$10,000 in prizes at Greater Midwest Class Championships in Rosemont 11/29 to 12/1!

Yes, folks, that's $10,000!

You can choose between three-day and two-day schedules, too.

Details here.

Enter here!

What's in a name?

We get emails.... Not sure I like "ChessIQ" from a marketing perspective, but I'm often wrong about such things.

The new ChessIQ!   Hello everyone! Welcome to the new ChessIQ!  Many of you have followed the work that I've done in the past many years under the name of the North American Chess Association (NACA) and the North ShoreChess Center. As positions on a board evolve and change, so does the strategy of my approach. Does this mean the NACA is gone? No, but it's going into hibernation in terms of event organization, etc (some functions of the NACA will remain) and all of the work that my team and I do will be done under the ChessIQname. So why ChessIQ? We can look at it from two perspectives - first the name and then the idea behind the name. The name is very easy to remember and say -ChessIQ. Simple to brand, simple to get out, easy for anyone to understand. The idea behind the name - everyone associated playing chess with high or improved intelligence, so it's a natural combination. One of the aspects of the new website will be daily contributions from multiple sources, from amateurs to Grandmasters. We will slowly be added additional contributors and by the end of this year we should have 5-7 of them! The name ChessIQ will also extend to our chess center (formerly called the North Shore Chess Center). The new name is the ChessIQ Academy & Chess Center, as there will be a great deal more training going on - for players, for arbiters/tournament directors, for organizers, and for trainers! The Chess Center was brought to life back on Sept 1, 2010 - a few days over 3 years - and we've hosted numerous tournaments, Grandmaster lectures and simuls, and other activities. There will be much more to come! To get in contact with me please use my new email address which issevan@chessiq.com. Our Facebook page has had the address changes already to www.facebook.com/chessiq  we've collapsed our other Facebook pages so it will be a single social media source. Our LinkedIn page has had the name changed already, YouTube is in progress, and Twitter we haven't decided what we're going to do with. We are aiming for the end of September to have the entire migration complete if not sooner. Be on the lookout also for other special offerings we will be bringing out including training / chess books, tournament booklets with analyzed games, and videos. As these get released we will make announcements on them. Thank you to everyone in the past for your support and we look forward to your support in the future! Best regards, Sevan A .Muradian   Group Lessons - something for everyone! For the past 2 years we have been hosting Grandmaster lectures. We recognize that this isn't everyone's cup of tea because it's a long time commitment and can be draining, but for many it has been a great experience. So we're taking a modified approach as part of our constant improvement of services by having 3 different types of group lessons: U1000 and 1000-1400 training sessions on Sundays (60 minute lectures) Monday Night Master Lectures (90 minute lectures) Saturday Grandmaster Lectures & Simuls (4 hour lectures) We did change even the Grandmaster lectures to make them a bit shorter (4 hours instead of 6) and starting the simul at4:30 as many were running quite late! We have Grandmasters lined up for November and December! Check out our website to find out who! Our Monday Night Master Lectures will be headed up by our very own International Master Florin Felecan. When theChess Center first opened up in 2010 Florin was always there to help out and we're happy that he's accepted our invitation to be our Monday Night Lecturer! For more information on these on these events and much more visit out website: http://www.chessiq.com Check out both the Academy & Chess Center page and the Events page! Tournaments! We've added some new tournament types so check it out! We even have a Game-45 this Saturday! Game-15 + 5 sec/ increment Wednesday nights - 7:00pm start time - 5 rounds Game-90 + 30/sec increment Friday nights - 7:00pm start time - 1 round Game-45 + 5/sec increment Saturday Sept 7 & Oct 5 4 rounds - 10:00am start time! Game-60 + 5/sec increment Saturday Sept 14, Oct 12, Nov 16, Dec 7 4 rounds - 10:00am start time! Game-60 + 30/sec increment 4 board team tournaments - 12:00pm start time Sat / Sun - Sept 28/29, Oct 26/27, Nov 23/24, Dec 21/22 Chess Center Championships 5R - Game-90 + 30/sec increments Friday / Saturday / Sunday - Dec 27/28/29 For more information on these on these events and much more visit out website:   http://www.chessiq.com   Check out both the Academy & Chess Center page and the Events page!

29th North American Masters

The 29th North American Masters just wrapped up at the North Shore Chess Center; Sevan Muradian reports on Chess Life Online. Both co-champions scored an IM norm: it's Eric Rosen's second norm, and Tom Bartell has earned the title. You can download the games on the North American Chess Association website.

$18,000 guaranteed at Greater Midwest Classic July 5-7

And the advance entry fee is only $89: very reasonable! It's good to see Fred Gruenberg organizing in Illinois again....

