Ayer Chess Club Tournaments at Billiards Café

The Billiards Café Chess Club had tournament events on both December 22nd and December 29th.

The Billiards Café 2019 Quick Club Champion was determined on December 22nd when the top four Quick players met
in a 3-round Round-Robin format. Brett Kidahl (Worcester) won all three of his games to win the honor as the 2019 Quick
Player of the Year. Geoff LePoer (Westford) came in second place with 2 points, followed by Steve Murray (Ayer) with
1 point and Michael David (Groton), who lost to all three opponents.

On December 29th the Year End 2019 Blitz Tournament was played as an eleven-round, Round-Robin Tournament with a field
of 12 players. Brett Kildahl and Steve Gradijan (Wayland) both scored 10 points to tie for first place and they split
the first and second-place prize. A third category in the prize pool was for the player with the best performance in
the tournament that had a rating less than the median rating, for all entrants.
That category winner was Mike Meehan (Westminster) as he scored six points in the tournament.

There were four Blitz Tournaments played in 2019. Using a Grand Prix Point-System,
Brett Kildahl was the 2019 Blitz Player of the Year. The final standings follow. 
Here are the final standings for 2019 Quick Chess Tournaments:


===========================================================================================
  	Billiards Café 2019		Spring 	Summer 	Fall 	Year End 	Total Grand
  	Blitz Chess Tournaments 	Blitz 	Blitz 	Blitz 	Blitz 	        Prix Points
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 	B. Kildahl	 		8.5 	10.0 	12.5 	10.0 		41.0
2 	M. Commisso	 		6.0 	11.0 	  	7.0 		24.0
3 	R. Paulson 			4.5 	8.5 	9.5 	  		22.5
4 	T. Zuppa 			  	  	8.5 	6.0 		14.5
4 	M. David 			3.5 	6.0 	2.0 	3.0 		14.5
6 	G. LePoer	 		  	4.5 	  	9.0 		13.5
7 	S. Murray 			4.0 	5.5 	3.0 	  		12.5
8 	D. Kilari 			  	  	11.0 	  		11.0
9 	S. Gradijan	 		  	  	  	10.0 		10.0
9 	M. Meehan 			4.0 	  	  	6.0 		10.0
11 	L. Gladding 			  	8.0 	  	  		 8.0
11 	R. Riaz					3.0 	5.0 			 8.0
13 	M. Rivera 			  	  	  	7.0 		 7.0
14 	R. Kilari 			  	  	6.5 	  		 6.5
15 	D. Couture 			5.5 	  	  	  		 5.5
16 	J. Hankard 			3.0 	  	  	2.0 		 5.0
16 	D. Ostrowski 			2.0 	2.5 	  	0.5 		 5.0
17 	R. Cappallo 			4.0 	  	  	  		 4.0
18 	A. Gopalan 			  	  	  	0.5 		 0.5
===========================================================================================

The Billiards Café hosted 12 tournaments in 2019; eight were Quick Tournaments and four were Blitz Tournaments.
The Club in Ayer had 27 unique players in the twelve tournaments with tournament size growing throughout the year - 
in part, thanks to George Mirijanian putting us on the MACA calendar.

This Club has come a long way since June 2017 when I didn't really have much of a vision for a chess club other than
I had a great time shooting pool with 40 other people at the Billiards Café
and I wanted to see if I could transfer that to the game of chess.

A special thanks to:
Roger Cappallo who came to the second club session in 2017 and patiently sat with three mediocre chess players
for a lot of Sunday evenings. I was one of them and he improved my game a lot. Roger was the gateway to Ayer members
joining the Wachusset Chess Club.

Paul Godin took the concept of game review to another level - patiently, and sometimes impatiently, giving games
played on Wednesday night's a keen analytical eye.
Over time Paul convinced us that chess engines have a limited role in good analysis.

Steve Murray has lugged a lot of equipment every Sunday to improve the experience - from computers, to projectors
and projector screens - Steve constantly pushes me to make the club bigger and better. Recently, Steve and Mike Commisso
are volunteering as Tournament Directors. 

Larry Gladding volunteered to be our Tournament Director from the get-go and having Larry serve in that role for
the first nine tournaments was a boost in our club's credibility. Larry, Mike and Steve now comprise a strong bench
of TD's looking into 2020.

All of this great support gives me a very optimistic view of the Club in 2020 and beyond. 
And finally thanks to all the Chess Enthusiasts that travel to Ayer to play the game.
I have attached a game review I did for one of the December 22nd Quick Games between Brett Kildahl and myself.

To all, a Happy New Year.
-Michael David

Paul Godin (Bedford) won the December Quick Tournament held at the Billiards Café Chess Club in Ayer, Mass on Dec. 15.
Paul won each of his 3 matches, defeating Dave Martin (Sudbury), Steve Murray (Ayer) and Tom Zuppa (Billerica).

