Trott is 2013 CCC Player of the Year
By NM Leland Fuerstman

It is my honor to announce that Michael "Fox" Trott from Vale, NC has been tapped as the 2013 CCC Player of the Year! Married to his high school sweetheart Melisa, Mike is a 38 year old auto mechanic/ micro farmer who drives 50 miles every day to his job in Charlotte. He is generally one of the first players to arrive at Skyland and always greets newcomers with a friendly smile! Mike has become an inspiration to all "new" players by proving that one can exceed in our sport in a very short period of time. He only joined the CCC in October of 2012! Since his first provisional rating, he has gained over 700 rating points! His current rating is 1508! His Title earned him an Official Certificate and FREE Entry into weekly CCC competition for the entire year of 2014! Congratulations to Mikey! You have become a true ambassador of our royal game! We are honored to have you as a member of the CCC! Special thanks to Expert Patrick McCartney for quantifying the values and calculating the results. NMLF

"When I first joined the Charlotte Chess Club over a year ago, I was just looking for something to get me out of the house one night a week! So, I googled "chess" and found the club. I played chess when I was younger and understood how the pieces moved, but knew very little of the strategies involved. I also had no idea of what was to come. In the past year, I have met many new friends, enjoyed great food, and with their help I have learned a lot about what I had previously regarded as "just a game;" a game that I now take seriously. With the help of many members of our club, and lessons from NM Leland Fuerstman, in the past year I have progressed from rookie to winning the Charlotte City Championship "D" Section and improving my rating to the 1500 level! Right now, I am conducting 3 correspondence games with Jason Mytrysak! I am looking forward to what 2014 has in store for me. I really have fun when I go the club! Long live the CCC!" -Mike "Fox" Trott

According to official CCC Statistician Expert Patrick McCartney:
"Here’s how I’d rank the finalists. I used a point system so that Club Victories and Relative Rating Gain play the largest role, but other factors like overall activity (being able to maintain a rating gain over the course of a large number of games is different than being able to shoot up in points off fewer games…all that takes is one short winning streak), and club activity count.  If two players had the same number of points, Club Victories was the tiebreaker.  Club victories are in parenthesis.  Some weight is added to the top section with the level of competition there, but I don’t think that weight carries enough to overtake Trott this year in my humble opinion:

1 Trott (6) 2 Cremisi (1) 3 Lucas (6) 4 Sciacca (5) 5.McCartney (2) 6 Wofford (0) 7 Fuerstman (3) 8. Pealer (3)

I definitely think Trott deserves it.  He’s the only player in the club that had a high number of Club Victories, High Relative Rating Gain (Lucas and Sciacca dropped while McCartney, Fuerstman, and Pealer were nominal), and over 50 games in club-related events (something only Lucas, Sciacca, McCartney, and Fuerstman can also claim, and only Cremisi, Sciacca, and McCartney can claim over 100 games for the year, and only Cremisi held up a substantial rating gain over the long haul).  Also note that Trott’s relative rating gain is in only 5 months’ time as he was provisional until July, and that rating gain listed below is based on when he became established.  If you want to include his provisional period, he gained over 700 rating points in 2013.

Also, by the way, using the points system I used, Trott scored 17, Cremisi second with 10, so Trott I think wins by a landslide.  Using the points system I used, which I can send you the table if you want it, Lucas and Sciacca scored 9, Wofford and I 7, you 6, Pealer 5.

If I were the final judge, I give the nod to Mike Trott for 2013 CCC Player of the Year."

Patrick McCartney
CCC Statistician