Chess Chatter
This page is for news and recent results of the local chess community.
May 16 Face coverings are NO LONGER required by Minnesota state legislation.
The Castle Chess Club board has decided that until June 1st there will be an adjusting period where players may require their opponent to wear a mask if they are uncomfortable. Other players may play with or without masks, before June 1st. Starting June 1st, 2021, the Castle Chess Club will no longer be requiring masks, and we recommend that individuals not disclose private medical information. We trust our members to make their own decisions regarding their personal health.
May 2 Tim Radermacher has revived the MCJ. This was a hard copy magazine for MSCA that struggled to make it to print over the years. The cost and lack of volunteers doomed the publication. Now he hopes with being able to post online it might work. He has posted the first new edition on the MSCA site or below.
Troy Cavanah won the FIDE April tournament against tough competition. He is approaching Master status and once Dan and I get back he will scoop the points he needs in no time.
April 3 The World Open tournaments are planned for over the board.
March 26 I received an E-mail from USCF promoting the National Open in Las Vegas in June. I have been watching neighboring states and will post when mask less chess is back.
I received another E-mail from Continental Chess saying they are holding the Chicago Open on Memorial weekend with masks.
Iowa will be holding a tournament on June 12th. 4 SS game 60 delay 5. 2021 Mask-Less Summer Swiss
March 9 Nate Hoover informed me that Anatoli Karpov is going to be playing in a tournament. The TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament is an eight player round robin tournament in Malmo Sweden on April 24th-30th. Update (04/15): Unfortunately this tournament has been cancelled due to COVID-19.
IM Sean Nagle participated in a podcast with IM Lawrence Trent and IM Atilla Turzo on their attempt to achieve the GM title. The Perpetual Chess Podcast is best listened to on the treadmill or while pretending to work at your job.
GM Wesley So has become an American after passing whatever the requirements are. I thought I read that GM Aronian was trying to come to America. Full details.
I will be back at the board as soon as this silly mask mandate is lifted. I am half vaccinated and will be poked again soon. ( It is not a real vaccine as one can still get the Covid it just is supposed to be less severe. )
February 28 The Minnesota Open was held online at lichess.org. The winners in the Open were club regulars Dr. OK Iwu and Sammy Narayanan with 4/5. Full results here. The Reserve was won by Benjamin Vanorny with a perfect 5/5. The top five qualify for the playoffs hopefully when an over the board event can be held. Sammy, OK, Troy, Tim, Frank and Sean, the current champion.
February 10 [ Covid rules below.]
Tim Radermacher reports: Congratulations to Sean Nagle who is our 2020 Minnesota State Chess Champion! Sean scored 4.5 out of 5.0 points against the play-off field to win his 9th State Championship and first since 2016. The Championship was played on-line the last weekend in January.
Other play-off section winners included Troy Cavanah (Expert), Isaac Traynor (Amateur), and Mike Schecter (Reserve).
The 2021 State Championship cycle will begin when the Minnesota Open is held on-line via lichess February 27 & 28. Go to the MSCA website to register for one of the 5 sections for the Minnesota Open. The lichess platform was also used for the Winter Open in January and was successful with 87 participants. Lichess, zoom, and MSCA membership are all free!
The annual MSCA Meeting will be held via zoom at 7:00 PM on February 26. The zoom link is on the MSCA website in the registration materials for the Minnesota Open. At the meeting, the MSCA Board of Directors will provide updates on Minnesota Chess and answer your questions. There will also be an opportunity to vote for new board members.
Twin City Chess League will be starting on-line March 19. You can register your team at the MSCA website.
Finally, four new members were welcomed into the Minnesota Chess Hall of Fame. You can read about their many accomplishments on the MSCA Website in the “About Us: History” section. Congratulations to the Class of 2020: Roger Rudolph, Russ Erickson, Milt Otteson, and Jacob Harris.
January 29 Chess Castle’s Rules & Covid-19 Plan
Our new location is, 7800 Metro Parkway, Bloomington, MN.
The Castles doors are always LOCKED! To gain access, call the TD who is running your event. Their phone number is attached to your event’s flyer. Ample free parking is behind the Castle building.
Players must supply their own equipment (chess set and clock). Although a TD might have a set, this is NOT a given.
Registration will occur online (chesscastle.com). Although a TD may take an onsite entry it is NOT guaranteed. Events are limited to 24 players, so the only way to save your seat is through our website.
Time forfeits occur after 30 minutes (if you are going to be late contact the TD). No shows will not receive a refund.
Face coverings are required by state legislation. Players who refuse to comply with their opponent or the tournament director’s request to wear a face covering may be removed from the event without a refund.
Obviously, these procedures put an extra burden on TDs; please help them and honor the procedures. If there are too many problems we will have to revert to closure.
January 29 IM Sean Nagle has once again been declared State Champion. This time online in a strong field.
TCCL start date was pushed back a month to March 19 to allow for better advertising.
Also, the Closed from 2020 is this weekend:
Even though it is 2021 now, we still need to declare a champion for 2020!
Congratulations for qualifying for the 2020 State Closed Chess Championships to the following players:
IM Sean M Nagle
Ashton Jin
Joseph Truelson
FM Kevin Wasiluk
Okechukwu Ane Iwu
Tim Radermacher
Contact Dane Zagar
January 24 2021 The Winter Open was held online at the Lichess site. Jackson Wahl finished first with Samrug Narayanan and Tim Radermacher in 2nd-3rd. You were able to watch games and chat at the same time. Frank Johnson also played. Full results can be found here.
January 26 The MSCA has decided to run the TCCL online at Chess.com. It will start on February 5th and conclude in August. The tournament description can be found here: Twin Cities Chess League.
They will also be holding the Minnesota Open but this time on Lichess.org. Saturday and Sunday February 27th -28th. Description here: MN Open.
I received this information from Dane Zagar: The Chess Castle of Minnesota is re-opening February 1st 2021 at 7800 Metro Parkway, Bloomington, MN.
The Chess Castle will be open three nights a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday and two weekends per month.
There will be a max of 16 players per event and Covid restrictions adhering to State Legislation.
I will be posting more info tonight.
This appears to be an office building East of Cedar Ave./ Hwy 77 near the Mall of America.
Dennis McGrath has written an article for Chess Life on the closing of our club in the January issue.
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Bloomington
e-mail at info@chesscastle.com
