Tuesday, February 24, 2015

16th Annual Paramount
16th Annual Paramount
Photo collage:  Tony Cortizas Jr.



16th Annual Paramount
                    
Mon, March 2, 12am – Tue, March 3, 12am 
Weekly on Monday, until May 11, 2015
     40 Norris St, Cambridge, MA 02140, USA
map
10 Rounds. 2RR. Players divided into six player sections by rating. 
40/90; d5, G/60; d5. Adjournments are allowed after 3 hours of play; 
Entry fee: $25, $20 to BCF members; 
Prizes: 50% EF 
Registration: 6:00 to 6:45 PM 
Round at 7PM. 
No games on Patriot’s Day.

For some people spring is signaled by the start of Red Sox reporting to spring training, by groundhog day, by the returning swallows to Capistrano...
But for many of us it is the Paramount

This will be the 16th annual edition of the popular tournament, a ten-round, double round-robin. Initiated by Bryan Clark, this format [generous time control with two try's against known opponents bunched in competitive groups] remains popular. And it is one of the few tournaments left that incorporate adjournments.
This long running Boylston event is particularly attractive because of it rather unique format.
It is a double round-robin among 6 closely rated players, so one knows one's opponent and color in advance.
The time control is generous and - unusual for this days - allows for adjournments.
If you haven't played in a Paramount before, give it a try.
If you have, please play again.

As Steve Stepak put it last year: "This is a thinking person's event: 10 rounds, double round robin.  The time control is: 40 moves in 90 minutes (+5" delay) and then G/60. A nuance in the time control is: after 3 hours of play, the game may be adjourned and resumed on a day agreed to by the players.  So this event is for players who like to think out complex combinations and strategies on the board and need the time to do so and who enjoy analyzing adjourned positions and resuming the game like was done in the "old days" . . . in the time of Bobby Fischer, for example.  Today, due to the proliferation of chess programs like Rybka (3199), Fritz (3080), Shredder (3058) and now Houdini (rating 3287) there is no more adjournment option, neither in professional chess play or most amateur club play. So the BCC Paramount may be one of the last places on earth where there is indeed an adjournment."
                       Steve Stepak's photo report on last year's Paramount. 
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