COVENTRY CHESS CLUB - STATE OF THE CLUB REPORT

 
COVENTRY CHESS CLUB

STATE OF THE CLUB REPORT

BY ROB ROY

I am happy to report that our Coventry Chess Club is surviving.  I expect at least

18 players on FEB 22, for our 2020 EASTERN CONNECTICUT OPEN.

We have conducted 46 tournaments since May 2016.  During 2016 our average

attendance was 9.35. 2017 was 10.0. 2018 was 11.8. 2019 was 11.9.

We have accumulated 163 players, 82 of which only played once and never came

back.  The odds of a new player coming back after his first visit is 50 percent.

I observed a similar phenomenon back in 1990, when I tied with NYC to win the

national membership drive.  Most of my enrolls did not renew after a year.

New players usually finish 0-3. They get a rude awakening that they are not as strong

as they thought, and that winning at chess will require work. More than likely

this new player was winning all of his games at home, at work etc...

I am proud to have at least 10 youth players who play with our adults.

I admire their persistence, and I can see their progress.

We will no longer conduct tournaments during the summer; May-August.

Our summertime tournaments always lost us a lot of money.

I am always out to attract new players to our program. On the average; each of

our events attracts about 4 new players.

We have a dozen regular players active in the past year.  They are dedicated to

improving their chess, and they compete often.  Based on their 2019 attendance

I can expect at least 8 of these players at each tournament.

I have been a volunteer and donor for this program for 4 years. Joe Bihlmeyer

has donated hundreds of dollars to our program. Others are; Derek Meredith,

Rick Bauer, Hayes Goodman, Lisa Smith, Art Nagel, Dan Zhou, Steven Stewart.

Some players show up early and help with setting up tables and chairs;

Dan Smith, Abe Mondal, Jordan Groff. More stayed late to help with tear down.

All of this helps to keep our entry fees affordable, thank you.

My duties include attracting new players, and retention of our regular players.

I need to encourage each of our members to attend more often. We need better

attendance otherwise we will need to find additional ways to pay our expenses.

Maybe an annual membership fee ? Will this ultimately help us or hurt us ?

Another option is to increase the entry fee to $40. I am hesitant to implement

either of these options, preferring better attendance to solve the problem.

So for now, I will have a table to sell chess equipment, donating $$ to the club.

I have 8 chess clocks that I bring with me, made available for loan to the players.

I also bring in chessmen and boards my players can help themselves to.

I love having conversations with my players, but most of the time my conversations

are limited to... "Where is the restroom ?". "What time is the next round ?"

"Can I have a cookie ?" "What is the WiFi password ?" "How do ratings work ?".

Read my short biography below, you might discover we have things in common.

 

In 1975 I became an organizer and newspaper columnist.

My first few clubs were in Waterbury and Wolcott Conn.

I was elected state chess assoc. president in 1985.

I was re-elected 9 more times.  I organized 10 annual

state championship tournaments.

My column ran weekly for 25 years, Waterbury Sunday Republican.

I organized and directed hundreds of USCF tournaments

in Southington, Danbury, Naugatuck, Middletown (Wesleyan),

West Haven, North Haven, Hartford, Norwich and New London.

Best tournament I organized was Bushnell $5,000 Cup, 1990.

I have always advocated playing chess. Since 1976 I have

tried my best to bring new players into the game.

My tournaments provide Connecticut players with the opportunity

to get acclimated to playing under tournament conditions.

Our prizes are guaranteed, regardless of attendance.

I always recommended to kids they play in adult tournaments.

To become stronger you must play stronger opponents.

 

I worked at The Travelers in Hartford then IBM in Southbury.

For 12 years I was full-time dealer at Mohegan Sun Casino.

I dealt BlackJack, Poker and Roulette.

Liz and I are cat-lovers, so far we have rescued 5 cats.

I also play backgammon. I am skillful at cooking.

I have severe diabetes and other medical conditions.

For the past 5 years I've been barely surviving on social

security retirement. I enjoy writing, and I enjoy all the

volunteer work I do for Chess in Connecticut.

Rob Roy

 

Connecticut Chess Magazine # 193

 

 

NEWS FROM CSCA WEBSITE

2/2
The West Hartford Chess Camp & Tournament was attended by 25 players of different ages and playing ability. Joe Bihlmeyer and Suhas Kodali provided instruction in the morning. In the afternoon the Scholastic section was won by Sarvin Bhagarwar and the Adult/Over-1100 was won by Punyavrat Upadhyay. Crosstable.

2/2
A total of 86 scholastic players attended the 51st NECA in Stamford. Crosstable.

1/26
The Southern Leg of the NNGP and Greenwhich City Scholastic Championships attracted 130 players to Greenwich Academy this weekend. Nathaniel Moor continued his winning streak from the day before and won the High School section, qualifying to the Denker NNCT, Peter Wolfe won the Middle School section, qualifying to the Barber NNCT and Annie Ulmer won the Elementary School section, qualifying to the Rockefeller NNCT. Greenwhich City Grade Championship winners were: Landau Vincent Day - Kindergarten, James Lindstrom - 1st grade, Lucas Lazlo - 2nd grade, Jack Karanikolaidis - 3rd grade, Satya Daftuar - 4th grade, Oliver Servedio - 5th grade and Henry Graham - Middle School.
Report - Final Results - Rating report.

1/25
Nathaniel Moor has won the CCFC Club Championship with a score of 4-0; crosstable.

 

 

 

JORDAN GROFF WINS 2020 GREATER HARTFORD OPEN

 

List of Chess Coaches in Connecticut

 

Play More Chess Academy
1227 Whitney Avenue, Hamden, CT 06517
Email: info@PlayMoreChess.com | Phone: 203.680.0657