2023 LCCC Speed Chess Champ Crown - And a Once In a Lifetime Visit to London England

The Livingston County Chess Club meets every Monday night between 4pm and 10pm at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop on by 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!

We held our Club Speed Chess (5 Minute games) Championship and the Winner was:

1st - Thomas Valenzuela

2nd-3rd - Pete B, Ken T

4th - 5th - Paul M, Jeff S

6th - 8th - Desmond W, Lucas G, Mike N

9th - 11th - Aaron W, Charlie S and Vince V

Thank you to all who participated and congratulations again to Tom V!

Now a little story and a little background before the story. As a young-middle aged married man just really starting his work career in earnest, three things pushed chess more into the background. Kids, a second job, and a new, and more profitable hobby of playing poker took most of the old chess time. Now for the story.

While on a flight to London on one of my first foreign business trips 3 and a half decades ago, I happen to sit next to a Canadian also heading to the same January business/sales conference I was. Found this out as I made small talk with the man, I was going to have to crawl past to go to the bathroom from the window seat. If you are going to have to make a guy stand up a few times to get out of your way, you might as well say hello. As it turned out we were also staying at the same hotel the conference was in.

As I settled in for the 8-hour flight, I pulled out my Chess Life magazine to read and possibly try to solve some puzzles to pass the time. Might as well use this time for chess time since my other time spenders were not available.

The Canadian guy, about my age, looked over and said, “Wish I had brought my little travel set on board. I would challenge you to a game. It’s hard to find new opponents where I come from.”

The man was from the small town of Smokey Lake, Alberta and his company used the equipment this conference was promoting.

I reached into my brief case and retrieved my travel set, and his face lit up like a Christmas tree! As we set up the pieces he said, “You can have White the first game.” First hint that this man was a real chess player, and he planned on playing more than one game against me win or lose. And he knows White has a small advantage with the first move.

I opened with 1. d4  d5 2. c4 and he immediately said, “Queen’s Gambit, eh?” Another hint that he was a serious student of the game. Our first game went over an hour, with me taking most of the time before I finally had to resign.

We set up again and he played 1. e4 and a fine Ruy Lopez variation. I played a sloppy version of the Berlin Defense and soon was losing badly. Now I had the dread that I was going to get trounced all the way to London. So I started moving slower and slower, trying to find counter attacks, and also decrease the number of losses I would suffer on this flight.

I thought I should acknowledge the fact that I was taking much more time moving and said, “Wish I had my chess clock with me but it is in my suitcase with my tournament set.” I didn’t think it was possible, but his face lit up even brighter than the first time and asked if we could play some “real chess” after dinner at the hotel in the evening?

Well, I brought my sets to catch up on my chess reading and go over Grandmaster games to pass the time. I like peeking at who won the game, cover up the last 6 or so moves, whatever is convenient to hide, and try to guess the moves the GM made to win. I figured to go over a couple games a night until I was ready for sleep.

But it was also my first time in London, and I did want to go out and hit a real London pub or two, see some sites even though it would be cold and dark most of the time.

I said, “Of course,” not mentioning my plans to site see a little also.

Well, he bested me as I lost 8 games, won 2 and drew 2. He was a much better player than me, at sitting uncomfortably sideways, looking at a miniature board at a 60 degree angle, with the set half on both trey tables, under two in-flight magazines to fill in the space.

I was an even 2-2-2 for the last six games of our in-flight match. So I was curious to see if sitting across from him, using a standard tournament set with a chess clock would make any difference in the results. I wondered internally if he was setting me up with those last 6 games, so I would not quit playing him. I did not think so, but it did enter my mind. Either way, I wanted to site see some sites in London, and not just play chess every evening with this fine Canadian chess friend I had found. But I also wanted to see if a regular chess board and setting would help me at all against him.

This was also my first time (and as it turned out only time) in London, and I was going to see as much of it as I could, time allowed. Yes, that is the plan. Visit a real pub and have authentic fish and chips. Maybe visit a castle with night tours. Go to a London discotheque as that was the rage at the time. Get my picture taken in front of Big Ben. Looking forward to it! Maybe one evening near the end of the week, my new Canadian chess foe and I can play again. Yes, that is the plan!

