Saturday, March 30, 2013

LCCC is Alive On Line…..at Chess. Com

Now it is your move....to join LCCC on Chess .com!
Yes, it has finally happened. After months of pain-staking negotiations, close door meetings in cigar smoke filled rooms, and a bidding war between all the on-line chess sites, Chess . com won the rights to host LCCC on line!

The bidding for the next Olympics or Super Bowl sites was not this intense!

All you have to do is make an account on Chess .com. You can join for free! Be sure to pick a fun screen name, and send an email to the club hotmail or yahoo account to let us know.

I would suggest that Chess .com is well worth the Gold membership ($5 a month, $29 a year), but it is not necessary to join the LCCC on the site.

Once you have joined, click on the “Share” tab on the site and then the “Groups and Teams” link.

Type in “Livingston County Chess Club” and of course the country is the United States, and hit enter.

Post a note stating you wish to join, and you will be added.

If we know you are already a member of Chess. com, and have your handle, we probably have sent you a request to join. But if we missed you, forgive us, because as I told you the negotiations with all the other on-line chess sites was exhausting!

Not to mention the comforting and setting up support groups for all the sites that we did not choose. They were devastated!

Emails will be coming out shortly to all members whose emails we have. In addition, phone calls will be made to all whose phone numbers we have. You think telemarketers are bad, wait til LCCC burns up the phone lines.

We are hoping this addition to our chess club will not only increase our membership, but it will allow members to stay connected even if they can’t make Monday nights very often. Not to mention all the great chess we will still be able to play with our LCCC friends.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Twenty-Two Players Enjoyed Chess Action This Monday

Back to over average attendance, which was great to see!

We welcomed a new member to the club; Matt R. He is the dad of Ben and Zach who joined last week. Welcome Matt.

We had some Ladder Tournament action as Mike N held on to the top spot.

Some casual games were played also, including this interesting conversation I over-heard: "It was a strange position. For some reason I thought I was a piece up, but I was a piece down." And his opponent said, "I thought we were even, but I was a piece up!" Uh.......I hope you guys decided on a draw.

But the real action this night was training and practice. Terry G and Jason M provided lessons for about two hours at two separate tables!

When you come to LCCC, you can play friendly games, get lessons, join a never ending tournament (the Ladder) or sign up for monthly league actions, or simply chat over a chess board.

Stop on by! All are welcome.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Twenty Players on a Rainy League Night

A great night of chess! Twenty players sat down to tough league games, casual and friendly games and some training / lesson games.

In addition, Jason M was going over some Grandmaster games and reviewing chess strategy for a captivated audience.

We also got to welcome three new members to the LCCC tonight; Ben, Zack and Shannon R. Welcome!

These three new members brings our active membership role to forty-one, with another forty players on the currently inactive list.

If you are inactive, come on back! If you have not been, and you like chess, this is the place to be on Monday night!

Ladder Tournament action returns to the fore-front next week, along with the usual casual games and free chess lessons. Stop on by!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

League Night This Monday

Here are the match ups:
4th Place Team 2 (18 points) vs 4th Place Team 3 (14 points)
Aaron J (black) vs Scott M (white)
Mike K (white) vs Jim G (black)
Luigi L (black) vs Americo M (white)


1st Place Team 4 (23 points)  vs 3rd Place Team 5 (19 points)
Ken T (black) vs - Mike N (white)
Terry G (white) vs  Trent D (black)
Marcello M (black) vs Dale K (white)

6th place Team 6 (14 points) vs 2nd place Team 1 (20 points)
Don J (white) vs Matt T (black)
Ken L (black) vs Tom H (white)
Elliot K (white) vs Scott A (black)

All League Players are exempt from the Ladder Tourney this week.
But there are quite a few players in danger of dropping off the Ladder.
Please play a Ladder game, or make a challenge or get challenged - to stay on the Ladder. 


Tuesday, March 12, 2013

LCCC Has Fourteen Players on a Rainy Monday

A spring like night brought out 14 players to the LCCC.
Casual games were played and a whole lot of studying was done also. 
Jason M helped some players go over a few different games.
Terry G and Mike N reviewed some of the games played by Luigi, Americo, Marcello and Luca as the four brothers played in a scholastic tournament in Lansing over the weekend. 
This is the best way to improve your chess! Going over games you played, especially the losses, with a more experienced player. They will point out the errors and the deficiencies in your game (and your thinking) and you will learn a lot quicker that way.
We at LCCC are committed to improving the chess skills of all that are at the club. 
By chess ratings the Under 1000’s are getting help from the 1200 to 1500’s.
The  1200’s to 1800’s are getting help from our 2000 player.
And the 2000 is getting challenged by the 1500 to 1800’s, who are now armed with more knowledge in their game.
If you play chess – at any level  or any amount – LCCC is the place to be.

A reminder – League Night is next week. 
A League post will come out later in the week.

Those with December activity dates in the Ladder Tournament need to “challenge, be challenged and/or play within the next two weeks or you will be dropped from the Ladder!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Twelve Players Tonight at LCCC

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk in a simultaneous exhibition.
An even dozen were in attendance for another Monday of casual chess action.

The Ladder Tournament action continued as Don J held on to his spot and Vince V continued his climb up the ladder.

There was lots of good conversation and discussion about upcoming tournaments.

Don’t worry – any upcoming tournaments of interest will be posted right here:

March 9 and 10 - The Michigan Collegiate Championship and tournaments for kids K thru 12 are going to be held in East Lansing, MI – in both one day and two day events.

March 24 - The Sunday Quads at the Canton Library. Three - 30 minute games. Great for kids and beginners to tournament chess.

May 11 – Dexter Community Scholastic Chess Tournament K thru 8th grade.

June 22 and 23 – Michigan Bottom Half Class Championship – Grand Rapids, MI

Monday night is chess night. Make it out to the LCCC!