Chess: The BCF Donut Hole

My wife and one of her friends (who is on Medicare) have a very expensive migraine headache medicine that costs $1000 for 6 pills. People on Medicare who have exceeded their $2,800 initial coverage have to pay out of pocket for drugs until the next level of coverage kicks in: they are said to be in the donut hole. My wife's friend hits the donut hole in record time.

In June my rating was 1815 making me ineligible for the 2010 Weaver Adams. But by July my published rating will be 1793 thus placing me in the BCF Championship Qualifying Series Donut Hole technically making me ineligible for the Rubens Landy. Fortunately with intelligent flexibility RL directors Bob Oresick and Bernado Iglesias, with the support of President Jason Rihel, have made an allowance in letting me register for the RL.

The Board is working on reworking the entry requirements for the whole championship series in the fall to be ready for next year. Tradition has the final stage of the Club Championship to be a round robin of 11 of the top masters plus the winner of the Rubens Landy. But the BCF suffers with the pretty cool problem that we now have more than 11 masters thus another potential donut hole situation.

And not only is there a BCF Donut Hole but there is a Donut Munchkin: What happens if someone has a rating below 1800 in June above 1800 in July? They can play in the Weaver Adam's and Rubens Landey.

But we shouldn't become too upset by these things. Always remember the ancient Chinese saying attributed to Homer Simpson's ancestor by Bob:

"Don't curse the hole -- eat the donut."

What are your feelings about this Donut Hole/Munchkin?

Please Comment

Thank You

Mike Griffin (with contributions from Bob Oresick)

06/30/2010