Chess for Chicago's youth

I've read a string of wonderful stories in the last week about young Chicago-area players making their mark on their chessboard:

• The Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship is winding up today in Lubbock, Texas. Most of the young masters on the University of Illinois team are from the Chicago area. Today, the "walk-ons" play a much stronger team from Texas Tech (international players on chess scholarships!) to try to return to the Final Four of chess for a second consecutive year. Please join me in wishing Eric Rosen, Michael Auger, Xin Luo, and Akshay Indusekar the best of luck today! By the time you read this, you may be able to see whether the Illini qualified.
• David Peng of Wilmette (whose coach is Grandmaster Dmitry Gurevich of Chicago) just won a silver medal in the World Under-10 Championship in Al-‘Ain, United Arab Emirates. Who won the gold medal in the same section? Awonder Liang of Wisconsin, who often studies with Chicago grandmasters.
• And just a couple of weeks ago, Sam Schmakel of Chicago's Whitney Young High School won his fifth national scholastic title. For this accomplishment, Sam was featured in yesterday's New York Times.

I've played tournament games against six of these seven young people, and have analyzed with the seventh.  I feel honored to know them!

So chess in Chicago must be doing wonderfully, no? Not according to Dylan Loeb McClain, the author of the Schmakel feature:

Schmakel's school, Whitney Young High, is a magnet school that is part of the Chicago public school system and is where Michelle Obama graduated. It was the only representative at the K–12 Championships from the city, which is not known as a chess stronghold. More students are enrolled in scholastic chess programs and are sent to tournaments across the country from schools in New York, which sends more teams to competitions than any other city; Miami; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; and even Brownsville, Tex.

It is unusual for a city as large as Chicago, with 2.7 million people, to have only one school enter a tournament as prestigious as the K–12 Championships. By comparison, Los Alamos, N.M., population 18,000, also sent one school.

It helps to go to a great magnet school. It helps to have parents who are willing to make financial sacrifices in order to give their children the opportunity to succeed. But most of the talented young people in our city won't be admitted to Whitney Young. And many of their parents would love to give their children greater opportunities but are barely making ends meet.

In my last fundraising pitch, I also asked for financial assistance to send teams from two Chicago West Side schools to the same Florida event at which Sam Schmakel won his fifth title. In the end, the schools could not accept the money that several kind people (including a CPS administrator) pledged. The airfares jumped in price as the deadline approached, and the trip was called off.

Could these kids have succeeded at Nationals? Of course they could have: the team from Faraday Elementary, which draws its students from some of the most dangerous neighborhoods on the West Side, just finished third in a December 14 Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago event.

The Chicago Chess Center does not want to turn children away because their parents can't afford to pay us. Please help us open our doors: please help us help them.

Speaking only for myself, I don't have very much interest in turning young players into grandmasters. It matters more to me that one of my former students is a freshman at an Ivy League school than his having earned an International Master norm. Chess is a fun way to teach critical thinking skills, the skills that turn kids into high achievers.

Children don't get to choose how much money their parents have, and they don't get to choose the neighborhood they are raised in. We want to be there for all of these children, but we can't do it without your support.

We are fortunate to have GMs Dmitry Gurevich, Yury Shulman, Nikola Mitkov and Mesgen Amanov on our advisory board, which also includes leaders from Chicago's nonprofit and business community.

My friend and fellow board member Dave Ducat made a compelling pitch on Facebook the other day. I can't improve on it, so I'll steal Dave's words:

Of course you're thinking that this is Chicago and that there has to be such a place already . . . an actual "Chicago Chess Center" somewhere . . . right?

Nope.

There is no physical "Chicago Chess Center" location in the city, and there hasn't been one within the city limits for over 20 years. Cities like St. Louis and Dallas have developed premier chess clubs, have set the new standard and have seen their international exposure and tourism increased over the last three to five years. I want that for Chicago. I want Chicago to become the center for chess in the United States, and I want it to set the example for other cities to follow.

