2010 TRACY CALLIS JR. MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT REPORT
As part of its series of special, one-day Grand Prix tournaments, the
Roanoke Valley Chess Club held its first Tracy Callis Jr. Memorial on
Saturday, August 21 at St. John's Lutheran Church, in Roanoke,
Virginia. This USCF rated tournament has a rating of 6 USCF Grand Prix
points, with all money guaranteed. The tournament was played in three
rounds. The time control was Game in 90 Minutes with a 5 second delay.
One of the Roanoke Valley Chess Club's most beloved members and
tournament participants, Tracy Callis, Jr., passed away on the 6th of
August, 2009. We knew that we had to have a tournament in his honor,
but we were taken aback by the generosity of donors, led by his
parents. Tracy's mother, Mrs. Jane Orr, along with friends and
relatives, donated and served out an excellent lunch, free to all
participants. This was not your typical "free tournament food" fare!
At 12:30, a very nice, brief ceremony for Tracy was hosted by his
long-time friend and chess mentor, NM Russell Potter. All involved
are hoping that we can do this again in 2011.
The tournament itself was advertised as a one-day, 3-round 6 Grand
Prix point event... and indeed it was. But Tracy's father, Tracy
Callis Sr., came in with a whopping $400 into the prize fund! This
brought the actual monetary value of the tournament into the 10-GP
range. This extremely generous donation was accompanied by Tracy Sr.
himself at the prize ceremony after the event was completed.
It was Tracy's usual rival for 1st place in these tournaments who,
perhaps suitably, took the first prize in the Championship Section.
Strong Lynchburg A-Player Felix McCain of Lynchburg took the top
honors with 2.5, the draw being with Michael Turner, and the victories
being over Ed Boyers and Robert Nolan. Felix walked out with a cheque
boosted by Mr. Callis Sr.'s donation totalling $250. Not bad for
playing 3 games of chess!
Following Felix with a score of 2 were three players: Ed Boyers, Tom
Hales from Asheboro, NC, and Richard White.
In the 2nd Section, Jernel Sharp won with a convincing and perfect
3/3, netting himself over 140 rating points in the process! Hot on
his heels were Ray Megginson and Hunter Harlow, both with 2.5 each.
Sam di Stefano also took the section's Booster prize for scoring 2 /
3.
Congratulations to all the prizewinners, and thanks to everyone who
came out to make this fantastic event possible! With donations from
several sources, including extremely generous ones by Tracy's parents,
and a truly colossal time and effort by Russell Potter, this ended up
being a terrific day indeed. A special thanks is given to Ray
Megginson, who has several times now graciously assisted with
pre-tournament issues. That sort of thing goes largely unnoticed by
tournament participants, but without people like Ray pitching in,
these events couldn't take place. Last, but certainly not least,
further thanks must be given to Mike Huff, who not only played in the
tournament and helped set it up, but also stayed behind with Mr.
Potter and TD Joshua Lilly to clean up everything, not leaving until
everything was finished, everything cleaned and gathered. This is far
from the first time Mike has done this, and a simple "thanks" never
seems sufficient for this kind of much-needed assistance.
We hope to have another event honoring Tracy next year!
The Roanoke Valley Chess Club sincerely appreciates everyone who
participated and made this special event successful.
TOURNAMENT RESULTS:
UPPER SECTION:
1st |
Felix Mc Cain |
2.5 points |
2nd |
Ed Boyers |
2.0 points |
3rd |
Tom Hales |
2.0 points |
4th |
Richard White |
2.0 points |
LOWER SECTION:
1st |
Jernel Sharp |
3.0 points |
2nd |
Ray Megginson |
2.5 points |
3rd |
Hunter Harlow |
2.5 points |
BOOSTER SECTION:
Sam di Stefano 2.0 points
For the complete USCF tournament report of the Tracy Callis Jr. Memorial, please
click here.