On July 10th we welcomed back players to ICA’s Super Saturday Quads! After a week break from quads, players reconvened in 9 action packed sections to battle it out for the first-place spot! Thank you to all players who joined us, and a special welcome to all the new players: Pugazhendi, Mahika, Moses, Ryan, Bentley, and Yiming.
Let us get into the highlights:
In Over 1000 Section 1, we saw a very evenly matched tournament. Every player walked away with at least one win! In fact, there was a three-way tie for second place, with each player having 1 point! That leaves us with the first-place winner Ricnesh! He swept through his opponents, not losing one game. In fact, in his first game vs. Ashwin, we can see a very solid game, where Ricnesh leaps ahead in a seemingly equal rook-and-pawn endgame. Watch how he does it in this game of the week: https://www.chess.com/game/live/19677132557. Congrats!
In Over 1000 Section 2, we had a clear winner. Ekeoma maneuvered through his opponents with tactics and pure attack. When the kingside did not work out for him, Ekoema switched his focus to the queenside and dominated his games to score 2.5/3 for the first place! With his only draw to Mahika, Ekeoma reached the top in style. Well played and keep it up!
In Over 1000 Section 3, we had two big contenders for first place, Aiden and Sophia. When the two faced each other, a draw was made with insufficient material on the board. However, both won their first and last game, earning them both 2.5 points! They could not take down each other, so Aiden and Sophia split first place! Congratulations to both of you!
In Over 1000 Section 4, Rusheel’s first place was within reach, but after an exchange mishap, Rusheel was down material to Francis, who went on to win that game, and draw another one to finish with 2.5 points. With 0.5 more points than Rusheel, Francis takes the gold in this section. Very well deserved!
In Under 1000 Section 1, we had yet another tie for first! These two players both won their first game and last game, and when they battled each other, it was a very tight match! Derek was up a rook and a bishop in the endgame… but Vivek sneakily led him into a stalemate where the game finished in a draw! Congrats to Vivek and Derek for sharing first place!
In Under 1000 Section 2, we see a similar result in the tournament where Hyland and Nitya both finish with 2.5 points to split the first place! In their game against each other, Hyland tried giving a piece for 2 pawns in the endgame, but Nitya stopped his past pawn with her last piece, and the game was drawn with insufficient material. Congrats to both on their accomplishment today!
In Under 1000 Section 3, we again come across a familiar situation, where first place was split among two worthy players! Alvin and Bentley both finished with 2 points, earning themselves each the gold! When paired up against each other, it was Alvin who ended up on top, but with a loss in his last round and a victory for Bentley, the two were all tied up. Nicely done to both!
In Under 1000 Section 4, one player unfortunately never showed up, so there were only three people in the section. Despite this, we were still able to get in some good games. Charles won the section by beating both of his opponents. First, he played a solid game against Daniel and eventually managed to break through his defenses and deliver a quick checkmate. Then, he had a crazy fight against Hovannes. After narrowly escaping Hovannes’ strong attack on his king, Charles mounted a counterattack and checkmated his opponent. Well done, Charles!
In Under 1000 Section 5, Aarav decided to hold nothing back on his opponents this week! Ending up with no losses and 3 points, Aarav proved once again he is a force to be reckoned with. With clever tactics, Aarav was able to win material and then go in for the checkmate shortly after! Well played and keep up the performance!
Visitors: 79