Colorado Springs Chess News by Paul Anderson

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Greetings

Welcome to the Colorado Springs Chess News website!  This chess website is dedicated to providing a source for sharing information about chess in the Colorado Springs and surrounding area.  You can receive a FREE newsletter or save the address to your favorites and check the archives when you like.  You can send in your own news or chess games by email.  You can send in chess pictures (jpeg) or just leave a comment in our guest book.

Upcoming Events

8/27 Izumi Derbyshire Quick, DCC

8/28 Isaac Martinez Quick, DCC

9/3-5 Colorado Open, CSCA

10/4-25 Club Championship, CSCC

10/8-9 Larimer County Open, CSCA

12/3-4 Winter Springs Open, CSCC

Colorado Springs Chess Club: CSCC

Denver Chess Club: DCC

Colorado State Chess Association: CSCA

End Of The Season

Well, another chess season has come to a close for me.  It is time for me to move on to managing the websites for my other hobby (link), but I will return after the football season ends.  Before I go, I wanted to clean up some loose ends and get out the last of the news items I still have.  Of course, you can still send in news items or articles during the off-season, and I will email them along to the subscribers.  Any games I receive will be stored in my stockpile until next year.  You can also join Brian Wall’s yahoo group (link) to keep receiving chess games all year round.  So, before I finish typing my chess thoughts for another year, I want to thank all the people who sent in games and articles, all the people who took the time to tell me something nice about the newsletter, and all the people who take the time to read this.

Last Week In Chess

On August 9, the CSCC had 19 members in attendance.  In the club-rated ladder game (G30), Brian Wall walloped Shaun MacMillan.  The rest of the participants were split into 4 groups of quads for a round robin tournament (G15).  Here are the results:

Pikes Peak Open

By Buck Buchanan

Game Of The Year

This is the second time I have chosen a game of the year, and it was a tougher choice this year.  No one was begging me to publish any of my games this year, and I can’t blame them.  I was looking over my chess stats and the numbers were pointing to an off year.  My USCF rating is down from the beginning of the year.  I beat only 3 higher rated people in USCF-rated play (I had 5 each of the past 3 years).  And, I won only one prize this year.  But the game that won me the prize was also one of the upsets.  So, with only one prize-winning upset, what else could I chose.  Here’s to a better year next season.

Game Of The Year II

Rocky Mountain Chess Results

By Dean Brown

Memorial Day with Allan Ufer

By Paul Grimm

I wrapped up my Memorial Day Weekend on Monday with a visit to see Allan Ufer in Colorado Springs.  I had heard several months earlier that Allan’s health wasn’t doing too well.  What better way to end the long weekend by visiting with one of Colorado’s most active chess veterans.  Allan Ufer would be instantly recognized by anyone as one of Colorado’s chess regulars.  You’d normally see him wearing striped suspenders, pushing a walker, and wearing a patriotic USA-themed hat.  Finding Allan napping on any available couch between rounds would not be out of the ordinary.  Oh yeah, and his walker would have those bright yellow, Spaulding tennis balls cut out and wrapped around the end of the legs so as to provide a smoother “ride”.  I asked him many questions about his chess career, his background, and how he ended up in Colorado.  Even though his health has not been the greatest lately, he still had a sparkle in his eye and that “gosh, jolly-shucks” sense of humor that only someone from the countryside would have.  Allan was born on 29 Jun 1934 in New Jersey.  He was one of three kids.  Allan learned how to play chess during his high school days in the early 1950’s.  This was a time before Sputnik and the space age.  This was way before the internet, ICC, and Fritz.  This was a time when study of chess came by reading a book full of descriptive notation in front of a small analysis board.  And that’s exactly what Allan did.  He was the only kid in his entire family to take on a liking for the game.  Allan’s other major activity in high school was playing offense and defense for his high school football team.  Before chess became a major hobby in his life, I was impressed to learn Allan was a quarterback and halfback on a 10-1 state championship team…(see the rest of the article in the October issue of the Colorado Chess Informant).