Ashland XXVIII began with a bang on Thursday with white claiming the victory in every game. Adam Shaw, Mike Mayfield and James Price jumped to early leads in the tournament with a crowd of others striving for the lead. As rated games finished, post game analysis and chaos blitz chess fun was a-plenty in the skittles room. If you weren't at the Columbia Chess Club for round 1 you missed out on a ton of fun.
Round 2 is July 19th, Call, email or text your entry before 7:15pm.
A few of our players are deserving of some overdue recognition, Christian Dunlap has reached his highest rating ever of 1104(currently unpublished), Lendel Robinson is playing great chess and up to his highest rating as well and knocking on the 1800 door. Adam Shaw has pushed his rating to a new high of 1860 and also runs the CRSA club in the Augusta Aiken area. Ben Caiello has reached a new high of 1928 and continues to improve. Daniel Caiello is a new rating high of 1635 and is preparing to start college in August. We will definitely miss Daniel once he heads to University life. Congratulations to Gil Holmes on the birth of his new baby. He is dangerously close to a 1900 rating.
Some notes to add to your schedule are:
Beginner's Tournament at St. Andrews Regional Library runs through July 30th.
Ashland XXVIII will run through August 9th
August 16th will be a casual night and a presentation and either a simul or IM vs IM consultation game will occur.
Columbia Open August 17-19th in Columbia at the Hilton Garden Inn Harbison.
Ashland Rapid September 15th at Ashland United Methodist Church.
Many of our regulars know of the recent passing of our beloved friend Paul Lowry. He was a fierce chess warrior, firefighter, poet and great friend. He loved chess and all of his friends at the chess club. I only knew Paul for three years but he has left a lasting impression on myself and countless others.
A few days before his passing I had the opportunity to have one of our wonderful eclectic talks. He was very sick, bedridden, in pain but very much in high spirits and as brilliant as ever. We discussed authors, writing, life, death and among other things chess.
The last piece of advice Paul shared with me was
"In life and in chess, dont create barriers for yourself, others will do that for you. Play your own game."
Paul Michael Lowry
I will miss our conversations.
