Raleigh Durham, N.C. 29 Feb – 1 March

The Huntsville Chess Club celebrated leap year by travelling to North Carolina for the U.S. Amateur Team South event at the Four Points by Sheraton in Morrisville, N.C.

Round 1

On our way, we discussed the need to name our team. At Charles’s suggestion, the name “Hunstville Rookets” was chosen. The rest of the drive was filled with speculation about who we would be paired against for the first round. With pre-registered entries not changing much in the previous few days, we had a decent idea that we’d be playing the top seeded team in the 2-day schedule and began some book prep for each of the opponents on our respective boards.

The next morning, we awoke to discover that we were seeded a bit lower in the tournament than originally thought. We’d be the 10th seeded team out of 24. Our prep wouldn’t pay off unless we played the top seeded team during the tournament.

The team we were paired against was a group of Italian speaking guys with their board 1 a strong 2310 player. Our team rating (1787) was about 300 points lower than theirs. There was a church group meeting next door who filled the planned silence with passionate yelling and proselytizing with not too family-friendly language. It was an interesting background to the normal expectations of peace and quiet. Charles was prepared for the possibility of a noisy playing hall and handed out earplugs. Despite being outgunned by rating, Charles and Pat managed draws against their much higher-rated opponents.

Round 2

The next round, we were a bit disappointed to be paired against a much lower rated team and even with the continued screams from the church group next door, soundly defeated them 3-1.

Round 3

The last round of the evening was also against a lower rated team, though not nearly as big of a difference as our 2nd round. We were thankful to have 3 of 4 boards decided in our favor in time to get some much needed rest. Charles battled a fiercely determined player on Board 1, but eventually got the predicted result for a clean sweep.

Round 4

This round, our opponents had a rating average 50 points above us. If there was any doubt we were there to play, there would not be after the round completed with us on top 3.5-0.5.

Round 5

The last round of the tournament was filled with drama and anticipation. This time, we were paired against another powerhouse team with 2.5/4 points who had higher ratings on each board between 200-500 points. Our opponents were literally “out to lunch” for the first 20 minutes of the round. Cool heads prevailed and Charles and Joel scored upsets against their opponents and came away with the full point, while Pat ended with his opponent’s only draw of the tournament – giving us 4 points out of 5 and a 2.5-1.5 upset victory!

Joel provided real-time updates to the rest of the team about the results of Table 1’s games. If the top seeded team came out on top, we’d take clear 2nd! If they lost or drew, our final standing would be left up to the tiebreaks.

Results

Our team’s MVP, Charles ended the tournament with 4.5/5.0 which was enough to secure the Top Board 1 prize of a commemorative clock!

Unfortunately, the underdog team came away from the last round with a draw and our tiebreaks didn’t quite add up in our favor. We ended up finishing in 3rd on tiebreaks and the only group in the top 7 finishers with a team average lower than 2100. We finished 5 places above the next closest team for the U2000 prize, so that’s the trophy we took home (along with 4 commemorative chess clocks).

I don’t think anyone could have predicted how well we would do during this tournament and we were all very proud of our team’s performance. We left the tournament site for home at around 8pm and though mentally drained and physically spent, we were in high spirits. Though there were stormed predicted for the morning, the team stopped a bit after 1am in Ashville, N.C. to rest up for the remainder of their journey.

Tournament Cross-Table

Everyone on the team ended up with a net gain in rating points:

