Winchester Chess Club Chess Club meets at the Griffin Museum 67 Shore Road Winchester MA, USA
Club next meets on March 12, 2010, for the last two rounds of the two week, four round. Action Chess Tournament
See also news on Vivek Rao's exhibition April 16 Please note club is closed on March 19 and March 28
We meet at the Griffin Museum of Photography Here is an old Griffin illustration. And here is an old poem about life as chess player might see it!. Tis all a Checkerboard of Nights and Days Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays: Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays, And
one by one back in the Casket lays. Persian writer & astronomer (c.1050-c.1123) From the translation by Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883)
ebe by John Shawcross updated schedule, ratings list, club accounts and inserted cross tables for rounds one and two of the March 5 Action Chess Tournament. Also inserted a chess problem contributed by Suat Genc. Click here Previously noted that I.M. Vivek Rao will play up to 10 of the WCC top rated club players in game 30 exhibition on April 16, 2010 Previously added Herbert Handicap cross tables and photo of trophy winners see below
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David Plantamura is working to set up better communications though a Yahoo Group for the Winchester Chess Club. |
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Click this button to visit the Yahoo website and join the Winchester Chess Club Yahoo group. | Or...use this form to subscribe via e-mail to the Winchester Chess Club Yahoo group. |
WINCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS CHESS CLUB
FALL 2009 CHESS SCHEDULE
Winchester Chess Club (MA)
Club meets at Griffin Museum 67 Shore Road
Winchester MA, USA.
For close up of Chess Club location at 67 Shore Road, Winchester, MA 01890 near rotary in Winchester Center click here for map of Griffin Museum location: note the Google dot may not be where the club is. but where it says Griffin Museum on Shore Road on the map is in the right place. The Griffin Museum is on Shore Road on the West Shore of Judkins Pond (right side of Shore Road) about two thirds of the distance between the Winchester Rotary and the traffic lights by the High School.
Club meets 7:00 P.M to 10:0 P.M on Friday nights except in the Summer ( and in Summer some of us meet at the Winchester Starbucks, same time:)
or if severe weather or non chess event is scheduled. See schedule below.
Call John Shawcross 781 729 8925 if you are not sure the club is meeting
EVENTS (may be changed)Note whenever the club is open, members may play casual or rated games even if there is a tournament going on that evening. |
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Dates |
Club opens at 7 p.m. every Friday shown but for all tournaments must register by 7:15p.m. Tournaments start at 7:30 p.m. |
Entry fee
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Time Control* |
Sep 11 |
Dues for year $20 through May 2010 reduced to $15 from December 1, 2009 $5 senior or not currently employed) |
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Sept 18 |
by Vivek Rao (2495) Result Vivek 28 wins, no draws no losses, below Vivek, on right, with Kurt Milligan, the last to resign! For full story in Winchester Star click here
Click here for some chess games including the one shown above between Kurt Milligan and Vivek Rao. |
Members welcome and no charge. Visitors pay $10. |
Non club members please call John at 781 729 8925 preferably at least one day before to reserve a seat. |
Sept 25 |
Club closed for Griffin event |
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Oct 2 |
Fast Action Chess four rounds game 15. prize awards For Results Cross tables for ACTION CHESS TOURNAMENT click here. |
Free |
15 m |
Oct 9 |
Club closed for Griffin event |
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Oct 16 |
Casual and rated games, instruction for Juniors. |
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Bughouse tournament for outline of Bughouse rules click here for link to Wikepedia version. For Bughouse Cross Table results click here but from the left: First: Daniel Kuang and Ben Smith. Second: Richard Cui and Scott Streckenbach. Third: Greg Marshall and Jerry Wang.
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$2 |
5m |
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Oct 30 |
Casual and Rated Games |
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Nov 6 |
Quads Tournament Week 1 |
$4 |
60m |
Nov 13 |
Quads Tournament |
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Nov 20 |
Quads Tournament Week 3 please be there by 7:15 p.m . Click for Photos and |
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Nov 27 |
Club closed. Friday after Thanksgiving. |
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Dec 4 |
Action Chess Week 1 |
$2 |
20m +10s Br. |
Action Chess Week 2 prize awards: Click here for Action Chess Photos and |
20m +10s Br. |
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Dec 18 |
Casual and rated games, instruction for Juniors. |
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Club closed for Holiday period, reopens January 8th . |
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Jan 1/ |
Club closed for Holiday period, reopens January 8th see 2010 schedule below |
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2010 |
DRAFT Event Do you want a printable hard copy on one page of this schedule to carry with you? Click here |
Entry Fee |
Time control
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Jan 8 |
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Your choice |
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Jan 15 |
Fast Quads (3 rounds) Cash prizes Click here for fast quads results |
$1 |
20 minutes |
Jan 22 |
Casual and rated games |
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Your choice |
Jan 29 |
Herbert Handicap* Week 1
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$ 4 |
20m+10s(Bronstein) |
Feb 5 |
Herbert Handicap Week 2 (2 rounds) Trophy awards Click here for winners photo Click here for Herbert Handicap Cross Tables |
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20m+10s(Bronstein) |
Feb 12 |
Casual and rated games |
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Your choice |
Other games night (or regular chess) School vacation. |
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Your choice |
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Feb 26 |
Club closed for Griffin event (Private rental) |
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Mar 5 |
Action Chess Week 1 (2 rounds played) Click for cross tables for Rounds 1 and 2. |
$ 2 |
20m+10s(Bronstein) |
Mar 12 |
Action Chess Week 2 (2 rounds) Trophy awards . |
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20m+10s(Bronstein) |
Mar 19 |
Club closed for Griffin event (Stoneham auction) |
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Mar 26 |
Club closed for Griffin event (Taste of Winchester) |
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Apr 2 |
Bughouse Tournament (Good Friday) |
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5 minutes |
Apr 9 |
Casual and rated games |
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Apr 16 |
I,M. Vivek Rao will play the top 10 rated club (present or recent past) club players in a 30 minute game. Vivek will play black. Afterwards, Vivek will be available to review games on the demo board. Also for other club members there will be a one night chess tournament. (Tom will decide on April 16). |
- Free |
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Apr 23 |
Fischer Random (Four rounds) ( School is on vacation) |
$1 |
15 minutes |
Apr 30 |
Club Annual Tournament Week 1 |
$5 |
45m Jr./ 75m Open |
May 7 |
Club Annual Tournament Week 2 |
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45m Jr./ 75m Open |
May 14 |
Club Annual Tournament Week 3 |
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45m Jr./ 75m Open |
May 21 |
Club Annual Tournament Week 4 |
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45m Jr./ 75m Open |
May 28 |
Club Annual Tournament Week 5 Trophy awards |
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45m Jr./ 75m Open |
June 4 |
Casual and rated games TOWN DAY TOMORROW ALSO MAYBE SIGN UP FOR SUMMER CHESS |
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Your choice |
June 5 |
TOWN DAY- CLUB RUNS CHESS TABLE ON SATURDAY FROM 10 AM TO 4 PM SEE JOHN SHAWCROSS FOR DETAILS |
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HERBERT HANDICAP RULES ARE AVAILABLE ON WEB SITE ALSO RULES FOR BUGHOUSE |
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Club has $1,330 as of March 7, 2010 (excluding entry fees for Action Chess Tournament which will all be returned in prizes or if people prefer we may give trophies in lieu of cash)
See John Shawcross for scorebooks price $2 with space for 50 games of 120 moves; and sweat shirts price $12 and tee shirts price $8.
See David Plantamura for new triple weighted chess sets in nice zip pouch and also boards. David also can get chess clocks at a very good price.
(Griffin web site is at www.griffinmuseum.org) that web site
has maps of how to get to the Museum.
PLEASE
NOTE THERE IS NO SUPERVISION OF CHILDREN EXCEPT THAT PROVIDED BY PARENTS
OR GUARDIANS.
CHILDREN WITHOUT ADEQUATE SUPERVISION OR THOSE MAKING
EXCESSIVE NOISE WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE.
Call John Shawcross at 781 729 8925, or Tom Richardson at 781 721 1520 or David Plantamura at 781 729 8125 for information.
Original cartoon
by Jack MacAlear; painted in 1959 and given to Annie Murphy Springer who
gave it to my brother in law Michael McCaffry who lives in Rohnert Park,
California;
I photographed it Thanksgiving 2005. (John Shawcross)
Winchester Chess Club at Griffin Museum
Winchester Chess Club (MA)
web page by John Shawcross
Meets at Griffin Museum 67 Shore Road Winchester.
Chess club Annual Tournament Winners
In the case of ties the players are listed in order of tie breaks.
2001-2002 Open Tom Filipek, Jared Turkewitz
Junior Alex Filipek
2002-2003 Open Tom Filipek, Jared Turkewitz, Mario Cepeda
Junior Alex Filipek
2003-2004 Open Tom Filipek
Junior Alex Sun
2004-2005 Open Jake Garbarino
Junior Mika Brattain
2005-2006 Open Jared Turkewitz
Junior Hardy Zhang, Kevin Wen
2006-2007 Open Paul Godin
Junior Ryan Maguire
2007-2008 Open Tom Filipek, David Ferreira, Jake Garbarino
Junior Henry Li
2008-2009 Open John Shawcross, Tom Filipek
Junior Zubin Baliga, Yashasri Raj
Herbert Handicap Chess Tournament Winners
2010 Tom Filipek
2009 Mateos Sahakian
2008 Rick Lunetta
2007 Arnav Ghosh and Henry Li
2006 Benjamin Suire
2005 Arvan Sahakian
2004 Tom Filipek
2003 Laird Heal
We have been refining the chess handicap rules for the Herbert each year. The odds or handicap we plan on at present are as shown on this link.
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Less than 100 points |
Loses nothing but plays black |
100-199 points |
Loses "b" pawn and plays white |
200-299 points |
Loses "f" pawn and plays black |
300- 399 points |
Loses "b" knight and plays white |
400- 499 points |
Loses "b" knight and b pawn plays white. |
500-599 points |
Loses "a" rook* and plays white |
600-699 points |
Loses "a" rook* and b pawn plays white |
700-799 points |
Loses "a" rook* and "a" pawn and plays black |
800-899 points |
Loses "c" bishop and "g" knight and plays black |
900-999 points |
Loses "a" rook* and "g" knight and plays white |
1000 1099 points |
Loses "a" rook*, and "c" bishop and plays black. |
1100-1199 points |
Loses queen and plays white |
1200 1299 points |
Loses queen and plays black |
1300- 1399 points |
Loses both rooks* and plays white. |
1400 points or more |
Loses both rooks* and plays black. |
When one or more rooks are removed player may, before the first move, advance pawn in front of rook one square. When one or more rooks is removed player cannot castle to that side.
Time control is 20 minutes + 10 seconds Bronstein
History of the Winchester Chess Club:
The Winchester Chess Club was formed in the Spring of 1992. Connie Stolow, an educational consultant to gifted students, had several parents who wanted to know if there was a chess club in the area where their children could learn chess. Connie contacted Harold Dondis, the chess correspondent to the Boston Globe who put her in touch with Dr. Michael Charney. Dr. Charney started The Games Project/Chess Makes Kids Smart. Connie and Dr. Charney came up with some ideas on how to start up a chess club in Winchester. Connie approached the Winchester Library about using one of the basement rooms and posted chess board notices around town inviting people to an organizational meeting. Although Connie did not play chess herself, the notices attracted several experienced chess players who began holding chess games and lessons.
The Games Project/Chess Makes Kids Smart established many neighborhood chess programs and distributed chess sets. It also started a program to design and construct giant chess sets. With a grant from Enka, the Winchester Chess Club participated in building a giant chess set that is still available for play on Town Day in the Winchester Chess Club area.
The club met on Saturday mornings at the library until January 1993. But, due to sports, many students could not play chess on Saturdays. The library could not provide space late enough in the evenings. So Connie found out that the Town Hall was available to the Chess Club at no charge on Friday evenings.
Vernon Shoup was the first president..(Vernon died at age 61 on October 6, 2009). Tom Richardson (currently Tournament Director) was vice president and John Shawcross (currently Treasurer and Secretary) were members from the first year. Neil Akiyama was also active in membership and and publicity during the early day of the club. David Plantamura (currently President) joined a few years later. Steve Frymer of Lexington who was MACA President also came by the club from time to time to encourage it to develop and include more tournaments. In the early days, Tom Richardson and sometimes Steve Frymer would do a simultaneous exhibition playing up to 20 players.
On January 8, 1993 the club moved to the Winchester Town Hall. Initially using the Winchester Room and expanding to a second basement level room as membership grew. Since the Town Hall was free, the club was a low cost operation. No membership dues were charged although small entry fees were charged for tournaments in order to provide prizes and to purchase trophies. A coffee can was available for donations and gradually chess sets and boards were purchased. Some parents started bringing soda and selling it and this enabled the club to buy chess clocks. Later on the ENKA society provided a grant to buy digital clocks, which are still in use in 2008.
In the fall of 2004, after more than 11 years, the Town decided that the club could no longer play free of charge at the Town Hall. It would require the Chess Club to pay for the janitor who would be on overtime. The club could not afford that, so we looked at several alternatives, finally settling on the Parish of the Epiphany at 70 Church Street Winchester. We played there for the first time on October 8, 2004. The church charged the club to recover the costs of heating the church so it became necessary to charge a $25 fee per player each half season. The members loved the new location with its gothic charm. The parents also enjoyed having an area with couches and soft chairs, where they could relax and socialize, while their children played chess.
In late 2007, Jim Herbert heard that the Griffin Museum at 67 Shore Road Winchester would host the Winchester Chess Club at no cost. The club moved on February 1, 2008. This is a beautiful well lit location with the added benefit of providing chess club members an opportunity to view the various exhibits at the Museum.
Tournaments and Events:
The club holds tournaments at various times throughout the season. These tournaments offer time controls from five minutes for the one week speed tournament to seventy-five minutes for the five week annual club tournament. There is also a bughouse tournament where teams of two players battle it out. In bughouse, teams are chosen by pairing the best players with junior players which means any team has a chance of winning the event. We also hold a Herbert Handicap where based on club ratings the better players remove some of their pieces at the start of the game to equalize the games. The event is named after Jim Herbert who donated an antique silver cocktail shaker which had been a trophy at the Boston Chess Club in 1932 (the Boston Chess Club played Bridge!).
Above history compiled in early 2008 by David Plantamura (President), and reviewed by John Shawcross (Treasurer and Webmaster), Tom Richardson (Tournament Director) and Connie Stolow (Founder of the Chess Club). Details were updated April 2008 after Tom Richardson found a copy of the first Winchester Chess Club Newsletter (Volume 1, Number 1 dated January 1993 announcing the scheduele and the move to the Town Hall).
( As time permits we may expand this history. if anyone wants to suggest some detail or correct errors please let me know. John Shawcross)
Any person wishing to take an organizational role in the club should please advise Tom, David or John who will be happy to help you get involved.
President; David Plantamura 781 321 4515Tournaments/lessons; Tom Richardson 781 721 1520Secretary/Treasurer; John Shawcross 781 729 8925
CHILDREN WITHOUT ADEQUATE SUPERVISION OR THOSE BEHAVING BADLY OR MAKING TOO MUCH NOISE WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE.
For more information or questions contact John Shawcross 781 729 8925

The End of Chess