Dues increase for 2025
PHCC Meeting Minutes from Thursday, January 2, 2025
Members Present: Lon Rutkofske, Bill Wingrove, Drew Malburg, Alan Gregg, Matt Morabito, Mugil Muruganandam, Huso Avdic
Items for discussion/decisions:
----Raising club annual dues (Alan Gregg) – Alan proposed that the club annual dues be raised from $20/ for those 19 and over; and $10/ for those under to $30 & $15 respectively for 2025. In raising the dues, entry fees will no longer be charged to dues paying members for any tournament/activity the club provides for 2025. This also will include a family rate of $35/year for families having less than 4 junior members. Only paid-up members will be permitted to participate. In events requiring US Chess membership, club membership and US Chess membership will be required. As a result of this change, there will no longer be money prizes for any PHCC events/tournaments (Unless there is a donation for this purpose.) There shall be at least one tournament/event monthly as documented below: – Unanimously approved.
---2025 PHCC Championships Format and Requirements: This year’s championship will be January 16- Feb. 27, 2025. The final format will be determined by the number of pre-tournament entries, so please contact Lon by Sunday, January 12 to register for the event. Play will be held between January 16 - Feb. 27, 2025 and format, rules and appropriate details with be emailed and published to the website for those that pre-register. There will be no onsite registration, so please contact Lon ASAP at pthuronchessclub@aol.com) Entrants must be and maintain their membership throughout the event as there will be no entry fee. Prizes will consist of plaques. - unanimously approved.
From: ewilliams@hamptonpubliclibrary.com
To: PtHuronchessclub@aol.com
Sent: 10/15/2021 9:15:33 AM Eastern Standard Time
Subject: Port Huron Chess Club, thank you
Good Morning Port Huron Chess Club members,
I would just like to say a quick word of thanks! As a youth services librarian, I've been able to get some great use out of your club's chess resource links list as I'm running a fun educational project on the game of chess for a small group of 10-14 year olds during these times of remote learning. We were even able to use some of this information for our group project! Thanks so much for sharing!
I hope you don't mind, one of our youngest, Anna has also asked me if I could share a piece that she and her mother found together on A Kid's Guide to Playing Chess, which includes a great breakdown on chessboard set up, special moves, strategy, how to begin and end a game, etc. I've included it below if you'd like to review!
We noticed you don't have this one listed, but Anna was actually the one to bring up that this could be something you might like to include for any other students and families who may also have an interest in learning how to play during their down time, like Anna!
If you find you are able to use this one, would you please let me know? We're meeting Monday virtually, and I would absolutely love to surprise Anna and the group if you're able to do so - I'm hoping to keep spirits up despite the past year's events and I think it would make her proud to see she was able to pay it forward and maybe even show her mother her contribution if it ends up being included! michiganchessnews.yolasite.com/links.php / porthuronchessclub.yolasite.com/links.php
Thanks again for all your help here,
Evelyn Williams
https://www.playgroundequipment.com/a-kids-guide-to-playing-chess/
( See the article below in the Port Huron Times Herald for Sunday, January 18, 2015 in the “Life” section.)
“ Alan Gregg, a member of the Port Huron Chess Club, won the Class A championship at the Michigan Masters, Experts, Class chess tournament Jan. 9-11 in Lansing.
"I'm 70 now," he said. "I learned the game quite young, but I really didn't start playing until my 20s.
"I have an actual flair for the game. I'm probably in the top 50 in Michigan. In chess itself, I'm in the top 5 percent in the country."
In 2010, Gregg won the Michigan Senior title.
"At that stage I was in the top 100 in the USA over 65," he said. "I'm out of that now. My rating is dropping."
Players in Class A have ratings of 2,000 to 1,800. The class is one notch down from Masters — players with ratings greater than 2,000.
There were 141 people in the multi-class event at Lansing. There were 19 Class A players in the section that Gregg won.”
Lon Rutkofske and Stew Wilkinson battle each other in a 5-minute game! Photo by Nicholas Grenke - Port Huron Times Herald
Chess club is a place to check out
Nicholas Grenke,5:07 p.m. EDT September 3, 2014
The club, which has 10 to 15 members, has a place at the chessboard at the Palmer Park Recreation Center, 2829 Armour St., Port Huron, for anyone who wants to sit down and enjoy the game of kings. The club has been around for 45 years, and is hosted by the Port Huron Recreation Department.
Rutkofske started the club in 1969 when he came to Port Huron as a teacher. In addition to instructions, tournaments and competition, he also publishes a newsletter and updates a website.
The club will have a chess clinic at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the recreation center. The clinic will start with the basic rules and will continue until 10 p.m.
The club will have tournaments at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 11 and 18.
"People come down to a chess club for the social interaction as well as for playing the game," Rutkofske said.
The club is free; individual lessons are $7.50; people also can pay membership fees of $20 for adults and $10 for those younger than 19 to play in club tournaments. The fees help pay for prizes, plaques and club events not provided by the Port Huron Recreation Department.
"If you just want to come down for causal play, there's no charge — we'll help you out as the game goes along," Rutkofske said.
Rutkofske said at the club's peak in the early 1970s, when more than 100 people attended. He said online games have attracted some players to stay home, and people now seem to have shorter attention spans.
He said Port Huron has a very vibrant chess community and the club's annual championship draws players from across St. Clair County and eastern Michigan.
"Some of the best players in the state come here," Rutkofske said. "There's some great young players, too, like Nathan, who could be very good."
Nathan Hartwig, 17, of Clinton Township, won the Port Huron Chess Club Junior Championship.
Stew Wilkinson, of Port Huron, has been coming to the club since he was in high school in the early 1970s.
"My athletic career ended in my 30s," Wilkinson said. "Chess helps fuel the competitive spirit and there is a high level of sportsmanship."
Wilkinson said playing chess won't magically make a player smarter — but the game helps people learn to have a good work ethic because chess takes a lot of studying and forethought.
Rutkofske said the game helps people concentrate — an issue in today's society, as attention spans grow shorter.
"Chess is chess," Wilkinson said, moving a bishop while playing against Rutkofske. "It's a great game."
Contact Nicholas Grenke at (810) 989-6261 or ngrenke@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickSJ86.
IF YOU GO
PORT HURON CHESS CLUB
• The Port Huron Chess Club meets at 6:30 p.m. Thursdays, except for holidays, at the Palmer Park Recreation Center, 2829 Armour St., Port Huron.
• The club will have a fun tournament at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Play starts at 7 p.m.
Reprinted with permission of the Port Huron Times Herald
http://bwne.ws/1nYh6I4 - this will take you to the video
Saturday Chess in St. Clair Going Strong!
It’s Saturday morning, at 10:30am, as I pull into the parking lot at the Burger King on Clinton Ave. in St. Clair where an Einsteinian vision of Tom Broyles, former Executive Director of the Boy Scouts of St. Clair county, local duplicate bridge instructor and resident chess enthusiast meets my gaze from the main dining area. Home of the St. Chess Club for over 14 years, Burger King has been a patient and responsive host and has provided monthly meeting space each Saturday without charge. Other regulars include: Jaime Chan, Rob Brown, Joe Nadasky, Dave Boucher, Noel Bedy and now, members of the PHCC desiring to take advantage of a second chess playing opportunity have begun attending as well. While playing time is limited to 3 ½ hours at its Port Huron counterpart, closing time on Saturday, seems to be the only time control on Saturdays in St. Clair. If you enjoy the luxury of chess, food, and full day of playing the royal game, then Saturdays at St. Clair Burger King is for you! Just remember to bring your own, sets, clocks, boards and endurance!
PHCC shirts still available
Whether you have noticed or not (members of the PHCC have moved into the fashion mainstream with stylish collection of its very own. Aided by accomplished embroiderer and design artist, Diane Rutkofske, members of the PHCC now have access to high quality, custom creations that sport the logo of the Port Huron Chess Club.
With the price tag of just $30, you too can enjoy the celebrity that comes with the crisp, tailored look of well-dressed chess aficionados in colors that best reflect your chess-playing mood. Whether it be burgundy, black or traditional white (other colors available on request), these objects de arte available in sizes S thru 2XL, will make you the envy of every chess enthusiast, be they friend or foe.
Don’t miss this opportunity to become a player of distinction and exquisite taste – order your shirt/s today by contacting Diane at drutkofske@sbcglobal.net. See you on the runway!