T44 Wrap Up

Tournament 44 wrapped up its regular season and so did the Primates. It is pretty easy to provide updates when "the going is good", quite another when things are not going your way. Last time we left our intrepid chess warriors, they had triumphed over their erstwhile first round opponents. Here is how the rounds have gone since:

Round 2: Lost to the Runners, 3 - 1. Bob and I drew, Tom and Curt lost. I had mentioned in an earlier post that we lack a "rival"; seeing as we have faced off against the "Runners" now a slew of times, they now represent the closest thing to a rival. I drew "Chiiwen" in this game, which now numbers the 5th time we have split the point (plus we each have a win).

Round 3: Lost to STC Identity 3 - 1. Tom and Bob drew (Bob's was an "agreed" draw). Curt and I lost. I got completely outplayed in an NvB endgame. Bleah.

Round 4: Got off the snide and beat the Runners 2.5 - 1.5. Once again I drew Chiiwen. I think it was 3 draws and a win for us, but I cannot recall.

Round 5: We got crushed 4 - 0 by STC Identity. I again got completely outplayed in an NvB endgame. Bleah. Second time in 3 rounds (I see a trend), so it is back to the endgame books for me.

Round 6 came and went, we were out of the playoffs. Overall we have not been particularly sharp, but I believe it has more to do with the positions we have gotten (from the obvious department of "duh"). What I mean is that each of us excel in certain positions resultant from certain opening variations, and whether by accident or by design, we just haven't gotten those positions. Also, hats off to our competition this round. Every round has been tough, both the Runners and STC Identity have the potential to go very deep in the playoffs - even win it all. As Curt had noted in an email earlier this week, we have made the playoffs 3 times out of the last 5 attempts - a pretty good average. I guess I should expect a down tournament from time to time.