Okie Chess Festival...The Results!!

The 3rd annual Okie Chess Festival was held over the Memorial Day weekend. The 2007 OCFest featured three 8-player round robins and a 48-player Open Swiss. Players from 13 states participated. The Open was directed by Frank K. Berry. Steve Wharry directed the round robins. The cross tables are below. Movsisyan and Chua (score 5.5/8) came away with top places in the 2007 Master Invitational. Smith (score 6.5/8) and Gossell (score 5/8) occupied first and second in the 2007 Challengers "A". Finally, Bob Holliman, a.k.a. Chessmaster Bob (score 6/8) secured the number one in the 2007 Challengers "B". Each of the above won qualification spots in next year’s round robins. The Open was won by IM Ron Burnett, who stayed after participating in the U.S. Championship. The Club Club was represented by NM Ronald Luther in the Master's section. Ken Fee (score 4/7) held his own in the Open: "losing to a 2420 IM is nothing to hang your head about, Kenneth!" I am told the other club members did well and will edit this post when that information is made available.

Memorial Day Weekend Chess

Good luck to all the going to Tulsa, Oklahoma, this weekend. Please drive safely!

End Game Play

White to move. How can White win? Can Black save this position? How would you proceed? No computers please.

The Chess Club Championship

Time is getting short. The area's high school finals are underway and soon the summer recess will be in full swing. The same goes for colleges and universities. Everyone will have at least some free time this summer. Why not come to the Chess Club before boredom overtakes your life? I find a good game of chess will get the creative juices flowing and the hours will just fly by! You say: "I'm not a member". No problem! You can play for $5 a visit in off hand games or an extra charge of $5 for tournaments. It's that easy...so no need to delay! Why not begin with the 2007 Chess Club Championship? It starts June 16, 2007. We thoughtfully placed it on a Saturday for your convenience. Registration starts at 9 a.m. and will close at 10 a.m. Cost will be $35 dollars on site, but if you pre-register by June 12th there is a $10 savings. The championship will consist of 4 rounds at G60 sudden death. The round times are 10/12/2:30/4:30. Here at the Chess Club we have a 30 move draw rule. You ask: "What does that mean?". It means that each player has to play 30 legal moves before a draw offer can be made and accepted. Of course you can always try to draw by force on any move, but I would be sure it is really there before embarking on such adventures! The tournament will be played in two sections: Open and U1600. There will be a ca$h prize for the top finisher (Champion) in the Open and U1600. Plaques will be given to the top finisher (Champion) in the Open, U1900, U1600, and U1300. Those are very nice and on display at the club. Byes are available for any round, but you must ask and declare which round upon registration. A valid USCF membership is required for all players. Missouri residence will need a Missouri Chess Association membership. Both of these can be purchased at the club.

So dust off those old chess books and fire up that new chess program. Prepare now! I know I will be!! See you at the club.

Chess Club for Kids...Coming June 2nd!

Starting on June 2, 2007, The Chess Club will be kicking off The Chess Club for Kids. Only KIDS, Parents, and Coaches may attend! This will be every Saturday 1PM -5PM (Except second Saturday of Month). The fun activities include: Group Chess Lessons from 1-2PM by Ken Fee, One USCF Rated Chess Game G30 each week, Bughouse, Blitz tournaments, and Simultaneous Exhibitions!! Medals and Chess Book Prizes!!!!

Cost: $7 ($3 Club Members) Scholastic Membership is $60 a year!

Location: The Chess Club 2314 NW Vivion Rd. (North Kansas City) Riverside,MO 64150.

Lesson Topics: Openings, Tactics, Strategy, Endgame, Chess Psychology, and Tournament Preparation.

About the Instructor: Ken Fee teaches high school English at Oak Park High School in North Kansas City, and is the president of the Kansas City Scholastic ChessAssociation (www.kcchess.org) . He started playing chess when he was five and played scholastic chess for both his Junior High and High School in Birch Run, Michigan. Ken teaches chess and has worked with school teams since 1997. He is the coach of the Oak Park High School Chess Team which won the 2001Missouri Team State Championship. Among his coaching chess accomplishments are ten individual state champions and one individual National Champion, Caleb Brown. Ken is married to Yvonne Fee and has two young daughters, Mallory (3) and Kendra (1). For Information about individual lessons e-mail Ken Fee at: http://chessclub@powerpawn.net or call The Chess Club: (816)-587-1912 or call Ken at: (816)-835-7529.

Hello...how may I be of service?