Jeff Caruso (Concord) and Brett Kildahl (Worcester) tied for second place as they each scored 2.5 points in the 
three-round tournament. Jeff and Brett met in the final round with perfect scores and had a tense Knight-Pawns End Game. 
They had a three-move-repetition drawn game as both their clocks ran low on time.

Jim Donahue (Stow) and Dave Martin split the third category prize money with the best performance from a player that 
had a rating less than all the entrants median rating. Jim and Dave each scored 2.0 points in the tournament.

The tournament was directed by Dave Couture with Stephen Murray & Mike Commisso as Assistant TD's.
Here is the link to the Cross Table for the Billiards Café December Quick Tournament:
http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201912159432.0

The December Quick Tournament was the seventh and final Quick Tournament in 2019. The Billiards Café 
had twenty-three unique players during the year. Each of the seven tournaments used the same time control of G/25; d3. 
Here are the final standings for 2019 Quick Chess Tournaments:
===================================================================================================================
  	Billiards Café 2019 		June 	Summer 	August 	August 	Fall 	November December 	Total Grand
  	Quick Chess Tournaments 	Quad 	Quick 	Quad 	Quick 	Quick 	Quick 	Quick 		Prix Points
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 	M. David 			1.0 	2.5 	3.0 	3.0 	0.5 	1.0 	1.0 		12.0
2 	B. Kildahl 	  			2.5 	1.5 	  	2.0 	3.0 	2.5 		11.5
2 	S. Murray 			2.0 	2.0 	2.0 	2.0 	0.5 	2.0 	1.0 		11.5
4 	G. LePoer 	  	  			3.0 	3.5 	3.0 	  	  		 9.5
5 	L. Gladding 	  			1.0 	  	4.5 	1.5 	2.0 	  		 9.0
6 	J. Donahue 	  			1.0 	1.5 	  	  	1.0 	2.0 		 5.5
6 	D. Ostrowski 			2.0 	1.0 	1.0 	  	1.5 	0.0	   		 5.5
8 	T. Zuppa 	  	  			  	  	1.5 	2.0 	1.0 		 4.5
8 	J. Caruso 	  	  			  	  	2.0 	  	2.5 		 4.5
10 	D. Couture 	  	  			0.5 	  	1.0 	  	2.0 		 3.5
11 	R. King 	  	  			3.0 	  					 3.0
11 	P. Godin 	  	  	  	  	  	  			3.0 		 3.0
11 	M. Commisso 	  			1.0 	0.0 	2.0 	  	  	0.0 		 3.0
14 	J. Hankard 			1.0 	1.5 	0.0 	  	  		    		 2.5
15 	D. Martin 	  			  	  	  	  	  	2.0 		 2.0
15 	D. Kochman 	  			2.0 	  	  	  	  	  		 2.0
15 	A. Venezia 	  			0.5 	1.5 	  		  	  	  	 2.0
18 	R. Cappallo 	  	  			  	  	1.5 		  	  	 1.5
19 	R. Riaz 	  			  	  	  	  	1.0 	  		 1.0
19 	R. Paulson 	  	  			1.0 	  	  		 	  	 1.0
19 	D. Kilari 	  	  	  			  	  	  	1.0 		 1.0
22 	R. Kilari 	  	  			  	  	  	  	0.0 		 0.0
23 	K. Hamer 	  			  	  	0.0 	  		  		 0.0
===================================================================================================================

As the Billiards Café Chess Club looks forward to 2020, the plan is to have 12-15 Quick Rated Tournaments
during the upcoming year. If you know of other players that should be on our email list or you no longer want
to be on the list, send me a private email reply.
Best Wishes to Everyone for the Year-End Holiday Season,
-Michael David

Brett Kildahl (Worcester) scored 12.5 points to win the 14-round Fall Blitz Tournament held at the Billiards Café 
on Sunday evening, November 17. Second place prize money went to Dattasai Kilari (Hopkinton) as he scored 11 points. 
The best performance for a player under all entrant's median rating was accomplished by Rithika Kilari (Hopkinton) 
as she scored 6.5 points and that category also was awarded prize-pool money.

Here is the link to the Cross-Table for the Billiards Café Fall Blitz Tournament:
http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201911173902.0
Larry Gladding was the Tournament Director.