I need your help to make the Chicago Chess Center a reality. I need your financial contributions to create a physical location, centralized and within easy access of public transportation, so that chess-playing people of all ages, all walks of life, and all neighborhoods in and around the city can have a place to call their own. I need your help to shape the future of chess in Chicago and shape it with our youth in mind.

When the CCC was founded, the board put together a campaign to raise $30,000 within a year to fund the acquisition, furnishing and rent of a suitable space to call the Chicago Chess Center. To date, through tireless solicitation by the board of directors as well as through key personal and corporate investments [...], we've been able to raise over half that amount [we're now over $18,000—BB]. It's my hope that you can find a few dollars to contribute to this worthy cause and help the CCC reach its goal of opening the doors of a new location in early 2014. We need your support to make this happen.

Please take a moment to review our website and click the "Donate Now" button. Please consider a donation of $50; however, any amount will be gratefully accepted. For the price of one latte a day for one week, you can make a lasting contribution to a worthwhile cause and help us achieve our mission.

Bill again.  Without your financial support, we may not be able to fulfill our mission. And we are so close to opening our doors . 

Please make your tax-deductible year-end donation now. Thank you for caring.

Bill Brock
Treasurer
Chicago Chess Center NFP Inc.

P.S.  If you'd like to make your donation by check, here's our mailing address:

Chicago Chess Center NFP Inc.

P.O. Box 180095

Chicago, IL 60618

U.S. Open decompression

Back from Madison!  I dropped 42 (!) rating points.  There's some rough justice: I'd been playing poorly & somehow gaining ELO.  At the U.S. Open, I played well enough to have a mediocre event: my opponents did not permit me that luxury.

As for real players: NM Sam Schmakel (right in below picture) was still in contention for the national title in the final round, but lost to IM Mackenzie Molner (left) in yesterday's final round. Schmakel, FM Eric Rosen, and NM William Aramil all finished with 7-2 scores, a full point off the 8-1 score posted by IM Molner, GM Julio Sadorra, and GM Joshua Friedel.


MSA crosstable here.

A semi-correct game

Black mishandled the opening slightly, and White returned the favor with the slightly inaccurate 15.g4?!, which allowed the equalizing 15...Qc7, capitalizing on the weakening of the dark squares.  Otherwise, yawn.

4.Qc2 is an idea worth checking out: lots of strong players use it on occasion.  Sam impressed me in the postmortem with a couple variations that he assessed far more deeply and correctly than I.  Yes, masters have better instincts than we do, but they also analyze more variations more correctly than we do.

Evanston Chess - game/40 event this Saturday 7/13

Only $5!  (Free to masters & experts: truly the best deal in town....)  

Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Ave., Evanston, IL 60202

Evanston Chess Presents:
July 13, 2013, 9:00am-5:00pm
Tri-Level, 4SS G/40 delay 5
Three Sections, USCF Dual Rated
Our guest master will be NM Sam Schmakel
Section Gold: 1700 and over
Section Silver: 1200 - 1699
Section Bronze: Under 1200 and Unrated

1600 - 1699 may play up to Gold.
1100 - 1199 may play up to Silver.
Published USCF Regular Rating determines eligibility.
Unrated players may be placed up at TD discretion.

Please pre-register if you plan to attend.

Our space is limited and we will cap attendance at 56 players. Priority will be given to players who pre-register by email to enter@evanstonchess.org before 7 p.m. on July 12 and arrive at the tournament before 9:20 a.m. on July 13. Thanks for your understanding and support.
 
From time to time Evanston Chess pays one or more titled players to play in our events. We usually do not pair them against each other. Even if they should lose (it does happen) we may pair them with the highest score groups.

Four rounds. Digital clocks are required and will be set to G/40 plus 5 seconds delay. Accelerated or decelerated pairings at TD discretion. Sections may be combined at TD discretion.

Registration from 9:00 to 9:30 AM. Players must check in by 9:30 am; players who arrive late will receive a half-point bye for the first round. First Round 9:45 am, last round over roughly 5:00 pm. No Lunch Break: We need to be finished by 5:00 PM, so there will be no extra time between rounds for lunch.

