Chess, Chess Everywhere

Herewith scenes from recent Chicago chess touraments, starting with some spirited bughouse at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club today, in the latest tournament by Chess Education Partners:

In other Hyde Park chess action, 59 players descended on the University of Chicago’s Quadrangle Club on January 20 for the latest Third Coast Challenge chess tournament was held by the Renaissance Knights. Among those in attendance were several members of the U of C Chess Club, whose top board, Jeremy Kane, tied with Isaac Hagerling for first place in the tournaments open with 3.5/4. More photos here.

Jeremy Kane and Gene Scott (I think)

In another Renaissance Knights event that did not take place in Hyde Park, IM Stan Smiatankin, scourge of the suburbs, once again left destruction in his wake, this time by playing three consecutive simuls against 6th, 7th & 8th graders in January.

Stan the Man

You may recall that last summer Stan summarily dispatched the mayors of Forest Park and Oak Park at one time, in a game that evoked Morphy at the Opera House. This time Northbrook Junior High School was the scene of his triumph.

Chess Players Discover Hyde Park

The tournament room at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club was jammed yesterday, as about 85 kids from all over town came to play in the second chess tournament of the year by Chess Education Partners.

That’s up from 48 players a month earlier and about half that at the first CEP tournament in the neighborhood last June. It looks like the world has discovered this excellent series of chess meets and is beating a path to Hyde Park.

The funny thing is, not many Ray School kids are coming. Allen Dai, Phillip Parker-Turner, and Andy Margulis were the sole Castle Kimbark standard bearers this time. Allen finished second in a field of 13 in the Grades 2-3 division, and Phillip took third place out of 24 players in Grades 4-5. I assume they both got trophies, though, alas, I couldn’t be there for the ceremony at the end. For the same reason I don’t know which schools won the various team competitions. Sorry. The offical crosstable is here.

Pas de Deux

How many Ray School students does it take to change a light bulb? I don’t know, but it only takes two to win a team trophy in a major citywide chess tournament. That’s what happened today in the first tournament of the year at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club put on by Chess Education Partners.

Despite the surprisingly low turnout from Ray for a tournament in our own front yard, fifth-grader Andy Margulis and fourth-grader Phillip Parker-Turner combined to give our school a first-place finish in the Grades 4-5 team competition. Fresh from his triumph dowstate yesterday, Noah Weeks-Brittan of the Chicago Latin School finished first in the individual competition in that division.

More pictures here. Thanks to the efficiency of Tournament Director IM Jan Vander Mortel, the individual results are already available from the U.S. Chess Federation here. Here are the team results for the event, which drew almost 50 kids from around the city and suburbs.

Grades K-1
1. Western Avenue
2. Flossmoor

Grades 2-3
1. Chicago Latin
2. Near North Montessori
3. Andrew Jackson

Grades 4-5
1. Ray School
2. Sacred Heart
3. Dewey Elementary

Grades 6-8
1. Cook

And afterwards, they played Bughouse:

Thanks to Jan, Chess Education Partners President Zack Fishman, and Peter Cassel of the Neighborhood Club. Next tournament in Hyde Park: December 2.

Upcoming Tournaments

Two upcoming scholastic tournaments for Ray School Chess Club members:

Sunday, November 4
Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, 5480 S. Kenwood Avenue, Chicago. Check in begins at 8:00 a.m. Round 1 begins at 9:00. Entry fee: $20 + U.S. Chess Federation membership required. Register at Chess Education Partners.

Saturday, November 17
Disney Elementary School, 4140 N. Marine Drive, Chicago. Sponsored by the Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago. Check in 9:00 – 9:30. First round at 10:00. Free of charge.

Please let us know if your child would like to play in either tournament.

Tournament at Quad Club Saturday

I just noticed that Renaissance Knights is holding a chess tournament this Saturday at the University of Chicago’s Quadrangle Club, at 57th Street & University Ave. Alas, the early-bird registration deadline has passed, but you can still sign up for $30 if you’re interested. It’s an “open” tournament, which means there are no special sections for kids or lower-rated players, so I’d recommend this tournament mainly for the stronger Ray players. You can’t beat the location, though.

If you’re looking for a scholastic tournament this weekend, you can go out to Oakton Community College in Des Plaines for a Saturday match by North Shore Scholastic Chess.

The next tournament in Hyde Park will be on Sunday, November 4, at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, sponsored by Chess Education Partners. Our friends at the Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago, which sponsors free tournaments, should also have an announcement soon about a November tournament, and I’ll let you know about that as soon as I do.