Charles +44

Joel +13

Pat +29

Tomasz +24

#/Bd	Name	ID	Rtng	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1/1	Meidinger, Charles	10237114	2032	ROOKETS	D19	W7	W13	W11	W6	4.5
2/1	Ludwig, John Gabri	13721287	2436	BOLDY	D12	W6	W17	W19	W10	4.5
3/1	Triplett, Luke F	13880715	2076	DURHAM	D9	W16	D14	W17	W46	4.0
4/1	Moon, Benjamin	12910643	2370	L4MATES	W16	W9	W20	D10	—	3.5
5/1	Smithwick, John	10207029	2007	HVCC	U—	W22	W21	W23	D20	3.5
6/1	Rabin, Evan	12720571	2217	AIN’TNO	W24	L2	W9	W20	L1	3.0
7/1	Paolantonio, Chris	16045345	1207	TEAMMATE	W8	L1	W24	L21	B—	3.0
8/1	Bhatt, Anand P	13539992	2093	BHATT	L7	W19	W18	W12	—	3.0
9/1	Matta, Nicholas F	12845401	2341	FRACTURE	D3	L4	L6	W16	W12	2.5
10/1	Wang, Tianqi	14099361	2433	E4	L42	W11	W19	D4	L2	2.5
11/1	Qiu, Ziyang	15172446	1946	RTPBOY4	W14	L10	W15	L1	D13	2.5
12/1	Hoshor, Mark T	10197996	2240	SAVANNAH	D2	W24	W22	L8	L9	2.5
13/1	Yang, Kevin C	15911246	1672	ROOKTS	L20	W21	L1	W18	D11	2.5
14/1	Blalock, Rex Eugen	11089739	2141	BLOCKADE	L11	W23	D3	W41	L16	2.5
15/1	Weaver IV, Roy H	14303468	2026	NUTZ	W23	L17	L11	W22	D37	2.5
16/1	Tavares, Jarrod	12761163	1940	ANDRSTAN	L4	L3	W23	L9	W14	2.0
17/1	Xue, Jerry Q	15886168	1833	RTP4K	W95	W15	L2	L3	L19	2.0
18/1	Walsh, Sara	12457717	1898	SABOTEUR	W22	W20	L8	L13	U—	2.0
19/1	Miellier, Yan	14765816	2310	AGAINST	D1	L8	L10	L2	W17	1.5
20/1	Dawley, Dennis W	10108730	1917	TEAM1	W13	L18	L4	L6	D5	1.5
21/1	Karlok, Harrison	17309881	unr.	JUMPWELL	L83	L13	L5	W7	L22	1.0
22/1	Dasari, Sushma Red	15438788	1547	TEAM2	L18	L5	L12	L15	W21	1.0
23/1	Chen, Eric	15920213	1424	PUMPKINS	L15	L14	L16	L5	W24	1.0
24/1	Bellamkonda, Sandhya	17147582	1696	USWOMEN	L6	L12	L7	U—	L23	0.0
25/2	Teodori, Dario	14243817	2175	AGAINST	W33	W37	D29	W28	W43	4.5
26/2	Cipollina, Anthony	13713973	1975	NUTZ	W47	W43	W44	W38	D56	4.5
27/2	Fernandez, Nelson	15710247	2135	FRACTURE	W30	L31	W39	W40	W32	4.0
28/2	Cooke, Eric	11180035	2235	BOLDY	W32	W39	W43	L25	D29	3.5
29/2	Zhu, Neo	14546895	2164	E4	W72	D44	D25	W31	D28	3.5
30/2	Chaves, Christophe	13791477	1947	DURHAM	L27	W40	W35	D43	W67	3.5
31/2	Biernacki, Mark	13103304	2151	L4MATES	W40	W27	W34	L29	—	3.0
32/2	Kelly, Skyler Patr	14937055	1730	SAVANNAH	L28	W41	W38	W37	L27	3.0
33/2	Friedman, Joel Nic	14466418	1835	ROOKETS	L25	L36	W45	W44	W39	3.0
34/2	Tulchinskiy, Mark	16915675	1902	TEAM1	W45	W67	L31	L39	W42	3.0
35/2	Blalock, Richard	13979000	1688	BLOCKADE	W44	W47	L30	W70	L40	3.0
36/2	Kota, Rohit Appa	16392137	1009	TEAMMATE	L37	W33	L41	W48	B—	3.0
37/2	Bhatt, Shantam T	13737091	2002	BHATT	W36	L25	W46	L32	D15	2.5
38/2	Molnar, Mihai Rola	16645268	1334	TEAM2	D46	W42	L32	L26	W48	2.5
39/2	Pealer, Shawn	12529025	2156	AIN’TNO	W41	L28	L27	W34	L33	2.0
40/2	Fleming, Andrew Ja $m	12877894	1900	ANDRSTAN	L31	L30	W47	L27	W35	2.0
41/2	Arora, Anika	16158438	1232	USWOMEN	L39	L32	W36	L14	W47	2.0
42/2	Tedder, Michael	12529832	1639	HVCC	W10	L38	—	W47	L34	2.0
43/2	Wang, Nicholas	15583123	1672	RTP4K	W64	L26	L28	D30	L25	1.5
44/2	Xi, Kevin Y	15086166	1880	RTPBOY4	L35	D29	L26	L33	W69	1.5
45/2	Zhang, Vivian	15835486	1420	ROOKTS	L34	W48	L33	D67	—	1.5
46/2	Walsh, Jeffrey G	12402805	1873	SABOTEUR	D38	L34	L37	U—	L3	0.5
47/2	Zhao, Alexander	15350588	1419	PUMPKINS	L26	L35	L40	L42	L41	0.0
48/2	McDaniel, Matthew	17309875	unr.	JUMPWELL	L61	L45	L72	L36	L38	0.0
49/3	Kothapalli, Pradhy	15273893	2072	AIN’TNO	W70	W66	W50	W57	D53	4.5
