More details can be found on the Clubs page

Location: MSSU Spiva Library Coffee Shop
3950 Newman Road
Joplin, MO 64801
Note: Located on the bottom floor of the library, with an entrance available on the East side of the building.  Campus map available at http://www.mssu.edu/map.htm (building 16)

Hosted by the Joplin Chess Club USCF affiliate

Format: 3 round Swiss, Game in 60 (G/60), rated
Two sections (based on average rating), players paired within their section

Round Times: 9:30, 11:30, 2:30. 1 hour lunch break at 1:30

Entry fee: $10 if pre-registered, $15 at site
Prizes: Based on total entries but at least 50% of total entry fees

Registration: Advance Registration requested. Entry fees may be paid in cash in person on 4/3/2010, or checks  (payable to Martin Stahl) can be mailed, to be received by 4/2/2010. It is preferred that all players be current USCF members by 4/2/2010 and current through 4/3/2010. USCF membership can be processed online at uschess.org and membership can be accepted on site for CASH ONLY. Please check the USCF site for rates or contact TD for details about membership renewal or purchase on site.

Registration info can be sent to:

martin.stahl@joplinchess.org

or

Joplin Chess Club
2609 New Hampshire
Joplin, Mo 64804

Please include name, address, phone, e-mail, USCF ID# and rating.

On-site registration begins at 9:00 a.m., first round at 9:30

TD: Martin Stahl (417) 781-9091; (417) 483-1554 day of the tournament

Please bring set, clock, board, and score sheets.

Lunch – Players may bring their own food and drink.

It has been a month since I laid out my plan to really begin my chess improvement. As I expected, one of the most challenging things in this endeavor has been finding time to complete each task.

My first goal, tactics training, has been my easiest one so far. I have been able to maintain at least 30 minutes a day, pretty much every day, of tactics training with the Chess.com Tactics Trainer. I’m noticing some common errors in my recognition/calculation of the solutions, that are helping my thought processes, and have seen my ratings fluctuate between 1400 and almost 2000, depending on the day.  Based on the puzzles so far, I have noticed a need to increase the ranges of puzzles as I get better. I find myself missing many of the lower rated puzzles and need to make sure I’m not missing fundamental patterns in my practice.

Analysis with Solitaire Chess and my own games has been less productive. I have managed to complete three Solitaire Chess columns and start another one. However, I have only been able to analyze one of my games at this point. My hope is to catch up on both, even if I don’t get one completed of each type every week and can only average one a week.

Games have also been in shorter supply than I originally intended. Had to skip a week of club play and have only been able to complete two games a week for the most part. I’ll either need to decrease my goal or play faster chess to get in three games I guess.

Finally, I have been able to read close to a chapter a week but haven’t focused on it as much as I originally wanted. Hopefully I’ll be able to get into more fully through the year.

I plan on continuing and feel that I’m actually getting benefit from my efforts. Seeing weaknesses in my tactical vision and pattern recognition is certainly helpful and I hope I’ll begin to see continued improvements there. Any suggestions or recommendations are always welcome.

I have seen the the above quote, or variations of it, a number of times in different places. I don’t know who originally said it, only that it struck a chord with me. In my experience, I have found that I fit the amateur moniker in many of my endeavors, especially chess. Even when I feel that I’m good at something, I rarely take that extra effort to truly master it.

So, while this isn’t really a set of New Years Resolutions, I have made some decisions, a game plan as it is, for chess throughout the next year.  At least, this is a start and a personal plan to get better; to practice until I can’t get it wrong. If you are interested, read on:

First off, I have a lot of things I need to work on to get better at chess. To make it easier to digest and to make it more realistic, I’ll break it down to some fundamental areas and specific routes I’m going to take to improve.  As always, time is limited and I will try to make the best use of the time I have. Also, I expect the plan to change throughout the year, as I get a chance to work through it and see what what can be done in the time I have.

Puzzles and Problems

Each day, I am going to dedicate a minimum of 30 minutes to various chess puzzles and problems. I will alternate this between standard tactics puzzles, endgame problems and “find the best move” type of puzzles. To help in this part of my study I will utilize a number of resources I currently have:

• Problem/Puzzle books and computer based versions of these books when I can get/create them
• Endgame Books
• Chess.com’s Tactics Trainer
• Chess Tactics Server

Master Games

I will analyze at least one Master level game a week. It will take a while for the quality of my analysis to increase but I hope this will improve my game play, both by going over the games and by trying to determine the hows and whys of the play.

My initial plan is to use as many of the Chess Life Solitaire Chess columns by Bruce Pandolfini as I can get my hands on. I also plan on getting game collections that are well annotated to continue with, after I have exhausted the columns. I have purchased a couple of older tournament collections to help out:

• Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953 annotated by David Bronstein
• New York 1924 annotated by Alexander Alekhine

I hope to add to that collection with additional well annotated collections, tournaments and player specific, as time goes by.

General Chess Reading

Each week I will read at least one chapter from a general, non-puzzle/non-problem chess book. Depending on the subject matter and my comprehension of it, I may go over the same chapter each week, until I truly understand it. At this point I don’t have a specific book planned and I may swap which books I read chapters from each week.

I hope that with my other study I will be able to pinpoint areas that need the most work and tailor my reading to those subjects.

