Thursday, October 29, 2009

October Quad Results

The October Quad results are in. The winners are Herb Baumann (3-0), Jonathan Manion (3-0), Khoa Nguyen (2.5-.5), Emily Nguyen (2.5-.5), and Huy Nguyen (2.5-.5).

Biggest ratings points gainers were Jonathan Manion up 87 points followed by his dad Steve Manion up 86 points. Well Done! Emily Nguyen gained 52 points followed by her father Nam Nguyen who added 42 points and moved up a class from "C" to "B". Herb Baumann improved 35 points and moved up a class from "B" to "A".



Action aplenty in the meat locker atmosphere of the friends room. Temps had to be in the 60s!

The new room is working out as far as space goes but the frigid temps last night were unbearable for some. Just a reminder to bring a jacket to the next meeting as we'll never know what to expect next as the kinks are worked out on the new meeting room and night.


Emily looks like she's all business at the board while Sarah and Dang compete in the background.

The upcoming schedule for the Georgetown Chess Club is as follows:

November 4, 11, 18--November Quads 3-RR, Game/60 EF $1

No official meeting November 25th (day before Thanksgiving)

December 2, 9, 16--December Quads 3-RR, Game/60 EF $1

No Official meetings December 23rd or 30th due to holiday season

January 6, 13, 20, 27--January Swiss 4-SS Game/60 EF $2

Special Note: The USCF in increasing dues from $29 to $34 soon (see Chess Life for details). If you want to renew for 2010 at the lower rate now is the time.

Also note: There is a ChessTournament hosted by two of our members (Nam Nguyen & Jenwei Hsieh) this Saturday the 31st and next Saturday the 7th at the Northwest Family YMCA at 5807 McNeil Drive in Austin (4-SS, 1-5 pm 2 rounds each day, USCF rated, Game/60  EF $5). Please contact Nam Nguyen for details nam67@yahoo.com or cell 512-786-9242..

Friday, October 16, 2009

Record Turn-out for October Quads

We had a record 21 members on our first Wedneday night meeting. So far the switch is going well.

Results from Round One (please advise if you spot an incorrect result)

Herb     1    Nam      0
Frank    0    Patrick  1

Anthony 1/2  Jim    1/2
Jonathon 1    Duy     0

Khoa      1    Steve   0
Roger     1    Lee      0

Emily      1    Brad    0
John E.         David        (unplayed)

Sarah     0    Huy     1
Dang      0   John T. 1

Round Two Pairings (October 21st)

Patrick        Herb
Nam           Frank

Duy            Anthony
Jim             Jonathon

Lee            Khoa
Steve         Roger

David        Emily
Brad         John E.

John T.      Sarah
Huy           Dang

Looking forward to seeing everyone next Wednesday!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

September Wrap Up--Wild Night!

Congratulations to Lee Allen for his 2-0 score in the 2SS G/30 (4 player section) with a wild time scrabble ending in the last game against Frank. The resulting 103 point rating gain is rarely seen in a 2 round tournament!


All smiles as John plays Emily (near) while Patrick takes on Lee

Our quick G/15 Quads saw Anthony and Nam (son and father respectively) finish as co-winners after Anthony found a nice bishop pin to turn the tide of the game against his father.


Frank v. John T. (near) and Anthony v. Nam (far)


Remember, no meeting the week of October 5th-9th as the Library is closed for inventory, however, we will be resuming on Wednesday, October 14th in the Friends room which will be the first round of our October G/60 Quads (entry fee $1).

Tuesday, September 29, 2009


Our new meeting room

September Swiss Results

Congratulations to Nam for his clear 1st with a perfect 4-0!

Nam 4.0
Anthony 3.5
Patrick 3.0
Brad 2.0 (one game left)
Frank 2.0
John E. 2.0
Vince 2.0
Emily 2.0
Lee 2.0
Dale 1.5 (one game left)
John T. 1.0
Scott 1.0
Sally 1.0
Carl 0.0

Round 4 Results

Brad 0 Nam 1
Anthony 1 Vince 0
Dale 0 Patrick 1
Emily 0 Frank 1
John T. 0 John E. 1
Lee 1 Scott 0
Sally-bye
Carl-w/d



Friends Room

September 29th meeting

Member’s choice night—I will direct as per demand—Quads G/15, 4 player sections of G/30 Swiss (2 rounds), match play G/60 or blitz. To be determined based on demand.



Friends Room Balcony

No meeting next week due to the Library being closed the week of October 5-9th. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, October 14th in the Friends room of the Library. We will begin our October Quads tournament on the 14th. One round per night Oct. 14, 21, 28 with a G/60 time control with 5 second delay.



