A Bird In The Hand.....

A bird in the hand is not worth two in the bush if the Bush is Chris! Chris is merely observing in the file photo above; but today he was storming the Bastille winning with 3.5 out of 4! Randas Burns and Glen O'Banion split the 2nd & 3rd monies with 3 points a piece while Ernie Weaver and John D. Marcsik split the under 1700 prize with 2 points each. Michael Williams had a perfect 4.0 to take 1st place in the Reserve Section; old soldier and sexagenarian Andrew Preston took home the 2nd place purse with 3 points.

Three players traveled from Albany and the young future master Sam Leigers (age 5!!) trekked all the way from Richmond. (Thanks Mom!)

Click here to view the complete X-table.

The Bastille Day En Passant Open

OK, I know that Bastille Day is the 14th of July; but there were too many other chess events going on throughout the state. That's where the "en passant" comes in. A chess tournament by any other name is still an excuse for me to drop rating points like a rose loses petals in the fall.

Anyway....Johnny told me he had received great feedback after the "Summer Open" and folks wanted more Saturday tournaments.

Please note that I have restructured the rounds to help the elderly to better endure and allow our out of state players to get home before dark. I have also "tweaked" the Reserve prize money in order to give those players toward the bottom of the rating spectrum a reason to come and do battle. Hopefully everyone now has a realistic chance to take home some loot.

Remember that you can win a norm if you excel!!

For those who haven't played at the Family Buffet before: the food is excellent and reasonablely priced (all you can eat), beer and wine is available in addition to the regular drinks, it is handicap accessable, there is ample free parking, and the playing room is close to the restrooms. The Towne Mall is within walking distance and a 24hr Krogers is next door. So if your "honey do list" includes bringing home a loaf of bread and a quart of milk...we've got you covered! Should your better half find out that you made a detour to play chess... Hardin Memorial Hospital is only 1/2 mile south on the Dixie.

As entries are received I will post them here.
Andrew Preston ------ Reserve                    Johnny Owens ------------Open
Sal Mancuso --------- Reserve                    Glen O'Banion-------------Open
Stephanie Clayton-----Reserve                    Dan Franklin---------------Open
                                                                  Amy Nunn--------------- Open
                                                                  Rob Dennis--------------Open
                                                                  Ernie Weaver...............Open

Requiem For A Chess Club

Under any other circumstances there would be a death knoll sounding for our Club. But as long as I still breath and can get one other chess player to attend our weekly meetings the Club will live on. I realize that it is "summer" and have heard all the excuses; but attendance has shrunk to such a low that I am fearful that the remaining stalwart members will start to "deprioritize" our weekly meetings as others have done.
Last Tuesday there were 4 players; one - James Ballard drove all the way from Louisville! The meeting was over at 8pm. We will not last long at this rate. I challenge every member to not only attend next weeks meeting, but bring a new member.

Bluegrass X-table

The Bluegrass X-table has finally been published. I have added it to the original post, but give it here also for ease in finding. Bluegrass X-table .

We are still waiting for the results from the 3rd Bulldog Invitational..

Amy Nunn Ties For First

Last night in addition to James Ballard and Rob Dennis dropping by for skittles; we got the news that Amy had tied for 1st in the 3rd Bulldog Invitational at Dale Hollow State Park on Saturday. Way to go Amy!! Click here to view the X-table.                                           

from the Bluegrass State Games

My Easiest Game was against my highest rated opponent!!

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Farrell Mows The Blue Grass

Joe Farrell sweep the 2012 Bluegrass Tournament 4-0!! View the X-table by clicking here.

Draw

I did not play well in the E-town Summer Open. My best game was this draw against Johnny which contained trappy play from both sides. I decided to publish it as that seems to be the only way to generate comments on the web site.

Click on the double arrows, extreme left hand side to reset the board.

July Rating Tournament

Every dog has his day and I guess mine was last night. After Amy made me fight for a draw I probably didn't deserve (scaring me to within an inch of my life in the process), Sal gave me an easy point and Johnny either overlooked a hanging Knight or thought I had a swindle prepared. Anyone who doesn't think luck plays a part in chess is full of beans.

Johnny still holds the lead in the Championship qualification, I am 2 points behind, but 3.5 points ahead of Joe (who stayed home with Patty on their 30th anniversary - wise decision Joe)  while Amy and Ernie have moved into a tie for forth.

Stephanie got revenge for her loss to Sal at the E-town Summer Open. And both plan on renewing their fight for bragging rights at the Bastille Day En Passant Tournament.

Congrats to Amy, the big rating points winner, for moving back into the "C" category.

