The annual Christmas Crazy Tournament took place on Tuesday 16th December and the result was the usual highly enjoyable chaos. This year, along with the usual time handicap system (the 20 minutes per game is allocated according to the grades of the two players, so it could be 10 minutes each if of equivalent grade or up to 17 minutes to 3 minutes if the grades are further apart), Matt introduced 'War and Pieces'.
Each player started with a king and 8 pawns in the usual starting positions. Each player then selected pieces up to the value of 23 points (knights and bishops 3, rooks 5, queens 9) to be placed anywhere on the back rank. There were no other limits so it would be possible to have e.g. 6 knights and a rook if that took your fancy. Once you had chosen your pieces you kept them for all 5 rounds, although you could vary the starting positions each time.
With everyone out of their comfort zone many hard fought battles ensued and great fun was had by all. We were pleased to welcome back Ryan on one of his flying visits and it was Ryan who demonstrated the greatest ability to adapt by winning the tournament with a score of 4.5/5. Well done Ryan!
Close on his heels, in 2nd and 3rd, were Oli and Luke with 4/5, a very creditable performance. The final prize, for the best performance by a player graded under 1400, went to Daz with an excellent score of 2.5/5.
All in all a great evening. Many thanks to all who took part and especially to Matt and Gail for their usual faultless organistion.
Matt has promised an even crazier variation for next year - watch this space!