Preliminary 2015 Calendar, Officer & Trustee Vacancies

A preliminary calendar for 2015 has been posted on the club's website.

Approximately 20 dates, mostly from Jan. 8-Mar. 12 & Sep. 10-Nov. 19, have been left open. If there are certain events that you'd like the club to run, mention them to President-Elect Bob Sherry, who takes the reins on January 1st, & the other officers.

Speaking about officers, aside from Mike Goeller being nominated and seconded for the Webmaster position, there has been little progress toward filling the 4 vacancies. At the December 18th Business Meeting, a Secretary was elected but I still have not heard if he is willing to serve.

With the email meeting not really working, I strongly suggest that business discussions be re-opened when club meets in person on January 8th. The time control for the Club Championship needs to be confirmed, too.

Well, my time as KCC Prez is nearing a close. I'm not sure how often I'll be attending the club this winter, but I hope to keep (err.. make that resume) playing for our GSCL team and enter the Club Ch. in the spring.

John Moldovan

Happy Holidays

The Kenilworth Chess Club wishes its members and friends the happiest of holidays.

We will be closed on Christmas Day & New Year's Day.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday, January 7, 2015.

Business Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the Kenilworth Chess Club's 2014 Business Meeting:

- The meeting was delayed until there was a quorum and did not commence until 9:15 p.m.

- Those in attendance included Ziggy Bliznikas, Mark Kernighan, Scott Massey, Pat Mazzillo, Geoff McAuliffe, Jack McCorkell, Joe Renna, Luis Ruales, Ed Selling, Bob Sherry, Lou Sturniolo, and John Moldovan.

- President Moldovan announced he would not seek re-election or accept any appointment. He advised a club path for 2015 that included more lectures and seeking an earlier starting time.

- Treasurer McAuliffe reported that, following a donation to the Kenilworth Recreation Department and payment for the Holiday Party, the club will only break even this year and warned that we may not be able to keep our website when renewal is due.

- Bob Sherry was elected President for 2015. 
- Joe Renna was elected Vice-President.
- Geoff McAuliffe was re-elected as Treasurer.

- There was no voting for Secretary, Webmaster, Tournament Director and Trustee. Those nominated for the 1st 2 positions declined or were not present. The other posts were not even discussed. The club will attempt to fill the 4 vacancies by soliciting nominations and voting via email.

- The club will not sponsor any USATE entries in 2015. 

- The price of Regular membership dues ($15) and Senior membership dues ($10) will remain the same. Junior membership dues have been increased to $10.

- After a long discussion on the Club Championship, the attendees agreed to a two-section, USCF-rated tournament with a 6-8 player RR in the top group & a 5-7 round RR or Swiss in the lower section. To play in the top you must have an 1800+ rating.

   The event will start March 26. It could conclude as early as April 23rd and as late as May 14. The cost to join will be dues (1 full year) + $10 entry fee + a $10 anti-forfeit deposit (=$35 for most players). The time-control was not discussed and will have to be addressed when details are finalized.

- A motion to hold another meeting in late May was approved.

- Finally, the Kenilworth CC approved the Westfield CC's offer to cross-honor memberships in 2015. Kenilworth members will be able to play in Westfield's events, at a discount, and play in the WCC Championship. Westfield members will get a weeknight venue and the right to play in the KCC Championship.

Scott Massey Lecture Tonight

A reminder:

Tonight LM Scott Massey will be giving a lecture on last month's Carlsen-Anand match.

Admission is $5. The lecture will probably begin at 8:30 but I suggest that you arrive 15 minutes early.

Fish Memorial Starts Tonight

7th Annual Sy Fish Memorial

October 23rd thru November 6th, 2014

• USCF-Rated
• 3-round Swiss
• Time Control: G/40;d5
• Rounds: 8:30 p.m. on October 23, 30 and November 6.
• Site: Kenilworth Community Center, 575 Boulevard, Kenilworth, NJ 07033.
• Entry Fee: $5.
• Projected Prizes, based on 8 entries: 1st place $15; 2nd place $11, 3rd place or Class prize $10.
• 10% of EF reserved for rating fees and scoresheet purchases.
• Register with Geoff McAuliffe or John Moldovan, on site, before 8:25 p.m. on 9/12.
• Late-joins accepted until the start of round 2.
• 1 bye allowed, any round. Must declare before the end of round 3.
• If taking a bye, please inform the TD (Geoff or John) before the round is
  paired.

Schedule For The Remander Of 2014

Here is the KCC's Schedule for the rest of 2014:

October

9 - Game/30 Tournament, rounds 1 & 2 (non-rated, 4-SS, G/25;d5, EF: free)

16 - Game/30 Tournament, rounds 3 & 4

23 - Sy Fish Memorial, round 1 (USCF-rated, 3-SS, G/40;d5, Details tba)

30 - Sy Fish Memorial, round 2

November

6 - Sy Fish Memorial, round 3

13 - Kenilworth Consultation Game, week 1

20 - Kenilworth Consultation Game, week 2

27 - No Meeting (Thanksgiving)

December

4 - Lecture (speaker & subject TBA)

11 - Scott Massey Lecture on Anand-Carlsen II. $5

18 - Business Meeting & Holiday Party

25 - No Meeting (Christmas)

Events For 9/18 & 9/25

The Kenilworth Chess Club has scheduled a Partner Tournament for this Thursday (September 18) and a Blitz Tournament for next week (September 25).