The Greater Midwest Classic $18,000 Guaranteed to U2200 players! July 5-6-7, 2013 Hyatt Regency O'hare $99/room rates Register online at http://www.nachess.org/classic Simul with Grandmaster Sergey Kudrin! Blitz Tournament! Raffle Prizes!

Beginning a new tradition in Chicago and Putting the Fun Back into Chess! U2200 (FIDE rated): Overall - $1500-1200-1000-700; 1951-2100 - $400-200-100; 1800-1950 - $400-200-100; Biggest Upset - $200 U1800: Overall - $1500-1200-1000-700; Top 1551-1700 - $400-200-100; Top 1400-1550 - $400-200-100; Biggest Upset - $200 U1400: Overall - $1500-1200-1000-700; 1151-1300 - $400-200-100; 1150 and below - $400-200-100; Biggest Upset - $200 6R-SS Game-90 + 30/sec Fri: 12pm and 5:30pm, Sat-Sun 10am & 3:30pm each day.  On-site reg: 9:30-11:30am Fri or 8:30-9:30am Sat. Limit 2 byes. Last rd. bye must commit prior to start of Rd 3.  Side Events: Grandmaster Simul (9am Fri), Blitz Tournament Game-3 + 2/sec increment (8:30pm Sat).  FREE raffle prizes before round 6 with free entry, free room and free airfare to 2014 tournament.  Site: Hyatt Regency O’Hare, 9300 Bryn Mawr Ave., Rosemont, IL 60018. HR: $99/night – call 847-696-1234 and ask for CHESS rate. Reserve by June 1.  Discounted parking – only $5. 10 minute walk from CTA Blue Line. FREE hotel shuttle from/to O’Hare airport. Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, less than one mile away.  Entries for main event: If postmarked or online by 06/01 $89; $109 online or postmarked by 06/15; $129 thereafter. Re-entry $50. $25 to play up 1 section only; Credit Cards onsite OK. No checks onsite.  Mail entries to: North American Chess Association (payable to), 4957 Oakton St., Suite 113, Skokie, IL 60077. Register online at http://www.nachess.org/classic.  Other info: Boards, sets, and clocks provided. None for skittles. Must use organizer provided equipment. Chess store onsite. July rating supplement used.  Questions: sevan@nachess.org or 847-423-8626.  Organizers: Sevan A. Muradian, Glenn Panner and Fred Gruenberg. Register online: http://www.nachess.org/classic

Chicago vs. Beijing on Livestream tonight

Link here: http://new.livestream.com/accounts/530274/events/1920800?origin=New%20Event%20Published&mixpanel_id=f1e5f834e480-0e1ddcb6c-43681f0a-2ee000-f1e5f834e5c19&acc_id=2990000&medium=email

Denker preview: Robert Moskwa

Pattie Zinski and the Illinois Chess Association's Warren Junior Program are organizing three events at the North Shore Chess Center this weekend, thanks to the generosity of Sevan Muradian. The Denker, Girls', and Barber qualifiers determine Illinois representatives to the respective national events.

Vince Hart joined a new firm this week, so he may not be available to do an encore performance of his masterful broadcast of last year's event.  (On the other hand, Vince hasn't completely ruled it out!)

Vince's protégé Robert Moskwa will be returning to the Denker Qualifier this year, and looks to be in good form, based on his performance this past weekend. NM Tenzing Shaw is one of the toughest players in Illinois to beat.

North Shore Chess Center 2013 tournament schedule

Sevan Muradian has already listed many of the North Shore Chess Center's 2013 events (including several cool lectures from visiting grandmasters: Shablalov, Hungaski, Benjamin, de Firmian) on this webpage.

This Sunday, it's the 1st North Shore Chess Center Scholastic.  Please follow this link for the details.

Chicago or Not Chicago?

"Chicago" was represented by Grandmasters Akobian, Ehlvest, Hungaski (pictured above: his GM title is pending), and Finegold at the World Cities Championships in the United Arab Emirates. "Hmm, these players are not from Chicago," I said to myself as I watched Jay Cutler, Charles Tillman, and company play football yesterday. And then it occurred to me....

Pretty darn cool work by Sevan Muradian in either case!

Turkey Day 2K this weekend in Skokie

Brought to you by the miracle of cut and paste.  Original here.


Friday thru Sunday Nov 23 - 25, 2012. Turkey Day 2k - $2,000 prize fund guaranteed. 6R-SS Game-90 + 30/sec increment.

