Players at the March 28 Boston Spring Open were greeted by a beautiful spring day: bright sun, birds chirping, warm breezes… wait, is that 
snow I see outside? So, players at the Boston Spring Open braved another harsh Boston spring to compete at the Microsoft NERD center overlooking a frozen Charles River. However, the atmosphere inside heated up quickly, as participants battled through four rounds to top their division.
The Boston Open is the first in a new series of tournaments that introduces a new format: players are split into divisions about five ranks wide and play all even games, except for the 6k – 15k range who play with handicap. This led to many competitive games and a few upsets, although this time the highest ranked players won their divisions. Full results are below.
Special thanks to Andrew Hall, who willed the tournament into existence, and Chun Sun, who arranged for space at the NERD center and dealt with much of the logistics. Also, thanks to Kate Baxter for helping to pick up coffee and donuts, as well as Neil Ritter for generously making his boards, stones, and clocks available for general use.
– Walther Chen; photos by Chun Sun 5d and Chanho Park; click here for the complete album.
Winner Report: 47 people participated in the tournament, divided into four divisions, with cash prizes for the top three places in each.
Division 1: 4d and up, even games, 10 players
1st place: Justin Ching 6d (4-0; photo at right), $160
2nd place: David Cho 5d (3-1), $120
3rd place: Ruoshi Sun 4d (3-1), $80
Division 2: 2k to 3d, even games, 8 players
1st place: Xiaocheng Hu 3d (4-0), $100
2nd place: Brian Lee 2d (3-1), $80
3rd place: Greg Pongraz 2k (3-1), $60
Division 3: 5k to 3k, even games, 14 players
1st place: Mike Sherman 4k (4-0), $60
2nd place: Titi Alailima 5k (3-1), $50
3rd place: Laurent Xu 5k (3-1), $40
Division 4: 15k to 6k, handicap games, 15 players
Tie, 1st place: Chi-Hse Teng 6k (4-0), $45
Tie, 1st place: Andy Wei 15k (4-0), $45
3rd place: Steve Berthiaume 10k (3-1), $30
to any current, future, or recently graduated college(both undergraduate and graduate) student, who will or has attended school in the year 2015. All costs related to room, board, tours, and travel during the event will be covered by the Ing foundation. Organizer Mike Fodera says that the event is meant for students of any playing strength to participate, and will have four divisions so that everyone will be able to play someone around their rank. Find out more information about the tournament — and the forms to register — on the ACGA’s website.
