Round 1 Overview - Mesquite League Online - Winter Single Elimination Tournament

The first round of the Mesquite League Online - Winter Single Elimination Tournament kicked off on Monday, December 12th, 2022. 

The format for the tournament is simple. The schedule is asynchronous and players have one week to play their match and report results. Matches consist of the best of 3 rapid games (15|10) with the winner advancing and the loser facing elimination. Do not fret, eliminated players will have a chance in the Redemption Arena tournament which will occur before the Finals. We will continue with brackets of 1v1 matches until we arrive at 2 players in the finals. It is surely going to be an exciting tournament. 

Here is a breakdown of the players. 32 are participating with an average rating of 884 ELO. Note: Ratings were current as of the beginning of December.

Now, let's take a look at some games:

In our first matchup, the humble #32 seed RIT0MAN1 (424) faced off against the #1 seed falkon_8000 (1577). Despite his rating, RIT0MAN1 handled himself well for quite some time. Observe:

There were chances for both sides, but NoodlesRule11P emerged victorious in the match, 2-0. Good job by both players. I am curious to see if Noodles will change her opening preference in later rounds. Both NoodlesRule11P and andre8412 are frequent participants in our weekly swiss tournaments and I am delighted to see them participating in this tournament. Good job you two!

Next we will go over a game between a chess student of mine, #9 Drunkdadplayingchesss (1093) and my old friend, #24 TexasinJuly (617). Tune in below:

The non-sober dad won the match 2-0. I am personally going to give Drunkdadplayingchesss some tactics exercises to practice after that Wayward Queen debacle. We must stay sharp, my friends, we must! TexasinJuly showcased the importance of not relying on the queen to do every single thing under the sun. She is powerful, but we mustn't overwork her. 

We have more games to look at. Next we have a friend of a friend, #13 TwistyTheFritz (913), and a student of mine, JetBurst456 (771). Let's see:

Jetburst456 won the match 2-1. This is the first game this round to make it to an endgame. There were chances for game winning tactics on both sides, but it is difficult to find in the heat of battle. One thing to note, the time usage was fascinating. Jetburst went above 15 minutes at one point. Slow down! My friends, we must take our time! We simply must!

Onward, the matches continue with #5 sandyclaws89 (1229) and #28 thegreatestsodiumattacker (544). Sandy hails all the way from Italy and went to the extra effort of finding a time that worked for both players, bravo. Don't let the ratings fool you. This match was back and forth. 

Sandyclaws ended up winning 2.5 to 0.5. I know what you're thinking, why include a draw? I felt it was important to include at least one since the rating disparity was so great. Outstanding job defending yourself greatestsodiumattacker a.k.a. "Na3" as I call you in the analysis. I know this player in person and he is rapidly improving. Keep it up. Sandyclaws, thanks for joining us from Europe and good luck in future rounds!

Next we look at a game between dedicated chess parent, #2 Coffieldkillz21 (1409), and one of my most dedicated students, #31 S0REN501 (411). Both these players are stone cold killers in their own rating sections. Let's see:

Coffieldkillz21 took the match 2-0. Good effort by S0REN501. I have complete faith in the future of his chess development. He is a dedicated young player who has improved a great deal and will continue to improve. I want you to notice how he developed his pieces towards the center and made it through the opening. Many of my older students struggle with this. Keep it up! Good work Coffield and good luck in future rounds.

Mememe56 won 2-1. Great game by both players. It's easy to get discouraged at these rating levels, but you must continue to fight if you fall behind. There are blunders aplenty, but each one represents a learning opportunity for the future. Great job you two. Good luck Mememe56!

If you're still reading this then I applaud you. Take a rest, get some coffee, perhaps a salty snack, enjoy the chirping birds outside for a moment. Wasn't that nice? Too bad, tax season starts soon, but hey we aren't worried about that right now. Back to chess, forget that stuff. Let's get to this last game from my top student #7 daddyboiJJ (1218) and an old friend of mine, #26 kindanotgreat (687). Watch:

DaddyboiJJ won 2-0. Let me be very clear. Kindanotgreat is rapidly improving and I am proud of him for it. He even joined me on our End of Year stream on Youtube! Check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn9RWFojU9M

DaddyboiJJ simply has more experience and it showed in this game. Great effort by kindanotgreat. Sooner or later you will have to change your name. Keep up with it and play in our events. We love having you around! Good luck to daddyboiJJ in the future rounds!

Let's talk about the elephant in the room. There were 8 other matches that ended in a forfeit due to players not playing their games. Respectfully, don't sign up if you are not going to play! Here are the players who moved on to Round 2 by forfeit: eyebrowsss, D0m474, Slicendice96, chessmaster3914, tyribbit, jon-lucaspoe, Natekuhn14, iwinezdubz. Good luck to y'all in Round 2.

I hope you enjoyed this breakdown of Round 1 of the Mesquite League Online - Winter Single Elimination Tournament. There will be more to come. 

Keep calm and chess on!

Chase Ross

Chess Coach, Organizer, TD

Concho Chess Academy

San Angelo, TX

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAXpkuIUXFGx54f5buxEMRA

Who on Earth am I and why should you care?

My name is Chase Ross. I teach chess privately in San Angelo, TX. It is my personal goal to spread the game of chess to anyone and everyone because I have seen how it can positively impact people's lives. Chess saved my life. There is a beauty and complexity in it that I have not found since I began playing music as a teenager. I want to share that with others. I run programs for any who will accept them in West Texas. So far, these have consisted of group classes in schools, coffeeshops, boy scout troops, and other groups of people willing to learn. I run tournaments for anyone and everyone who will participate in West Texas. I have a Youtube channel with some instructional content and livestreamed tournaments. I am not a GM and I never will be. I simply love this game and the community surrounding it. I started playing and learning as an adult so I feel I have some skill in teaching others who haven't played for their entire lives. Anyone can play chess and everyone can play better chess than they did yesterday. Come be part of my group and play with us. Help spread chess. Above all, Keep calm and chess on!