Play Chess and They Shall Come

It began as just an idea to get a game in over the holidays, and 2 days later there were 9 for coffee and chess at Panera Bread. Last night saw play from Ernie, Clany, Jerry, Rudy, Sal, James B., Stephanie, Bob L. and James' son Damien (who laid down a win to establish a spot in the club). Four boards were active all evening and plenty of games were played. They had to give us the evil eye around 9pm so they could lock the doors. Plan on playing again on this Saturday at Panera starting at 10am. Then we'll meet again as usual at 7pm on Tuesday, January 5 at the college.

Coal Dust

Six players broke out the pieces to get their day after Christmas "chess fix"; Darren, Bob L., Steff, Andrew P., James B., and Jerry all overcame their "chess withdrawal" symptoms as the fur and pieces flew.

Steff still had coal dust on her hands from emptying her stocking but was soon her "merry old self" after trading pieces with Andrew P.

But all joking aside; I just noticed I had to use last name initials to identify three of the six attendees! That means our club has really grown over the last year; one day I hope to have to add a last name initial after every bodies name!

If anyone wants to play chess tomorrow send out an e-mail or simply add a comment to this post and I'll get the word out. We won't be able to play at ECTC again until the 5th of January.

Mouse Pad

USCFSales has a neat mouse pad in stock for $3. It is not in the printed catalog, you'll have to go on line and search under analysis sets. The pad is a green and white chess board with 13/16th of an inch squares. Algebraic square designation is on all 4 sides and the included chess pieces w/1.5 inch king fit well on the pad.

Not something you would order by it's self (shipping would cost more than the pad), but a great add on to your next equipment order.

Recommended. Those who use a computer at work may find this a good way to advertise that you play chess; unless the boss perceives it as "goofing off on the job".

Merry Christmas and Let's Play Chess

It's Christmas Day and chess presents are sure to be found under many a Christmas tree! When the presents are opened, the meals are eaten, the kids are busy playing, and the TV slumps into Lawrence Welk holiday reruns .... chess is waiting! Go online now to Chess.com and catch up with your games, pick out a new tournament, check out the latest puzzle, or watch the Pogonina game. Then swing on over to Panera Bread on Saturday starting at 10am for coffee and chess. Meet there again on the day after New Years and plan on our first Tuesday meeting of the year on January 5th at 7pm at the college as usual. Have you started your list of chess New Years resolutions? Get going now and avoid the last minute rush. Challenge everyone with your list of chess promises by adding your comment to this post. (You can buy the album shown on the left here.)

2009 Club Championship Wrap-up

For those who would like to see how they stacked up against the rest of the Club; here is a breakdown followed by some miscellaneous statistics.

Place ----------------Won ----------Lost ------------Drew --------------Total

1. Parsons ...........21................... 0..................... 3........................ 22.5
2. Weaver ...........19.................... 3..................... 2....................... .20
3. Farrell .............17.................... 5..................... 2........................ 18
4. Owens............ 14.................... 5..................... 5........................ 16.5
5. Weldin............ 14.................... 7..................... 3........................ 15.5
6. Fatula..............14.................... 8..................... 2........................ 15
7. Radford........... 13.................. 10..................... 1........................ 13.5
8. Kilmer............... 8................... 15..................... 1.......................... 8.5
9. Phelps.............. 7................... 15..................... 2.......................... 8
10. Mc Kinney......... 7................... 16..................... 1.......................... 7.5
11. Mullins.............. 5................... 17..................... 2.......................... 6
12. Brock............... 4.................... 20.................... 0.......................... 4
13. Mancuso........... 1.................... 23.................... 0.......................... 1

Total Games Played = 156 Games Won = 144 (92.31%) Games Drawn = 12 (7.69%)

Holiday Chess

Due to the college being closed during the holidays, the Elizabethtown Chess Club will not meet on the regular Tuesday evenings on Dec. 22 or 29. However, the club does expect to continue meeting on Saturday mornings at Panera Bread during the holidays. Also, club operations on Chess.com will be in full swing. The club will meet again for a regular Tuedsday night on January 5th, 2010. My apologies for being late to post this information and to any club members who were inconvenienced by my oversight. Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year.

The Caro Can

Johnny Owens succeeded on the other end of the Caro-Kann in his second game against FM Joost Retera. The variation was once again the Panov-Botvinnik Attack and the middlegame began with a clash over an isolated queen pawn. But White seemed to fall steadily back after ridding himself of the weakness and eventually resigned to Black's pressure. Replay the game with analysis by Fritz after the fold.

