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Global warming hit Saint Louis hard right in time for the Doomsday Festival. 60 degrees temperatures in mid-December helped boost attendance for all three events. A total of 31 players turned out for the first tourney: the 10-Minute Decimation. Rules like "touch move" and "illegal moves end games" was in effect for all three events.
In the 10-Minute Decimation, amazingly there were no upsets in round 1. In round 2, Joseph Wojcik scored the first upset of the day by defeating expert Matt Larson. Wojcik stayed up all night getting mentally prepared for the event.
In round 3, CCSCSL favorite Senad Smajlagic crashed Wojcik's dreams back into reality to boost his score to 3-0. Top seed Joe Garnier lost to Michael Askin. Michael's brother, David, wasn't as fortunate as he lost to the always tough James McLaughlin.
In round 4, Senad and James McLaughlin kept rolling to remain the only two with a perfect score to set up the championship match. The round was scheduled to start promptly at 3 p.m. Everyone was in their seat except Senad!? The tournament director, Mike Kummer, announced the start of the round, then hurried to find Senad, who had stepped out to catch some fresh air in front of the Chess Club. He hurried up to the tourney hall two minutes late, but to his delight his opponent had mercy on him and had not started the clock. Senad played a solid game and in the end showed no mercy! Senad was thrilled with his $50 first prize.
Joe Garnier got revenge on the Askin family by defeating David and knocking him out of prize contention. Garnier was part of a five-way tie for 2nd Place/U2000. Julian Proleiko finished strong by defeating club regular Jonathan Schrantz to get in on a six-way tie for the U1700/U1400 prize. Twelve of the 31 players in the event won a prize.
A total of 17 players turned out for the Armageddon Open. In the event, white started with six minutes and black started with four minutes. But white had to win to get the full point while black could either win or draw to earn the full point. The No. 1 seed was overtaken by Iskandar Aripov, who has been on fire since moving with his family to Saint Louis. Aripov came solo on this day leaving his talented sisters, Nozima and Nigina, behind. In round 1, Jonathan Schrantz scored a huge upset by beating No. 2 seed Joe Garnier. Schrantz kept his momentum rolling as he upset No. 4 seed Matt Larson. Larson is much better when he has more time. Schrantz's great run overshadowed Julian Proleiko's upset streak.
Julian's aggressive, quick-moving style plays perfectly into the Armageddon game. Julian "Pro"leiko got the better of much higher0rated players Michael Askin and James McLaughlin. In round 3, Schrantz could not take down the No. 1 seed Aripov and Julian fell to Chess expert Alex Marler. In round 4, Aripov ended Marler's winning streak, Garnier was too much for Proleiko and McLaughlin kept Schrantz down. In round 5, Julian beat expert Matt Larson to lock up the U1400 prize. In the sixth and final round, McLaughlin again finished the event on board 1, but to his dismay his result was the same. This time a loss to No. 1 seed Aripov. Aripov won the $50 with a perfect 6-0 score. Schrantz finished strong to capture the U1700 prize.
McLauglin tied for 2nd/U2000 with Joe Garnier and David Askin.
Onto the Bughouse Annihilation! The favorites in the winner-take-all event were Aripov and McLaughin as the "Odd Couple" along with Garnier and John "Boyer Time" Boyer, who teamed up as "The Beefy Crew." The highest-rated player, National Master Spencer Finegold, was not part of the favorite pack as he was stuck with TD Mike Kummer, who agreed to pay the team's entry fee for a shot at glory. "Ridiculous!" showed why they were underdogs in the first round as Kummer was losing to elementary school student Andrew Voelker, but Jim Voelker in his haste to get his son more pieces made two moves in a row. Illegal! Game over. "Ridiculous!" wins in ridiculous fashion. The "Odd Couple" dispensed of the duo Clark Berry and Julian Proleiko ("The Lowest Team"). Since there are no bughouse ratings, "The Beefy Crew", got the good fortune to be paired against "The Lowest Team." The match was a complete blowout.
In round 2, "The Beefy Crew" once again got a break with the pairings. Instead of playing either, "The Odd Couple" or "Ridiculous!", they played two unrated high schoolers. It is "Unkown" how that pair managed to win their first match. Once again, Garnier and Boyer pulverized their competition by communicating well and playing fast.
On board 1, Spencer chose the wrong variation to check Aripov's king to death. Aripov found a safe square for his king and prevailed from there. In round 3, "The Beefy Crew" was finally out of breaks as SwissSys paired them against "The Odd Couple." Never backing down from the challenge, Garnier and Boyer pulled out the game in typical Bughouse fashion. "Ridiculous!" stayed in the hunt by quickly eliminating Clark Berry's team. On Board 4, it is "Unknown" how there was a draw in a Bughouse event, but it happened!
In round 4, "The Odd Couple" regrouped against "The Lowest Team" boosting their score to 3 meaning they would need "The Beefy Crew" to stumble against "Ridiculous!" to get a three-way share of the title. "The Beefy Crew" played well and got off to a good start in the game. Boyer failed to sac his knight on f2 when he had the chance leaving the door open for Kummer to attack. By this time Spencer was in trouble vs. Garnier. So Boyer decided to let his clock run and not let Kummer move. Spencer, despite a 20-second disparity, decided to do the same. Tick, tick, tick. Over a minute went by with no moves.
Bam, then there was a slew of moves on both boards, with Kummer and Garnier both trying to deliver checkmate, while their opponents were just trying to survive. Less than 10 seconds remained on both Spencer's and Boyer's clock. Tick, Tick, Tick. FLAG!! "Boyer Time"! was outta time. Co-Champions. "Ridiculous!" made it into the Winner's Circle along with "The Beefy Crew" and "The Odd Couple".
As we head into 2013, the club hopes to continue to offer unique and fun tournament experiences for players of all skill levels. Your feedback and input is welocme!
We hope to see you in 2013!
