Searching for...Wellsburg? - Part 1

I've attended chess tournaments throughout Iowa for nearly half my life, and have enjoyed them all.  This past weekend, however, was a first for me. I got to see a chess tournament first hand from a director's point of view as I organized the Wellsburg Open.  

Early this year I decided on and rented the venue, Wellsburg Reformed Church, and announced the tournament.  About two weeks before the tournament, a very small trickle of pre-registrants began.  Most players waited till the week of the tournament to register; by the day of the tournament there were 26 players signed up.  One thing I will consider if I run another event is adding online registration, so players can see a list of other participants.

Wellsburg is a town of 707 people.  Just off Highway 20, it features a gas station, grain elevator, library, community center, a couple bars, a few churches, the Wellsburger, the bank, insurance agency, city hall, an antique store, and a few ag-related businesses.  There is also a pond supply, which used to be our local grocery store, "Mike's."  Apparently Wellsburgians are more excited about fish and ponds than they are about food, or else it's much less expensive to run a pond store than a grocery store, because that shop, I'm happy to say, has stayed in business.  

Senior TD and fellow blogger Hank Anzis agreed to help direct the tournament, and Mark Capron and James Hodina thoughtfully advertised the tournament to their mailing lists.  I was surprised and delighted when FM Alex Betaneli from Wisconsin decided to come.

One thing that surprised me was how much praying is involved in TD-ing.  Some players say, "I will be there on Saturday, provided that by that time I succeed in [doing one thing or another]."  So, by the weekend, I was praying that one potential player would get enough sleep, another would be prepared for his exams, one player would recover from back pain, one would succeed in an interview, get a job, and find a wife, and yet another's car would be fixed.    

For me, the tournament really began on Friday.  My friend and fellow FICS bughouse player, sgs, drove up from Kansas City, and he and the Powers [one of Iowa's most powerful chess families] joined us for a cookout.

We roasted hot dogs and enjoyed campfire-cooked beans and my mom's delicious potato salad.  Then while the youngest members of the gathering played basketball, we enjoyed lively conversation.  Mrs. Power told me about some dandelion dishes she'd recently cooked, and I told her about a recipe I had seen (but never tried) for roasted grasshoppers (locusts and honey).  

Soon it was time for music!  At my request, sgs had brought his guitars.  He sang a few songs, and told us the fascinating histories behind the songs and the unthinkable situations which led to learning them.  The Power family proved very talented, and Mrs. Power played the guitar while the family sang a couple beautiful Psalms.  We ended music time with my family's  renditions of "You Are My All in All" and "Pray the Clouds Away." 

It is very surprising how many chess players are musicians, especially considering how noise of any kind is absolutely avoided at tournaments.  It would be fun, impractical, and I suspect, very wild and surprising--considering the disparity in musical tastes among chess players--to have a music gathering where Midwestern chess players shared their talents.  

Soon it was time for bughouse!  I partnered sgs to start with against the Power brothers, and later Charity joined in, and we switched partners for variety.  Slightly after 10:40 we finally decided to call it quits for the evening.  We had a long day ahead!

Stay tuned: Part 2 is coming soon!