Five evenings later I am in the airport gift shop frantically looking for a London souvenir to take home for my lovely bride.

Our final score was 46 wins for him, 42 wins for me and countless draws. We played all four nights in the hotel bar stopping only when our dinners arrived. London, I saw none of. We would play a few games with an hour time control limit for both of us. Then speed chess until the bar closed.

Alas, we had different flights and times going home. I had his address and he had mine for postal chess, which neither of us ever sent a first move.

In conversation over the chess board, I learned he was also married, was his high school chess champion, played mostly by mail and would drive to Calgary for tournaments every so often. He liked to play double fianchetto openings in speed chess. He knew the White side of the Ruy Lopez much better than I knew the Black side. He loved to play the Sicilian against e4, but only two variations and nothing past the first 4 moves of either from what I could tell. He was a chess guy whose enthusiasm for the game equaled my own, as did our talent for the game.

In London for 5 days and nights and I never left the hotel. Some would call that……………(fill in the blank).

LCCC Speed Tournament Tonight - And Chess Clock Review

The Livingston County Chess Club meets every Monday night between 4pm and 10pm at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop on by 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!

We will hold the LCCC 2023 Speed Chess Championship tonight at 6pm. 

No entry fee! 

The games will be 5 minutes long!    NO DELAY!    

The 5 second delay as previously posted, was in error.

It will probably be a 4-round tournament, but it could be longer or shorter depending on the number of attendees. Each round will be a 2-game match with your opponent, alternating colors for the games. Two wins or a win and a draw gets you a “win” and one point in the round. A win and loss gets you a “draw” in the round.

It is always a fun time and the tournament starts AND is over in time for more chess either before or after the tournament. So be sure to attend tonight.

Sorry for the late post. Snow storm, power outage, wood splitting for heat, and no internet!

Now to continue the review of chess equipment. Chess Clocks.

First of all, the analog battery or wind-up chess clock is OUT! I recommend never to buy one from now on. I still own a couple, but never use them. One is a classic Jerger wind up clock that I used in my first few tournaments. This clock is 50 years old and is still accurate to seconds per hour. It's an antique that will not be used again by me. I still run it once in a while to make sure it still works. I bought it for $60 when it was the top of the line and was offered $400 for it - ten years ago!

My #1 pick for best value chess clock is:

I have no idea who makes it. But it is a generic chess clock that you can get almost anywhere on line. It runs between $20 to $30 depending on your color preference (many to choose) and button side color preference. No color or some have RED (shown) or bright WHITE highlights at the bottom of the move switch that you can see from a distance. The model shown is a Wood Grain color but the clocks are all plastic. This clock is easy to set and handles delay and increment time options. You can vary the time on each clock for a time handicap, like the more expensive models shown below.

What is does not do is secondary time controls - like some big tournaments have. Such as 40 moves in 120 minutes, then 30 moves in an hour and then 30 minutes sudden death. But for those tournaments, you can set your clock for 3 hours and 30 minutes and use the scoresheet to count the moves and declare a forfeit if it happens. Not a big deal. What I am saying is this chess clock is still fine for almost any tournament condition. And if it isn't, you can get close to it - or use your opponent's fancier clock. This clock is all you really need.

But, if you want to upgrade, you might as well go what I consider the next best value chess clock. The Tap-n-Set model. $50 - $60.This clock uses an app you put on your phone and you can set any time limit some slappy tournament director dreams up. Very easy to use. I am not a fan of the face of the clock, (I think the $20 clock above has the easier to read face), but it is fine of course for tournament usage. It also comes with the option of buttons (shown) or the sensor to change clock sides.

And finally, if you like a slightly bigger clock than #1, with more styles and colors available than #1, then you can go with #3 - the Zmart Chess Clock ($40 - $50). It also has the button options like #2. It is shown with the sensor option. I was under the impression that this clock was hard to set (like a Chronos clock - don't ask about them, and don't buy them! - HARD to set), but I was educated just last week. This clock is easy to set, but not quite as easy as #1. But it does allow secondary time controls if you desire them. And I think has the best clock reading face of the three.