Santa Sighting at Skittles

Sure enough, Santa (or perhaps it was just one of his helpers) was spotted in line for coffee at Panera Bread this morning. There to witness the event was Andrew Preston, James Biggs, Andrew Lee, Darren Radford, Nick Folino, Jerry Weldin, Stephanie Clayton, and Bob Lenning. Though it isn't clear if all of the wishes for chess presents will be granted, at least we were able to take our requests to the highest authority. Everyone has agreed to meet next Saturday to compare how we each fared with the man in the red hat.

Coffee, Chess, Christmas Presents, Repeat

Looking for something to do on Saturday? Need a little joe to get ya goin'? Got a hankerin' to play chess? Want to zip onto the internet and compare Christmas chess wishlists with the club while you check your Chess.com games? You can do all that Saturday morning from 10 am at Panera Bread. Stop in for a coffee, set up the pieces, and sign on to the internet and shop away. If Santa plays chess, this is where you'll find him.

Pogonina Issues a Challenge

Want to play chess against WGM Natalia Pogonina? If you play chess with the Elizabethtown Chess Club on Chess.com you can! The young woodpusher has challenged all Chess.com players to a game of vote chess beginning on Wednesday, December 23 with a 1 move per day time control. We'll be playing with the Black pieces. Not a member yet but want to play? Sign up with us at Chess.com.

Let's Get Ready to Checkmate

Last night the club voted on and approved a plan for the 2010 club championship. On a proposal by Johnny, it was decided that points earned in the twelve 2nd Tuesday tournaments during the year will be totalled to decide a champion. The monthly swiss tournaments will still offer both open and under-1400 sections when turnout allows. Only points earned in the open section will count towards the championship total. Any under-1400 wishing to play up and thereby earn qualifying points must notify the TD before the start of that tournament.  In the case of a a tie, the cumulative method for tie-breaks will be applied.* There's no need to sign up separately to participate, just attend monthly tournaments and win. Of course, it is always appreciated if you advance register with Johnny for each monthly tournament to ease the task of preparing the pairings. The 2nd Tuesday of the Month Tournaments are open to all USCF members and offer 3 rounds beginning at 7:00pm at a time control of G/30 with a 5 second delay. The traditional $1 entry fee applies.

* Edited to include tie-break method. 1/19/2010

Big Prizes For Big Winners

Last night saw the end of the Club Championship Tournament and the awarding of the year's trophies. Jerry Weldin hosted the festivities. Steve Parsons claimed the top prize for his killer performance. Ernie Weaver claimed the second place trophy and Joe Farrell edged out his competition last night to get the 3rd place trophy. It was a long hard struggle to put together so many wins over a full year, and these winners as well as all the players deserve a big kudo. Also winning prizes were Sal Mancuso and Bob Kilmer for the biggest upsets of the year. And everyone who participated received an 'I Survived' medal for their efforts.

(A big thank you to Stephanie Clayton for these great photos. Also attending last night but not in the photos was Andrew Lee.)

Lee Gives Shereshevsky a New Home

Our newest member Andrew Lee has generously donated a copy of Shereshevsky's Endgame Strategy to the club library. Be sure to thank him for pitching in the next time you see him.

Also, three boxes of Skittles were found while inspecting the library after the last club meeting. These have been confiscated by the librarian and will not be placed in general circulation.

E-Town E-Chess Wins Again!

This time it was the Ashburn, VA club that fell victim to our tough match play. Joe Phelps dove into a Closed Sicilian and shut out Smartgenes to close the match at 4-2 and raise his Chess.com rating to 2073. Check out the game score with analysis by Fritz after the fold.

Endgame Express

Our own Andrew Lee turned in his second win in the 3rd round of the Lexington Chess Tournament last Saturday. Black tried the Petroff Defense, but Andrew refused to fall asleep. He crashed out of the gate with 7.Bg5! to announce his intention to fight. Tactics flew back and forth with a few inaccuracies, but when the endgame came calling, Andrew whistled for a ride and pushed his rook pawn all the way to a win. Look for the score and analysis by Fritz after the fold.

Grandmaster Kaidanov Explains the Pin

Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov explained the simple tactical motif of the pin to children at the Lexington Chess Tournament on December 12, 2009. The position used is from analysis of the game Prasad vs. Kaidanov played in Calcutta in 1988. Watch the video and replay the game with the grandmaster's analysis after the fold.

