MCC Rapid Matchplay Championship (Mondays 3 - 24 Jan 2022)

[Thai Ly]

The seedings for the event has been determined following the qualification stage as set out below. The process took a bit longer than expected due to some corrections to ratings:

Seeding	Name	                Rating	Score
1	Ari Dale	        2272	4.5
2	Domagoj Dragicevic	1941	4.5
3	Adam Kelly	        1886	4.5
4	Michael Baron	        2266	4
5	Oliver Pearl	        1553	4
6	Randheer Thogata	1450	4
7	Ray Yang	        1821	3.5
8	Nicholas Ilic	        2010	3
9	Chirashana Lamahewa	1875	3
10	Anthony Harris	        1852	3
11	Lillian Lu	        1777	3
12	Norzang Rabgye	        1700	3
13	Marcus Raine	        1698	3
14	Goran Ilic	        1655	3
15	Tanya Kolak	        1620	3
16	Carl Gorka	        1885	2.5
17	James Watson	        1740	2.5
18	Daniel Poberezovsky	1818	2
19	Leo Kalina	        1658	2
20	Miraj Mohajireen	1580	2
21	James Hartley	        1559	2
22	Douglas Sparkes	        1524	2
23	Adam Halabe	        1501	2
24	Felix Wyss	        1384	2
25	Ethan Arbel	        1371	2
26	Benjamin Akok	        1334	2
27	Luke Ainsworth	        1254	2
28	Jacek Klukowski	        1690	1.5
29	Joseph Florio	        1293	1.5
30	Jack De Rooy	        1111	1.5
31	Ishan Venkat	        1358	1
32	Lucien Rae Gentil	1351	1

===========================================
(Assigned to Consolation Swiss)
33	Samuel De Rooy	        1155	0.5
34	Damien De Pyle	        944	0

The draw for the Knockout portion of the event can been seen at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gmJ...7PYvLr11u/view.

Note that seeds 33 and 34 (Samuel De Rooy and Damien De Pyle) will be the initial players in the Consolation Swiss portion of the event.

Colours have also been drawn for the Rapid (Allegro) games for rounds 1 and 2 of the Knockout. These can be seen at the following links:

Round 1 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j6H...SIbQLUz8a/view
Round 2 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L5-..._BnRNEYsN/view

[Thai Ly]

The draw for the Knockout portion of the event can been seen at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gmJ...7PYvLr11u/view

1st Quarter Bracket - Though he gained top seeding, IM Ari Dale faces a tricky path, with a potential match up with Carl Gorka in round 2 and young up-and-comer in Nicholas Ilic in the Quarter-Final. Ari would then potentially face famed MCC Allegro savant FM Michael Baron in the Semi-Finals.

2nd Quarter Bracket - Despite suffering an upset loss to Adam Kelly and almost conceding a draw to Lillian Lu in the qualification stage, FM Michael Baron managed to gain 4th seeding and a relatively easy quarter of the draw. Michael potentially faces a tricky opponent in Marcus Raine in round 2. His likely Quarter-Final opponent is hard to predict, though Oliver Pearl and new player Norzang Rabgye may be for choice.

3rd Quarter Bracket - FMs Domagoj Dragicevic and Ray Yang are the clear stand-out in this quarter of the draw, and their likely Quarter-Final match would probably be the most even. The winner of this match will have a strong chance to go all the way to the Final. Daniel Poberezovsky and Anthony Harris have minor chances to cause an upset in getting to the Quarter-Final.

4th Quarter Bracket - Adam Kelly did very well to secure 3rd seeding in the qualification, and his reward is a relatively easy path to the Semi-Final. Still Adam may need to contend with quickly improving junior Leo Kalina in the 2nd round and then possibly Lillian Lu or Randheer Thogata in the Quarter-Final, neither of whom should be underestimated.

[MichaelBaron]

The draw for the Knockout portion of the event can been seen at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gmJ...7PYvLr11u/view

1st Quarter Bracket - Though he gained top seeding, IM Ari Dale faces a tricky path, with a potential match up with Carl Gorka in round 2 and young up-and-comer in Nicholas Ilic in the Quarter-Final. Ari would then potentially face famed MCC Allegro savant FM Michael Baron in the Semi-Finals.

2nd Quarter Bracket - Despite suffering an upset loss to Adam Kelly and almost conceding a draw to Lillian Lu in the qualification stage, FM Michael Baron managed to gain 4th seeding and a relatively easy quarter of the draw. Michael potentially faces a tricky opponent in Marcus Raine in round 2. His likely Quarter-Final opponent is hard to predict, though Oliver Pearl and new player Norzang Rabgye may be for choice.

