2015 – 2016 Grand Prix Final Standings

Lewis Sanders won the 2015-2016 Grand Prix.

Events included:
2015 National Chess Day, 2015 St. Francis Fall Open, 2015 WV Senior Open, 2016 Winter Open, 2016 Action Championship, 24th Parkersburg Homecoming, 78th WV State Championship

 1. Lewis Sanders       52.83
 2. Nikhilesh Kunche    41.92
 3. David Bruner        41.83
 4. John Roush          37.83
 5. Dan Cady            37.67
 6. Markle Butcher      34.92
 7. Joseph Baker        33.33
 8. James Fuller        28.67
 9. Ed Garner           28.17
10. Mike Felton         27.83
11. Charles McCallister 27.67
12. Armando Lopez       27.17
13. Sam Timmons         22.08
14. Boyd Reed           18.58
15. David Hundley       18.50
16. Marvin Boyce        14.50
17. Bob Canary          14.00
18. Bill Haynes         11.50
19. Surya Perla          8.00
20. Ben Good             7.50
21. Nathaniel Eerenberg  7.33
    Andre Linsky         7.33
23. Tyler Barnhart       6.83
24. Marty Clevenger      6.67
    Daniel Preece        6.67
26. Edward Shade         6.50
27. Mayor Bob            6.33
28. Anthony Francis      6.00
29. Gary Cummings        5.17
30. Jim Fields           5.00
    Ryan Ward            5.00
    Chris Greer          5.00
33. Mike Price           4.92
34. James Olson          3.50
35. Miller Bushong       3.33
36. Alex Chouinard       1.67

2016 WVCA Business Meeting

The business meeting of the WVCA was held September 3, 2016 before the first round of the State Championship. Two things of note: the Ripley Chess Club is donating $250 to the Grand Prix prize fund and the format and date for the State Championship is no longer fixed.

These are the requirements for the State Championship going forward:
– 5 rounds or longer
– G/75 or longer
– Held between August 1 and October 31

The 2017 State Championship will be held in Mt. Nebo, just outside of Summersville. Expect a 2-day 5-round event with a shorter time control for rounds 1 and 2.

The 2017 Action Championship will be held in Ripley.

Officers:
President – John Roush
Vice President – James Fields
Secretary-Treasurer – Ben Good
Bulletin Editor – Mike Baker
At-Large Member – David Bruner

Delgate to USCF – Lewis Sanders, Charles McCallister alternate

2016 Meeting Minutes

24th Annual Parkersburg Homecoming

Twenty players participated in the 24th Annual Parkersburg Homecoming tournament. Grant Perks from Ohio was the winner at 4-0, with Mike Felton just behind him at 3.5.

1st: Grant Perks, Thornville, Ohio.
2nd: Michael Felton, Grafton
3rd, tie: David Hines, Wiley Ford; John Everett Roush, Ripley; Lewis Sanders, Charleston.
Under 1800: Matthew Campbell, Morgantown.
Under 1300: Charles McCallister, Ripley.

Non-Rated Results:
1st: Gavin Yost, Davisville
2nd: Anthony Jenkins Walker

Crosstable

Winner Grant Perks

Winner Grant Perks

Non-rated Winner Gavin Yost

Non-rated Winner Gavin Yost

Non-rated 2nd Place Anthony Jenkins

Non-rated 2nd Place Anthony Jenkins

WV Action Championship Results

22 players from across the state and neighboring Maryland and Pennsylvania competed in the typically wild and crazy Action Championship. The fireworks were plenty with multiple upsets, time scrambles, and even a queen-and-knight-extra stalemate.

After the dust settled, Lewis “Crafty” Sanders emerged unscathed with 4 wins and 2 draws. The birthday boy, Ben Good, was just behind him at 4 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. Special thanks to Mrs. Good for a birthday surprise of chess-themed cupcakes between rounds 4 and 5.

Cupcakes

The full crosstable can be found here.

49th WV Scholastic Championship Results

88 players competed in the 49th annual WV Scholastic Championship held in Institute. The WV Scholastic Chess Association organized the event and president Robert L Greer was the chief tournament director.

The high school champion is Parker Benson (3.5/4), who won on tiebreaks over Vishnu Kasireddy and Cody Kropp. Parker will represent WV in the GM Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Champions.

The middle school champion is Nicholas Palmer (4/4). Nicholas will represent WV at the Dewain Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions.

Clare Higgins was the top female finisher and will represent WV at the US Chess National Girls Tournament of Champions.

All three of these events will be held from July 30 to August 2 in Indianapolis during the US Open.

Crosstable

The WV Gazette has also posted a story on the event which can be seen here.

Format for the WV State Championship

The WV State Championship has been a 6 round event held over Labor Day since 1945. Over the past several years, people have mentioned that they cannot keep up with a 3 day event on a holiday weekend. We’d like to get some opinions and possibly propose an amendment to the bylaws for a vote at this year’s tournament. So, what do you say?

[poll id=”2″]

New Website Design

Hello everyone! I’ve migrated the website from custom code to the WordPress platform. I hope you’ll all agree that the site is a little bit more readable and it will definitely be easier to maintain. Feel free to leave me feedback at webmaster@wvchess.org.

State Champions Trophy Retired

The rotating State Champions trophy in use since the late 90s has been filled up. It was decided that the player whose name appeared the most times be given the trophy. That was Mark Hathaway – all of his 7 State Championships are represented here.

Hathaway_Trophy

2016 Winter Open

10 players battled the 10 degree weather to compete in the Open tournament held during the last weekend of the 2016 WV Scholastic Chess League. State Champion FM Kunche was nicked for a draw in the first round, while Lewis “Crafty” Sanders drew with Markle Butcher in the 3rd round – both ending at 3.5 and sharing first place. Markle took third place at 2.5.

Crosstable