Mayor’s Cup to settle who’s King

This article was in the FRONT PAGE of the Buffalo Newspaper! This was sent to us by Dr. Mark Mieth. Thank you Dr. Mieth for sharing this with us.

Among Buffalo chess masters, Mayor’s Cup settles who’s king

By Chrissie Thompson
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 06/11/07 9:25 AM

Eddie Mark had the quietest celebration of a city championship Buffalo has seen in years.

Upon earning his victory, he clasped his competitor’s hand, smiled and walked out of the room of silent people.

Mark’s win Sunday in Buffalo’s first Mayor’s Cup Chess Championships designated him the best chess player in Buffalo.

“I felt like jumping,” he said. “When I came out here and saw my wife, I jumped a little bit.”

Mark, who turned 34 Sunday, celebrated a victory for all Buffalo chess players. Area competitors disputed the exact date of the last city championship, but they agreed they have waited between 15 and 30 years to know who is the best in the city.

To win the tournament in Buffalo State College’s Campbell Student Union, Mark, who entered the competition seeded third, won all three of his games Saturday, including one against second-seeded Barry Davis. He then took a draw in his first game Sunday with Lionel Davis, the five-round tournament’s topranked player.

Mark only needed a draw in his last game against fifth-seeded Douglas Dubose to win the championship, so he played conservatively.

Dubose, 49, the tournament’s runner-up, needed to win the last game to take first in the competition, but a loss would have cost him the runner-up spot.

“I tried to play aggressively, at the same time not take a great deal of chances,” Dubose said.

Finally, Dubose conceded to Mark.

Mark’s victory came in the masters open division of the tournament, which was divided into four classes determined according to the U.S. Chess Federation point system. In each USCF-sanctioned tournament, victories add points to a player’s rating, while defeats subtract points — especially if a high-ranked player loses to a lowerranked competitor.

Here is the full article.