Owens Wins The November Monthly Swiss!

          Rudy McKinney (left) playing Bob Kilmer in the 1st Round of the Club Monthly Swiss

Bob Kilmer won his first round game when Rudy's flag fell! Bob had 1 second left on his clock!

Johnny Owens won the tournament with a score of 3-0.  The crosstable can be viewed here:

Johnny Owens Wins The ECC October Monthly Swiss!

Bob Kilmer, Rudy McKinney and Johnny Owens did battle tonight at the Elizabethtown Chess Club Monthly Swiss.  Last month only Johnny and Sal played in the monthly swiss. Sal recently had a fall and was too sore to make it this month. In the end, Johnny came out the victor.

The crosstable of the rated event can be found here:

Owens Wins The August Monthly Swiss

There was again only 3 members that showed up for the Second Tuesday Monthly Tournament!
Johnny Owens won with a score of 2.5-0.5. Rudy McKinney came in second with a score of 2-1 and Sal Mancuso finished third with a score of 1.5-1.5.

The rated crosstable can be viewed here:

We only have 4 more monthly tournaments left and you must have played in 5 monthly events to be in the club championship playoffs. Mancuso, Nunn and Owens have met this requirement!

Club Championship

I was going to save the above picture of Gelfand until next year, but couldn't wait.

Ernie has updated the Club Championship and added a comment to Johnny's post about the June Rating Tournament. While Johnny and I might be leading "cumulatively" if you throw out the two lowest results of each player you will find that Johnny, Joe, Ernie, and myself are in a four-way tie with 7 points and Gelvic is only 1/2 point behind with 6.5 points. As a reminder: after the November Rating Tournament we will drop the two lowest results scored between February and November and the top 4 players will compete in a double round robin to decide the 2011 Club Champion. We are at the half way point now with more fighting chess to look forward to.

A big thanks to Ernie for keeping things updated and providing the "technical expertise" that keeps the web site going!

Joe Farrell Wins 2010 Club Championship

Joe Farrell won the 2010 Club Championship last night by posting a perfect 3 - 0 score in the December Rating Tournament. 4 players posted 20 or more points with Joe hauling in 25 points for the year to finish 1 point ahead of Johnny Owens at 24 points; Ernie Weaver edged out Jerry Weldin for 3rd with 20.5 to Jerry's 20. Congratulations to Joe and the rest of the top finishers!

Remember 'Pearl Harbor' Closed

Club Appreciation Tournament
USCF rated
Club meeting, December 7th, 2010
7:00 PM
3 round Swiss, Game/30

This tournament is Open only to paid 2010 Elizabethtown Chess Club members that have a current USCF membership.

Entry is Free and I will give a 1 year free Club membership to the winner and a 1 year Club membership to the Top under 1300 USCF rated player.

Johnny originally posted this back in August. I thought it was time to remind everyone that there will be two rated tournaments next month. - Jerry

Egg Salad for 17 Please

TD Jerry Weldin, Sponsor Specialist Reyes, and winners Kerry Fatula, Sal Mancuso, Glen O'Banion, Steve Parsons, Randas Burns, Johnny Owens, Nathaniel Emdee, Katy Margaret Thomas, James Lawson, Darren Radford, Larry Davidson, Andrew Lee, and Stephanie Clayton.

It was a beautiful Saturday and a great day for chess as seventeen players gathered for the club's annual spring tournament, the 2010 Egg Salad Open. Thirteen players shared the honors. Steve Parsons, Randas Burns, Glen O'Banion, James Lawson, Darren Radford, and Johnny Owens split the 1st place, 2nd place, Class A, and Class B prizes as shared winners of the tournament with 3 points each. Kerry Fatula and Larry Davidson came up winners in Class C with 2 points. Andrew Lee and Katy Thomas were tops in Class D with 2 points. And Sal Mancuso, Stephanie Clayton, and Nathaniel Emdee divvied up Class E with 1 point each.

