Alisa Melekhina

Woman International Master (WIM) Alisa Melekhina will be conducting a simultaneous* exhibition at All the King’s Men Chess Center on Sunday, January 31st at 2:00 PM. All the King’s Men will award a $10 ATKM gift certificate to each player* for a win and a $5 gift ATKM certificate for a draw. The cost to participate is just $25, $20 for All the King’s Men Chess Club members. Spectators are welcome. The charge to watch is just $5.00, $3 for All the King’s Men Chess Club members or their family members.

This event is designed to raise a portion of the funds needed to cover operating expenses associated with the Chess Club and it’s tournaments . Your participation is definitely needed and certainly will be appreciated.

Seats are very limited (only 20). Therefore, pre-registration is required. You can do that online, by phone, or you can sign up at All the King’s Men.

Food for thought: Alisa is the USCF’s #2 ranked girl player under the age of 21. She’s an outstanding young woman whose brilliant chess play may only be outshone by her lady-like charm and stunning good looks. Alisa lives in the Philadelphia area and this event just happens to be her very first simul.

*A “simul”, as it is often referred to, is a chess exhibition in which one player (commonly a chess master or grandmaster) plays multiple games (often 20 or more) at the same time against other players.

* Offer only available to player’s USCF rated U2000

Monthly Tournaments

Tournaments are a chance for chess players all around the world to gauge their skills against other chess players — and possibly earn themselves a bit of extra green to pack in their wallet.  Fortunately for chess novices to chess enthusiasts, ChessBoss is offering monthly ChessCube Tournaments and Chess Title Tournaments:

ChessBoss Monthly ChessCube Tournament

This new variant of chess, named ChessCube, involves rolling a cube with a different chess piece displayed on each side.  Each player rolls a cube on their turn and must move the piece corresponding to the face-up side of the cube.  If a piece is unable to move, the player loses his or her turn.  ChessCube offers a new way to play the game, training players to become better at chess with an aspect of randomness providing new situations and revealing new moves for players to consider.  The monthly tournament pays $300 to the winner of each tournament, $150 to the second place and $50 for third place.

In order to qualify for the ChessCube main event, players must win one of the 64 satellite ChessCube Tournaments.  Each tournament, whether it is a satellite tournament or the main event, uses the Olympic System in which players are eliminated following their first loss.

The 64 satellites leading up to the monthly main event will be permanently listed in ChessBoss’s tournament listings area.  Each satellite tournament goes live when 16 players join the tournament room.  Immediately following the start of a satellite tournament, another satellite tournament room will appear.  Using this system, the 64 participants in the main event may be decided within two weeks, one week, or even the first day!  It would be unwise to sleep on the opportunity to make $300, so act as soon as possible!  The main event will be hosted on the last Saturday of every month.

ChessBoss Monthly Title Tournament

Although the ChessBoss Monthly Title Tournament is directed generally toward kids, anybody can participate.  The tournament will be hosted on the second Saturday of every month, with no cap on the total participants.  The tournament is run in a “knock-out” format in which players are eliminated after their first loss.  The players will be competing for three titles:

1st place: Chess Samurai
2nd place: Chess Ninja
3nd place: Chess Warrior

Titleholders will receive a trophy through the mail and gain bragging rights on ChessBoss in the form of their title being included in their account name for the month.  Do you have what it takes to become next month’s Chess Samurai?

Registering for Tournaments:

To register for any of the ChessBoss tournaments, players must create their own ChessBoss account.  Have a Facebook?  ChessBoss is fully integrated with the popular social-networking site, allowing users to challenge and connect with friends, post results on their walls and much more.

After creating an account, visit the tournaments tab in the ChessBoss server to join a tournament.  It’s as easy as a simple click of the mouse!

Future Tournaments

ChessBoss is continually planning new tournaments and new prizes in hopes of creating a community of chess players that improve each other and provides prizes and titles to deserving players.  In the future, ChessBoss will host monthly Swiss, Round-Robin, and Knock-Out tournaments.

