In Memoriam: Mariano Acosta

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Mariano A. Acosta (Glendale Heights, Illinois), who passed away on December 13, 2019, leaving behind a devoted family and many friends in the chess community.

A long time Chicago master, Mariano was known as a tactical player who was always ready to play fighting chess. He was also very active in the Chicago Industrial Chess League, playing for the St. Charles Chess Club.

His last published rating was 2200 after playing in the 2019 US Amateur Team - North held at the Regency Hyatt on Golf Road in Schaumburg.

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Chess To Grow #1

I would like to first thank Dr. Siva for trusting ChessForThePeople to organize his JoinToGrow chess club events. He has been very responsive and helpful and can’t find a much nicer person. I also want to thank my son Jacob, for not only doing his hired responsibility to be floor TD but doing all backroom WinTD process.

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The 37th Annual Tim Just Winter Open

The 37th Annual Tim Just Winter Open was held during the first weekend in January 2020. The competition was fierce as 179 players competed in this year’s event. View the complete final standings at https://www.kingregistration.com/results/winteropen20. Here are two interesting puzzles taken directly from games played in the tournament. Answers to the puzzles can be found at the end of the article.

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2020 Winter Team Scholastic Chess Tournament

Winter Scholastic Team Chess Tournament 2020

 

By Luis Peralta

Winter Scholastic Chess Tournament 2020

Last Saturday January 25th 16 school teams from nine different schools met at WIU in Moline in this chess event. Students from Western Illinois University, Pleasant Valley High School, Black Hawk College, QC Christian, Moline High School, United Township High School, Wilson Junior High, Colona Junior High, and Seton Catholic School participated at Western Illinois University during the first scholastic event of the year. Wilson Junior High got the first place in the Elementary/Middle School category; while Moline Maroon got also the first place in the High School/College category.

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Bob Long 1945-2020

I knew Bob well. An Iowa player, he often came to Ilinois to sell his books and to play. He was a strong player with a peak rating of 2051. In addition to his publishiing business, he also organized seminars. Below is a rememberance from English IM Andrew Martin.

Bill Whited

Earlier this week, I received the terrible news that my old friend Bob Long had been murdered. Strangled to death in his own home. He was 74. It has been a terrible shock. Bob was a one-off, in the chess world a promoter , a publisher of eclectic material, and a bookseller, all on his own terms. I knew him since 2004, when he kindly invited me to feature in one of his chess festivals. I returned to the USA many times after that, working with him on more of these events, for the most part staying in his home. We became firm friends. Bob had a loyal , but limited clientele. If you got to know him, he was kind, generous and scrupulously honest. He made friends for life.

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