2011 Awards!!

It's time to give those who endured the whole year of tough "battles" and emerged victorious their awards and recognition. The trophies will be awarded Tuesday, January 3, 2012. Congratulations to the winners!!

Reflections on 2011

With the year drawing to a close I'd like to thank everyone who helped the Club stay viable as we prepare for 2012. A special thanks to Johnny Owens who met and exceeded all Tournament Director expectations; I'm sure that no other club in the USA had tournament results posted faster and more accurately than ours. Johnny also served as Vice President, thanks Johnny!

Kerry Fatula deserves recognition for always being at Club meetings, rain or shine, Kerry doesn't care about rating points he truly loves the game and plays win, lose, or draw. It should be noted that Kerry gained over 100 rating points this year!! Kerry has also accepted the position of Club Tournament Director for 2012.

Stephanie Clayton: with plate already filled with work, her kids chess club, and teaching at night; took on the responsibility of Treasurer when Steve Parsons had to relinquish the position due to extreme family circumstances. Stephanie took home prize money at the Kentucky Open again this year, organised and financed the Veteran's Appreciation Tournament, and gained 62 rating points this year.

Joe Farrell served as Club Secretary and has made a great personal effort to attend all business meetings and tournaments. Joe gets the "Hero Award" for fending off the "bee swarm" to get to the "honey" and become the Club's first "home grown" Expert!! Joe is the Club's new Vice President.

Amy Nunn has distinguished herself and brought glory to the Club by becoming the 2011 Kentucky Woman's Champion!! Amy not only raised her rating 44 points over the year, but has also "volunteered" to serve as Club Secretary.

Ernie Weaver serves as our "Liaison" to the College and schedules classrooms for our "Spring Tournament". Ernie also proof reads books for Dan Heisman and is the point of contact for the Club on the ECTC Web Site.

Rudy McKinney, Bob Kilmer, Nick Folino, Dave Brock, and Sal Mancuso always attend when they are able, in town and work permitting. This group along with Peston Andrew, provide the foundation on which the Club is built on.

Gelvic Cubar our new Club President is currently experiencing a time of personal turmoil from which I am sure he will emerge stronger than ever. The Bluegrass State Champion for 2011, Gelvic is a tough opponent across the board and a refreshingly genuine "good guy".

This year our Club gained 431 rating points; 1744 if you count Josh Jordan's initial rating of 1313. Josh e-mailed me that he will come by in January and pay his 2012 dues. We need to put a GPS tracking device on him so we can get him to show up more often!

Larry Davidson (Glasgow) deserves a special mention for supporting our Egg Salad Tournament by participation and donating enough books for each participant to receive one FREE! Larry also provided a book concession with very reasonable prices which I think "sold out" (James Whiddon was top purchaser). Thanks Larry for all your support and kind e-mails.

Nathanial Emdee, where are you? Your e-mail address is no longer valid.

Thanks to everyone who reads this far. Thanks to all for your support during my tenure as Club President. I eagerly await our next meeting over the board! Wishing everyone health, joy, and prosperity in 2012!

PS - Benny Wilson is back. Andrew Preston is recovering from his knee replacement surgery after a rough fight with infection. Joe thinks he has two new members lined up for 2012. The Club will host the inaugural "Kings Tournament". Life is good and Chess will be even better in 2012!!

Co-Champions For 2011!!

Joe Farrell and Jerry Weldin tied for first in this years Club Championship!!
Both finished with 4 points out of 5 with Joe scoring 3 wins and 2 draws (the only player not to lose a game.) to Jerry's 4 wins with 1 lose (to Joe). Jerry was declared winner on tie breaks. (The first tie break was number of blacks. Jerry had 3 to Joe's 2.) Gelvic Cubar placed 3rd with 2.5 points, Kerry Fatula ("The Spoiler") took 4th with 2 points, Johnny Owens and Ernie Weaver placed 5th and 6th respectively.
The official X-table will be added when available. Just in click here for X-table.

2011 Club Championship

X-table showing last nights results in the Championship. Also present were Amy, Bob, and Nick who played in the Welding Room.