Confession time: I use #1 for all my chess classes and students. I use #2 for tournaments now, just because I thought I would be current with the latest technology (and being a bit of a hypocrite. Didn't need it, as I wrote above. Just thought I would get it anyway). And for club play I don't use any of them! I have a few other models of digital chess clocks that have worked for years (including my old tournament clock) and I use those at the club and for other casual games. 

But because of these clock experiences, I am more than qualified to give you this advice on chess clocks. 

LCCC Mondays! Speed Tournament Set for March 6! - And What About Chessboards?

The Livingston County Chess Club meets every Monday night between 4pm and 10pm at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop on by 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!

We will hold the LCCC 2023 Speed Chess Championship at 6pm on March 6. No entry fee! The games will be 5 minutes long, with a 5 second delay! It will probably be a 4-round tournament, but it could be longer or shorter depending on the number of attendees. Each round will be a 2 game match with your opponent, alternating colors for the games. Two wins or a win and a draw gets you a “win” and one point in the round. A win and loss gets you a “draw” in the round.

It is always a fun time and the tournament starts AND is over in time for more chess either before or after the tournament. So be sure to attend on March 6^th!

The last article focused on how many tournament style chess sets should the sane chess enthusiast own. That debate will last as long as the game itself.

Your humble scribe was asked to do a similar review of the same question, but this time about the chessboards themselves. How many tournament size chessboards should the chess enthusiast own?

For that answer, read the previous article and replace the word “sets” with “boards” and you have your answer. But I can give you a review of the types of chessboards available, and some that are not anymore for some reason that defies logic.

Let’s start at the low end of price and work our way up to the insane. Again, we will stick to the standard tournament size board, which has squares of 2 to 2.25 inches (50 - 57 millimeters) and borders around the board can vary from 0 to 2 feet (600 millimeters) in length, although generally the border is around 1 inch (25 millimeters).

1.   1. Paper - Around $2 or less depending on the volume you buy at a time.

Plus side: lightweight, cheap, environmentally friendly, disposable.

Down side: gets dirty easily, wears out quickly, tends to wear out or break down on the edges, and won’t always lay flat as it tends to curl or crease over time.

2.  

2. Vinyl - $7 to $15 depending on the quality, quantity, or special colors or printing you want on your board. This is by far the most popular (and best for the minimalist) option.

Plus side: inexpensive, durable, easily cleaned, will lay flat with proper care and surface, light weight, and close to an unlimited range of colors and designs. Although the standard green and white squares (in varying shades of those two colors also available) is the GOLD standard for these boards.

Down Side: Should always be rolled up board side out so it will lay flat in use. Otherwise, the corners will curl. May look tacky if a nice chess set is used on it.

3.   

3. Mouse Pad - $10 to $20 and comes in almost as many colors and styles as it’s vinyl brother. It was brought on as an improvement over the vinyl board.

Plus side: inexpensive, durable, lays flat, light weight, always lays flat no matter how you roll it up so board in roll up keeps it cleaner longer.

Down Side: Not easily cleaned, and the chess pieces DO NOT SLIDE on this board! You must pick up the chess piece completely to move it. Now to the novice, this appears to be a non-issue. But to the chess enthusiast, the ability to just calmly slide your pawn forward and into the heart of your opponent is one of the reasons why we play chess! Just sayin. They have made improvements on this board to make it more slide friendly, but it is not there yet if you have nice felt on your chess set. And it is still is not easy to clean.

4. 

 4. PVC - $13 - $20 and comes in the square colors of green, blue, red, black, brown, or burgundy. Folds in half for easy storage and carry. It was to be the improvement over #2 and #3 above and #5 below. It fails to do that, but it does the job.

Plus side: inexpensive, sort of durable, easily cleaned, easily stored, lays flat, lightweight. But the pieces SLIDE!

Down side: Tends to crack on the edges and will usually develop a crease with high edges in the center of board over time. It folds in half for easy carry or storage but takes up more room than the roll up board.

5.   5. Linen - $ ???? – folds in half and comes in 0 colors now. Why they stopped making this board is a chess mystery. Anyone who is old enough to remember this style of chessboard would literally kill to have a few of them. They could be used with the cheapest to the most expensive chess sets on the market and look good doing it.

