Chess Chatter Archive

CHESS CHATTER

This site is for news and recent results of the local chess community. Mostly about the Chess Castle but including the state. If you have some news or an announcement you think local chess players would like to know about send it to Bill at feellikeapawn@comcast.net.

Click here for Results of our tournaments. Upcoming tournaments Online Registration

CHESS LEAGUE AND OTHER STUFF (9/15/2013)

The Twin Cities Chess League (TCCL) is ready to go again this year. It will start on September 20th at the Roseville Oval. Register at 6:30 and bring $80 per team and clocks and sets. Time control is Game 90/ 5 sec delay. Three sections: Gold, Silver and Bronze. Gold and Silver 7RR by qualification based on last season results. Bronze (Open) section: 7SS. Contact Dave Kuhns if you have questions. If you do not have a team show up and they will try to place you on a tem or create one. Show up early and come prepared.

34 teams have been formed for this year. They have room for six more teams. If you can get a team together contact Dave Kuhns and you could start in round two with a half point bye. October 25 is the date for round two.

A FIDE event is planned for Sept. 21-22nd at the Castle. Details below.

The State Class Championships will be held at the Crowne Plaza Plymouth. Details when I get them. Back to list.

SKELTON AND SENIOR OPEN (8/30/2013)

The Noel Skelton Open was won by GM. Wesley So with a perfect score. A draw in the last round was enough but he ground down Andrew Tang. Proving once again the Knight is mightier than the Bishop. Turn out was good and even the one day events pulled in some new players. Wesley played about 30 in the simul giving up two draws to Zach and Robert Plunkett. Nate Hoover was the only one to beat him. Thanks to Noel and Riaz for their fine organizing and Dan for another excellent directing job. Pictured are Noel and Wesley. Vernon and Nastassja who played to a draw. Two members of our club. Robert and Zach who drew Wesley. The tournament has been rated.

A FIDE event is planned for Sept. 21-22nd at the Castle. Details below.

The Senior Open will be held at the Castle on Oct 12-13th. No chess punks just mature players over 50.

SCHEDULE PAGE HAS BEEN UPDATED.

The Twin Cities Chess League dates are set. TCCL Sep 20, Oct 25, Nov 22, Dec 20, Jan 10, Feb 21, Mar 21. Get your teams organized now. Back to list.

The dates of the Midwest Class has changed. Full details here.

TWIN PORTS (8/4/2013) UPDATED

The tournament was another success. GM Yermolinsky had the misfortune to run into a deer on the way to Duluth. Damage to his car prevented him from continuing to the site. John Bartholomew stepped in and played about 36 people in the simul. He lost one and drew a few. This did not tire him out enough as he went on to win the tournament with 4.5/5 giving Andrew Tang a draw. Wasiluk and Tang finished tied for 2-3rd. Ron Decker won the under 1800 and Beren Gunsolus won the Reserve. They are planning to hold the tournament again next year, maybe at another site.Pictured are Dan and Dane Zagar. Next is John.Then Dane Mattson who also helped. Crosstable. Back to list.

18 players showed up for the Monday quads. A wide range of skill levels with plenty of lower rated players. Young and old too.

There is a new tournament posted below to be held in Nov. This is not an MSCA event and I will have more details later.

SUMMER TOURNAMENTS (7/13/2013)

GM Wesley So will be playing in the Skelton Open on Labor Day weekend. There is a $2000 prize fund for the Open section with $1000 for first. All the details can be found on the Schedule page or below. There is a $69 room rate at the Crowne Plaza which is the site. Details for Catfish Days and Twin Ports are also listed below. Details for all of the Catfish Days events. Please support these Minnesota tournaments as the sponsors work hard to put on great events.

There will be a FIDE Round Robin tournament on Aug. 10-11 at the Castle. Go to online registration to see who will be playing. It should host a strong field at slow time controls and be good preparation for Twin Ports and Skelton. E-mail Sisira for more details: sisira@amarasinghe.com Cut and paste address to your E-mail account.

Justin Kleist won the Catfish tournament with a perfect score gaining 60 points on his path to Master. Crosstable.

Andrew Tang, our club champ, tied for first-fourth at the Barber Invitational. This is a national invitational of K-8 state champions. He represented Minnesota. Samarth Chakrasali ran into some really strong players in the High School Championship. He scored 3/6. Saisree Ravi scored 3.5/6 in the girls championship. All are regular members at our club and did us proud. The details of the U.S. Open can be found here.

John Bartholomew has updated his blog about his coaching travels this Summer. Back to list.

JULY NEWS (7/1/2013)

he month starts off with another big Monday Quad. A wide range of players and some new victims this week. Be there before 7:00pm to get in the mix. Do not be late. Nate is running another Wednesday Knighter this month and the Thursday night event will play on Wednesday for the first round. Time to book your rooms and entry for Catfish Days. Only $35 for A and above and $25 for class B and below. Potluck too!!

The FIDE event at the Castle had a cast of 27 with Samarth Chakrasali taking clear first and boosting his rating to 2157 on his way to Master. Many of our younger players are having a rating surge. Alex Richter, Mike Fellman and Kyler Weatherspoon are all above 2100. Connor Quinn and Jackson Wahl broke thru the 2000 level. It is good to see that my rating points are going to such fine young men. Watch out for these guys at the upcoming big events.