"Ned" Rosenbaum Dead At 71

It is always sad to hear of someone passing; even more so if it is in an unexpected accident. Stan Mullins called me a few minutes ago to report the untimely death of "Ned" Rosenbaum a member of the old "Blue Dragon" Chess Club. I didn't know "Ned" very well, but I remember that he was one of my opponents at two of my "simul's" conducted at the old "Blue Dragon" (both a restaurant and the nick name for the Nelson County Chess Club) and was a strong player, very intense at the board.

"Ned" drowned when his car went off the shoulder in flood waters near his home. Click here to read the report in today's Kentucky Standard.

My condolences to the Rosenbaum family.

Added 1 Dec by author. Here is a link to Ned's obituary in the Nelson County Gazette.

2012 Club Championship!

Don't forget that we vote the first Tuesday in December on the 2012 Club Championship Format and on the topic of having a Reserve Champion in order to maximize participation and competition in the monthly tourneys.

The two choices on the ballot are . . .
Add up the scores from the 12 monthly tournaments
OR
Sum up the Jan - Nov Tourneys and Take the top 4 into a December Tourney

If you can't make it that Tuesday, send your vote to a club officer before that meeting.

Happy Thanksgiving To Everyone!!

I want to wish all the club members, friends and families a Happy Thanksgiving!

Stay safe, if you are traveling and let's finish the year off with some exciting chess!!

God Bless and Good Chess!!
Johnny O.

What Was Your Excuse??

There were only two of us tonight for chess. Sal gave up watching the Republican Debate, I missed the X-Factor, what was your excuse?

So far Gelvic has come up with the most valid excuse which puts all others to shame.
The picture above is of Gelvic's car after he flipped it while in route to work after being called in unexpectedly.

Fortunately Gelvic emerged unscratched and took the picture with his phone!! I'm glad Gelvic survived unharmed; hopefully he has good insurance!! I'm glad to know that a Honda is up to the challenge as many of our members drive one.

Owens Brings Back 37 Rating Points From Alabama!

Johnny Owens played in the Huntsville Open on Saturday and scored 2.5-1.5 with his only loss to Expert Jerry Spinrad of Tennessee. Jerry went on to win the event with a perfect 4-0 score. Johnny also drew his game with Antonio Gellineau rated 1962. Johnny's performance rating for the tournament was 1951!

This was a 4-round swiss tournament at Game/75!

The crosstable can be found here!

College Street Now Open

According to this mornings News Enterprise the bridge has been completed and College Street is accessible from the By Pass again.

2011 Club Championship Pairings Are Set!!

Per page 295, Table B, of the USCF Rule Book, the pairings for this year's club championship are now set!

Name listed first will have the white pieces!
December 6, 2011
Round 1:
Weaver-Fatula
Owens-Weldin
Farrell-Cubar

Round 2:
Cubar-Fatula
Weldin-Farrell
Weaver-Owens

Round 3:
Fatula-Owens
Farrell-Weaver
Weldin-Cubar

December 13, 2011

Round 4:
Fatula-Weldin
Owens-Farrell
Cubar-Weaver

Round 5:
Farrell-Fatula
Cubar-Owens
Weaver-Weldin

Still Tied After 30 Games!

Johnny Owens and Jerry Weldin both scored 2.5-0.5 in tonight's tournament to tie for 1st place!

We are both tied for (adjusted score) fourth place in the Club Champion qualification!

The tournament crosstable can be found here!

Taking the Cake

In case you have not seen it; here is a pic of the cake along with other shots of players.

