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.