Here are the details for the events:

Partner Tournament
September 18
8:30 p.m.
Non-Rated.
G/15;d5.
3-SS.
EF: Free.
Prizes: none.
TD: John Moldovan.

• Lower-rateds get to pick their partner for the 3 games.
• Higher-rated partner may switch his team's playing order up to 3 times per game.
• Otherwise, partners will alternate moves.
• Lower-rated player on a team gets to play his team's 1st move in each game.
• A player may only tell his partner "be careful", "take your time", "watch our time" or "help!"
• Only the higher-rated partner can offer draws, accept draws, or resign a game.
• Score-keeping is optional but will be necessary for claims.

Blitz Tournament
September 25
8:30 p.m.
Non-Rated.
G/5;d.
3-SS. 2 games per round.
EF: $3 KCC members, $5 non-members.
Prize Fund: $3 x number of players.
Prize distribution: TBA.
TD: Geoff McAuliffe or Bob Sherry.

Swap Meet Next Thursday

Next Thursday night (September 11th), the Kenilworth Chess Club will be having a swap meet.

Current members & past members invited by the Club President, may bring chess books, equipment & software for trade or sale.

Please do not bring too many items. 20 per person is the maximum. If space proves to be short, we may have to limit individual displays to 10 items each.

Although the event will be private, I suggest that you inventory the items you are bringing.

One more thing... let's respect everyone's stuff by keeping all food, beverages, etc. away from the display area.

Club Championship Awards Ceremony Tomorrow

Before tomorrow night's Summer Tourney finale, we will have our Club Championship Awards Ceremony.

If you are to receive a trophy, please arrive before 8:00 p.m. Those playing in the tournament should not begin games until 8:15.

I apologize for the extremely short notice but did not know if the 1st-place trophy would be done until late this afternoon.

John Moldovan

Kenilworth Site Back Online

The Kenilworth Chess Club's website is back online.

Kenilworth CC Site Down Due To Server Failure

The Kenilworth Chess Club's site, www.kenilworthchessclub.org, has been down since sometime on Saturday, due to hardware failure on our server.

It will take several days for the site to be restored.

Emergency Maintenance

Brinkster is conducting emergency maintenance on your shared webserver.

Event Details

- Saturday, August 2, 2014 we experienced a hardware failure on the shared server running your website
- Standard recovery procedures were unsuccessful
- We are currently recovering from the disaster recovery backups
- Due to the large amount of data that is recovering, it is expected to take multiple days to complete

Summer Tournament Starts Tonight!

The Kenilworth Chess Club's fun, friendly, yet highly competitive Summer Tournament starts tonight at 8:00 p.m.

Here are the rules :

• The 2014 Summer Tournament will run from June 5th through August 28th.
• The entry fee is $5.00.
• The event is not rated.
• The time control is G/60.
• G/55+5 (delay) may be used if there is mutual agreement between paired players. Increment settings are not allowed.
• You may play anyone who is entered. The first time you play an opponent, the lower rated or unrated player has White. In subsequent games against the same opponent you alternate colors.
  If both players are unrated or have identical ratings, they toss for initial color.
• You may not play the same opponent more than four times in the tournament.
• All games are to be played at the Kenilworth Chess Club during normal operating hours.
• You may play up to 2 games per week. You can skip weeks but the more you play the more points you can accrue.
• You get one point for a win, one half point for a draw and zero for a loss. No bye points are awarded.
• The winner is the person who has the most points at the end of the tournament.
• The prizes are 60% for first place, 30% for second, and 10% for third.

Bob Sherry won last year and in 2012. Other past winners of this popular event include LM Scott Massey (2004), LM Mark Kernighan (2005, 2011), Greg Tomkovich (2006), Ari Minkov (2007, 2010), John Moldovan (2008) and Ian Mangion (2009).

Kenilworth Wins GSCL Championship

On Thursday night, Kenilworth edged Hamilton 2.5-1.5 to become the 2013-14 Garden State Chess League Champions.

The team, which featured Dr. Ian Mangion and Greg Tomkovich of Cranford, Jackson Hueckel of Staten Island, John Moldovan of Garwood, Don Carrelli and Bob Sherry of Mountainside, Dr. Geoff McAuliffe of Dunellen, Paul Gottleib and finished with a +5-0=3 record, stumbled with draws against Summit & Newark-McDonald's in April, but came through in the must-win season finale against the 4-time defending champs.

Ellner Update

May 1st will be used a make-up date for those who were unable to play last week.

