2026 Club Speed Champ Crown - Now Make Way for the Duck!

 

The Livingston County Chess Club meets every Monday night between

4pm thru 10pm

at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop in for some friendly chess, good food and 'refreshments'.

Everyone of all ages and playing strength are welcome to attend. And free lessons to all beginners!

The 2026 Club Speed Champion is Pete Bruder with a perfect 3-0 record. 

Dr. Ken Tack was second with 2.5 Charlie S. and Tom H. tied for 3^rd with 2.

Our next no cost tournament will start on Monday, April 20^th  at 6:30 pm. It is our exclusive Duck Chess Tournament!

The time limit will be 45 minutes / game with a 5 second delay. We will play one round per Monday night, giving everyone plenty of time for our usual regular ‘coffee house’ chess.

What Are the Rules of Duck Chess?

·     There are no checks or checkmates. You must capture the enemy King to win.

·     Players make standard chess moves……but followed by placing the “DUCK” on any empty square on the board.

·     The DUCK always moves after every turn.

·     The DUCK blocks the square making it impossible for pieces to move to that square or thru it.

·     Knights can jump over the DUCK.

·     Kings can move to attacked squares and castle through attacked squares.

·     Players can also win by setting up a stalemate. Remember you must move before moving the DUCK.

 

If you never tried it, you are missing out. It is a fun event and again, free to all entries! Come and join the fun!

 

2026 LCCC Speed Championship Starts Next Monday, And LCCC Has a New Champ!

 

The Livingston County Chess Club meets every Monday night between

4pm thru 10pm

at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop in for some friendly chess, good food and 'refreshments'.

Everyone of all ages and playing strength are welcome to attend. And free lessons to all beginners!

The 2026 Club Speed Championship will start next Monday, the 23rd of March! It is free to all entries. It will probably begin around 6:30pm. Get there before that for a spot!

We will play two rounds this night, with a third and possible 4^th round next Monday night if needed. It will depend on how many entries.

The time limit is 5 minutes per player with no delay. You will draw for colors and play two games against the same opponent each round.

Two wins or a win and a draw gets you a victory for the match. A split in wins or two draws gets you a draw for the match. The match score is what you turn in to the tournament score sheet.

It is a fun event and again, free to all entries! Come and join the fun!

We would also like to congratulate our newest member to the LCCC Hall of Fame, Isaiah Hemmeke, who won the 2026 Michigan Class C Championship! 

Champions are built at chess clubs! 

2025 Club Champion Crowned - And Done for the Betterment of Society?

 

The Livingston County Chess Club meets every Monday night between

4pm thru 10pm

at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop in for some friendly chess, good food and 'refreshments'.

Everyone of all ages and playing strength are welcome to attend. And free lessons to all beginners!

The 2025 Club Championship was completed and the winner was Dr. Ken Tack! He finished undefeated at 3-0. Congratulations to our tournament director, who can not only run our tournaments, but win them too!

Thomas V. finished second and David W. finished third. Thank you to all ten entries in our tournament.

We also held our drawing for the beautiful wooden ebonized Russian chess set. To be eligible for the 2025 drawing, you had to have played in our club tournaments to get in the drawing. One entry in the drawing for every time you entered our tournaments.

The winner was Curt S. Congratulations to him!

And congratulation to our blog as we have surpassed the 400,000 visitor mark to the blog! Now gaining on the incredible half-million mark!

Now a little story that ……may or not be true. You decide:

There is a rumor that the great world champion made a confession on his deathbed to the nurse. He told her it all happened at the great St. Petersburg tournament in 1914.

One night at mid-tournament, there was a knock on Alekhine’s hotel room door. An old ragged Russian peasant demanded entrance in order to give the world champion the great chess secret he had discovered.

Alekhine although full of doubt, decided for his own amusement decided to see what this old man was babbling about. Alekhine let the old peasant in and said, “Ok, let’s hear it and make it fast so I can get my rest.”

The man said, “I have found a way for White to checkmate Black in nineteen moves or less, regardless of what Black does.” Alekhine after hearing this, begins to usher the old man out of his room, but the peasant is persistent and insistent.

To end the matter, Alekhine sets up his chessboard and plays the man. In eighteen moves, the world champion is checkmated. Red-faced, they play again and Alekhine resigns on move seventeen this time. A third time, repeats the world champion’s defeat in checkmate in nineteen moves!

Aghast, Alekhine hustles the old man over to the great Capablanca’s room across the hall. The same scenario happens to Capablanca in three straight games. Then the two chess greats play as a team discussing moves for two more games and losing just the same!

After stating this to the nurse, Alekhine goes quiet. The nurse, after a long pause of silence, finally had to ask, “Then what happened, sir?”

Alekhine said sadly but firmly, “Why we killed him of course.”

 Fiction? Probably. But one has to ask, is it possible that this has happened to others in history who found an answer to something that others do not want the answer found? 

Most definitely.

