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2008 Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting was held on March 11, 2008 at 6:00 PM immediately prior to the regularly scheduled club meeting night.  Twelve members showed up (not including several late stragglers) to participate.

The first order of business was the presentation of the Treasurer's report by Roy Jones.  Roy provided an income and expense statement that included a pie chart that clearly showed the major and minor expenses incurred to run the club.  Interested members can obtain a copy of the treasurer report by asking one of the club officers.

Three proposed changes to the club bylaws were then presented to the membership.  The first proposal concerned Article 5 and added the position of vice president to the club officers. The second proposal, also concerning Article 5 specified that officers will be elected by a majority of members present at the annual club meeting and will include absent members who have submitted their votes via a ballot form which is submitted to the club officers.  The final proposed change was to Article 7 (Ratification and Amendments).  This proposal added the proviso that the two-thirds majority required to change the bylaws also allows absentee voting by a ballot from members who cannot attend the annual meeting.  All three changes to the bylaws were passed.  The revised Club Bylaws should be posted on the website shortly.

A proposal submitted by Ben Bentrup was then brought to the floor.  It addressed the problem that has occurred a few times in the past when someone shows up to play in the monthly tournament, but happens to be the bye player when an odd number of players are present.  The suggested policy was to provide the individual with the standard one full point bye for that round and then omit the next round entry fee as compensation for the inconvenience of not being able to play.  The members passed this policy.

The final order of business was the elections for club officers.  For the first time since the Cranston-Warwick Chess club was established, a contested election was at stake.  Roy Jones was running for president against the current club president, Frank Vogel.  John Magill ran uncontested for the Vice President position.   The election was held by ballot and the results were that Frank Vogel will remain as the President and that John Magill is the Vice President.  The club membership thanks Roy Jones for his dedicated service as club treasurer. 

Frank Vogel

"One of the greatest threats to a democratic organization is for the members to become apathetic and let a small group of the membership do all the work This creates divisions and promotes authoritarianism." -- Robert 's Rules of Order


2008 Club Championship

Carlos Avalos has successfully defended his club champion title and is now 2008 Cranston-Warwick Chess Club Champion!   The event began on January 15th  and ended on March 18th after a grueling 10 round double round-robin tournament.  Each player had one game with black and one with white against each opponent.  The selection of the players was based upon their year long results at the monthly club tournaments and USCF rating.  A few of the stronger players were unable to make the commitment  to play but every participant had a USCF rating of 1600 or higher.   The final results are as follows::
1. Carlos Avalos  - 7 points
2. Tomas Ramirez  - 6.5 points
3. Rick Massimo  - 6 points
4. JZ Perrotta   - 4 points
5. Roy Jones - 3.5 points
6. Richard Dusza-   3  points

The prize fund for the winners was:
1st Place -  $100
2nd Place  - $75
3rd Place  - $50

Congratulations to all 6 players for their hard fought games and good sportsmanship throughout the tournament! 

John Magill


Chess Notes - Aug/Sept 2007

I know it has been some time since my last newsletter to the members.  The pace of life has picked up since the school year is now underway.  I would like to discuss my experience at the 2007 U.S. Open Chess Championship.  Held 7/28-8/5 in Cherry Hill , NJ at the Crown Plaza Hotel, the tournament conditions were excellent.  The largest book and equipment store I have ever witnessed at a chess tournament was displayed in a room adjacent to the playing hall.  The TD crew ran the tournament without any glitches.  If you have never been to the US Open or a similar large tournament, I would definitely recommend that you make it one of your personal goals in chess.

One of the best aspects for me was reuniting with numerous chessplayers whom I had not seen or communicated with in several years.  I actually got to meet in person two correspondence players whom I had only talked with through postal chess cards.  And I roomed with an old chess buddy that I met shortly after I got back into chess in 1986. 

As far as the actual chess, my results could have been better.  The large open section made for strange pairings.  I really didn't play anyone who was close to my rating through the whole tournament!  I was paired up then down repeatedly.  My actual score was 3.5 points out of 8 games which ended up losing me 7 points overall.  I managed to play two actual checkmates over the board, which was quite unusual. 

I also attended the Delegates meeting as the Rhode Island representative.  The meeting was long and sometimes boring but there were several topics that were of importance to the future of the federation. 

With the completion of the August CWCC monthly, we probably won't be seeing much of Ben Bentrup.  Ben teaches school on Block Island so he will likely not grace us with his presence until next summer.  We three board members greatly appreciate the TD work and assistance that Ben provided in his short time with us.  In an all volunteer organization like our chess club, help like that is hard to come by. 

Good chess!

Frank Vogel


State Championship

The month of May was a very busy time for your new president.  I directed the 2007 RI State Chess Championship on May 5-6 at Rhode Island College.  Our club was well represented with nine (9) players participating.  Brendan Burns (U1500) and Roy Jones (U1800) both were first place winners in their respective classes.  If you haven't already, be sure to check out the photographs link on the Events page that shows some of the winners and a few action shots of the competition. This event at the college was the last chess tournament until September 2007.  The regular monthly Pawn Eater tournaments will resume at that time.  Those club players who have not played in one of these tourneys should definitely give one a try.  The playing conditions are excellent with the college cafeteria right on the premises.  This is also a good time to inform everyone that the Rhode Island Chess Association is planning to have a memorial tournament for the recently deceased expert Max Malyuta.  The exact dates and format are yet to be determined. 

Photos from the 2007 State Championships


New Club Officers

The photograph on the first page of our web site shows the newly elected officers for the Cranston-Warwick Chess Club for the 2007-2008 year.  Pictured from left to right are: John Magill (Vice President), Frank Vogel (President), and Roy Jones (Secretary/Treasurer).  The board was unanimously elected since there were no other candidates.  The election was official as of March 5, 2007.  With three committed new officers, the club is in good hands for the near future. 


 Pawn Eater Tournament

The recently completed 91st Pawn Eater tournament (April 15, 2007) organized by the Rhode Island Chess Association saw our very own Roy Jones tie for first place in the U1800 section.  Roy scored 3.5 points out of a possible 4, only giving up a draw to Jonathan Poggi, who tied Roy for first in the section. Roy also gained 102 points onto his USCF rating.  Congratulations to Roy for his fine performance. 


 
 
Copyright © 2007 Cranston-Warwick Chess Club