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On Saturday, June 20, 2015, the RVCC hosted the 2015 Tracy Callis Sunset Memorial Tournament. This was the final installment in a series of tournaments honoring Tracy Callis, Jr., an RVCC member who passed away tragically and prematurely in 2008.
Also honored at this event was Tracy's son, Shawn, who passed away in a tragic accident last year. We gave particular thanks to the entire Callis family, including Jane, who helped us with decorations and food for past Callis Memorials. We also expressed our particular appreciation to Tracy Callis Sr. the father of Tracy Jr. Mr. Callis has contributed a large stipend for the past 5 years, to ensure that the tournament honoring the memory of his son would feature an attractive prize fund for the participants. The senior Mr. Callis also bought a rotating plaque for the tournament, which featured the engraved name of each year's winner of the event. Mr. Callis also helped with extra advertising expenses, food and misc. other ways as well. Without his generosity, the tournament would not have had the successful 5-year run that it has had.
Also at the tournament, the club unveiled a new Callis Memorial polo shirt with an embroidered charging chess knight on the right and the name of the Tournament on the left. They look really sharp ! We urge members to order a shirt in order to honor Tracy's memory and to help the club as well. Contact either Mike Huff or Rusty Potter to find out more...
Now for the tournament itself ! The event this year had an unrated Round Robin format, with a time control of G/30 with 15-second increment. Ten players competed in four rounds at the RVCC headquarters at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op.
Eric Diaz dominated the field with a perfect 4-0 score. In their third round game, Ray Megginson as Black apparently tried to take Eric out of his book preparation, but Eric's smooth finesses saved the day.
Brian Mackey came in a clear second at 3-0, losing only to the unstoppable Eric Diaz. Gary Myers finished third at 2 1/2-1 1/2.
Christian Dotson, who nicked Gary for a draw in the third round, rounded out the prizewinners for Top Amateur with a 2 1/2-1 1/2 score.
As always, the RVCC would like to thank the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op for its hospitality.
( Submitted by Mike Huff, Russell Potter & Josh Lilly )