2005 Chicago Open: Official Announcement

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icarium
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2005 Chicago Open: Official Announcement

Post by icarium »

Hello All,

Sorry to be so late in picking a date, but I was out of the country for a while and had to work through several date conflicts for potential participants.

The academic team tournament and all accompanying events will be held on the weekend of July 1-3 on the campus of the University of Chicago on Cobb Hall.

For those unfamiliar with the tournament, it will consist of rounds of 20/20 questions following ACF guidelines with 1/1 trash in every packet. The questions are difficult, and are generally at the level of ACF Nationals, though they will be in between the level of this year's Regionals and Nationals tournaments. The tournament is open to all comers.

As in past years, I'd be happy to host mirrors on the east and west coasts, so if any parties are interested, please contact me at [email protected]

I will write the majority of the tournament, with some contributions in some science categories from a couple of people.

The base fee will be $100, though I'll be happy to be work out arrangements with shorthanded teams. I'd hate to let finances prevent anyone from attending, so e-mail me if you have some issues in that area.

There will be a $5 discount per buzzer (max 2 per team).

I hope to have details of any and all accompanying tournaments worked out within the next couple of weeks.

If you have any questions or would like to officially register a team, please e-mail me at [email protected].

I hope to see many of you in attendance,

Subash
icarium
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Field Update

Post by icarium »

Hello All,

I just wanted people to know where things stand with teams. This list reflects only those people who have e-mailed their confirmation to me or told me in person.

If you're interested in coming, either as a team or free agent, send me an e-mail ([email protected]) so I can add you to the tournament mailing list.

Teams (I'm only listing those players who I know to be on the team or plan on being on the team):

- Chris Borglum, Seth Kendall, Amy Harvey, and likely Matt Keller

- Andrew Yaphe, Seth Teitler, Adam Kemezis, and possibly Wesley Matthews

- Chris Frankel, Leo Wolpert, Eric Kwartler, and Ryan Westbrook

- Mike Sorice, Matt Weiner, Sudheer Potru, and Andrew Ullsperger

- Eric Douglass and South Carolina People

- Susan Ferrari, Matt Reece

- Eric Hillemann, R. Hentzel, Emily Pike

- Nathan Freeburg (either as a team or free agent)

- Paul Litvak, Matt Lafer

Free Agents:

- Dan Passner and Nathan Freeburg are the only ones who e-mailed me with definitive responses. In addition to a few of the people who have posted on this board, 3-4 others have e-mailed me as maybes.

Again, if you're interested in coming, let me know so I can add you to the tournament mailing list, which will make it that much easier to match up players with teams in need of players.

I'm pretty sure that there'll will be at least 1-2 additions to the team list in the next day or two, but don't know of any beyond that. I am capping the field at 12 teams, though I could probably move it up to 14 if there's demand. There will be 15 packets, and all teams will be guaranteed 12 rounds.

Subash
icarium
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Chicago Open Field Update

Post by icarium »

Hello All,

Per some requests, I'm updating the field once again.

- Teams (I'm only listing those players who I know to be on the team or plan on being on the team). I apolgize if I misspell anyone's name:

- Chris Borglum, Seth Kendall, Amy Harvey, and likely Matt Keller

- Andrew Yaphe, Seth Teitler, Adam Kemezis, and possibly Wesley Matthews

- Chris Frankel, Leo Wolpert, Eric Kwartler, and Ryan Westbrook

- Mike Sorice, Matt Weiner, Ezequiel Berdichevsky, and Andrew Ullsperger

- Eric Douglass and South Carolina People

- Susan Ferrari, Matt Reece

- Eric Hillemann, R. Hentzel, Emily Pike

- Nathan Freeburg (either as a team or free agent)

- Paul Litvak, Matt Lafer, Dave Rappaport, and Chris Romero

- Billy Beyer and some Valencia folks

- Dan Passner, Kelly Tourdot, Chad Money, and Gerald Patton

- Ezra Lyon, Avram Lyon, Gabe Lyon, and possibly Kevin Clair

- Jordan Boyd-Graber, Dan from Princeton, Irene from Caltech

So unless I've miscounted, we're at 13 teams, though that could very well change if Nathan joins up with someone.