Hi, my name is Todd. Some of you will undoubtedly recognize me from seeing me at the club. Maybe we have played a game or two together? Today I became the Chess Club Blog Administrator. Yeah, a fancy title for thinking up chess related stuff to write about and typing into the blog editor. A little about me. I am a 45 year old military retiree with over 26 years in the U.S. Navy. I learned to play chess when I became a member of my high school chess club. My favorite chess players are Mikhail Tal and Judit Polgar. I currently I live in Leavenworth, KS. To learn even more about me visit: The Retired Pawn

2007 Kansas City Masters Report

Loal Davis Wins

The 2007 Kansas City Masters

From left to right: Ron Luther; Thomas Gossell; Loal Davis; Tim Steiner; Ken Jones; Bill Orton.

Games Online

The 2007 Kansas City Masters was held on the cold and icy weekend of January 12^th-14^th

in Kansas City. On Friday night, the first round was held at 7PM. The icy roads were very dangerous, and players were concerned about traveling. As a consequence, Daniel Goffstein withdrew. Loal Davis, who was traveling from St. Louis, called me a few hours before the tournament and mentioned that he was an hour away from KC, and that numerous cars and trucks were in the ditch as he traveled thirty miles an hour on I-70.

Luckily, the chess gods must have been watching over the Kansas City Masters. Loal arrived safely and Master William Orton from Arkansas drove on slippery roads looking to play some chess. Bill replaced Daniel and the 2007 event began.

The 2007 KC Masters was FIDE rated and players were required to play thirty moves before offering a draw. The following games are lightly annotated for publication, and I welcome full annotations from the participants.

Round One on Friday Night – All three games were decisive battles.

Loal Davis

Round Two - Saturday Morning - More blood was spilt as Black won all three games!

Round Three - Saturday Night - Three hard fought draws.

Round Four -Sunday Morning - Three More Wins!

Round Five - Loal wins the KC Masters!

The 2007 version of the KC Masters was a success with eleven wins and only four draws!

I would like to thank TD Wayne Bartlett for helping me direct and the players for braving their way through the harsh driving conditions. See you next year!

Loal receiving the First Place Plaque and $300.00 from TD Ken Fee

The Final Standings

2007 KC Masters - FIDE Rated!

	NAME	Rating	FIDE	State	1	2	3	4	5	6	Score
1	Kenneth Jones	2304	2232	MO	X	0	½	0	1	0	1.5
2	Ron Luther	2243	2173	MO	1	X	0	0	1	½	2.5
3	Loal Davis	2200	2190	MO	½	1	X	1	1	½	4.0
4	Thomas Gossell	2190	2246	MO	1	1	0	X	½	1	3.5
5	William Orton	2201	2158	AR	0	0	0	½	X	1	1.5
6	Tim Steiner	2006	2188	KS	1	½	½	0	0	X	2.0

The Travels of Conrado

Conrado at the Mechanics Instiute Chess Club in San Francisco August 2006

Conrado Salazar has been a Chess Club member for the last five years.

Once a year, he travels to Mexico City, Mexico for five or six months. Conrado also went to California for his daughter's wedding and drove to the San Francisco's Mechanics Institute Chess Club. While traveling, Conrado visits chess clubs and sends pictures to me.

Front Entrance

Inside the club

Inside the club

Outside the club Visit the club website at www.chessclub.org

Here are some pictures from the Mexico City Chess Club.

Rafael Baltazar, IM, México - Rafael on the ICC - We play him on Friday night at the club between rounds on the Internet.

Tournament in Mexico City

I would like to thank Conrado for the pictures!

Ken Fee

New MCA President

I was voted in as the new Missouri Chess Association President on Sunday in Columbia at the MCA Board of Directors meeting.

General News:

1. Charlie Ward has resigned from Region Two.
2. The Missouri Chess Bulletin is online and free for everyone.
3. I may be running the Missouri Class in Columbia in June.
4. The MCA website is going to be updated soon with the help of Tony Rich and the MCA website committee.

Ken F

2006 Missouri Open

After spending 34 hours as a TD for the Missouri Chess Festival, I am finally recovering. We had a record 162 players attend the festival.

Ron Luther won the 2006 Missouri State Championship, and I am proud to say The Chess Club is home to the last two state champions: Ron Luther and Bob Holliman.

Ron offered an early draw in his last round because he was winning on the second tie-break, wins with Black, over IM Michael Brooks. Ron won the $500 first prize and a plaque.

	NAME	Rating	State	1	2	3	4	5	6	Score
1	Michael Brooks	2447	MO		½	½	1	1	1	4.0
2	Kenneth Jones	2320	MO	½		0	½	½	1	2.5
3	Ron Luther	2215	MO	½	1		1	1	½	4.0
4	Bob Holliman	2151	MO	0	½	0		1	1	2.5
5	Tony Dutiel	1807	MO	0	½	0	0		0	0.5
6	Nick Karlow	1756	MO	0	0	½	0	1		1.5

Here is the win which sealed the state championship for Luther.

