NATIONAL CHESS DAY! OCT 12th!!!! This Saturday!!!

Sure October 12th is National Chess Day, first authorized in 1976 by then President Ford.  At a time and a place in this country when Chess was the rage.  Bobby Fischer was still the world champion after his defeat of Spassky in Iceland a couple of years before, and the country was chess CRAZY!  I remember being in the Langendorf Park Chess Club in Barrington, IL

OK so in honor of National Chess Day the Iowa Chess Association is holding the Iowa Blitz Championship in Cedar Rapids Iowa this Saturday!  I handed out flyers this morning.

Here is the skinny

Oct 12, 2013
2013 Iowa Blitz Chess Championship
Celebrate National Chess Day and participate in the 2013 Iowa Blitz Chess Championship. This event is a USCF Blitz Chess Rated event. (Does not effect your regular or quick chess rating). Time control 5+0 (5 min with no delay). Champions, class prizes, and prizes for top senior and top youth. Sets and clocks provided. Where: Cedar Rapids Public Library - Downtown (new building) ,4th Avenue and 5th Street SE ,Cedar Rapids ,IA 52402 Reg: On-Site registration 11:00 am to Noon. Rounds: 7 Rd SS. Round 1 begins at 12:30 pm. Rounds 2-6 ASAP. Entry Fee: $10 in advance, $15 on-site Prize Info: Total prize fund of $240 based on 24 entries. 1st $60, 2nd $45, 3rd $35, U1800, U1600, U1400, Top Youth (U14), Top Senior (>55) $20 each. US Chess Federation (USCF) membership required. On-Site Available. Send Entry Fee to: Send advance entries to James Hodina, 3411 Blue Pointe Ct. SW. Additional Info: Contact TD James Hodina, james.hodina@chessiniowa.org or 319-432-1459.

 Today on the chess ladder Nathan Wei lost and regained the top spot from Barry Vigil, losing his first game, but then rallying and winning a second battle with Barry. 

Saif spent some time watching a game

and I love me some good floor chess! 

Here is the current Ladder.
1 +24  5  0 Nathan Wei                         
  2  -1  4  0 Barry  Vigil                       
  3 +19  8  0 Eric  Liu                          
  4  +1  4  0 Aaron  Smith                       
  5 +31  4  0 Jim Su                             
  6 +15  4  0 Yulong Shao                        
  7 +38  2  0 Vladimir Tivanski                  
  8  -1  1  0 Eric  Pieper                       
  9 +18  5  0 Akhil Bharanidhar                  
 10 +32  4  0 Liam Willett                       
 11  -8  4  0 Jacob Vigil                        
 12 +25  6  0 Joe Su                             
 13  -5  2  0 Justin Pieper                      
 14  +3  4  0 Benjamin Zhang                     
 15  +5 10  0 Jack Fasse                         
 16  +3  6  0 Luke Fasse                         
 17 +24  8  0 Noah Willett                       
 18 -16  9  0 Joey Vigil                         
 19  -7  3  0 Andy Luo                           
 20 -16  3  0 Defne Bayman                       
 21 +11  3  0 Andrey Arshava                     
 22  -7  3  0 Jimin Jung                         
 23 -10  6  0 Sanjeev Sarin                      
 24 -18  6  0 Eddy  Xu                           
 25  -7  2  0 Reece Yang                         
 26 -17  2  0 Alexandra Curtu                    
 27  +8  3  0 Yifan Bu                           
 28 +11  3  0 Rani Youness                       
 29 -19  2  0 Akshat Pawar                       
 30 -19  0  0 Anna  Zheng                        
 31 -17  1  0 Miranda Feng                       
 32 -16  1  0 Edward Keen                        
 33  -3  6  0 Thomas Pierce                      
 34 +15  4  0 JJ Brown                           
 35 -12  0  0 Aditya Malgaonkar                  
 36 -12  3  0 Ben Ciliberto                      
 37 -11  1  0 Ajay Bharanidhar                   
 38 -10  0  0 Shanza Sami                        
 39  +4  1  0 Serena Li                          
 40 -11  2  0 Alexander  Pierce                  
 41 -10  0  0 Joshua Park                        
 42  -9  1  0 Sebastian  Cochrane                
 43  +3  2  0 Diana Tivanskaya                   
 44 -10  1  0 Sachiko Goto                       
 45  -7  1  0 Joy Su                             
 46  -6  0  0 Dani Youness                       
 47  -3  1  0 Mohana Sunkara                     
 48  -1  0  0 Alysa  Skala                       
 49  -1  1  0 Grace  Song                        
 50   0  0  0 Tadamichi Goto                     
 51   0  0  0 Yuning Shao                        
 52   0  0  0 Ren Hutchinson