In addition Mike (and likely Andy) Wehrman have expressed tentative interest. I also have a couple of people who have expressed interest as free agents, but who haven't made up their minds. I'm holding the Wehrmans a spot till I hear otherwise, so at the moment the field is full. If you've e-mailed me and don't see your name on this list please send me an e-mail at [email protected] asap. If your name should not be on this list, also e-mail me asap.

Also, Berkeley will be mirroring the event, and if anyone in the DC area is interested in running a mirror, let me know.

At this point the schedule looks like Fine Arts singles on Friday night, Chicago Open on Saturday day, Science Monstrosity on Saturday night, Trash on Sunday. I've been delinquent in working out the details of the audio classical music singles with Eric Kwartler and will do so in the next couple of days. As soon as I can take care of my end, I'm sure he'll update you on that as well.

Again, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any questions about the tournament(s), Chicago, what to get Peta Wilson for her birthday, why not to draw to non nut flushes in Omaha 8/b in multiway pots, or anything else.

Thanks,

Subash
icarium
Lulu
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Team Update

Post by icarium »

Hey all,

A couple of changes. Nathan Freeburg has joined the Billy Beyer team and Mike and Andy Wehrman (and likely others) have definitely confirmed. That leaves us at 13 teams, which is fine by me, but 14 would be probably be better for those in attendance (same number of rounds, one more match).

So, if anyone's interested, there's still space for one more team.

Subash
vandyhawk
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Post by vandyhawk »

Anyone able to take a free agent for next Saturday? My (Vandy) teammate Paul, who's a pretty solid player, is interested. I think he said he emailed Subash about it but hasn't heard back, so just thought I'd post something here. Also, anyone driving in from or through the western suburbs? He lives in Wheaton and doesn't have a car, so he said he would love a ride (he'll help work if he can't play I think).
icarium
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Post by icarium »

Paul has heard back. Maybe there was some confusion. Anyway, there's a team lined up for him which he knows about and will play with if he can work out the transportation issue.

This team would also fill up the field once again, guaranteeding all atendees 13 rounds of play.

The trash tournament now looks to have 8-9 teams and interest from 1-2 more, so we may very well reach 10 team cap. I'll post an update of that field as soon as I can pin a couple of people down over the next few days.

On a related note, the trash tournament is completely written, and the academic tournament is right on schedule.

As always, contact me at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Subash
Ray
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Post by Ray »

icarium
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Chicago Open and Other Things

Post by icarium »

Hello All,

Sorry for my delinquency in posting a final summation. No excuses. With that said, I wanted to offer my genuine thanks to all the players and staff that came out to participate last weekend. Ray Sun has already been kind enough to post the stats and was kind enough to help moderate on Saturday as well.

I would also like to thank Kevin Olmstead, Leah Williams, Kathryn Peters, Ryan Scranton, Alice Chou, Adam Fine, Ted Stratton, and Steven (from Illinois) for their help on Saturday. If I've forgotten anyone, my apologies.

I should especially thank Paul Lujan, without whose science question contributions the packets could not have been completed.

The tournament was great fun to write as it has been in years past, and that enjoyment was only elevated by watching excellent teams compete and perform so impressively on challenging questions. My congratulations to the team of Mike Sorice, Andrew Ullsperger, Ezequiel Berdichevsky, and Matt Weiner for going through undefeated and twice defeating an equally impressive team of Seth Teitler, Andrew Yaphe, Adam Kemezis, and Wesley Matthews. For those who enjoy watching our game played at the highest levels, you would have been pleased to see those two teams compete on the final packet. On what was the hardest packet of the tournament, each team was consistenly buzzing early and answering questions correctly.

Anyway, enough apotheosis. The trash stats, I believe, are saved somewhere on my computer and as soon as I have some extended time to search for them, I'll post them. That should be sometime at the end of this week.

I witnessed probably even more amazing play on Sunday, much of it by the winning team of Matt Lafer, Paul Litvak, Matt Weiner, and Ezequiel Berdichevsky, which finished 9-0 and two games clear of the second place team of Susan Ferrari, Leah Williams, and Adam Fine.