You may take one half-point bye in any round but the last.

Entry fee is $5, please pay cash (no checks) at the door. Masters and Experts play free.
Pre-registration is encouraged: Help us start on time. Send name, USCF number, and telephone number to enter@evanstonchess.org

Junior players (under fourteen years) rated 900+ are welcome. Sorry, but we do not accept junior players rated under 900. Must be accompanied by a parent throughout the event.

Bring clocks. -- Wheelchair accessible. No Smoking.

Grünfeld Defense, Russian Variation, Hungarian Defense

5.Qb3 is the Russian Variation.  I am old enough to remember the "Hungarian" 7...a6!? as a wild cutting-edge idea by some Hungarian players in the 1970's.  (Wikipedia attributes its popularization to Leko, but the name was coined before Leko was born.)  As a couple repertoire books recommend this move, you should expect to face it if you play 5.Qb3 as White.

Sam Schmakel was ready (or at least ready enough) and wins a nice game.

Supernationals 2013

Once every four years, all of USCF's scholastic national individual & team championships (high school, junior high, elementary) are held simultaneously in Nashville: this was the weekend for "Supernationals."

Results are in, says Chess Life Online.  And Illinois students did more than OK.

Congratulations to two National Champions from Illinois!!

Aydin Turgut of Decatur took the K-3 Championship with a perfect 7-0.

David Peng won the K-6 Championship with an undefeated 6½-½ score.

I was renewing library books at Harold Washington yesterday when I ran into Phillip Turner, father of Whitney Young's Philip Parker-Turner, who was kind enough to send the below picture of the Whitney Young team (here collecting hardware at the MVP tournament).  Whitney Young did more than OK, finishing in a tie for 5th-7th with 18 points, only 2½ points behind the winners.  Sam Schmakel tied for 2nd in the individual championship (7th on tiebreaks) with a 6-1 score, losing only to tournament winner Atulya Shetti of Michigan.

Sam Schmakel simul

Thanks to Mike Cardinale for organizing  NM Sam Schmakel's simul at the Lincoln Square Marbles to publicize the 2013 Illinois Tour, and of course thanks to Sam for generously donating his time.

I pointed out to the participants that I am still undefeated against Sam in tournament play (for an example of Sam's play at age nine(!), see page 6 of this PDF).  Sam quietly replied, "There's a board available"; wisely, I chickened out.

Sam scored a perfect 12-0 in the simul (several experienced tournament players, including Paul Kash and Keith Ammann, were among his victims), and played one of the boards blindfold.  After the event, I bought a tchotke for the office and a game for a relative: Marbles is a fun place to shop!

Last Sunday at the Lincoln Square Marbles
Foreground: Bill Brock, NM Sam Schmakel, ICA Metro VP Mike Cardinale
Photo: Eileen Schmakel

See you at Marbles in Lincoln Square Sunday at 3 p.m. for Sam Schmakel simul!

That's 3 p.m. this Sunday, March 10th, at Marbles: the Brain Store, 4745 N. Lincoln, Chicago. Kibitzers welcome!

Sorry, but I am sending this notice a second time because we had problems with our incoming email at ICA.  If any of you signed up for this event, we did not receive your registration.  If you wish to sign up, please write a second time to Mike Cardinale ataccounting@apartmentpeople.com. Jerry Neugarten ---------------- Come support the Illinois Chess Tour by joining us for a simul and fundraiser with 2012 Tour Champion Sam Schmakel.  Here are the details: http://bit.ly/Wx2HoG Mike Cardinale, Tour Commissioner, is actively looking for players of all levels, both adult and scholastic, to challenge Sam in the simul.  Challengers are limited to 16, but you can reserve your spot with a simple email to Mike at metrovp@il-chess.org.  Come out to play, watch, or shop on the 10th, and you will be doing your part to support the Tour! Subject:  Sam Schmakel Simul March 10th! Come support the Illinois Chess Tour by joining us for a simul and fundraiser with 2012 Tour Champion Sam Schmakel.  Here are the details: http://bit.ly/Wx2HoG Mike Cardinale, Tour Commissioner, is actively looking for players of all levels, both adult and scholastic, to challenge Sam in the simul.  Challengers are limited to 16, but you can reserve your spot with a simple email to Mike at metrovp@il-chess.org.  Come out to play, watch, or shop on the 10th, and you will be doing your part to support the Tour! Some of you may have students or know of others who might want to participate. Feel free to forward this email to them. Jerry Neugarten Chair, Youth Committee