Plus side: all the advantages of the PVC board with NONE of the cracking issues. I still have ONE, it is 40 years old and still looks great! Caveat: doesn’t get much use because IT”S THE LAST ONE I know of in existence!

Down side: Only one color – dark green and beige (perfect! – IM never humble O), but susceptible to damage from dirt and spills, and not easy to clean. Hence, my lack of use with it.

6.   

6. Silicone - $15 - $20 – The “NEW KID on the block and comes in about 10 colors for the dark squares. They are even making these boards with one color square on one side and a different color square on the other. Literally two boards for the price of one if you like changing square colors. This board may someday replace the vinyl board as the most popular. Kids like them, old timers do not - as a rule.

Plus side: You can literally fold or squish this board into your pocket or purse, take it out months later and it will lay flat, lightweight, so the most portable chess board on the planet, inexpensive, durable.

Down side: Hard to clean and the pieces CANNOT SLIDE at all! They are almost stuck on the squares - worse than the mouse pad board. You must LIFT the chess piece and set it on it’s next square. This takes a little getting used to.

7.   

7. Wood - $75 to $6000 – Almost at the pinnacle of chess nirvana! Spend what you can afford to with glee or to your retch level, or to your spouse’s tolerance! To own a wood board is to have arrived as a chess player. Your humble scribe has owned as many as 5 wood chess boards. I am down to 3 – a folding wood board purchased at the 2013 US Open that I played in. I use it at the club occasionally. I have a solid wood one in my chess office, used for chess study only. My third is a plain square piece of plywood board I cut, and glued a brown and white vinyl board to the top of it. This is used outside on the deck, lawn or beach and could even be left outside (I didn’t, but I could have). This board is actually perfect for outside play as the ¾” plywood is sturdy enough to stay relatively level in almost any surface.

Plus side: Will last several life times, and the timeless beauty of wood needs no discussion.

Down side. Not easily carried, and dents and dings are inevitable. I literally had my brand new wood board in my office for only a few days when I knocked a small plastic travel alarm clock off of a bookshelf and onto my board. This put a small ding in the right-hand corner square. That was over 20 years ago and I think I stopped crying over it only last week. Several other dings have happed since then as I have dropped heavy chess pieces onto it in use. You can cry about it or tell yourself it adds character to your chess battlefield. I do both.

8. 

 8. Table - $700 - $8000 – The top of the world! Never owned one and IMNHO I don’t think they are practical. Like a Rolls Royce or Maserati. Great, beautiful, but just not practical. 

Plus side: Absolutely beautiful, especially with a high-quality wood set on top of it, and you know where you are playing and studying.

Down side: Not easily moved or adjustable. By adjustable, I mean being able to move the board closer to you or slightly farther away for study purposes if using the set by yourself. And the same dings are inevitable over time!

In conclusion, I own multiples of #2 thru #7, and they all give me great joy!

How Many Chess Sets are Enough? LCCC Monday Night - Come Join Us!

Chess Monday nights between 4pm and 10pm at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop on by for some friendly chess, good food and 'refreshment'. Everyone is welcome!

The Eternal Queston!

How many chess set are enough for a chess enthusiast to own?

The definition of “chess set” here is:

 A full set of 32 or 34 (2 extra queens sometimes) pieces. The King must be a minimum of 3 inches high and no bigger than 4 inches. We are talking “tournament” size chess sets here.

We will not include chess boards at this time. That is another chess obsession for another day..... like chess books. 

Also not included in this discussion are travel or pocket sets. I have 4 of those but I never purchased them. They have all been thoughtful gifts, but sadly rarely used.

The correct answer for how many tournament size chess sets are enough, as usual is………….”It depends.”

It depends on whether you are you a minimalist (answer is 1) or a collector? Or a hoarder?

Or sane?

For the collector the answer is easy. It is n + 1, where n is equal to the number of sets you currently have. Simple.

For the hoarder it is n + infinity.

For the few that are sane, it may be impossible to answer.

