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:
Danny Seewald – 5.5/7 K5 U1200
Aadi Saxena – 4.5/7 K5 U1400
Connor Dowd – 4.0/7 K1 U500
Noah Cazier – 3.0/7 K5 U1200
Patrick Dowd – 3.0/7 K5 U1200
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
Congratulations to William Cazier for taking clear first in Monday’s free, unrated tournament! Thanks to Willie Sandifer for serving as Chief TD for these events. It really helps to keep things organized and ensure that players are paired according to their skill level.
Place
Pts
Name
1
3.0
William
2
2.0
Aaron
3
2.0
Jackson
4
2.0
Noah
5
2.0
Rodney
6
1.0
Clayton
7
1.0
Derick
8
1.0
Clifton
9
1.0
Parker
10
0.0
Mostafa
11
0.0
Romeo
Huntsville Challenge
Today (4/10) is the last day to register and pay the early registration fee for the tournament. After today, it will be $10 more on-site. Sign up now! Lots of HCC folks have already registered. Let’s make sure one of our members brings home the prizes in both sections! Email caesarchess@gmail.com or huntsvillechessclub@gmail.com with any questions you have. For tournament details, click here. Caesar has also started accepting PayPal payments to his email above, so you don’t have to remember to stop by the ATM before the tournament. We hope to see you Saturday, 4/13 at the Charger Village tournament site.
Final Round of the G60 Tournament
Going into the last round, there is no clear winner yet in our G60 tournament. There are 6 players tied at 3.0/4.0. It looks like the final result will come down to the wire. As a reminder, the top 2 boards will be broadcast LIVE. If you’ve got friends, family, etc., who aren’t geographically co-located with you, let them know and maybe they’ll check it out! Click here and send them the link! You can also use the link to check out all broadcast games from previous rounds.
Pairings are as follows:
Bd
White
Black
1
Bill Melvin
Robert Lubin
2
Ashish Acharya
Jonathan Rasberry
3
Miles Melvin
Tomasz Nielsen
4
Gabriel Tu Noland
John Daugherty
5
Joel Nic Friedman
Daniel Seewald
6
Abhinav Ayyadevara
Logan Alex Richey
7
Michael Porter
Patrick Thom Dowd
8
Larisa V Friedman
Douglas Seewald
David Justi Clark
BYE
Thank You
Many of our members in attendance have begun helping set-up and tear down equipment at our weekly meetings. This is extremely helpful and very much appreciated. When you’re done for the night, if you wouldn’t mind packing up the set you’re using and stacking the board with the others (or starting a stack), that helps us spend more time playing chess and less time cleaning up, afterwards.
