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YOU DECIDE! FOR DUKE AND FOR UNC!

Hello all! Thanks for accepting me into the group. I'm retired USMC, now Expat living in the UK looking to see if any other Marines are hanging out in the club? Please excuse the Queen's/King's English - my computer auto-corrects!

Hi everyone,I recently joined your group and have told some of my nc friends about this group.Hopefully they will be joining soon as well.I wanted to challenge our members to ask any friends that are NC chessplayers to join as well.Then play some team matches.Can we do this?

Maryland match (daily) disappeared. Not enough people?

Please join!!! https://www.chess.com/club/the-rulers-of-chess/join

It's been a few years since I played in team matches. Will these appear on my dashboard under tournaments when the games start? I'm signed up to hopefully crush some Alabamans in a few days. Want to make sure I don't miss the start. Thanks.

I'm new to chess and would like to meet other players in Boone and Watauga County. Give me a shout if you'd like to grab some coffee and help this newbie. Peter

Chess teaches foresight, by having to plan ahead; vigilance, by having to keep watch over the whole chess board; caution, by having to restrain ourselves from making hasty moves; and finally, we learn from chess the greatest maxim in life - that even when everything seems to be going badly for us we should not lose heart, but always hoping for a change for the better, steadfastly continue searching for the solutions in life” — Benjamin Franklin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQD7UdtUoXY

At ICC once in a while on organization CCA has a OTB (like) tournament you pay your enrollment fee by debit card (section winners get paid after their enrollment confirmed). I think one 45 min with small inc. per month. Details found on chessclub web site. I'm looking to come in some money (well until I wake up anyway)

When I became active in North Carolina chess after returning from 4 years in Southeast Asia as an aircraft crew member and crew chief (refueling SR-71 Blackbirds), one of my first opponents was Dr. Alan Lipkin. Big Al was a good friend of mine and we were both dedicated to chess organizing and playing unorthodox chess. I first played him in Statesville, NC tournament in a Dogwood tournament and won in a miniature game. He then beat me in a tournament in Winston-Salem. I got him again at a Pewter Cup in Hickory. Along the way, we both organized and directed tournaments. I assisted and co-directed many of the earlier Lawrence Pfefferkorn Opens (LPO) first organized by Al. We also traveled to many tournaments together. We drove to the World Open in New York, trying to play blindfold chess. We drove to Lexington, Kentucky were he organized and directed the Bluegrass Classic and I played (I went 5-0 in the under 2000 section). He was a PhD biochemisty professor teaching at Winston-Salem State University and had a side job of blowing glassware at a little shop in NC. I used to go to his house where his 3 kids were always watching TV (I think they all became doctors). I used to get in front of the TV and say, "don't I make a good wall?" He started the Southern Chess Administration, where he was the chairman and I was the vice-chairman, and we organized and ran a few tournaments throughout the South. He was an average player who loved to play gambits and played for fun. He directed all the early LPOs, and when Mr. Pfefferkorn died, I suggested that the name of LPO should stand for Lipkin-Pefferkorn Oprn. Lipkin later sold the rights of the LPO to another friend of mine, Thad Rogers of Georgia. There now have been 39 annual LPOs, thanks to Al. It is still one of the oldest and biggest chess tournaments in NC. I remember once between rounds, Al and I were relaxing in the hotel pool, when he sneaked around me and was able to pull my swim trunks completely off me and threw it ouside the pool. All he could say was, "J'adoube. I took en passant." Here is one of my games against Al, who played a Ruy Lopez, Schliemman variation against me. I pulled off a swindle when he should have easily won.

Here it is: I just do not have the time to annotate this, but I might later....

INFO: Registration on site: Friday: 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.; Saturday 8:00 - 9:30 a.m.; SCHOLASTIC: Saturday morning until 10:00 a.m. http://chessstream.com/US-Masters-and-North-Carolina-Open/NCOpen.aspx OPEN section will also be FIDE-rated Saturday Scholastic (8/18/18) playing sections (rd. 1) begin at 10:30 a.m. U.S. Masters will be held from 8/17/18 - 8/21/18