I have been a “collector” of chess sets at times in my life. Confession time – I did hit a peak of 27 sets. To be sure, a huge amount to some, and a mere ‘few’ to others.

When I retired, I was able to spend a lot more time in my little chess room. So naturally, my lovely bride would now wander in there on occasion.

She would come to just "visit", or bring me lunch, or ask me if I wanted something to drink or ask lovingly why I am wasting my time in here? Then after a few more visits, she invariably asked, “What are all these containers, with all these chess pieces in them, doing just sitting around collecting dust? And how much did all this cost?”

When I mentioned the "deals" and "steals" I got on them, and my “perfect rotation schedule of set usage,” she was less than impressed or happy. 

In addition, she began to take a keen interest into the number of chess boards, books and clocks also in my chess room. But as I said earlier – another day for that discussion! 

Hence, with the “incentive” initiated from my better half, the downsizing of my chess set empire commenced.

I tried a counter offensive by mentioning the number of shoes, make up types, hair product types, dresses and knick-knacks around the house, that are in my wife’s collections. But that proved to be an utter disaster.....for me. 

How I lost that battle with so much more firepower I will never know. Maybe others could shed some light on that for me. Or.... maybe not.

I am proud to say (and unhappy to say) that my chess set number is down to EIGHT. Five sets rotate in use at the chess club. Two rotate in my office as study/tournament sets and one is designated for backyard/deck or travel out of town use. 

If anyone takes an interest in any set being used at the club and wants to buy it, I always give a great deal and shrink my inventory further.

I have successfully “removed” 19 sets of my collection by selling on Ebay, selling at the Club, selling to friends, or have given a few to nephews and nieces as gifts. As my grandchildren get older, more sets will be moved to them in the future.

So with my “confession” out of the way, I would like to ask the Peanut Gallery of readers, what is your “correct” number of tournament size chess sets to own? Please comment on the blog!

Here are some answers I have heard over the years in no particular order:

·  > Three. 1 – plastic for travel, 1 – upper scale wood for home study, and 1 – wood for tournaments. And I would add one folding travel set also.

·  > Four wood sets and 3 plastic sets. Seven is a lucky number!

·  > Three. 1 Wood, 1 plastic and 1 analysis.

·  > Forty-five. Any other number is just crazy.

·  > One more. Please, just one more!

·  > Seven. One small magnetic travel set, one pocket set, one tournament plastic, one wooden set for home analysis, one decorative wood set for the living room, one demonstration board set, and one set that costs over $1000 that you keep in a collector’s box and only show it off to guests.

·  > Thirty. All plastic, all different style and/or colors.

·  > Sixteen. Twelve wood and four plastic.

·  > Fifty-four. One for every week in the year and two spares of course. (I can see that logic!)

·  > One cheap plastic set (my wife’s answer).

LCCC Still the Place to Be on Monday Night - Big Tourney on Jan 21-22 - and an Epilogue

The club is going strong on Monday nights between 4pm and 10pm at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. Stop on by for some friendly chess and good food and 'refreshment'. Everyone is welcome!

This coming weekend the 2023 Michigan Class Championship will be held!

SITE
Causeway Bay Lansing Hotel & Conference Center
6820 S Cedar St, Lansing, MI 48911

ROOM RATE       $109.50 + tax
Call 517-694-8123 for hotel room reservations - Indicate you are with the Chess Tournament

7 SECTIONS:
Master/Expert (FIDE Rated), A, B, C, D, E (U1200)   &        Novice (Sat only) U1000/Unrated

MEMBERSHIPS
Must be a member of the US Chess Federation & Michigan Chess Association. (Members of other state associations OK) You can join both when on-line registering or at the site when registering.

Game Time Control:    M/X, Class Sections: G/90+30 seconds added every move (scorekeeping required for entire game)

Novice Section: G/30; 5 second delay

Rounds: Class Sections: Sat 10am, 2:30pm, 7 pm;        Sun 10am, 2:30pm

Novice: 10am, 11:30am, 1:30pm, 3pm, 4:30pm  (Saturday Only)

Entry Fee:

M/X: $60 (U18 $5 off), Free entry to 2200+, adv entry fee deducted from prize.
A, B, C, D, E: $50 (U18 $5 off)
Novice: $28
Advance entries must be paid by January 19. For entry fees paid after January 19, add $10 more.

