Illinois Chess Association

IM Felecan Appointed Coach at Northside College Prep

CHICAGO -- Northside College Prep High School is pleased to announce the appointment of International Master Florin Felecan as coach of the Mustang Chess Team.

With the appointment of IM Felecan, Northside Prep will be one of the few chess programs in Illinois to be headed by a coach carrying a performance-based title awarded by the World Chess Federation.

Q&A with Former World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov

Mr Karpov Meeting the Press

The ex-World Chess Champion was in Oak Brook, Illinois recently promoting his Chess for Peace and Chess in Schools initiatives to the local community. This was part of a one day festival of chess activities including a scholastic team chess tournament, a presentation of awards, and an open Question and Answer forum in front of students and parents interested in finding out what championship chess is all about.

Rajendra Tops 18 & Younger at National All-Girls

Anupama RajendraAnupama Rajendra was the top scorer in the 18 and Under section of the 2012 edition of the Kasparov Chess Foundation National All-Girls tournament with 5 points out of 6. She started the tournament with a draw against top rated (at 2085) Anna Matlin, who finished second. Along the way to the 5 points were victories against 3 expert rated players. This section had 5 experts and 2 A class players playing in the event. Yet with a listed rating under 1600 Anupama Rajendra was the winner, and will represent the US in the 2012 World Youth championships.

Knight Moves Chess Club Spring Open and Update

Danny Roman at Spring OpenThis tournament was held at the Rudy Lozano Branch of the Chicago Public Library on March 31, 2012.

We got 22 players to compete - plus 10 who showed up too late to play. One of our quads consisted of 6 year-olds, 2 boys and 2 girls. Ricky Roman's younger brother Danny won it with a 6-0 score. Esteban Vargas was second at 4-2. Elizabeth Rivera was 3rd: 2-4; and, Grace Robinson was 4th. All participants received a ribbon and a "Chess Fiesta" folder.

The concept of family doing things together was evident here yet once again.

Re-opening Bids: 2012 Illinois All Grade Championship

The ICA is re-opening bids for the 2012 Illinois All Grade Championship. The new bidding deadline is May 15th at 6 PM CST.

This annual Illinois Championship crowns individual and team champions for each school grade, Kindergarten through 12th.

Dolson, Froelich, Delay, Henderson and Fei Set the Early Tour Pace

With the conclusion of the Illinois Chess Tour’s second event, the Greater Peoria Open, five players are now halfway to a free drink at ICA’s annual banquet!  Carl Dolson, Jim Froelich, Joe Delay, S.E. Henderson Jr., and Andrew Yueyang Fei have each played in both Tour events and are likely to earn at least first level prizes for their steady participation in this year’s Tour.  Any player who participates in four of the nine Tour events earns the free beverage.

April Chess Roundup

April Chess Roundup April shows us that spring is being sprung.  During this time of year, as far as chess is concerned it may be time to plant some new ideas.  Resurrect an old opening that perhaps you had pass overed  for something else.   Whatever you choose to do, this month's tournament results really seperated the lions from the lambs.

2012 IL Open Awarded to NACA

The ICA is pleased to announce that the 2012 IL Open has been awarded to the North American Chess Association. Our congratulations go to Sevan Muradian, owner of NACA.

Mark your calendar! This is the premier event on the Illinois Chess calendar, the winner of the event becomes the Illinois State Chess Champion. It will be held on Sept 1-3, 2012 at the Doubletree Hotel, 1909 Spring Road Oakbrook, IL. Watch or Events Page for more details soon. See you there.