3rd Quarter Bracket - FMs Domagoj Dragicevic and Ray Yang are the clear stand-out in this quarter of the draw, and their likely Quarter-Final match would probably be the most even. The winner of this match will have a strong chance to go all the way to the Final. Daniel Poberezovsky and Anthony Harris have minor chances to cause an upset in getting to the Quarter-Final.

4th Quarter Bracket - Adam Kelly did very well to secure 3rd seeding in the qualification, and his reward is a relatively easy path to the Semi-Final. Still Adam may need to contend with quickly improving junior Leo Kalina in the 2nd round and then possibly Lillian Lu or Randheer Thogata in the Quarter-Final, neither of whom should be underestimated.

I should have drawn with Lilian...it would put me in to the 4th quater . Very funny qualification + seeding system.

Btw, it was an interesting endgame. There was a position where I thought I was winning already (before at was a equal endgame all together), but next day Daniel Poberezovsky showed me a clear parth to drawing for white.

[Thai Ly]

Below are links to the full results for rounds 1 and 2 of the Knock-out tournament as well as the draw filled out for rounds 1 & 2:

Round 1 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A1W...ew?usp=sharing
Round 2 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aBy...ew?usp=sharing

Knock-out Draw (Rds 1 & 2 done) - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yiV...ew?usp=sharing

For those struggling to connect through to the links, below are the summarised results:

Round 1
Ari Dale beat Lucien Rae Gentil 2-0
Carl Gorka beat James Watson 3.5-1.5 (2.5-0.5 in Blitz)
Chirashana Lamahewa beat Felix Wyss 2-0
Nicholas Ilic beat Ethan Arbel 2-0
Michael Baron beat James Florio 2-0
Marcus Raine beat Miraj Mohajireen 2-0
James Hartley beat Norzang Rabgye 2-0
Jacek Klukowski beat Oliver Pearl 2-0
Domagoj Dragicevic beat Ishan Venkat 2-0
Daniel Poberezovsky beat Tanya Kolak 2-0
Anthony Harris beat Adam Halabe 2-0
Ray Yang beat Benjamin Akok 2-0
Adam Kelly beat Jack De Rooy 2-0
Leo Kaline beat Goran Ilic 4-2 (3-1 in Blitz)
Lillian Lu beat Douglas Sparkes 2-0
Randheer Thogata beat Luke Ainsworth 4-1 (3-0 in Blitz)

Round 2
Ari Dale beat Carl Gorka 1.5-0.5
Chirashana Lamahewa beat Nicholas Ilic 4-1 (3-0 in Blitz)
Michael Baron beat Marcus Raine 1.5-0.5
Jacek Klukowski beat James Hartley 1.5-0.5
Domagoj Dragicevic beat Daniel Poberezovsky 4-1 (3-0 in Blitz)
Ray Yang beat Anthony Harris 3.5-1.5 (2.5-0.5 in Blitz)
Adam Kelly beat Leo Kalina 4-1 (3-0 in Blitz)
Lillian Lu beat Randheer Thogata 2-0

[Thai Ly]

Results and Pairings for the Consolation Swiss can be found at the following Tornelo link: https://tornelo.com/chess/orgs/melbo...iss--2/summary

Pairings will be done by the Arbiter in the next few days. Please note that the final pairings for the next round may change any time up until next Monday night as people may have to miss the night for some sudden reason (e.g illness).

[Thai Ly]

The pairings for the next rounds are as follows (first named person has white in first rapid (Allegro) game):

Chirashana Lamahewa v Ari Dale
Michael Baron v Jacek Klukowski
Domagoj Dragicevic v Ray Yang
Lillian Lu v Adam Kelly

Link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Ot...ew?usp=sharing

Also, the colours for the Semi-finals have been set. See link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZyT...ew?usp=sharing

Commentary on Rounds 1 & 2
It was a very busy night for the organising team as the novel format of running two event concurrently was fairly taxing.

Reflecting back on the night, it seems that the knock-out format made for competitive and intense play, particularly when each game could prove decisive. All players seem to be under more pressure than is normal during a chess tournament.

Notable in round 1 were two matches - James Watson v Carl Gorka and Leo Kalina v Goran Ilic. The former was a roller coaster match started with an upset win for James Watson in the first rapid game. James then appeared to build a significant, perhaps winning advantage in the second, but let it and the game slip. The blitz games then continued the wild ride but in the end, Carl's nerves held best and he won.

The match between Leon Kalina and Goran Ilic was an epic affair, with each game going to literally the last seconds on the players' (particularly Leo's) time. Kalina showed a habit of getting into time trouble but then playing with fierce tenacity when down to his last ten seconds, and in the end this was decisive. Both players appeared drained after each blitz game - it gave this observer a sense of what Magnus and Ian went through in their match (albeit with much higher stakes)!