Registration:

ADVANCE REGISTRATION
Online: https://onlineregistration.cc/
Note: Novice is listed separately on the online registration website.
Make Checks Payable to MCA.

ON-SITE REGISTRATION
Saturday (1/21): 8:00-9:00am

Prizes:

$4200 GUARANTEED PRIZE FUND
Master/Expert (GPP 20): 1st $750, 2nd $350; Expert: $350 U2100: $200
Class A, B, C, D, E: 1st $230, 2nd $155; U1900/U1700/U1500/U1300/U1100: $125
Novice: Trophies to all with 4 points or more as Top Overall (min 5), Top U900, Top U800, Top U700, Top U600, Top U500, Top U4000, Top U300 ,Top Unrated.
State Champions (Top Michigan Resident): Master/Expert, Expert, and Each Class plus Novice.

Trophies for all place-winners listed above.

Contact:

Jeff Aldrich, P.O. Box 40, Flint MI 48501
(810) 955-7271
jeffchess64@gmail.com
https://www.michess.org/

Hope to see many LCCC players there and even some readers as spectators to check it out!

Now the Epilogue of your humble scribe's dream and musings on how to build a permanent location spot for LCCC.

Reality Check: Not feasible. (Well, it is not feasible for me, now that I said that. Your mind takes whatever picture you place in it and goes to work to complete it. So, there it is. I SHUT MY DOOR on this idea.)

Is it doable? Absolutely! The motivational speakers speak of accomplishing a goal - any goal - by persistence, perseverance, dedication, and effort. Lots and lots of effort. They are correct! I have done it myself on several things I wanted to do.

At this point in my life, I don't have the motivation to pursue this dream of mine. If I had started earlier, it might be a reality now. But then again, how many of my other goals that I did accomplish, would I have not been able to give the proper time and effort?

Capitalism is a real force. You can deny it, hate it, try and destroy it - and even make it a crime. But it still wins in the end.

Chess Clubs as a business do not exist because not enough people want them at the price it would cost them to be a member (customer-consumer). Pure and simple. Private golf clubs survive only by a bar-restaurant-banquet income, and some "public golf outing" events. Even then, cost of membership at a private golf club is not an inexpensive undertaking for a person to pay.

Chess Clubs would not have the huge location maintenance expense, but the building, staff, taxes, utilities, insurance and some location maintenance would still be a large bill. 

Your scribe - in the interest of full disclosure - is a member of both the golf and chess communities. And as a rule, golf seems to attract a wealthier, and more importantly, more of a spendthrift crowd. Chess - I'll just say........not so much. 

For golf, it is a fact that you have to spend money to play. For chess, you usually don't. That is the "problem" with the Chess Club model.

Meeting Mondays over the Holidays 2022-23. Year Review and Funding of a Chess Club, Part 3

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to all!

LCCC will continue to meet on Mondays - 4pm to 10 pm - at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, Michigan in the Green Oak Shopping Center thru the holidays.

And bring any spare $3 million or more dollars you have lying around doing nothing. LCCC needs a place to live.

This year was actually a great year for LCCC. Membership (attendance really, since we have no dues required) has been on the increase. Our (let's face it) "squatter" location at BWW has worked out well. Actually, too well in your humble scribe's opinion, but more on that later.

Numbers: The rolling average of attendance at our old location prior to the pandemic scare was 12 players a meeting. That blows away most chess clubs except when they run events. LCCC attendance strangely decreases when we hold our in-house events. We must be a casual-coffee house chess sort of club. And that is fine.

Our average for 2022 was 16 players per meeting! Impressive by any measure. We keep a 2-month rolling attendance sheet. Miss 9 consecutive meetings and you are 'dropped' from the rolls. We keep your name and contact info, but you will not be on the current attendance sheet. Immediately re-instated when you do re-appear.

Your scribe did an analysis of the attendee type at the old location (a Senior Center - no food/drink) and our current location (BWW). Here is the breakdown:

Regulars (at least half of the meetings) -   8 at SC, 10 at BWW

Semi-regular (at least once a month) - 3 at SC, 5 at BWW 

New members (first time visit) - 1 at both places.

