – 0 Theodore Kokokrris 1710
Mifail Tota 1838 0 – 1 Joel Morales 1545
Sam Riggs 1608 0 – 1 Gregory Konyakhin 1604
Tung Nguyen 1875 1 – 0 Andy Horvath 1260
Midhun Unikrishnan 2275 0 – 1 Will Stafford 1549
Olya Orell 1448 0 – 1 Zoya Boozorginia 1361
Edward Clark 1506 1 – 0 Michael Gilyatt 1616
Ven Bermudez 1514 1 – 0 David Blackwell 1370
Surprise results were inevitable. With the black pieces and minus his f-pawn Hendrik went down to Roshaan Nazir. Alan Palmer, our chairperson and current holder of this magnificent trophy beat Steve Barry on equal terms.
It was great to see Steve at the club. He is a former holder of this trophy and his name appears as the winner in 1969. Yes, that’s right, 1969. You saw it here first folks!
George Ainsworth arrived late and was probably less than delighted to learn that he had to give a queen to Marco Flaccavento yet still he managed to prevail – a noble effort. This was a shock. Anyone who has played Marco will know that his current grade is hardly a true reflection of his ability or his fighting spirit.
Next up was Paul Stokes and Djuna Tree. With a grading deficit of 281 Djuna was in safe possession of Paul’s f pawn before the start and playing with her customary intensity was able to make the advantage count against Paul, another former cup holder.
Zoya was late arriving for her game but as her opponent Olya had not arrived at all Zoya was given the point.
Gregory Konyakhin playing with confidence and an alarming concentration defeated Sam Riggs on equal terms.
Tung, giving hefty odds of a rook prevailed against Andy Horvath. Andy was the first of the twenty-four contestants to apply for a place and will be disappointed. Unlucky Andy – hope to see you next year. Midhun possibly misinterpreting what was meant by the H word was half expecting to play blindfold (!) but found he only had to give up (I think) a rook and subsequently lost his way against a determined Will Stafford.
Ven, last name to come out of the hat, had to summon all his customary inventiveness to get the better of David Blackwell.
I would like to thank all the entrants but especially the stronger players who put themselves forward for this competition. Clearly for them, for Midhun, George, Anand, Mifail and Tung the prospect of having to give up pieces could not have been quite so attractive as the possibility of receiving pieces!
I must also thank Steve Barry who arrived early and helped me so much during the set-up and the draw.
SECOND ROUND
The Knock Out format of the tournament meant that the field of teeny-four was now reduced to twelve. The hat was brought out again and the draw for pairings took place. Here are the results of the second round of the Handicap Tournament:
Will Stafford 1549 1 – 0 Roshaan Nazir 1420
Gregory Karyakhin 1604 1 – 0 Edward Clark 1506
Joel Morales 1545 0 – 1 Tung Nguyen 1815
Zoya Boozorginia 1361 0 – 1 Ven Bermudez 1514
Anand Batsukh 2203 0 – 1 Alan Palmer 1712
Djuna Tree 1605 1 – 0 George Ainsworth 1982
No great shocks here but what was gratifying for me as an organiser was that the games were played with great seriousness and commitment. In a tournament such as this which is (a) ungraded and (b) downright weird in concept there might just be the smallest of temptations to slide into a triviality, of approach. That didn’t happen. I certainly got the impression that everyone was playing their utmost. The games really mattered.
The field was now reduced to six players. A show of hands indicated that players wanted the draw for the third round to take place before winding up the evening. Below are the pairings for the third round (the quarter finals in effect) to take place on Feb 14 at the club.
THIRD ROUND PAIRINGS
Ven Bermudez 1514 v Djuna Tree 1605
Alan Palmer 1712 v Tun Nguyen 1815
Edward Clark * 1506 v Will Stafford 1549
*Gregory Koryakhin sadly had to withdraw. His place is the third round goes to the opponent he defeated in the previous round.
The eagle-eyed among you will notice the flaw in some of these arrangements.. The three games scheduled above will yield three winners but of course four winners are required for a sensible semi-final. The difficulty has arisen because we did not achieve our aim of thirty-two participants for the tournament – thirty-two reduces naturally to four players. How is this to be resolved? As follows:
The three games above should be completed around 9.00 pm on the next evening of play Feb 14. The three losers will then play a round robin at a time control of 10 + 10 the winner will provide a fourth semi finalist. A first place tie in the round robin in the round robin will be decided with 3 + 2 blitz games