The undeniable genius of Chris Zimpleman was on full display as he led the field in scoring with approximately 63 ppg and 17 powers. Colby Burnett was around 61-62 ppg and had 18 powers (to lead the field) and Adam Fine was in third place with something like 55 ppg.

It was my first experience in writing a trash tournament and it was a blast. From talking to him, I'm pretty sure Andrew feels the same way. We'd like to thank Alice Chou, Christian Kammerer, and Leo Wolpert for moderating and to everyone who came and filled out the field. I'd also like to thank Andrew for doing all the busy work, including compiling the packets, filling in any holes, power marking, and all that stuff. Again, if I've forgotten anyone, my apologies.

This e-mail has gone on long enough, but I just want to close with one thing. This tournament officially ends my involvement with quizbowl, as I'll be leaving the country for several years. If you want to reach me, you can still do so at [email protected], though I might not get back to you immediately.

What I'm about to say now might come off as granstanding, but I could give a fuck. I want to express my sincere gratitude for having been able to partake in collegiate quizbowl on and off for the last six years. It's introduced me to most of my best friends and provided me a pathway of introduction and pursuit for a variety of academic and cultural interests that I might not have otherwise discovered. All the while, it's been super fun. Well I'll cut this monologue off before I start sobbing on the keyboard.

Good luck to all of you. I hope you get as much from our little pastime as I have.

Subash
NotBhan
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Post by NotBhan »

Wow -- I guess I'll be the first (here) of many to offer my thanks to Subash for all his contributions to the game and my congratulations on his quizbowl divinity. I only got to play a couple of matches against Subash's teams (in which he totaled 285 points), but I enjoyed his questions and his editing for the Chicago Open.

--Raj Dhuwalia

P.S. I'm sure the newly-married Bhan would echo my sentiments.
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ValenciaQBowl
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Post by ValenciaQBowl »

I'd thought that by now there would've been much eulogizing (in the literal sense of the offering of "good words") of Subash, and as only a distant acquaintance of his in the game, thought I'd defer any public posting. But lest it appear that his leaving the game goes without much notice, I'd like to thank Subash for not only being an excellent and prolific question writer and outstanding player, but for being a nice and approachable person. That latter adjective doesn't always go hand-in-hand with the former, and perhaps somewhat rarely so amongst the elite of the elite in the game. But though Subash inhabited a much higher plane of play than I, he never seemed annoyed to have me ask him to explain an answer or fill in an anecdote after a game. And from his rounds at the Chicago Open over the years, I've learned of many things I otherwise probably wouldn't have (and how much emptier my life would be without Edmund Gissing, Euphuism, and Lambert Simnel, among others!).

So good luck to Subash in his travels, and now who's going to take over Chicago for next year? You can count on one hand the folks who could write that particular whole tournament themselves: Andrew, certainly, and probably Matt W or Seth T, and a few others, though there's no guarantee any of them would be interested. Perhaps it's time to go back to packet submission, which I thought was fine when it was done there. But if one person does volunteer for the task of writing 14-15 rounds for that audience, I hope s/he'll continue Subash's efforts to keep the question answers tough but reasonable and the clues hard but pyramidal. Peace out, and words to all of your mothers.
--cborg
Rothlover
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Post by Rothlover »

I too have been surprised by the lack of comment on Subash's hiatus/retirement, however it appears that the board itself is in the midst of a lull (i.e. no comments yet on Richler etc.).


Though I probably am far from the least qualified to offer this opinion (not having been to that many Midwest tournaments outside of CO), I think it is important to note that quizbowl is losing perhaps the most prolific writer of questions it currently has (correct me if I am mistaken.) I have played the last three CO sets (and have seen the first three), have seen/played on the CO singles and the regionals and Fall sets he has edited or co-edited, and they are invariably good-excellent, which seems to be the unanimous sentiment. The guy has given so much to the circuit over these years that a tribute, some nachas, is the least one can offer him. And, in a game where everyone tends to have something to say about everyone else behind his/her back, you don't really hear anything about Subash, which likely speaks volumes about his character and the respect he has accrued.

So, here's to you Subash, provider of questions from Aaron to Zurburan. Best of luck in all your endeavors.
Dan Passner Brandeis '06 JTS/Columbia '11-'12 Ben Gurion University of the Negev/Columbia '12?
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