Just an important reminder about the next Red River Shootout (RRSO) coming up in April 2010. As all serious chess players know, RRSO VIII is the latest in a series of annual matches between the most fanatical chess players in Oklahoma and Texas. As the result of an impressive 32-1/2 to 21-1/2 victory last spring, World Champion Texas leads the series 5-2 (despite playing on the road six of seven contests). As always, outstanding coverage of RRSO VIII will be available in fine chess plublications such as Chess Life and the Oklahoma Chess Quarterly. For those living south of the Red River, Texas Knights occasionally mentions the match – just don’t read too fast so you don’t miss it.
This should be another very competitive match. Certainly, I am sure it will be as
entertaining as RRSO VII. Oklahoma has plenty of very talented players to challenge
for the trophy in 2010. Naturally, those of us in Texas would love to keep the traveling
trophy. It would be great to see teams of 30+ participate.
Unfortunately, and dispite the team’s strong leadership and years of experience, the Texas negotiators will probably throw in the farm just to get a match and agree to play on the road again. In years past, Texas was noted for achieving it’s negotiation goals with authority. But lately they’ve done things like give Oklahoma all whites in the first round and free entry for Oklahoma’s masters. There’s even been talk of giving Oklahoma’s women chessplayers a half point for just showing up.
Despite all these concessions, the Texas double-digit victory margin in April 2009 made one message resoundingly clear: “Don’t mess with Texas.”
