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On Saturday, September 22, on a beautiful first-day of Autumn, the Roanoke Valley Chess Club played host to the Lynchburg Chess Club in a match held at the Roanoke club site at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op on Grandin Road SW.
The match was held on 10 boards and featured a nice pizza lunch for the match participants.
Roanoke won the match with a decisive 14-6 match score out of the 20 games played.
A permanent memorial trophy was awarded to the Roanoke club as winner of the match.
Particularly noteworthy were the scores of Roanoke Valley players Joshua Lilly, Guy Jackson, Ray Megginson, Mike Huff and Frank Myers, all of whom won both of their games.
In a positive evolution for chess culture in southern and western Virginia, it is interesting to note that 5 of the team members for both clubs were of African-American descent. This is the largest number of Black players qualifying for team leadership positions in the regional history of club matches such as these. This 64-year old observer feels that this is a very good thing !
The match was organized by Roanoke team captain Russell Potter, Lynchburg team captain Felix Mc Cain and Mike Huff.
Club President Mike Huff was the presiding host of the match.
The Lynchburg team has sworn revenge, so we are looking forward to a repeat contest next year !
[ Submitted by Russell Potter, with assistance from Charles Morgan. ]