All posts by admin

Music City Open – Carpool?

Please email huntsvillechessclub@gmail.com if you’re interested in traveling to Nashville for the tournament. The usual driver will be out of town, but they have 15 players registered already with a cap of 36. We’ll link up any interested parties.

The Vulcan Open is next week in Birmingham.

Tournament details are below:

3-DAY MUSIC CITY OPEN

FRIDAY, MAY 17 – 19, 2019. 

ENTRY FEE: $60 TO NCC MEMBERS, $75 TO NON MEMBERS. 

USCF MEMBERSHIP IS REQUIRED, BUT NCC IS NOT

OPEN TO THE FIRST 36 PLAYERS TO PAY THEIR ENTRY FEE! YOUR ENTRY IS NOT CONFIRMED FOR THIS EVENT UNTIL PAID. YOU MAY PAY ONLINE OR MAIL CHECK TO:

THE NCC
2911 BELMONT BLVD
NASHVILLE, TN 37212

…OR DROP BY THE CLUB AND PAY CASH. 

PRIZE FUND: 85% OF TOTAL ENTRIES – NO MONEY TAKEN OUT FOR TD FEE. EVENT WILL BE DIRECTED BY FM TODD ANDREWS, WHO WILL ALSO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT. ASSISTANT DIRECTORS WILL BE ALSO BE PLAYING. 

1ST – 35%
2ND – 20%
TOP FEMALE – 11%
U/1800 – 10%
U/1400 – 09%

PLAYER MAY ONLY WIN ONE PRIZE. MAY USCF RATINGS USED. UP TO TWO 1/2 POINT BYES ARE AVAILABLE FOR ROUNDS 1-4 (NOT THE FINAL ROUND) 

SCHEDULE:

RD 1 – FRIDAY – 7:00 PM
RD 2 – SATURDAY – 12:00 PM
RD 3 – SATURDAY – 5:00 PM 
RD 4 – SUNDAY – 12:00 PM
RD 5 – SUNDAY – 5:00 PM 

3-DAY OPTION ONLY. MAY TAKE HALF PT BYE IN ROUND 1 IF YOU CAN’T MAKE FRIDAY OBVIOUSLY. 

TIME CONTROL: G/90 + 30 INCREMENT PER MOVE

Weekly News – National Elementary Chess Championship Updates

May 10-12, Nashville, Tennessee

This past weekend, over 2200 elementary school chess players converged on the Opryland hotel to fight for the National Championship in their respective sections.

The HCC had quite a few members participating (3 in their first Nationals!) and all did well on the National scale:

  1. Danny Seewald – 5.5/7 K5 U1200
  2. Aadi Saxena – 4.5/7 K5 U1400
  3. Connor Dowd – 4.0/7 K1 U500
  4. Noah Cazier – 3.0/7 K5 U1200
  5. Patrick Dowd – 3.0/7 K5 U1200
  6. Clayton Cazier – 2.0/7 K3 U700

Tonight ‘s Meeting

We’ll probably host a free, unrated tournament this evening. Stop by for some games! If we do, the rounds will start at 6pm, but you can always jump in for subsequent rounds if you can’t make it until later.

We hope you’ll stop by the library for some games!

Weekly News 5/6/19 – Nashville Swiss Trip Update

5/4/19 – A group from the Huntsville Chess Club traveled to Nashville, TN to participate in the “Return of the Monthly Swiss” tournament. Despite the rain, or perhaps because of it, they were in high spirits about the day of challenging chess games that lay ahead.

From left to right, Abhi, Ashish, Patrick, and Tomasz warm-up with the giant chess set on the front porch of the Nashville Chess Center.

The rounds were fast and furious, with the players hardly getting a chance to breath between them. Lunch was required to be brought in from Hattie B’s, compliments of the Huntsville Chess Club. Both Patrick and Tomasz were brave enough to try the “Shut the cluck up” heat flavor, while Ashish instead opted for the safer, “Damn”.

The tournament concluded with Ashish tied for 2nd place in a field of strong competitors. Abhi tied for a Class prize. Abhi gained an astounding 156 rating points for his performance! Tomasz gained over 100!

For complete tournament results, click here.


The Model X was an instant hit with the engineering/tech geek group.

