Play Chess, Help the CCC

Chess Without Borders, a Barrington-based service learning and philanthropic charity organization, will hold a tournament benefiting the Chicago Chess Center at Countryside Elementary School in Barrington on Saturday, May 17.

The tournament is open to both U.S. Chess Federation members and nonmembers of all ages. Individual trophies will be awarded in all sections, and team trophies are available for schools that send teams to compete.

And in a zestful departure from the typical hot dogs–and–pizza fare served at such events, homestyle Middle Eastern food will be prepared and served by Zein Bertacchi, an award-winning chef known to Chess Without Borders players and volunteers as "the Falafel Lady."

All proceeds of the five-round, game/30 tournament will benefit the CCC.

The tournament's five-round format and quick time control make it a superb opportunity for beginners of all ages looking for an introduction to USCF-rated chess. (Please note, though, that if you're not a USCF member yet and would like to compete in any of the three rated sections -- Primary, Elementary or Open -- you'll need to become a member and obtain a player ID number before registering. Follow this link to reach the USCF membership webstore. If you don't care about getting a rating and just want to spend a day playing chess, the Nonrated section is open to everyone!)

The CCC extends its heartfelt thanks to Kiran Frey and Grandmaster Yury Shulman of Chess Without Borders for their support of the CCC and their generosity and initiative in putting this event together. We hope you'll come and give your thanks as well!

Chess Without Borders Countryside Tournament

Saturday, May 17

Countryside Elementary School, 205 W. County Line Road, Barrington. 5/SS, G/30. In four sections: Primary (grades K–3), Elementary (grades 4–5), Open (grades 6–12 and adult) and Nonrated (all ages). USCF membership required for Primary, Elementary or Open section. Rounds: Round 1 at 10 AM, later rounds ASAP (finish around 3 PM). Entry fee: $25 if postmarked by May 7; $30 if postmarked after May 7; $35 on-site before 9:15 AM. Free for players in any section rated over 1600. Mail entries to Chess Without Borders, 428 Waverly Road, Barrington, IL 60010, or click here to enter online. Prizes: Trophies for top 5 in each section, top 3 in each grade K–5, and top 3 in grades 6–12. Team trophies for top 3 school teams in each rated section. All kindergarteners get participation medals.

Preview Open Winners Aren't the Usual Suspects

David ShinerJune 29 was a day for newcomers, up-and-comers and comebacks. David Shiner, a Shimer College associate dean coming off a 10-year hiatus from rated chess, won first place in our preview open at the Illinois Institute of Technology, with a score of 3.5/4. With only three prior rated games to his name, Armando Rodríguez took second with 3.0/4 (in a tie with the house player, Bill Brock). Young player Mark Jungo, a member of the Knight Moves Chess Club at the Rudy Lozano Branch Library in Pilsen, placed third with 2.5/4, scoring an upset win over his mentor, Héctor Hernández, in the first round.

Shiner's most dramatic win came in the third round, against Hernández. Enjoying more space and an outposted rook and knight by move 26, Shiner had difficulty converting his advantages into a winning position and found himself in deep time trouble by move 30. He was able to detonate the position on move 33, helped out by Hernández's recapture on c6 with a rook rather than a pawn (an oversight that may have been aggravated by the ringing of a mobile phone in the tournament room), and played the position down to a KQ vs. K endgame with less than a minute of time remaining on his clock:

Click here for official tournament crosstable.

Come One, Come All . . . Come Early

If you plan on driving to the Chicago Chess Center Preview Open tomorrow (Saturday, June 29) at the Illinois Institute of Technology and haven't already reserved parking, arrive early: visitors' lot B5 is expected to fill up quickly because of another event. Follow this link for alternative parking locations (lots A4, A6, C5 and D5).

Rather not pay $12 for all-day parking? We don't blame you. You can also take the 'L' to 35th-Bronzeville-IIT (Green/Red Line), the Rock Island Line Metra to 35th, the 24 (Wentworth) or 29 (State) bus to 33rd, or the 35 (35th) bus to Federal.

Come Out and Play!

The Chicago Chess Center is pleased to announce its second preview event -- and this one is open to all U.S. Chess Federation members!

On Saturday, June 29, we're holding a four-round Swiss system tournament at Hermann Hall on the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, 3241 S. Federal St., Chicago (map). The time control is G/45 plus 5-second delay. Rounds will start at 10 AM and 12:15, 2 and 3:45 PM. Entry is $15 for Chicago Chess Center members, $25 for nonmembers. Up to $300 in prizes will be awarded (prize fund based on 30 entries).

Hermann Hall is a seven-minute walk from the 35th-Bronzeville-IIT Green Line 'L' station and a five-minute walk from the 35th Street station on Metra's Rock Island Line -- a great option if you're coming from Auburn-Gresham, Beverly or Morgan Park. Parking will be available in visitor lot B5, on Federal between 31st and 33rd streets, for $4 with advance registration by Wednesday, June 26. (To get this rate, please mention parking when you register.)

To register, send us an e-mail message and pay on the day of the event, or mail your entry to Chicago Chess Center NFP Inc., c/o William Brock, 230 W. Monroe St., Suite 330, Chicago, IL 60606. On-site registration will be from 9 to 9:45 AM downstairs in the Faculty Club Lounge.

USCF membership is required; three-month memberships will be available on-site. Sets and duplicate scoresheets will be provided. Please bring a clock if you have one. The site is nonsmoking and wheelchair-accessible.

We're excited to be able to present this event to you, and we hope you'll be among the first to enjoy what we have to offer. See you on June 29!

Founders Meet Masters at UNAM Chicago

On May 11 and 12, Chicago Chess Center Founders' Court donors were invited to a preview event at which they got the opportunity to square off against local masters and junior experts. The two-day, four-round schedule was chosen to showcase a format that we've considered offering as a seasonal open tournament. The verdict? FM Carl Boor, one of the titled players in attendance, called it a weekend of "fun . . . full-blooded chess every game"!

Three of our founding members took part in the tournament: Vince Hart, Dante Silguero and James Hulsizer. Hart got to play against FM Eric Rosen and NM Danyul Lawrence, Silguero faced Rosen and expert player Michael Auger, and Hulsizer played expert Akshay Indusekar.

The third round seemed to be charmed, as all three Founders chose their games in that round as the ones they enjoyed most. Hart played Lawrence in a symmetrical English Opening in which he won on time after holding the advantage through a tactically tasty middlegame:

Silguero lost to Auger in a Caro-Kann, Silguero's "bread-and-butter opening," after what he called "a very instructional middlegame":

On the upper end, Boor and Rosen, who shared a top score of 3.5/4, played a 60-move game featuring an unorthodox opening followed by a high-level positional battle:

Rosen identified the game as his favorite of the weekend. Boor praised the game as well but cited the excitement of his fourth-round game against Auger, a touch-and-go Exchange Grünfeld that he characterized as "a swindle game," in choosing that one as his own favorite:

We can't thank our players enough for making the Chicago Chess Center's first event a success, not to mention our gracious hosts at the Chicago extension campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, who provided the space for free. Everyone agreed that the beautiful site enhanced the tournament experience. (Photos)

We're aware that several of our Founders' Court members had looked forward to playing this weekend but were unable to because of other commitments, so mark your calendars now: Our next preview event will be held Saturday, June 29. More details coming soon!

Click here for official tournament crosstable.

And let's not forget . . .

The purpose behind the CCC UNAM Invitational was to give our founding members and local titled players (and future titled players) a first taste of what the Chicago Chess Center will offer when we're up and running . . . and we still have a ways to go before we get there. We're more than a quarter of the way to our $30,000 startup fundraising goal -- which means we have nearly three-fourths of the way left to go! To open our doors by fall 2013, we need the immediate support of people like you. Please give now to help us bring the joys and benefits of chess to all Chicagoans.

Still Time to Register for UNAM Invitational

If you're not a Chicago Chess Center Founders' Court member yet, it's not too late! Anyone interested in participating in our first preview event, the CCC UNAM Invitational, May 11 and 12, may donate at the Founders' Court level ($250 or more) right up to the day of the event. We still need your help to open our doors and begin offering events to the Chicagoland chess-playing public in our own space. Please give generously and become a founding member of this important new civic, educational and recreational institution.

This exclusive event open only to masters, junior experts and CCC Founders' Court members will have a time control of G/75 plus 30-second increment, with rounds beginning at 10 AM and 2:30 PM each day. Entry is just $15 for CCC members, and we're giving out a guaranteed $600 in prizes (five place prizes of $250, $150, $100, $60 and $40). Nonmember masters and junior experts are eligible to participate for an entry fee of $25. Sets and duplicate scoresheets will be provided; we appreciate your helping us out by bringing your own clock. FIDE Master Carl Boor and junior experts Michael Auger and Akshay Indusekar will be in attendance.

UNAM Chicago is at 350 W. Erie St. in River North. Off-street parking will be available for $5 per day in the lot on the northeast corner of Erie and Orleans streets. UNAM Chicago is also an easy five-minute walk from the CTA's Chicago/Franklin Brown Line 'L' station.

RSVP by May 8 to info@chichess.org or through our contact page, or send entries by mail to Chicago Chess Center NFP Inc., c/o William Brock, 230 W. Monroe St., Suite 330, Chicago, IL 60606. On-site registration will be open Saturday morning between 9 and 9:45. We hope to see you there!

A Taste of What's to Come

What have we been up to these past couple of months? Planning our first tournament! Thanks to our friends at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México's Chicago campus, we're able to offer our Founders' Court members a sample of the kind of events we plan to hold.

On Saturday and Sunday, May 11 and 12, we're holding the Chicago Chess Center UNAM Invitational, an exclusive event open to masters, junior experts and Founders' Court members. This USCF-rated, two-day, four-round Swiss will have a time control of G/75 plus 30-second increment, with rounds beginning at 10 AM and 2:30 PM each day. Entry is $25, $15 for CCC members, and we're giving out a guaranteed $600 in prizes (five place prizes of $250, $150, $100, $60 and $40). Sets and duplicate scoresheets will be provided; someday we'll be able to provide clocks as well, but for now we ask you to bring your own.

UNAM Chicago is at 350 W. Erie St. in River North (map). Off-street parking will be available for $5 per day in the lot on the northeast corner of Erie and Orleans streets. UNAM Chicago is also an easy five-minute walk from the CTA's Chicago/Franklin Brown Line 'L' station.

If you're not a master or junior expert and would like to participate, it's not too late to join our Founders' Court! Any interested player may donate at the Founders' Court level ($250 or more) right up to the day of the event. Remember, we still need your help to open our doors and begin offering events to the Chicagoland chess-playing public in our own space. Please give generously and become a founding member of this new civic, educational and recreational institution.

P.S. As a bonus, we plan to hold a thank-you reception for our Founders' Court members around the time of the tournament; details coming soon. And for everyone else, be on the lookout for another Chicago Chess Center preview tournament -- open to all -- this June!