2nd Annual Enid Open
Huge Success!!

I would like to publicly thank everyone who supported our annual Enid Open Chess Tournament Saturday, March 25. We of the Enid Chess Club were extremely pleased with the results of our efforts.

Although we have had tournaments in the past (four Enid Opens more than twenty years ago--thanks to research done by Frank Berry, OCF; and Norris Sonntag, Enid Chess Club member and participant in some of those tournaments), it seemed appropriate to regenerate the tournaments as an annual event when we hosted the recycled 1st Enid Open in March 2005 thanks to the support, generosity, and hard work of Frank Berry. We had 18 players in the tournament last year, and we marked it down as a fun and successful event.

I am now proud to announce, on behalf of the Enid Chess Club, that the entries in this year's event nearly doubled to 34 participants (30 from Oklahoma, 3 from Kansas, and 1 from Arkansas). The 2nd Enid Open was an independent tournament with no state membership requirements (only USCF), and it was arranged by David Scroggins, Enid resident and president of the Enid Chess Club. There were plaques and a prize fund. Wish it could have been higher than it was, but it was based on entries and rent of the hotel hall, and we deliberately kept the entry fee relatively low. Notwithstanding, I was pleasantly surprised to witness the great turnout, the fact that everyone appeared to have a good time, and that we had no complaints (to my knowledge) and only a small number of lessons learned for next year. Okay, enough pats on the back for Enid. The real pats on the back belong to the players who supported the event. Thank you.

I would especially like to publicly thank two people who "volunteered" their time, energy, and resources to come down and help oversee direction of the tournament since neither Dave nor I are director certified. Dave arranged for Jim Gray and John Dunlap to help us out. They taught us about some things we hadn't thought of and pulled us across the finish line for a successful conclusion to a day's fun. They worked very closely with Dave, and they ensured that his vision was realized. Again, this was not a partisan event. However, since we were given the impression that last year's director would probably not return, we got help from wherever we could. Jim and John are two true gentlemen and were simply glad to oblige the growth of chess in Northwest Oklahoma. Thank you guys

Watch for next year's 3rd Enid Open. We plan on this being established as an annual independent event (and absolutely any tournament director in the state is welcome to help us out if they desire--Dave and I simply have a personal preference for arranging and playing rather than directing). We want this to be a spring event, but we will refrain from projecting a month and date until we see what happens with next year's Phillips 66 Classic and Muskogee tournaments if they are arranged. Our goal is to avoid overlap. Last year we had our Enid Open in March because the Phillips 66 Classic was moved to April. We thought we were safe this year with March again, but then the Classic got moved back to March during the same weekend as ours this year. Stay tuned.

James Rairden