In the second round, the competition was still more intense - half the matches went to the blitz tie-break.

Ari Dale proved to have too much class for Carl Gorka, with Carl having to acquiesce to a draw in their second rapid game (despite needing a win).

Marcus Raine played very well against Michael Baron, holding a draw with black in game 1 and doing well in the second rapid game before making a fatal slip which cost Marcus material and the game.

Chirashana Lamahewa v Nicholas Ilic was a close affair in the two rapid games before Chirashana decisively beat Nicholas in 3 blitz games.

Daniel Poberezovsky was left to rue missed chances in his match, stating afterwards he was much better in the second rapid game (the rapid games were both draws) - he ended up losing to Domgagoj Dragicevic in 3-0 in the blitz.

Anthony Harris proved his mettle to win the second rapid game after losing the first to Ray Yang and then drawing the first blitz, but Ray proved too good in the next two blitz games to win the match.

Finally, Leo Kalina bravely held out in the rapid games against Adam Kelly - winning the second game in a must-win situation - before losing the blitz 3-0.

[Scott Colliver]

The tournament seems to be going very well, good work from the organisers.

[MichaelBaron]

The tournament seems to be going very well, good work from the organisers.

Yes, so far - Ari Dale and Adam Kelly appear to be the two players to progress most smoothly. Domagoi had a challenge in Daniel while I had to work hard against Marcus Raine. Who obtained better position as black against me in game 1. I saved inferior (probably not lost - but very unpleasant) endgame...by offering a draw. In the 2nd game - it was me who gained a better endgame but it was also a fairly long conversion.

Now with the quaterfinals, in my half at least on paper - Me and Ari appear to be clear favourites.
Other half, Domagoi vs Ray will be a very exciting struggle Lilian vs Adam - I would probably favour Adam...but only 60/40.

[Aleksei]

The pairing of MCC Rapid Matchplay Championship Consolation Swiss tournament is published. Please use the link below for Round 4 (at 7:15pm on Monday 17th).
https://tornelo.com/chess/orgs/melbo...fault/rounds/4

[Thai Ly]

Full results for the Quarter and Semi Finals can be seen at the following links:

Quarter Finals - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UGP...ew?usp=sharing
Semi Finals - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lxq...ew?usp=sharing

Draw completed up to the Semi Finals - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n4T...ew?usp=sharing

In summary, the results were as follows:

Quarter Finals
Ari Dale beat Chirashana Lamahewa 2-0
Michael Baron beat Jacek Klukowski 2-0
Ray Yang beat Domagoj Dragicevic 3.5-2.5 (2.5-1.5 in Blitz)
Adam Kelly beat Lillian Lu 2-0

Semi Final
Michael Baron beat Ari Dale 4.5*-4.5 (*Baron drew as black in Armageddon game)
Ray Yang beat Adam Kelly 2-0

Of course, the two most exciting matches tonight were the two even matches on paper - the quarter final between Ray Yang and Domagoj Dragicevic and the semi final between Ari Dale and Michael Baron.

The former match was a theoretical discussion as the same two openings (the Winawer French and the Catalan) were played throughout the match. In the critical third blitz game, Ray was able to successfully negate Domagoj's attack against Ray's French Defence and take the whole point, which proved decisive as Ray was then able to hold the draw in the fourth and final blitz game.

The latter match was a roller coaster. After two very even rapid games where the players did not seem to have serious winning chances in either game, the blitz portion started with Ari launching a massive attack against Michael's black king in the first blitz game. However, Ari was unable to land the winning blow after sacrificing significant material and Michael was able to consolidate to win. Ari then won the second blitz game with black in very convincing fashion as the game barely lasted 20 moves and 2 minutes. Ari then won game 3 on the white side of a Nimzo-Indian. Material was exchanged down to an opposite colour bishop ending with an extra pawn to Ari which he was able to convert. The final blitz game saw Michael place Ari under pressure for much of the game, but suddenly Ari was able to use a tactic to win material in the endgame. However, this game wasn't over as the resulting material balance (R+B+1p [Ari] vs R+3p [Michael]) was tricky to play. Ari erred and before long Michael won Ari's remaining pawn with a decisive advantage. The match went to Armageddon with Ari as white having to win. He strove hard - probably too hard - in the opening to attack but Michael was able to counter attack Ari's exposed king. Ari then castled but this was a blunder which lost Ari an exchange. The rest of the game was a mopping-up operation from Michael which he handled with aplomb. Down on the clock and on the board, Ari was forced to accept a draw and lost the match.

