Crashing Out at the Chess Club

By Micah Jameson

Good morning chess players. We’re back for a special edition of our newsletter, but first a word. I took off a little time off of our usual weekly schedule over the last month, and I just want to say it has been so endearing to hear friends and members of the club tell me they miss the weekly drops. To be honest, I didn’t think much of taking the time away from updating the who’s who of winners coming through our halls and the neighboring clubs like the 100 player titan tournament at Williamsburg Chess. A short trip to the west coast and whatever the hell virus that slammed the city a couple weeks ago stopped me from writing as much and with so many kind words about the work shared has reignited my desire to talk over what’s been going on.

Reminder! Tonight is the monthly Club Rapid Tournament at Nook! Join us 7pm for five rounds of 10|2 blitz Swiss, $20 with prizes for all skill levels. Monthly Club Rapid/Blitz will now split into Open and U1600 sections to encourage a healthy mix of casual and competitive play more regularly.

Starting us off with updates, I’d love to announce in the newsletter first that Bushwick Chess will be moving into two sections starting tonight at our monthly Club Rapid. Players of all skill levels will have the chance to play in a stronger than average Open tournament while newcomers and improvers will now have the chance to play in an under 1600 NYCR section alongside.

In addition to the new section changes we’re looking to our first 15|10 Rapid event taking place of the u1600 in June, so look forward to more information about that as we close in. Bushwick Chess is also looking to broaden the opinions the average reader takes in outside of what I glean as Club Organizer to be most pertinent week to week. Club member Atharva Washmikar has agreed to step into some game analysis as a contributor to the newsletter, and an extension of a hand is cast to all Bushwick Chess members to share analysis, opinions and news. If you think you’d like to write for the club publication please email bushwickchess@gmail.com to coordinate.

Now, let’s look at the recent events.

April Club Blitz!

At last month’s Club Blitz, 28 players attended with an average rating of 1567 NYCR joined up for a night of friendly fire. After seven rounds of 5|2, FM Juan Pereyra took home first place with a score of 6/7, losing only to recent addition Ben Smith in the final round, ending the event rated 2335. Second Place went to 2140 FM Andrey Krasnov on 5.5/7. Third Place went to 1870 rated Atharva Washmikar on 5/7, gaining 36 points and joining the exclusive 1900+ club.

U2000 went to Ben Smith, along with the upset prize on his win against our top player. U1800 went to 1671 rated Peter Chiapinni on 4.5/7, gaining 13 points. U1600 went to 1315 rated Brooks Harris on 4/7, gaining 42 rating points! U1400 went to 1249 Jeffery Ho on 4/7, gaining a high of 207 rating points for the strong finish. Top Unrated went to Justin Choi on 3.5/7. You can see the full cross table HERE.

Williamsburg Chess Spring Blitz A Massive Success. Again!

At the quarterly Blitz Tournament hosted by Williamsburg Chess for players across the NYCR and beyond, another 100 players met to compete in New York’s biggest “casual” tournament. So many games played that we haven’t even finished rating the event just yet. GM Nico Chasin took home Top Player with a perfect 7/7 score against the field. Second place went to WCM Maddie Weber after defeating fellow 6/7 competitors in tiebreaks, with FM Will Graif taking Third Place.

You can see the full cross table, rating changes and more HERE.