Schmakel simul at Lincoln Square Marbles on March 10th

The 2012 Illinois Chess Tour champion, NM Sam Schmakel, will play 16 players simultaneously on March 10th at Marbles: the Brain Store.  You can play for free if you pre-register!

Mike Cardinale asked me whether I was sponsoring the event. Uh, no: the simul fee is very reasonable, but it ain't free.  Here's the correct info.

Players of all ages and abilities are welcome, with slots available for a nominal fee of $10.00 for adult players, or $5.00 for scholastic players. 100% of entry fees collected will be contributed to the Tour fund.

Details here!

Illinois Denker, Girls, Barber results

NM Jonathan Kogen wins the Denker Qualifier (the Illinois Chess Association High School Invitational Championship) with a perfect 5-0; NM Sam Schmakel takes second with 4-1, and Nathaniel Kranjc takes third with 2½-2½.

Madeline Reiches wins the Girls' Invitational with 4½-½. Miranda Liu takes second with 4-1, and Cassie Parent is clear third with 2½-2½.

David Peng wins the Barber Qualifier (K-8 Invitational Championship) with 4½-½, Alex Bian is clear second with 4-1, and George Li and Zachary Holocek tie for third with 3-2.

Thanks to Warren Junior Program chair Pattie Zinski for organizing on behalf of the Illinois Chess Association, and to Sevan Muradian and the North Shore Chess Center for donating space and directing services.

Crosstables are here: much more later.

"Whitney Young chess team celebrates state title"

Story in the Chicago Tribune.

Sam Schmakel, left, a junior and four-time national chess champion, and Phuc Hoang, also a junior, hold the trophy as the chess team at Whitney Young Magnet High School is honored as state champions this year. (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)

The Illini Schmakelers win U.S. Amateur Team North

Congratulations to The Illini Schmakelers (in board order: FM Eric Rosen, NM Sam Schmakel, Michael Auger, and Akshay Indusekar), who won the 2013 U.S. Amateur Team North title this past weekend in Schaumburg with a team score of 4½-½ and 16 game points out of a possible 20.

Taking second on tiebreaks was another local team, Touch Move Chess Center: Mating Specialists (IM Angelo Young, FM Albert Chow, Florentino Inumerable, and Robert Loncarevic), who scored 4½ match points and 14 game points.

Many heavy hitters came to this amateur event. The average team ratings must be under 2200, but one can allocate power between boards in any fashion one pleases. This year, the balanced strategy did well.

Inscrutably, the best team name was awarded to "We Always Need a 4th," which is neither amusing nor groanworthy.

Final team standings are here; look for the ratings and individual performances soon.  Update: here are the individual performances on MSA.

Illinois Blitz Championships

Saturday's Illinois Blitz Championship was unusually strong, as it was held in conjunction with the U.S. Amateur Team North in Schaumburg.  Let's hope this tradition continues!  Hungarian Grandmaster Denés Boros, a student at Webster University in St. Louis, won the Illinois Blitz Championship with an impressive 9-1 score.

NM Gopal Menon and NM Sam Schmakel tied for second with 8-2; as Illinois residents, they share the 2013 blitz title.

Israeli GM Anatoly Bykhovsky and our own GM Dmitry Gurevich tied for fourth with 7½ points; FM Eric Rosen, FM Albert Chow, NM Erik Santarius of Wisconsin, NM Pete Karagianis, George Li (still 12 years old?), and Aakaash Meduri tied for sixth with 7-3.

