Middleton Unstoppable at Glenwood Club's Chess Wars

On June 28th, the Glenwood Chess Club hosted its first Chess Wars -- [an event inherited from the South Suburban Chess Club -- hence the listing as Chess Wars IV].

It was a successful tournament; we had a total of 19 players [in the main event]. USCF Crosstables were published here.

Douglas Middleton (3.5) was almost unstoppable; the only blemish on his record was a last round draw to Jon Winick. However, Mr. Middleton fell victim to “Murphy’s Law”. Doug had chosen to enter under the tournament's "rating points only" option [at a reduced entry fee]. Therefore, he was ineligible for the prize distribution.

With Middleton out of the money, Winick, Adrian Zolkos, Joe Emole and Alan Davenport, who all tied with three points, “applauded and cheered” Doug’s decision.

Not content with a four-way tie, the foursome bamboozled the tournament organizer (me) into extending the day with an unofficial double Round Robin, five-minute Blitz Playoff.

As the dust settled, the order of placement was Adrian Zolkos 1st, Jon Winick 2nd, Joe Emole 3rd, and Adam Davenport 4th.

I am older and wiser now and vow never to have such a lengthy tie break format in the future! (LOL)

The other winners who did not have to wait for their awards while the playoffs were in progress were Ryan Richardson (5th place) and Tim Krick (6th place), both with 2.5.

Richardson had a chance to win it all, but lost to Joe Emole in the last round.

Krick, a first-time participant at the Glenwood Chess Club tournaments, seemed highly underrated in the 1300's, defeated two and drew a higher-rated player. Winick handed Krick his only loss, no shame.

Also with 2.5, Layla Rodriguez, the only girl in the tournament, entering with a rating of just 785, played very well. Her only loss was to Richardson who was rated over 1000 rating points higher. Layla was very focused while playing -- and between rounds. She is a chess player with great potential and could be “a rising star” in the very near future. On tiebreaks, Layla took seventh.

David Guidry, William Whitted, and James Condron finished 8th, 9th and 10th place respectively.