Grand Opening of the North Shore Chess Center
We celebrated our Grand Opening yesterday with a bang! At 10:30am Skokie Mayor, Mr. George Van Dusen, cut the ribbon marking a new day in the life of those in the Village of Skokie and also in the chess community. Over 30 people cheered on and the festivities continued from there.
Grandmaster Mesgen Amanov took on all comers in a 21 board simul and even satisfied those that came in late allowing them an opportunity to participate in our beloved mind sport. GM Amanov bulldozed the competition with a score of 20-1-0 (20 wins, 1 draw, no losses).
After a short (very short) intermission, we began our Game 15 quick rated tournament which was played in a single open section so even the lower rated players could take on stronger competition. Matt Pullin of Evanston took home first place with a perfect score of 4-0. The tournament was rated before midnight last night.
Finally FIDE Master Gauri Shankar and his older brother International Master Arjun Vishnuvardhan gave a group lesson using our newly installed 50″ Plasma TV’s and wireless video broadcast system. They reviewed two of their critical games from this seasons Chicago Blaze chess matches.
To top everything off, the Chicago Tribune was present and provided immediate coverage! Check out the article at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-chess-celebration-20101009,0,1569447.story
On Sunday October 10 beginning at 1pm we will host a 4R-SS Game/30 + 30/sec increment tournament. USCF membership will be required.
The address of the North Shore Chess Center is 5500 West Touhy Ave Suite A, Skokie, IL 60077. You turn on Linder Street from Touhy. The parking lot entrance is on Linder, but the Chess Center faces Touhy. We are directly across the street from Pet Smart. We are about 3 blocks west of the Holiday Inn on the same side of the street.
Congrats!