Chess al fresco (if desired)

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

4th Round Pairings, 3rd Round Results

Nam     1     Patrick   0
Brad            Dale           unplayed-make-up on 9/29 (paired as draw)
Frank    0    Anthony  1
Scott     0    Vince      1
John E.  0    Emily      1
Sally      0    John T.   1
Carl       0    Lee        1

Overall, looks like it was a good night to play Black!

4th Round Pairings (Tuesday, September 22nd)

White         Black

Brad           Nam
Anthony      Vince
Dale            Patrick
Emily           Frank
John T.        John E.
Lee             Scott
Sally            Carl

A few details remain to wrapped up, but it appears there will be a move of the club meeting night from Tuesday to Wednesday in order to gain a larger room space with more appropriately sized tables for chess.
I will post more information once everything is confirmed but as of now it looks as though we will meet on the 22nd and 29th on Tuesday and beginning in October will shift to Wednesdays as club nights.

As a reminder for those interested, the UT tourney is this Saturday the 19th . You can view all the details by clicking the link on the right of this blog for Austin Chess Tournaments.

Friday, September 11, 2009

2nd Round Fireworks

2nd Round Results
Patrick 1 Frank 0
Vince 0 Nam 1
Anthony 1/2 Dale 1/2
John T. 0 Brad 1
Lee 0 John E. 1
Carl 0 Scott 1
Emily 1 Sally 0

Front Table: Brad v. John T. and Scott v. Carl (barely visible behind Brad)


The top boards were tense battles with all the players using almost every available minute on their clocks. Dale and Anthony agreed to a draw near time control in an endgame position where it appeared it would be difficult for either side to make progress.

 
Patrick v. Frank

3rd Round Pairings

White              Black
Nam (2.0)        Patrick (2.0)
Brad (2.0)        Dale (1.5)
Frank (1.0)      Anthony (1.5)
Scott (1.0)       Vincent (1.0)
John E. (1.0)    Emily (1.0)
Sally (0.0)        John T. (0.0)
Carl (0.0)         Lee (0.0)

 
Anthony v. Dale
Vote tally re: possible switch from Tuesday to Wednesday night. 
The club has been offered the opportunity to switch to one of the larger classrooms which would accommodate club growth and allow us to play on narrower tables more conducive to chess. The results of the email I sent out to club members earlier this week has produced the following tally.
Available either night = 10
Not available Wednesday or prefer Tuesday = 3
I know some of our members either don't use email or don't access their email often. I will try to get input from those members at our next meeting on the 15th. We have a core group of 12-16 regulars and I don't wish to cost anyone the opportunity to play at the club strictly due to switching nights. The unknown is if the larger room with better facilities would allow us to attract new members who can't make it on Tuesdays.  
                              
 Boards: Blue, Red, Black, Green Club Sets: single weight, heavy weight
I had purchased some extra sets and boards when we started the club and recently found some bags, sets, and boards at very reasonable pricing. I know most of our members have their own sets but if anyone is interested in picking up a spare set or doing holiday shopping for a chess playing friend or relative early. I have the above set/bag/board combos available for club members as a package or separately. The forest green travel bag with board loop and carry handles, heavy weighted deluxe club set (4 queens) and your choice of  roll up board (first come, first served) is available for $15. Same package but with a single weight basic club set (4 Queens) is available for $12. See me for individual pricing if desired.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

September Swiss

We have an excellent turnout for our September Swiss with 16 players including our newest USCF member and first time tournament player Carl Bamsch. It my understanding that Jim Mann is recovering nicely and will be back in the thick of things shortly.

There were no upsets in the 1st round but Dale and Emily went the distance in a bishops of opposite color endgame with Dale squeaking out the win. Looks like some very interesting matchups next week!

Results of 1st round and next week's pairings

Frank 1    John T. 0
John E. 0  Vincent 1
Dale 1     Emily 0
Scott 0    Patrick 1
Nam 1      Lee 0
Sally 0    Anthony 1
Brad 1     Carl 0

1/2 point byes--Herb, Jim

Round 2 Sept 8th

White    Black

Patrick  Frank
Vincent  Nam
Anthony  Dale
Herb     Brad
John T.  Jim
Lee      John E.
Carl     Scott
Emily    Sally

I used the demo version of Win TD (chess pairings software) for the first two rounds. I'm happy with what I've seen so far and will be upgrading to the full version shortly.

Since I didn't take any pictures at the meeting this week I'm throwing in a random shot of my "chess corner" at the office.