In Swiss-System Chess Tournaments, players are matched with players of even skill (the top player is matched with the player just under the half-way mark, the second player is matched with the player under the opponent of the top player).  Winners receive one point and half point for drawing.  In each subsequent round, players compete with others with the same number of points.  Each player is expected to compete through the entirety of the tournament; the player with the most points at the end of the designated rounds is declared the winner.

In Round-Robin Chess Tournaments, each player faces every other play once as white and once as black.  The player with the best win-loss record at the end of the tournament is declared the winner.

In Knock-Out Chess Tournaments, players participate in an elimination tournament in which winners from the first round advance to the second round, and losing players are “knocked out” of the competition, eventually leading to a final of two players playing for a title.

Whichever tournament you decide to participate in, ChessBoss chess tournaments provide a free, competitive environment to hone your chess skills.  Be on the lookout on ChessBoss.com for more information.  Continue training on the server to win prizes, trophies, and titles on ChessBoss!

Chess Clubs

As chess is a game that requires knowledge of your opponent, people who enjoy playing chess are constantly looking for new people to play against. Playing against new opponents gives players the opportunity to increase their skill level through the understanding of different situations, as well as the proper moves to use in the situation and the probable outcomes of those moves.

Chess clubs are a perfect avenue for players to seek improvement. In addition to providing players with new, skilled opponents, chess clubs often give resources and education in person — something that an online resource or chess tutorial can not offer. Listed below are three of the top chess clubs that chess enthusiasts should consider checking out:

The Dallas Chess Club

The Dallas Chess Club remains one of the most active chess clubs in the entire nation. With an excellent, dedicated facility in North Dallas, the Dallas Chess club offers a number of educational resources. Included in these resources are an extensive chess library and a club computer that possess all of the latest chess software for their members’ use. Members experience regular lectures and lesson by National Masters and FIDE Masters, allowing them to gain experience and learn tips from some of the greatest chess players in the world. On Wednesday and Friday nights (and weekends), the Dallas Chess club features USCF-rated tournaments, allowing players to test their skill against competition. Check them out here.

The KnightMare Chess Club

The KnightMare Chess Club is a part of the Chess Learning Center, a place where students can learn, study, and practice in a non-threatening yet challenging environment. They stand as Central Ohio’s premier scholastic chess club for weekly chess lessons and open scholastic chess play. They produced the highest percentage of champions in the state of Ohio. Additionally, they produced several nationally ranked girls, including the up-and-coming Brianna Conley and Maggie Fin. The founder of the Chess Learning Center and the KnightMare Chess Club is F. Leon Wilson, the first FIDE certified instructor in the US, whom ChessBoss.com personally interviewed. Check them out here.

Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of the Saint Louis community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures. Another important aspect of the club’s mission is to develop scholastic chess programs. The staff at the CCSCSL believes chess is an important tool for the developing student and is working hard to develop in-school and after-school programming in schools across the metropolitan area. Although the club just opened its doors in July of 2008, it has already played host to the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship and the 2009 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship, and the 2010 U.S Championship is scheduled to be held at the CCSCSL in April of next year. In addition, the CCSCSL has agreed to sponsor the United States team as they travel to Turkey to compete in the World Team Championship. Check them out here.

Crystal Chess

One of the nice things about chess is how the quality of one’s chess board and chess set does not affect one’s game playing ability. Chess can be played with any set one has lying around, and can be just as fun no matter the quality. That said, however, nothing gives chess the feel of being the classy set that it is like a fine chess set. Moreover, no matter the quality of the set, everyone needs some form of set to play. Whether you’re looking to purchase a fine set for elegant display and play, or simply looking to purchase a more low end chess set for more day to day use, we here at ChessBoss are dedicated to finding you the best quality chess supplies for your needs at reasonable prices.

chessusa.com

ChessUSA.com offers perhaps the widest selection of any chess shop in the country, much of which is displayed in their New York store, and of course offered for sale on their website. They offer all sorts of regular chess sets, but also figurine sets for special occasions and to commemorate a variety of events. In addition, they offer what they term to be “unusual” chess sets, which range from from regular chess sets made of unusual wood to chess sets made exclusively of old auto parts to sets in an extremely abstract art deco style.

