Chess Club is a short walk away from these 3:
Bidwell Tavern (American) 1260 Main St. (33 ft)
Pizza On Main (Everything) 1203 Main St. (222ft)
Phoenix (Chinese) 1203 Main St. (222 ft)
Bidwell Tavern has an ATM in front lobby.
Please read our Policies and Procedures
Report - Jan 12 "2019 Coventry Open"
Report - Dec 15 "Holiday Party Open"
Report - Nov 17 "Yankee Peddler Open"
Report - Oct 27 "2018 Connecticut Harvest Open"
Report - Sept 29 "2018 Charter Oak Open"
Report - Aug. 11 "2018 Nutmeg State Open"
Report - July 14 "2018 Connecticut Yankee Open"
Report - June 23 "Coventry Summer Open"
Report - May 19 "Constitution State Open"
Report - April 21 "Nathan Hale Open"
Report - March 17 "Greater Hartford Open"
Report Feb 24 "Eastern Connecticut Open"
Report - Jan 13 "2018 Coventry Open"
COVENTRY CHESS ATTENDANCE
2016: 13, 12, 8, 7, 8, 4, 8, 3, 12.
2017: 10, 10, 9, 8, 5, 6, 16, 18, 15 10, 8, 5.
2018: 8, 9, 11, 12, 7, 10, 11, 13, 8, 12, 13, 18.
2019: 12, 23, 12, 12, 10, 7, 11, 8. 9, 15, 14, 10.
2020: 12.
COVENTRY CHESS CLUB
STATE OF THE CLUB REPORT
BY ROB ROY
I am happy to report that our Coventry Chess Club is surviving. I expect at least
18 players on FEB 22, for our 2020 EASTERN CONNECTICUT OPEN.
We have conducted 46 tournaments since May 2016. During 2016 our average
attendance was 9.35. 2017 was 10.0. 2018 was 11.8. 2019 was 11.9.
We have accumulated 163 players, 82 of which only played once and never came
back. The odds of a new player coming back after his first visit is 50 percent.
I observed a similar phenomenon back in 1990, when I tied with NYC to win the
national membership drive. Most of my enrolls did not renew after a year.
New players usually finish 0-3. They get a rude awakening that they are not as strong
as they thought, and that winning at chess will require work. More than likely
this new player was winning all of his games at home, at work etc...
I am proud to have at least 10 youth players who play with our adults.
I admire their persistence, and I can see their progress.
We will no longer conduct tournaments during the summer; May-August.
Our summertime tournaments always lost us a lot of money.
I am always out to attract new players to our program. On the average; each of
our events attracts about 4 new players.
We have a dozen regular players active in the past year. They are dedicated to
improving their chess, and they compete often. Based on their 2019 attendance
I can expect at least 8 of these players at each tournament.
I have been a volunteer and donor for this program for 4 years. Joe Bihlmeyer
has donated hundreds of dollars to our program. Others are; Derek Meredith,
Rick Bauer, Hayes Goodman, Lisa Smith, Art Nagel, Dan Zhou, Steven Stewart.
Some players show up early and help with setting up tables and chairs;
Dan Smith, Abe Mondal, Jordan Groff. More stayed late to help with tear down.
All of this helps to keep our entry fees affordable, thank you.
My duties include attracting new players, and retention of our regular players.
I need to encourage each of our members to attend more often. We need better
attendance otherwise we will need to find additional ways to pay our expenses.
Maybe an annual membership fee ? Will this ultimately help us or hurt us ?
Another option is to increase the entry fee to $40. I am hesitant to implement
either of these options, preferring better attendance to solve the problem.
So for now, I will have a table to sell chess equipment, donating $$ to the club.
I have 8 chess clocks that I bring with me, made available for loan to the players.
I also bring in chessmen and boards my players can help themselves to.
I love having conversations with my players, but most of the time my conversations
are limited to... "Where is the restroom ?". "What time is the next round ?"
"Can I have a cookie ?" "What is the WiFi password ?" "How do ratings work ?".
Read my short biography below, you might discover we have things in common.
In 1975 I became an organizer and newspaper columnist.
My first few clubs were in Waterbury and Wolcott Conn.
I was elected state chess assoc. president in 1985.
I was re-elected 9 more times. I organized 10 annual
state championship tournaments.
My column ran weekly for 25 years, Waterbury Sunday Republican.
I organized and directed hundreds of USCF tournaments
in Southington, Danbury, Naugatuck, Middletown (Wesleyan),
West Haven, North Haven, Hartford, Norwich and New London.
Best tournament I organized was Bushnell $5,000 Cup, 1990.
I have always advocated playing chess. Since 1976 I have
tried my best to bring new players into the game.
My tournaments provide Connecticut players with the opportunity
to get acclimated to playing under tournament conditions.
Our prizes are guaranteed, regardless of attendance.
I always recommended to kids they play in adult tournaments.
To become stronger you must play stronger opponents.
I worked at The Travelers in Hartford then IBM in Southbury.
For 12 years I was full-time dealer at Mohegan Sun Casino.
I dealt BlackJack, Poker and Roulette.
Liz and I are cat-lovers, so far we have rescued 5 cats.
I also play backgammon. I am skillful at cooking.
I have severe diabetes and other medical conditions.
For the past 5 years I've been barely surviving on social
security retirement. I enjoy writing, and I enjoy all the
volunteer work I do for Chess in Connecticut.
Rob Roy
PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN SET AND CLOCK
Please bring your chess sets and clocks with you.
The TD is under no obligation to supply equipment.
Historically I have always brought extras that I
loan out, but this is getting harder for me to do.
Please bring your own score-book, pen and/or pencil.
I don't get payment from anybody to run this program.
We pay rent to Town & Rec for use of this building.
All our expenses get paid from our tournaments.
Players forget to take equipment with them when they leave.
None of the items have identifying markings on them.
Players should mark their equipment with their name and email.
I have several items past the 90 days I usually hold them for.
Email a description to ConnecticutChess@gmail.com
2020 EASTERN CONNECTICUT OPEN
(202002224292)COVENTRY CHESS CLUB # 47 2020-02-22
Joe Bihlmeyer won first place 3-0 at the 2020 Eastern Connecticut Chess Championship held Feb 22 in Coventry.
Bihlmeyer won against National Master Yelfry Torres in the final round.
Lisa Smith, who is a student of Bihlmeyer, tied for second place with Hector Reyes, who is a student of Torres.
Bihlmeyer gained 24 points to his USCF rating, Reyes gained 81 points, and Smith gained 12 points.
Twenty-one players entered the tournament. The average rating for the 21 players is 1466.
Rob Roy organized and directed. Roy also provided free snacks and beverages.
Many thanks to Bihlmeyer and Bob Cyr, who served as assistant TD.
Thanks to Bob Cyr, who brought in a dozen Dunkin Donuts to give away.
Thanks to an anonymous donor who brought in two dozen waters.
Finishing with 2-1 scores; Yelfry Torres, Ben Amar, Mark Bourque, Jithu Sajeevan, Tom Campo (gained 654 pts.), and Zac Zambrello a new player who earned a 1674 provisional rating.
I wish to thank each player. We had 5 new players and 7 junior players and everyone was well behaved.
Please remember our future tournaments on March 21 and on April 18.
