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Ever since the Huntsville Chess Club moved their meeting place from "The Deep" a few months ago (due to health reasons I think) we were meeting with the University of Alabama in Huntsville Chess Club on their campus. Why not have a match? Two rounds of Games in 30 minutes. Let's get it on!
Round 1
I was paired against Don Maddox. He attempted to play a Morra Gambit against me
but I refused the gambit and it transposed into a c3 Sicilian. He proceeded to outplay me
but ended up running out of time and could only get a draw. UAH's Nick Perkins was a minor
piece up on Scott Vechinski before he gave the piece and then the game back to Scott. Chris
Lasky (HCC) needed only about 11 moves to defeat Michael Mercer. HCC's Will Stevenson and
Eddie Koen both had easy wins against their opponents. The only win UAH got in this round was
from Galen Collins. HCC won this round 4½ to 1½.
| White | Score | Black | Score | |
| 1 | Don Maddox - UAH | ½ | Roger McIntyre - HCC | ½ |
| 2 | Scott Vechinski - HCC | 1 | Nick Perkins - UAH | 0 |
| 3 | 0 | Will Stevenson - HCC | 1 | |
| 4 | Chris Lasky - HCC | 1 | 0 | |
| 5 | George Wu - UAH | 0 | Eddie Koen - HCC | 1 |
| 6 | Steve Riley - HCC | 0 | Galen Collins - UAH | 1 |
Round 2
Between the rounds people were coming and going. The second round would have some new players
and we could only fill four boards. I didn't even know there was going to be a second round
until they starting pairing people up. Gerald Larson was one of the late shows. Being the
highest rated player in the room he was placed on first board. Since he was affiliated with
both organizations the question was: which club was he playing for? We convinced him that he
was representing HCC, not that we needed him to win the match, just to humiliate them. As it
turned out Don Maddox gave Gerald all he could handle, but Gerald did eke out the win. I
also had my problems with Nick Perkins but in the end HCC won this round 4 to 0.
| White | Score | Black | Score | |
| 1 | Gerald Larson - HCC | 1 | Don Maddox - UAH | 0 |
| 2 | Nick Perkins - UAH | 0 | 1 | |
| 3 | 0 | Don Wade - HCC | 1 | |
| 4 | Eddie Koen - HCC | 1 | Jim Marks - UAH | 0 |
Conclusion
The Huntsville Chess Club totally outplayed the University of Alabama in Huntsville Chess Club,
winning this match 8½ to 1½. I believe I know the reason for UAH's poor performance. The
University students don't have their priorities in order. They ought to drop their school books
and study chess 24/7. This would almost certainly improve their chess playing skills. What's
the downside? That's my advice anyway.
Galen Collins was the only UAH player to win a game although I've never heard of his opponent before. A plant? Don Maddox was in great form this evening and had winning positions in both his game with me and Gerald Larson but managed to get only a half point for his efforts due to time trouble. Practically every HCC player performed well but Eddie Koen was the only one to walk away with two points.
Last modified: 14 February 2004
Roger McIntyre