Tournament at Whitney Young Sunday

Chess Parents,

I know this is very last minute, but I’ve learned that there’s a chess tournament this Sunday at Whitney Young High School for K-8 students. Details here if you’re interested.

I won’t try to organize a Ray contingent at this late date, but feel free to attend if your child would like to play.

The next tournament by the Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago will be Saturday, March 14, at Wells School, conveniently located on the South Side, on Pershing Road (244 east 39th Street). I do hope we can get a respectable showing from Ray for that tournament. Please let me know if your child is interested in playing at that one. I’ll have more details soon.

Kayin's Triumph

Congratulations to Whitney Young High School chess star Kayin Barclay, who, as the number-one high school chess player in Illinois, is the subject of of an article in today’s Chicago Sun-Times. Anyone who follows scholastic chess in the Chicago area is familiar with Kayin’s exploits, which include, among many other things, a victory last year over a top grandmaster. Now, thanks to this richly deserved recogntion from the Sun-Times, many others will know about him as well.

I had the privilege of playing and losing to Kayin last summer at the Warren Chess Scholars exhibition in Grant Park. It was a humbling experience. He was polite and deferential as he set about methodically to crush me like an aluminum can. He won handily, even though at two points during the game Kayin had insisted—politely but firmly—that I take back a bone-headed blunder. Afterwards, he patiently went over the game with me and showed me where I’d gone wrong. I still have the record of that game. I was grateful for the free lesson from such a superior chess player, and as a Whitney Young parent I’m delighted to see the school’s top player getting the praise he deserves. Please read all about it.

photo: Jon Sall/Sun-Times

Update (02/03/07): More Kayin coverage at Scholastic Chess Gateway, Lamarr Wilson's blog, and 64 Square Jungle.