March Madness on the Chess Board

March Madness on the Chess Board Comes to Skokie
By Brad Rosen
Today at 4:07 p.m.

Thirty-two of Illinois’ premier young chess players will be battling it out on the chess boards this weekend at Skokie’s North Shore Chess Center for championship titles and opportunities to compete in national tournaments later this year.

The players will be competing in three side-by-side invitational events. The longest running event is the Illinois Denker Qualifier, and will feature ten top high school players who are competing to represent Illinois at the National Denker Tournament of High School Champions to be held in Florida at the end of July. The second event is the brand new Illinois K-8 Barber Qualifier will include 16 of the state’s top chess players in grade 8 or below, and ranging in age from 7 to 14. They will compete for a chance to become the Illinois representative to the first-ever Barber Tournament of K8 Champions, also to be held in Florida at the end of July. The third event, the Illinois Girls Invitational, will feature six of the state’s top female players under 18. All winners will receive stipends towards travel to the next round of tournaments and funds towards chess lessons. As there is no national girls’ invitational this year, the winner of the Girls Invitational will be able to use the stipend towards travel to attend a tournament of her choice.

Here is the full article.