" Hi all ... The Winston-Salem Chess Club has come a long way, with new events that the club and the local community has never seen before. We are reaching out to local elementary, middle and high schools to coach and grow scholastic chess. Steps have been made for progress in other areas, but we settled on a location, and decided to throw our own three round tournament every other month. Of course, we don't want to clash with Greensboro's or Asheboro's, so we will occupy Saturdays with the least tournaments scheduled. The first Camel City Open tournament is scheduled for February 18, 2017. I'd challenge everyone to come out for the first event, drop some feedback, and enjoy the company and camaraderie you've all had throughout the years. As you know, this is a process, and we want to connect with you all and learn how to make our tournament shine like the rest. We would like to provide snacks, fruit and drinks for our players, if this course of action is within our budget! This is our first try at attracting competition outside of the triad; with the help of the WSCC Board, I've been planning downtown meetings, a quad tournament for USCF 1800-2199 players, and (hopefully) a club vs club match with Greensboro. You can find all of the information at: http://doc.chessstream.com/any/CamelCityOpen.pdf Thanks for your time. Sincerely, Tony Sanders "

The Triangle Chess Center is running a USCF rated ladder on Tuesday nights at 6:30PM. We play a single rated G/75 D/5 each week. More information can be found at http://www.tcctangle.com The Triangle Chess Center is located at 5920 S. Miami Blvd. Ste. 203, Durham, NC 27560 We will meet every Tuesday through at least November except for Halloween night.

It's not too late for both interested adult and scholastic players to participate in the various chess camps that will be running throughout NC this Summer. Anyone who has any information they want to share about a camp is encouraged to post it here.

Sorry to see him pass away. There are about a dozen NC players that I have known since the early 1970s that are no longer with us (Chuck Howard, Frank Montakhab, Rex Demers, Ron Gray, Billy Watt). Here is one of my games with Brad Fowler when he was experimenting with the Alekhine. It was played at the Wake Forest Open in 1978, which I won.

I'm looking to play a few quick games during my lunch hour in downtown Charlotte. Send me a message if your interested.