John Bartholomew crushed the field in the Blitz tournament. You can check out his blog about it here.

The schedule page has been redone and updated.

Mike Fellman won the Jackson Wahl Think with 6/7. Only Justin Kleist was able to beat him after thrashing Mr. Bill on his way to an Expert rating. Mike took home $170 for his efforts! Justin and Andrey Chernov tied for 2-3. Jackson's lovely Mom brought in a chess cake to celebrate his 14th birthday. You too can have a tournament named after you... Back to list.

JUNE UPDATE (6/14/2013)

Lots of activity in the chess world this Summer. The State Blitz Championship is coming on Sunday June 23rd at the Oval. This is a MSCA event. Nate Hoover is running another monthly Wednesday tournament. There is a FIDE event at the Castle on June 29-30th. Register at the online tournament link above. Details there and below. The Catfish Days is scheduled for July 26-27th. Friday -Saturday.Correct entry information below. The State Senior Championship should be Sept. 14-15th. The Summer concludes with the Skelton on Labor Day weekend. St. Olaf is running a chess camp again this year with John Bartholomew as a teacher. Two blogs you can check: Bartholomew and Titus. I have no word on the schedule for the Thursday night monthly tournament as the first Thursday is the Fourth of July Independence Day Holiday. Thanks to our friends in Rochester for another fine event. Crosstable. John Bartholomew crushed the field in the Blitz tournament.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Chess.MN 20th FIDE Open Rating Tournament

Organized and conducted by Ceylon Chess Club, Eagan, MN Directed by USCF National TD David Kuhns (FA)

Dates: Sep 21-22, 2013

Venue: Chess Castle, 1121 Jackson Street, #134, Nordeast Minneapolis, MN 55413 (NW corner of Broadway & Central) Format: 5 Rounds SS

Sections: Open (FIDE and USCF rated):

Entry Fees:

FIDE titled players (IM, GM, WGM) enter free (any prizes won will be reduced by $50), FIDE rated players: $50

FIDE unrated and rated at or over 1600 USCF: $70

FIDE unrated and rated under 1600 USCF: $90

Prizes (Based on 20): 1st: $250, 2nd: $150, 3rd: $100; Best FIDE unrated: $100

Time Control (for all 5 rounds): Open: Game/90 + 30 sec cumulative increment per move

Round Times:

1st Round: 10:00AM, Saturday, September 21, 2013

2nd Round: 3:00PM, Saturday, September 21, 2013

3rd Round: 7:30PM, Saturday, September 21, 2013

4th Round: 11:00AM, Sunday, September 22, 2013

5th Round: 4:00PM, Sunday, September 22, 2013

Entries:

Online registration: Please use the form below (Advanced entry fees will be valid until September 19, 2013 for online registration)

Via mail: Advanced entries with entry fees quoted above must be postmarked by September 16. All entries postmarked after this date or submitted onsite will incur an additional $10. Mail entries to: Dr. Sisira Amarasinghe, Ceylon Chess Club, 619 Crane Creek Lane, Eagan MN 55121. Questions / information: sisira@amarasinghe.com Phone: (864) 674-7472. Make checks payable to Ceylon Chess Club.

Onsite Registration: 8:30AM - 9:30AM, Saturday, September 21, 2013.

Other information:

•Two ½ - Point Byes will be allowed in Rounds 1-4. Request for Byes must be submitted during registration or by the end of Round 1.

•USCF - September 2013 Rating List will be used for pairing purposes.

•FIDE rules will be used in the FIDE Rated Open section.

•Games on the top 10 boards in the FIDE Rated Open section will be live broadcast on the MonRoi website.

NOV. 8-10 OR 9-10 1st annual Bloomington Open

TROPHIES PLUS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 20

5SS, G/120 d5. (2-day option, rds 1-2 G/60 d5). Crowne Plaza-Bloomington, 5401 Green Valley Dr., Bloomington, MN. Free parking. $9,000 based on 150 paid entries. In 2 sections. Open: $1000-600-400, top Under 2400/Unr $500-300 top Under 2200/Unr 500-300, top U2000/Unr 500-300 FIDE. Reserve (U1800): $750-600-400, top Under 1600 (no unr) $500-300, top Under 1400 (no unr) $500-300, Under 1200 (no unr) $400-250, Unrated $250, trophies to top Under 1000, Under 800, Under 600. EF: $79 by 10/1, $89 by 11/1, $99 online until 11/7, $109 at site at site. GMs free. November rating supplement used. Re-entry $50; 3-day schedule: Reg ends Fri 6 pm, rds. Fri 7 pm, Sat 10 & 4, Sun 10 & 3. 2-day schedule: Reg ends Sat 9 am, rds. Sat 10, 1 & 4, Sun 10 & 3:30. All: Half point byes OK all, limit 2, must commit before rd 2. HR: $82 single-quad, 800-227-6963 ask for booking code Chess Weekend; reserve by 11/1 or rate may increase. Ent: www.chessweekend.com or Chess Weekend, 21694 Doud Ct., Frankfort, IL 60423. $15 service charge for refunds. Questions: 815-955-4793. Tournament helped made possible by the Bloomington Sports Grant Program. Back to list.

Future Events

THE MINNESOTA CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS

CASTLE CHAMPIONSHIP

WINTER OPEN

THE ROCHESTER GRAND WINTER

MINNESOTA OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP