News Archive 2008

January 15, 2008

May 3, 2008

April 9, 2008

Hey Rick!

Tournament went well, not much in the way of upsets. There were 21 entrants, four military. We ran four rounds. Andre Wilmar, our German exchange student was the top seed (1798), Matt Parshall was the second seed (1699). They both won out, and then drew each other in the final round for 3.5 out of 4. Matt was a rook up in the endgame, but Andre managed to swindle a stalemate. There were quite a few others who had 3, including our military champion, Rican Lee. Rican won a playoff game with Steven Ankerstar for the military title. Hopefully the crosstable will be available early next week from the USCF.

I directed the tournament for free - actually lost money as I had to pay the charges to the USCF to have it rated. I don't mind though, a good time was had by all. They ordered us pizza and there were muffins there early. Decent site although the lighting was poor.

That's all for now - hope everything is going well on your end. Snowing like crazy up here today. My fault - I put my summer tires on last weekend. Oh well.

Take care Ricky!

Mike

Thanks Mike for running another successful tournament!! Sorry for the delay in getting this info posted, I've been out of town for the last couple of weeks.

Any idea when the next event will be scheduled? I've had some enquiries concerning the Junior/Scholastic State Championship.

Good Luck to Rican Lee !!!

Until next time ....

March 11, 2008

When:
April 5th, 2008 - 10:00 AM

Entry Fees: $10
Refreshments for participants will be available, to include a pizza lunch.

Location and Registration:
Arctic Oasis Community Center
9497 20th St
Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
(907) 552-8529

Active Duty Air Force Members can register any time before the start of the tournament. Active Duty winner's scores will be forded on to PACAF for a chance to participate in PACAF and Air Force level tournaments.

The overall base-level winner is determined by competition between 1st and 2nd place winners in each category. This is a USCF rated tournament.

DoD Civilians, contractors, spouses, other eligible family members, and retirees, can register any time before start of tournament.

Children 12 years and younger must be accompanied by parent, parent must be in the facility but doesn't have to site in on the tournament.

Civilians must register prior to March 21 in order to receive a pass, or must have a personal sponsor. Civilians must provide registration information by clicking here!

Civilians must access Elmendorf A.F.B. at the Boniface Parkway Visitors Center:

Must be registered.
Must have current:
a) Drivers Licence (State issued ID or Drivers License for non-drivers is required).
b) Vehicle Registration.
c) Proof of Insurance.
Directions:
Once on the base follow the main road which is called Vandenburg Ave., and follow the left-curve which changes the road into Arctic Warrior Dr. as you drive through a traffic light. Once you reach the next light you will take the right-hand turn lane (which you only have to yield to make the turn), and follow until you can make a left onto 20th Street, and follow it until you take a right turn on Necrason Ave (just after a display sign on the right). The next right on this road enters the main parking lot. Just as a reminder, you should not park in front of any sign at the front of the building, other than the handicap with appropriate markings. Even though these spots aren't likely to be used on a Saturday you can still be ticketed for not correctly parking.
Contact Information:
Jason M. Lambie
Operation's Clerk
3SVS/SVYR Community Center
9497 20th St Elmendorf, AFB
DSN: 552-8529/Com: 907-552-8529 Fax: 552-1140

* this is the final announcement, conditions subject to change

February 28, 2008

The tournament was a lot of fun, we had 40 entrants.

Harry Wrase was the winner on tiebreaks, with 4 out of 5. Also tied with 4 was Jim Hanlen, Ryan Cassidy, Mike McKinney, and Dick Rempel!

Harry drew with Jim and Mike. Jim had his draw with Harry and a half point bye. Ryan lost to Nik Fode, garnering Nik the upset prize with a 447 point spread! The upset prize was $40, $20 donated each from Harry and Jim. Mike had a draw with Chance Robinson from Skagway as well as his draw with Harry. Dick had a second round loss and got to four points with three straight victories to finish.

Harry and Mike had the lead with 3 1/2 going into the final round and managed to make 8 moves before agreeing to the draw!

Harry says "Hi Yoda!"

I won my first two, but dropped out there. Too hard to direct and play. John Peters came by and helped out with the directing which was nice. Great tournament, lots of fun!

Mike Stabenow

Sounds like everyone had a good get together for the Rondy. Chess players from all over the State competed which is fantastic. I hope everyone thanked Mike Stabenow for pulling everything together for the event!! Oh and Harry: Should've gone for the Hogger

Next on the agenda should be the Annual Thunderbird Open out on Elmendorf, AFB. I'll post the details when they're confirmed. Prepare people!!

The Alaska WebChess Club is always hoping for new members and looks forward to your continued participation!

Until next time ........

February 7, 2008

Happy Times

Hosted by:
Alaska Joint Electrical Apprenticeship and Training Trust!

The Tournament will be a 5 round, USCF rated Open Swiss event. A half-point bye is available for any round provided you coordinate in advance of the second round. USCF membership is required. You can accomplish this online at www.uschess.org, or by calling the USCF at 1-800-388-KING (5464). Please do this in advance as it is very time consuming to do at the tournament site. If you have any questions or need any assistance, please contact me. I look forward to seeing you at the tournament!