E-Town Pawn Pushers Storm Lexington

Imagine the thrill as all 3 of our Elizabethtown scholastic players stepped up to accept trophies at the Lexington Chess Tournament held on Saturday at the Lexington Convention Center. All three had taken one point before lunch and a lecture by local grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov. Kids strained forward to hear every word of wisdom from the great master and thrust their hands up for just one chance at the pride that comes from answering a question with the insight of a young Fischer. And I must admit my own pleasure at shaking his hand after he kindly posed for a photo. Then the chess action was furious again with our players taking another 6.5 points to earn their gold. Our Andrew Lee (center) collected a trophy for 4th overall K-12 for his performance of 2.5 out of 4. Luke Emberton (left) earned 1st under 900 K-5 with a stand-up 4 points out of 5 to get his prize trophy. And Jacob Emberton (right) went 3 out of 5 to win his trophy for 9th overall K-8. Both Embertons attend the Hardin County Kids Chess Club at the mall on Thursday nights at 6:30 pm hosted by their mom Denise. All in all a peformance which earned us a thank you from the organizers for coming all the way from Elizabethtown to play. And as you can see, it brought proud smiles from our players. Find complete tournament crosstables here.

"Thibodeaux, Fontainbleau, the place is buzzin'"

Steff's Veteran's Tournament paid extra dividends as Clany Soileau, Co-Winner of the "Under 1600 Section" drove from Springfield to join Steff, Darren, James, and Jerry for "C&C" (coffee and chess) at Panara Bread.

Clany fit into the group like he'd always been there, accepting us "warts and all"; and will be coming Tuesday Nites as soon as he is relieved of his baby sitting duties. Bob L would have loved Clany's chess set; it was perfect for the small Panera tables.

Over-the-board conversation was especially stimulating and covered topics such as: Tiger Woods, football, child rearing, the French language, monogamy, SSI, L4 L5 lumbar problems, Jerry's unappreciated "Don Rickles" humor, the Swiss Pairing System, and other topics best left unsaid.

Things broke up between 1230-1p.m. and as Steff headed for JC Penny, Clany to Barnes and Nobles, I drove to the Flea Market with topics like Booray (Bourre), Acadia Parish (Paroisse de l' Acadie), Ascension, St. Charles, Baton Rouge (Red Stick), Orleans, and Vernon Parish (my old stompin' grounds) running down the Highway 10 of my mind.

I PROBABLY COULDN'T EVEN WATCH SHAKIRA THAT LONG, BUT I'D LIKE TO TRY

The indispensable Chernev reports that ; "In the 11th game of their match for the World's Championship in 1927, Capablanca took two hours on one move , and Alekhine took an hour and three quarters for his reply!"

Today we would play three complete games in that amount of time! And have time left over to possibly get in a fourth.

TAKE TWO PAWNS AND CALL ME IN THE MORNING

According to Chernev; the Greek physicians Galan and Hippocrates (the father of medicine) considered chess a potent antidote to diarrhoea (diarrhea) and erysipelas (an acute skin disease), and prescibed it with success.

A PROBLEM ANYONE CAN SOLVE

Slow brain day? No problem....White to move and mate in six.

Two Winners Cross the Finish Line

Turnout was strong for December's 2nd Tuesday ratings tournament. Among the 9 participants were Johnny Owens, Steve Parsons, Kerry Fatula, and Andrew Lee (playing up) in the over 1400 section, and James Biggs, Sal Mancuso, Stephanie Clayton, Rudy McKinney, and Bob Lenning in the under 1400 section. Steve Parsons took top honors in the upper section with a perfect score of 3.0, and Rudy McKinney topped the other players with a strong showing of 2.5 points. Catch the full tournament crosstable here.

Second Tuesday Tourney

Plan on it! It's the second Tuesday of December coming up and it's time for an E-town ratings swiss. Register in advance with Johnny Owens or be sure to show up early. Three rounds of G30 with a 5 second delay will begin at 7 o'clock. USCF membership is required. Entry fee is $1. Players will be paired in two sections if enough attend.

Saturday Morning at Panera

Darren Radford and Joe Farrell faced off at Panera Bread on Saturday for 2 club championship games, with Joe Farrell coming up with the 2 wins. Also playing skittles were Jerry Weldin, James Biggs, Andrew Lee, Andrew Preston, and Bob Lenning. Tanner, a dog with coat and hat, was benched and observed the games from outside the window, providing extra entertainment.

