The Kingston Chess Club

The Kingston Chess Club is located in the picturesque City of Kingston, Ontario, Canada on the north shore of Lake Ontario at the head of the St. Lawrence River. Toronto is approximately 260 km to the west, Montreal is about 290 km to the east and Ottawa is about 175 km to the northeast. Enjoy your visit.

What's New

April 30, 2009: Harry Wins!

Our congratulations go out to Harry Jordan who finished clear first in the Coppin-Palmer Spring Thaw Open. Along the way, Harry defeated the top rated and clear second place finisher Wayne Coppin.

The Kingston Chess Club is now closed while most of us take advantage of our annoyingly short summer to notice the world beyond 64 squares. Enjoy! We will return on the first Monday AFTER the Labour Day Weekend in September.

April 24, 2009: President's Announcement

Monday the 27 April 09 will be the last night of chess for this season. Just to remind everyone there will be a closing party starting at 6 pm. At this time the adults and kids will get together to enjoy some chess, pizza, drinks (non-alcoholic), and perhaps a little pot-luck as well. The Trophy's will be presented at this time along with a lot of pictures being taken! So please come early and don't be shy about bringing something to nibble on as well.

At approximately 7 pm there will be an executive meeting. Subjects will include an analysis of this years tournaments, preparing for September's election of the new executive, Finance report and a discussion on whether the club wishes to run CFC tournaments in the fall or run another type of rated tournament. This debate comes as a direct result of the CFC raising the Tournament Fees to $20.00 per tournament.

This meeting should take about 15 minutes, at which point we will have a general meeting to inform the membership of our decisions and then give the membership an opportunity to provide their input. After that the final round!! - Brian Murray

We have the pairings posted for Rd. 6 of the tournament.

April 8, 2009: Spring Thaw Open Update

We have the pairings posted for Rd. 5 PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS NO CHESS ON EASTER MONDAY APRIL 13, 2009. Round 5 will be played April 20.

April 6, 2009: Spring Thaw Open IMPORTANT Update

We have the results of Round 4 posted. The pairing will be up fairly soon. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS NO CHESS ON EASTER MONDAY APRIL 13, 2009.

April 2, 2009: Spring Thaw Open Update

Due to a late withdrawl, TD Brian Murray has had to juggle some of the pairings for Rd.4. Please refresh your Tournaments page to ensure that you have the updated pairing. Thanks.

April 2, 2009: Spring Thaw Open Update

We have results of Rd.3 and the pairings for Rd.4 posted. Again this round, we saw our developing players come up with excellent efforts.

March 25, 2009: Spring Thaw Open Update

We have results of Rd.2 and the pairings for Rd.3 posted.

March 25, 2009: CFC News Update

As TD. Brian Murray reported on Monday, the CFC in its infinite (read: bean counting) wisdom, has doubled the "Tournament Fee" from $10.00 to $20.00 for adults (from $5 - $10 for Juniors).

The move is already generating negative comments on the chat boards as infrequent players question the economic logic of paying double the tournament fee PLUS the rating fee of $3.00 just for the dubious privilege of having their games rated by the CFC. Your webmaster will go one step further...

As most of the K-town readers know, your webmaster REFUSES to rejoin the CFC until they do the right thing and address the Frank Dixon libel issue. The current President, David Lavin, has responded by haughtily stating that the CFC considers the matter to be exclusively a civil law issue in which they share no liability and thus it is none of their concern. This is utter nonsense of course, and we have the formal legal opinion by one of Kingston's top lawyers to prove that assertion. More to the point, we want nothing to do with an organization that refuses to act to protect the reputations of its members from publicly posted libel by any of its members. We were not demanding compensation or even sanctions against Frank Dixon or the CFC. We merely demanded that the CFC condemn acts of libel by its members (in general) and take the steps necessary to put in place the kind of ethics policy that every major organization and business in the world has adopted.

In protest, your webmaster continues to refuse to renew membership in the CFC as a matter of principle. The latest money grab will now prompt me to boycott all CFC rated events in the future.

There are other consequences to the CFC poorly considered decision: your webmaster sees no point in being a member of the KCC if participation in tournament play is not an option (since all our tournament participants must be CFC members or must pay the tournament fee). Therefore, at the end of this chess season, I will be regretfully leaving the club and turning the web site over to others to maintain as they see fit. While it has been a pleasure to serve, the CFC seems intent on making further participation problematic to say the least.

To those who have taken the time and trouble to understand my position in the libel related dispute with the CFC and have supported my position, I thank you for that wise support. Unfortunately there were too few of us and we were far too polite and reserved to make the required noise to force the matter to be properly addressed.

And to those who did not care one way or another, suffice to say that you continue to reap exactly what you sow. If, as a consequence of that apathy or ambivalence, you truly believe that our wonderful game willl be better off without your webmaster's local participation, then so be it. I leave with my head held high and one final warning to you: an ethically bankrupt national organization is doomed to fail; sooner or later. - Wayne A. Coppin, KCC webmaster

March 10, 2009: Spring Thaw Open Update

We have updated the Tournaments page with the details of the Coppin-Palmer Spring Thaw Open including the Rd. 1 results and the 2nd round pairings. May all your pawns be extra and passed.

March 3, 2009: President's Update

After a discussion with the club members present at the Mar. 2 gathering, it has been decided to run another tournament to wrap up the Kingston Chess Club season.

The six round swiss tournament will be run from 9 Mar 09 - 20 Apr 09 with a night off during the spring break (16 Mar 09). Once again the tournament will be game in 90 minutes with each player allowed to take two byes. There will be no byes allowed in the final round. Cost will be $5.00 for CFC members and $15.00 dollars for non-CFC members. The extra $2.00 from each player will go towards a pizza during the last evening of chess (27 April 09).

Since this is another new tournament for the Kingston Chess Club, as the TD I have decided to honour each year's club champion by naming this tournament after them. Therefore the name of the tournament this year will be known as "The Coppin - Palmer Spring Thaw Open".

As stated earlier, 27 April 09 will be the final evening of chess for the 08 - 09 season. Beginning at 6:15 pm, the adults will join the juniors and play some chess together. There will be pizza and pot luck provided along with pop and juice. All prizes and trophies for both the juniors and adults will be presented at the end of the evening with photos taken for viewing on the Kingston Web page for all to see over the summer. Everything should wrap up around 8 pm. The victors of the various tournaments will have all summer to gloat.......

More information will follow on the final evening of our chess season. I hope all club members will come out to enjoy the event.

Sincerely

Brian Murray
Kingston Club President

February 25, 2009: Club Championship update

Congratulations to Wayne Coppin and Jordan Palmer, Co-champions of the 2009 Kingston Chess Club. We have posted the final results and X-table on the Tournaments page.

The club will meet for casual play over the next two weeks. Hopefully our adult members will come out a little earlier than usual to help our junior members continue to prepare for the Eastern Ontario Regional Chess Challenge.

Sid reports that a school tournament event is being held at Rideau Public School on March 11. If you can volunteer your time during school hours to help organize the event, please call Chris Hargreaves at 613-389-8993.

February 17, 2009: Club Championship update

We have posted the 5th round results and the final round pairings on the Tournaments page. Interestingly enough, the current tie for first features three members spanning three generations in age.

February 17, 2009: Junior updates

Harry has sent us the X-tables for the three sections of the Junior Spring Classic on the Junior page. We have also received a schedule of various school tournaments from Chris. It too is posted on the Junior page.

February 11, 2009: Junior Club News Update

We have posted the final results of the Junior Club Championship tournament. Congratulations to the 2008-2009 Junior KCC Champion Chris Adams. Harry is also offering a special chess book promotion and a hot deal on KCC Tees. Last but not least, Harry has already sent us the lineups for the Team Championship event. Whew! It is all on the Juniors page.

February 10, 2009: Club Championship update

We have posted the results of Round 4 on the Tournament page. TD Brian Murray advises that the Rd. 5 pairings should be avail. by Wednesday evening.

February 8, 2009: Juniors update

Harry has informed us that all the Byes in the current Junior tournament (see the Juniors page) are 3 point byes (+B). The X-tables have been updated accordingly.

February 4, 2009: Club Championship Update

The 3rd rd. results are up along with 4th rd. pairings. It is all on the Tournaments page.

February 3, 2009: Kingston Open Announcement

We received the following from Alex Lambruschini:

KINGSTON OPEN

Tournament News (as of 2 Feb.): The tournament will take place in the John Orr Room on the second floor of the JDUC (corner of University & Union St). Expecting 20-30 entries. Pre-registered are

Bill Doubleday 2129
Tyler Longo 1973
Eric van Dusen 1935
Emre Turken 1929
Peter Arseneau 1907
Agastya Kalra 1843
Zhiyuan Zhang 1805
Mike Lacroix 1782
Richard Wing 1723
Grant Schaper 1692
John Lukezich 1478

Prize Fund = approx. 75% of Entry Fees (not incl. late fees)

Prizes based on 30 entries:

1st = $400, Runner-up = $200, Top ~U1900 = $200, Top ~U1700 = $200.

Note ratings for class prizes may be adjusted and accelerated pairings may be used depending on entries.

Host room available for $35 per night. ( Super 8 motel is walking distance from tournament (720 Princess St., 613-542-7395).

Advance entries accepted by email until 10pm Wed., Feb 4th, or by text msg to 647-203-2915 until midnight Friday. At site registration ($50) by 9am or else receive first round bye. Pre-registered players please arrive in time to pay your entry fee ($45) prior to start of play. Round 1 begins at 9:30am.

Tournament flyer: http://www.eoca.org/PDF/KO09.pdf

February 2, 2009: Junior updates

January 28, 2009: Club Championship

Round 2 of the Kingston Chess Club Championship 2008-2009 is in the books. While the favorites cleaned up in Round 1, it was those playing White who took control in Round 2. Black scored only 1/2 a point from 6 boards. We have the full results and the pairings for Round 3 up on the Tournaments page.

January 20, 2009: Club Championship

The Kingston Chess Club Championship 2008-2009 is underway. We have all the results of Round 1 and the pairings for Round 2 up on the Tournaments page. All the best to all participants.

January 19, 2009: New C.F.C. Site Online

If you have not been to our national chess federation website in a while, check it out. It went online early this morning.

Among other changes, the chess magazine is now only available online to members.

January 15, 2009: K.C.C. Club Championship

Welcome back, folks! We have received the following regarding the club championship tournament:

The Club Championship begins next Monday (January 19, 2009). The structure will depend on the number of participants. If we have around 20 the consensus is to break it into two groups (A & B) running a swiss for both and then the winners of each group playing against each other for the title. If there are around 12 participants we will proceed with a straight swiss. - Brian Murray, TD

Brian adds that the games will begin at 7:40pm.

December 24, 2008: Peace on earth

The Kingston Chess Club wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday season.

December 23, 2008: President's Challenge Final Results In

We have posted the final results of the President's Challenge, 2008 on the Tournaments page. Our congratulations go out to Harry Jordan who emerged clear first with 5/6.

December 16, 2008: Christmas Party

Remember there will be a Christmas party with the kids from 6 - 7:30 pm next Monday Dec. 22, 2008 before the final round. Everyone is welcome to drop in and say hello. If you would like to bring some food, give Harry a call or send Harry an email to find out what he needs. Good luck to all in the final round.

December 16, 2008: President's Challenge 2008 update

We have posted the results of Rd. 5. and the pairings for last round on the Tournaments page. Good luck to everyone!

December 10, 2008: President's Challenge 2008 update

We have posted the results of Rd. 4. and the pairings for Rd. 5. on the Tournaments page. We apologize to the TD for the delay... we have been away from our computer for a couple of days.

December 7, 2008: Junior Fall Swiss update

We have recently learned that Ben Yang has won the 2008 Junior Fall Swiss and the trophy for Most Improved Player. Congratulations, Ben! A smiling Ben proudly hoisting the hardware is on the Juniors page.

December 5, 2008: President's Challenge 2008 update

Regretfully, Jay has withdrawn from the tournament so the pairings for Round 4 have been updated.

December 1, 2008: President's Challenge 2008 update

We have posted the round 4 pairings and X-table for the President's Challenge 2008 event on the Tournaments page.

November 29, 2008: President's Challenge 2008 update

We have posted the round 3 pairings and X-table for the President's Challenge 2008 event on the Tournaments page.

November 11, 2008: Final Tournament Report

We have posted the last round results along with a brief report on the Tournaments page. Wayne Coppin emerged as the clear winner followed by Jayson Huang in clear second. We thank all participants for the sportsmanship shown throughout the event.

The KCC also encourages all its members to take a few minutes out of their day to honour the sacrifices made for us by our Veterans. We Remember.

November 7, 2008: Tournament update

Okay Folks... the final round of the tournament is set to go. Good luck to all.

October 28, 2008: Tournament update

We have the results of Rd 4 of our tournament posted along with the Rd 5 pairings. We have seen a number of upsets already, promising a most competitive final two rounds.

October 23, 2008: Tournament update

We have the results of Rd 3 of our tournament posted along with the Rd 4 pairings. Enjoy. :-) It is all on the Tournaments page.

October 17, 2008: Tournament update

We have received the final result of round 2 and the pairings for round 3. It is all on the Tournaments page.

October 11, 2008: Juniors page update

We have received Harry's report on the current status of the 2008 Junior Fall Classic tournament. It is all on the Juniors page.

Please remember that Monday is the Thanksgiving holiday: we do not meet again until October 20.

October 4, 2008: Rd. 2 Results Posted

OK - we now have the 2nd round results posted... well, most of them. :-) We are awaiting the results of two unreported games before we can expect to post the Rd 3 pairings. It is all on the Tournaments page.

Don't forget: we do not meet again until October 20.

September 29, 2008: Rd. 2 Pairings Adjusted

Please be advised that the round two pairings have been adjusted to accomodate some new information. Sorry for the inconvenience, folks!

September 28, 2008: Tournament results \ Pairings posted

The Kingston Fall Swiss, 2008 tournament featured a couple of upsets already! We have updated our Tournament page with all the results and the pairings for Round 2. Your TD is: Brian Murray (email). Please contact Brian directly with any questions or future bye requests.

September 21, 2008: A new Annotated Game

We have updated our annotated games page with an outstanding Canadian Correspondence game by Jim Cairns featuring the odd looking 2.Na3 in the Sicilian. You can find it from the Archives page or go directly to the game.

ROUND 1: Fall Open Swiss begins Sept. 22, 2008

Are you prepared? Round 1 of the Junior and Adult tournaments begin September 22, 2008. We would ask the adult members to arrive about 15 minutes earlier than usual in order that we may ensure that the pairings are done and the event starts as close to 7:30p as possible. Thanks.

September 14, 2008: UPDATE

We have updated the flash .pgn games viewer! You will find the link to it on the Archives page. Among other things, we have added games from the 2008 Club Championship and sorted all the listings by date. You may have to refresh your browser cache to see the changes. If you do not see your 2008 Club Championship game, either you did not submit it (as requested) or you submitted a gamescore with too many errors to properly interpret. It would be greatly appreciated if you submitted a clean .pgn of your missing game(s). Thanks.

September 7, 2008: UPDATE

We have updated the Junior page with the schedule of events and some important information for chess players and their parents from Junior Coordinator Harry Jordan.

September 1, 2008: Members in the News

Jay Serdula Completes Swim Across Lake Ontario

It took a grueling 41 hours, but Kingston Chess Club member Jay Serdula managed to complete his swim across Lake Ontario to raise awareness for Asperger's Syndrome on Wednesday July 30, 2008. We congratulate Jay on his outstanding achievement. The entire story with video can be seen here:

CityNews Report on Jay's Swim

Geoff McKay Recovering from Heart Surgery

We are pleased to report that Kingston Chess Club member Geoff McKay is recovering from heart surgery undergone in August. Geoff is a former Club President and many time winner of the KCC Championship.

You may send your best wishes for a speedy recovery to Geoff by email. We hope to be meeting Geoff over the board very soon.

August 29, 2008:

Call for Executive Meeting

Please be advised that KCC President Brian Murray is calling for a meeting of the current Executive at Denny's Restaurant on Gardiners Road on Wednesday September 3, 2008 at 7:00pm. There are a number of critical issues that must be addressed prior to resuming our club fall session. ALL members of the Executive are required to R.S.V.P. Brian immediately. Thank you for your attention.

The Agenda:

1. Schedule of events for the upcoming year,
2. CFC Membership and alternatives,
3. Continued discussion of moving the club,
4. Financial situation, and
5. other issues.

Comment: Welcome back to the Fall Session of the 2008 - 2009 chess season. Club meetings resume September 8, 2008. We hope everyone has enjoyed our far too brief (it seems!) summer break. Over the next week we will be bringing the site up to date with the emphasis on answering some of the questions that potential new members have sent. If you still have questions, feel free to contact us and your webmaster will get back to you personally.

As many of you know, the CFC (Chess Federation of Canada) has been struggling with some very serious problems. Indeed - those problems have already seen members refusing to renew in droves, various financial scandals and some radical surgery (including the cancellation of the CFC magazine Chess Canada). Your webmaster has already spent some time last year exposing the refusal of the CFC to protect your personal reputations within the chess community. Most of our members have historically preferred not to know what was going on "behind the scenes" and we have reflected that preference in the past by avoiding publishing the various stories and scandals. Your webmaster thinks that this was a mistake. The chess community in this country can no longer afford to remain willfully ignorant nor can it remain uninvolved. We will use this page to inform, to challenge and seek your opinions on the current crises facing us in the year ahead. It promises to be a most interesting year.

(Wayne A. Coppin, webmaster)