Hales Corners Challenge XVI: Photographs and Postscript

Hi all.

Hales Corners Challenge XVI was a great success from my perspective.  Darlings!  This is the very first time we ever had to SEND YOU MORE MONEY to cover all the prizes won by the chess femmes!  Like, totally HOO-RAY! 

This has been a very sad time for me, and earlier it was a very trying summer.  But right now is also a very happy time.  Last night Tom Fogec stopped by and personally delivered to me an autograph of GM Josh Friedel, written on the back of a flyer for Hales Corners Challenge XVI.  As you all know, Josh Friedel is one of our few American-minted GMs!  I had posted at the Hales Corners Chess Club blog some weeks before wondering if I might be able to get his autograph -- half joking at the time because of course I wouldn't have thought twice about barging right up to him with pen and paper in hand :)  Tom also told me that all of the chess femmes got together to have their photographs taken, those who played in the Open, and those who played in the Reserve, and that Allen Becker would be sending those to me. It brought good tears to my eyes.

Those photographs were in my email tonight when I got home from a night-out with those wild and crazy chicks with whom I share bus rides to and from work downtown, five days a week.  We are the Rocking Crazy Cougars (or is that Crazy Cougars in Rocking Chairs...), amongst other names, except for "Thelma" because she's only 32 and far too young to be in Cougar territory.  But we're teaching her how to hunt...

Oops, straying from the point here!  It was wonderful to be with supportive, caring friends.  I've had overwhelming support, in fact, and your sympathy and caring have been a life-line during a very dark time.  Of course, one does not just wave one's magic wand and get over the death of a dearly beloved friend, companion, husband-in-everything-but-on-paper, not to mention a business partner and key component of what makes up Goddesschess.  But with such overwhelming support of friends and fans and sympathetic hearts, one carries on.  I'm no doofus.  I know when I have it good.  As Elie-Mae timely reminded me, these are blessings and I didn't even recognize them, like DOH, Jan!  I've been so used to having such wonderfulness in my life, you see.

Okay, enough hokey stuff.  Hey, I'm here, I'm one tough broad even if I can't play myself out of a paper bag on a chessboard!  Of course that makes no sense to anyone who doesn't play chess...

I love these photos!  Thanks so much, chess dudes and chess femmes!

These are the 9 chess femmes who played in the Reserve Section. Oh, me bad.  I SHOULD recognize all of you, but I don't -- maybe a wee bit too much wine with those Cougars I went out with earlier tonight... or - and I plead guilty - just a crappy memory.

 

I DO recognize, on the far right, the beautiful Anne Ulrich (standing, with her hand on the chessboard), and to her immediate left is Pat Foat, who has two chessplaying sons -- hey Pat, good to see you again, sorry to have missed you in person! I do hope we'll have a chance to mix it up OTB at Challenge XVII, but if we don't, let's go out to lunch during the break and schmooze.  And next to Pat is my buddy Ellen Wanek a/k/a Elie-Mae, who runs chess programs in Sheboygan, WI.  Okay, all the rest of you chess femmes, you're young enough to be my granddaughters.  Hmmmm....  Please wear name-tags the next time I see you.  In LARGE PRINT, please.  Hugs to all of you and thank you SO MUCH for coming out and supporting this wonderful local tournament.  CHESS FEMME POWER!!!!

These are, of course, the beautiful ladies who played in the Open. Oh - please excuse Robin Grochowski on the left and Tom Fogec on the right.  Obviously they are no ladies, ahem.  You guys!  You crack me up!  The chess femmes from left to right:  Alena Huang; Rachel Ulrich; Anupama Rajendra; Sandra Pahl. Rah Rah, chess femme power! 

 

I'm too tired to put all the math here that Robin G. presented me with earlier today in an email. Suffice to say, I KNEW we'd owe money this time because of course - wouldn't you know it - after all the tournaments Goddesschess had been depositing funds ahead of time with the Southwest Chess Club to cover potential chess femme prizes during the Hales Corners Chess Challenges, and we always got refunds back -- THIS TIME -- YES, LET ME SHOUT IT OUT AGAIN --THIS TIME (Can I Hear A Gospel Choir, PLEASE! giving me a big HMMMMMMMM and an AMEN) -- WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH ON DEPOSIT! 