Even though my smiling face would love to take credit for the increase in regular and semi-regular attendance, I think the food and drink might be more of the attraction. Not to mention the social aspect of other people just being around. Sort of like a restaurant with a line out the door gets more new people in their line than the equally good semi-empty restaurant across street gets in the door. More on that phenomenon later.

As to why we literally have 50 new people a year visit and we seem to only keep 1 or 2 for any length of time is not really a mystery. To paraphrase the late great Hall of Fame baseball manager Sparky Anderson, "If they don't want to visit, no one is going to stop them."

Chess can be scary. Some show up wanting to learn and decide chess is not for them. Some show up thinking they are good and find out they are not that good, and their egos are bruised. Some are too good for everyone at the club, so it is a waste of their chess time to play the average player. But most of the adult players are just that - adults - and life gets in the way of hobbies.

Most new attendees are kids, whose desires to play at the club change for many, many reasons. Sometimes the parents don't like the location or cannot make our Monday night meeting. 

Anyway, the Club is doing well and that is a good thing. If you want to play some over the board chess, Monday night at BWW you will be able to find one. 

But what about the other nights of the week? There are other clubs of course. You may have to travel some. You can find most all the clubs in Michigan on the Michigan Chess Association web site and magazine. Most clubs are hit and miss as far as attendance for the most part. LCCC has more attendance than most, and we still have our off nights.

An established chess club, open most days and evenings would be ideal. Everyone in the surrounding area would know where to go to find a chess game! Sounds like CHESS HEAVEN!

Not so fast! There is the matter of the $3 million (estimate) to buy/build a building, furnish it and maintain it. Then there is the matter of staffing it 7 days a week and probably 360 days a year. Your scribe is a pretty rabid chess fan but showing up at the "Club" 360 days a year is not only not feasible, but it does not even sound like fun. It now has a job/responsibility feel to it.

LCCC actually lived thru this "too much chess" phenomenon already. About 5 years ago some players found a coffee shop that would let us play chess there on the promise we would give them some business as we played. Now LCCC had Monday chess at the Senior Center and Thursday chess at the coffee shop! Chess heaven? Actually, chess burn out. More is sometimes less.

Our average attendance on Monday dropped from 12 to 7 players and Thursdays averaged 4 players. Adding insult to injury, the 4-player on average on Thursday were the same players still regular on Monday, as one of the Thursday person advocates started missing both nights (again, life gets in the way). And not too many people, no matter how loyal, can commit to two nights a week of chess EVERY WEEK.

The fan giant, the NFL, has seen the same thing happen to their Monday Night Football game (thank God as far as LCCC is concerned! Sorry BWW.). It used to be the "show" to watch on Mondays. It was another "party night" for millions of people. It was a ratings (attendance) monster! Bars were packed on Mondays, which before, Mondays were very slow nights for bars. 

But now with Thursday and Sunday night football added by the NFL, not to mention college football adding Tuesday and Wednesday night football, people don't need to 'make plans'. They can see prime time football almost any night of the week in the fall. The Monday night ratings have tanked.

As far as the LCCC oversaturation, the coffee shoppe eventually closed and LCCC returned to just our regular Monday's and our average attendance returned to 12. People can schedule a "special" night for an activity, but if it is available too many nights, people tend to put it off or not treat is as not so 'special'. 

Here's a number that will surprise most readers. LCCC has a "membership" of well over 100 players! This would include all players that show up on "occasion", like once or twice a year or maybe a little more. They love attending the Club, but life, travel, job, living distance, the "wrong" night for them, etc., all stop them from being a regular. 

So to extrapolate all this 'knowledge' and to speculate, LCCC would probably need 2000 members to be able to get an average nightly attendance of 10 to 15 players every night of the week in a permanently established building. Is this even possible in Livingston County? 

Part 4: Next Time as your scribe continues to think out loud about his dream of a permanent home for LCCC.

LCCC Had 20 Players Last Monday! - Will Meet Every Monday over 2022 Xmas! - and Why the Manhattan Chess Club Review?