Play and Analyze Games

I have been playing a number of online correspondence games consecutively and I plan on continuing that, though I still need to set a maximum number of active games at once.  Along with the correspondence  games, I will play at least three live games a week, with as many of those as possible OTB.

In addition to analyzing master level games, I will analyze at least one of my games each week. Since I won’t have the benefit of master level analysis, I will utilize a chess engine (or engines) to assist with checking my analysis.

Goals

The primary goal of this study is to get better at chess. My measurable goal by the end of the year is to be at least 1600 USCF rated, if I can get in enough rated games. If I am unable to get enough games in then I hope to be performing at least at that level in my games (based on the ratings of my opponents).

It should be a fun undertaking.  Along the way, I plan on sharing at least some of my personal game analysis. If you have any suggestions or critiques, feel free to let me know.

Unrated 3 round Swiss Game/60
100% payout (40%, 25%, 15%, 10%, 6%, 4%)
Free soft drinks

Date: 12/12/09

Location: Southside Senior Center
2215 South Fremont Avenue
Springfield, MO 65804-3101

Registration: 8am
Rounds: 8:30am, 11am and 2:30pm

Entry Fees: Depends on your rating;
Unrated and under 1100 $1
1200 $2
1300 $3
1400 $4
1500 $5
1600 $6
1700 $7
1800 $8
1900 $9
2000 $15
2100 and above $25

Contact: Tha Dun, thadun2008@gmail.com

Location: Southside Senior Center
2215 South Fremont Avenue
Springfield, MO
65804-3101

Format: 3 round swiss, Game/90, USCF rated. Possible scholastic and non-USCF sections

Entry Fee: $3

Registration: Saturday, 9:15-9:30 AM
Round Times: 9:45 AM, 12:30 PM and 3:30 PM

Prizes: (based on 15 entries): $20 first, $10 U1400+unrated, and $10 for best female.

Contact: Michael Clark, mochessnow@yahoo.com

Location: Dalton-Killinger Construction
1301 W 4th St
Joplin, MO 64801

Hosted by the Joplin Chess Club USCF affiliate

Format: 5 round Swiss, Game in 60 (G/60), rated
Two sections (based on average rating)

Round Times: 9:00, 11:00, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00. 1 hour lunch break at 1:00

Entry fee: $10 if pre-registered, $15 at site
Prizes: Based on total entries but at least 50% of total entry fees

Registration: Advance Registration requested. Entry fees may be paid in cash in person on 11/21, or checks  (payable to Martin Stahl) can be mailed, to be received by 11/20. Preference that all players must be current USCF members by 11/20 and current through 11/21. USCF membership can be processed online at uschess.org and membership can be accepted on site for CASH ONLY. Please check the USCF site for rates or contact TD for details for membership renewal or purchase on site.

Registration info can be sent to:

martin.stahl@joplinchess.org

or

Joplin Chess Club
2609 New Hampshire
Joplin, Mo 64804

Please include name, address, phone, e-mail, USCF ID# and rating.

On-site registration begins at 8:00 a.m., first round at 9:00

TD: Martin Stahl (417) 781-9091; (417) 483-1554 day of the tournament

Please bring set, clock, board, and score sheets.

Lunch – Players may bring their own food and drink.

Location: Dalton-Killinger Construction
1301 W 4th St
Joplin, MO 64801

Hosted by the Joplin Chess Club USCF affiliate

Format: 5 or 6  round Swiss, depending on turnout, Game in 25 (G/25), Quick rated

Round Times: 10:00, 11:00, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00. 1 hour lunch break at 12:00

Entry fee: $1
Prizes: No Prizes

Registration: Advance Registration requested. Preferred that all players must be current USCF members by 10/23 and current through 10/24. USCF membership can be processed online at uschess.org and membership can be accepted on site for CASH ONLY. Please check the USCF site for rates or contact TD for details for membership renewal or purchase on site.

Registration info can be sent to:

martin.stahl@joplinchess.org

Please include name, address, phone, e-mail, USCF ID# and quick rating.

On-site registration begins at 9:30 a.m., first round at 10:00

TD: Martin Stahl (417) 781-9091; (417) 483-1554 day of the tournament

Please bring set, clock, board, and score sheets.

Lunch – Players may bring their own food and drink.

Date: October 3-4, 2009

Location: Southside Senior Center
2215 South Fremont Avenue
Springfield, MO
65804-3101

Format: 5 round, Game/120, USCF rated. Possible scholastic and non-USCF sections on the 3rd (Saturday)

Entry Fee: $10. $2 for scholastic, unrated or only playing in one day of main section (not eligible for prizes)

Registration: 10/3 (Saturday) 9:15-9:25 AM
Round Times: Saturday 9:30 AM, 2 PM, and 6 PM. Sunday 10 AM and 2:30 PM

Prizes: (based on 20 entries) $100 first, $40 u1700 and $40 U1250+unrated

Contact: Michael Clark, mochessnow@yahoo.com

I hope this year to be a bit more productive and finally talk some other local players to contribute some articles, games, etc to the site. I have renewed the domain name, so barring any unforeseen circumstances, I hope we will be around for many years to come.

So please, if you have any news, tournaments or anything else you feel would benefit local chess or is about chess in the area, please let me know.  Remember, this site is geared to chess in the area in general, is not dedicated to any particular club or group and welcomes your participation.

Thank you for continuing to visit and I look forward to continuing the chess journey with all of you.