Notable results: Gopal shut out Brazilian GM Andre Diamant 2-0.  (But that's not really notable to those of us who have played Gopal.)  And eight-year-old Aydin Turgut shut out IM Angelo Young 2-0 in the first round!  Not sure whether I was jaded or gullible: the A. Turgut-Young result was a forfeit.  (Thanks to Gopal Menon.)

Full crosstables at chessweekend.com.

Wrapup - 2012 Illinois Class Championships

Jim Froehlich (left) plays  Mario Bartocci

Keith Ammann reports on the ICA website!

There are more photos at illinoisclass.com.

Speaking of which, didn't Ruy López de Segura advise his readers to place the chess board in such a way that their opponents would be blinded by the light of sun?  Two veteran Illinois tournament players  discovered that artificial light works equally well:

Giving a new meaning to "reflection":
neither player has been identified at the time of this post

Hardware from Orlando

Sam Schmakel (left) already has more than his share of national trophies; Matthew Stevens has plenty of time to catch up.

Photo: Jennifer Stevens

National K-12: finals

Final results are in from Orlando. Trash talk: were I allowed to play hors concours at age 54, I am confident I could win the 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th-grade sections, and I think I could be competitive all the way through eighth grade. (But against the high schoolers, I'd be hopelessly outclassed.)

Congratulations to Sam Schmakel, who tied for the 11th-grade title: unofficially, Sam is second on tiebreaks.

 Nathaniel Kranjc and Gavin McClanahan tied for fifth in the 10th-grade section.

Matthew Stevens tied for second in the 6th-grade section.

Shreya Mangalam was playing for the 4th-grade title in the final round.

Stolen from NM William Aramil's Facebook page:

Nationals in Orlando has officially ended. Overall, it went pretty well. I didn't find anytime to go to Disney World though.

Whitney Young won a National Blitz Championship!! Two players placed 4th and 5th. Two pairs of teammates came in 3rd and 4th in bughouse. The Seniors came in 4th place as a team in the main tournament.

Sam Schmakel did it AGAIN and is a National Co-Champion for all 11th graders!! He was a champion his freshman and sophomore year of high school. Can he win next year and make it a clean sweep for all four years of high school? I don't think it has ever been done!?

Overall, most players played well and gained rating points. Good job to the Whitney Young team!

Youth vs. Experience

IM Angelo Young won the Young Masters vs. Experienced Masters, a Scheveningen System event held at the North Shore Chess Center on Sept. 15-16, with an impressive 3 1/2-1/2 score. NM Sam Schamkel was the top scorer among the youngsters, scoring 2-2.

 I'll be posting several games from this match after I work through the backlog of interesting games from the Illinois Open.

In the meantime, crosstable here (broken link fixed).

Mitkov, Gurevich share Illinois Open title

Congratulations to Grandmasters Nikola Mitkov and Dmitry Gurevich, the 2012 Illinois state champions!

Grandmaster in motion: GM Nikola Mitkov (vs. NM Sam Schmakel)

Not the first time: GM Dmitry Gurevich took down Tam Nguyen in the last round

 I'll expand this blog post this evening:-)  soon—I'm waiting for Chess Life Online to publish my report, then I'll use what they didn't....

Here are the final standings.

Equalizing is only the beginnning

NM Sam Schmakel of Whitney Young High School reaches a completely equal middlegame against former US Champion Alexander Shabalov. Sam tries for a little bit more than equality, and gets punished...this time.

Sam Schmakel equal third at Denker

Our high school representative, Sam Schmakel of Whitney Young, also did Illinois proud.  The final crosstable is here, and Chess Life Online has a nice feature on the winners of the Denker and the Barber.

Sam has a perfect score in the early rounds of the U.S. Open (six-day schedule), and will be playing "behind the ropes" against GM Alexander Shabalov.  You should be able to follow the action at monroi.com: action begins at noon Pacific, 2 p.m. Chicago time.

Both Sam and Sean Vibbert of Indiana (who also had a great event) came out swinging in the following game from Round 5. As often happens in Golden Gloves, they neutralized each other without doing damage.