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Rank Changes SAGA Tournaments Uncategorized

Candidates 2023 Results

The “Candidates” stage of the SA Closed tournament was played this weekend, September 17 and 18. Each day is a three round Swiss tournament, with the top four players from day one progressing to day two. The top for players from day two move on to the “Contenders” stage of the tournament.

Congratulations to James and Adru on their promotions to 2k and 5k respectively. David Lubinsky played through from day one to qualify for Contenders, his first time qualifying. His last recorded game in the SAGA ranking system was in 2011. It seems that he’s come back from a break in good form.

Day One:
1: James Gelant
2: Christiaan Maasdorp
3: David Lubinsky
4: Adru van Niekerk
5: Pieter-Francois Theron
6: Michael Rapson
7: Fred Strauss
8: Pico Geyer

Day Two:
1: Rocco Vivier
2: David Lubinsky
3: Ben Bredenkamp
4: Paul Edwards
5: James Gelant
6: Adru van Niekerk
7: Christiaan Maasdorp
8: David Gale

Positions 2-4 and 5-7 are determined by “sum of opponent scores”.

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Rank Changes Tournaments Winter League

Winter League 2022

Winter League 2022 took place from June until October with 11 players completing games. Congratulations Rocco, who won the tournament with straight wins. This earned him his promotion to 1d.

Player Rank
1 Rocco Vivier 1d
2 James Nicolson 1k
3 Christiaan Maasdorp 2k
3 Michael Rapson 4k
5 Andrew Davies 3d
5 Paul Edwards 1d
5 Andre Connell 2d
8 Marc Loon 5k
9 Gordon Wells 7k
10 Pieter-Francois Theron 10k
11 Pico Geyer 10k

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Rank Changes Tournaments Uncategorized Winter League

Winter League 2021

Winter league 2021 took place from June to November, with 12 players taking part. Players ranged from 3d to 7k in strength. Once again, the tournament used a McMahon style with pairing pre-drawn based on player ranks at the start of the tournament. The bar was set at 3k for this season.

Congratulations to Chris, who won the league for the second year in a row, with straight wins. Andrew and Andre placed second and third respectively. Michael was promoted back to 4k during the tournament.

Player Rank
1 Chris Welsh 3d
2 Andrew Davies 3d
3 Andre Connell 2d
4 Rocco Vivier 2k
5 Lloyd Rubidge 1d
6 Ben Bredenkamp 1k
7 James Nicolson 1k
8 Christiaan Maasdrop 3k
9 Michael Rapson 4k
10 Paul Edwards 1d
11 Gordon Wells 7k
12 Fred Strauss 7k

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Rank Changes SAGA Tournaments Uncategorized

SA Closed tournament: Contenders 2021 results

Contenders was once again held primarily online, using the South Africa room of OGS as the main venue. Players were also given the option of meeting up and playing “over the board” with opponents in their area.

Victor took first place, again with straight wins. Not all the games were as comfortable, however. Andrew managed to keep his game against Victor within 10 points throughout, and Chris had a 15 point lead at move 80 that he didn’t manage to convert. The fight for second was fierce. Andre’s win vs Andrew left him with all to play for in the final game vs Chris. When Chris held on to his 1.5 point lead in end game, David’s early upset win against Andre left Andre on 4 points. This handed Andrew second place, with the tie breaker being Andrew’s head to head win vs Chris.

There was a three way tie between the lower four players, with Christiaan, Rocco, and David all on 2 wins. Christiaan took 5th place, with Rocco in 6th. Head to head games were again the tie breaker. David’s upset win against Andre unfortunately only earned him 7th place, with Ben taking a point off Christiaan.

Congratulations to Christiaan and Rocco who participated in Contenders for the first time. Christiaan also earned promotion to 2k after his win against David.

Player NBW Notes
1 Victor Chow, 7d 7
2 Andrew Davies, 3d 5 Tie breaker: Andrew beat Chris
3 Chris Welsh, 3d 5
4 Andre Connell, 2d 4
5 Christiaan Maasdorp, 2k 2 Tie breaker: Christiaan beat Rocco and David
6 Rocco Vivier, 2k 2 Tie breaker: Rocco beat David
7 David Gale, 1k 2
8 Ben Bredenkamp, 1k 1
Final Standings


Categories
Rank Changes SAGA Tournaments Uncategorized

Candidates 2021 results

The “Candidates” stage of the SA Closed tournament was played this weekend, May 1 and 2. Each day is a three round Swiss tournament, with the top four players from day one progressing to day two. The top for players from day two move on to the “Contenders” stage of the tournament.

Day one saw an upset with Fred Strauss beating James Gelant in the first round. James managed to stabilise in the next two games, and then went on to win day two. Three players who played day one went on to qualify for Contenders. All three will be playing in Contenders for the first time in 2021. Congratulations to Rocco, Christiaan, and James Gelant. They also earned promotions based on their performance. They are now 2k, 3k, and 3k respectively.

David Gale also secured his place at Contenders. He previously qualified for the tournament in 2018.

Day One:
1: Rocco Vivier
2: Christiaan Maasdorp
3: Michael Rapson
4: James Gelant
5: Fred Strauss
6: James Nicolson
7: Gordon Wells

Day Two:
1: James Gelant
2: Rocco Vivier
3: Christiaan Maasdorp
4: David Gale
5: Michael Rapson
6: Ben Bredenkamp
7: Paul Edwards
8: Paul Steyn

Positions 2-4 and 5-7 are determined by “sum of opponent scores”.