Location: North Shore Chess Center - 5500 W Touhy Ave Suite A, Skokie, IL 60077

Round Times: 12pm and 5pm daily

Entry Fee: $50 for everyone

Prize Fund Distribution:

• Overall: $500-350-200 (+$50 perfect score prize)
• U2200: $150-100-50
• U1900: $150-100-50
• U1700: $150-100-50

Special Rules - you must be rated Under 2200 USCF and no less than 1500 USCF according to the November rating supplement. Any player that has the national master title and is under 2200 is NOT ELIGIBLE to play. Any entry received that is not within the proper rating range, will be returned and you will not be registered.

This event will be USCF and FIDE rated.
Maximum capacity registration will be 64 players. The organizer reserves the right to limit lower the limit.

14th North American Amateur Open this weekend

Cribbed from email: 

 Saturday and Sunday Sept 15th and 16th - North Shore Chess Center (Skokie, IL) 13th NA Amateur Open - 4R-SS G/90 + 30/sec increment. North Shore Chess Center, 5500 West Touhy Ave., Suite A, Skokie, IL 60077. 847.423.8626. EF: $40 for non-members of the chess center, $30 for members of the chess center received by 9/12. All $5 more onsite. Onsite registration - up to 15 minutes prior to round 1 or round 2. If registering prior to round 2, you will receive a half-point bye for round 1. Round times: 11am and 4pm each day. Half- point byes available in any round except final round. Prizes: 4.0 = $100, 3.5 = $75, 3.0 = $50, 2.5 = $25; Top U1800 & U1600 - Free entry to any tournament in the following month. Comparable prizes provided if you have previously won these prizes. Biggest Upset (150+ points): Free entry to any tournament in the following month. Parking: Free self-parking. Online registration only. Additional questions email to: sevan@nachess.org. USCF & FIDE rated. For online registration and list of more events please visit - www.nachess.org/events. More info and registration see http://www.nachess.org/events. Max 40 participants.

ESPN on cheating in chess

It would be pedantic of me to note that the article is illustrated by an illegal position (both kings are in check), so I won't mention it.

Great story, with a few familiar names cited. Hat tip to Ken Marshall.

Chicagoans in Istanbul

Gata Kamsky & Irina Krush
Tony Rich for St. Louis Chess Club / Chess Life Online

GM Yury Shulman of Barrington is not playing in the 2012 Olympiad; instead, he's the head coach!  The U.S. team (Nakamura, Kamsky, Akobian, Robson; third board Onischuk is cheerleading this round) is playing a strong team from Lithuania right now in round two.  Catch up on the U.S. team's round one results (both men and women) at Chess Life Online.

Sevan Muradian of Chicago (North Shore Chess Center / North American Chess Association) is also there, schmoozing away. Armenians are reminded to keep a low profile at the Bermuda Party, especially when rowdy Brits are around.

GM Mesgen Amanov of Glenview is once again playing first board for his native land, Turkmenistan.  As I write, Mesgen is playing Black against GM Bator Sambuev of Canada.  (Update 11:45 a.m.: the website reports that Mesgen lost. , but it looks to me like Black-Mesgen-won a pretty game with multiple queen promotions: confusing!  The broadcast gamescore was completely wrong.)

How old is this photo from the Olympiad website?

If you have more luck than I did, you may be able to follow live games here.  

Three days of grandmaster lessons for only $150!

Such a deal at the North Shore Chess Center: each of the three training sessions is six hours long!

• Saturday September 22, 2012 - Grandmaster Yury Shulman 
• Saturday  October 20, 2012 - Grandmaster John Fedorowicz 
• Saturday November 17, 2012 - Grandmaster Larry Christiansen

I've had the pleasure of listening to all three analyze (Christiansen post-mortemed one of my games in a Montréal dormitory back in 1974: makes me feel old).  Yury, Fed, and Larry are all excellent communicators and nice people.  This is a really great deal, so register now!

Saddam, Qaddafi, and Tom Dart?

Left to right: Sevan Muradian, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, 

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, Mikhail Korenman 

Check out this story currently featured on FIDE's home page. The U.S. Secret Service (we know how diligent and task-oriented these fellows are) did let Kirsan meet former Presidents Clinton and Carter. So perhaps I shouldn't be so uptight....

And I don't want Chicago to get a reputation as an ungracious host.  It's important to talk to people with whom we don't agree. Some of them will be in town next month for the NATO summit.

Having said that, I can only reiterate my earlier post.

Both Sevan and Mikhail are friends of mine, so I feel rather awkward posting this.  I would feel even more awkward if I were silent.

Three GM events at North Shore Chess Center, right now!

