Amateur Team East 2024
Big team pic - front row (left to right): Gene, Ralph, Chris, Alex, Kimmy, Destiny; back row: Arturo, Nimrod, Karen, Timo, Harvey, Tyler, Jun, Ricco, Walter, Adam
This year, Cornell sent four teams and 16 incredible players to the largest annual team tournament! We traveled all the way to Parsippany, NJ to compete amongst 325 other teams (1300 people). For some, this was their second or third time representing Cornell at USATE; for others, this was their very first experience competing as part of a college team! Regardless, we all played valiantly for each of the six rounds, and although everyone felt quite tired by the end of the tournament, it was a fulfilling weekend full of banter, wild games, and quality time with friends.
There was a brief bughouse tournament on Sunday evening around 11pm. Although I was more than ready to just hit the hay, Chris persuaded me (Kimmy) into playing the bughouse event with him! As part of Cornell Bughouse Team A (there was only one Cornell team there), we readily swindled opponents with our makeshift penny and silver dollar as a black pawn and bishop. They weren’t ready for us - we won most of our entry fee back and it was quite a memorable event! You just had to be there.
“I loved USATE. You’d assume I use my brain at school but nothing like a game of classical chess!!! Also there’s a great bughouse tournament where you can argue your philosophical perspectives on the world!!!”
Shoutout to some of our incredible players who went undefeated at this tournament!
Arturo with 5.0 / 6.0 points
Alex with 5.5 / 6.0 points
Ralph with 5.5 / 6.0 points
Last but not least, huge thank you to Nimrod, Walter, and Adam for being our esteemed drivers! Without them, it would not have been possible for all of us to compete at our most anticipated tournament of the year :) Now let’s hear more from our beloved members - I’m sure they only had good things to say….
“USATE has become the chess tournament I most enjoy playing. At no other time of the year do I feel compelled to process as much information as during the three days that the event lasts. Part of that information will inevitably fade away, carrying the flavor of those lives that, according to Medieval poet Jorge Manrique, “son los ríos que van a dar en la mar, que es el morir:” Why did I ultimately opt for the Stonewall Defense in the last round? Why is piece development worth more than attacking through the center in a certain variation of the Caro-Kann Defense? What configurations of the rook-against-rook-and-two-pawns-endgame are indeed drawn positions? But something else remains within me, and such are the moments of friendship, of genuine camaraderie, of wandering back and forth across the borders of New Jersey, so that my memory of the tournament surrenders to gratitude, as I envision the sadness I will feel when I no longer can play the tournament as I have the past five years.”
“My experience competing at Amateurs with the Cornell team was exciting as it was my first major tournament post-pandemic (Haven’t played in 4 years). In the past, there was added pressure for me to perform well due to the team-style format, but this time around it was more relaxed. This tournament was a way to prove that I still had it in me to compete at a high level and it did! And come to find out, this was the same case as most of my Cornell teammates and we bonded over how at one point in our lives we were good (lol). I couldn’t have asked for a better experience at Amateurs with the Cornell team! ”
Until next year! ◡̈