USCF-rated scholastic events at Whitney Young on April 28th

From the email inbox (looks like there will be another such event on May 19th):

Date:  April 28th, 2013

Place:  Whitney Young High School (2nd Floor Library)  211 S Laflin, Chicago

Schedule:  4 rounds, Game 30, Check in 9:00-9:45am, 1st round begins at 10am, last round should end around 2pm 

Sections: USCF Rated: K-2, K-8 Open, and K-8 U800; USCF membership is required and can be purchased at the event.

Entry Fee:  $20 online registration by 04/27, $25 on site.
Awards are given to the top 5 individuals and top team (3 players) in each section.
U21 Rated Section: Entry fee $20, 75% payout to 1st(40%), 2nd(20%), 1stU1600(15%) 

Register at www.chesskash.com

National Master William Aramil will be giving game analysis and lessons throughout the day.

Sam Schmakel featured on Chess Cafe

Here's a link to Steve Goldberg's "Scholastic Chess" column. Chicago's own Sam Schmakel of Whitney Young High School, who won the national tenth grade title this past November at the K-12 Nationals in Dallas, is one of two players featured in this month's column.

Sam Schmakel (second from left) with teammates Cristian Pena, C.J. Swan, and Mark Waechter

 Permalink (pdf) here.

Preregister today for Tim Just's Winter Open tomorrow!

You have until 6 p.m. today (Friday, January 6th) to preregister for this weekend's Tim Just Winter Open XXVIII!   The TJWO is the first event of the Illinois Chess Association's reboot of the Illinois Tour.  (Please thank Mike Cardinale for his work in resurrecting the Tour!)

Play begins at 9 a.m. tomorrow Saturday, January 7th, for the two-day Open and Reserve. Preregistrants in the Open Section include FM Chow and NMs Bungo, Schmakel, Macenis, and Shaw.

Play begins at noon tomorrow for the one-day Scholastic event (in two sections).

Enter here!

You can enter the Scholastic Section here!

Schein-Friedman award

If you're one of the top juniors in the country in your age group, don't overlook this opportunity!

Handball, chess, scholastic competition, and the amateur ideal

Today's New York Times reports that two 17-year-old handball champions were disqualified from the Public Schools Athletic League handball championship "because they had entered a tournament that awarded cash prizes, which is against league rules."

In chess, as in handball, one becomes a better player by facing stronger opponents. I don't like teenagers playing games for money. But I think the definition of "amateur" needs to be re-examined by the Illinois High School Association and Chicago Public Schools. Merely competing against non-amateurs should not jeopardize one's amateur status. In my opinion, it's reasonable to ban students from accepting prizes.

Organizers can help (and possibly help their profit margins) by offering amateur entry fees to their events. If a high school kid can't accept a $5,000 prize, then why should that kid have to pay $200+ to enter the event?