wholesalechess.com

WholesaleChess.com also offers a nice variety of chess sets, most of which include “normal” pieces, though they have a few themed sets. They also specialize in other chess appliances including chess clocks for timing professional standard games, chess computers to play on a real chess set against a computer, chess score books, prizes and trophies for anyone hosting a tournament, demo sets, and chess themed t-shirts, among other chess accessories. In addition, they have an extensive chess library that offers books specializing in chess strategies of nearly every part of game play, general strategies, and tactics books for all levels of play. Moreover, their library extends to software and DVDs that offer training and playing tips for all levels of play.

thechessstore.com

TheChessStore.com operates out of Hillsboro, Oregon and offers a more high quality selection of chess sets and boards, as well as a number of chess accessories and sets for a variety of other games including backgammon, checkers, mah jong, and brain teasers, among many others. They offer quality chess sets manufactured in most common materials including metal, marble, wood, and plastic sets. They also have a number of chess clocks, travel chess sets, and storage cases. Furthermore, they have a nice selection of media materials for teaching better chess strategies and tips for all different levels of play and player.

chess-shop.com

Chess-Shop.com is the website of the Village Chess Shop which is located in Greenwich Village in New York City. It offers a variety of chess sets for sale, but their actual store specializes in exquisite sets from all over the world, hundreds of which are set up in the shop for perusal. They also offer places to play in their store, and strive to offer a cozy atmosphere for any level of player looking to view their selection, or to play against another in a coffee-shop setting amenable to chess players. They are open every day of the year, and of course their website is accessible at all hours of every day.

Natalia Pogonina

Natalia Pogonina is a Russian international grandmaster in chess, and one of the top rated women in the world. At the age of 24, she’s already made quite a name for herself since she burst onto the chess scene by winning the Russian Girls under-14 National Championship in 1998. She followed that victory up by wining the European Chess Championship three times among the girls, winning the Rudenko Memorial in 2007, and the World Student Chess Championship in 2008. She won a gold and a bronze medal in team chess at the World Mind Sport Games in 2008, and represented Russia on their Olympic team.

This is all a long way from her beginnings at the age of 8 where she began serious study into chess after becoming top at checkers at her school. By 2004 she had been awarded the title of Woman Grandmaster. She is now rated fourteenth in the world for women in chess according to her FIDE rating of 2501. In spite of this, she has a wide variety of interests including flamenco dancing, music, sports, multiple kinds of literature, and photography. Additionally, she is currently working on a postgraduate degree at the Saratov State Academy of Law.

Natalia Pogonina is also working hard to advance the strength of women in chess. She acts as a model to promote the idea of beauty and intellect working hand in hand together, and says she can imagine a female absolute world chess champion sometime in the near future. She dislikes the idea of men and women playing at different levels, but thinks that women’s chess is “more competitive, unpredictable, and exciting.” Best of all, since women in chess are far less common, she believes succeeding to a reasonable level takes less time, and can be far more rewarding, leading women to the motivation for great success in any league, just as she’s had.

Yury Shulman

Yury Shulman is an international grandmaster in chess, originally from what is now Belarus. He currently lives in the United States and, since moving to this country, has been one of the top American players. In 2001, he co-won the World Open, and in 2002 co-won the American Open. He won the US Open Chess championship in 2006 and, in 2008, won the US Chess Championship. As of the April 2009 ratings list, he had a FIDE rating of 2632.

In addition to all of his chess accolades, Yury Shulman also has a number of organizations based in the Chicago area with altruistic purposes. His most prominent organization is the non-profit Chess Without Borders that works to raise money for good causes using chess. He has held book drives for the Chicago area, contributed funds from his chess camps and tournament winnings to charities all over the world, and taken on special cases, including raising money to provide plastic surgery for a young girl in India living with severe burns. This organization is currently in the running for the 2009 Chicago Innovation Award. Besides this, he runs the International Chess School which has similar purposes, using chess as a vehicle to raise funds for philanthropic causes. Shulman currently teaches chess to children at all of the schools in town, and offers classes at his home. Clearly his priorities involve helping the chess community worldwide, and urging the chess community to use its skills to help the world at large.