50/3	Karp, Eli M	13703405	2093	FRACTURE	W68	W55	L49	W58	W54	4.0
51/3	Chen, Alex	14659230	2128	E4	W88	W52	W60	L55	W66	4.0
52/3	Indermaur, Samuel	14726917	1818	RTPBOY4	W71	L51	W59	D53	W85	3.5
53/3	Dowd, Patrick	12587461	1745	ROOKETS	D60	W65	W69	D52	D49	3.5
54/3	Solis, David	12840323	1640	SAVANNAH	W66	W70	W62	D56	L50	3.5
55/3	Peatman, Carter Fr	12945576	2125	L4MATES	W58	L50	W57	W51	—	3.0
56/3	Bhatt, Josh L	14458623	1682	BHATT	W65	L60	W67	D54	D26	3.0
57/3	Lewis, Shane Edwar	12889895	1896	TEAM1	W69	W87	L55	L49	W72	3.0
58/3	Zylstra, Isaac Sim	12871543	1879	ANDRSTAN	L55	W68	W63	L50	W71	3.0
59/3	White, Warren R	12933026	1560	NUTZ	L63	W61	L52	W62	W94	3.0
60/3	Laureano, Dereck	12785558	2032	AGAINST	D53	W56	L51	L66	W61	2.5
61/3	Wang, Kevan Chen	15436556	1670	RTP4K	W48	L59	D66	W68	L60	2.5
62/3	Shanmugavadivel, V	14714392	1300	TEAM2	L67	W72	L54	L59	W64	2.0
63/3	Xu, Yichen	17202036	1158	PUMPKINS	W59	W71	L58	L88	L70	2.0
64/3	Cary, Jackson	17309153	unr.	JUMPWELL	L43	L69	W88	W65	L62	2.0
65/3	Medvinsky, Lior	15360460	930	TEAMMATE	L56	L53	W70	L64	B—	2.0
66/3	Durand, Phillip	15749740	1981	BOLDY	L54	L49	D61	W60	L51	1.5
67/3	Lingard, James	12452819	1800	SABOTEUR	W62	L34	L56	D45	L30	1.5
68/3	Norry, William	13738340	1035	DURHAM	L50	L58	W71	L61	D87	1.5
69/3	Cao, Zhiyu	17128466	1319	ROOKTS	L57	W64	L53	D87	L44	1.5
70/3	D’Aquin, Leila A	14194534	1219	USWOMEN	L49	L54	L65	L35	W63	1.0
71/3	Blalock, Maria Arm	14792451	1479	BLOCKADE	L52	L63	L68	W91	L58	1.0
72/3	Ray, Gordan	13208602	1586	HVCC	L29	L62	W48	—	L57	1.0
73/4	Hargrove, James Er	12694454	1927	FRACTURE	W93	D84	W75	W81	W80	4.5
74/4	Yan, Benjamin	15047644	2038	E4	W97	W86	W79	W84	D77	4.5
75/4	Kantor, Alan	10118506	2000	AIN’TNO	W91	W77	L73	W89	W82	4.0
76/4	Nalaneelan, Sarvaj	16072606	1228	TEAM2	W87	W97	L80	W90	W95	4.0
77/4	Bowman, William	12817081	1942	BOLDY	W80	L75	W83	W79	D74	3.5
78/4	Yang, Lillian H	16913265	1063	PUMPKINS	W90	W92	L81	W97	D91	3.5
79/4	Terradas, Nicolas	15186850	1988	AGAINST	W82	W94	L74	L77	W83	3.0
80/4	Gregory, Tyler $m26	14080364	1588	SAVANNAH	L77	W91	W76	W94	L73	3.0
81/4	Hwang, Stan	12541467	1855	ANDRSTAN	L84	W93	W78	L73	W92	3.0
82/4	Nielsen, Tomasz	12820023	1537	ROOKETS	L79	W96	W85	W86	L75	3.0
83/4	Ye, Andrew	15340905	1516	RTP4K	W21	W90	L77	W93	L79	3.0
84/4	Oen, Grant	12926610	2113	L4MATES	W81	D73	W89	L74	—	2.5
85/4	Miller, Ryan	15969493	1303	ROOKTS	D89	W95	L82	W98	L52	2.5
86/4	Liu, Robert	14712510	1706	RTPBOY4	W92	L74	D90	L82	X—	2.5
87/4	Leblanc, Robert B	12319440	1249	SABOTEUR	L76	L57	W94	D69	D68	2.0
88/4	Hight Jr, Raymond	10207177	1443	HVCC	L51	76	L64	W63	W89	2.0
89/4	Kolla, Harvik	15309118	1556	TEAM1	D85	W98	L84	L75	L88	1.5
90/4	Cianfarra, Joseph	12952222	1173	NUTZ	L78	L83	D86	L76	X—	1.5
91/4	Arora, Amber	16724123	941	USWOMEN	L75	L80	W96	L71	D78	1.5
92/4	Blalock, John	13979015	1068	BLOCKADE	L86	L78	D93	W99	L81	1.5
93/4	Caveney, Brandon	14498882	848	DURHAM	L73	L81	D92	L83	D98	1.0
94/4	Bhatt, Marion	17147561	unr.	BHATT	X96	L79	L87	L80	L59	1.0
95/4	Cheatham, Sam Tay	17305316	unr.	JUMPWELL	L17	L85	L97	W96	L76	1.0
96/4	Tamada, Anvitha +m	unr.	TEAMMATE	F94	L82	L91	L95	B—	1.0
97/5	Takami, Robert S	14312991	1202	HVCC	L74	L76	W95	L78	—	1.0
98/5	Brace, Tyler	17310673	unr.	SABOTEUR	U—	L89	U—	L85	D93	0.5
99/5	Paolantonio, Anast	16583151	606	USWOMEN	U—	U—	U—	L92	U—	0.0
100/6	Grimaud, Maureen	13552285	440	USWOMEN	U—	U—	U—	U—	U—	0.0