Sound Chess Advice from Ruan Lufei

The North American Chess Association sponsored an appearance by Ruan Lufei, who narrowly lost the Women's World Chess Champion title to GM Hou Yifan in December.  What a treat!

From triblocal.com/skokie

World Champion Dazzles Them at Skokie’s North Shore Chess Center
By Brad Rosen Monday at 10:36 p.m.
March 14, 2011

[Excerpted]
Ruan Lufei, a member of China’s 2007 world championship women's chess team, brought the chessboard to life Saturday afternoon at Skokie’s North Shore Chess Center. The 23-year old Ruan was the runner up at the recent 2010 Women’s World Chess Championship, where 64 of the world’s top women chess players competed in Hatay, Turkey in December. Ruan defeated Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk, the defending champion, before coming up short in her championship match with fellow countrywoman Grand Master Yifan Hou.

Here are a few of Ruan’s suggestions for those trying to improve their game:

•Don’t show weakness or play for a draw no matter the strength of your opponent. Chess is about the struggle and the fight. Playing this way will lead to the greatest learning and improvement.
•The best defense is often offense: attack your opponent.
•Play openings that suit your personality, but always have a few different ideas in mind.
Ruan, who is currently pursuing a PH.D. in accounting from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, said the biggest influence on her development as a chess player has been GM Anatoly Karpov, the world champion from 1975-85.

According to its owner Sevan A. Muradian, the North Shore Chess Center plans on continuing its lecture series featuring top chess players, as well promoting chess throughout the community. “Chess is the great unifier,” said Muradian. “It brings people together regardless of age, race, gender or ethnicity. People don’t even need to speak the same language to play a game of chess with each other. Bringing people together is one of the things that drives my passion to promote chess and bring it to the forefront of our culture and society.”

Ruan Lufei to Appear at North American Chess Center, Skokie, IL

Great news!

The North Shore Chess Center's March Master Simul / Lecture will feature WGM Lufei Ruan. WGM Ruan was the runner up in the 2010 World Women's Chess Championship! She will provide us insights on her experiences of the championship tournament, review 2-3 games from the event and take questions and answers from the audience.

The lecture will begin at 4pm on March 12. The event is free to members of the North Shore Chess Center and $10 for non-members. You can join for membership up to the beginning of the event!

Space is limited to the first 50 registrants.
Members maintain priority registration over non-members.

North Shore Chess Center
5500 West Touhy Avenue Suite A | Skokie, IL 60077
(p) 847.423.8626 | (f) 847.779.0324

Website.

National G/60 and G/30 Chess Championships

G/60 just means a player has to finish her game within 60 minutes - done!  Total game time is 2 hours - or less, if you're a pazter like yours truly and won't need an entire hour to lose.  G/30 means a player must finish her game in 30 minutes - done!  Total game time is 1 hour.  So, while the other player is thinking, you're also thinking (at least, you'd better be) on her time about how you're going to move 12 moves from when she hits the clock and your time starts.  Oy! 

It's not rapid chess, it's certainly not blitz, but it's damn fast nonetheless to folks who are used to playing with no clock at all (like yours truly). 

The North American Chess Association is hosting the Championships again this year.  You can find all of the details here. 

Saturday October 23, 2010.

US G/60 National Chess Championships.

Holiday Inn Hotel: 5300 W Touhy Ave Skokie, IL 60077. 847.679.8900.

$4,000 Guaranteed. Prizes – in 3 sections

Open: $500-375-250; Top 2299-2200, U2199-2000, 1900-1899 - $150 each;

Reserve Section (U1800): $450-325-200; Top 1699-1600, 1599-1500,1499-1400 - $125 each;

Booster (U1400): $400-275-150; Top 1399-1300, 1299-1200, 1199-1000 - $100 each.

Register online at:   http://usg60g30.eventbrite.com

EF: $60 by 6pm 10/22, $80 onsite; $100 Combined EF with US G/30 by 6pm 10/22, $160 Combined EF with US G/30 onsite. Play Up - $10 more. $50 Re-entry (per event).
No half-point byes allowed (zero point byes only).
GM/IM/WGM/WIM/FM/WFM free entry with nothing deducted from winnings. Cannot withdraw. Must play all rounds.
Onsite Registration: 8:30-9:30am Rds: 10am-12:30pm-3pm-5:30pm.
Mail entries with registration information to: North American Chess Association (make checks payable to) 4957 Oakton Street, Suite 113, Skokie, IL 60077.
Register online at:   http://usg60g30.eventbrite.com
Questions via email only: sevan@nachess.org.
No smoking.
Boards, sets, clocks provided. Tournament provided equipment must be used. No exceptions. USCF membership required.

