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CHESS CASTLE OF MINNESOTA |
ROCHESTER
NEXT WEEKEND; MC3
QUICK CHESS ON
SUNDAY [1/30] Go here for details on the Grand
Winter Open. These events are among my favorite of
the year. It is a nice drive down to Rochester, and the
site is matchless. Plenty of personal space at your
board, carpeted floors, nearby vending machines. Prize
fund is very generous; they must work at getting
sponsors or the site free or something. A reminder that
instead of playing the Friday night round down in
Rochester, you can play it at the Castle on Thursday
night. We open at six thirty, and start the games at
7:30. Call me at the above number if you have any
questions. On Super Bowl Sunday, we are
holding a 12 round quick chess tournament at the Castle.
We are starting early, opening at ten and starting play
at 11, to be sure to get you out for the big game. What
is MC cubed? Our fellow nerd Albert explained what mc2
is, but this? Another cryptic Castle tournament name, I
guess. Over a hundred and ten players at
the Winter Open yesterday. The top prize was shared by
Victor Adler and George Kane, who couldn’t beat each
other, just everyone else. LIST OF ENTRANTS FOR THIS WEEKEND'S BIG EVENT [1/26] Find listed the 75 players that have signed up for the Winter Open at the Roseville Skating Oval. If you should be on this list, and are not, please e-mail Dan at danvoje@chesscastle.com, or call me at 651.280.5473. A few notes - Although it is missing in the announcement, anyone rated under 800 USCF can play in the unrated Saturday tournament. You can only get one half point bye in this event. We have several guys who can only get there in time for round three, and they will have to take one zero point bye. It is 30 second increment and not delay, so work on setting your chess clock now. And the first round starts at a early 9:30. This is an MSCA event, so you do have to be an up-to-date member of our state association. It was my hope to get up a current member list, but all of the web problems have set this back. Be prepared to pay the $18 dues if you are lapsed. Please note that the next Rochester event is coming up next weekend! Sorry to the southern boys that we have not gotten this details up yet, in all the chaos. Of course, the Castle will host the usual Thursday night satellite round. Go to 2012 Rochester Grand Winter Open for details. BIG WEBSITE PROBLEMS [1/25] Yes, our site has been blowing up. Vanishing and evaporating. After years of using the same software program to publish our content, the hosting service we use no longer accepts the files it generates. So the site is going to look pretty stark until we can come up with a solution. The timing could hardly be worse, as we are three days away from the second biggest Open tournament on the State schedule, the Winter Open in Roseville. I have already received over 60 early entrants. Go to the State site (www.minnesotachess.org) for details. I hope to put up a list of the players, with John Baker's help, in the next two days. NOW TO THE BIG NEWS. This year's Minnesota Open is NOT being played in Plymouth, as the early announcements stated. It had been held at that Crown Plaza Hotel for several years running. But, due to a conflict, it is being moved to the Crown Plaza in downtown St. Paul, right at the north end of the Wabasha Bridge. The same site as last year's Region Six. You may remember when it was a Radisson, and we played the 2000 US Open in the ballroom. That is the same space we'll be playing in February 17th through 19th. FOR THOSE NEEDING A ROOM we have the same $89 rate as in Plymouth, but they are down to nine rooms this morning. The phone number is 877.270.1393. I would like to put up a list of the players, and maybe with John Baker's help that can get done in the next two days. |
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