Following the awards presentation, the battle-worn players headed home. But what trip to Nashville would be complete without a trip to the Tesla dealership?!

Keep up with HCC blogs to catch the next tournament carpool opportunity. They’re always a lot of fun.

See you at the club on Monday!

Saturday Nashville Tournament Opportunity

If you have not had an opportunity to visit the Nashville Chess Center, why not come along with us and play in a 4-round, G45 tournament this Saturday? Let us do the driving, while you mentally prepare and enjoy the ride! Fuel contributions are never required, but always appreciated.

The entry fee is $30 and USCF membership is required. If you need to register for the USCF, you can do that here. Payment will be accepted onsite at the NCC, so please bring cash. Sets and clocks may or may not be required, but if you don’t have one, you can either purchase one here or we can let you borrow a set and clock for the day. Just let us know.

The tournament info is located here.

If you’re interested, please either comment on this post or send an email to huntsvillechessclub@gmail.com. We can take a total of 8 people in our vehicle, but seats fill up quickly. So don’t delay!

The NCC also holds a Quad Tournament on Friday night. If you would prefer to drive up early and stay in a hotel that evening to participate in that event as well, please let us know. We’ll consider that option, based upon the input from the attendees. Otherwise, the tentative plan is to meet at the library at 7AM on Saturday and return that evening after the tournament concludes at 5PM.

Logical Chess and Checks


By David Hayes

One of the original half-dozen chess websites (since March 1994) has recently been updated.  http://www.logicalchess.com/  The goal of its contributing authors is to provide you with excellent content about the game of chess, without pop-up ads, without collecting your personal information, and without sending you spam.
The update includes responsive content (viewable on large and small screens), many improvements, and new content.  The site offers:

  • Chess lessons on every aspect of the game.
  • The best games of the best players from the earliest recorded games to Alpha Zero vs Stockfish.
  • An opportunity to post your best game for the world to admire.  The Immortal Mr. Magoo from HCC’s Bill Melvin is a must see.  See also the best games from other HCC members such as John Morash, Greg Funaro, and David Hayes (the domain owner).
  • Reference material, art, and great links to other information.
  • And a chess story about our endgame.

http://www.logicalchecks.com/ is a sister website designed to improve your tactical skill. 

Weekly News 4-29-2019 – Quick and Blitz Tournament Prep Continues

Quick Chess Tournament Preparation

This week, we’ll continue our prep for the 2019 AL Q&B State Championship tournament with a free, unrated tournament with 2-3 games of G24;d4. If you want some tournament practice, please swing by. The rounds will start promptly at 6pm. To register for the tournament, click here. As a reminder, only the first 40 entries will be accepted, as space is limited.

Last Week’s Tournament

Last week, we held a G5;d0 blitz tournament.

Results

PlaceNameScore
1Logan Richey4
2Danny Seewald3
3Tomasz Nielsen3
4Patrick Dowd2
5Shannon Baker2
6Michael Porter2
7Doug Seewald1.5
8Patrick Dowd1.5
9Connor Dowd1
10David Richey1
11Derick Collins0.5
12Joe Selikoff0

Hope to see you at the club!

Weekly News – Quick and Blitz Training, New Equipment

We’re just a couple of months away from the Quick and Blitz State Championship. It would be a great first tournament for our newer members, since we’re organizing it and it isn’t a standard rated event, we’ll be there to help you through the process. Why not sign up here today?

In the lead up to this event, the club has planned to conduct free, unrated Quick and Blitz tournaments using the time controls that will be used in the State Championship. We’ll plan to sign up onsite (like we do for our usual free events). We’ll plan to start as close to 6pm, as possible and conduct as many rounds as we can until the library closes or we get tired. If you want to participate, please just try to get to the library by about 5:45 so that we can get the pairings done.

By popular demand, we’ve added to our selection of discounted chess equipment here. We’ve added score sheets and a new deluxe chess bag both with multiple color options. Just make sure that you are an official HCC member and are logged in to receive the proper membership discount on this equipment. When you place the order, we’ll bring it to the club the following Monday. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Carpool, G60, and Weekly Tournament Results

Tournament Carpool Opportunity

We apologize for the last minute notice, but if you are willing to make the journey with us to Crossville, TN, home of the USCF, there is a 4 round, G60 tournament there tomorrow that historically has between 20-30 participants. We would need to leave the library by 5AM. If you’re interested, please call or text Pat at (615) 424-2094.

