Insanity at the Marshall Chess Club!

The Marshall’s New Year’s Ridiculousness Insane Person Championship is the wackiest, most unpredictable tournaments hosted at the club every year. Over 25 players showed up to the 2017/2018 event for 15 rounds over three days. Many people turned out for the last chess tournament held at the club every year, even foregoing the trip on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. With guaranteed prizes and fun prizes like the “Idiocy Prize” for the player scoring best in tournament with 1.g4 and/or 1…g5, what’s not to like?

The turnout would have been higher if not for the Empire City Open, which happened simultaneous to the tournament. A few players chose to play in that tournament instead, but there was a positive turnout at the club and a great, festive atmosphere. The end of the year must have brought a special spirit to the club, as some players stayed after the games were done and others reunited with old friends, leaving to hold separate New Year’s chess parties at their own houses.

Unsurprisingly, first seed IM Djurabek Khamrakulov placed clear first. He drew only against GM Michael Rohde and FM Leif Pressman, winning every game otherwise. Khamrakulov has been playing extensively at the club lately, a welcome sight for sure.

Impressively enough, Khamrakulov did so well that he was even able to take a zero point bye in the last round and still win the tournament. His performance pushed his rating to 2599, just shy of 2600 USCF.

“He can’t lose a game. You think you’re winning against him, but then you just lose,” commented Marshall Regular Anthony Kozikowski about Khamrakulov’s performance in this tournament. This tournament is a tough, brutal, “insane,” 15 round event and these words reflect just how skilled the IM must have been to finish with such a spectacular result.

A few other players had a great tournament as well, such as NM Majur Juac. He gained 45 rating points, even beating IM Yury Lapshun, who placed 2nd. Juac ended with a score of 10.5/15, with 3 of them byes. Perhaps the most interesting performance was from NM Ted Belanoff, who committed to winning the Idiocy Prize. The prize went to the highest scoring player who played g4 with white or ...g5 with black to start. Every player had two scores recorded: their general tournament score and their score in g4/g5 games. Belanoff played g4 or ...g5 every single game, ending up with a score of 8.5/15. With a guaranteed $118, 8 rating points was no big loss to him!

Ted generously submitted one of his games to be annotated by FM Aaron Jacobson:

Another game ...g5 game played by NM Ted Belanoff: