Thursday, November 22, 2007

Classy Chess

A tournament for the rest of us

Think you’re not good enough to play in a real chess tournament? Think again. The “2007 Illinois Class Championships” take place on December 1 at Oakton Community College, and if you know the difference between a rook and a bishop there’s a place in it for you.

They’re called the “class” championships because you play only other players in your U.S. Chess Federation ratings class. Is your rating 1113? You’re in Class E, and you won’t play anyone over 1200. Rated only 983? You’ve got a real shot at the Class F championship. That’s right: the championship! Yes, I’m talking about you. (Correction, 11/25/07: See Sevan’s comment below for qualification.)

Win or lose, though, you’ll face players with whom you’re well matched all day long, players who will challenge you but won’t crush you like an aluminum can. And if you have no rating and you’re not a member of the USCF, what better time to join and find out where you belong on the ratings chart?

Go here for details and here to sign up.

Oh, by the way: you don’t have to be a patzer to play in Illinois Class Championships. Strong players are welcome, too. They just have to play in a higher division. So there. Mediocrity does have its rewards.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please note that the lower classes are all together - D/E/F/Unrated.

--Sevan

Tom Panelas said...

I see. So, for example, there's no Class J (rating of 100-199) championship as such.

Maybe it's just as well. Your mother would hardly kvell from hearing you're the top chess player under 200 in the state of Illinois. Unless, of course, she didn't know anything about chess ratings.