Veterans Appreciation Chess Tournament 2011 Results

Yesterday proved to be a great day for chess in Cox's Creek, Kentucky with 24 players and about 10 spectators attending to say "THANK YOU" to our Military Veterans. The tournament was a huge success due to the many who volunteered their time, money, food, prizes, and labor. First of all, I would like to thank Steve Parsons for agreeing to be the Tournament Director and Johnny Owens for being the Asst. TD. You guys were great!! That tournament was full of "firsts" for many of our kids and we needed someone with patience and grace. THANKS!
Club member, Amy Nunn, provided a fun and educational dessert by creating chocolate chess pieces and placing them on a huge cake imitating a chess board. The "White Mates in Four" puzzle was beautiful and thought provoking. So much so that attendees could write their names and solutions on paper and put them in a basket for a drawing at midday. Puzzle solver champions were Johnny Owens and Nathan Kaissieh! PHOTOS OF THE CAKE AND CHOCOLATE TO COME in a later post.
The local Girl Scout Troop 1260 decorated the cafeteria. Jerry Weldin donated many items for the raffle while other club members and guests generously donated money for Support the Troops. (We raised $75 for that group.) Bonnie Hall and Kelley Mehl, both collegues of mine at Cox's Creek School, cooked and served all who were hungry. These girls also provided hospitality to folks with conversation, supervision of the cafeteria, and service.

CHAMPIONS OF CHESS
Winners of the Open Division, split the $150 prize three ways: James Lawson, Larry Bell (Veteran), Lexington, and Eddie Barber, Bowling Green, each won first place. In the Under 1000 division, 14 players vied for the prizes and there were several ties, however, the $100 first prize was clearly won by Nathan Kaissieh, Nelson Co. High School. Second place- Branden Darby, Nelson Co. High; Brayden O'Banion,Cox's Creek Ele.School; and Sal Mancuso (Army Veteran) of Radcliff.
This year there was a prize for the top unrated player as this was the first U.S.C.F. chess game for 9 players. The $20 prize for top Unrated Player was won by Brayden O'Banion. Second place unrated players were Ben Risner, Bryce Reiter, Carson Mouser, Alex Hagan, and Elliott Reiter. Third place unrated players were Keeton Fell and Emily Nalley. Fourth Place unrated players were Benji Rice and Josh Thompson All unrated player winners were awarded medals.

Click here for X-table.

KCA Awards and Recognition!!

After my last game in the Veteran's Appreciation Tournament, my opponent, Larry Bell asked me if I was the new expert from etown chess club that Steve Dillard wrote an article about at the KCA website and I told him that it was Joe. With much curiosity, I looked at the KCA website and found out that our club and some of our club members were mentioned in the article. Congratulations and thank you Joe for giving our chess club an exposure to the Kentucky chess community!! We are proud of you!

3rd Annual Veteran's Tournament

The picture above is the edible cake with chocolate pieces from last years tournament. I've been told that Amy Nunn, the current Kentucky Woman's Champion has volunteered to make this years cake.

There will be a raffle again this year and no one will go home empty handed! You will want to buy as many tickets as you can afford as I have seen some of the prizes!

The same lady who cooked last year will be cooking again... sorry my mouth was watering at the thought and I needed a Kleenex.

Donations for the raffle will be accepted up to the morning of the tournament.

Per request; here are the particulars on the Veterans Tournament.

Nov. 5 Veteran's Appreciation Chess Tournament
4SS, G/45. Cox's Creek Elementary School; 5635 Louisville Rd., Cox's Creek, KY. EF: Free to Veterans. All others: $20 by Nov 1, $25 at site (Cash Only). $$/Guaranteed, 1st Open $150, 1st Under 1000 $100, other prizes based on entries. REG.: 9:00-9:45 am. RDS.: First round 10 am, others ASAP. ENT: Elizabethtown Chess Club; PO Box 266; Elizabethtown, KY 42702-0266, (270) 872-5078, Steve Parsons. INFO: http//etownchess.blogspot.com.

The prize money is guaranteed and may be augmented depending on entry's.

Directions to playing site from E-town:
1. Start out going northeast on N Mulberry St/US-62 E/KY-61 N toward Plum Aly. 2.1 mi
2. Merge onto I-65 S toward Nashville.
If you reach Howell Dr you've gone about 0.3 miles too far
0.8 mi
3. Take the Martha Layne Collins Bluegrass Parkway exit, EXIT 93, toward Bardstown/Lexington. 0.9 mi
4. Merge onto Martha Layne Collins Blue Grass Pky E. 19.6 mi
5. Take the US-31E exit, EXIT 21, toward Bardstown/Hodgenville. 0.4 mi
6. Turn left onto US-31E/New Haven Rd. Continue to follow US-31E. 2.1 mi
7. Turn slight right onto W Stephen Foster Ave/US-31E.
W Stephen Foster Ave is 0.1 miles past Muir Ave
0.3 mi
8. Enter next roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto US-31E. 5.8 mi
9. [5716-5765] LOUISVILLE RD.
Your destination is 0.1 miles past Wheeler Wright Ln
If you reach Creek Pointe Dr you've gone a little too far

[5716-5765] Louisville RdCoxs Creek, KY 40013

**Moved to the top of the page by author to facilitate finding the tournament info for tomorrow.

Thank You!!

