Webmaster's comments (August 17, 2016):  RRSO always attracts a lot of press and publicity.  This was published in the Oklahoma Chess Quarterly (Vol 30-3, July 2013, Summer Edition).  The author (in the photo) appears to have written this article before RRSO XI and his theme is overzealous recruiting by Texas.  Two points of view can arise from looking at the cross tables and match scores.  One is this is only a perception problem as both teams have basically the same ratings.  It is indeed possible one side can outplay the other.

     It should be noted every leader ever associated with RRSO made decisions based on their philosophy and what they felt was right.  Over time any philosophy is judged on whether it's the right fit for the enterprise.  For RRSO, the fit clearly wasn't right and a change was needed.  Fortunately, leaders of any organization, even RRSO, can be replaced and fun times can return.  This process took a while (as in years).  Then came RRSO XIV, an unexpected tie and lots of fun.  Both sides call it the best RRSO ever (perhaps overlooking RRSO's III, IV and V).  We'll see.  This Webmaster believes as long as people stay true to RRSO's founding principles, the best ever RRSO will happen again, many many times.

And Frank Berry wrote:

     It might be impossible to write extensively and accurately about the various border states that have or still have head-to-head over-the-board team chess mnatches.  But there are two states that have just completed 10 straight years competing against each other in a team format.

     I'm talking about the Red River Shoot Out held each Spring between Texas and Oklahoma.  The rules are simple.  Must be current USCF member, have a rating and USCF address must list player as OK or TX.  The rating is so we'd know where to put you in the line-up.

     After ten years - to nobody's surprise - Texas leads the series by an 8-2 score.  Number of boards have ranged from 9 in 2008 to 30 in 2010.  Average has been 19 boards with the most recent averaging 24 boards.  We have been playing two games at G/60 with a 30 sec inc.  Pictures are taken at the start and a nice trophy gets to remain with the winning state.  If one state had extra players they were organized in a quick event.

     Jim Hollingsworth of Fort Worth first proposed this idea to Oklahoman Tom Nichols and the first match was held in the Red River border town of Ardmore.  It then got moved to Wichita Falls (TX), Norman (OK), Thackerville (OK) and finally found a permanent home in Davis (OK) about 55 miles north of the Red River which is the natural border between OK and TX.  This seems to be the midpoint between Oklahoma City/Tulsa and the Ft Worth/Dallas areas.  The location in Davis is the Inn of The Treasure Valley Casino.  We charge the players $5 ea which pays the $150 rent on the casino's attractive conference room.

     Three players have competed in all ten matches.  Aurelio Gonzalez and Paul Huspeni of Texas and Bruce Wells of Oklahoma.  The closest finish happened in Norman (2005) when the top board was the last to finish.  All players gathered around to watch FM Movses Movsisyan (OK) barely hold a draw; two pawns down with open kings and queens in a tricky late middlegame with NM Nick Schoonmaker (TX)and secure the victory for Oklahoma 21.5 to 20.5.

     Recently, Texas has been actively recruiting from their overabundant supply of super-strong players to ensure that the RRSO trophy will remain south of the Red River.  The past three scores (2010-2011-2012) have favored Texas by 38-22, 23.5-18.5 and 24.5-11.5.  Regardless, players like the rare match team format.  Like the late GM Eduard Gufelf pointed out:  "When you play for a team you have the unanimous support of your teammates and the struggle is absolutely uncompromising."

     In 2013 it was agreed upon by team captains that players will be paired closer to their ratings.  50 points (give or take) was the arbitrary pairing range on each board.  Left over players have the option to play in the "Murray County Open" held concurrently.

"When you play for a team you have the unanimous support of your teammates, and the struggle is absolutely uncompromising."

GM Eduard Gufeld  1936 - 2002