Scotty’s Story 2/22/14 I am currently 56 years old. I am a professional student (I have 4 degrees). I am a Minister, Wood Scientist, Gunsmith, Historian, and Martial artist (minus oriental religion). I like almost every field of learning. I studied Nuclear Engineering at NCSU 2.5 years, and decided I did not want to glow when I went home from work. I transferred to Wood Science and Technology, and spent another 2.5 years. Perhaps it will make more a more logical reading to put things in chronological order. I was in a severe car crash when I was 7 years old. The surplus WWII army jeep my dad was driving had just went over the top of a very steep hill, and was beginning to turn left, when a car came over the hill at a very high speed! The car was unable to see us till it was too late to slow down. The car hit the jeep 1-2 feet directly below the corner I was sitting in. Had I not been for The Lord giving me extra strength to hold onto the framework for the canvas roof, I would have been propelled at very high speed from the vehicle, which was knocked quite some distance by the much heavier car, and was totally wrecked beyond any repair. I had difficulty holding a pencil for years due to muscle and nerve damage to my right arm. I grew up in our family Southern Baptist Church. At age 9, I was convicted in my spirit that I needed Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and was Born Again that day. We took classes each Sunday for a few Months, and then we were Baptized. The night I was baptized, The Lord Jesus Christ called me into the Ministry. I told him “You work it out, and I will do it”. Then set it aside. At age 17, I was watching a baseball game with a girl I had started going with. She told me something that made me extremely angry. There was a very nice Obstacle Course built by soldiers from Fort Bragg, with a 35 ft. tall rappelling tower at the end of the course. I decided to run it to burn off the anger, and to get into shape (to attend West Point Military Academy, which I had recently received Congressional nomination to attend, as I planned to be a Green Beret officer). I was used to running the Boy Scout Obstacle Course and climbing the front of the camp rappelling tower after dark with a friend. I had been on Staff at the Boy Scout camp two years. (I am an Eagle Scout w/Bronze Palm, with 20 years service in). I had no difficulty running the Obstacle course, and decided to climb the front of the tower. I had climbed the one at scout camp dozens of times that way up the front. I got half way up the wall, and the boards were placed much closer together, so instead of being able to get the tips of my shoes in, I had to climb by my fingertips only. I decided to proceed to the top, and was looking for something to grab onto when my fingers suddenly released their grip from the board without my permission. I tried to do a parachute landing fall, but when you are going straight down at 45 miles per hour, you can’t do one. I remember my chin hitting the packed sawdust between my ankles, and I bounced up into the air and landed on my back. I was conscious the whole time, and began examining myself for compound fractures, as I could not feel anything from the waist down, only a feeling as if I had been dipped into a vat of boiling oil, as my back and leg muscles were stretched from absorbing the landing on my feet with knees slightly bent. At this time the girl came looking for me right after I landed. My first words were “I am dying”, then immediately I said “No I am not dying, but I am hurt pretty bad, call an ambulance”. I directed the ambulance technicians not to move my back any more than necessary. The local Hospital did an x-ray, gave me a morphine shot, and told me I had fragmented my L1 vertebra 75%, and broken a bone in my left foot, (the one that touched first). They were unequipped to treat such a severe injury, and sent me to the largest hospital in the state. My Orthopedic doctor there showed my x-rays to five University Professors of Orthopedic Medicine (who happened to be visiting the hospital for their continuing educational accreditation). They agreed that if I lived, I would never walk again. I had just received my Eagle Scout award with Bronze Palm, and Congressional Nomination for West Point, as I wanted to be a Green Beret Officer. Lying there on my back, unable to feel my toes, I asked God what was his will; did he want me to be paralyzed for the rest of my life? A small voice spoke within me, and said “start telling everyone I am going to get up and walk out of here”. 28 days later, I walked 1 mile, with no medical intervention or surgery of any kind, other than a chest cast. Six months later I scored better on the Military competitive physical qualification exam for West Point entrance than 80% of the cadets entering the academy the year before. They insisted I get more x-rays of my back, and mail them to their Doctors. One x-ray kept me out. So I went to North Carolina State University, and enrolled in Nuclear Engineering. I wanted to design nuclear weapons. I met Ruth (My Wife) in a Methodist Church beside campus, where we all went to watch Star Trek. It was love at first sight. We married the middle of our junior year, and this December will be our 35th wedding anniversary. I transferred to Wood Science and Technology, as I began to have serious safety questions about the field I was in, and the only jobs available (with a BS) were operating nuclear reactors on submarines for a year at a time underwater. As I was nearing graduation, the bottom fell out of the housing market, and nobody wanted any lumber, plywood, or furniture. A good friend got me a job in the Environmental Protection Agency National Computing Center in Research Triangle Park, so I took it instead of spending a few more years to graduate (and compete with 15 year veteran Wood Scientists looking for a job). In 1982, I was traveling to the airport to deliver packages for EPA. A car in front of me exited to the right. I then saw a huge 18-wheeler in camo paint with a giant bulldozer on the back, under the bridge. (It had been storming rain very heavily, and many truckers pull off under bridges during storms to wait till they can see how to drive again). I decide to get in the center lane (it was a 6 lane road). I check my mirrors and check to my left in the "blind spot" and a car was beside my back tire. I look back at the road and the truck has not pulled off the road. He was sitting in the road in front of me. I did not have time to slow a bit, and I was doing about 65mph. The huge truck was loaded with a gigantic bulldozer, and was a camouflaged National Guard