Thank you for electing me as the President of our club! I appreciate your confidence in me and I hope to meet and even exceed your expectations. Joe, Amy, Stephanie and I would do the best we could to reach our goals and we need every help from all the club members to reach them. I have a simple goal in mind to attract more players to join our club and would like to discuss it with you all in our next meeting.

Gelvic

p.s. This is one of the icons from where I came from (Cebu City) in addition to what Jerry already posted. Inside is Magellan's cross.

New Club Officers

Great attendance last night for the "1st Tuesday business meeting"; Bob Kilmer, Rudy, Sal, Dave, Amy, Nick, Kerry, Jerry, Joe, and Joe's son Stephen.

The names of the "volunteers" for office were read and the floor was opened for any other nominee's or volunteers. After receiving no additional candidates for office Bob Kilmer moved that the candidates be approved by acclimation; the motion was seconded by everyone present and the candidates were voted into office.

The format for the 2012 Club Championship was discussed and two proposals were submitted: 1. The highest cumulative total over the twelve month period. 2. The sum of the Jan-Nov monthly tournaments with a top 4 quad to decide the winner. Having a "Booster" section for those under 1400 was also discussed and it was decided to give everyone a chance to mull over the ideas and bring the subject up for a vote at the 1st Tuesday in December meeting.

Your new Club officers are Gelvic Cubar President, Joe Farrell Vice President, Amy Nunn Secretary, and Stephanie Clayton Treasurer. Go to the home page and click on members then the individual name if you desire to see a picture of the new officers or check out their current rating.

Everyone played at least one game with Dave beating Sal in the only rated game of the night.

For The Record

While setting here wondering what happened to James Whiddon and Mike Leito I thought I'd bring you "the rest of the story".

Prior to the last round of the Game 75 Tournament a short meeting was held to vote on Stephanie's request for the Club to fund any shortfall in money for the guaranteed prize fund for the upcoming Veteran's Tournament. After a brief discussion a vote was taken and the request was denied. Immediately several Club members volunteered to pitch in out of pocket to cover any short fall. Stephanie, we support you and have your back, erase that worry from your mind!!

Joe suggested that we allow the first 30 minutes of one meeting a month to conduct Club business and provide a forum for any Club member to bring up issues or ideas. A vote was taken and it was decided that our business meeting would take place on the first Tuesday of each month.

Kerry Fatula missed the meeting due to the hospitalization of his wife, I don't have any details. Kerry your wife and family will be in the thoughts and prayers of all of us; don't hesitate to call if you need anything.

Andrew Preston "wore out" his artificial knee and will have it replaced 1 November;
Andrew may still be able to make the Veteran's Tournament to defend his title from last year. If not.. he may play by phone!! You can't keep a Cav Man down for long!
"High diddle diddle file from the middle, column left with a half step damned near a whole step .. march!"

And finally...I saved the best for last; we gained two new Club members last night!!

Kenneth Taylor; not a USCF member yet but a strong player who is destined to win the unrated prize in his first tournament.

Louis De Fiore; a USCF Life Member with a floor of 1700! Louis had a won game against Joe when his time ran out last night. (They were playing 5 minute games with no time delay!) Danger Will Robinson!

I guess that about wraps it up, don't miss the Veteran's Tournament; the raffle alone will be more than worth the trip.

Johnny Owens Wins "Tuesday Knights #1"

Round 5 of our Game/75 tournament was completed last evening and Johnny won against Amy to finish with 3.5 out of 5.

In the other games Gelvic won vs. Rudy and Ernie won vs. Sal.

The crosstable is located here:

Everyone that played, enjoyed the longer time control and I hope we can try
this again soon.