Warming Up

The Ray School Chess Club will hold its first official meeting of the year on Monday, October 15, but a few members of the club—four, to be exact—held an informal practice session at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club today. A tournament scheduled for this morning had been cancelled, but HPNC executive director Peter Cassel let the chess-hungry Ray kids have some skittles time nonetheless. (Thanks, Peter.) The foursome played a spirited round of Bughouse and some blitz. (Click on the arrow button to watch the video.)

Ray fourth-grader (please see comments) Phillip Parker-Turner won another tournament this weekend: Glenn Panner's Orland Park Scholastic. . . . Who is Mark Jutovsky, you ask? A guy who hasn't played a rated tournament in ten years, that's who. Mark's decade of inactivity, however, didn't stop him from winning Saturday's Evanston Chess Economy Open with a perfect 4.0/4 against a tough field. . . . In other news, the chess world has a new champion today. He’s Vishy Anand of India, and he’s been one of the top players in the world for many years. Now he’s the best. Vishy won a tough tournament in Mexico City against six other players, including the previous champ, Vladimir Kramnik.

Neighborhood Club to Host Chess Tournaments

CEP will hold meets in Hyde Park

Great news. Zack Fishman's Chess Education Partners (CEP), one of the leading organizers of scholastic chess events Chicago, plans to hold several tournaments right here in our neighborhood, at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club.

HPNC executive director Peter Cassel confirmed the schedule.
The first tournament will be on Sunday, September 30.

The new series is a natural outgrowth of a rapidly developing relationship between CEP and the Neighborhood Club. International Master Jan van de Mortel of CEP offered a chess class at the club last winter and spring, and the organization staged a tournament there last June in which Ray kids won big.

The new tournaments, which will be widely publicized and will draw players from all over the city, will be harder for one school to dominate, which means they'll be more fun. They will probably be rated tournaments for which U.S. Chess Federation membership will be required, and there will be an entry fee of $20.

More information as it becomes available. For now, please mark you calendar for September 30. Other tournaments are tentatively scheduled for November 4, December 2, January 6, February3, March 2, April 6, and May 4. Good turnout in the early tournaments will insure that the later ones take place, so please plan to attend some of these events. This is a great opportunity for all junior chess players in Hyde Park.

Home Court Advantage

Ray kids stand out at neighborhood tournament

The last chess tournament of the school year turned out to be one of the best, as Ray kids took advantage of their superior numbers at a meet held here in Hyde Park yesterday to win three team trophies with a clean sweep of all elementary-school divisions.

Chess Education Partners’ Zack Fishman with the trophy-laden Ray School team

In the first of what we hope will be many tournaments at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club conducted by Chess Education Partners, Ray took first place in the K-1, Grades 2-3, and Grades 4-5 categories.

Ray students also brought home eight individual trophies, a school record for a single event. Leading the way was Phillip Parker-Turner, who finished first in the Grades 2-3 division with a perfect five victories in as many rounds. Other Ray kids who won trophies were Allen Dai, Karen Dai, Sonam Ford, Gonzalo Higuero, James Liu, Nikolaj Reiser, and George Vassilatos.

Kids from other schools who posted excellent records included Mickey Li, Brian Lorenz, Noah Weeks-Brittan, Zackery Mateo Montes, and Stone Tao. See the complete results here.

It was a great way to finish up the season, and we didn’t even have to leave the neighborhood. Thanks to Zack Fishman, Jan van der Mortel, and Bruce Haffner from Chess Education Partners and to Peter Cassel of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club for hosting the event. Look for more programs from CEP at the Neighborhood Club in the fall.

More photos here.

And don’t forget: We’ll be back playing chess again next Saturday afternoon at the University of Chicago. See you there.

An Offer You Can’t Refuse

Free USCF memberships for Ray students who play at June 9 tournament

Here’s an offer you can’t refuse. In an event that couldn’t possibly be more convenient, Chess Education Partners will host a citywide scholastic chess tournament on Saturday, June 9, at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club.

The entry fee is $15, and your child has to be a member of the U.S. Chess Federation ($17 cost) to play.

However, the Ray School Chess Club has registered the entire school team and paid the entry fee, and for any chess club member who plays in the tournament and is not already a USCF member, the club will pay for a one-year membership.

In other words, a chess tournament right here in the neighborhood that could have cost you $32 to enter will cost you nothing, and your child will be a member of the U.S. Chess Federation, entitled to play in rated tournaments, earn an official rating, and receive the semi-monthly magazine Chess Life for Kids.

Sound good? Then please let me know as soon as possible if your child wants to play.

Toutnament details:

Date
Saturday, June 9, 2007

Location
Hyde Park Neighborhood Club,
5480 S. Hyde Park Ave., Chicago

Time
Check-in at 8:00 a.m.; the first round will begin at 9:00 a.m.