Who are we?
We're Agawam High School's Chess Club; this site was first created to help us keep track of our meetings, rules and upcoming events. We discovered that a great number of our members had Internet access and started to add tutorials and other ways to help our members improve their chess abilities. Recently we've found that people surfing the web have also found our site useful, so we've decided to add even more new sections. Make sure to tell us what you think!
Where is Agawam?
Agawam is a suburb of Springfield which is a large city located in Western Massachusetts.
So you're from AHS?
Things you should know...
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We meet in the Library every Tuesday and Thursday after school.
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Membership and lessons are free!
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Chess Club Regulations
Article I
Section I
To rise in rank, you must challenge the person above you on the Rankings. This is considered a "Challenge Match."
To improve your Rating, you must challenge any rated member of the club. This is considered a "Rated Match."
The formula that determines the ammount of points awarded for each match is updated and maintained by the steward.
Section II
You have the option of refusing a Challenge Match twice, then you must accept. If the challenger wins, you trade places on the rankings. Note that an unexcused absence counts as a decline and that a decline lasts for two meetings, a Tuesday and a Thursay (in whatever order).
The Grandmaster also has the option of refusing Challenge Matches twice, but if the Grand Master accepts a challenge, the challenger must win two out of three matches in order to achieve the rank.
Rated Matches may be declined an infinite amount of times.
Section III
There are two ways to "leapfrog" the person ahead of you. If the person above you is absent for two consecutive weeks (four meetings), then you may challenge the next person above you. If you beat the advisor, you may challenge anyone on the Rankings to a match.
Section IV
If a player is envolved in a challenge match, no other matches may be started or played.
Section V
All Challenge Matches are required to be recorded by both players for post-game commentary.
Going over your games with your opponent is very important to improving your abilities and thus is mandatory.
Section VI
All challenge matches are timed; two hours are allowed for the first forty moves and one hour is allowed for each score of moves after that (a score is 20).
Article II
Section I
The following titles are currently available: CC Grand Master, CC Master, Steward, and Instuctor.
The Grand Master of the Chess Club (CC Grand Master) is at the top of the hierarchical ladder and the Master of the Chess Club is second.
The Steward maintains the website of the club, among other duties, and acquires the position hereditarily from the last Steward (each steward is responsible for training his or her replacement).
An Instructor is given the title by a member of the Chess Commission. The title cannot be refused and is given because the member shows both a talent for the game of chess and the maturity to teach new members. Each instructor is referred to by their rating classification - for instance - a member with a rating of 2400 would be considered a Senior Master Instructor. Since the honing of skills is such an integral part of the chess club, the title of Instructor is considered to be the most honorable.
The titles of Steward and Instructor can be held concurrently with each other and with CC Grand Master or CC Master, however the titles of CC Grand Master and CC Master are always held by two different members. (So it would be possible to have the CC Grand Master be the Steward and a Senior Instructor)
Section II
The honorary title of Life Master also exists and goes to a member, student or advisor, upon their graduation or retirement respectively. This award is given to members who have been vital parts of the chess club and who best represent its values. So far the award has only gone to four people - Mr. Larry O'Brien '02 (the first advisor), Nathan Krach '03 (the first Steward and original 2nd Board), Peter Kingsley '03 (The most skilled CC Grand Master and original 1st Board), and David Rosenberg '03 (One of the longest reining CC Grand Masters and original 3rd Board). All four members were rated Senior Master for their entire Chess Club careers and displayed immense amounts of improvement in playing ability.
Section III
Rating Classification
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Title:
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Rating:
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Senior Master
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above 2399
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Master
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2200-2399
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Expert
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2000-2199
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Class A
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1800-1999
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Class B
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1600-1799
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Class C
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1400-1599
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Class D
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1200-1399
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Class E
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1000-1199
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Class F
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800-999
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Class G
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600-799
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Class H
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400-599
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Class I
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200-399
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Class J
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0-199
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Article III
Section I
Disputes will be settled by the Chess Commission, made up of the Steward, Master, Grandmaster and Advisor, all decisions are final.
Section II
The Advisor recieves two votes in the Chess Commission. This allows the Advisor to either monopolize the vote by casting two votes for the same party or to leave the decision up to the students by voting once for each party.
Article IV
Section I
Any damage done to the clocks will be repaid in full by the member(s) responsible.
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Sources
The following are number of books for your must read list:
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My System - Aron Nimzowitsch
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Attacking Chess - Josh Waitzkin
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Weapons of Chess - Bruce Pandolfini
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Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps - Bruce Pandolfini
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More Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps 2 - Bruce Pandolfini
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