unit. The driver said he had stopped to see if they could fit under the bridge. The driver was sitting in his seat when he saw pieces of my car come flying by on both sides of the truck. The truck/dozer was so heavy he never felt the impact. I climbed out the window, and walked to the side of the road and sat on the guard rail. I told the first soldier to get to me that I did not feel too good. I had stretched the seat belt and smashed into the steering wheel. I broke several ribs, teeth, my nose, my right thumb, and got a tear in my right retina, which caused my eye to fill with blood, which concerned me a lot. I had the ambulance carry me to Duke University Medical Hospital, as Ruth's dad (my Father in-law) was a MD/Professor there at that time, and they had an excellent eye clinic. Summary: Eye restored to better than 20/15. It was a miracle I lived! People usually die above 35 MPH, and I hit with almost 4 times that kinetic energy! (Note: I sued the state of NC for the replacement cost of my car and lost wages, and won, as they were at fault) At age 27 I was suicidal due to a problem, (I had not attended a Church regularly since NCSU) and I was just ready to stick my 44 Magnum in my ear and pull the trigger, when that small voice of The Holy Spirit spoke in my spirit, and said, “ask Jesus for help”. So I asked Jesus for help, and the urge to shoot myself went away immediately. I still had the problem. A couple days later I was alone in my Gun Shop when a sharply dressed middle aged man I had never seen before got out of his car, and started toward my shop. The first thought that entered through my mind was “this is a salesman, and I will put him on his way in a hurry”, having been trained as a professional salesman myself. When he opened the door, the Spirit of God entered the store with him more powerfully than I had ever felt Him in my life! I could barely stand up for the fantastically wonderful, peaceful, powerful, sweeter than honey and sunshine, feeling where you could almost fly as if you were in zero gravity, truly indescribable wonderful “feeling you were in heaven” overwhelmed me, and I could barely take his hand and say hello. He shook my hand and said my name is Pastor Terry Morgan. I served in the 82ndAirborne Division as a Medic, for two tours in Vietnam By the time I came home, I had to be put in a strait jacket and shipped back to the states. I was still in the strait jacket when a man walked up to me, and said, “Would you like for Jesus to set you free”? Pastor Terry said. This was incredible, as the problem he had was exactly the problem I had! He then said “would you like for me to pray for you in Jesus name and set you free”? I was astounded, and said “Yes”! He put his hands on both sides of my head, and said, “be free in Jesus Name” in a loud voice. I could feel a tremendous weight slide from my shoulders, and I was free! My 10 year battle was over, and I was free! I asked Him where his Church was, and you could not have kept me and my wife out of his Church that Sunday, or those that followed. He would meet me at the door of the Church, and tell Ruth and I what major things had happened to us during that week. He did not speak in generalities, but he was reading our file, both Ruth and I. Then he said what God was going to do to help us with these problems. He referenced conversations Ruth and I had, and things that happened regarding finances, and people in the Gunshop that no one but Ruth and I and God new about. He was always insistent on giving the credit to Christ and The Holy Spirit for these gifts. He would read Scripture after Scripture, all supporting each other, and none taken out of context. Every Sunday, new people who were sick would come to his small Church and he would read the Word of God: Mat_4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. Mat_9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Luk_4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. Jas 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: Jas 5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. The church had a drum set, and no drummer, so I started playing drums the first week there. Pastor Morgan taught about all the meanings of the Koine Greek word for salvation (sozo). We were taught about the New Birth (Salvation) as the Baptist had taught, but the Word also means Healing, and Deliverance from Poverty. We were also taught about faith, speaking in tongues, and the other Gifts of The Spirit. We were taught not to take Scripture out of context, to find two or more witnesses (Scriptures confirming what is being taught) “At the word of two or more witnesses let every Word be established”. Deu 19:15 …at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. Mat 18:16 …that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 2Co 13:1 …In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. At the end of the service the pastor gave an invitation for those unsaved, for those needing healing, or those to be filled with The Spirit. These sick people, some of which were in wheelchairs, would be brought to the front of the small Church, and they were anointed with oil, and prayed for by the Pastor and his wife. Many times the people would get up out of the wheelchairs and start dancing and jumping up and down, “shouting Praise Jesus, Hallelujah to the lord!” I recall one church member who said she had been x-rayed, and the doctors found a cancer the size of a grapefruit in her abdomen. She was prayed for, and next week, she had been x-rayed again, and it was totally gone. So it was not just a few people getting healed, it was unusual for less than a few to be healed, some were members, and many were brought because they heard the sick were being healed. I would interview them. One thing we were not taught was to pray for those in positions of authority. Our Pastor was doing a lot of damage to Satan’s kingdom, and so Satan attacked the Pastor in a very common way; he attacked his marriage. One morning we all got to the Church and there was a letter, but no Pastor. The letter from him just said that his wife had left him, and he felt he could not be a pastor under these circumstances. So we looked at a couple of Churches, and God directed us to attend one, where we stayed for Five years. I served in every position except senior Pastor. After this, we looked at a few different Churches; till God confirmed which Church he wanted me to continue my training at (almost an hours drive away). 