Friday, August 25, 2017

Links, News & Tournament Information for Sept-Oct 2017

 Chess Center Monday League Forming Now 
The Dr. Farley Memorial XXVIII 
Monday Night Fall League starts on October 2nd, 2017 
Register no later than 6:30pm 10/2/17.  Call the Rochester Chess Center
at 585-442-2430 for details, or sign-up at the Chess Center in person.
This league runs from 10/2/17 thru 12/4/17. Games start at 7pm.
10 Rounds; Game in 90 min. w/ 5 sec. delay.  All games must be
completed no later than 12/6/17.  Chess Center members: $17,
$2 less if you played in Summer 2017 league. Non-members add $8.
Play every Monday. Dec 4th is for make-ups. 
Jan. 8th, 2018 starts Winter league.



Special Event 
21st Annual CCCR Championship: Registered Players (32)
Jamshed Ahmed, Jim Attaya, Tony Badamo, Jerry Birmingham, Steve Blazak, Chris Brown, Mike Cavanaugh, Mike Connelly, Hanan Dery, Roei Dery, John Frearson, Brian Jesse, Aidan Kharroubi, Clif Kharroubi, Mike Lionti, Randy MacKenzie, Ken McBride, Rich Motroni, Matt Nesci, Lev Paciorkowski, David Phelps, Bill Pollifrone, Toby Rizzo, Mike Runnells, David Stearns, Joshua Stevens, Don Stubblebine, Bob Talbot, Jim Trowbridge, Blaze Veljovski, Richard Warmus and David Worl
Note: Scroll down this post for tournament flyer. Please check in by 7pm. Do not call ahead unless you are unable to play, or you will arrive later than 7:20pm. We will also have rated games for players not in the championship. Round #1 is Wed. Oct. 4, 2017 at 7:30pm.
Pizza, Snacks & Beverages will arrive by 6pm for the chess players.




 Special Event 
Lecture Series with Chess Master
Lev Paciorkowski
Sponsored by the Community Chess Club of Rochester
First two lecture sessions:
Two Dates: September 13th & 27th, 2017 
Time: 5:00-6:30pm at the Rochester Chess Center
Free for CCCR members; $5 for non-members.  All are welcome!
5pm-5:30pm: Free pizza, cookies & apple cider for all who attend Lev Paciorkowski's chess lecture
5:30-6:30pm: Lecture (Introduction, Presentation, Q&A, Closing notes)
6:30pm: Registration for CCCR G/80d5 games (optional, following lecture)
The two lectures will cover different topics.
Note: The lecture will be video recorded. 
Lev Paciorkowski, USCF Master.  Rating 2359.
Lev taking questions during his lecture.
Thanks to Lev for two informative and enjoyable lectures. Congratulations also to
Lev for winning 1st place at the 8th Annual Hartford Open this past weekend (9/22-9/24)!
Chess Master Lev Paciorkowski's USCF rating is now 2376!



 Special Event 
Lecture Series continues with Chess Master
Matt Slomski
Sponsored by the Community Chess Club of Rochester
**Postponed**
(Date: November 15th, 2017 - will be rescheduled)
Time: 5:00-6:30pm at the Rochester Chess Center
Free for CCCR members; $5 for non-members.  All are welcome!
5pm-5:30pm: Free pizza, cookies & apple cider for all who attend Matt Slomski's chess lecture
5:30-6:30pm: Lecture (Introduction, Presentation, Q&A, Closing notes)
6:30pm: Registration for CCCR G/80d5 games (optional, following lecture)
Note: The lecture will be video recorded. 
Matt Slomski, USCF Master.  Rating 2070.



 Special Event 
Lecture Series continues with Chess Master
Clif Kharroubi
Topic: Sensing Danger
Sponsored by the Community Chess Club of Rochester
Date: December 6th, 2017 
Time: 5:00-6:30pm at the Rochester Chess Center
Free for CCCR members; $5 for non-members.  All are welcome!
5pm-5:30pm: Free pizza, cookies & apple cider for all who attend 
Clif Kharroubi's chess lecture
5:30-6:30pm: Lecture (Introduction, Presentation, Q&A, Closing notes)
6:30pm: Registration for CCCR G/80d5 games (optional, following lecture)
Note: The lecture will be video recorded. 
Clif Kharroubi, USCF Candidate Master.  Rating 2114.




 Tournament Announcement 
The 21st Annual Community Chess Club Championship!
October 4th thru November 1st, 2017 (5 Wednesday nights)
Sponsored by the Community Chess Club of Rochester
Eligibility: CCCR members who have played a minimum of 10 games between Nov. 9, 2016 and Sept. 27, 2017 on separate Wednesday nights qualify to enter.  The championship tournament is a lot of fun with great prizes.  It is the second largest annual tournament in Rochester.  Defending club champion: Lev Paciorkowski



It is a pleasure to share this excellent chess site with you called, "Chess Curiosities"  by our own 
highest rated (2399) Rochester chess player: FIDE Master Igor Nikolayev.  







The Rochester Chess Center will be closed on Labor Day Weekend Sept. 2-4




 Upcoming Tournaments:
Labor Day Weekend, Albany, NY: 139th NYS Championship - see below for details
Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25 & Nov. 1, Rochester, NY: CCCR Championship - details coming soon
Oct. 21-22, Syracuse University, NY: 4th Annual Central NY Open - see below for details
Nov. 11, Geneva, NY: 3rd Annual Seneca Lake Open - see below for details



Syracuse University Campus







Saturday Youth Tournament Aug. 26, 2017:
1st Place Trophy with 5 points: Henry Swing
Also Second place score with 4 points: Luciano Pagano

 


Don Stubblebine won his game against Master Daniel Johnston
this past Wednesday night, August 23rd.  It was a titanic battle, as Don likes to say.
We wish Daniel the very best of luck as Daniel begins college classes soon at Brandeis University.