If you’re interested in going, but would prefer to drive up tonight (Friday), please also text or call. We can work something out, but we are a bit short on time, so don’t delay! If you haven’t attended a tournament and want to, we can help you through the registration process. Just call with your questions. The vehicle can take 8 players, including the driver. As always, gas money is appreciated, but not required.

Tournament info is as follows:


APR. 20   2019 Cumberland County Spring Open

Cumberland Co. Community Complex, 1398 Livingston Rd., Crossville, TN 38555. $420 guaranteed prize fund. In 2 Sections – Open: 4SS, G/60 d5, $$: $75. 30- X,A,B,C,D/Below. Amateur: 4SS, G/60 d5, Open to U1200 & under. $$: $75. 30-F, G, H/Below, UNR. UNR eligible for unrated prize only. ALL: EF: $15 if mailed by 4/15, $20 at site. Memb. Req’d: TCA $10 TN residents only. ENT: Harry D Sabine, P. O. Box 381, Crossville, TN 38557. 

G60 Tournament Results

The 5 week G60 tournament came to a close this past Monday with Bill Melvin narrowly bringing home the antique Morphy Barleycorn chess set. We failed to take any photos at our little award ceremony, but here is a photo of a set like that which was awarded to the victor. Thank you to all participants.

Results – For official crosstable, click here.

#NameRtngRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Rd 5Tot
1Bill Melvin2200W4W2L3W8W54
2Miles Melvin2020W8L1W11W3W134
3Jonathan Rasberry2105W13W6W1L2D43.5
4Ashish Acharya1836L1W5W14W6D33.5
5Tomasz Nielsen1184W15L4W13W9L13
6Logan Alex Richey1554W7L3W15L4W123
7Robert Lubin1849L6W11W9W12 —3
8Joel Nic Friedman1646L2W12W16L1W113
9Michael Porter1042H—W10L7L5W162.5
10Daniel Seewald1044L12L9B—W17D142.5
11Gabriel Tu Noland1511W16L7L2W15L82
12Abhinav Ayyadevaraunr.W10L8X17L7L62
13John Daugherty1800L3W14L5W16L22
14Patrick Thom Dowd949W17L13L4H—D102
15Douglas Seewaldunr.L5D17L6L11B—1.5
16Larisa V Friedman841L11B—L8L13L91
17David Justi Clarkunr.L14D15F12L10 —0.5

Weekly Tournament Results

This week’s unrated tournament was directed by Willie Sandifer and won by Aaron Vance, who also encouraged a friend to check out the club! Great job on both fronts! We’re always excited to see folks spreading the word about our club and about all the good things we’ve got going. Here are the results:

#NameTot
1Aaron Vance4
2Derick Collins3
3Rodney Jamar2
4David Hayes2
5Dave Richey2
6Logan Alex Richey2
7Joe Selikoff2
8Mostafa1
9Bill Burrows1
10Garrett Bentley0

Weekly News 20190415 – G60 Last Round Changes

Pairing Change to Round 5

Some pairings have changed for the last round of the tournament. Please be sure to check them out (note, there are no byes, due to a withdrawal).

BdWhiteBlack
1Bill MelvinRobert Lubin
2Ashish AcharyaJonathan Rasberry
3Miles MelvinTomasz Nielsen
4Gabriel Tu NolandJohn Daugherty
5Abhinav AyyadevaraLogan Alex Richey
6Daniel SeewaldPatrick Thom Dowd
7Michael PorterDouglas Seewald
8Larisa V FriedmanDavid Clark

Looking forward to seeing everybody tomorrow!

Alabama Quick and Blitz State Championships

The Huntsville Chess Club is pleased to announce that we will be hosting this year’s Quick and Blitz State Championship. Register below now as entries are limited to the first40 participants. You are able to register for just the Quick or just the Blitz tournament.

USCF and Alabama Chess Federation memberships are required for this event. Register for the USCF here and the ACF here.

Registration will also be permanently located here and accessible through the Events menu on our website.