April Fool's Open To Be Played on April 2nd!

Details of our April tourney have been published in "Chess Life".

Apr. 2 April Fools' Open
4SS, G/45. Elizabethtown Community & Technical College; Room 303, Occupational-Technical Building, Elizabethtown, KY. EF: $20 by Mar 30, at site $25. $$b/20; $100, 50 Class A, B, C, D, E/UNR $50 each if at least 2 players in section. Reg.: 8:45-9:15 am, Rds.: First round 9:30 am, others ASAP. Ent: Johnny Owens (TD), P.O. Box 226, Elizabethtown, KY 42702-0266 (270) 272-3061.

Emdee Is Back!

Nathaniel Emdee returned tonight and became the Club's fifth Life Member!! (that's Emdee on the right)

And the good news just keeps coming; Josh Jordan stopped by, joined the Club and paid his entry fee to the upcoming April Fools Tournament. Josh is on active duty at Ft. Knox and although a member of USCF is unrated. Josh has played on line and is looking forward to playing his first "over the board" tournament. Welcome aboard Josh!

There were two ladder games tonight. Joe defeated Kerry and moved up one rung on the ladder. Jerry overcame James which resulted in no change in the ladder. Both games were rated.

Emdee and Rudy played a non-ladder game and Rudy split two 10 minute games with Jerry. Josh couldn't stick around to play but promises to have more time next meeting.

Street Fight

Tonight's meeting was like a street fight with 7 ladder games played as the challenges came fast and furious.

Kerry whipped Sal - rated
Dave overpowered Sal - rated
Joe annihilated Jerry - rated
James schooled Rudy - unrated
Joe parried Rudy - rated
Jerry outlasted Sal - rated
Dave drew James - unrated

Joe Farrell Wins March Swiss 2.5-0.5!

Joe appears to have everything under control in his game with Gelvvic!

We had 8 club members show up for the March 2011 Monthly Swiss! Joe Farrell won the event with a score of 2.5-0.5. Johnny Owens, Ernie Weaver and Rudy McKinney finished in a 3-way tie for second with 2.0-1.0.

The monthly swiss as well as rated ladder games have been posted here.

Only One Ladder Game Tonight at the Club!

There was only one ladder game played tonight and it was a rated game.
Johnny played his London System and Kerry played his favorite response
to 1.d4 --The Dutch Defence! Johnny won and moved to #2 on the ladder.

The other memebers that were present tonight played some unrated games.
Rudy McKinney was busy playing Dave Brock and Ernie Weaver won an
interesting game vs. James Whiddon.

Remember, next Tuesday is Tournament Night!

Ernie, you need to post one of the games you played with James!!

Kilmer Seizes The Top Rung

Bob Kilmer knocked Kerry Fatula from his lofty perch as the Year of the Rabbit sees three new "Ladder Leaders" in the first month of the Lunar New Year. In the only other ladder game Jerry Weldin defeated Rudy McKinney; no rated games were played last night. Ernie will update the ladder later this week after I send him the current standings.
Michael Leitao popped in from Glasgow to play a few games and say hello. Good to see you again Michael!
Nick Folino, Ernie Weaver, James Whiddon, and Johnny Owens were also present with many games and post mortums conducted. A great turn out.
In other news; I'd like to thank Bob Kilmer and Rudy McKinney for their assistance at this weeks "Kids Chess". A Cub Scout Pack attended in search of the coveted "Chess Belt Loop". Bob worked with the parents while Rudy instructed the kids. Both did an excellent job as their students had never played before!

Sal Kicks Butt

Sal pulled a John Wayne and kicked the Grim Reaper to the curb; Sal has been moved from the "constant care unit" to room 422 at Hardin Memorial and may now have visitors.

I received many e-mails from distant members asking for up-dates and I'm sure that all will be relieved to learn that Sal has pulled through once again.

UP DATE - 21 FEB - JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH SAL; HE WAS WAITING FOR AN AMBULANCE TO TRANSFER HIM TO HEALTH SOUTH WHERE HE WILL BE FOR 7-10 DAYS IF HE CONTINUES TO IMPROVE.

Kerry Moves To The Top Of The Club Ladder

Kerry challenged Rudy for the top spot on the ladder and beat him with the Black pieces to move to the top of the ladder. (Rated) Bob Kilmer beat James Whiddon to move to his spot on the ladder. (Unrated) James then challenged Johnny on the ladder and Johnny won that game to keep his place. (Rated)

Also present at the club tonight were Dave Brock and Jerry Weldin. There were several blitz games played as well as unoffical games.

Rudy also updated us on Sal's condition. We need to keep him and his family in our prayers.

February 2011 Monthly Swiss

Joe Farrell and Gelvic Cubar tied for 1st in the 1st round of the 2011 Club Championship with 2.5-0.5!

We had 10 club members to brave the cold and play.

Remember, we will be playing chess this Friday. Come if you can!

Free Lessons

If you are under 1600 and complete 3 Lexington tournaments you will get a free chess lesson from a Grand Master or Master. For details click on link to KCA (on right) then click on Jerry Baker's Post (again on the right). You will be as pleased as the young Bobby Fischer in the photo above with his mentor Jack Collins.

Another Opportunity To Excel At Chess!

I now have permission to use our usual chess room at ECTC (Room 108A) on Friday evenings!

This will be a non E-town Chess Club affiliated opportunity to enjoy chess.

I currently don't have plans to play tournaments on this evening, but if an interest develops, then we can look at it.

Let's start this Friday, February 11th at around 7:00 pm. We can play until 10:30 pm.