Mike Stabenow
dfensman@gmail
(907)229-8189(C)
(907)770-6518(H)

When:
February 22 - 24, 2008

Location:
NECA/IBEW Training Center
5800 B St
Anchorage, Alaska
For directions click HERE

Registration:
Friday - 5:30 PM

Entry Fees:
Adult/Senior/Young Adult $30
Scholastic/Youth/Family $10
advanced entry form

Game times:
Friday - Round 1: 7:00 PM, Game/90 minutes
Saturday - Round 2: 11:00 AM, Round 3: 4:00 PM, Game/2 Hours
Sunday - Round 4: 11:00 AM, Round 5: 4:00 PM, Game/2 Hours

*This is the final announcement, conditions subject to change

Good Luck to Everyone at the Fur Rondy this year

The Alaska WebChess Club is always hoping for new members and looks forward to your continued participation!

Until next time ........

Hi Folks,
Lot's of news here lately! I hope that you Guys don't mind me sharing your e-mails!?!?

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Hey Rick,

Looks like you found the results on the USCF website. Myself, I've been gone in Colombia, South America, for about a month and a half. Sorry about not getting back to you sooner.

The state tournament went very well. I ended up keeping it an all open tournament because that is what everyone wanted due to the number of players.

I thought the biggest surprise was from unrated Marven from Valdez who managed to draw against Duren and Alvar. In the Marven-Duren game, I remember Marven sacrificed his queen very early for a rook, piece, and a couple pawns. And he was the only one to keep Alvar from achieving a perfect score. Alvar seemed to just run over everybody else though. Too bad he didn't play Duren. The Stabenow-Alvar game was pretty brutal. Opposite side castling and Alvar pretty much took away any of Stabenow's play on the kingside and just sent his three queen sides to tear his Stabenow's king up. I'll have to enter the games in chessbase. I remember Dick luckily drew against Karmun in a lost endgame. He offered the draw to Harry and he quickly accepted even though he had the win in a king and pawn endgame. The Stabenow-Duren game was very tense as well... both kings went queenside and both were trying to attack. But Stabenow just seemed to have better control there and came out on top.

Happy New Year man!!!

Greg

Congratulations to Alvar Alabedra for a great performance and Thanks to Greg Berry for the blow by blow!! We're looking forward to those games from ChessBase! Actually, it was Marven Breis who sent in the cross-table for the event! Thanks Marven!! Wish we had some photos

Just a note for the competitors in the event, if you would have chosen the 2 Section option (i.e. Closed and Open) there wouldn't have been this thought, "Too bad he didn't play Duren". The single round-robin tournament format is one of the fairest methods available and puts the strongest player in the winners circle! The only better option available, would be having a double round robin format, but these days there isn't enough time available for the participants to play a game with white and then with black against each other over two weekends,

There is absolutely no shame in winning the Alaska Open Championship for those players that don't qualify for the Closed!! Sure there would've been a bye this year in the Open section, but there was a bye in the tournament anyway...lol... :o)

And for those that don't have a high enough rating to qualify for the Closed Section and cry "I'll never win the Alaska State Championship my ratings not high enough", I say to these folks: Maybe you're setting your goals a little to high. First, become the Alaska Open Champion and if this isn't "Just Reward" for you then at least your problem is half solved. You get to compete in the following years Closed section. Of course winning that event would be the subject for another news release!!

In the "old days" the preferred tournament format was the top 10 players for the Alaska State Championship played a single round robin event over two consecutive weekends and the Alaska Open was a 5 round swiss event held on the first weekend. These were the some of the Grand "old days" of Chess in Alaska where players were everywhere and masters and near (sometimes all) masters competed in the Alaska State Championship, while up to thirty or so players participated in the Alaska Open!! A win in either was and still should be considered the highest achievement available to Alaska Chess Players competing within the State!! Not just another weekend swiss!?

Just some thoughts and no harm intended what so ever...

I wish all the news was good?!

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Chuck,
Is there going to be a Fur Rondy tourney this year?

Josh

Hi Joshua,
I'm not sure! I am no longer part of the organizational end of chess these days. At least I have not been contacted lately by the powers that be. Our new organization consists of Greg Berry, pres. UCSF affiliate and I see his latest assistant TD was Mike Stabenow Perhaps, if you get in touch with the club that meets at Tidal Wave Books, you might be able to see what these fellows have planned. I am out of the loop and have not been asked to assist in any way, so...................I have not reserved our usual playing site and I am sure it is too late to do so. Sorry for this info. but I am just another chess player these days.

Good luck,
Chuck

This could be very bad news with Chuck Sherwood stepping aside from organizational duties and myself now living in Georgia. Very sad that Chuck is stepping aside partially because I know for sure that Chuck has more than adequate skills to organize and direct ANY tournament fairly, correctly and enjoyably, it's certainly not a job for just one person to tackle however!! I can't imagine Alaska without the Fur Rondy Chess Tournament?? If there is anything I can do, let me know, I'm always hear to help! At least provide an announcement so I can post it for our readers.

Thanks and Good Luck.to the organizers and directors of the 2008 Fur Rondy Chess Tournament!!

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Hello,

I coordinate after school activities in the Sitka schools, and chess is one of our strongest programs. We have a steady history of in-town tournaments, and are looking to compete with players from around the state. I see references to scholastic/ youth sections in the tournament postings, but I am wondering how many students compete in those tournaments? Is there an active scholastic scene anywhere in the state?

We are contacting individual chess programs that we know of, and trying to set up distance tournaments. Do you know of anyone who is already doing this, or has done this?

Thank you for responding.

Eric Matthes

This is a great Idea Eric!!

The only solutions I can think of are to "sign up" the various Teams at the Alaska WebChess Club site and then have them compete in matches, the Team Scoring feature is not quite working correctly but I'll volunteer to enter the Team Match scores manually if you'll work with me a little. Another option might be postal chess. I have another idea.

The Alaska WebChess Club is always hoping for new members and looks forward to your continued participation!

Until next time ........