If you are not yet on our email list then please send the request to ConnecticutChess@Gmail.com
2020 EASTERN CONNECTICUT OPEN
(202002224292)COVENTRY CHESS CLUB # 47 2020-02-22
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pair | Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Num | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post) | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 | JOSEPH BIHLMEYER |3.0 |W 13|W 5|W 4|
CT | 12686352 / R: 2114 ->2138 | | | | |
| Q: 1971 ->1997 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
2 | ELIZABETH C SMITH |2.5 |H |W 19|W 9|
CT | 15913683 / R: 1434 ->1445 | | | | |
| Q: 1293 ->1311 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
3 | HECTOR REYES |2.5 |W 14|D 10|W 11|
CT | 14338768 / R: 1339 ->1420 | | | | |
| Q: 1196 ->1309 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
4 | YELFRY TORRES |2.0 |W 7|W 6|L 1|
CT | 14384402 / R: 2221 ->2216 | | | | |
| Q: 2061P15->2051P18 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
5 | BENJAMIN HOVER AMAR |2.0 |W 10|L 1|W 13|
ME | 14789400 / R: 2016 ->2015 | | | | |
| Q: 1818 ->1826 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
6 | MARK BOURQUE |2.0 |W 21|L 4|W 18|
CT | 12139250 / R: 1991 ->1986 | | | | |
| Q: 1834 ->1831 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
7 | JITHU SAJEEVAN |2.0 |L 4|W 12|W 17|
CT | 15756176 / R: 1909 ->1918 | | | | |
| Q: 1744 ->1756 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
8 | ZACCARY JOHN ZAMBRELLO |2.0 |L 9|W 14|W 12|
CT | 17301465 / R: Unrated->1694P3 | | | | |
| Q: Unrated->1596P3 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
9 | TOM CAMPO |2.0 |W 8|W 21|L 2|
CT | 17267096 / R: 599P3 ->1253P6 | | | | |
| Q: 606P3 ->1205P6 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
10 | ABHIJIT MONDAL |1.5 |L 5|D 3|W 19|
CT | 16778795 / R: 1718 ->1701 | | | | |
| Q: 1712P22->1686P25 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
11 | KEVIN RUSSELL CORTEVILLE |1.5 |W 22|D 20|L 3|
CT | 17085563 / R: 880P20-> 907P23 | | | | |
| Q: 876P13-> 901P16 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
12 | HAYES N GOODMAN |1.0 |W 20|L 7|L 8|
RI | 15207355 / R: 1914 ->1881 | | | | |
| Q: 1774 ->1738 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
13 | JONATHAN SMUCKER |1.0 |L 1|W 18|L 5|
NY | 16150138 / R: 1727 ->1719 | | | | |
| Q: 1589P22->1578P25 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
14 | PUNYAVRAT UPADHYAY |1.0 |L 3|L 8|W 20|
CT | 15975172 / R: 1540 ->1519 | | | | |
| Q: 1497 ->1467 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
15 | ROB ROY |1.0 |U |W 22|U |
CT | 10574790 / R: 1405 ->1405 | | | | |
| Q: 1032 ->1034 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
16 | SHESH BUDHABHATTI |1.0 |L 18|L 17|W 22|
CT | 15039100 / R: 1000 -> 923 | | | | |
| Q: 981 -> 904 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
17 | HANEESHA ATKURI |1.0 |L 19|W 16|L 7|
CT | 16282828 / R: 938 -> 913 | | | | |
| Q: 911 -> 888 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
18 | MACKENZIE FURMAN |1.0 |W 16|L 13|L 6|
CT | 12873201 / R: 673P12-> 747P15 | | | | |
| Q: 679P12-> 749P15 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
19 | NAYANDEEP TUMMALAPALLY |1.0 |W 17|L 2|L 10|
CT | 16956407 / R: 280P3 -> 539P6 | | | | |
| Q: 301P3 -> 548P6 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
20 | ROBERT CYR |0.5 |L 12|D 11|L 14|
CT | 12489098 / R: 1500 ->1500 | | | | |
| Q: 1400 ->1400 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
21 | THOMAS RIZZO |0.0 |L 6|L 9|U |
MA | 10017769 / R: 1517 ->1479 | | | | |
| Q: 1563P22->1520P24 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
22 | JITHYA SAJEEVAN |0.0 |L 11|L 15|L 16|
CT | 16403714 / R: 370 -> 363 | | | | |
| Q: 413 -> 403 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
2020 Eastern Conn Open is 2nd Best Turnout for Coventry Chess Club.
The 1st Best Turnout is Feb 2019 with 23 players.
18 players came Dec 2018 and Aug 2017.
16 players came July 2017. 15 players for Oct 2019 and Sept 2017.
14 players came Nov 2019. 13 players for Nov 2018 and May 2016.
Housemen are never included in these statistics.
So far Coventry Chess Club had 47 monthly tournaments in less than 4 years. Our average turnout is 12 players, which happened at 8 tournaments.
Poor turnouts/how often: 11-3, 10-6, 9-3, 8-8, 7-3, 6-1, 5-2, 4-1, 3-1.
We decided not to conduct any more tournaments during the summer months. We had all poor turnouts in Summer 2019. We took a beating for hundreds.
Most times we have lost $$$ because our cash prizes are guaranteed. Our biggest expenses are also fixed; Rent, Chess Life ad, affiliation dues.
Other expenses are variable; USCF rating fees, beverages, snacks.
We need at least 12 players to join each tournament just to cover expenses.
The club has been operating in the red since its inception 4 years ago.
