The Illinois Chess Vets (ICV), ICA’s Veterans committee operational organization, held its Christmas & awards dinner on Saturday, December 15 at Mabenka restaurant at S Cicero Ave in Burbank. 33 people were in attendance. Award recipients were:
- ICV 2018 Volunteer of the Year – Robert Stoltz of Forest Park
- ICV 2018 Player of the Year – Dr. Orlan Smith of Glenwood
Illinois Chess (ICV) Board Members in attendance were: Michael Lenox- President, Robert Stoltz-Vice President; Lia Lenox – Secretary; Martha Ortega – Treasurer, HR Ready Inc – Owner and Sam Henderson – Board Member, Silver+ Chess Club President.
Illinois Chess Association Board Members in attendance were: Stephen Plotnick- Upstate Vice President, ICA Youth Committee Chair; Eva Harrison – ICA Membership Committee Chair and Michael Lenox – ICA Veteran Committee Chair.
Other notable persons in attendance were: National Master Len Weber, Terry Lemke – USO Midway Supervisor and Bob Gusher – Worth Township.
Chess sets were provided. Eva Harrison, the ICA Membership Committee Chair, won the “Queen of the Hill” title at the party and a chess clock with her 5.5 – 0.0 Perfect score for this free G/5 d3 challenge.
Some of the highlighted ICA’s veterans committee accomplishments for 2018 included: USCF Rated Tournaments – 44 with 464 players, Community Chess Workshop – 1, Expos and Conventions booths manned – 5 and Donated Chess supplies to numerous veteran organizations.
To view pictures of the event please visit www.facebook.com/ilchessvets.org.
To volunteer for the ICA veteran committee in any capacity, please contact Michael Lenox at mdlenox @ comcast.net