Chess Meetup Tomorrow

At the Starbucks at Ohio and State, 3:00 PM. Details here. Beat the post-holiday blues: Play chess.

The Knight of the Iguana*

There’s some good news on the local chess front in the Windy City. Since my panicky post last summer about the imminent demise of the Chicago Chess Meetup Group, people have stepped up to rescue the group from extinction. Particularly active in the institution’s revival has been NM Bruce Kovalsky, who as far as I can tell moved here recently from the West Coast and has since put a lot of energy into chess organizing. First Bruce was scheduling meetups at various Starbucks on the Near North Side. Now he’s putting one together for the Iguana Café at 517 North Halsted on December 17. I’m told these get-togethers are a lot of fun. Go here for more information about the December 17 event and here to sign up for the Chicago Chess Meetup Group.

This is a good chance to get out of the house and away from the Internet, to meet some nice people, eat some good food, play some real, over-the-board chess, and support your local chess organizer.

* My apologies to those of you who are allergic to bad puns. Sometimes I just can't resist.

Can We Save the Chess Meetup Group?

I just got an e-mail notifying me that the Chicago Chess Meetup Group, which has been a force in the local chess scene for the past three years, is currently without a coordinator and will be shut down automatically by Meetup.com on August 26 if no one steps forward to pick up the reins. Will anybody out there volunteer to keep the group going?

Under the leadership of Jae Lim and Peleg Holzman and with the help of prominent local chess players such as IM Angelo Young and FM Albert Chow, the Chess Meetup Group has held regular get-togethers for chess players as well as a series chess lectures, many of them conducted by Angelo at his club, the Touch Move Chess Center.

They've done their part; now it's somebody else's turn. It would be a shame to see the Chess Meetup Group die. I can't serve as the coordinator myself, but I and nearly 300 other chess players who belong to the group would be deeply grateful for anyone else who could.

Is there anyone out there who can take this on board? Go here if you're interested. And thanks.