Bowling 'em over

In the context of chess, when we say "sack," we're usually referring to a sacrifice play. In football, it means to catch a player off-guard and knock him down. The latter is what Eric Paniagua, third-seeded in the Super Bowl quad in the eponymous tournament at UNAM, did to his opponents on Feb. 2.

Paniagua (1807) scored an upset victory over Expert Honorius Constantin (2045) and drew Bill Smythe (1873), finishing with a final score of 2.5/3.

For his final trick, Paniagua exploited a badly timed castling to tear open Paul Garner's position and score his second win of the day.

Vito Vitkauskas swept the Rose Bowl quad, 3.0/3. The Fish Bowl was won by Armando Rodriguez, a new USCF member whose only recent tournament activity was the unrated Chicago Latino Championship in November. Rodriguez finished with 2.5/3, pulling ahead of Armel Peel and Michael Monsen with a last-round win (Peel lost in round 3, and Monsen drew).

Complete crosstables here.

Illinois Chess Association affiliate upcoming events

Hot off the e-mail press, courtesy of ICA Secretary (and Immediate Past President) Tom Sprandel.

This Saturday in particular looks like a great day for players and students at all levels.  The North Shore Chess Center is hosting GM Robert Hungaski for a lecture and simul (great for adults and advanced students), William Aramil and Carl Boor are teaching in Oak Park (great for all young players), and UNAM Chicago in conjunction with the Chicago Chess Center is hosting Super Bowl quads with a $10 entry fee (such a deal).

Whether it's sixty degrees or six below, play chess this weekend!

Highlights later this month include the U.S. Amateur Team in Schaumburg on Feb. 15-17 and the Illinois Blitz Championship on Saturday the 16th at the same site.  Travelers should mark their calendars the K-8 Championship in Bloomington and the Greater Peoria Open (an Illinois Tour event).

For more events, see the ICA Tournament Calendar.

Affiliate Events

Date	Title with ICA Link	Location
2013-02-02	NSCC - GM Robert Hungaski Lecture and Simul	Skokie
2013-02-02	Dynamic Chess Oak Park Monthly Lecture	Oak Park
2013-02-02	Super Bowl Quads at UNAM Chicago	Chicago
2013-02-03	North Shore Chess Center Game-45 - Plus Score Event	Skokie
2013-02-09	North Shore Chess Center Game-60 - Plus Score Event	Skokie
2013-02-09	Village of Park Forest Chess Challenge?New Location	Homewood
2013-02-09	Wheaton Christian Scholastic Chess Tournament	Winfield
2013-02-10	2nd NSCC Scholastic	Skokie
2013-02-15 2013-02-17	2013 U.S. Amateur Team Championship -- North and Illinois Blitz C	Schaumburg
2013-02-16	Scholastic Class: Studying GM Lev Aronian	Skokie
2013-02-16	Central Illinois Holiday Scholastic Chess Tournament	Jacksonville
2013-02-16	Illinois Blitz Championship	Schaumburg
2013-02-16	Dynamic Chess Unrated Tournament in Oak Park	Oak Park
2013-02-18	IECS Naperville Scholastic Chess Tournament	Naperville
2013-02-23	Thomas Middle School Chess Tournament for Grades 6-7-8	Arlington Heights
2013-02-24	1st Skyrocket Chess Tournament	Glenwood
2013-02-24	1st Skyrocket Chess Tournament	Glenwood
2013-03-03	North Shore Chess Center Game-45 - Plus Score Event	Skokie
2013-03-09	NSCC - GM Alexander Shabalov Lecture and Simul	Skokie
2013-03-09 2013-03-10	2013 Illinois K-8 Chess Championships	Normal
2013-03-10	North Shore Chess Center Game-60 - Plus Score Event	Skokie
2013-03-17	3rd NSCC Scholastic	Skokie
2013-03-30 2013-03-31	17th North American Amateur - Plus Score Event	Skokie
2013-04-06	NSCC - GM Nick de Firmian Lecture and Simul	Skokie
2013-04-07	North Shore Chess Center Game-45 - Plus Score Event	Skokie
2013-04-13	North Shore Chess Center Game-60 - Plus Score Event	Skokie
2013-04-14	4th NSCC Scholastic	Skokie
2013-04-20 2013-04-21	Greater Peoria Open -- ILLINOIS CHESS TOUR	Peoria
2013-04-27 2013-04-28	18th North American Amateur - Plus Score Event	Skokie

$10 plus-score open this weekend in River North

Based in Mexico City, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) has a strong tradition of supporting chess. The university has an on-campus chess center offering courses in recreational and competitive chess, and in 2010 it hosted an international chess festival that featured simultaneous exhibitions by Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. The university's goal is "that all of UNAM plays chess and that every plantel [college within the university] has a teacher," says Astrid Martín del Campo, president of the University Chess Association at UNAM. "This way, the seedbed will grow."

Here in Chicago, UNAM has a satellite campus in River North, where it has formed a chess club as an extension of the university's mission of support for chess. The club meets on the first floor of the UNAM Chicago building, 350 W. Erie St. in River North, Wednesdays from 6 to 8:30 PM.

Recently, Hector Hernandez of the Knight Moves Chess Club in Pilsen introduced me to Arturo Castro, a great guy who holds the cumbersome title of Cultural, Business Development and Special Projects Coordinator at UNAM Chicago. Castro told me about UNAM's relationship with chess and about his campus's chess club, and he offered his building as a site for a tournament. It's a nice building, so I said yes.

This Saturday, Oct. 20, I'm directing a four-round plus-score open at UNAM Chicago. Time control is G/45 + d5, with rounds at 10 AM and 12:15, 2 and 3:45 PM. Entry fee is $10; prize schedule is $55 for a final score of 4.0, $35 for 3.5, $20 for 3.0 and $10 for 2.5. UNAM is also offering certificates for one free and one half-price Spanish language or Mexican culture course, which will be given away in a door prize drawing. UNAM Chicago chess instructor and USCF Expert Honorius Constantin will be on hand to provide postgame analysis. Registration is from 9 to 9:45 AM. Sets will be provided; bring clocks.

There is one catch (pāce suburbanites): Parking in the area is not good. On-street parking is governed by the deplorable LAZ pay boxes, and the private lot around the corner at Sedgwick and Huron costs about what you'd expect (though carpooling and splitting the cost may be a reasonable option). Better you know this now than arrive and be surprised and frustrated. On the flip side, the campus is an easy five-minute walk from the Chicago/Franklin station on the Brown Line, and there are plenty of lunch options within walking distance.

The weather forecast for Saturday is partly sunny, with a high near 57. I love fall in Chicago.

New chess club in River North Wednesday nights

Bienvenido to UNAM Chess Club!  Keith Ammann reports on the ICA website.

6:00 to 8:30 Wednesday nights at 350 W. Erie (hmm: a leisurely stroll from my office).