Woo woo! 

Thank you so much, chess femmes.  Smooches to all of you.

Hales Corners Challenge XVI - Final Standings

A record number of chess femmes participated in the Hales Corners Chess Challenge XVI today, hosted by my adopted chess Club, Southwest Chess Club, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

I am working off of information provided at the Southwest Chess Club's blog. I'm not sure of the names of all of the chess femmes, only that four played in the Open and nine played in the Reserve.  The prior record was eleven chess femmes.  I am very happy with this great turnout. 

Here are the rankings of the Open and Reserve sections as reported by the USCF -- note: as Tom Fogec explained to me tonight (October 21st) the highest rated players who finish with the same score are listed from highest ELO to lower, without regard to tie breaks that determine actual finish position!  So, in the case of tie scores, the person you see listed as number 1 isn't necessarily the winner.  I didn't know this, oops!

OPEN:

No. Name St Rate Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Score

1. Friedel, Joshua Ed (1)........ NH 2566 W22 W30 W5 D2 3.5
2. Boor, Carl Brandon (2)........ IL 2361 W47 W11 W10 D1 3.5
3. Williams, William (4)......... WI 2223 W7 D12 W15 W14 3.5
4. Becker, Allen J (8)........... WI 2064 W32 D14 W33 W8 3.5

7. Ulrich, Rachel J (17)......... WI 1892 L3 W40 W35 W29 3.0 (clear top chess femme finisher)
16. Rajendra, Anupama (24)........ WI 1820 L12 W31 W42 D9 2.5
39. Huang, Alena (39)............. WI 1517 W26 L6 L23 L24 1.0
41. Pahl, Sandra R (43)........... WI 1450 L19 L26 L24 W46 1.0

Rachel Ulrich is the real deal!  She won three of four and wins a Goddesschess cash prize of $120.00, in addition to a modest gift bag and free entry to Hales Corners Challenge XVII, should she choose to enter.

Anupama Rajendra won two games and drew one, for a total Goddesschess cash prize of $100.00.

Alena Huang and Sandra Pahl each won a game, good for $40.00 cash each from Goddesschess. 

RESERVE:

No. Name St Rate 1 2 3 4 Score

1. Sydlewski, Dean (2)........... WI 1517 W9 W10 W17 D3 3.5
5. Saycocie, Vanisa (10)......... WI 1283 L2 W20 W19 W15 3.0 (Goddesschess prize $60)
6. Ulrich, Anne E (12)........... WI 1242 D3 W25 W24 D2 3.0 (Goddesschess prize $60)
9. Huang, Sabrina (11)........... WI 1249 L1 W21 W29 D11 2.5 (Goddesschess prize $50)
20. Pandey, Ritika (26)........... WI 877 W33 L5 W16 L7 2.0 (Goddesschess prize $40)
22. Wanek, Ellen Ann (28)......... WI 838 L13 L33 W35 W28 2.0 (Gpoddesschess prize $40)
25. Bepar, Naisha (16)............ WI 1082 -H- L6 L8 W34 1.5 (Goddesschess prize $20)
26. Vootkur, Manisha (19)......... WI 1028 L16 L7 W32 -U- 1.0 (Goddesschess prize $20)
30. Pandey, Divya (30)............ WI 746 L28 W35 L7 L18 1.0 (Goddesschess prize $20)
34. Foat, Patricia J (35)......... WI 306 L19 L31 -B- L25 1.0 (Goddesschess prize $20)

Updated October 21, 2012:

I added the names of Divya Pandey and Ritika Pandey to the Reserve chess femmes, I did not have them on the list last night.

Congratulations to all of the ladies.  On tie-breaks, Anne Ulrich, whom I met a few Challenges ago, is the recipient of a Goddesschess gift bag and receives free entry to the next Hales Corners Challenge should she choose to enter, in addition to her cash prize. 