Sunday October 24, 2010.

US G/30 National Chess Championships.

Holiday Inn Hotel: 5300 W Touhy Ave Skokie, IL 60077. 847.679.8900.

$4,000 Guaranteed. Prizes – in 3 sections

Open: $500-375-250; Top 2299-2200, U2199-2000, 1900-1899 - $150 each;

Reserve Section (U1800): $450-325-200; Top 1699-1600, 1599-1500,1499-1400 - $125 each;

Booster (U1400): $400-275-150; Top 1399-1300, 1299-1200, 1199-1000 - $100 each.

Register online at:   http://usg60g30.eventbrite.com

EF: $60 by 6pm 10/22, $80 onsite; $100 Combined EF with US G/60 by 6pm 10/22, $160 Combined EF with US G/60 onsite. Play Up - $10 more. $50 Re-entry (per event).
No half-point byes allowed (zero point byes only).
GM/IM/WGM/WIM/FM/WFM free entry with nothing deducted from winnings. Cannot withdraw. Must play all rounds.
Onsite Registration: 8:30-9:30am Rds: 10am-11:30am-1pm-2:30pm-4pm.
Mail entries with registration information to: North American Chess Association (make checks payable to) 4957 Oakton Street, Suite 113, Skokie, IL 60077.
Register online at:   http://usg60g30.eventbrite.com
Questions via email only: sevan@nachess.org.
No smoking.
Boards, sets, clocks provided. Tournament provided equipment must be used. No exceptions.  USCF membership required.

New Chess Center Opens in Skokie, Illinois

Today is National Chess Day. Unfortunately, it didn't get much publicity, but hopefully that will change as time goes by :)

From The Chicago Tribune
Chess center makes opening moves in Skokie
Game of kings offers something for everyone, from kindergartners to grandmasters
By Lisa Black, Tribune reporter
6:55 p.m. CDT, October 9, 2010

GM Mesgen Amanov (in black, on the left). Why can't GMs
who look like this play in my neighborhood???

The grandmaster passed quietly from one chessboard to the next, nearly 20 in all, spending less than five seconds to face each player and make his move. Observers spoke in hushed tones as Mesgen Amanov took on all comers all at once during a "simul" — or simultaneous exhibition — at the newly opened North Shore Chess Center in Skokie.

While Saturday's summery weather beckoned others outdoors, these players, from schoolchildren to senior citizens, were prepared to concentrate on their game for hours at the center's grand opening, timed to coincide with National Chess Day. While chess clubs have organized throughout the Chicago area, there are few facilities like the one in Skokie dedicated solely to the board game, said Sevan Muradian, the center's founder and president of the North American Chess Association.

"It's a great mind sport," Muradian said. "There is something for everyone."

After Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen participated in a ceremonial ribbon-cutting, entire families arrived to participate in Saturday's event at the center, located at 5500 W. Touhy Ave., Suite A.

Jonathan Hrach, 12, a 7th-grader from Highland Park, regularly competes in tournaments and ranks within the top 15 nationally among his age group, his father, Oskar Hrach, said.

"You get to use your head a lot," Jonathan said. Being good at math helps too, because "you calculate the moves and variations and openings."

Minutes later, he was among a steadily growing group of players ready to take on the grandmaster behind boards lined up along two narrow tables. Each waited for Amanov to appear before them before moving a chess piece and watching his response. They then scribbled the moves down in a notepad to examine later.

Amanov, 24, travels the world playing chess, having earned the esteemed "grandmaster" title three years ago. He lives in Northbrook but hails from Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic, where he started playing the game at age 5, he said.

He coaches students, speaks on chess and plays professionally. Earlier last week, he returned from the 39th Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

He encourages children to play because "it develops the brain. You think fast and make very good decisions. You have to be strong."

Shiva Maharaj, a coach for Chicago Chess Kids, emphasized that the skills needed for the game — concentration, patience and problem-solving — can be incorporated into every child's education and applied to daily life.

"You teach them to reflect," he said. "All of life is the experience of reflection, really. When you make mistakes, you learn from them."

The game has traditionally attracted more male than female players. But that is changing, Muradian said. In January, an all-girls chess tournament for kindergartners through 12th-graders is scheduled at Niles North High School, according to the Illinois Chess Association.

Muradian, an information technologist, foresees new computer software applications that will make the game easier and more fun for the youngest players, including his 3-year-old daughter.

"This is not just for the grandmasters," he said. "It's a self-improvement type of activity."

For more information, go to nachess.org/