Harold Dondis injured

Chris Chase:

While leaving his firm's building a week from this past Tuesday, Harold was knocked to the floor by someone in a hurry. The building actually has the accident filmed by their security cameras. A building security guard came and got me from the car and I found Harold sitting in a chair in much pain and badly shaken. I drove him to Mt. Auburn Hospital's ER and found out that he had broken a bone in his right shoulder (I don't remember which one.) He was lucky in the sense as he didn't hit his head nor break his hip and the fracture is clean and will not require surgery but Harold, in his rather gloomy Maine - born approach, does not agree with me on this.

.
Anyway, he was at Mt. Auburn Hospital for three nights. His right arm is in a sling and will be for a while. Last Friday he was transferred to the Belmont Manor Nursing Home for rehab and 7/24 care. He is doing much better now. His spirit is much better and he is in much less pain. He should be leaving Belmont Manor this coming Friday. Further rehab will take place at home and it should take about 4 to 6 weeks before he can go back to work. It will probably be a little less time before he can return to playing chess.



.
Get-well cards can be sent to his home address: 583 Belmont Street, Belmont, MA 02478

Grand Prix Standings Update

With the third round of the first 2012 Grand Prix only two days away, it's time to look upon the standings and gander who leads thus far in our great journey:

MASTERS
Chris Williams          4
Eric Godin               3.5
Carey Theil              3.5

U2200
Jesse Nicholas            5.5
Emmanuel Mevs         5
Michelle Chen            3
Sebastian Gueler        3

U2000
Greg Bodwin             3
Harold Dondis           3
Daniel Schmidt          2.5
Natasha Christiansen 2

U1800
Mike Griffin               4
Arthur Tang               4
Robert Holmgren       4
Nithin Kavi                3.5
Thomas Laaman        3.5
Jerry Williams            3.5
Bowen Wang             3
Carissa Yip                3

U1600
Steven Stepak           7.5
David Martin             5.5
Brandon Wu              3

U1400
Alyssa Stachowski    3
Matthew Ding           2

U1200
Eddie Wei                 3
Lucy Cai                   2
Justin Wu                  1.5

Remember, the tournament continues this Saturday, March 24th, at 10 AM!

Design a Chess Set

B.J. Richards 9:43am Mar 20 Have a great design for a chess set? Win a 3D printer! Design a Chess Set – Win a MakerBot! « MakerBot Industries www.makerbot.com As our fellow citizens at Thingiverse have proven time and time and time and time again, printing yo... B.J. Richards Have a great design for a chess set? Win a 3D printer! Design a Chess Set – Win a MakerBot! « MakerBot Industries www.makerbot.com As our fellow citizens at Thingiverse have proven time and time and time and time again, printing your own custom chess set can be one of the greatest joys of owning a MakerBot. Have you got a brilliant design for a chess set that you want to share? Want a MakerBot Replicator? · · · Share · Yesterday at 9:43am

Outstanding $10 Open

Saturday's $10 Open was outstanding, even for the ever-popular BCF event.

52 players entered [ 21 in the Open and 31 in the U1800 ].

Life Master Eric Godin topped the Open section with 3.5.
In the U1800 group Alexander Roy led with 4.0.

You can view details below, get a better view by clicking on each image or visiting the USCF cross table site.

Thanks to TD Bernardo Iglesias who handled the entire event over at a least a 12 hour day.

'Twas the Simul Last Week

As South Station clamored with rush hour thunder, 
At its center the crowds saw an int'resting wonder.
A great figure present, unbeknownst t' some of them, 
'Twas Larry. M. Christiansen, the famous GM. 

He played at a time up to two dozen and one, 
And as the games finished, more still would come. 
He had but one loss, and one loss alone
To the expert J. Nicholas, the Boylston club's own. 

Please know this event of its kind not the last, 
And far from the first, for now four we've amassed. 
And to those who more South Station Simuls should crave, 
The next's April 10th, so that date should be saved.  

REMINDER: Larry Christiansen Simul This Thursday!

Just a reminder to everyone, GM Larry Christiansen will be holding a 25-board simultaneous exhibition THIS THURSDAY, March 8th, at 5:00 P.M.
As the T.D. for this month's Thursday Night Swiss, I'd also like to remind people that that event will be held as usual, and the second round of the March tournament will begin at 7:00 P.M that same night. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THESE WONDERFUL EVENTS. If you aim to start your simul game closer to 5:00, you can still make the start of TNS. If you do choose to go this route, though, feel free to tell GM Christiansen of your intent, so he can show as little mercy as possible and help you get to the Boylston on time.
Good luck!

13th annual Paramount

For some people spring is signaled by the start of Red Sox reporting to spring training, by groundhog day, by the returning swallows to Capistrano...

But for many of us it is the Paramount.

This will be the 13th annual edition of the popular tournament, a ten-round, double round-robin. Initiated by Bryan Clark, this format [generous time control with two try's against known opponents bunched in competitive groups] remains popular. And it is one of the few tournaments left that incorporate adjournments.

Monday, March 5 – May 7: 13th Annual Paramount

10 Rounds, 2RR, Players divided into six player sections by rating; 40/120d5, G/50d5 Adjournments are allowed after 4 hours of play; Entry fee: $25, $20 to BCF members; Prizes: 50% EF Registration: 6:00 to 6:45 PM Round at 7PM.

TD Robert Oresick
assistant TD Bernardo Iglesias

Questions

• What happens if I have to miss a round? May I reschedule with my opponent? (Will we know the pairings ahead of time to allow that?)

Bernardo uses SwissSys to make pairings for the entire tournament on the first evening. So, you know your opponent and can prepare for him or her, except, of course, in that first round. If you need to reschedule a round, you just notify the TD and work it out with your opponent. All rounds should be completed by the end date of the tournament.

• I see that there are ten rounds and six players in each section (unless I'm misreading). How will the players be divided into sections? How are pairings determined? As in a Swiss?

The top six rated players will be in group one. If there are another six, they will be in group two. If there are more, another group of six or four will be formed, to maintain the double round-robin format.

• What level of participation do you usually see? What level players, approximately, and how many? Do you expect anything to be different this year?

We don't know what to expect this year, but in the past two years, we had 2 or 3 groups.

In 2011 we had two groups:



In 2010, we had three groups:

GM Larry Christiansen Simul at South Station

GM Larry Christiansen

will give a
25-board simultaneous exhibition

at South Station

on Thursday, March 8
(International Women's Day)

5 - 7 PM.

There is no pre-registration and no fee; as long as there is an empty board, you may sit down at any time up to 6:30 PM and try your luck.

E-mail natashaus@alum.mit.edu with any questions.

Note: starting a game against Larry closer to 5 PM will help ensure enough time to make it to the TNS at the Boylston starting at 7:00.