12.07.18 Lloyd Lombard, Secretary and Treasurer of the Nova Scotia Chess Association and Editor of the NSCA Newsletter shares with us the December 2018 edition of the Newsletter. Also included is Lloyd's cover letter which is itself chock full of interesting chess-related material. We hope you enjoy the Newsletter and we encourage you to get on Lloyd's email list.

Nova Scotia Chess Association Newsletter December 2018

Hi everyone,

Please find attached the Nova Scotia Chess Association Newsletter in both Wordperfect and PDF format (sorry, I don't have Word).

POLL - I didn't receive many responses to the Poll, so putting the poll at the top and repeating the question as it's important for all Club and Provincial based tournament organizers to find out the general consensus. I'm intending to put out a poll every newsletter. If you have any ideas for a poll, please send it along for consideration. For those who responded to the Poll last edition, you don't have to respond as your entry has been duly noted.

Pros for tournaments on long-weekends: Provides more time for travel and relaxation before returning to work.
Cons for tournaments on long-weekends: Long-weekends are usually when activities for family and friends are organized; kids are taken to university, etc...

Poll (please mark an "X" and reply to this e-mail):

I would prefer if chess tournaments were held on long weekends:
I would prefer if chess tournaments were held on weekends other than long weekends
I would be OK with having about 1/2 on long weekends and 1/2 on weekends other than long weekends
I don't play in Club or Provincially organized chess tournaments, so it doesn't matter to me

(Results will be posted in next Newsletter)

The West Annapolis Chess Club will be meeting on December 6, 2018 at the End of the Line Pub in Bridgetown, NS - Please bring your chess sets and clocks if you have one.

If you're receiving this e-mail, you're one of 254 chess players across Canada and the USA on the mailing list. If you'd like your name removed, please respond and I'll do so. The intent is to create a Newsletter which will encourage chess in the Maritime Provinces.

Change in Newsletter Format: I intend to change the format of the Newsletter in one of the upcoming issues where I'll be posting games from our Nova Scotia tournaments and more news related to chess in the Maritimes. If you've got a chess articles or game analysis, etc., send it along so I can include in the newsletter.

NSCA Chess Tournaments: Stay tuned, the NSCA will be announcing the list of 2019 chess tournaments in the near future. The next tournament is anticipated to be in February, so you've got a couple of months to get ready for it.
The link to the NSCA tournament page is: http://www.nschess.ca/?p=1455

Christmas Gifts: Great time to give a chess set and/.or chess clock to a friend, your child or yourself for a Christmas present. There are many websites which sell chess equipment including Chess Bazaar, Cool Chess, Regency Chess, Chess Baron and Strategy Games (you'll find the Strategy Games link on the Chess Federation of Canada website at: https://strategygames.ca/ . NOTE: Strategy Games provides a 10% discount for Chess Clubs and free shipping on orders over $100.00. If you don't have enough for a $100.00 order and you live in Annapolis County, I put in an order when we reach over $100.00 . Don't forget to buy an NSCA scorebook for $15.00 (holds 100 games).

West Annapolis Winter Chess Club Tournament: The tournament has begun, please try to get your games played within the time frame (by April 25, 2019).

New Chess Club: A new Chess Club has started up in Nova Scotia ! The Clare Chess Club met for its second time (I attended both the 1st and 2nd meetings) after an almost 30 year closure. We wish the Club and its members all the best in chess ! See the Newsletter for details and contact information.

Note: All Club Directors, please recheck the information in the attachment and let me know ASAP of any changes.

Nova Scotia Chess Association Chess Score Books - Many of you will have a new scorebook. Just a reminder for those who don't have one, the NSCA is selling Chess Score Books as a fund raiser for the Association at $15.00 each at each of the NSCA Tournaments, but in my view, are well worth the $15.00. They can be viewed at: http://www.nschess.ca/?p=1230 The books have the following attributes:
- The front cover has the NSCA Logo;
-:Games Played: From To so you can easily keep track of the time period the games were played.
- Each game has 100 moves (increase from the current 80 moves)
- Each page is numbered from 1 to 100 so you can coordinate the game # with the Index on the back cover
- The back cover has a Games Index from 1 to 100 so you can go back and find any game you've played in the book easily.
- This newly published edition also has a place for Round and Board # plus a place to write down the duration of the game and the time left on each of White and Black's clocks.
- There's also a place to mark down whether White or Black won or if it was a Draw.
The Association has also purchased carbonless score sheets for boards 1 and 2 so the NSCA can have a copy of the players' best games, so look forward to seeing some of the better games posted online.
I can take orders if anyone is interested in purchasing a scorebook. In reading chess books, you'll see that all Grandmasters recommend that the "best" way to improve your game is by going over it again or even better, going over it and getting comments from a stronger player.
The Nova Scotia Chess Association & Marketing Plan - As noted in the September 1st newsletter, the Nova Scotia Chess Association is in the process of reassessing its mandate and direction where I anticipate that we're going to see good things happening in the coming years. I also again note that "all" Nova Scotia chess players are encouraged to assist in promoting chess in Nova Scotia (there are many ways to do so).
Marketing Plan - The Nova Scotia Chess Association is wondering whether anyone on this mailing list has a marketing background who would volunteer their time in assisting the Association in creating a marketing plan for the promotion of chess in the Province. If you're interested, please reply directly to me by replying to this e-mail. The Association is currently looking at ways of how to promote chess in Nova Scotia. If you have any ideas, please reply to this e-mail and I'll pass them on to the Board of Directors and especially, to the Committee Chairs.

The Nova Scotia Scholastic Chess Association [NSSCA] - The NSSCA has a new Board of Directors and is actively pursuing the promotion of youth chess in the province. Please see the attached newsletter for details.

In this Newsletter, you will find:
1. List of Chess Clubs in Atlantic Canada and contact information (if you're travelling in Atlantic Canada, you should be able to find a Chess Club to have a game or two). Note that in Nova Scotia, we have a new Club that has started up in Weymouth and another has started on November 21st in Clare, Digby County. So, there's no excuse not to play chess if you're in the Maritimes !
2. Chess Tidbits - This week's Chess Tidbits deals with the "Planning".
3. Game of the week - Featured this week is a game between Ljubomir Ljubojevic vs Garry Kasparov.
4. Chess in the Library - The next Sunday of Chess in the Library is December 16, 2018.

Hope you find someone to play a game of chess with today,

Lloyd Lombard
Editor