T. H. Rogers Tournament
I realized that I never got a summary out about our own tournament. Sorry
about that. So in the "better late than never" category....
Thanks to all of the volunteers who helped to make that tournament a huge
success. As has been the case for the past several years, our tournament
is the largest local scholastic tournament held in Houston metro area
during the Fall semester. Only the Klein Winter Scholastic and the
Regionals, both held in the Spring, tend to be bigger. We had 249 chess
players participating, and probably another 100 + parents and other adults
chaperoning and supporting the kids. Our tournament is that big because
it is well known to be a lot of fun. But, it wouldn't happen without all
of you stepping up to lend a hand. Like usual, our goody table stocked
with balloon swords, snow cones, popcorn and other stuff was wildly
popular. Also, many thanks to our coaches, Larry Englebretson, David
John, Evan Michaelides, and Clarence Yeung (who came in just this Saturday
to help us). They were keep extremely busy by the kids doing game
analysis all day. Also, many thanks to George John for being our chief TD
and to Jim Liptrap for handling all the registrations, running WinTD
during the tournament and for making all of the trophies.
Overall, the kids did well. We had tremendous participation: 32
elementary students and 13 middle school students for a total of 45 - our
most ever. Middle School was part of a three way tie for first place.
Based on tie-breaks, though, they only received the 3rd place trophy. The
tie break system looks at how many wins each teams' opponents had. The
team that beats the hardest opponents (as measured by the number of
opponent wins) gets the top trophy. Our Elementary team came in second,
only a half game behind the Village School. The following students had
particularly good performances in their divisions at this event:
- Tanvir Ahmed - 8th Grade - First Place
- Jackson Chang - 1st Grade - First Place (on a tie)
- Ankeet Mutha - 5th Grade - Second Place (on a tie)
- Tommy Williamson - 3rd Grade - Second Place (on a tie)
Tuesday
Volunteers
While I received a lot of support for the tournament, getting adequate
help on Tuesday remains (and has always been) a real issue. I have a
number of families that have come several times each. However, most of
the club families have not volunteered at all. I would like some feedback
about establishing an option for those families who just can't come, to
pay an additional fee whereby the club can hire an aide or two to be there
each and every week. I would also be interested in knowing what most
families would consider to be a fair fee to not have to show up one
afternoon per semester. Each family would then have a choice at the
beginning of each semester to sign up for a slot on the volunteer schedule
or pay the additional fee. However, I am still relying on volunteers this
semester so if you haven't volunteered yet, and want to get on the
schedule, please contact Yachin Bao, 713-839-7229
home,
dryachinbao@yahoo.com. We have openings every Tuesday through
the end of the semester.
November Tournament in Plano
Now is the time to decide if you are going to the State Grade Tournament
in Plano, November 20-21, 2004. A grade tournament is different than all
of the other tournaments that the kids have played in before. Each grade
level is a separate tournament, and they play only against kids in their
same grade. No second graders facing 12th graders as happens in local
events where the divisions are based on ratings only. Because there will
be 14 separate tournaments running (grades 1-12 plus kindergarten and
college), team trophies are based on the top 3 scores per grade per
school. They do this because most schools would have difficulty fielding
teams of 4 for each grade. Room Reservations need to be made by November
5th to get the lower rate and registration must be mailed no later than
November 10th. Registration forms can be printed from
here.
Also, I need to decide if we are renting a team room and how many coaches
I am paying to go with us. That depends on the size of the team. Friday
November 19th is an early dismissal day. School lets out at 12:45 pm. I
will be driving directly from the school to Plano, hopefully arriving
around dinner time. I do not recommend that the children play in any of
the side tournaments. It is better to get a good night's sleep and be
fresh for the main tournament the next day. There are 4 G/45 rounds on
Saturday: 9:30 am; 12:00, 2:05 pm, 4:10 pm. On Sunday, there are 2
G/60 rounds: 10:00 am, 1:15 pm. Theoretically, all of the games should be
over by 3:30, and trophies handed out by 6 pm to 7 pm.. For myself, I
plan on spending Sunday night at the hotel. I would rather get some good
pictures of the team during the awards ceremonies, get the team room and
trophies packed up, have a nice "celebration" dinner, and drive on Monday
when I am fresh. The kids are out of school all week, so Monday is a
holiday. You could drive Sunday night, if you wish, though. It would put
you back about midnight.
I am setting up a team only email list (should be up tomorrow) to handle
the coordination emails for this trip. Initially, I am putting all of the
families on it whose children played in the T. H. Rogers tournament, or
who are rated players but were unable to play that day. If you do not
want to be on the list, please tell me. By the same token, if your child
did not play in the October tournament, but you want to be included on
this list, please tell me. The point is to minimize irrelevant emails to
the rest of the club
What you need to do:
- Fill out and mail the registration form - see link above
- Tell me (
timartha@swbell.net ) if your child is going and what your travel
plans are. I would also appreciate it if you would notify me if you
have decided not to go. It will help me plan for a team room and
coaching. I would like to hear from you this week. Thanks.
- When you get email notification that you have been added to
the new Chess Team list, you can send through a notice to that list (not
this Chess Club list) if you are looking to
- Share a ride
- Offer a ride
- Share a room
- Be sure to include
- What days do you wish to travel and
- What is the makeup of your party (Mother and son, Father and son,
....)
Martha Jenkinson
713-592-8758 home
713-397-8758 cell |