Chess club hosts Grand Prix tournament
Space City Chess Club Manager Don Maddox, at left, prepares for his next move with Josh McClellan during a previous year’s Chess Grand Prix. CONTRIBUTED
MADISON – Huntsville Chess Club sponsored another successful tournament with its Sunny Street Chess Grand Prix.
“Josh McLellan finally broke through and won his first Sunny Street Cafe, scoring 3.5 out of 4 points,” club manager Don Maddox said. “McLellan cinched a tie for first with a last-round draw against David Hayes.”
“Nashville’s Jennifer Ishee beat Decatur’s Stephen O’Shea to lock in first for him,” Maddox said.
McLellan finished third in a very strong field with one Master and three experts — Gerald Larson, Daniel Thomas, Stephen Graveling and McLellan. “Birmingham’s Stephen Graveling tied for 1-2 with Life Master Larson at 3.5. The surprise of the tournament was Friedman’s upset of Daniel Thomas in Round 1 and his draw with Graveling in Round 3,” Maddox said.
Current leaders in Sunny Street Grand Prix are Josh McLellan of Madison, 31 points; Om Badhe of Madison, 22 points; Joel Friedman of Huntsville, 13 points; and Stephen Oshea of Decatur, 13 points.
The House of Staunton has donated three high-end wooden chess sets to award to the top three Grand Prix players in September.
“We decided to retain our traditional Huntsville Chess Club moniker and focus on expanding membership. We have a new website, huntsvillecc.com, and new Facebook and Meetup accounts. Between 15 and 20 players now show up weekly for our 6 p.m. Monday meetings. Membership seems to be growing exponentially,” Maddox said.
In addition, Huntsville Chess Club is sponsoring a new scholastic club team to provide a venue for young players, including home-schoolers, who currently have no school team. In Alabama, scholastic club teams compete in a separate category from school teams.
The Huntsville Chess Club Team includes Joel Friedman of Huntsville, Jonah Tuttle of Madison, Jonathan Birmingham of Athens, Max Hadley of Huntsville and Tyler Peck of Priceville.
“The team intends to compete in Alabama K-12 sections against other school kids next year,” Maddox said. For information about joining the club team, email ddmaddox@hotmail.com or attend a teaming meeting on Sundays at 1 p.m. Hitachi Consulting, 1500 Perimeter Pkwy NW, in Huntsville.
For more information, visit huntsvillecc.com.
