Results from May 2
The Sacramento Pawns club held its sixth and seventh online tournaments last Saturday. The turnout felt sluggish for both events. Indeed, the Kids & Amateurs tournament was saved only by a last second entry from the sandbagger BabyBishopPawn. Despite blundering a piece on move 2 or 3 in every game, the impostor swept the youthful opposition. If you wish to support a separate competition for juniors and lower rated adults, consider joining us next Saturday.
Winners of Sac Kids & Amateur #2:
- BabyBishopPawn with 3.0 out of 3 (not eligible for prize)
- =1st Tijuanaboomboom with 1.5
- =1st NinthExpert with 1.5
A dozen participants pushed pawns in the weekly Pawn Storm at 3:00. J3Chess24 survived a difficult ending against his teacher and won all other games to take clear first place. Well done mate!
Winners of Sac Pawn Storm #5:
- 1st J3Chess24 (Javier) with 4.5 out of 5
- 2nd NM fpawn (Michael) with 4.0
- =3rd kokobon (anonymous) with 3.0
- =3rd Yash_Mago (Yash) with 3.0
- Top U1600 KCC5432 (Kelly) with 2.0
The first round saw just a single upset, when kokobon drew NM fpawn by perpetual check. The sacrifice was objectively dubious, but it forced the master to defend accurately. Alas, he did not.
The higher rated players won in round 2, setting up a dynamite pairing on the top board between two talented juniors. After getting out played by Yash_Mago in an endgame a week earlier, J3Chess24 rode his active monarch to level the score.
These results placed J3Chess24 half a point ahead of the field with two rounds left. Could he hold a draw against the master? White regrets his 36th move, and although he still got another chance to win, it was not to be. Youth shall be served in chess!
In the final round, J3Chess24 clinched the victory with a dominant effort as black against fellow junior vish1080, sealing the deal with a pair of poisoned-bishop tactics. The more interesting game on board 2 saw fpawn sacrifice two pawns in the Ruy Lopez and later squeeze out the victory in a minor piece endgame. Can the master adopt Yash_Mago?
The Dutch defense routinely leads to wild and unbalanced positions. The following game on bottom board in the last round was certainly no exception. Which king perishes first on the open h-file?
Join us again next Saturday afternoon for more Sacramento Pawns action. Kids and adult amateurs rated under 1400 start play at 1:30 while the open Pawn Storm kicks off at 3:00. The time control for both events is G/10 with a 3 second increment. Tell your friends to participate too!
Also stay tuned for a special club blitz bash on Sunday evening at 7:30. Details posted later.
