Noah Margolis set off fireworks just a week after joining the league, but Group A and Power Rankings leader Daniel Goldblatt proved why he holds those spots by winning the tiebreak to decide a match for the ages in Northwest DC last weekend, 8-7 (2).
His place in the final never in doubt, Goldblatt improves to 8-1 this season and looks to join Darius Vedadi as the first two BGO champions.
Margolis, now 2-1, will need a massive final weekend to unseat Bora Barclay in the second Group A qualifying position, but he's proven it can be done, especially if they face each other. Margolis took their only previous meeting 8-2.
Barclay did his part to sail away from Margolis in the group table. His defeat of Sasha Brooks, 8-3, set him nine points ahead with only one weekend to go. Also in with a chance is Jack Mearns, six points behind Barclay and no stranger to weekend doubleheaders.
Brooks's loss, however, was far from lethal. In Group B, with leader Alvaro Orlove's spot in the final tenuous, Brooks trails Luke Mearns by only three points.
Renata Cavallo placed a stifling hold on the top qualifying position in Group C with an 8-5 win over Charlene Hong, an anticipated match-up that had been scheduled for opening weekend but took this long to fulfill due to various hitches. The race there is now between Lily Farahi, whose 8-0 win over Hong never looked more important, and Cole Piraino, idle the past two weeks.
Anyone can claim Group D, it seems. Four players are bunched within three points of each other. Steven Herrle has yet to lose and added to his list of victims by dispatching Asher Roush 8-5. That (perhaps, temporarily) places the longtime leader out of the final, as Razi Dinan's two sizable wins catapulted him ahead.
But there's one weekend left.
It's all a race to CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND, August 7-8! Find the current standings and Power Rankings below.
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BGO Power Rankings - July 29, 2021
Currently registered players among the overall top 50 only.
BGO Group Standings - July 29, 2021
Top two from each group automatically qualify for group final.
Players are ranked by points (three for win, one for draw), then wins, percentage of games won, and games won.