Chicago Loses Youth Organizer Mike Cardinale, 54

Long-time Chicago youth chess organizer and former Illinois Chess Association (ICA) Metro Vice President Michael Cardinale has passed away after a valiant fight against recurring brain tumors.

Visitation will be Monday, March 25 from 4pm - 8pm at Barr Funeral Home, 6222 N. Broadway.  The funeral  mass will be Tuesday, March 26 at 11am at St. Ita Catholic Church, 5500 N. Broadway.

Mr. Cardinale passed away peacefully Saturday, at home with his wife, Autumn Mather, family and beloved canine companion, Flavia. Mike had recently turned 54. 

As an ICA officer, Mike had resurrected the Illinois Chess Tour and served as its commissioner for several years, promoting geographic connection within the Illinois chess community.

Mike treasured his stint as a chess coach at Gale Elementary Academy in Rogers Park and then helped to organize coaches into a tournament regiment which grew into Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago (YCFC). He enthusiastically served as the chief organizer of as many as six free tournaments a year for 14 years. This transitioned to the competitive elements of the Chicago Chess Foundation of which he was a founding board member. 

His influence on chess in Chicago -- and within Illinois -- was immeasurable, and he received both the Ted Oppenheimer Award from the CCF and the Natalie Broughton Award from the ICA.

Tributes to Mike and remembrances of his special spirit have been submitted to this author. Retired New York prosecutor Jerry Neugarten worked closely with Cardinale both at the ICA and in formulating the CCF. 

Said Neugarten: “In his vision, judgment, and dedication, Mike was without parallel in the Chicago scholastic chess community. He was a beacon of integrity to all who had the good fortune to have known him."

Current CCF President Ben Wong reminisced: "I had known Mike since 2006 when my son Matthew first started playing chess as a first grader at his YCFC tournaments.  I was a novice to the chess community and I was not aware that I was going down the proverbial rabbit hole.  Ultimately, Mike served as a great mentor to me as I worked my way up from just being a chess dad to coaching my children's school chess teams to working with him to form CCF in 2014."

Continued Wong, a Chicago attorney, "His passion and dedication to seeing the game of chess grow in the City of Chicago was second to none as he worked tirelessly to make this happen.  It was this same passion and dedication that was infectious and inspired me to get involved."

Financial journalist Mike Bologna served as CCF's first president: "Mike Cardinale is the only reason thousands of Chicago kids have access to free chess tournaments, free summer camps and free chess education each year."

Bologna added, "Mike’s selfless commitment to the YCFC and then the CCF over two decades reflects his devotion to free, inclusive and affirming chess events benefitting every kid in Chicago. I continue to be inspired and motivated by his example. He is nothing less than the patron saint of scholastic chess in Chicago." 

Nicolle Heller served as a volunteer coordinator for the CCF after a year of joint YCFC / CCF operation. Nicolle and her husband Jon submitted this tribute when Mike won the ICA's Broughton Award:

"Because you introduced our family to the magic of competitive chess...  chess has taught our family a lot about life, including being resilient, working hard, and being present in the moment. 

"We have shared many tears and laughter over this frustrating game and loved every minute of it!

"As a person, you have modeled integrity at every turn. You have always put children first. And you did this all so selflessly, seemingly effortlessly. You put up with angry coaches, parents, and children. You forged partnerships with people and groups who were not always good partners. You did it with such focus and good cheer, always keeping your eye on what was best for the thousands of kids YCFC/CCF served."

Wong observed, "Mike was a great organizer. I did not realize how much he did behind the scenes to run a successful tournament - from finding host sites, to negotiating with the school administration, to ordering the trophies, meeting with the school coaches, etc.  When Mike wanted to take a step back from his tournament organizing duties, several of us tried to step in and realized it took at least three people to do what Mike was able to accomplish all by himself."  

CPS Teacher Adam Geisler wears many hats in the chess community, serving as both a coach of the Bateman Elementary team and as the CCF Programming Chair. Recalls Geisler, "My first tournament as a chess coach in Chicago was the infamous CPS playoff fiasco of 2007.  It made me wonder whether it was worth the bother of coaching in this city.  Fortunately, that day I also learned of the YCFC.  That next month, I brought a team to Mike's event, where I witnessed the power of dedicated volunteerism and proper event management.  I saw first-hand how Mike connected with the chess community and organized a meaningful experience for the youth of this city."

Wong recalls that during the transition which merged YCFC with CCF, "Mike needed assurances that his mission of providing free chess tournaments would live on. He can rest assured that his mission will not only live on but will continue to flourish for years to come.  This is especially true since one of his final wishes is to have all donations benefit CCF and Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST), two of his passions.  I am proud to have known Mike and I have become a better person by just being around him. He will be sorely missed."  

Among his accomplishments away from the chessboard, Mike had patronized at least one production of each of Shakespeare's 38 plays -- and was a subscriber at both the Ruth Page and Navy Pier incantations of the CST.  Travel was also a passion; he and his wife of nearly 16 years adventured to the country which had won the latest soccer World Cup -- and he had high hopes of returning to France with Autumn. Mike was also a regular for Kentucky Derby weekend at Churchill Downs near where his late father had lived.

Autumn, a librarian with the Art Institute of Chicago, recalls meeting Mike at a University of Chicago graduate school class. When she mentioned to classmates an interest in the Ontario, Canada-based Stratford Festival, Mike showed up to the next class with an armful of programs from past festivals and a list of proximal restaurant recommendations. Shortly thereafter, Autumn asked Mike out on their first date -- and the couple was married in 2003.

Cardinale attended Regis High School in Manhattan where he developed fond memories representing the school on the chess team. He migrated to the midwest to attend the University of Notre Dame in South Bend. In search of a Chicago apartment, he enlisted the help of a small rental agent on Broadway Avenue. As luck would have it, the firm had just taken delivery of their first computer and nobody was quite sure what to do with it. Soon, as Autumn reminisces, Mike walked out of those offices with both a fresh lease and a new job. Cardinale served as an accountant with Apartment People for over three decades, even starting a chess club at the agency, which generously sponsored trophies at many YCFC events.

Mike advised this author that with cancers of the brain, tumor reoccurrences are a matter of when, not if, but he optimistically remained open to experimental treatments and was proud of beating the longevity odds. Before the February diagnosis that invoked hospice care, Mike had expressed the hope of returning to competitive chess board at the 2020 US Amateur Team North. His last full tournament as a player was the 2015 US Senior Open, closing out the seventh round with a victory versus a California opponent.

One need not look up the result of that match in the US Chess MSA to know Mike Cardinale was a winner in life.  We were all better off for having known him, as are thousands of Chicago youth who sadly will never have the opportunity to meet Mike, but will all be beneficiaries of his life's work.