Farewell Wishes and Bon Fortune Patrick!

As many of you have already heard, shortly after our last meeting Patrick accepted an employment opportunity out of state beginning prior to our next meeting. Join me in wishing all the best for Patrick in his new adventure. We will miss the camaraderie in conversation and spirited competition  in games he infused in our meetings.

  Patrick (left) v. Dang during his farewell performance

Congratulations to our November Quad winners--Clear 1st-Anthony Nguyen, Huy Nguyen Co-winners Frank Lacava, Duy Nguyen and Patrick Clot, Jonathan Manion and Khoa Nguyen.

Third Round Results

Frank     1   Nam      0

Dang       0   Patrick   1
Jonathan  1   Khoa     0

Brian       0   Anthony  1
Steve      1    Brad       0

Lee         0    Huy         1
Sarah      1    Emily       0

Performances of note:

Huy gained 145 points and moved up to Class D.
Anthony gained 59 points and moved up to Class B.

Khoa gained 36 points and moved up to Class C.

Action Central

December Quads will start this Wednesday. I would like to get as many players to pre-register as possible as I will have to miss the meeting and would like to post the pairings in advance. Entry fees will be collected on 12/9.

Players registered so far:

Brian          (will miss 12/2)

Herb          (will miss 12/2)  I will place Herb & Brian in same Quad-1st round pairing to be made up later.

John E.       (may arrive late on 12/2--clocks start at 5:45 pm)
Huy
Duy
Khoa
Dang
Nam
Anthony
Emily
Lee
Frank
Jim

 Match Play between John E. and Duy

Second Round Results

Duy        1  Nam     0
Roger     0  Frank   1

Jonathan 1  Dang    0
Khoa      1  Patrick 0

Steve      0  Brian    1
Emily      0  Huy      1

Jim         1  John E. 0

Third Round Pairings

NOTE: Color selection by random lot in this round (pawn in hand preferred). Score in ( ).

Nam (1.0)      Frank (1.5)
Duy   (1.5)     Roger (0.0)

Dang  (0.0)    Patrick (1.0)
Jonathan (1.0) Khoa  (2.0)

Brian (2.0)   Anthony (2.0)
Steve (0.0)  Brad (0.0)

Looks like the big showdown game next week will be between Brian and Anthony both with scores of 2.0

Lee has offered to put together a club flyer for distribution in Georgetown and local chess events.

Lee's study corner.

Lee offered to share this photo of his study corner. From the bookshelf to the computer screen to the artwork on the wall you can just feel the chess knowledge oozing out. Very nicely done, Lee!

If you would like to share photos of your chess study area just email an attachment to me and I will get it posted in an upcoming blog.

Reminder: Today is the last day to pre-register for the Cactus Ranch Open in Round Rock this Saturday. See my previous blog post for details and click on the Austin Chess Tournaments link on the right of this screen.

November Quads

We had a turn-out of 20 players last night with 16 joining the line-up for the November Quads. A warm welcome to new club member Brian W. returning to rated play for the first time since the early 1990s. Carrying a USCF rating of 1802, Brian dusted any rust off quickly with a nice win against Brad.

First Round Results

Nam    1   Roger   0
Frank 1/2  Duy     1/2

Dang    0   Khoa    1
Patrick  1  Jonathan  0

Brian     1   Brad    0
Anthony 1  Steve   0

Lee        0   Emily   1
Huy        1   Sarah  0

The players out were Herb, Jim, John E. and Kaitlyn.

Herb and Jim played a rated g/60 match while John E. and Kaitlyn played skittles.

Next week we should have John T. back with us so perhaps we can have a couple of rated matches for those who desire.

Round Two Pairings 11/11/09

Duy           Nam
Roger        Frank

Jonathan    Dang
Khoa         Patrick

Steve        Brian
Brad         Anthony

Sarah        Lee
Emily        Huy

I would like to hear any ideas to help promote the club. With the new meeting room we can expand freely and any increased membership means new opponent opportunities. Anybody out there with skills they can volunteer for designing flyers or brochures to post at the Library?

Special Note: There is an open chess tournament on Saturday, November 14th at the Cactus Elementary School in Round Rock, Texas. 4-SS with G/45 time control 1st round beginning at 9:30 (regristration 8:30-9:00). EF: $25 in advance, cash prizes. See this address for details (or click on Austin Chess Tournaments link on the right of this screen):

https://www.austinchesstournaments.com/events/145

I encourage you to support any and all local chess events. Let's keep building our local chess community as this will increase playing opportunities and fun competition for all of us!

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..

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!

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).

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)

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.

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.

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.

Quick Chess Quads, August Wrap Up

The chess action was up tempo this week with two QC (Game/15) quads wrapping up our August chess calendar. Anthony and Patrick tied for 1st with 2 points each while Herb managed a 3-0 score in his quad. Lee and Emily played an exciting game ending with time running down in a perpetual check draw. Nam and Herb entered the their third round game tied with 2-0 scores. Nam's opening d4 lead to Herb's favored Dutch Stonewall and Black's kingside attack dwindled down to a winning exchange up endgame.

 

Brad and John exchange a game ending good sportsmanlike handshake 

 Patrick v. Anthony and Lee v. Emily

Nam looks on as Anthony contemplates his next move. 

Sally and Kaitlyn played a few games and welcomed our new and returning visiting players. This is the 2nd week in a row we've had mother/son guests visiting the club.

Frank and Dale played a Game/60 match while Scott played his make-up game from the August Quads with John E. 

Remember, our September Tourney  starts next Tuesday the 1st. It's a 4-SS (four round swiss system) with a Game/60 time control. EF: $1 

We missed Jim at the meeting and hope he's feeling better and recovering nicely.

August Quad Results

Frank and Jim are ready to go!

Herb and Dale study their opening moves




Sally and Emily--the first move is the toughest one



Brad and Nam concentrate on the endgame while Gordon, Frank and Emily look on



John E. and Lee--hats off means serious business

Patrick and John T.--as in trouble with a capital T.

Congratulations to our August Quad winners--Frank Lacava, Herb Baumann, Patrick Clot and co-winners Duy Nguyen and Jim Mann. This is the 2nd month in a row we've managed to fill out four Quads for our monthly tournament.

Next week will be our "anything goes" last Tuesday. Suggestions so far include 3 round Game/15 Quick Chess Quads, Game/60 match play and 4 player sections game/30 2 round swiss. Entry fee $1. I will try to accomodate all these suggestions as interest dictates.

On September 1st we will start a 4 round, game/60 swiss system tournament with one round each week (1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd). Entry Fee $1 no prizes.