See more after the fold:

Baker's Dozen

Thirteen players were on hand for April's 2nd Tuesday Tourney. Ernie Weaver was at the top of the heap with 3 full points when all was said and done, earning himself an A-player rating of 1814 and moving him into 3rd position in the club championship standings. Andrew Lee scored 1.5 points plus took a full point bye for clear 2nd in the Open section on his way to an estimated gain of 58 rating points and a new spot at 5th in the standings. Joe Farrell and Jerry Weldin came into the clubhouse with a plus score of 2. Adding to his total from the El Tapatio contests, Jerry ended with a rating of 1691, more than 100 points over his rating after last months tourney! Steve Parsons finished at 1.5, but retains his first place position in the overall standings. Johnny Owens and Kerry Fatula each took a win, while James Whiddon and Rudy McKinney rounded out the field.

In the under-1400 section, it was returning member Ming Loi that blanked the field to score 3 points, raising his provisional rating an incredible 151 points! Dave Brock, Sal Mancuso, and Stephanie Clayton took 1.5, 1.0 and 0.5 points respectively.

Check out the tournament crosstables here or the championship standings here.

Three Point Shots

Steve Parsons collected all 3 points to win the open section in last night's 2nd Tuesday Tournament and inched closer to Expert with a 1984 rating. He extended his total in the 2010 championship to 8 points. Ernie Weaver cleared 2 points in the tourney sharing the honors with Nick Folino and James Whiddon. Ernie made it 4.5 points in the championship for a clear 4th. Nick and James both earned their first 2 championship points. Joe Farrell and Johnny Owens both came in with even scores of 1.5. Joe's championship total improves to 6.0, maintaining 2nd position. Johnny's total rises to 5.0 claiming the 3rd position. Jerry Weldin earned a win while Kerry Fatula and Andrew Lee took 1 point byes giving Jerry and Andrew 3 points in the championship standings with Kerry claiming 2.5 points.

Bob Lenning scored 3 points in the under 1400 section to lead the group. Dave Brock held his own with 2 points while Stephanie Clayton bested Sal Mancuso to earn 1 point.

You can find the complete tournament crosstable here.

With Mate in 2 You Get Egg Salad

It's official! The club's annual spring tournament will be held on April 17, 2010 in room 303 of the Occupational-Technical Building at Elizabethtown Community College. The Egg Salad Open will be a 4 round swiss system with G/45 time controls. Prizes b/20 1st $100, 2nd $50, Class A, B, C, D, E & below/unrated $40. Registration will be from 8:15-8:45am and round 1 will start at 9:00am. Entry fees will be $20 in advance or $25 on site. Send your entry to Johnny Owens, P.O. Box 226, Elizabethtown, KY 42702, or phone (270) 272-3061, or email to chessnut@insightbb.com.

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Chess

Steve Parsons and Joe Farrell took 2.5 points to split the win at the 2nd Tuesday Tournament for February (rescheduled from last week). The performance keeps Steve in the lead for the championship with 5.0 points in 2 tournies, and Joe Farrell is close behind with 4.5 points. Johnny Owens and Ernie Weaver each scored 1.5 points to bring their 2 month totals to 3.5 and 2.5 points respectively. A half point each for Jerry Weldin and Kerry Fatula keeps their hand in at 2.0 and 1.5 for the total. Andrew Lee pushed his provisional rating to 1335 with an impressive 2 wins against strong opponents, giving him his first championship qualifying points! Find the full crosstable here.

Don't miss next month's 2nd Tuesday Tournament on March 9th. Also, check out the new pages featured on the menu items at the top of the blog page where you'll soon find current championship standings posted.

Third Time's the Charm?

The Winchester Club has challenged us again to a 5 board match. Take this chance to support the club and sign up here to join the battle.

I'll See Your Petroff and Raise You an Attack

Andrew L. faced another Petroff as White in the first round of the Kentucky Class Championships and again refused to allow drawing chances. When Black erred with 6...Ng4?? he went on the attack and never looked back. See the score and analysis by Fritz after the fold.

E-Town Wins Old-Town Match

Johnny Owens posted a second win against Twan709 to bring E-Town's victory over Republic of Newfoundland to a close with a score of 7 to 3. Johnny's two pawn advantage and pressing play forced his opponent's resignation. See the score with analysis after the fold.

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%)

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.)

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.

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.

Stretching the Lead

Freydisdottir has resigned the postion to Andrew Lee giving him a win and the club a 4.5-2.5 lead in our match against Republic of Newfoundland. Andrew played the White pieces and went with the Ruy Lopez. Read the game score and Fritz analysis after the fold..