Last night the dry erase board stated, “Denton Chess Club: Home of IM Doug Root, 4th place U.S. Open.” Results of the U.S. Open are here. During the week of August 4-8, Doug went to work at the University of North Texas, then drove 45 minutes to the tournament site, and then played chess from 7 p.m. until around midnight. As another player pointed out, though, Doug had the advantage of staying at home rather than in a hotel room.

For all competitors, nine rounds of chess is a challenging task. Congrats to the 381 participants in the U.S. Open! At chess club, I played a couple of casual games, and imparted rules for three-board bughouse. Actually, I have never played three-board bughouse, but I figured that players on the outside should pass the middle player. And the middle player could choose which teammate to send pieces to. A checkmate on one board means the game is over for all the boards. The game amused three of my middle school chess club members, one adult, and two other children.