Noel Skelton Open – A handful of Rochester area players attended the Noel Skelton Open over the Labor Day Weekend.  The highlight for the group was Ben Schimke scoring 4.5/5 and winning clear first in the Bantam division!  Congrats Ben on a strong performance!  Nate Harmsen also participated in the Bantam section scoring 2 points and gaining over 50 rating points.   In the Reserve section Tim Schimke was in a tie for 8th place scoring 3 points out of 5 with only one loss.  Maor Leker Locker scored 2 points in the section with a win over an 1800 player.  Rob Newshutz represented Rochester in the Premier division scoring 2 points including a draw with an expert.  Overall this was a strong performance from the Rochester crowd.

Tuesday – This Tuesday will be a casual night at the club.  Come, hang out, have fun, and play some chess.

Chess Article – I recently wrote an article for chess.com on middlegame planning in the Ruy Lopez that anyone can view for free.  Here’s the link: http://www.chess.com/article/view/middlegame-planning—the-ruy-lopez

We had a total of 10 players tonight for our G/8, d/5 tournament.  Here are the final standings:

Place Name/Team Rate Score

1 Matt (1) 2010 4.0
2 Roy (3) 1665 3.5
&3 Maor (6) 1299 3.5
4 Kevin (4) 1632 3.0
&5 Jacob (5) 1448 3.0
6 Rob (2) 1737 2.5
&7 Mike (8) 1063 2.5
8 Jai (7) 1206 1.0
&9 Caleb (9) 602 1.0
&10 Edwin (10) 546 1.0

I updated the club ladder with the results.  Maor, Jacob and Caleb all gained about 80 rating points.  Nice job guys!