As you can see, the ladies did very well!  ALL of them won prizes, I couldn't be more pleased.  For the first time ever, we'll have to put MORE into our prize pot!!!  Woo woo!

I hope this is the an indication that the future of chess femmes participating in the Hales Corners Challenges will just keep growing and growing and growing.

I understand photographs from Challenge XVI are on the way.  That means I've got to figure out how to publish them here.  Evidently, all of a sudden I ran up against a LIMIT on images I had no idea existed before a few days ago.  So now Google wants money from me for a supposedly FREE blog, and if I do not pay up, I cannot post any further images at this blog.

My choices are limited.  I can either start a new blog or pay the extortion to add more images to this blog and continue it forward.  Of course, the extortion could increase at any time, as extortionists tend to do.

So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do at the present time. 

Hales Corners Challenge XVI

Hello everyone.

Tomorrow the Hales Corners Chess Challenge XVI will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

I wish - well, we have a record-number of chess femmes playing in this event -- 13!  Four in the Open and nine in the Reserve.  I was scheduled to play in the Reserve, but right now my heart just is not in anything, so I withdrew early last week.  So, I'm not counted in that big 13.  Before this Challenge, the highest-ever number of femmes that participated in a Challenge was 11.  So a new record has been set, thanks to you all.

I must give kudos to my friends at Southwest Chess Club.  They have been very supportive and understanding during this time.  Tonight one of their members stopped by the house and picked up the gift bags to be presented to the top female finisher in each of the Open and Reserve sections.  Thanks so much for your support.

And - there is STILL TIME TO REGISTER TO PLAY, because there is open registration tomorrow morning before play starts (SEE details below)!!!!!

The next Hales Corners Challenge XVI is scheduled for October 20, 2012.

GM Josh Friedel will be playing, and we're expecting another great turnout.

Goddesschess Prizes for Females in Addition to Above Prizes, Open: $40 per win/$20 per draw; Reserve: $20 per win/$10 per draw (and highest-scoring female in each section wins free entry into HCC XVII).
 

� Life Master Sheldon Gelbart will be on hand throughout the tournament to analyze games for tournament participants

ENTRY FEE

: $35 – Open; $25 – Reserve

(both sections $5 more after October 17, 2012)
Comp Entry Fee for USCF 2200+: Entry fee subtracted from any prizes won
SITE REGISTRATION

: 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

ROUNDS

: 10 am -- 1 pm -- 3:30 pm -- 6 pm

Pairings by WinTD---No Computer Entries---No Smoking

PRIZES

 

OPEN - RESERVE

1st—$325 1st—$100

2nd—$175 2nd—$75
A—$100 D—$50
B & Below—$75 E & Below—$40

Goddesschess Prizes for Females in Addition to Above Prizes

Open: $40 per win/$20 per draw; Reserve: $20 per win/$10 per draw


Goddess willing, I will be playing in Challenge XVII, in April, 2013.

GM Josh Friedel At Hales Corners Challenge XVI!

Do you want to try your moves against a GM?

GM Josh Friedel will be playing!

10 USCF Grand Prix Points 4SS, G/60. 2 Sections: Open and Reserve (under 1600). Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel-4747 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee-414-481-8000 (mention Southwest Chess Club for $79 room rate). EF: $35-Open, $25-Reserve, both $5 more after 10/17. Comp EF for USCF 2200+. $$ GTD: Open: 1st-$325, 2nd-$175, A-$100, B and Below-$75; Reserve: 1st-$100, 2nd-$75, D-$50, E and Below-$40. Reg.: 8:30-9:30. Rds.: 10-1-3:30-6. Entries to: Allen Becker, N112 W17033 Vista Court, Apt. D, Germantown, WI 53022; allenbecker@wi.rr.com. Questions to TD: Tom Fogec, (414) 405-4207.

Goddesschess Prizes for Females in Addition to Above Prizes, Open: $40 per win/$20 per draw; Reserve: $20 per win/$10 per draw (and highest-scoring female in each section wins free entry into HCC XVII).  In addition, the top female finisher in each section wins free entry to the next Challege should she choose to participate.

