Week 1 Results
Thank you to everyone who took part in week 1 of season 1 of the Great Lakes Live Chess League. We had quite a few mixups in terms of people not messaging their opponents or not showing up for their games. Hopefully we got rid of at least most of those people, because I know there are quite a few of us who have enjoyed it so far and are looking forward to the rest of the season.
Remember, pairings come out on Sunday afternoon, please contact your opponent within 24 hours and complete your match before the end of the next Sunday. It really makes it tough to figure out who to pair for the next week if there are still undecided matches, so, going forward at the end of every Sunday we will adjudicate all undecided matches. If you haven't made contact you will be removed from the league, if you did make contact and didn't get a response you'll get a forfeit win. I hate to make it like that but it's necessary to have the league run smoothly.
If there are any questions, if you can't contact your opponent or can't play, please message me or a team captain.
Alright, on to the results! Firstly we'll talk about the matchup between Team Lake Superior on the white pieces against Team Lake Ontario on the black pieces.
Board 1: @houghton24 vs @GoPikachu
In this queen's gambit game, both sides played great, but @houghton24 had the more active pieces in the end, allowing a bishop sack that lead to mate!
Board 2: @MinnesotaDude vs @lorookie
In this crazy back and forth game @lorookie won a really hard fought game in a very tricky rook vs knight and bishop end game. All I know is I would have lost that endgame from both sides. Really good game guys.
Board 6: @kmeier45239 vs @kidcharlemagne420 0 - 1 https://www.chess.com/game/live/33105532303
Board 8: @cosmosaic vs @68chessdaddo 1 - 0 https://www.chess.com/game/live/32572794273
Board 9: @60_Minute-Man vs @littleshooters 1 - 0 https://www.chess.com/game/live/32926729093
Team Lake Superior 6 - 3 Team Lake Ontario
The next mach was Team Lake Michigan vs Team Lake Erie. This one had a bunch of mixups due to inactive players being replaced with alternates, but like the previous match it had 5 games decided on the chess board.
Board 1: @bluberrie_tea vs @mhm_ham
In this high level game, @bluberrie_tea ended up winning a pawn in the endgame which proved to be too much for @mhm_ham. The real question is, going forward in this league, does anyone have what it takes to take down @bluberrie_tea? Time will tell but I think I might have my money on an undefeated season for Team Lake Michigan's Board #1.
Board 2: @tewald vs @CRUSHR
This one was the Fight Of The Night for week 1. If we were giving out $50,000 bonuses it would go to Tom Ewald. Biggest upset of the week also goes to Tom Ewald, a 1600 in rapid taking down a 1790 in @crushr. The upset isn't the biggest aspect of this game though, my favorite aspect is that it all starts with a bishop sack that I would have deemed unsound if I was playing the game, and in fact the computer calls it a blunder! There was no clear path to mate, but it shook up the kingside enough for Tom to absolutely mess stuff up and enter an engame way up in material, forcing the resignation. What a game!
Board 3: @blinddd7 vs @luckyleftydetroit 1 - 0 https://www.chess.com/game/live/32638806619
Board 4: @2288sam vs @brettkoz 0 - 1 https://www.chess.com/game/live/32986857037
Board 7: @sujanacheckmate2010 vs @mathyou86 0 - 1
Knockout of the night goes to @Mathyou86, with a 10 move checkmate against the higher ranked @sujanacheckmate2010. I happen to know @Mathyou lost in a rematch, which I love that he played, but the one that counted was the one that had me applauding. Not too many games end in 10 moves, well done @mathyou86!
This match came to a draw, 3.5 to 3.5! That leaves a lot to week 6 which starts on January 9th, when they will play a rematch with Team Lake Erie on the white pieces.
Team Lake Michigan 3.5 - 3.5 Team Lake Erie.
That leaves Team Lake Superior with a lead after week 1, but they have a bye week for week 2, leaving it open for all of the rest of the teams to tie for the lead.
Thank you to everyone who has participated so far. As I said earlier, if you have any issues, can't play or if your opponent doesn't respond or show up to play, please message me or a team captain so that we can get an alternate in there and have as many of these games get decided over the board as we can. Good luck going forward. Don't spend all of your bonus money in one place, @tewald and @mathyou86!
Weekly Awards:
Best Checkmate: @MathYou86
Upset Of The Week:
MVP For Week #1:
