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News by Frank Vogel, President CWCC Cranston-Warwick Chess Club 2009 Annual Meeting Minutes The Cranston-Warwick Chess Club Annual Meeting was held on 3 March 2009 at 6:30PM. President Frank Vogel presided over the meeting, provided his opening remarks and welcomed the club members to the annual meeting. The meeting agenda was announced and approved. An announcement was made that Tomas Ramirez was now the club champion having won the 2009 club championship that was held as an 8-round swiss in Jan/Feb. Tomas tied Gary Point with a score of 7 points each but Tomas won the title in tie-breaks by defeating Gary head to head in round 4. Vice President John Magill presented the club treasury report which was approved by the club members. A discussion was held to determine if new recruits could be obtained to share in club responsibilities such as Tournament Directors, webmaster, etc. It was announced that Mike Elwell would be a new club tournament director. Officer Elections took place. Frank Vogel was reelected as Club President unopposed. John Magill was reelected as Vice President unopposed. Mike Elwell was nominated and the elected as club Secretary/Treasurer. Frank Vogel asked the club membership if any changes were recommended for the club. None were recommended. There was a question regarding the need for a skittles room. Several suggestions were brought up to address this question such as having tables set up outside the conference room or searching for another room in the building. A discussion was held to determine if special events could occur to make the club more interesting. Some ideas were simuls, matches against other local clubs, and a team formation to compete in the upcoming Amateur East tournament. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30PM. Monthly Tournament Policy on Late Entrants Due to some recent occurrences of players showing up late for the CWCC USCF-rated tournaments and then expecting to play in that particular round, the club board decided on a policy to handle these situations and to avoid any conflicts of interest.  The new policy is as follows: Unless the round is subsequently re-paired, late entrants for the weekly tournament are granted a half-point bye if one is allowed during that round.  Otherwise, the late entrant receives a zero-point bye.  The late entrant may then play a rated game against another available player that is recorded in an extra-rated games section.  The entry fee remains the same. December Monthly Tournament The December Monthly Tournament starts Tuesday 2 December 2008.  The rounds are on: Tuesdays 2, 9, 16, 23 December. You must be a US Chess Federation member to play in the rated tournament. You can join the USCF through us the same day you play your first round. You are welcome to play casual games if you are not playing in the tournament. The rate of play for the Monthly Tournaments is 40/75, SD/30 (75 minutes of thinking time allowed per player for the first 40 moves, and 30 minutes per player for the remainder of the game). Digital clocks must be used if available and set with a five-second delay. One half-point bye allowed for rounds 1-3. Only one bye per player. Unless the round is subsequently re-paired, late entrants for the tournament are granted a half-point bye if one is allowed during that round.  Otherwise, the late entrant receives a zero-point bye.  The late entrant may then play a rated game against another available player that is recorded in an extra-rated games section.  The entry fee remains the same. Currently 87.5% of entry fees go to prizes, with rounded dollar amounts.  The percentages out of the prize fund are 55% for First Prize, 30% for Second Prize, 15% for Top Under Median Rating. Details have been posted on the USCF site and listed in Chess Life magazine TLA section. Chess Notes - November 2008 The 2008-2009 chess season started in Rhode Island with the first Pawn Eater held on September 6^th at Rhode Island College. Twenty players showed up to do battle over the sixty-four squares. Congratulations to club member Paul Ferreira who took clear first with 3.5 out of 4 in the Open section. Junior player Sam Kirsch won the U1500 section with 3.5/4.0. His rating jumped to 1477 after the tournament was rated. The 2008 RI Open was played on Nov 8-9, 2008 at RIC. The turnout was somewhat disappointing as only 25 players competed in three sections. The section winners were: Open - David Vigorito, U2000 - Alex Fikiet, and U1600 - Daniel Ferrer The photographs posted below show the winners and many action photos of the play in progress. I encourage each club member to give a Pawn Eater tournament a try if they haven't yet participated. The format of four rounds at Game/60 provides a full day of quality chess with guaranteed competition near your playing level. 2009 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION The board of club officers met recently to plan upcoming activities for the CWCC. Item number one discussed was the Club Championship. Several ideas and formats were brought forward and their pros and cons weighed. In the end a unanimous decision was reached to conduct the club championship as a swiss tournament with the following rules: 1. The CWCC Club Championship will be an eight (8) round swiss tournament (one section). 2. The dates will be Jan 6 through Feb 24, 2009. 3. Up to two 1/2-point advance byes are available to any participant. No advance byes may be requested after the 4^th round of play. 4. To qualify to play, a participant must be a club member in good standing who has played a minimum of eight (8) rated club games in the past year (Jan 08 - Dec 08). 5. The prize structure is still being determined but there will be class prizes for the lower rated players. We are looking forward to this new format and hope it increases participation and excitement for all of our members. 2009 Annual Club Meeting We plan on holding the annual club meeting as required by the chess club bylaws on the Tuesday night following the completion of the club championship. (March 3, 2008) March is a month with 5 Tuesdays. We normally hold the casual nights on the 5^th Tuesday of the month. As the Club Championship will have just been completed, it will be a better time to hold the meeting and casual night. All club business can be done without having to rush getting things ready before a tournament begins. The following are the major items to be covered at the annual meeting: 1. Treasurer's Report 2. Elections for officer positions 3. Miscellaneous old/new business Please come to the meeting and provide input, suggestions and ideas. This is YOUR chess club and it will be a better club when more people take the time to get involved. Good Chess! Frank Vogel 2008 Rhode Island Open The 2008 Rhode Island Open was held on 8-9 November 2008 at Rhode Island College in Providence.  Here are some photos taken at the tournament: Turk Ozbek is baffled on the first move against Marie Coccio Boris Colindres congratulated by the TD for tie for first- U1600 Richard Dusza and George Winsor agree to a draw in round #4 Daniel Ferrer wins the U1600 trophy on tiebreaks Paul Ferreira versus Roy Jones Youngster Alex Fikiet led the U2000 section with 4.5 out of 5.0 points TD Eric Berkey finds time for blitz with Paul Gavlick Tomas Ramirez(right)) does battle in the Open section against Z. Jaleel Can you name these pawn pushers? Can't you get these pairings out any faster? Who wouldn't mind having one of these on their shelf? Open section Champ David Vigorito in a relaxed moment before a round Other News
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