Thursday Night at Teekos and then the Genesee County Open

Don Jones - on his way to his section's title.

Let’s start with the regular Thursday edition of the LCCC. Nine players were there. A league game, a ladder challenge and some casual games were played. Also, some games from the league were reviewed.

It was a great night of chess. Ken T withstood a challenge from Mike N with a hard fought draw and Aaron J won his league game for the Flames.

That made the Tigers v Flames match a draw. But the Tigers and the rest of the league can still make up ground on the league leading Rabid Squirrels if Sam T can win or draw with Zach R on their make up game.  Exciting times at LCCC.

Five players – Don J, Ken L, Mike N, Mike S and Tim R attended the Genesee County Open on Saturday. It was a 4 round tournament with each player having one hour for their game (2 hours total per game).

Don Jones took 1^st place in the under 1400 section! Another title for the LCCC! His score was 2 – 2, but he beat 1900 and a near 1800 rated player for his two wins! He just kind of ran out of gas there at the end.  But it was an impressive tournament Don.

Don said, “I’m not sure why I did so well. But the high ratings of my opponents helped me relax because I was under no pressure to win. Going into the tournament, I was determined to have fun and not worry about the outcome – and that seemed to help my concentration.”

Your humble scribe can explain Don. Playing in an earlier tournament in Dexter also helped you immensely. Nothing improves your play and concentration like tournament chess. Don has been on fire at the club also. Playing a lot of tournament chess improves your game quickly.


Mike Smith - the consummate chess player. 

Mr. Steady, Mike Smith was 2 -1 -1 after a tough start. But he righted the ship and got a plus score.

Mike Nikitin went 1 – 2 – 1 – after a rougher start than Mike Smith had.

Tim Ritter went  1 – 3 after opening with an impressive win. But as so often happens in a Swiss System tournament, when you win your first round, you are paired up the rest of the way. It makes for a tough schedule. Tim played much better than his score indicates.

Ken L when 0-3-1 and just could not find the form he had at the Michigan Open.
But as usual, win, lose or draw, the tournament was fun and the company at meals was great!

If you like to play chess, tournaments are the real deal. The schedule for upcoming tournaments will be always posted and updated here on this blog.

Keep in mind, if you are a “newbie” to tournaments, an LCCC member will be glad to be at the tournament also to show you the ropes. Besides, the more the merrier.

There are all kinds of tournament types, time limits and locations. Get in the game.