Did I Mention the Grandmasters?

I had another great day at the St. Louis Chess Club before leaving for home tomorrow. As usual, I played lots of games. In this picture you can see that I'm not the only one that gets a headache from playing A-players like Alex Vergilesov.

And just to prove that I really did meet the player who signed my board in Indianapolis, here's GM Hikaru Nakamura and I posing under the club logo. Hikaru came in for a little 5 minute tourrnament action tonight and was kind enough to pose with me.

I caught GM Ben Finegold knocking out a few speed games with the guys (that's his daughter peering around another player). Later I listened to a great lecture he gave, reviewing all 6 of his games from the recent Nationals in Las Vegas. Amazingly, I actually understood some of the moves. At least .... I think I did.

A Day at the Chess Club

Well yeah. Of course they look familiar. It's the Emberton family from Elizabethtown! Imagine going to St. Louis to see the chess club, sittitng down for a game, and then thinking "gee, those boys sure look a lot like the ones from the Hardin County Kids Chess Club". Then I saw the rest of the familly and realized "they really are the boys from the Hardin County Kids Chess Club!"

Then I look up from my board and see a very familiar chess face, Jennifer Shahade! How gracious she was to have her photo taken with me just to prove to everyone at the club back home that I actually saw her. She was busy today teaching other women how to play chess.

The club building has three levels. The lower level houses the library along with a lecture room. Hmmm, maybe we need a real library room like this one!

The top floor was a spacious and quite attractive playing area. Imagine playing under the watchful eyes of Capablanca!

Everywhere I Go ..... There I Am

I have arrived! After a pleasant drive I've arrived at the door to the St. Louis Chess Club. Err ..... except the club isn't open on Monday's, so I'll have to come back tomorrow. No matter! I'm here! I'm good with that.