BOB JOHNSON MEMORIAL 2012 CHAMPIONS

The Buffalo Thundering Herd Chess Team are the 2012 Bob Johnson Memorial Chess Champions. This is the second time a Buffalo Team has won the Championship. Two teams represented Buffalo - Niagara Falls area in North East, PA on Sat, October 20th.

The Champions Buffalo Thundering Herd team members were L-R, Vic Bahl, Barry Davis, Brian Sayers, Jerome Green and Gary Boye. The second team The Buffalo Blizzard members who finished third place was Captain Bob Simpson, David Biddle, Douglas Dubose, Mark Meith and Chess Ambassador - Michael Mc Duffie.

The format was 3 games, USCF rated, Game 90, teams of five players where the top 4 scores count towards each team score. A total of 35 players and 6 teams participated were 2011 defending Champions Chautauqua, Erie Pa, Grove City, Pa. and Bradford,Pa.

The Final Standings of the 2012 Bob Johnson Memorial Tournament are Buffalo Thundering Herd 9pts, Gove City Wolverines 8pts, Buffalo Blizzard 7.5pts, 4th place tie Bradford and Erie with 7pts and 6th Chautuqua with 5pts.

Photos from the tournament will be posted to Facebook page of The Archangel 8 Chess Academy.

Reported by Mc Duffie, Chess Ambassador

Harish Departs for Seattle!

As some of you know, our good friend and fellow chessplayer, Harish Srinivasan, departed Western New York today for a new career with Amazon.com in Seattle, Washington. As creator of the Buffalo Niagara Chess Corner blog, and a mainstay at the Niagara Falls Chess Club, Harish has made immeasurable contributions to the Western New York Chess Community.  As you can see from the photos below, it took a few consecutive weeks at Wegmans for his friends and students to wish him well in his new career. Fortunately for us, he will continue to be a vibrant member of our chess family - continuing to maintain the blog, giving us problems to solve, and keeping us abreast of international tournament play. He would also like us to challenge him on the ICC, and then join him for league play on the ICC. Please join the members of the Niagara Falls Chess Club in wishing Harish the best in life and in chess in his new home and career.

USCF MONTHLY CHESS EVENTS 2012

The Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell W. Whitfield Jr. and The Archangel 8 Chess Academy celebrating 13 years of providing chess programs for the youth and afterschool programs will be hosting a monthly USCF Chess Tournaments on the third saturday of each month in the Main Place Mall, 390 Main Street, Buffalo, NY.

If you are looking for the ulitmate chess challenge, or simply come and play for fun, then you are invited to join the US Chess Federation members in the Buffalo - Niagara Falls, New York Chess Community in an open, friendly and respectful chess evironment, free parking under the Mall, Boutique shops and Food Court open during tournament play.

This is a unique opportunity to come and compete, test your skill, knowledge and your will to win against some of the most respected and admired nationally ranked, top International Masters, National Masters and Scholastic State Champion chess players in the United States.

USCF annual Family memberships and Individual memberships can join or be renewed are available at the door.

The following dates are for the upcoming chess events. All players are to report by 9am, Games start at 9:30am. Saturday, November 17 and Saturday, December 15th, 2012. PIZZA and Refreshments will be provided for all paid tournament players.

Advance entry fee is $25 or $30 Cash at the door.

Three sections are Open, U1500 and Scholastic K-12. Open and U1500 Cash Prizes are based on 20 entries in each section. Open Cash Prizes are first place $200, $100 and $50, U1500 Cash Prizes are $100, $50 and $30. Scholastic Players will be awarded Trophies.

In 2013, we will feature the 2013 Pawn Master Challenge Championships, a USCF rated, 3 games, Game 50;d5, two dates on January 12th and January 26th, 2013. This was designed for scholastic players who want to prepare for the NY State Scholastic Championships in Saratoga Springs, NY and USCF SuperNational Chess Championships in Nashville, TN 2013.

