Amateur Team East - Parsippany, NJ
The beloved team pic: from left to right: Kimia, Nimrod, Marcus, Mauro, Ryan, Raymond, Nikhil, Tyler, Archie, Kimmy, Danvass, Camden, Sagar, Andrew, Adam, and Alden - special thanks to Nikhil, Sagar, and Adam for being our dedicated drivers! Without them, we would not have been able to compete :)
From Feb 19-21, four Cornell teams battled it out in the largest open team tournament on the east coast! Despite being in the middle of Prelim season, we committed to driving four hours from hilly Ithaca to the quiet town of Parsippany, NJ, and settled down before the six games began. Our teams had players ranging from unrated (underrated for sure) all the way to 2200! This was the first official tournament experience for some, and it did not disappoint.
Cornell Team A (Nimrod, Raymond, Sagar, Andrew) tied for first in Top University Team with 5/6 points, and also won the top 2100 team award!
Some highlights from the tournament include Raymond scoring an incredible 5.5/6, Camden scoring an impressive 5/6, and Alden (1165) defeating an 1800 in the final round for an amazing upset!
See Alden’s swift victory below:
With over 1075 registered players and 220 teams, this tournament marked the resurgence of over-the-board chess for many children and adults. Everywhere, you could see little kids hopping around and veteran tournament players scouting out the competition. Masks were strictly required within the Hilton tournament hall. There was a main ballroom and adjacent conference rooms to accommodate such a large population of chess aficionados. Some rounds kicked off with live entertainment, such as the national anthem, rock band performances, opera singers, and “Let’s-Make-A-Deal”-esque prompts where you race to show your old-school camera, funky shirt, quirky hat, or embarrassing photo ID in exchange for a prize (chess book of course).
Some warmup blitz at 12am to prepare for Round 1 at 1pm! From left to right: Camden, Nikhil, Kimia, Nimrod (hiding in the back with his secret prep), Archie, and Sagar.
Cornell Team A: Cornell Team B (KxC5): Cornell Team C: Cornell Team D:
Nimrod Hajaj (2205) Ryan Xu (2078) Nikhil Kalyanraman (1903) Adam Moore (1465)
Ruizhong Wang (2101) Camden Wiseman (2070) Danvass Gekonge (1280) Alden Moore (1165)
Sagar Jha (2073) Kimberly Liu (2049) Archie Sravankumar (unr) Kimia Kazemian (unr)
Andrew The (2006) Tyler Roonprapunt (1813) Marcus Posey (unr) Mauro Camargo (unr)
Team tournaments work a little differently from the normal ones you may see: each team consists of 4 players: Board 1 (highest rated) of one team will face Board 1 of another team, and so on. There is a little bit of strategy and luck involved in team formation: the average rating is capped at 2200 and the difference between the top and last board cannot exceed 1000. This prevents unbalanced teams of 3 Grandmasters rated 2600+ and a Board 4 rated 200 (to lower the average). Teams can either be staggered like 2600, 2400, 2200, and 1600, or one can opt for a very balanced team with all players just hovering around 2200. There are pros and cons for each structure: a top heavy team can almost guarantee wins on the top boards, but their lowest board may struggle against the board 4 of more balanced teams. Balanced teams may struggle when playing 2600s on board one, but can pull through on the lower boards because their opponents are likely lower rated. Of course, it is hard to find players of specific ratings, so you just have to make the best out of the players on hand!
Games easily lasted up to 5 hours, which drained peoples’ energy and allowed little time for rest or team meals. However, a wild Tyler was spotted napping in a quiet spot, and Adam, Alden, Raymond, and Kimia found spare time to dine at Veggie Heaven:
