2007 PA State / District 3 results

[rich beckwith]

2007 District 3 & Pennsylvania State Open, June 9 & 10, Microtel Inn Suites, Grove City, PA

Pos. Name Pts. Hon. Pts. Prize
1 Alex Moiseyev (OH) 22 $225
2 Ed Bruch (NY) 21 $150
3 Louis Cowie (OH) 20 $115
4 Rich Beckwith (OH) 14- 111 $50
5 Steve Holliday (OH) 14- 96 $50
T6 Alan Millhone (OH) 14- 78 $50
T6 Billy Runge (PA) 14- 78 $50
8 Neil Wenberg (PA) 13- 97 $20
9 Roger Blaine (IN) 13- 79 $20
10 Ray Shelly (MD) 13- 67 $20
11 Jaden Windsor Kozak (MD) 3 $10/plaque

Alex Moiseyev repeated as District 3 & PA Open tournament champion. Congratulations to newcomer Billy Runge who became PA and District 3 champ (highest finishing resident) in his first tournament. Prize fund was $760.

This tournament exemplified that checkers is a game for all ages. Ed Bruch at age 91 finished a close second. We also had ACF Life member Jaden Windsor Kozak (age 3 years!) complete the tournament. (Has there ever been a younger tournament player?) Jaden was given a plaque by ACF president Alan Millhone to denote the occasion.

[Mr. Checkers]

We were very sorry to hear that my dear friend and perennial Pa. State Checker Champion Tony Kozenski was not able to participate in this years tournament due to health concerns. This was undoubtedly a first for this fine checker tournament for Tony has always been a permanent fixture here. I am sure that Tony was deeply missed by all who attended and we pray that he will be able to return to active competition in months to come. "Mr. Checkers"

[Mr. Checkers]

Rich that is probably the widest age range of any checker tournament ever--3 years of age to 91 years young. "Mr. Checkers"

[Alex_Moiseyev]

In first round I've got 3 points from Mr. Bye and this almost cost me a winning ty ! I didn't lose anything else seriously, beating in one game Ed Bruch, Louis Cowie and Dr. Beckwith. And only this gave me a clear first place.

Tony Kozenski visited the tournament on Saturday morning, but he failed and collapsed. He was delivered to emergency room and later was taken to home by his daughter.

I came 30 minutes later and didn't see this story. It seems like it might be a last PA tournament which Tony had a chance to visit. In my opinion he needs now to use walker or wheelchair.

Time is running ... and always in wrong directions

Another really bad surprise in this tournament - poor performance of Richard Beckwith. He didn't play well and lost rounds to me, Louis Cowie and Ed Bruch (twice). Fantastic ! However this happened with all of us. I have very small doubts that this is only temporairly period and we'll see Richard back to business and his level.

Sincerely,

Alex

[Mr. Checkers]

With all of Rich's ACF responsibilities and his other checker activities, job, etc., its a wonder that he did that well. He is a super busy man. But we all know his checker abilities far surpass most that he meets across the board, so I am sure that he will return to his true form soon. "Mr. Checkers"

[Ingo_Zachos]

In first round I've got 3 points from Mr. Bye and this almost cost me a winning ty ! ...

Quite strange!
A bye is always the full amount of points (4 points for each round in this case), as any other regulation is unfair against the player recieving the bye.
Also it should not affect the Buchholz (Honour) Points.
I remember that Lukas Valenta got a bye in the German Open 2004 and was awarded 0 (zero!) Buchholz for that round, which is ridicilous and cost him a medal place (he finished 4th among the four joint first).
At the end he finished joint first, but his Buchholz suffered from that first round bye.
In chess you get the rounded arithmetical average of the other rounds as Buhholz for the round where you recieved a bye. Simple, but quite fair.
Better would be to use the SOS (Sum Of Scores) method instead of Buchholz as many chess organizers do, as your Bucholz also suffers if one of your opponents quits the ty before the last round.

Congratulations to you Alex for winning the ty, and I believe that Rich has a very good reason to "hold his cards back" as we say in Germany, as he has to keep the good moves for the US nationals and the WCDF Qualifier

Remember:
"You got to know when to hold them..." (Kenny Rogers)

Greetinx from sunny Dortmund, Germany,

Ingo Zachos

[Mr. Checkers]

I don't know who changed this, but the Pa. Ck. Ty. has traditionally given 4 points for a bye for many years. "Mr. Checkers"

[Alex_Moiseyev]

Quite strange!
A bye is always the full amount of points (4 points for each round in this case), as any other regulation is unfair against the player recieving the bye.

