Darreion Bailey
Oct 11, 2024
Report from our Annual Tournament to Commemorate the Late Walter Muir - "The Grand Old Man of Correspondence Chess"
Prize fund: $500
We had a total turnout of 8 players for this year's Walter Muir Memorial tournament, 5 of which were from out of town. Many of our chess club regulars could not make it this time around, but we had some interesting happenings nonetheless!
Round One, Jon Hudson was late for pairings to be made, which would leave us with an odd number of players. To avoid giving anyone a full point bye for round one, I decided to step in to give us an 8 player round. Naturally, I got paired with FM Karl Dehmelt (USCF ~2200) for this round. After a precarious string of tactical shots, I managed to grind out an even endgame against the master.
Round Four, the lowest rated player in the tournament (Max Witherell, USCF 1262) was on 3/3 points, having dominated every round thus far. Now, he was up against his toughest challenge yet: Mr. Dehmelt. After a stable middle game, Karl sacrificed an exchange for a crushing attack against Max's kingside. Eventually, Max could not hold on and was forced to resign.
Final standings:
# | Name | Rating | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Total | Est. Post | Perf. |
1 | FM KARL DEHMELT | 2242 | L8(b) | W5 (w) | W6 (b) | W3 (b) | W9 (w) | 4 | 2228 | 1788 |
2 | JONATHAN HUDSON | 1682 | H--- | L3 (w) | W7 (b) | W4 (w) | W6 (b) | 3.5 | 1668 | 1566 |
3 | MAX WITHERELL | 1262 | W9 (w) | W2 (b) | W4 (b) | L1 (w) | L7 (w) | 3 | 1417 | 1756 |
4 | ANDREW PLEVA | 1461 | W7 (w) | W6 (b) | L3 (w) | L2 (b) | H--- | 2.5 | 1451 | 1421 |
5 | GABE SEBAS KACZOR | 1429 | L6 (w) | L1 (b) | W9 (w) | W7 (b) | H--- | 2.5 | 1453 | 1660 |
6 | ETHAN LEA RUSSELL | 1401 | W5 (b) | L4 (w) | L1 (w) | W9 (b) | L2 (w) | 2 | 1431 | 1615 |
7 | RYAN WESDOCK | U | L4 (b) | D9 (b) | L2 (w) | L5(w) | W3(b) | 1.5 | 1335 | 1339 |
8 | DARREION C BAILY | 1987 | W1(w) | U--- | U--- | U--- | U--- | 1 | 2009 | 2642 |
9 | THOMAS CURLEY | 1657 | L3(b) | D7(w) | L5(b) | L6(w) | L1(b) | 0.5 | 1560 | 1215 |
Karl Dehmelt: 1st place
Jon Hudson: 2nd place
Max Witherell: 3rd place
Gabe Kaczor: Top U1600
Ryan Wesdock: Top U1200 (by default)
Thank you to everyone who came out this weekend, we deeply appreciate the support in helping us to promote chess in the Roanoke Valley. Check out our future events on our homepage, with new things being added soon!