Saturday Youth Tournament Aug. 19, 2017:
1st Place Trophy with 4 points: Nathan Shaffer
Also tied score 4 points: Tanush Senthil Kumar
 


The Rochester Chess Center's weekly Youth Tournament  is 10am-1pm, $5 entry fee It is held every Saturday.  However, the Chess Center will be closed for Labor Day Weekend September 2-4.  Call the chess center at 585-442-2430 for more information.



We are very happy to have had National Master Laszlo Tapaszto play many tournaments with us over the last month.  We had a party for Laszlo on his last evening of chess Wednesday night, August 16th, until he visits again in December.  Laszlo is going back home to Caracas, Venezuela.
Laszlo and his wife Pat.


The big chess event on Labor Day weekend is in Albany, NY:
139th annual
NEW YORK STATE
CHAMPIONSHIP
The Chess Center is sending a van for passengers and has reserved several rooms at the hotel for local chess players.  Contact or visit the chess center for details and to sign up for a ride and/or hotel room.  This is a nice event at a nice hotel.  It would be great to see a lot of local players support the event organized by the Continental Chess Association.  



As a courtesy, here is a copy/paste of the 
Continental Chess Bulletin for Aug. 24, 2017

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Continental Chess Bulletin
August 24, 2017 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EMAIL ADDRESS FOR CONTINENTAL CHESS: Director@Chess.US

The deadline for the $102 chess rate for guest rooms at the Albany Marriott expired three days ago, but these rooms appear to be still available. Reserve now as this special rate could be discontinued at any time.

139th annual
NEW YORK STATE
CHAMPIONSHIP
September 1-4, 2-4 or 3-4, 2017

Albany Marriott   
6 rounds, $13,000 GUARANTEED PRIZES  

IN 5 SECTIONS: Championship (1800/up), Under 2100, Under 1800, Under 1500, Under 1200.

Option of 4-day schedule Sept 1-4, 3-day Sept 2-4, or 2-day (except Championship Section) Sept 3-4. All merge and compete for same prizes.  

Free lecture by IM Jay Bonin, Monday 9 am 

ENTER NOW 
HOTEL RESERVATIONS
NY STATE BLITZ CHAMPIONSHIP, SEP 3    


CONTINENTAL CHESS MINIMUM RATINGS POSTED   
The latest CCA minimum ratings list
is posted, including events played through the World Open. The ratings are used, if above USCF ratings, at all tournaments held by Continental Chess. effective immediately.
   

ENTRY VERIFICATION  
After you enter online at chessaction.com, click on "entry list" for your event at that site and your name, section and schedule will be there! The program also sends a confirming email, but this does not always get through, and is not really necessary. 


WHICH RATING IS USED?  
All tournaments held by Continental Chess use the OFFICIAL rating corresponding to the ENDING DATE of the tournament. For example, a tournament ending Nov 1 uses the November official ratings (events submitted by the third Wednesday in October), but one ending Oct 31 uses the October official ratings (events submitted by the third Wednesday in September). This is a bit different than the USCF recommendation to use the starting date.  We use unofficial web ratings ONLY if the player would otherwise be unrated. For sections offering FIDE norm chances, FIDE ratings are used, corresponding to the starting date of the tournament. 

CLAIMING HALF POINT BYES 
The shopping cart offers only half point byes that will occur before the players arrive at the tournament: round 1, rounds 1 and 2, rounds 1 through 3, or rounds 1 through 4.
  
BYES THAT WILL OCCUR AFTER A PLAYER BEGINS PLAY SHOULD BE REQUESTED ONLY AT THE TOURNAMENT. We don't want to hear about these byes in advance because they are often changed (sometimes more than once), causing extra work and occasional pairing errors.

HOTEL NONSENSE
Most hotels we use, at one time or another, tell players that rooms at the chess rate are not available, or that no rooms of any kind are available, when this is not true. If you are told this more than a month before a tournament, it is
probably wrong! If you are told this a few weeks before, it could be correct, but there is still a good chance it is wrong. Even if you try to reserve late (after the advertised deadline), if you are told "not available," it's best not to accept this as the last word- ask for the hotel Sales Office Monday-Friday 9-5 and if that doesn't work, send us an email. Sometimes that late the hotel is really sold out or has discontinued the chess rate, but there is still a fair chance that the person you are speaking to is poorly informed, and you can get a room at the chess rate or not too much more expensive. 

For reservations by phone, some hotels won't recognize the tournament unless you ask for "Continental Chess," or "CCA," or the tournament name, or the "chess tournament," or the "chess rate." Try all these variations if one doesn't work.
If an online reservations link is offered, often you can obtain the chess rate through the link even when you are refused by phone. Always try the link first before calling! 
  
Hotels do often sell out, either the chess block or the entire hotel. Asking for a reservation by the announced deadline date DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU A ROOM, as it is possible that our chess block, or all rooms, have sold out before the deadline. If you make a reservation a few weeks before the deadline, you will almost always be able to obtain the chess rate. 
 ------  End of Copy/Paste from bulletin ------



 A note of  thanks to Community Chess Club member Randy MacKenzie who donated a laptop to the Community Chess Club and has created a pairing sheet software application.  The software is very easy to use and easy to manage.  The software application helps us produce very professional pairing sheets in a fraction of the time it took to do by hand.  Thanks to Randy for being part of a team of Community Chess Club volunteers whose goal is to help our chess club grow and become one of the best chess clubs.