IM leaves Texas Training Camp

Chess Team growing tired of Texas Heat Wave
by Victor Yaward, Chess Reporter

Waco, Texas (CRN) - Citing exhaustion from a grueling training camp schedule and a Texas heat wave, a leading member of the Texas Chess Team has pulled up stakes leaving behind a stunned coaching staff. The player's name has not been released, but Robert Jones, the team's chief diplomatic liaison for Third World Chess States (TWCS), confirmed the Chess Reporter's questions saying, "We lost a good one this time. This will make things much tougher as our weaker players will have to play up at least one board. Texans are tough but that may be too much to ask when facing a fired up Oklahoma team."

Tom Crane, chief match organizer along with Oklahoma's Frank Berry, disclosed the team is considering other training camp sites for 2011. "Waco's a nice site, but we don't want to limit ourselves by locking out other possibilities. The Dallas Cowboys use the Oxnard (California) facilities and we owe it to our players and fans to look seriously at all options." The Honorable Virginia DuPuy, Waco City Mayor, expressed surprise ("Texas has a chess team?") and vowed to do everything necessary to keep chess jobs in Waco. John DeVries, Training Camp Director and a Waco native, expressed relief when he learned about the mayor's support.

As all serious chess players know, the REAL Red River Shootout is a series of matches between the most fanatical chess players in Oklahoma and Texas. Both teams are hard at work in two training camps (Oklahoma is practicing at a huge Walter goat ranch). Texas leads the series 5-2 despite playing on the road six out of seven contests. Publicity and results for the match are in the Oklahoma Chess Quarterly, on line in the Oklahoma Chess Form, on the Texas Chess Association web site, and on the famous chess reporter's (Victor Yaward) blog site: http://texaschessreporter.blogspot.com.