ACC Championship

A total of 45 players are here for the ACCC, with 2 deciding to become "zombies" making a total of 47. Even Klaus Pohl showed up, coming with Wayne Christensen, who won over a grand at the Southern Open last weekend. Klaus had called earlier to inform the House he was NOT coming, saying he refused to "subsidize" the lower rated players. Obviously his love of playing the game took precedence...One of the players in the open section complained vociferously about the players in the lower section having the same top prize as the open section, even though the top section had more players. One can listen, commiserate and empathize only so long before having to suggest, strongly, that the complainer either make a phone call, or send an email, to the organizer! Speaking of the impresario, he called today, the first time the House has heard from him since being informed of the case of food poisoning he contracted after the Southern Open. He is hating life about now, as he was supposed to be in D.C. for the 40th annual Atlantic Open. Although he sounded ok, he still has to go back to an out patient care facility for a check-up, the first time I've ever heard of that. Seems his lovely wife, Janet, has also been afflicted. The House wishes them a speedy recovery. After 2 rounds the top-rated Klaus, and #9 seed, Paul Taylor have the only perfect scores. The Stud, Hartley Chiang, Longshot Larry Johnson, and Chris Wiley are a half point behind.
In the Under 1800 section, top-rated John Lewis (1737) and Pinky Peatman (1589) are both 2-0, followed by Calvin Grier (1664), Richard "Live Wire" De Credico (1646), Brennen Bukovics (1616), and Reece Thompson(1413), each with 1 1/2 points.
The thing that jumps out at you from the Under 1400 section is all the half point byes, especially in the third round. There are 13 players and one zombie and five, count 'em, FIVE byes for the Sat nite round!. Along with the 3 half point byes in the U1800 section and the one in the Open section, that makes a total of 9, that's NINE, players NOT playing in the Saturday night round! That is 20% of the field. There has to ba a reason, and I believe it is that the third round must finish, and thereby start, much earlier. The House is not getting enough players for the Friday night round to justify an optional first round, and it is having too many players take a half pint bye in the third round on Saturday night. One option that comes to mind is to have a four round tournament, with rounds from 10-2 and 3-7. Please leave comments! In all, there are NINE half point byes awarded, only one of which is in the last round, fortunately.
Once again, the top-rated player, Gary Loveless (1379) is 2-0, along with Ananth Punyala (1073). The zombie, Thomas Gilbreath, Rishi Bagga, and Alexander Foster each have 1 1/2 points.

Brian Klarman (1621) - Paul Taylor (1920) [C39] Rd 1
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 d6 6.Nxg4 Be7 7.Qf3 Bxh4+ 8.Nf2 Bg3 9.d3 Qg5 10.Be2 Nc6 11.Rh5 Qf6 12.c3 Ne5 13.Rxe5+ dxe5 14.Kf1 h5 15.Na3 Bg4 0–1

Paul Taylor (1930) - Alan Piper (2098) [C02] Rd 2
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Qb6 8.Bc2 Nb4 9.Nc3 Nxc2+ 10.Qxc2 Rc8 11.0–0 Ne7 12.Be3 Nf5 13.Qd2 Be7 14.Rab1 a5 15.Rfd1 0–0 16.g4 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 Rc4 18.h4 Rfc8 19.g5 a4 20.h5 Qa5 21.Ne2 Bb5 22.g6 fxg6 23.hxg6 h6 24.Ng3 Qa6 25.Kg2 a3 26.Rh1 axb2 27.Rxb2 Rc3 28.Qd2 Ra3 29.Nh5 Bf8 30.Nf6+ gxf6 31.exf6 Rxf3 32.Kxf3 Be8 33.g7 Bg6 34.Kg2 Ba3 35.Rxh6 Kf7 36.Qg5 Be4+ 37.Kh2 Bd6+ 38.f4 e5 39.Qh5+ Ke6 40.f7+ Kd7 41.g8Q exf4 42.Qhg4+ Ke7 43.Qe6# 1–0