Club Championship Starts Tonight! - And the Amazing Harry Nelson Pillsbury

 

Harry Nelson Pillsbury

The Livingston County Chess Club meets every Monday night between

4pm thru 10pm

at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop in for some friendly chess, good food and 'refreshments'.

Everyone of all ages and playing strength are welcome to attend. And free lessons to all beginners!

Our last tournament for 2025 on the schedule is the 2025 Club Championship. But our illustrious Tournament Director is scheduling it to start after the holidays. So it will start tonight on January 12, 2026.

It is totally free of cost so come by for a tournament feel without any cost. The time limit is 60 minutes / game with a 5 second delay. We normally plan on starting around 6:30 pm. The tournament will go 3 or 4 rounds, depending on entries, but we play only one tournament round a week. So, this tournament will go on for 3 to 4 weeks, FYI.

It is semi-serious chess in a fun location and fun people. Stop on in!

Now a little history of one of the first great American blindfold chess players. These are players who specialize in playing multiple opponents and games at once, without looking at the boards!

Harry Nelson Pillsbury was born in 1872 in Massachusetts and moved to New York in 1894 and then Philadelphia in 1898. What was Pillsbury like? By all accounts he was a modest, unassuming, good natured young man. In serious games he would play with machine like concentration. A strong grandmaster in his own right. 

But at his spectacular exhibitions of blindfold skill, it was a different story! One time he was playing sixteen boards sight unseen, while taking part in a card game of Whist to keep himself busy during moves!

In between puffs on cigar and calling out moves to his unseen opponents he stated, “As I was saying, if I could, I would almost give up chess to play Whist full time. If I ever succeed in winning twenty simultaneous games of chess I shall probably quit and play no more.”

Pillsbury did play twenty-one games simultaneously during the Hanover Tournament of 1902. His opponents were all budding masters playing in the second division. He even allowed his opponents to consult one another on each other’s games and move pieces around if they liked.

After twelve hours of play, Pillsbury’s results were 3 wins, 11 losses and 7 draws. Still an amazing feat given the strength of his opponents and the consultant and piece moving advantage he let them enjoy!

On another occasion, he played twelve games of chess and six games of checkers blindfolded while playing Whist. He was able to recall and replay every move of all eighteen games of the match but also recite a list of 30 words he was given to read once before the event! Crazy stuff.

Pillsbury’s last chess tournament was in Cambridge Springs in 1904, where he had a bad result, except for a brilliant game against Lasker.

A myth developed that Pillsbury became mentally unbalanced because of the strain of his blindfold play. In 1905, he tried to commit suicide by jumping from the fourth floor of a mental hospital where he was being treated.

Unfortunately, he spent the last years of his life in mental hospitals or at home with his wife, whom he had married in 1901.

He died at the young age of thirty-three due to a stroke. Was his mind’s tremendous memory due to something that also the reason for his death? We will never know.

Lasker hailed Pillsbury in his magazine’s eulogy as “the pathfinder in the thicket of chess theory, gifted with pleasant and loveable traits. A source of pleasure and joy and a teacher for thousands.”

2025 Action Tournament Winner Crown - And Chess Diplomacy Put to the Test

 

Chess Board Diplomacy!

The Livingston County Chess Club meets every Monday night between

4pm thru 10pm

at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop in for some friendly chess, good food and 'refreshments'.

Everyone of all ages and playing strength are welcome to attend. And free lessons to all beginners!

Our 2025 LCCC Action Tournament finished and the winner was Dr. Ken Tack with a 3-0 record.

Second place was shared by a host of players – Curt S., Pete B., Dave W., John O., and Jon C. 

This is a testament to the strength and balance of our chess club. Thanks to all contestants!  

The next and last tournament for 2025 on the schedule is the 2025 Club Championship. But our illustrious Tournament Director is scheduling it to start after the holidays. So, this tournament will start on January 5, 2026.

This Club Championship is totally free of cost so come by for a tournament feel without any financial risk. The time limit will be 60 minutes / game with a 5 second delay. We normally plan on starting around 6:30 pm. The tournament will go 3 or 4 rounds, depending on entries.

Now for a little American chess history not usually known – Part 2:

Just as Benjamin Franklin was about to leave Europe and return to the safety of the colonies, an invitation to a chess game was offered. The offer was from a prominent socialite of London by the name of Lady Howe.

Very negative political rhetoric had been across the Atlantic Ocean for some time (times never change it seems). But this was a contest that the Brits and the Colonies could still engage in without personal risk.

The invitation had no political significance at the start. And it did not have to, for Franklin to accept. He simply loved the game that much. Homesick and possibly in some personal danger of arrest in Europe, he still could not say no to an invitation to sit at a chessboard.

“The game of chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired and strengthened by it.”

Benjamin Franklin played chess whenever he could. He traveled with a miniature chess set. Probably the first one ever made.

He showed up at the Howe residence expecting a dinner, some wine and a chess game. What he received in addition to the game, was a discussion of how war could be avoided between the two sides. Also present at the pre-chess game dinner were Lady Caroline Howe’s two brothers; General Sir William Howe and Admiral Lord Howe! 