This program was established with donations in memory of my brother David Pawn Master Mc Duffie, was developed with the help and guidance of National Master Barry, National Master Lionel L. Davis and Dr. James J. Paul. National Masters will discuss and review two selected games with the group on tactics, stragies and execution during the tournament. Advance registrations are greatly appreciated with reply to,arcangel8chess@yahoo.com with full name, USCF number, Telephone and section.

Earl Bird Registrations deadlines - For Tournament on Sat November 17th, Checks must be received by Wednesday, November 14th,

For Sat. December 15th, must be received by Wednesday, December 12th.

For January 12th by January 9th,

For January 19th by January 16th,

For January 26th by January 23rd, 2013.

All checks must be received and made payable to The Archangel 8 Chess Academy, 60F Guilford Lane, Buffalo, NY 14221. Special Note! No REFUNDS!

This special chess announcement will hopefully help the chess community to come out, support and help us continue to grow the Chess Community in the Buffalo Niagara Falls region in the upcoming months.

Contributions in Memory of David Pawn Master Mc Duffie can visit, www.MDChess.com, where the family has made arrangements to host an annual Scholastic Chess Championship in 2013 and award an annual Pawn Master College Chess Scholarship in Baltimore, Maryland. This was a joint effort, help and assistance of the Maryland Chess Association where Pawn Master was a Board member.
If you have any suggestions or ideas that you would like to share with us, please reply to arcangel8chess@yahoo.com. All replies are read and taken under consideration.

The picture shows Anna, Ithaca NY and Mark, Jamestown, NY, FIDE International rated chess players who visited with us during 2012 Navy Fleet Week.

Submitted by Mc Duffie, USCF Certified Chess Coach and USCF Tournament Director

REMINDER! BEGINNERS OPEN RATED TOURNAMENT 2012

The 2nd Annual Herschell Carrousel Scholastic Chess Championships will take place on Sat. October 27th at the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum, 180 Thompson Street, North Tonawanda, NY 14120. Please call 716 - 693-1885 for directions.

This tournament previously announced earlier, is designed for new members of the USCF and for USCF rated players under 1000, who want to test their skill, strategy and the will to be the best in an open family friendly chess environment.

All chess players are required to report by 11:30am. Scholastic Chess Players will play three games, USCF rated, Game 30;d5, no elimination.

Entry fee is $10 per student. A portion of the entry fee will be donated to the museum to show our support for this historic site and we ask that you visit and support the museum. Students eligible in grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12 will play students in their own section. Trophies will be awarded for Top Females and Top winners in each section.

Games will start at Noon, 1pm and 2pm. Please bring chess set, board and digital chess clock. Limited supply are available.

Advance registrations are greatly appreciated with reply to arcangel8chess@yahoo.com by midnight, October 26th with full name, grade, USCF number and telephone to arcangel8chess@yahoo.com.

USCF Family memberships and individual memberships are available and can join on site.

Submitted by Mc Duffie, USCF Tournament Director

Copeland gets Master rating!

Sam Copeland won all three of his games at Sardinia's Columbus Day tournament to raise his rating over the coveted 2200 mark. Congratulations Sam!  Sam defeated Todd Thompson, Ryan Madden, and Kevin Roulhac in the 3 round event.  Madden finished 2nd with 2pts while Roulhac and Pat Patterson tied for 3rd with 1.5.
 Nathan Palmisano won the u1500 prize while Hunter Witt and Adam Pesta from Ithaca split the u1000 prize. Also competing were Ryan Palmisano, Austin Will, Ben Rummell, and our Canadian friend Vinay Sharma.
 Todd Thompson had a fine day as he went undefeated and also won the scholastic section. Kevan Davis won the unrated trophy. Also competing in scholastics were Ben Rummell, Hunter Witt, Austin Will, Alexis Schlaak, Daved Stefan, Jeff Schalberg, and Anderson Miles. Thanks everyone!
 Next tournament Nov 12 (Veterans Day). See you then!