Jones,Kenneth (2320) - Luther,Ron (2230) [B01] 2006 Missouri Invitational (4^th Round), 9-17,2006

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.dxe6 Bxe6 5.Nf3 Qe7 6.Qe2 Nc6 7.d4 Bg4 8.Be3 0-0-0 9.d5 Qb4+ 10.Nc3 Na5 11.0-0-0 Bh5 12.h3 Re8 13.g4 Bg6 14.Nh4 Ne4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.f3 Bg6 17.Nxg6 hxg6 18.Qd3 Nxc4 19.Bd4 Ne5 20.Qb5 Jones offered Luther a draw. 20...Bd6 21.Qxb4 Bxb4 22.Bb5 Re7 23.f4 Nd7 24.Bxg7 Rh7 25.Bxd7+ Kxd7 26.Be5 Re8 27.Rd3 Bd6 28.Bxd6 Kxd6 29.Kd2 Re4 30.Rf1

Luther fights for a win being a pawn down!

30...Ra4 31.a3 Ra5 32.f5 g5 33.f6 Rxd5 34.Rxd5+ Kxd5 35.Rf5+ Ke6 36.Rxg5 Rxh3 37.Rc5 c6 38.Ra5 a6 39.Ra4 Kxf6 40.Rb4 b5 41.a4 Ke5 42.axb5 axb5 43.Ke2 f6 44.Kf2 Rd3 0-1

Ron receiveing the wrong plaque but the right check from me!

Okie Chess Festival

The 2006 Okie Master Invitational

After three days of chess in Tulsa at the Okie Chess Festival, I am home and ready for another week of chess at The Chess Club.

Luther playing e4 against Movsisyan in round five.

Ron Luther was finally allowed to play in the Invitational Section if he promised to annotate two games for the Oklahoma Chess Foundation's bulletin. After only scoring 1.5 in 2005, Ron had a much better tournament, scoring 3.5 with keys wins over Thomas Gossell, Movses Movsisyan, and Trevor Jackson. Here is one of Ron's impressive wins.

Luther,Ron (2150) - Movsisyan,Movses (2287) [C18]
2006 Okie Masters Tulsa, OK (5), 03.09.2006

1.e4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Nc6 7.a4 Qa5 8.Bd2 Nge7 9.f4 Bd7 10.Nf3 f6 11.Be2 c4 12.0-0 0-0-0 13.Qc1 Be8 14.Qb2 Bg6 15.Rfb1 Qc7 16.a5 Be4 17.Bc1 h6 18.Nd2 f5 19.Ra4 Kd7 20.Nxe4 fxe4 21.Bg4 Rb8 22.Qa2 b5 23.axb6 Rxb6 24.Ra1 a5 25.Ba3 Rb5 26.Rf1 g6 27.Bd6 Qb6 28.h3 Nf5 29.Bxf5 gxf5 30.Qa3 Rb1 31.Rxb1 Qxb1+ 32.Kh2 Qb5 33.Be7 Rc8 34.Qd6+ Ke8 35.Bh4 Ra8 36.Qxe6+ Kf8 37.Qxf5+ Kg8 38.Qg6+ Kf8 39.Qxh6+ Kg8 40.e6 Qb7 41.Qg5+ Qg7 42.Qxd5 Rc8

Bob Holliman also know as chessmasterbob.com did well finishing tied for 1st in the challenger section with 4.5 points.

I finished in 8th place with 4.5 points. The tournament was uneventful except for one issue. In round six, I had 4 points and was paired down with a player who had 3 points even though there were 6-7 players with 4 points and a few even with 3.5.

Tim Steiner had told me the night before that the tournament director, Alex Relyea was in an argument with the Berry's who finance the event. Evidently, the Berry brothers wanted the pairings to be fixed in order to create FIDE norms while Alex did not.

Consequently, I was not happy with my pairings and thought it was unfair to fix the pairings late in the tournament. I wanted a chance to play against one of the tournament leaders and was denied that opportunity.

Anyway, who has the gold makes the rules! And the Berry brothers are doing some wonderful work for Oklahoma chess!

I would like to thank the Berry brothers, Alex and his wife, and Tom Braunlich for running a great event. The playing area was well lit, and the prize fund was beyond expectation for a tournament of this size.

Maybe we can take a van to next year's event and bring more players from the club.

Ken Fee

Friday Night Chess Club

The purpose of The Chess Club Blog is to keep everyone up-to-date on what is happening at The Chess Club.

On September 1st, many of the members (Ron Luther; Ken Fee; Bob Holliman; Tim Steiner; and Byron Willianson) are going to the Okie Chess Festival in Tulsa, and Wayne Bartlett will be at the US Senior Open in Nashville, so the club will be only open for casual play. There will not be a Grand Prix Tournament.

The big question now is: Will Luther play in the Invitational instead of the Challenger Section even though his plus 2200 rating should place him in the higher section.

The rumour is that Ron did not annotate a game from last year, so the organizers are not happy with him since they paid his way in 2005.

I will keep you updated on Ron's status!