Life Master Sheldon Gelbart will be on hand throughout the tournament to analyze games for tournament participants.

Thus far, 7 of the 23 pre-registered players are chess femmes, hooorrraaayyy!  Significantly, three of them are playing in the Open.

Register early!!!!  Something new (well, new to me, I didn't know about it until this evening) -- you can register by email and pay on the morning the tournament starts.  How easy is that!

I would love, love, love to see this tournament break the all-time record for participants.  Maybe GM Friedel will be a big draw - hope so!  So, if you are in or near the Milwaukee area, come on down and play!  It's a great and fun group of players, parents and the folks running the show from Southwest Chess Club.  I've been to enough of these now that I even sort of, kind of understand what Life Master Sheldon Gelbart is showing us on the board (sometimes) when we ask him to analyze our games in the skittles room!

Hales Corners Chess Challenge XVI!

Hola darlings!

It is hard to believe, but Goddesschess has been sponsoring prizes for the Hales Corners Chess Challenges since HCCC VIII!

To end all of the suspense -- yes, Elie-Mae -- er, Ellen Waynek, has convinced me to play in Challenge XVI.  Seriously, I do not expect to win a single game, but I will try my damndest to do so unless my head explodes first.  Hope it doesn't do it during a game though, YECH! 

To celebrate our 9th -- yes 9th (count 'em on your fingers -- I did!) -- sponsorship of chess femme prizes for the Hales Corners Challenges sponsored by my beloved adopted chess club, the Southwest Chess Club (used to be known as the Southwest Chess Club of Hales Corners), in southeast Wisconsin, Goddesschess will be providing a little bit extra by way of special gift bags for the top-finishing females in the Open and Reserve sections - one each. 

Well, I don't expect most chessplayers to know that the number 9 ends a full cycle in numerology, before the cycle begins all over again, with number 1.  For us, this event is something special.  Some profound events have happened in the lives of each of the principals of Goddesschess since Hales Corners Challenge XV in April 2012.  I won my very first, and very probably last, chess game in a tournament during Challenge XV.  I do not know if we will be able to continue. We'll do our damnedest (is that a word???) to continue to do so.  You know, it is an old saying "Where there is a will, there is a way."  Well, we'll see about that.  We definitely have the will.

Oy, so here I am getting all sappy and sentimental, but you need to REGISTER to play, darlings!  PRINT OUT the registration form and mail it in with your check.  By the way, top female finishers in the Open and Reserve Sections from Hales Corners Challenge XV fees are covered by Goddesschess - you don't pay anything, ladies! 

Hey, William Williams, will you show up?

I hope to see you all there, darlings!  Ellen Wanek and I will be playing in the Reserve Section. Ellen does so much for chess for kids and Chess in the Park in the Sheboygan area!  She thinks I'm a heroine, but SHE really is the ONE! 

Chess Femmes, can we break a record for Challenge XVI and have the most female chessplayers ever percentage wise?  We've been consistently breaking records, can we do it again?   Please!!!!

Hales Corners Challenge XVI!

Yes, darlings, October will be here sooner than we think and with it comes the Hales Corners Challenge! 

Goddesschess is once again sponsoring prizes for the chess femmes for Challenge XVI: 

Open:  Win - $40; Draw - $20; 

Reserve:  Win - $20; Draw - $10. 

In addition, the female winners from the Open and Reserve Sections in Challenge XV are entitled to free entry should they choose to play, courtesy of Goddesschess.  Same deal for Challenge XVI. 

Registration form.

The playing venue is once again the Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel, on South Howell Avenue (very close to Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport), a few blocks south of East Layton Avenue.  It's comfortable and convenient.  There are restaurants on premises in addition to several fast food places within easy walking distance for lunch or, if you play like me, with long waits in between games, a visit for a shake, or some fries... :)

Of course the question on everyone's mind is - will SHE be playing again.

Ahem.

We'll see...

We're planning some special things for THIS Challenge, by the way. We've been sponsoring since Challenge VIII -- about time, doncha think???