Pairings for round 3:

Board 1: Mark Kernighan 1-0 Luis Ruales (played on 4/24)
Board 2: John Jackmin vs. Dan Komunicky

Board 3: Pat Mazzillo vs. Joe Renna

The 4th round has been canceled.

Ellner Memorial Starts Tonight!

The Kenilworth Chess Club's annual Irving Ellner Memorial tournament begins tonight. Here are the details:

7th Irving Ellner Memorial

April 10-May 8, 2014

• USCF-Rated
• 4-round Swiss
• Time Control: G/45 + 5 second per move increment.
• A player must keep score if he has 5 minutes or more remaining.
• Rounds: 8:30 p.m. on April 10th, 17th, 24th and May 8th. There is no game on May 1st!
• Entry Fee: $10
• Prize Fund: $150 b/ 16 entries. If there are more than 16 players, a 5th round will be added & the prize fund will be increased accordingly.
• Prizes: To be announced.
• Register before 8:25 p.m. @ Kenilworth Community Center, 575 Boulevard, Kenilworth, N.J.
• Late-joins accepted until round 2 is paired. 1 bye allowed. Must commit prior to round 3.

Kenilworth Niners Tie For 1st Among USATE U1900s

The Kenilworth Chess Club Niners tied for 1st among U1900 teams at the U.S. Amateur Team East tournament in Parsippany this past weekend, duplicating their 2013 result.

The team lost just 4 games out of the 24 they played (+11-4=9) & didn't suffer a single defeat in the last 3 rounds (+6-0=6).

Life Master Mark Kernighan led the way on board 1 by drawing GM Larry Kauffman in the opening round and winning his last 5 games. 3rd board Greg Tomkovich (3.5/6) and alternate Dan Komunicky (1/1) also turned-in plus scores.

2nd board John Moldovan struggled in rounds 3-5 but nicked FM Allan Savage for a draw on Saturday afternoon and finished at 50% (3/6). 4th board Geoff McAuliffe also finished with an even score (2.5/5).

We should also mention that Steve Stoyko & Scott Massey's team tied for 4th overall, with 5.0/6.

Tomorrow's Meeting Canceled

Tomorrow's KCC meeting has been canceled due to weather and travel concerns.

Next week (Feb. 20th) we will be running a Bughouse Tournament.

Revised GSCL Schedule

Kenilworth's match vs. Newark-McDonald's was postponed.

Our next in Garden State Chess League match is scheduled for Thursday, February 27th, at home, against Lehigh Valley.

Here's the info for all of our remaining matches:

Day	Month	Date	Opponent	Site	Time
Friday	February	27	Lehigh Valley	Kenilworth	8:20
TBA	March	TBA	Newark-McDonald's	TBA	TBA
Thursday	April	3	Summit	Kenilworth	8:20
Thursday	May	1	Chess Mates	Kenilworth	8:20
Thursday	May	29	Hamilton	Kenilworth	8:20

Bob Sherry's Blog

Kenilworth V.P. Bob Sherry has started a blog. The URL is http://bobsherry.blogspot.com.

KCC To Sponsor 1 USATE Entry

Thanks to a contribution from a benefactor, the Kenilworth Chess Club will be sponsoring 1 full U.S. Amateur Team East entry next month.

 

To be eligible for the sponsorship, teams must have 4 Kenilworth CC members and include Kenilworth in its name (in a non-derogatory way).

 

For help in forming a KCC team, reply via email or see an officer (Bob S., Joe R. Geoff, Mike G. or John) during the next 2-3 meetings.

 

Last year, the Kenilworth Niners (Mark K., Greg, Geoff & John) tied for 1st among U1900 teams.

 

One more thing... tonight is your last chance to enter the Club Championship.

KCC Championship

The Club Championship started last Thursday. I had not played any slow games of chess in a while and I was feeling rusty. Fortunately, I got an easy pairing and I was able to take the full point.

I hope to see you at the tournament.

Bob Sherry

Tonight's KCC Meeting Canceled!

Tonight's KCC meeting has been canceled due to weather and travel concerns.

Blog & Web Site Changes

KCC members and blog-followers, please note these upcoming blog & web site changes:

1. In the next 10 days, or so, the KCC Minutes blog, which has experienced some technical problems for the past year, will be shelved and replaced by the Kenilworth Chess Club blog.

2. A link to the KCC Tournaments blog will be placed on the home page of our web site.

Preliminary KCC Calendar For 2014

The Kenilworth Chess Club's preliminary Calendar for 2014 has been placed online and can be downloaded here.

Only a few events, notably the Club Championship (January 9-February 6) and Summer Tourney (June 5-August 28), have been scheduled thus far. Dates for the Irving Ellner and Sy Fish memorials haven't been set, as yet.

Places for a Knockout tourney, early rounds of the 2014-5 GSCL season and some new, members-only events, such as a Blitz Championship and a Quick Championship, will also be found.

Candidates to fill the remaining weeks include a Consultation Game, lectures, simuls, Random Opening, Bughouse and Partner tourneys.

If you have any event-ideas, please relay them to us.