Ingo, actually I didn't complain about 3 points from Mr. Bye, just "crying" The reason I didn't complain is simple - if you give 4 points for bye, this could be unfair in different situations and ways.

There is no ideal solution here. In PA tournament this year we had very big gap between players of "A" and "B" group, but all players played in one division. This means - my competitors didn't lose any points vs weak players and the only way for me in this case would be - beat my competitors ... thats what I did. H

However, it doesn't happened very often "Losing 1 point" vs Mr. Bye played a critical major role. But again - I don't think giving 4 points for bye would solve the problem ... just generate another one !

Regards,

Alex

[Mr. Checkers]

Question Alex? What would have happened if 2 players came in late (assuming of course that the tournament director knew that they were both coming) then how many points would each have received--2 byes at 3 points each? or what? "Mr. Checkers"

[rich beckwith]

My thoughts to the above good comments.....

Yes, our best wishes go out to Tony Kozenski with the debillating back pain he has been experiencing. It was not the same PA tournament without him playing in it. Event was moved to nearby hotel at the last minute due to hotel's double-booking the playing room. This chaos did not help Tony. I also acknowledge Tony for his pre-tournament arrangements.

I've also wondered what the record is for largest age difference between players in one event, and this event will be hard to top. I know we have had a couple players compete in their mid-nineties in recent decades (C. Gould from Illinois, Williams from Virginia, for example), but it would take some sleuthing to see who the youngest player was in these same events.

Some ACF tournaments give 4 pts. for bye (especially when round scoring is used), but most give 3. If PA always used to give 4, then that is something I missed when I took over. However, the format is different now than 10 years ago when there was round scoring for one round followed by 4-game rounds.

When calculating honor points, ACF typically drops the lowest opponent/bye to account for an unfavorable random draw in the first round (although this does not appear to be a universal practice). Therefore, even if Bruch and Moiseyev had tied, Alex would have still won on honor points, as he played Cowie twice.

A "bye" is not always a bad thing, depending on whose perspective. For PA/District 3 title, B. Runge received a bye (unlike Wenberg) and went on to win state title by one point. Given the make-up of this particular event (7 rounds with 4 masters & 7 others), Steve Holliday suggested that the first-round bye should have been given to a non-master and not the world champ. However, such general rules may not work well in every tournament.

Lastly, as for my slump -- this may be due to reduced study due to job overload (which has recently subsided) as well as ACF administrative overload (my thanks to Patrick Parker who has started assisting me with cross-tables for ratings, and to Steve Holliday for scorekeeping assistance). Perhaps lack of practice has contributed to the simple oversights I have been making in recent tournaments. After this weekend, I really appreciate how good and consistent Moiseyev, Bruch, and Cowie are as checker players! -- let's give proper credit. I suspect Alan Millhone's 2007 tournament performance has been affected for similar reasons, as he has been engrossed in much behind-the-scenes work for ACF.

[Alex_Moiseyev]

:lol: Question Alex? What would have happened if 2 players came in late (assuming of course that the tournament director knew that they were both coming) then how many points would each have received--2 byes at 3 points each? or what? "Mr. Checkers"

If someone came late and he/she was scheduled to play a game - he/she should receive 0 points ... or replay this game later.

You may have all excuses, but it shouldn't hurt other people.

Alex

[Alex_Moiseyev]

Steve Holliday suggested that the first-round bye should have been given to a non-master and not the world champ.

Steve is a smart guy !!!

[Mr. Checkers]

The 2007 Pa. St. Ck. Ty. is over. Now it is time to re-structure this fine checker tournament to insure that it will be around for many more years to come. We should do this not only to perserve this fine checker tournament, but also for Tony who has given many years of his life in the study of our game and also in promoting checkers throughout the ACF community. "Mr. Checkers"

[BillyBoy]

I had a blast it was really a good experience! I had no idea I would get so much attention online. Great people in tournaments nice personality's alot diffrent then online players on that aspect. Take care all Billy R

[Mr. Checkers]

Congratulation on becoming the new Pa. St. Ck. Champion--please know that you will have some really big shoes to fill there. Bill you should have been there in the early 1990's when the average attendance was over 30 players--which included many the the checker notables of all times (go over to General Discussion to read more under the Pa. Ck. Ty. posting). Perhaps you would like to get more involved in the Pa. Ck. Ty.--if so please contact Richard Beckwith. Thank you for sharing your tournament experience with us. "Mr. Checkers"