Hi all. Latest News/Announcements: I want to thank Robert Cousins and Gerry Potorski for their additional efforts to make this past week's club meeting work in my absence. I don't miss many meetings, but it's good to know that the ship can keep its course even when I'm under the weather. As this delayed email suggests, it's been a less-than-fun week, but I'm on the mend, and I do expect to be back on Monday for the March/April event's first round. Please note that, because the March-April event will be elongated over two months, the entry fee will be $30 on Monday. 2026 Newburyport Chess Club Schedule: NCC 256 - Mar 16, 26, 30; Apr 6, 13, 20, 27 7-Rd Swiss; g75 +30; EF $30; 1st-2nd $60-$30; Under $30; Upset $20 NCC 257 - May 4, 11, 18; June 1 8-Rd Swiss (2 per night); g40 +10; EF $20; 1st-2nd $60-$30; Under $30; Upset $20 NCC 258 - June 8, 15, 22, 29 4-Rd Swiss; g75 +30; EF $20; 1st-2nd $60-$30; Under $30; Upset $20 NCC 259 - July 6, 13, 27 (No Meeting July 20) 6-Rd Swiss (2 per night); g40 +10; EF $20; 1st-2nd $60-$30; Under $30; Upset $20 NCC 260 - Aug 3, 10, 17, 24 4-Rd Swiss; g75 +30; EF $20; 1st-2nd $60-$30; Under $30; Upset $20 NCC 261 - Aug 31, Sep 14, 21, 28 (No Meeting Sept 7) 4-Rd Swiss; g75 +30; EF $20; 1st-2nd $60-$30; Under $30; Upset $20 NCC 262 - Oct 5, 12, 19, 26 4-Rd Swiss; g75 +30; EF $20; 1st-2nd $60-$30; Under $30; Upset $20 NCC 263 - Nov 2, 9, 16* 3-Rd Swiss; g75 +30; EF $20; Book Prizes Tentative - Nov 23 - NM Geoff Collins Simul NCC 264 - Nov 30; Dec 7, 14* 3-Rd Swiss; g75 +30; EF $20; Book Prizes NCC 265 - Club Championship - Nov 2, 9, 16, 23, 30; Dec 7, 14 7-Rd RR or DRR ("Choose Your Own Championship"); Either g75 +30 or g40 +10; EF $30; 1st-2nd $80-$40 December 21, 2026: To Be Determined * The November and December events will have entry fees of $20 each or $30 for both. Prize Winners: Congratulations to February's Prize Winners! 1st/2nd/Under: Dylan Asmar, John Elmore, James Hyland, Gerry Potorski ($30 each) Upset: Guenter Schramm ($20) Upsets: Guenter Schramm (1356) over Al Strelzoff (1774) -> 418 points Paul Staten (1665) over Art Nugent (2000) -> 335 points Mitch Kary (1502) over Al Strelzoff (1774) -> 272 points Marcos Gonzalez (1640) over Dave Somerset (1875) -> 235 points James Hyland (1674) over Rob Georgenes (1824) -> 150 points Crosstable: No. Gr Name(Team) St Rate Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Score 1. Elmore, John P (2) ........... NH 2086 W23 D3 W10 -H- 3.0 2. Potorski, Gerald Field (3) ... NH 2062 -H- D12 W9 W8 3.0 3. Hyland, James R (11) ......... MA 1674 W24 D1 D6 W7 3.0 4. Asmar, Dylan (25) ............ NH nnnn W14 L8 W23 W17 3.0 5. Somerset, David G (6) ........ MA 1875 W15 L10 D21 W19 2.5 6. McDermott, Kerry William (7) . NH 1861 W19 D9 D3 -H- 2.5 7. Georgenes, Robert J (8) ...... MA 1824 W16 W17 D8 L3 2.5 8. Baginski, Paul A (9) ......... MA 1793 W20 W4 D7 L2 2.5 9. Staten, Paul (12) ............ MA 1665 W25 D6 L2 W18 2.5 10. Gonzalez, Marcos (13) ........ MA 1640 W22 W5 L1 -H- 2.5 11. Cousins, Robert P (1) ........ NH 2191 -H- -N- -H- W21 2.0 12. OConnor, Eric (5) ............ MA 1906 -H- D2 D19 D15 2.0 13. Strelzoff, Alan G (10) ....... MA 1774 L17 L15 W24 W23 2.0 14. Al Zaidi, Yazan (14) ......... NH 1614 L4 W16 -H- -H- 2.0 15. Kary, Mitchell (16) .......... MA 1502 L5 W13 D18 D12 2.0 16. O'Donnell, Ryan (18) ......... MA 1488 L7 L14 -B- W25 2.0 17. Schramm, Guenter (21) ........ MA 1356 W13 L7 W22 L4 2.0 18. Nugent, Arthur P (4) ......... MA 2000 -H- D21 D15 L9 1.5 19. Gendall, William J (17) ...... MA 1500 L6 W25 D12 L5 1.5 20. Simpson, Christian (19) ...... NH 1478 L8 -H- -H- -H- 1.5 21. Najem, Colton (20) ........... NH 1446 -H- D18 D5 L11 1.5 22. Freeman, Jon (24) ............ MA 696 L10 -H- L17 -B- 1.5 23. De Plonty, Thomas (15) ....... MA 1598 L1 W24 L4 L13 1.0 24. Graf, Ken (22) ............... NH 1086 L3 L23 L13 -H- 0.5 25. Jones, Suzanne (23) .......... NH 957 L9 L19 -H- L16 0.5 Club Championship Qualification Standings (Post February's Event): (1) John Elmore 9.00(7) (2) Guenter Schramm 7.00(8) (3) James Hyland 6.75(8) (4) Gerry Potorski 6.75(6) (5) Marcos Gonzalez 6.25(6) (6) Dave Somerset 5.50(8) (7) Kerry McDermott 5.50(7) (8) Paul Staten 5.25(8) (9) Chris Carnevale 5.25(3) (10) Robert Georgenes 5.00(8) (11) Paul Baginski 5.00(7) (12) Robert Cousins 5.00(3) (13-14) Suzanne Jones 4.25(7) (13-14) Mitch Kary 4.25(7) (15) Al Strelzoff 4.00(8) (16) Eric O'Connor 4.00(7) (17) Art Nugent 4.00(6) (18) Dylan Asmar 3.75(4) (19) Ryan O'Donnell 3.50(8) (20) Yazan Al Zaidi 3.50(3) (21) Bill Gendall 2.50(8) (22) Tom DePlonty 2.50(7) (23) Christian Simpson 2.50(2) (24) Ken Graf 2.00(7) (25) Jon Freeman 2.00(5) (26) Colton Najem 1.50(3) (27) Jackson Styker 1.00(3) (28-29) Jackson Williams 1.00(2) (28-29) Ross Merino 1.00(2) (30) Walter Whitmore 1.00(1) (31) Charles Jones 0.50(4) (32) Kim Kerr 0.50(1) See you next week! John