Busy week for the North Shore CC:

GM Georg Meier of Germany (one of Germany's top players, currently #109 in the world) is playing GM Wesley So of the Phillippines (#99 in the world).  Game one of their four-game classical match was drawn today.

And there are TWO GM norm events going on this week: a six-player double round-robin, and a ten-player single round-robin.  Local participants include GM Mesgen Amanov, IM Angelo Young, IM Florin Felecan, and cheesehead GM Josh Friedel.  GMs Bykhovsky (Israel), Boros (Hungary), Diamant (Brazil), Moradiabadi (Iran), and IMs from the USA, Canada, Israel, and Azerbaijan make the fields truly international.

IM Mackenzie Molner might be the best US hope for a GM norm in these events.

More info here!

Tournament wrapup on Chess Life Online

Story by Sevan Muradian.  Nice event, interesting format!

27th North American Masters begins Monday!

Come watch our local masters in search of international title norms.  GM Mesgen Amanov, IM Angelo Young, and IM Arjun Vishnuvardhan face of against local stars Kumar, Aung Thant Zin, Rosen, Jayakumar, Chow, Waller, Wolf, Shankar, and Magness!  (But please don't ask me to explain the Schiller System format.)

Rounds are at 1 and 6 p.m. this Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday;  there's one game on Friday at 1 p.m.  All action is at the North Shore Chess Center in Skokie.

Tansel Turgut wins Illinois Class

ICCF Grandmaster Tansel Turgut knows something about over-the-board play, too, as evidenced by his victory in this past weekend's 2011 Illinois Class Championships with a 3½-½ score.

Dr. Turgut had a narrow escape in the final round against 8-year-old (!!!) Awonder Liang.  It appeared to this kibitzer that Awonder (in clear first at the beginning of the round) had his esteemed opponent on the ropes at one point.  But he lost, and tied for second with FM Albert Chow with 3-1 scores (Chow was undefeated and beat NM Greg Bungo in the last round.  Don't ask me what I was thinking when I wrote the last sentence: Chow and Bungo played a very correct draw, and I even played a small role in the post-mortem.) 

In the skittles room, Awonder was disconsolate about his loss in an eight-year-old kinda way.  But his father and siblings reminded him that he played very well, that he should be proud, and it's that only a game. (Useful advice for adults, too.)  Dr. Turgut came to collect Awonder's signature on the scoresheet "so I can show other people someday that I beat a world champion."  Adream Liang chimed in, "But he's already world champion!"  Thus cheered up, Awonder started kibitzing my post-mortem:

Brock-Moskwa (variation)
White to play and win with style

(yes, 1.Bf4 and 1.Rf4 are good enough, but look for the coolest move)

I don't think it took Awonder more than two seconds to spot the shot.  (Hint: leave your queen and rook en prise, and allow Black to capture a third piece with check.)  What a phenomenal talent!

Thanks to the Orland Park Cultural Center, organizer Mikhail Korenman, and TD Sevan Muradian for a smooth and fun event.

A report on the other sections will follow: look for games on the ICA website in the next few days!

Edit: here are the crosstables!

"Local chess team Chicago Blaze looks to keep competition in check "

Prior to last night's Blaze match, Sevan Muradian was interviewed yesterday by Alison Cuddy of WBEZ's Eight Forty-Eight.  Listen here!

last-minute reminder (or start Saturday a.m.)

Another email cut-and-paste:

Remember tonight begins the 7th NA Amateur Open - a 5R-SS tournament which provides opportunities to achieve your FIDE (international) rating! Play is restricted to those rated above 1600 USCF unless special permission obtained prior.

If you are unable to play Round 1 tonight you can take a 1/2 pt bye and begin playing on Saturday afternoon in Round 2 

7th North American Amateur Open - 5R-SS G/90 + 30/sec increment. North Shore Chess Center , 5500 West Touhy Ave Skokie, IL 60077. 847.423.8626.  Open to players with any established FIDE rating or an established USCF rating of 1600+. All participants compete in a single section.  EF: $40 for non-members of the chess center, $30 for members of the chess center received by 9/15. All $10 more onsite. Onsite registration - up to 15 minutes prior to round 1 or round 2. If registering prior to round 2, you will receive a half-point bye for round 1. Round times: Friday - 7:00pm, Saturday 12pm and 6pm, Sunday 11am and 5pm. Half-point byes available in any round. Prizes: 1st - $60 Best Buy Gift Card, 2nd - $30 Barnes & Noble Gift Card, 3rd - $15 Starbucks Gift Card. Parking: Free self-parking. Online registration preferred at http://www.nachess.org/events. Additional questions email to: sevan@nachess.org. USCF and FIDE rated. For online registration and list of more events please visit -http://www.nachess.org/events