Der Linksspringer Turns to the Dark Side ......

Der Linksspringer (Darren Radford) turned to the dark side, but still played the knight on the c-file for his first move. It brought a draw, a half-point, and our team to a score of 6-3 against Republic of Newfoundland. On the other end of the draw was Dougrob. Replay the gamescore with analysis by Fritz after the fold.

ALPHABET SOUP

While looking through the books in the club library recently Andrew Lee and I ended up in a conversation about Eugene Znosko-Borovsky.Which led me to post this blog.

If you throw in Znosko-Borovsky's middle name, Alexandrovich, and take into account the different spellings found on line you must use all but 8 of the 26 letters in the alphabet. If Eugene played in our Club today I have no doubt that he would be labeled "ski" the very first night!

In his book "How To Play The Chess Openings", Znosko-Borovsky bemoans the fact that his fellow Chess Masters teased him relentlessly over the title of his previous book, "How Not To Play Chess".

I personally greatly enjoyed "How To Play The Chess Openings"; however, since it is not yet available in "algebraic" the "computer generation" and a few others in our Club will miss out on a great chess book. Znosko-Borovsky drew on his personal games against such greats as Capablanca and Aleckine to show the pawn structures resulting from different openings and the strengths or weaknesses of the various pawn formations that you could expect to encounter. IT'S TIME TO BECOME BI-LINGUAL!

So much for the history; now for the trivia: Irving Chernev reports in his classic book: Wonders and Curiosities of Chess, that in a tournament held in St. Petersburg in 1903, "no less than three Znosko-Borovskys won prizes."

Scholastics and Pink Floyd

Mark your calendars for December 12 when Lexington will be the venue for both scholastic and adult tournaments. The Lexington Chess Tournament will be held at the Lexington Convention Center and features a K-12 4 round G/60 section ready and waiting for our Andrew Lee. Rounds will be at 9:15, Noon, 2:30 and 4:30 with awards for the top 10 players. Read more about it here. As a warm-up,  the KSCC Scholastic Chess Tournament will be held at the U of L Shelby campus on December 5th. This will be 4 rounds at G/45 for K-12. Read about this tourney here.

On the same day (December 12) at the UK Student Center is the 26th Pink Floyd Open, a 4 round G/60 tournament. The rumor is that Pink Floyd will be playing on the tournament floor. Read about it here.

The Caro-Kan't

How can you score a win in a Caro-Kann Defense against a FIDE Master whose Chess.com nickname is CaroKann? Johnny Owens shows how in his game against FM Joost Retera in a thematic tournament featuring the Panov-Botvinnik Attack. This game seems to mark a good time to salute the players Horatio Caro, Marcus Kann, Vasiliy Panov, and Mikhail Botvinnik. See how it was done with analysis after the fold.

(Thanks to Jerry for the new post title.)

Joe Phelps Shaves Saint Nick

Our Joe Phelps snapped out 17 moves to take a point away from SaintNick and bring our score against Republic of Newfoundland to 5.5-2.5. Joe answered 1...c5 with a Closed Sicilian / Grand Prix Attack. The move 15...Re8?? put Black in a bind and Joe jumped on the opportunity. Replay the game with analysis after the fold.

December Starts Big

December started big for the Elizabethtown Chess Club with 14 members attending last night. Joe F. (W) and Johnny Owens (B) split a point and Ernie Weaver earned a point from Joe Phelps with the Black pieces in championship action. The skittles room saw lots of action with Jerry Weldin, Sal Mancuso, Stephanie Clayton, Dave Brock, Rudy McKinney, Kerry Fatula, Nick Folino, James Biggs, Andrew Lee, and Bob Lenning. All 90+ items in our club library were also present. Mark your calendars now to remember that next week will be our Second Tuesday tournament. We'll be playing 3 rounds at a time control of G/30 with a 5 second delay. Be sure to pre-register with Johnny or arrive before the 7pm start time to register at the site. The entry fee is a nominal $1 to cover the cost of ratings.

Time to Manage Your Clock

Just as Jerry has written a great post on the first use of chess clocks, Chess Cafe has republished an archived article by Dan Heisman on time management. Read about mechanical clocks in the 1880's, 50 moves in 2 hours, adjournments and the advent of sudden death, and the insufficient losing chances rule. And read the 11 bullet points of Dan's recommended time strategies and methods.