Change of Scene

In a stroke of good fortune, the main room of Mario’s Five Points was rented out this week, so the participants of the free unrated tournament were forced to brave the fresh air and beautiful weather in their journey for the 2nd clock prize offered this year for the winner of our free unrated tournament.

Tomasz Nielsen tried his hand at Tournament Director duties for the first time and there were no casualties! He also graciously provided a chess clock to the victor of the event and sent photos for this blog. Chess Organizers are difficult to come by, but events like these would not happen with out them, so please make sure to thank him for his efforts in keeping our Tuesday night events going strong the next time you see him.

As with other events occurring all throughout the country, there has been a large number of unrated (but very strong) participants, and this tournament was no different. Of the 15 players, only 3 have established USCF ratings. This indicates not only that the growth of our US chess population is very healthy, but that the new players are eager to get in the ring for some competition!

Results

Sarah May was the winner of the 2nd clock prize for 2021.

When the smoke cleared after Round 4, the top seed, Sarah May, had earned the victory and highly coveted chess clock. Finishing strong and proving that rating is “nothing but a number,” were Ryan Cobb, Thomas Gilbreath, and Patrick Farnham.

We learned that this week is Thomas Gilbreath’s last week in Huntsville, as he’s moving out of town for a new gig. We’ve really enjoyed having him around since he relocated to the area just prior to the pandemic and wish him the best of luck in the future. Thomas is easily one of Alabama’s most dedicated tournament participants, so we know we’ll see him around.

Final Standings

Place	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Tot
1	SARAH MAY	2041	B—	W14	W6	W2	4.0
2-4	RYAN COBB	unr.	W15	W8	W7	L1	3.0
	THOMAS GILBREATH	1330	W13	L7	W5	W10	3.0
	PATRICK FARNHAM	unr.	L5	W11	W9	W7	3.0
5-6	JOEL NIC FRIEDMAN	1842	W4	D6	L3	W11	2.5
	BROCK SEABAUGH	unr.	W11	D5	L1	W8	2.5
7-10	NICK DAVIS	unr.	W9	W3	L2	L4	2.0
	JIMMY MCHUGH	500	W12	L2	W15	L6	2.0
	AARON HOUIN	unr.	L7	B—	L4	W12	2.0
	CALEB WOODS	unr.	—	W13	W12	L3	2.0
11-14	PABLO MAYA	unr.	L6	L4	W13	L5	1.0
	MICHAEL KIDD	unr.	L8	W15	L10	L9	1.0
	GARY HERRING	unr.	L3	L10	L11	B—	1.0
	JOSH BATCHELOR	300	B—	L1	—	—	1.0
15-19	MATTHEW JONES	unr.	L2	L12	L8	—	0.0