Tie Atop the 2014 Club Championship

Thanks to everyone for a great 2014 Club Championship! We had a total of 20 players, a number we usually see only at the City Championship and the recent 2014 Quick tournament.

Congratulations to Oleg Fabrikant and Leo Zamansky, the victors of the 2014 Club Championship. Oleg and Leo each finished the four round tournament with 3.5 points, winning three games each and drawing only against each other. In the end, Leo won the tiebreaker match and earned the 2014 Club Championship Trophy.

The Cincinnati Club Championship is always a fun and exciting demonstration of chess prowess and skill. A four week affair where the Masters and Experts put on a show of their superiority; and the hungry lower rated show off what they know and have learned in attempts to overthrow the titans at the head of Olympus.

The arduous matches proved how hungry some of the players have become. Jeff Davis, an 1800 rated player, managed in the first round to topple a 2000+ rated player in a titanic struggle against the odds, narrowly pulling out a draw in an uphill battle with mere seconds left on the clock.

Round two demonstrated even further strength of will, as a 1700 rated player Vito Carlo managed to pull off a much applauded win against Jake Lennon, an Expert with a rating in the 2000s. Vito held the coveted white pieces, and managed to steer the game into a well-known line of the King’s Indian which Jake holds as a celebrated staple of his opening repertoire. Even with the game going into his style of play, Lennon made Vito struggle up and beyond his level, making the slaying of Goliath even more exciting to witness.

The most heart wrenching battle was fought between Tim Lake whose rating is near 1700, versus the Master John Randolph whose rating stretches nigh of the 2300 range. Tim steered the game along with his own personal opening, a style of the Bird played with opposite colors. Tim demonstrated tenacious tactics, holding a large edge over his much higher rated opponent. In the end a time constraint mistake cost Lake the game; the saddest high point of the entire tournament.

In the end, 2000-rated players Leo and Oleg tied for first place. Master Hans Multhopp and 1800 rated Jeff Davis tied for second. In the playoffs, Leo proved his mettle and was crowned the 2014 Cincinnati Club Champion. All together a spectacular, tenacious affair full of wonderful and fantastic chess stretching from March into May. Just one more shining example of what the Cincinnati Chess has to offer and give to its community.

Club 2014 Leaderboard:

# Name Rtng Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Total
1 Oleg Fabrikant 2019 W11 W16 D2 W5 3.5
2 Leo Zamansky 1914 W16 W3 D1 W7 3.5
3 Hans Multhopp 2213 W13 L2 W10 W9 3.0
4 Jeff Davis 1697 D12 Bye W11 W13 3.0
5 John Randolph 2285 W10 D8 W9 L1 2.5
6 Jeff Benjamin 1719 W17 L1 D13 W12 2.5
7 Keevin Lee 1700 Bye W19 W8 L2 2.5
8 Jeremy Scheidt 1973 W14 D5 L7 Bye 2.0
9 Vito Carla 1684 W15 W12 L5 L3 2.0
10 Tim Lake 1675 L5 W18 L3 W14 2.0
11 Filiep Declercq 1640 L1 W17 L4 W16 2.0
12 Jake Lennon 2033 D4 L9 W19 L6 1.5
13 Daniel Cunningham 1655 L3 W16 D6 L4 1.5
14 David Rief 1594 L8 W15 Bye L10 1.5
15 Nick Doud 723 L9 L14 Bye W19 1.5
16 Daniel Horne 1396 L2 L13 W17 L11 1.0
17 Jordan Smith 1117 L6 L11 L16 W20 1.0
18 Steve Phillips 1314 Bye L13 - - 0.5
19 Austin Vetter UNR Bye L7 L12 L15 0.5
20 Jim Brown (House) 1263 - - - L17 0.0