Old and New Rivals

Twenty four players sat down for the first round of the TNF, two of whom were House men, as one player came late and was paired with houseman #2. So much for the rule concerning showing up on time...May as well go ahead and call in your entry as the rule about having to pay to be paired has left the House too!
Reece Thompson scored the major upset in round one with his win over Scott 'the visitor' Parker. No matter where he goes, he's just "visiting."

Reece Thompson (1413)- Scott Parker (1861) [B00]
1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.Be2 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 d5 7.e5 Nd7 8.h3 Bh5 9.0–0 Be7 10.g4 Bg6 11.Bd3 f6 12.Bxg6+ hxg6 13.Qd3 Kf7 14.Bf4 Nb4 15.Qd2 Rxh3 16.Kg2 Rh8 17.Rh1 c5 18.Rxh8 Qxh8 19.Rh1 Qe8 20.a3 Nc6 21.Nb5 Rc8 22.exf6 Nxf6 23.Ng5+ Kf8 24.Rh8+ Ng8 1–0 (eventually)

Carter Peatman (1595) held Joe Moon (2073) to a draw, as the other favorites held form.
In the second round, Ananya Roy (1661) beat David Bernat (1843). Two friendly rivals squared off in this round, with Samuel Zimmerman playing Carter Peatman.

Carter Peatman (1595) - Samuel Zimmerman (1647) [B76]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Nc6 7.f3 Bg7 8.Qd2 0–0 9.Nb3 Be6 10.0–0–0 Bxb3 11.axb3 a6 12.h4 Ne5 13.Be2 Rc8 14.g4 Qa5 15.h5 Qa1+ 16.Nb1 Nxf3 17.Bxf3 Nxe4 18.Qc3 Nxc3 19.bxc3 Bxc3 0–1

I've gotta feeling these two will be doing battle for years to come!
That brings us to the match-ups for the last round. On board one was David Vest (2218) vs Larry Johnson (2026). These two have a long, intense rivalry going back years. On board two: Chris Wiley (1838) vs Damir Studen (2175). All had a perfect 2-0, as did Ananya Roy, who was White on board three vs Joe Moon, who had a point and a half.
Damir was the first to win, although Chris was up a Queen when he lost on time. The funny thing is that Chris eschewed using a time delay clock! Joe Moon beat Ananya to finish with 2 1/2, and that left the High Plains Drifter playing Longshot Larry. The Drifter had a Queen and Rook on the seventh rank, but Longshot had his Queen checking the Drifter's King, and he had a time advantage. Could it be that he had a time advantage because he stopped keeping score after about 15 moves? The Drifter brought his Queen back to stop the checks, but that left Larry with a longshot! He had a pawn loose that the man from the High Plains could not stop. For Larry, the longshot came in, as he tied with The Stud for first, each winning a paltry $27.50. Joe Moon took home $14.00 for his clear third place finish.
The only player to win chump change by actually playing a game in the last round was Reece Thompson, who drew with the rapidly improving Richard Lin (1346), to finish with 1 1/2 -1 1/2 and take home $7. Zimmy, Bob Peatman (1268), Jonathan Choi (1113), and Tianming Liu (1002), each took a half point bye in the third round and "won" $7 for their "efforts." Ten of the twenty-two players took a half point bye in the last round. That's an astounding 45%!
Mention must be made of the two last round opponents, Walter Overman and Alexander Foster. Walt is visiting from Raleigh, NC, while taking a training course and came to visit the House both Saturday and Sunday. He has played in many of Thad's tournaments in the Tarheel state and speaks very highly of him. There was a possibility Thad would make it up this weekend, and Walt was looking forward to seeing him, but, alas, Thad did not make it until Tue morning...Walt is full of energy, and he came in, looked around, and proclaimed the ACC the best place in the universe! I can't but help thinking the players in and around the House have come to take it for granted, as if, even without support, it will always be here. Seeing the reaction of a newcomer like Walt puts it all in perspective. The chess players here simply have no idea how lucky they are. The chess players there do!
Speaking of support, Alexander Foster played in the ACCC, telling me he wants to get ready for Foxwoods next spring. I told him Boris Kogan said it was important to play about once a month to stay sharp and prepare for the big tournaments in the future. The next time Alexander made an appearance, he joined the ACC! And he has been spending more time in the House...
Tianming Liu gained 48 points. Reece Thompson gained 29. Walt lost as many, but always has a good time! Mr Parker lost 20 big ones, and if he's not careful, he may be paying another visit to the dreaded "B" class! Ms Roy gained 18, while Longshot Larry picked-up 16.