Click here to see the entire X-table.

The E-town Summer Open Drew 24 Players!

24 players decided to play an indoor sport yesterday and get out of the 100 degree plus temperature! In the end Expert Chris Bush won the open section with 3.5-0.5 and took home $100 for his effort. Randas Burns and Matthew McDonald shared 2nd and 3rd place and each took home $60. And, our very own Rayanne Chatrieux won the under 1700 prize of $45!

In the Reserve section, Austin Bridges went 4-0 and won $60.00 for his efforts. Our club secretary, Amy Nunn took home the prize for 2nd place! I want to Thank everyone for coming out and playing! The USCF rating report can be found here!

Hub City Summer Open

Just a reminder that Johnny's Hub City Chess Club is hosting a tournament this Saturday to close out June with a bang. Particulars are contained in the flier below.

Chess Problem

                                                                      HASEK 1951
                                                            White to move and draw

When I saw this problem it immediately reminded me of Kerry. I am putting the solution at comment number 1 below.

Chess Clocks

In the old days of mechanical chess clocks there were "buttons" with stems which were pushed to start your opponents clock. These buttons could be seen for some distance allowing one to walk about while keeping watch on their clock out of the corner of their eye.The Excaliber clock is an example of that feature being carried over to the new digital timers.Recently I have noticed several players at tournaments who turn off the move indicator lights on their chess clocks. Indeed I was even thanked by an elderly opponent in last years Louisville Open for having them turned on on my Chronos. I personally consider turning the lights off unsporting; therefore I decided to see if there were any rules regarding this. While USCF does not cover this in their rules, FIDE does. Reference FIDE Handbook 5.1.(d) covers clocks. Which states that you should be able to see who is on the move from a distance of 10 meters.But more specific is the testing requirements to get FIDE approval of a new clock:"Clocks must provide a clear visibility of which player is to move, from  all sides at a distance of 10 meters".

As USCF gradually gets more instep with FIDE, I predict that  "clock rules" will be upgraded to conform with FIDE standards. Something you should consider if in the market for a clock. Currently the DGT XL Digital Chess Clock is the only FIDE approved clock sold by USCF.

There is no need to panic and trash your old clock; any clock can be used in a non-FIDE sanctioned event. But if you use a Chronos, be a good sport and turn on the LED move indicators!

Nathaniel Emdee Found at KY Open

Above is a file photo of Nathaniel Emdee, Life Member of the E-town Chess Club who surfaced at the Kentucky Open last weekend. Click here to view the X-table and see how he did.

June Rating Tournament

The June Rating Tournament was one of our strongest ever thanks to guests Andy Porter and James Ballard who drove down from Louisville to join the fray. Congratulations to Andy who won with a perfect score.

Additionally Louis De Fiore returned to compete and Rayane Chatrieux  achieved his 25 game mark to escape his "provisional" status.Click here to review the X-table.

KY Open

Just a quick reminder that the KY Open is this week end. For details click on the KCA link (on the right hand side of your screen) then click on "Tournaments".

Schools Out Results

I tried to put a link to the X-table in a comment but it didn't work. You can view the X-table here.

Congratulations to Steve Parsons and Rayane Chatrieux both took home prize money! I was the "goat" this time, losing to Rayane in the first round. Rayane played well and I "forgot" that a Queen can move diagonally!

Johnny has posted pictures on the KCA Web site.

E-town Summer Open

Just a reminder that Johnny is hosting/directing another tournament this Saturday. See the flier below for details.

Click on flier to enlarge.

I just talked to Johnny and he told me that Mike Anders "The book guy" will be there! Mike takes trade-ins and buys books, clocks  and used chess sets!

Home Cooking

Jerry & I have played the Piano quite a few times. In fact, we both played the Piano Simultaneously against Chris Bush. One of the Joys and Dangers of playing against people you know is Home Cooking. On Tuesday Jerry whipped up some home cooking for me (with some attribution to a 1946 book called Winning Chess Traps).

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Game 75 Tourney To Resume On May 15th!

There seems to be enough interest in continuing our Game/75 tourney on Tuesday nights at the Family Buffet. So we will resume “Tuesday Knights” on May 15th!
We will play 5 rounds. They will be May 15, 22, 29 and June 5 and 19.
There will be a $1.00 charge to offset the rating fee and I hope that if you enter, that you will play in at least 4 of the 5 rounds so that rating norms can be achieved. Joe is very close to getting his Candidate Master norm!
Additionally, Jerry wants to start a monthly Saturday Game/75 tournament. Contact him for details or suggestions.