March 13^th Report

Last Saturday we welcomed back players to our Super Saturday Quads on March 13th! Thank you to all 49 participants for joining us! Special welcome to all our new players: Aarav K., Tarun, Pedro, Lang, Zoya, Denham, Cristina, Rayan, Aaryan, and Pranav!

 

Let’s take a look at the highlights:

In Over 1000 Section 1, we welcomed six players as opposed to the usual four! In the end Lucas came out on top with 3 wins out of 3, including in a crucial decider game against Vedanta that was full of tactics. Thus even with a bigger section, Lucas proved that he deserved the top spot today! Nicely done!

In Over 1000 Section 2, Amitai was the winner with 2.5 points. Amitai showed us his knowledge of tactics by winning his first two games via multiple sharp combinations involving long-range queen forks, a solid draw with Albert was enough to clinch the section. Excellent job!

In Over 1000 Section 3, we saw a fashionable entrance into the world of Saturday Super Quads by new player Denham! Denham never showed a weak side of him today, earning him 3 out of 3 points! Also new player Pranav was not too far behind with 1 point on debut tournament! Well done to both, and congrats Denham!

In Over 1000 Section 4, the tournament was full of twists and turns, with no player avoiding defeat. In the end, Albert showed us it’s not about how you start, but about how you finish, while Aiden displayed a strong performance throughout. Albert bounced back from a mouse-slip in the first game to tie for first place with Aiden, on 2 points each. Both demonstrated impressive resilience throughout. Nicely done!

In Under 1000 Section 1, we saw another exciting tournament decided by the last game. Internet issues proved no match for the strong games played by all players today in this section! Matthew was ahead of Mark by a point and was able to secure a valuable draw and with it, the tournament, finishing on 2.5 points. Congratulations Matthew!

In Under 1000 Section 2, the winners were dead even with each other, with Ari and Leon tying for first with 2.5 points. The draw between the two players was a thrilling game in which Ari fought back from a piece down to even threaten to win, making the crucial result a fair one on balance. Well played to both!

In Under 1000 Section 3, Everest extends his win streak to 3! After achieving a perfect score last week, Everest managed to end up with 3 points once more, and in a tricky section, too. What an incredible streak!  Everest demonstrated mastery with both black and white pieces, and continues to put on a show in Saturday Super Quads. Good work!

 

In Under 1000 Section 4, technical difficulties did not stop any player from putting out their best attempts at victory! We had a three-way tie for first place! Blake, Ayush, and Joey all scored 2 points! In Blake’s game against Joey, he played a fantastic game, our game of the week, coming back from being down a queen to checkmate with a rook, knight, and bishop in brilliant style! You can see the game here: https://www.chess.com/live/game/9403477893. Very well done to all!

In Under 1000 Section 5, a similar situation happened, with two players being evenly matched and tying for first with 2.5! Congratulations to Ankush and Dylan! They played out a draw in their first game, where an even Caro-Kann was settled through an early repetition. Then, both competitors won games 2 and 3, sharing the spoils of the tournament. Well played by both!

In Under 1000 Section 6, Thaman maintained his good form with a second tournament win in a row! He has now started a great streak. On this occasion, it was his first game win over second-place Andrew that proved decisive, but Thaman contused to win over every opponent in his way! Key to his success was great middlegame understanding which led to material wins. Congratulations!

In Under 1000 Section 7, Aarav G. took over today’s tournament! With Hovannes in second place, he was Aarav’s closest competitor, so the first game between the two was the decider. Aarav demonstrated mesmerizing tactics with an extremely strong pin on the king, combined with the power of the knight fork. Excellent!

In Under 1000 Section 8, there was yet again a new winner! This time, with a perfect 3/3, it was Enzo, who nobody was able to stop. Victories ranged from a quick five-move game to a ground-out ninety-move endgame squeeze. Very well-done Enzo!