By Dan Stock
Those who have played Darin True lately know that he's seriously underrated. He put himself back over 1600 with a victory in the seventeen-player, seven-round Summit Open tourney in Hudson, OH, yesterday.
True defeated Pete Zeigler in a best-of-three match for the championship. In the decisive third game of the match, True had the high game of the tourney -- a 513. Nothing like winning with a bang!
An amazing performance was put in by Joyce Stock, the bottom seed in the tourney. After a first round bye, she ended up playing her other six games against five of the top six seeds in the tourney -- all rated at least 500 points above her going in (they were from 1487 to 1837 going in; she started at 951). The tourney winner, #4 seed Darin True, was the only one of the top six seeds who didn't have to play Joyce. The second place finisher, #2 seed Pete Zeigler, was the only player to play Joyce once and win. The third place finisher, #5 seed Dan Stock (hey, that's me!), split his two games with Joyce in the best-of-two third-place finals -- yes, my wife and I beat each other, and I took third place based on cumulative spread in the two-game series. The #1, #3, and #6 seeds all lost to Joyce and ended up out of the money.
And as if that weren't enough upsets for the day, fifth place went to the second-lowest seed, Michael Bassett. Michael was the only person besides Pete to beat Darin. He also beat the #3 seed to finish just ahead of Terry Oblander for the final money spot. (Note that the top four places were determined by match play for the last two or three rounds; the remaining places were by won-lost record.)
Overheard:
A certain player: "There has to be a reason why I lost that game."
His opponent: "Because I scored more points?"
Thanks to director Christopher Sheppard for another fun event!
Details, ratings guesses, and such are below.
Thanks,
Dan
--------------------
Championship Match (best-of-three)
Darin True d. Pete Zeigler, 2-1
Game 1: True, 435-353
Game 2: Zeigler, 449-369
Game 3: True, 513-357
Third Place Match (best-of-two)
Daniel Stock d. Joyce Stock, 1-1 (+33)
Game 1: D. Stock, 417-341
Game 2: J. Stock, 382-339
24th Summit Open -- Final Standings*
Place. Name (Seed): Won-Lost,Cume -- Rating Before ± Change => Estimated Rating After (Prize)
1st. Darin True (#13): 6-2,+551 -- 1583 + 31 => 1614 ($135 + trophy)
2nd. Pete Zeigler (#5): 5-3,+262 -- 1737 - 9 => 1728 ($75 + ribbon)
3rd. Daniel Stock (#1): 4.5-2.5,+234 -- 1569 + 1 => 1570 ($45 + ribbon)
4th. Joyce Stock (#17): 5-2,+20 -- 951 + 105 => 1056 ($30 + ribbon)
5th. Michael Bassett (#16): 5-2,+112 -- 1082 + 85 => 1167 ($30 + ribbon)
6th. Terry Oblander (#8): 5-2,+65 -- 1345 + 40 => 1385 (ribbon)
7th. Christopher Sheppard (#14): 4-3,+104 -- 1115 + 32 => 1147 (ribbon)
8th. Kevin McCarthy Sr (#6): 4-3,+32 -- 1479 + 6 => 1485 (ribbon)
9th. Connie Breitbeil (#7): 4-3,-225 -- 1386 - 8 => 1378 (ribbon)
10th. Chuck Armstrong (#1): 3.5-3.5,+478 -- 1837 - 36 => 1801 (ribbon)
11th. George Viebranz (#3): 3-4,+344 -- 1665 - 47 => 1618
12th. Eileen Popich (#12): 3-4,+19 -- 1177 + 4 => 1181
13th. Midge Skwire (#15): 3-4,-200 -- 1114 - 1 => 1113
14th. Christopher Walleck (#11): 3-4,-245 -- 1252 - 12 => 1240
15th. Frank Lee (#9): 3-4,-311 -- 1306 - 23 => 1283
16th. Heather Steffy (#10): 2-5,-414 -- 1258 - 27 => 1231
17th. Walter Konicki (#13): 1-6,-476 -- 1156 - 47 => 1109
* Due to the match play format, the top two finishers played an eighth game. So in the formal submission to NASPA, everyone else will get a bye for that round. These eighth-round byes are not included in these standings.
