Petoskey District Library names 2022 chess champions
PETOSKEY — The Petoskey District Library Chess Club capped off its eight-month season with a chess championship tournament on June 18. The tournament was a success with a few former players, still in the youth age bracket, who came out to compete — players the library hadn’t seen since pre-pandemic times.
A five-round Swiss style tournament was held from 1-7 p.m. Players age 8-18 convened at the library’s Carnegie building to compete with a time control of 25 minutes delay 5, G25|d5. With this time control, each player gets 25 minutes on the clock and the clock does not start counting down until five seconds have passed. Each player competed in at least four rounds with some taking a one-point bye for one round due to an odd number of players.
Brooke Knickerbocker went head-to-head with Bridger Mattson competing for first place. It was a long, well thought out round, however, 17-year-old Mattson won the tournament with a clear sweep having won all five of his games. In 2017 he had won the Michigan Amateur Championship reserve section as well as the Michigan Scholastic Championship reserve held in Lansing and at Oakland University. He started playing chess with the library chess gang 8 years ago, and we all wish him well as he departs for Michigan Tech University to study computer science.
Capturing second and third places were the Knickerbocker sisters, Brooke age 14 and Anna age 10, respectively. Fourth Place was captured by Salter Watson, age 14 and fifth place by Isaiah Rauhaus, age 12.
Winning in the 9 and under category was Finn Petersen, age 9; Carl Nolan, age 11, won the 11 and under trophy, and Magnus Larson, age 12, the 13 and under. The remaining participants all received medals: Henk Boerman (14), Ella Nolan (14), and Graham Wertman (12). All the players demonstrated a lot of growth in their abilities to think strategically and tactically, and they competed strongly.
Players over third grade were required to record their moves and their opponents’ on scoresheets, so that the games could be reviewed later. Players had practiced various openings, tactics, and end game strategies throughout the year.
First and second places were clearly defined with scores of 5 wins and 4 wins. Places for the several 3-point finishers and 2.5-point finishers were determined by appropriate tie-breaking methods. The participants enjoyed watching updates on the large whiteboard crosstable as tournament directors updated results and pairings after each round. They eagerly awaited to see whom they would be paired up with next.
The husband-and-wife team Robert Bemben and Robin Ray of Bliss Township feel extremely fortunate to also have volunteer chess expert Adam Masek supporting the club efforts for about the last five years. Bemben and Ray started the club in Fall 2011. They are especially excited this year by the strength of the many players and hope to organize a team of four or more players to compete at the November Michigan Scholastic Club Championship held on Nov. 5 in Lansing.
Petoskey players have competed, as a team, at least three times over the decade. Adding fuel to Michigan chess in 2023 is the U.S. Chess Open which will be in Grand Rapids in August 2023. This will be the first time since the '90s that the tournament has been in Michigan. There will be a one-day scholastic side event for the club players to participate in, plus blitz and rapid chess side tournaments, in addition to the main 4- and 7-day tournaments.
Robert, Robin, and their son Alex recently competed in the the Michigan Amateur Championship held in Grand Rapids in June, with Robert and Alex scoring 3.5 points out of 5 and taking 7th and 9th places in a field of 59 players.
Petoskey District Library’s hours are Monday–Friday: 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Saturday: 10 a.m.– 5 p.m. and Sunday: noon-5 p.m. For more information about donating to the Petoskey District Library gift or endowment funds, visit its website at www.petoskeylibrary.org and click the green donate button, or call staff at (231) 758-3100.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey District Library names 2022 chess champions
