...asked my daughter during the inaugural Brunskill Blitz last night. A total of 15 players in 3, count 'em, 3 sections took part in the chessical blood bath. To be honest, I didn't have a good answer, except that Jason really thinks that chess is awesome.

I'd have to agree with him there. In addition to the usual crowd, we had two newcomers, Jan and Aaron, who proved to be quite formidable over the board, but were otherwise splendid chaps. There were some intense battles fought, and several savoury bits of trash talk in the computer room/tournament hall - all in all, a good night.

My plan was to hold one tournament per month at the Brunskill Monday night chess-fests, but with a little arm twisting (and a few more chess clocks), perhaps we can hold them a little more often that that.