Scottish Elite Armageddon Championships

[andyburnett]

Still very painful as I thought I was just completely winning both games (the first isn't quite that clear actually, but the blunder in the 2nd - with plenty of time left - will be giving me nightmares!) but seeing as how I'm a bit quick off the mark to share my wins I can't grumble too much it



(48) Tate,Alan (2349) - Burnett,Andrew (2249) [B50]
Scottish Elite Armageddon Semi-finals (5), 31.03.2013

White: 45 minutes Black: 44 minutes 59 seconds!
[pgn]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. h3 Nc6 5. Bd3 g6 6. Bc2 Bg7 7. 0–0 0–0 8. d4 Nd7 9. d5 Nce5 10. Nfd2 Nf6 11. f4 Ned7 12. a4 b6 13. c4 e6 14. Nc3 exd5 15. cxd5 a6 16. Nc4 Ne8 17. Re1 Qh4 18. Qe2 Bd4+ 19. Kf1 Ndf6 20. Qf3 Ng4 21. Ke2 Nh2 22. Qd3 Bg4+ 23. hxg4 Qxg4+ 24. Kd2 Qxg2+ 25. Qe2 Nf3+ 26. Kd1 Nxe1 27. Kxe1 Qg1+ 28. Qf1 Qg3+ 29. Kd2 Nf6 30. Ne2 Qh2 31. Ra3 Nxd5 32. Rh3 1–0[/pgn]

(49) Petesch,Gabriel (2248) - Burnett,Andrew (2249) [A06]
Scottish Elite Armageddon 3rd/4th (6), 31.03.2013

White: 45 minutes Black: 24 minutes
[pgn]1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 Nh6 3. Bb2 f6 4. c4 c6 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. d4 Nc6 7. e3 Bg4 8. Be2 e6 9. a3 Bd6 10. b4 0–0 11. Nc3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 f5 13. g3 Kh8 14. Ne2 Ng8 15. h4 Nf6 16. Qb3 Ne4 17. Nc1 a5 18. Bxe4 fxe4 19. Na2 axb4 20. axb4 Rxa2 21. Rxa2 Nxb4 22. 0–0 Nxa2 23. Qxa2 b5 24. Qa6 Qb8 25. Kg2 Rc8 26. Ra1 Rc2 27. Qxd6 1–0[/pgn]

[Andrew McHarg]

Ouch Andy. You didn't have much time left though did you? =|

[andyburnett]

Ouch Andy. You didn't have much time left though did you? =|

Unfortunately I still had about 6 minutes left

2 reasons for the blunder I think: firstly, it was a long, hard weekend! Sunday afternoon saw a fair few blunders. Secondly, I got caught up in analysing an important variation (26...Rc2 27. Qa8 Rxb2 28. Qxb8+ Bxb8 29. Ra8 Kg8 30. Rxb8+ Kf7 - I was checking to see that this was a simple enough technical win to play in 5 minutes or so) and simply forgot to do a blunder-check before playing 26...Rc2.

C'est la vie! I'll be back for the next one (hopefully in June?!)

[Hugh Brechin]

Speaking as a spectator (I couldn't manage to play this one, though I'm very much intending to enter the next), Sunday afternoon was great entertainment. It was interesting to see the different strategies players used: in more than one game, no player bid under 40 minutes, leading to a more-or-less normal game where Black had draw odds; Adam Bremner made a bold but doomed attempt to keep Calum MacQueen out with three minutes on his clock; while Andrew Green calmly won twice as Black despite starting with 14 minutes. Definitely something different.

[D-Oswald]

Below is a summary of the standings (though I can't remember what happened in Edwards - Murdochy Armageddon match ).

Prizes:

1st – FM Alan Tate (£150)
2nd – FM Neil Berry (£75)
3rd – Gabriel Petesch (Free Entry to another Elite Armageddon Event)

Plate Winner – Graeme Kafka (Free Entry to another Elite Armageddon Event)

Final Standings:

1st Tate
2nd Berry
3rd Petesch
4th Burnett
5th Kafka
6th Oswald
7th MacQueen
8th Bremner
9th Green
10th Olson
11th/12th Edwards/Murdochy
13th McHarg
14th Scott

Seedings after Round 4

Championship

1 - Burnett 3 / 4
2 - Petesch 3 / 4
3 - Berry 3 / 4
4 – Tate 2.5/ 4

Semi Finals

Tate 1 – 0 Burnett
Petesch 0 – 1 Berry

3rd/4th Playoff

Petesch 1 – 0 Burnett

Final

Tate 1 – 0 Berry



Plate

5 – MacQueen 2.5/4
6 – Bremner 2.5/4
7 – Oswald 2.5/4
8 – Kafka 2/4

Semi Finals:

Kafka 1 – 0 MacQueen
Oswald 1 – 0 Bremner

7th/8th Playoff

MacQueen 1 – 0 Bremner

Plate Final:

Kafka 1 – 0 Oswald



3rd Tier

9 – Edwards 1.5/4
10 – Olson 1.5/4
11 – Murdochy 1.5/4
12 – Green 1.5/4

Semi-Finals:

Edwards 0 – 1 Green
Olson 1 – 0 Murdochy

11th/12th Playoff:

Edwards - Murdochy

Final:

Olson 0 – 1 Green

Consolation Cup:

McHarg 1 – 0 Scott

[D-Oswald]

A fairly reliable source (Hugh Brechin) has told me that Edwards won, leaving the standings as:

Final Standings:

1st Tate
2nd Berry
3rd Petesch
4th Burnett
5th Kafka
6th Oswald
7th MacQueen
8th Bremner
9th Green
10th Olson
11th Edwards
12th Murdochy
13th McHarg
14th Scott

[D-Oswald]

George,

Thanks for your message and shame you can't play!

The tournament is the last weekend in March because it was the only weekend I could do in the coming months that didn't clash with another event. But yes, hopefully, the tournament will be a success (so please pass on the details to players who you think might be interested!) and, if so, I will maybe try and organise another one, possibly in June.

Sitting here watching candidates today but also wondering how this event is going. In particular I was thinking your armageddon rounds would be great to see live on internet. Maybe if there is a repeat we can get the live boards to cover? (What's happened to these boards, haven't seen them since Oban?)

I agree they would be great, and because recording isn't enforced these games are easily lost, so live boards would sort this problem as well! However, there is no internet at the club so I'm not sure if it would be possible to do...

[D-Oswald]

Thanks to everyone who supported the event! I really enjoyed organising and playing in it! Planning another event at the end of June - details to hopefully follow shortly.

Before the final swiss round (round 4), there were still 10 of the 14 players that could make the top 4. With so many possible outcomes it certainly was exciting to the run up to qualification (and a bit of a headache for me and Alex!)... and then of course the armageddon matches - which certainly didn't disappoint. White got a huge score, perhaps players were too confident they could just "shut up shop" and draw!

For those playing/spectating, let me know if you could think of any possible improvements for next time. Obviously it was a very different format to usual so I'm sure there is room for improvement!

Thanks again to everyone - fantastic weekend!

[D-Oswald]

Oh another interesting stat - all the players that were seeded bottom in their Armageddon section, won their section! Tate (seeded 4th, finished 1st), Kafka (seeded 8th, finished 5th) and Green (seeded 12th, finished 9th)!

[Adam Bremner]

Adam Bremner made a bold but doomed attempt to keep Calum MacQueen out with three minutes on his clock

Yeah, lesson learnt. 3.5 minutes next time.