The result pairings for the final and 3rd place playoff matches are as follows (first player has white in the first rapid game):

Final - Michael Baron v Ray Yang
3rd place playoff - Ari Dale v Adam Kelly

Link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UN-...ew?usp=sharing

[Thai Ly]

With the field for the Consolation Swiss settled after the quarter finals, the rating groups have been determined as follows (all rating as set in Tornelo):

Open - 1800+
Rating Group 1 - 1800 to 1601
Rating Group 2 - 1600 to 1401
Rating Group 3 - 1400 and below

Prizes are as advertised for the Consolation Swiss:
Open: 1st - $100, 2nd - $60
3 rating groups: 1st - $50, 2nd - $30

(Open)
Seeding	Name	                
1	Nicholas Ilic
2	Domagoj Dragicevic	
3	Carl Gorka	        
4	Chirashana Lamahewa
5	Anthony Harris 

(RG1)
----------------------------
6	Lillian Lu 
7	Daniel Poberezovsky	
8	Oliver Pearl 
9	Marcus Raine 
10	Norzang Rabgye	        
11	James Watson 
12	Goran Ilic
13	Jacek Klukowski 
14	Tanya Kolak 

(RG2)
----------------------------
15	Leo Kalina 
16	James Hartley 
17	Miraj Mohajireen
18	Adam Halabe
19	Randheer Thogata
20	Douglas Sparkes
21	Ethan Arbel 
22	Joseph Florio	  

(RG3)
----------------------------
23	Felix Wyss 
24	Ishan Venkat	        
25	Benjamin Akok	        
26	Lucien Rae Gentil	
27	Luke Ainsworth	        
28	Jack De Rooy	        
29	Samuel De Rooy	        
30	Damien De Pyle

[MichaelBaron]

Was a crazy match with many mistakes by both players....armaggedon was my first game without an increment...in many many years.

[Thai Ly]

In contrast to the preceding round, the final and 3rd place playoff were decidedly one-sided affairs with both matches failing to go the distance.

FM Michael Baron won the inaugural MCC Rapid Matchplay Championship 2.5-0.5 over FM Ray Yang.

IM Ari Dale whitewashed Adam Kelly 3-0 to take out 3rd place.

In game 1 of the final, Michael squeezed Ray after exchanging down to an endgame where he had unpleasant pressure over the black position. Ray was not able hold his position which had several weak pawns and which Michael penetrated into. In game 2, Ray sacced a pawn to gain some initiative but this eventually petered out and Michael was able to convert down to a winning queen and pawn ending before Ray lost on time. Game 3 saw the best from Ray, as he was already in a must-win situation. Ray had a position where he had a superior R+N v R+B ending with many of Michael's pawns on the same colour squares as his bishop. However, Michael defended stoutly and he was able to liquidate the minor pieces and then all the pawn, thus forcing a draw from Ray and thus securing the match.

Final and 3rd place playoff results - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1daC...ew?usp=sharing
Completed Draw - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ao0...ew?usp=sharing

[Thai Ly]

The final standings for the Consolation Swiss can be seen at the following link: https://tornelo.com/chess/orgs/melbo...ault/standings

Congratulations to all the following prize winners!

Prize Winners

Open: =1st - Domagoj Dragicevic, Chirashana Lamaheva (10 pts) [$80 each]
Rating Group 1: =1st - Daniel Poberezovsky, James Watson (8 pts) [$40 each]
Rating Group 2: 1st - Randheer Thogata (7 pts) [$50], =2nd - Leo Kalina, James Hartley (6.5 pts) [$15 each]
Rating Group 3: 1st - Felix Wyss (6 pts) [$50], =2nd - Ishan Venkat, Lucian Rae Gentil, Jack De Rooy (5.5 pts) [$10 each]

[MichaelBaron]

The final standings for the Consolation Swiss can be seen at the following link: https://tornelo.com/chess/orgs/melbo...ault/standings

Congratulations to all the following prize winners!

Prize Winners

Open: =1st - Domagoj Dragicevic, Chirashana Lamaheva (10 pts) [$80 each]
Rating Group 1: =1st - Daniel Poberezovsky, James Watson (8 pts) [$40 each]
Rating Group 2: 1st - Randheer Thogata (7 pts) [$50], =2nd - Leo Kalina, James Hartley (6.5 pts) [$15 each]
Rating Group 3: 1st - Felix Wyss (6 pts) [$50], =2nd - Ishan Venkat, Lucian Rae Gentil, Jack De Rooy (5.5 pts) [$10 each]

Very interesting event. Looking forward to more matchpaly events (hopefully) in the near future.
On another note, Rating Group 3 winner Felix Wyss is turning 86 this year I believe!