Fresh from my email inbox!
Illinois Chess Association Newsletter
August 4, 2010
New Prizes at the 2010 Illinois Open
Two prizes have been added to the prize list:
-- Plus Score certificates worth $20 in merchandise will be awarded.
-- Free three month memberships (or extentions) will be given to all
main event registrants who send us an email with their contact details
and USCF number.
GM Yuri Shulman, GM Dmitry Gurevich, GM Nikola Mitkov, IM Angelo
Young and IM Florin Felecan will all compete for the title of Illinois
Open Champion for 2010. A group of dedicated Illinois chess patrons has
put together a modest support fund to pay the entry fees and offer a
bit extra to these outstanding players. If you would like to join us in
supporting the titled players of Illinois contact Carl Dolson or Tom
Sprandel.
September 4, 2010 - September 6, 2010
Two Day and Three Day Schedules Available
DoubleTree Hotel: 1909 Spring Road , Oakbrook, Illinois 60523
(630) 472-6020, (630) 472-6000 (code C-CHE)
$11,000
Open Section
Reserve Section
Saturday Scholastic U1000 Trophy Tournament (side event)
Saturday Evening G/25 (side event)
Entry Fees for main events: $79 pre-entry, $90 at door.
For full details see
http://chessforlife.com/
ICA Governance Takes a Step Forward
With the appointment of Mike Cardinale to Metro VP, we now have a
full board, five executive officers and five additional directors. The
board is ballanced by region and by focus on youth and adult chess.
Tom Sprandel, President
Michael Cardinale, Metro VP
David Long, Down State VP
Maret Thorpe, Secretary
Carl Dolson, Treasurer
Bill Barton, Director
Bill Brock, Director
Andi Rosen, Director and Chair, Warren Junior Scholars Program
Jerry Neugarten, Director and Chair, ICA Youth Committee
Garrett Scott, Director and Chair, ICA Bid Committee
The board usually meets twice a month by phone conference. Frequent
meetings and sharing of views helps keep things moving forward.
Constitution and Bylaws being Updated
We're in the final stage of revising and updating our governance
documents. Most of the changes are minor or involve re-organizing,
simplifying and streamlining. We expect to have the changes finished
and posted on our website by the end of this month.
Youth Committee makes proposal to Chicago Public Schools
Our Youth Committee, with approval from the Board, has proposed a
major upgrade in the chess program in Chicago’s public schools and
offered to take the lead in planning a new program targeted to students
in the city’s Title 1 schools. The proposal is outlined in a four-page
report entitled “Why Not Chicago?” sent to the office of CEO Ron
Huberman on July 9. The proposal was requested by Mr. Huberman’s office
a month earlier. It outlines the research on the benefits of chess for
kids and details thriving programs in other U.S. cities. Based on
experience elsewhere, the proposal says the Chicago program could be run
on a budget of $300,000 to $400,000, but would not require direct
financial assistance from CPS or the city. It lists other organizations
which have offered to partner with ICA in planning and running the
program.
The proposal is available at http://il-chess.org/non_joom/minutes/CPS%20Proposal%207-9-10.pdf.
USCF charges Affiliates with Selecting Delegates
The US Chess Federation has given the responsibilty for selecting
delegates to its state affiliates. Starting in 2011 the ICA will appoint
the delegates who will represent Illinois chess players at the USCF
annual business meeting.
We will post a notice on http://il-chess.org/
as soon as we know where the 2011 meeting will be held. Those who want
to serve must be willing to travel to the business meeting at their own
expense. We anticipate that Illinois will continue to send six
delegates.
The ICA Board will select the delegates. Selections will be based on
demonstrated commitment to ICA and USCF as gauged by the length of the
applicant’s membership in ICA and USCF and the degree of their active
participation. Participation includes but is not limited to organizing,
promoting, writing articles, directing and playing in tournaments,
participation on committees, and attendance at meetings. An effort will
be made to ensure geographic balance in the selection of delegates and
alternates.
Annual Meeting and Banquet Scheduled for Nov 7th
The meeting is at 11:00 a.m. and the Banquet is from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Buca di Beppo -- 90 Yorktown Road -- Lombard, IL USA 60148
The Banquet will honor Helen Warren, who has won the ICA's Broughton Award for outstanding service to chess in Illinois.
Mark your calendars. More details will follow.
Election of Officers Coming this fall
Executive board offices are up for election this fall. That includes
the offices of President, Metro VP, Downstate VP, Secretary, and
Treasurer. It does not include the remaining five board positions,
which will be up for election next year.
Nomination procedures and deadlines will be published shortly. If
you are thinking of running you should begin collecting your nominations
now. It takes the recommendation of ten ICA members who are in good
standing to get your name on the ballot (email nominations will be
accepted, assuming the constitutional revisions are approved by the
Board this month.)
If your membership has expired, renew now. You must be a member of the ICA to vote, and you must be nineteen years of age.
Chris Merli, New ICA Membership Secretary
I'm pleased to announce that Chris has volunteered to serve as
Membership Secretary. It takes a lot of work to keep the ICA running.
As one of our board members keeps telling me, it takes people, people,
people, and money. She's so right. Thanks, Chris, for stepping up.
On January 1, 2009 we had 168 current members. We reached 321 in June
of this year and hope to continue the upward trend. Our current
membership list is on the website. The web page list is powered by the
same database we use to record memberships, so it's always up to date.
Go to http://il-chess.org/
and then click on "Membership". You can join or renew from that page
using Paypal or a credit card. You can check your renewal date by
clicking on "Membership List".
Website Anniversary
It's been one year since we switched from static HTML pages to
Joomla. For the uninitiated, Joomla is a content management system
(like blog software on steroids). It's open-source (read free) and is
very poplular. Switching to Joomla has allowed more people to
contribute to the page.
Have an urge to write? Want your own byline? Contact Maret Thorpe, secretary@il-chess.org.
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