LCCC will continue to meet on Mondays - 4pm to 10 pm - at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, Michigan in the Green Oak Shopping Center thru the holidays. Feel free to stop by and bring the new chess set you got as a gift.

So why did your humble scribe decide to post the history of the Manhattan Chess Club? Because LCCC could suffer a similar fate, that's why. LCCC did suspend meetings a few times in our history. The last time was basically for all of 2020 for the COVID panic.

Well, what destroyed the Manhattan Chess Club? Answer? The same three reasons restaurants, bars, and other businesses normally fail - which are: location, location and location!

In 125 years, MCC changed locations 15 times. Not bad really. That is only once every 8 years as an average. But that is the average. There were some short-term locations and that is never good for anyone trying to keep steady members/clientele. Changing locations still has drawbacks even when moving to a better location, let alone a less desirable one. Some people just will not follow you.

We had to leave the Hartland Senior Center because of COVID. We have not been invited back and don't know if the Club would return if it was offered. Nice place, great parking and lighting, and right in the center of Livingston County. But why return to a place that dumped you once when it could happen again? We instinctive learn this in our dating lives, right? 

By the way I never did get my class ring or 8 track collection back! And another thing.......oh sorry - I got sidetracked there.

The solution: A self-sustaining building in a good location with easy access and plenty of free well-lit parking. That is what I want! 

How to accomplish this: I have no idea. 

Well, I do know one way, as any union or government from a town, township, city, county, state or country can show you. Take money from everyone you control. Even from the people that don't want what you want. Then use that money to get what you want or as you want.

There are thousands of historic buildings, radio and television stations, parks, museums, or orchestra, or ballet companies that are not self-sufficient. They rely on government subsidies to exist.  People claim they want them and may even vote to fund them, but they never attend them. But they feel good voting for it. Culture and class by vote I'm assuming.

Chess has no such 'social necessity' or 'artistic' designation. But then again, the public has not been swamped with feel good news stories and advertisements for decades about the 'benefits' of chess, like they have for the other pursuits that receive government funding.

Much like colleges who do to fund their other sports team that don't generate enough cash to exist. Colleges may wish to provide these sport options to the students and some are required by law now. No one seems to care that money is being spent on something the general public really doesn't care about or want to watch. And as is the case with most colleges, it is the public's money being wasted. But no one cares.

There are even 'professional' sports leagues that exist that are not self-sufficient. They are propped up by the sports leagues that are profitable, and by their media corporation partners who wish to waste investor's money on these unwatched sports. Why do they do this? Not going there, thank you very much.

Now don't get me wrong. This is not a rant about life being unfair to chess or chess players, or even about some sports or pursuits getting preferential treatment over chess. Your humble scribe is just setting down the situation as it currently exists.

Actually, I do have one idea. In order to "Build a Chess Building and They Will Come" scenario, you need a benevolent millionaire or group of 'comfortable' benevolent benefactors. 

Chess is not a past time for the masses that participants, let alone non-participants will spend a lot of money to do. The low cost and lack of barrier to entry into chess is one of the game's greatest assets. And the public, although many millions play chess, just don't care enough to ever fund it somewhere. 

Chess needs someone willing to 'seed' the growth of a chess club building. Now, once the building is built and the Club is up and running, ways to generate SOME revenue may come to pass over time (i.e., dues, food, drink, merchandise, tournaments, meeting room rental, teaching classes).  However, there is no working model chess club - that I am aware of - where the money generated for a yearly budget earns enough profit to pay for the operation completely and add to the till. 

There are chess clubs that are running all over the world, with their own buildings, but they were all 'seeded' as I mentioned. Remember costs go up every year, so a profit is required, either by the club or by the investments of the trust fund, or preferably both, every year! It is the duty of the club board to see this happens.

Hence, the benefactor(s) need to put up enough money to build a building (leasing is not an option as landlords come and go) and maintain this building into the future. All while having the Club Trust grow AFTER paying the annual expenses of the Club.

No small favor to ask of a benefactor to be sure. But then, it would be done for the love of the game of chess, and the love of the area/location the club is placed.

Next Article: Brainstorming ideas anyone?