Saint Charles Chess Club Going Strong in Sixth Decade

 

After an absence of a few years, St. Charles Chess Club has proudly renewed its affiliate membership with the Illinois Chess Association.

The club meets Thursday nights at 7:00pm at the Baker Community Center, where it has been meeting since the 1960's.

During the 1970's the club grew rapidly during the Fischer boom but suffered hard times during the Fischer bust. At one time only three players were attending regularly!

Erv Sedlock took over in the early 1980s and turned things around. For many years the club has had 20+ players coming every week with some nights reaching 40+.

Jeff Wiewel took over as president of club in 2000 (when Erv retired to Florida) and has kept the club going strong, bringing the club into the Chicago Industrial Chess League (CICL). (Editor's Note: The St. Charles Club has had much success in CICL competition).

The club has a nice structure with a "ladder season" that is played most meetings. At the end of the ladder season in September, the top eight players face-off in a Swiss tournament with the Knight's Cup traveling trophy at stake. The next eight play in another Swiss event with the Squire's Cup on the line. The remaining members are able to play in a "club Swiss" with glory and pats on the back for the winner.

The club hosts three US Chess quick-rated tournaments a year, with time controls of Game/10, d/3; Game/25, d/3; and Game/15, d/3.

Additionally, we hold a Game/5 (blitz) that is non-rated.

We hold a popular annual "Thematic Night" where an opening is chosen at random -- then the following week, everyone plays that opening for the tournament.

We host an annual 960 random chess night as well which has been a tougher sell to the community but is a nice change of pace.

The St. Charles club boasts players of all skill-levels from beginner to Expert to the occasional Master.

Players start showing up around 7pm for skittles games, going over past games and just all-around good conversation. Often you hear a healthy mixture of chess wisdom and laughter.

Around 7:50, the ladder game -- or whatever event we have planned -- gets underway.

The club is looking toward to the future and is entering the 21st century with plans for improvements to a new website, a Facebook page, and soon, a Twitter account. 

The club is open for new members. Dues are: $24/year for an adult; $12/year for a junior (under 18) or a senior 65 and over; $30/year for a family in one residence.

The St. Charles Club also provides the directing staff for multiple scholastic tournaments (such as Glenbard South, Benjamin, Wheaton Christian, West Chicago, Niles North, among others).  If your school is interested in hosting an event using experienced directors, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The dates for the upcoming quick chess games: 

• May 12th = Game/10; d/3
• June 9th = Game/25, d/3 (quad paired)
• July 14 - Game/15, d/3