Another month means another Livingston tournament. This month we were doing our scholastic (Swiss-style) tournament in which the games become more even as the three rounds progress. Winners play winners and losers (I hate using that word) play losers.
Our beginner section consisted of six players this week, all ranging from K-4 (but mostly around 1st grade) with a rating of less than 200. As always, these are unrated games, meaning they’re a great way for kids to enjoy the challenge of a chess tournament without a lot of stress and anxiety. Our focus is on the joy of playing chess, with winning being a bonus that sometimes happens. This is also the only section with medals for participation. Any child who does not win a trophy receives one, so that they walk away feeling like they’ve accomplished something. This week’s winner was Jack Boutle, who came in first with a perfect three points. He also spent the entire tournament smiling, and was without a doubt the happiest player across any section. The first and largest of our rated sections is for junior-players in terms of skill, not age. As any tournament director will tell you, age is only moderately correlated with success in chess. Natural skill and effort both play major roles. This section was won by Paul Shim, the highest rated player in the section. The highest rated player isn’t always the winner, but is the theoretical favorite to place first. As proof that you never quite know what’s going to happen, Leyla Jane Derbaremdiker placed third even though she was seeded 14th. You just never know when it comes to chess. Our intermediate section featured 12 players ranging from 568 rating up to 978. These players now take their games seriously, play more slowly, and have mastered more advance tactics than the prior section. Today’s winner was Ashrith Thota. At 660 rating, he was seeded 7th out of 12. As I said before, you just never know who is going to win. Our advanced section had just four players. Chess is funny like this. As chess players’ ratings increase, they become risk-averse. They’ve worked hard to gather their rating points and don’t want to risk that young, underrated players will win against them and “steal” their hard-earned rating points. This habit becomes noticeable around the 1200-1400 level, and increasingly common as players’ ratings increase. I am routinely approached by players and parents wanting to “play up” against more advanced opponents in the hope of increasing their rating. What they fail to recognize is that few players want to “play down”. Hence why players begin hoarding their points. They often want to play only if they feel their chance of increasing rating is even or stacked in their favor. My advice is for players to play, play, play. As one grandmaster pointed out, the ability to beat underrated opponents is a skill in chess like any other. We don’t take our rating points into the afterlife when we die, and nobody is going to build a pyramid in our honor and place our rating points inside. So don’t hesitate to play chess, even against lower-rated opponents. One’s true skill is what matters, not a mathematical assessment of that skill. Losses lower rating, not one’s true skill. So play often and play hard. That’s my view. And speaking of playing hard, that’s exactly what Ethan Jiang did today. He was seeded second in the section but managed to win first place. Congrats to Ethan and to all of our winners. Our next Livingston event will be on July 28. I look forward to seeing you all there.
Stephen Lorimor
K-4 Unrated
K-12 / Under 600
K-12 / Under 1000
K-12 / Under 1400
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