 

A position from my Round 2 FIDE Open game

Dennis Monokroussos who runs "The Chess Mind" blog kindly used a position from my Round 2 loss to NM Scott Riester in September. The post is here.

Have meant to say congratulations to the winners: Riester, Anna Levina whom I may see in Ithaca next month, and our local Davis cadre. Here is the final installment of something I've been doing all year, and actually since my day flying back from Norway before the tournament I've been involved in some things hairier.

Robert Johnson Memorial

Here are the details on the 2012 Bob Johnson Memorial Chess Tournament:

Location:        Sweetwater Banquet Room, 2nd floor, 15 East Main Street, North East Pa. 16428.  Free Parking in the Bank lot East of the Tournament Hall.

FREE -      No entry fee, but donations accepted.  Three round Swiss Style. There will be a maximum of 5 players per team, but multiple teams are permitted.

Under 1600 and Open categories, plus an Unrated Section.  Players in the rated sections must be current USCF members or renew at the tournament. "Top Team" will be determined by the top 4 scorers combined from the Open and U1600 sections. Unrated section players will NOT count towards top team points.

Date:               Saturday, October 20th 2012.

Rounds :        10 AM --  1:30PM --  5PM

Time control: G/90 with a 5 second delay, if you are using a digital clock.

Important:      There will be NO onsite registration!

So far, we have 11 players registered for the event. In the Open Section, we have Barry Davis, Douglas Dubose, Kevin Roulhac, and Gary Boyes. In the U1600 section, we have Brian Sayers, Bob Simpson, Mark Mieth, Vic Bahl, Jerome Green, Michael Dunn and Michael McDuffie. Please contact me at rsimpson@idealawyers.com if you would like to represent one of the Buffalo teams in this great event.  Some of us are traveling to North East on Friday evening and staying over at the Holiday Inn Express. Others are venturing down on Saturday morning. We hope you'll join us!

October Chess Events 2012

First let me share the attached photo which is on the back wall of Applebees located on Transit Road in Lockport, NY, It displays three chess players who earned their first chess trophies from the Lockport Golden Knights Chess Club.

The Buffalo Travel Chess Team is looking for players to participate in the Bob Johnson Memorial Tournament in Northeast, PA just across the PA border. If you are interested, please contact Bob Simpson for details with reply to RSimpson@idealawyers.com.

There are two teams so far in the Open Section and U1600 section. Team members are asked to wear their red caps. Open Team members so far are Doug Dubose, Barry Davis and Kevin Roulhac, U1600 Team members are Vic Bahl, Mark Meith, Mc Duffie - Chess Ambassador, Jerome Green and Bob Simpson.

Monday, October 8 will be at Sardinia with replies to Tom Warner for details.

Sat Oct 20th - Main Place Mall is Cancelled for the Bob Johnson Memorial in Northeast, PA.

Sat Oct 27th - Herschels Carrousel Scholastic Championships in North Tonawanda, NY, entry fee is $10, replies to arcangel8chess@yahoo.com.

Sat Oct 28th - Buffalo Central Library in Buffalo, NY, Game 30;d5, Swiss, doors open at Noon, games start at 12:15pm, advance registration are appreciated with reply to arcangel8chess@yahoo.com.

Thanks for all your continued help and support. October is National Chess Month so come out and support the Game of Chess!

Submitted by Bob Simpson and Mc Duffie, Chess Ambassador

Sardinia Tournament Oct 8 (Columbus Day)

At the Sardinia Community Center(Town Hall),12320 Savage Rd, Sardinia NY

2 sections:
Adults: 3SS, G45, EF $10, ( may be changed to 4SS, G/30 depending on # of entries) Rds.:11am,1pm,2:30pm.
$50 first prize guaranteed!

Scholastic: 1-4pm Round Robin-Play as many games as possible in 3 hrs!
EF$5, Trophy for 1st place. All Scholastic players will receive a prize!

For info call Tom Warner 716-560-4160
E-mail warner689@roadrunner.com