Hales Corners Chess Challenge XI!

Today is the day, and it's a beautiful but brisk one here in Milwaukee.  The sky is clear blue and the sun is warm and bright, but the wind is off Lake Michigan so it's coolish out there - definitely jacket weather!  It's a perfect day for a good turnout at the Hales Corners Chess Challenge XI.  Action starts at 10:00 a.m. local time (about an hour from now).

Pre-registration was 60 players.  "Walk-up" registration has been pretty good the past few Challenges - averaging around 20 players.

Registration in the Open for chess femmes wasn't great - there were three, but when I checked the list this morning there was only one listed.  That won't qualify her for a prize, as the number of prizes for ladies in the Open was dependent on how many play - and at least two are needed to play for one prize, three for two prizes, four for three prizes.  One of the ladies who had pre-registered had to withdraw due to illness, and it looks like another switched to the Reserve section.

Two Goddesschess prizes are offered in the Reserve section and five chess femmes have pre-registered.

So, our experiment with the prize structure to try and encourage more chess femmes to play in the Open has been a dismal failure. 

I expect the folks at the tournament will be updating the Southwest Chess Club blog periodically -- Good luck to all the players!