Darren, I hope to see ya there!

Opposite Colored Bishops

Opposite colored Bishops favor the attacker in the Middlegame, Drawish in the Endgame? In this game from www.chessatwork.com opposite colored Bishops coupled with doubled isolated pawns lead to a win.

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Rudy Moves To the Top Of The Ladder

Rudy defeated Johnny last night in a ladder game to move to the top of the ladder.
Johnny also took on Kerry in a ladder game, but was able to fight off Kerry's "Larsen's Opening" and won. Johnny also beat Rudy in 2 USCF rated games. Four rated games in one night!

Additionally, Dave beat Sal in a ladder game to move up to #8 on the ladder.

Also, present last night was Joe F., Ernie, Nick and Jerry.

REMEMBER: Next week is the 1st round of the 2011 Club Championship!

NCCC Remembered

Stan Mullins called the other day and told me he was closing out the old Nelson County Chess Club's (NCCC) bank account. There was $10.00 left and Stan is generously donating it to the Elizabethtown Chess Club!

Several of the area players were members of both clubs. I remember getting an invite from Stan to go to the "Blue Dragon" restaurant in Bardstown and conduct a simul to help out his membership drive. That night, playing 11 games, I lost to Brian Lucas and Johnny Owens and gave up a draw to Ricky Coulter. For the better part of a year I took on all comers one Thursday night a month; twice I actually went undefeated. Stan sent the NCCC an e-mail after one of those occasions on 28 February 2008 when I won all 9 games. By then the Blue Dragons had moved to Bearno's Pizza and sports bar; actually the Chinese restaurant closed and Bearno's opened in it's old location. Now Bearno's is gone and Bardstown chess has been found at the Cafe Mozart, the new Public Library, and Cox's Creek Elementary School.

This game was played at the January 17, 2008 Simul; Johnny Owens conducted the "Black Forces" and was kind enough to provide me with the game score.

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Tactical Shots

Everyone misses a tactical shot from time to time. Sometimes we make outright blunders. Thirty-minute chess makes it difficult sometimes to see even the simplest of tactics. Take a look at move 25.R1c2. This allows the "interference" tactic 25...Nc4. 26.R7xc4 dxc4 27.Rxc4 (or 27.bxc4) and I've given the exchange back with a pawn to the good.

How about 28.Qe7? I saw this as completely winning and didn't bother looking for something that is "more" winning--like 28.Bf1. There isn't always enough time to look for best moves, especially with this time control.

But the goal is to avoid making simple blunders and do the best you can to avoid missing simple tactics, both on offense and defense.

Owens-Cubar Ladder Game

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After 24.Rh4 black now has a mate in 7 starting with 24. ...Rxf2+. I only saw
it after reviewing this game with Fritz. In any case 24. ...Qe2 or 24. ...Qg5
were better than 24. ...h5?? In Game/30 events, it's very hard to see a mate in 7!

Owens Is Still At The Top Of The Ladder

No, that's not Johnny. It's his granddaughter, Lana who turned 5 years old last
week. He has been teaching her to play chess. I see a future Alabama State
Champion in the making!

Johnny defended his #1 spot on the club ladder by beating Gelvic Cubar, who challenged him tonight! Johnny has been #1 on the ladder since October 2010.

It was nice to see James Whiddon back at the club! Steve Parsons, Jerry Weldin, and Kerry Fatula were also in attendance tonight.

What do we need to do to get more of you to show up? Let me know!

Kids Chess

Kerry Fatula and I joined Denise Emberton for chess with the kids last night. Four members of the Kids Chess Club showed up and the adults, to include a father who's name I didn't catch, provided them with opponents. The youngsters were really enthusiastic about playing and even the youngest knew the rules and made moves that reflected thought and rudimentary planning. In one of my games with Luke Emberton I almost missed a mate in one that he threatened!

Join us next week if you can; I think you will find it a rewarding experience.

January Rated Tournament

At least this guy had an excuse for missing the first tournament of 2011!

Just kidding; I know that those who missed the tournament had pressing "life issues" that kept them away.
The "hard core" Club nucleus braved the cold rain to play chess. The results can be found here.
Awards were presented to the 2010 Champions; 1st- Joe Farrell, 2nd Johnny Owens, and 3rd Ernie Weaver. Johnny may have pictures to post later.
Dave called in his regrets - mandatory 10 hour shifts - bummer!
Sal was sick and Rudy whimped out.
Has anyone seen Whiddon? I played chess with him on the 17th; I knew I should have let him win more than one. Wait 'till you see his new chess set!
As of tonight we have 10 "official, dues paid in full" members so far for 2011.
Next month the 2nd Tuesday Tournament will count towards qualifying for the 2011 Club Championship.

Kid's Chess

Monday I attended a meeting of the "Kid's Chess Club". The Club which used to meet at the food court in the Towne Mall; now gathers at the Gamer's Edge on Monday nights from 7PM - 8PM. Gamer's Edge is located at 100 Dolphin Drive across from Kroger's. For those who remember Cali's, it is in the same little strip mall.

The new site is well lit, use of tables is free, and snacks and drinks are available for purchase. Denise Emberton is the Club's Director and has requested our support. Drop in and spend some time with the kids; they are the Elizabethtown Chess Club members of tomorrow. Brush up on your defense to the "Fried Liver" before you go!

Remember:

When - Monday nights 7PM - 8PM ..........Where - Gamer's Edge - 100 Dolphin Drive.

There will be no meeting 17 January, Martin Luther King Day, due to a Scholastic Tournament in Louisville.