After three Blitz Tournaments in 2019 here are the Blitz Standings sorted by Grand Prix Points.
  	  		Spring 	Summer 	Fall 	Total Grand
  	  		Blitz 	Blitz 	Blitz 	Prix Points
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 	B. Kildahl 	8.5 	10.0 	12.5 	31.0
2 	R. Paulson 	4.5 	8.5 	9.5 	22.5
3 	M. Commisso 	6.0 	11.0 	  	17.0
4 	S. Murray 	4.0 	5.5 	3.0 	12.5
5 	M. David 	3.5 	6.0 	2.0 	11.5
6 	D. Kilari 	  	  	11.0 	11.0
7 	T. Zuppa 	  	  	8.5 	8.5
8 	L. Gladding 	  	8.0 	  	8.0
9 	R. Kilari 	  	  	6.5 	6.5
10 	D. Couture 	5.5 	  	  	5.5
11 	D. Ostrowski 	2.0 	2.5 	  	4.5
11 	G. LePoer 	  	4.5 	  	4.5
13 	R. Cappallo 	4.0 	  	  	4.0
13 	M. Meehan 	4.0 	  	  	4.0
15 	J. Hankard 	3.0 	  	  	3.0
15 	R. Riaz 	  	  	3.0 	3.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Michael David
Below are the blitz rating updates for the the eight players who competed in the November Blitz tournament.

Brett Kildahl (Worcester) scored a perfect 3-0 in the Quick-Rated Chess Tournament at the Billiards Café in Ayer, 
Mass on Sunday Night, November 10. Brett had wins against Don Ostrowski (Fitchburg), Steve Murray (Ayer) and in the final 
round a crucial win against then undefeated Larry Gladding (Leominster). Larry Gladding, Steve Murray and 
Tom Zuppa (Billerica) finished with two wins each to tie for second place.
An additional prize was awarded to the best performance from a player with a rating less than all the entrant's median rating. 
That category was split three ways between Jim Donahue (Stow), Rayhan Riaz (Andover), and Michael David (Groton).

After six Quick-Rated Tournaments, all using a G/25; d3 Time Control the Grand Prix Standings are as follows:
  	Billiards Café 2019 	June 	Summer 	August 	August 	Fall 	November Total Grand
  	Quick Tournaments	Quad 	Quick 	Quad 	Quick 	Quick 	Quick 	Prix Points
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 	M. David 		1.0 	2.5 	3.0 	3.0 	0.5 	1.0 	11.0
2 	S. Murray 		2.0 	2.0 	2.0 	2.0 	0.5 	2.0 	10.5
3 	G. LePoer 	  	  		3.0 	3.5 	3.0 	  	9.5
4 	L. Gladding 	  		1.0 	  	4.5 	1.5 	2.0 	9.0
4 	B. Kildahl 	  		2.5 	1.5 	  	2.0 	3.0 	9.0
6 	D. Ostrowski 		2.0 	1.0 	1.0 	  	1.5 	0.0 	5.5
7 	J. Donahue 	  		1.0 	1.5 	  	  	1.0 	3.5
7 	T. Zuppa 	  	  	    			1.5 	2.0 	3.5
9 	M. Commisso 	  		1.0 	0.0 	2.0 	  	  	3.0
9 	R. King 	  	  		3.0 	  	  	  	3.0
11 	J. Hankard 		1.0 	1.5 	0.0 	  	  	  	2.5
12 	D. Kochman 	  		2.0 	  	  	  	  	2.0
12 	A. Venezia 	  		0.5 	1.5 	  	  	  	2.0
12 	J. Caruso 	  	  	    			2.0 	  	2.0
15 	D. Couture 	  	  		0.5 	  	1.0 	  	1.5
15 	R. Cappallo 	  	  	  	  		1.5 	  	1.5
17 	R. Paulson 	  	  		1.0 	  	  	  	1.0
17 	R. Riaz 	  	  	  	    			1.0 	1.0
19 	K. Hamer 	  	  	  		0.0 	  	  	0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Billiards Café Chess Club was founded in June 2017,  meeting on Sunday evenings to play some casual 
unrated Quick games. As members from the Wachusset Chess Club in Fitchburg began attending Sunday evening, 
most members of the Billiards Café Chess Club joined the Wachusset Chess Club to play USCF Regular-Rated 
Tournaments on Wednesday night at Fitchburg State University. Sunday nights in Ayer then evolved to reviewing 
the prior Wednesday games played in Ayer followed by some Blitz Chess. Steve Murray contributed some projection 
equipment to advance the reviews from a Demo Board to computer ChessBase-powered displays with a Fritz Chess 
Engine at hand. Looking forward, the Café will have a Fall and Winter Blitz Tournament in November and December. 
There will likely be at least two more Quick-Rated Tournaments at the Café in 2019.

Steve Murray then created an Ayer Chess Club on the site Chess-dot-com where Monday night online Quick rated 
games are played at 7:30pm. Contact Steve Murray for all things online.
For all activities at the Billiards Café on Sunday evening, I am the primary contact.
Larry Gladding has been our Tournament Director for all tournaments played in 2019.

Starting in October 2019 I started the Billiards Café Youth Chess Club.
We currently have eight beginner students ranging from ages six to twelve.
We meet on Sunday afternoons at 4:15pm and usually meet for 90 minutes with time split between instruction and game play.
-Michael David
Below are the quick rating updates for the the eight players who competed in the November Quick tournament.