1990 I got the opportunity to attend a Seminary taking night classes, and got my B.Th. and M.Th. with a perfect 4.0 average. I then decided to return to NCSU to finish my B.S., and get a PhD. In spring 1994 I taught wood Identification and Properties lab for the Department of Wood and Paper Science. Two different labs a week, and graded exams. I taught tree and plant identification (Dendrology) for the Forestry Department at NCSU in the fall of 1994. This was most unusual, because it was not in my department, (or even in my school), it was in the School of Forestry, while I was a graduate student in the School of Wood and Paper Science. As an Undergraduate student the previous fall, I took the class for a free elective, because I enjoyed it. I had been the top student in my class of 93 Forestry students (plus myself). This was the "weed out" class in forestry. Weed out classes exist in all curricula, to convince the student that this is NOT what they are capable of doing. The class I taught for Wood and Paper Science was the “Weed Out” class for that Department. I took every course in Religion I could, and had two excellent Professors from Yale, who were both Christian Ministers. I earned a Minor in Religion, and the classes were easy for me. I was top student in every class. I also have a Graduate Minor in Botany, with additional courses. I had planned to do a PhD in Botany, before I got hit with Severe Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FM). I was tightly stretched in 1995 by being in graduate school full time, a Scoutmaster, Drumming instructor, and Lead Drummer of the NCSU Pipes and Drums grade 4 band, owning my Gunshop, and prior to this taking Seminary classes at the same time as courses at NCSU. I broke a toe, in the spring of 1995, and went to the doctor’s office. Someone there had a really nasty respiratory infection, that my MD thought might have been Legionnaires Disease. I caught it, and no antibiotic could fix it. My symptoms of pain and fatigue got worse and worse as time passed. I wondered if I was dying. I went to a Rheumatologist, and he said I had Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FM). FM and Chronic Fatigue are two names for the same syndrome. So I have had no energy and constant agony with cramping muscles all in my back, neck, and over 20 places that only occur in people with FM. I have gained a lot of weight (from 135 to 325 lbs.); along with Diabetes type II, which is progressive and fatal. Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ended nearly all of my activities, such as graduate school, Scoutmaster, Pipe band drumming instructor and Drum Sergeant, and the end of the full time gun shop. I struggled back to school in 2002 and finished my research on Reconstruction of Paleoclimates using Fossil Wood Anatomy, and Oral Exams, so they gave me a Master’s degree in Wood and Paper Science (MWPS). I used to teach on a wide variety of topics: Theology (I am a Conservative, Born again, Evangelical, Full Gospel Minister). I taught Aikido and Kenpo (Minus oriental religions), Botany, Chess, Dendrology, Forestry, Military/History, Wood Science, and more. Recently I do counseling and Chess, due to further medical problems resulting from F.M. I owned a gunshop for 12 years. I am a Gunsmith, and an expert marksman with rifles and handguns, from the largest to the smallest. I love the outdoors, especially the forests and bodies of water. I am currently retired, and enjoy being a volunteer Christian Counselor. I did consulting for a number of wood related businesses, although that has been approaching zero, as the furniture business has died in NC, and I do not have the contacts I once had. 2013 I have been on crutches for over a year now, due to no cartilage left in my knees. I am diabetic, on blood thinner permanently due to blood clots in my lungs. I have had severe Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue syndrome for 18 years now, and only very heavy dosages of pain medicines make survival possible. These factors mean nobody will consider knee replacements. When you are tortured enough you tell the enemy what they want to know. I have been far beyond that point; screaming, rolling back and forth on the floor pulling at my hair as hard as I can, and a grain of sand in the bed feels like a spiky caltrop from the middle ages. All pain channels in my body are turned to maximum, and stuck there. I have phantom limb pain where I have gritted my teeth so hard they had to remove them all. Have you ever been a POW and tortured? My torture has lasted 18 years. My dad's family has genetic heritage of blood clots, overweight, and FM. I went from 135 to 320 seemingly overnight with FM/CFS, and my bone structure is not built for that weight. I was hit with FM/CFS at age 37 in 1995, while in graduate school at NCSU. I had to give up dreams of a PhD for another Masters, drop being a Scoutmaster, drop lead snare drummer for the NCSU Pipes and Drums. (My wife-Ruth is a skilled Piper), I have played snare drum since age 9, and for NCSU 17 years. I am pretty much housebound due to FM, medications, and my knees. My average pain level is 7-8 on the 1-10 scale, even with large amounts of strongest medicines. I have been anointed with oil and prayed for by several Ministers, and I continue to believe for healing. I could name more supernatural miracles The Holy Spirit and God's Angels protected me from, or times The Holy Spirit has brought instant healing to me. I cannot explain why things have changed regarding my health. I continue to lay hands on others, and God has healed several of them, some instantly (which is always nice to see). I believe that Jesus Christ will walk with me, and carry me through the trials of this life. Christ has healed me miraculously many times before, and I continue to keep my eyes focused on Him as my Healer, Deliverer, and Savior. I Know what unbearable pain is. I broke my back, which doctors say is worse than child birth. I have hit a stopped massive truck/trailer/D9 dozer at 65MPH. An Instant stop, (before air bags). Broken ribs, nose (again) Rt. Thumb, front teeth cracked and loose. Tear in right retina. (That hurt a bit). FM makes that feel like a good day. Don’t tell me you would not take a pain pill! You would take the strongest two Opioid pain medicines, as I have for 17 years (on one), and18years on the other (time delay and Breakthrough). They keep me from going totally insane. The medicine goes to the pain. No euphoria, and no feelings of a high! I still play chess (fair). Try that high! I have begged God to take me home, and he says NO, my work is not done here. I sympathize with the 95% of chronic pain patients in the US who can not get pain medicines, because of draconian laws! That is one reason people do illegal drugs. The system is broken!