Admiral Howe was in charge of the Channel Fleet which was given the duty to block supplies from France to the Colonies, in order to make the colonies pay the English taxes on goods.

The chess game was held. Who won is a mystery. However, the photo seems to show Lady Howe with the advantage in body language if that means anything.

The negotiations after the game, however, did not go well. Franklin declined to give a decision then and there but stated he needed to return to the colonies first and then give an answer once the British offer had been discussed.

In his response letter to the Howe’s was at first polite and then got terse. Ben Franklin wrote in conclusion, “It is impossible we (the colonies) should think of submission.”

So, the attempt at chessboard diplomacy failed. And the rest is history.   

2025 Action Tournament This Monday - A Little Colonial History for You

 The Boston Tea Party

The Livingston County Chess Club meets every Monday night between

4pm thru 10pm

at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop in for some friendly chess, good food and 'refreshments'.

Everyone of all ages and playing strength are welcome to attend. And free lessons to all beginners!

Our 2025 LCCC Action Tournament will start this Monday. It is totally free so come by for a tournament feel without any cost. We are planning on playing two rounds a night this time. But we may only go one round per night.

The time limit is 30 minutes / game with a 5 second delay. We plan on starting around 6:30 pm.

The tournament will go 3 or 4 rounds, depending on entries.

Now for a little American chess history not usually known – Part 1:

Like most people in colonial America, Benjamin Franklin wanted to avoid a war with King George III if possible. But Boston had just had it’s rebellious Tea Party and the British authorities were adding more restraints to the colonies.

By the late 1774 the hostility toward America was so uncomfortable in London that Franklin realized it was time to return home to Philadelphia. War seemed imminent. Then, at which point, his safety would be a concern.

His loyalty to America had caused his personal reputation in England to plummet. The London Papers called him an “old snake” and a “veteran of mischief”. Even a “grand incendiary.” Franklin decided it was time to head home.

Then chess intervened.  More next time.

2025 Rapid Champion! And a List of World Champions! Casual Chess at the Club!

 

Catholic priest Ruy Lopez  vs Leonardo Bona in the Spanish Royal Court.

The Livingston County Chess Club meets every Monday night between

4pm thru 10pm

at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop in for some friendly chess, good food and 'refreshments'.

Everyone of all ages and playing strength are welcome to attend. And free lessons to all beginners!

Dr. Ken Tack wins the 2025 LCCC Rapid Tournament ahead of 14 participants with a perfect 4-0 score. Thomas Valenzuela and Mike Nikitin finished tied for second with a 3-1 record.

Thank you to all participants

Our next free Club Tournament will start in a Monday or two. It is the Action Tournament!

Game time limit is 30 minutes with a 5 second delay! Not sure of the start date, but probably October 20th.

The tournament will play round a night, starting around 6:30pm. The tournament will go 3 or 4 rounds, depending on entries. Dr. Tack won this one last year also.

Hope to see you there for this fun and FREE event!

Speaking of Champions, let’s look at the list of World Champions and their country of origin:

Ruy Lopez, Spain 1560-1575

Giovanni Cutri, Italy 1575-1587

Paolo Boi, Italy 1576-1598

Alessandro Salvio, Italy 1599-1620

Giozcchino Greco, Italy 1621-1634 Then a lost century!

Legall de Kermeur, France 1730-1747

Francois-Andre Philidor, France 1748-1795

Alexandre Deschapelles, France 1796-1823

Louis de la Bourdonnais, France 1824-1840

Howard Staunton, England 1841-1850

Adolf Anderssen, Germany 1851-1865

William Steinitz, Bohemia/USA 1866-1893

Emanual Lasker, Germany 1894-1920

Jose Raul Capablanca, Cuba 1921-1926

Alexander Alekhine, Russia/France 1927-1935

Max Euwe, Holland 1935-1937

Alexander Alekhine, Russia/France 1937-1946

Mikhail Botvinnik, USSR 1947-1957

Vasily Smyslov, USSR 1957-1958

Mikhail Botvinnik, USSR 1958-1960

Mikhail Tal, USSR 1960-1961

Mikhail Botvinnik, USSR 1961-1963

Tigran Petrosian, USSR 1963-1969

Boris Spassky, USSR 1969-1972

Bobby Fischer, USA 1972-1975

Anatoly Karpov, USSR 1975-1985

Gary Kasparov, USSR 1985-1993

Karpov and Kasparov (duel champions) 1993-1999

Alexander Khalifman, Russia and Kasparov 2000

Viswanathan Anand, India and Vladimir Kramnik, Russia 2001-2002

Rusian Ponomariov, Ukraine, Vladimir Kramnik, 2003-4

Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Uzbekistan and Vladimir Kramnik, 2005

Veselin Topalov, Bulgaria and Vladimir Kramnik, 2006

Vladimir Kramnik, 2007  (reunified Title)

Viswanathan Anand, 2007-2013

Magnus Carlsen, Norway 2013-2023

Ding Liren, China 2023-2024

Gukesh Dommaraju, India, 2024-present