Friday, February 17, 2012

Huck Finn Classic honors anniversary

In honor of the 127th anniversary of the American publication of Mark Twain's classic novel, DeKalb Chess Club will be hosting two chess tournaments February 18th. Both events will be held in the spacious Fellowship Hall of the First Congregational Church, 615 N. First Street in DeKalb.

The Adventures of Huck Finn has gone down in history as a phenomenal telling of the tale of white and black framed on the Mississippi River. Saturday, the chess club and its visitors will be creating its own "tales of white and black"... atop a river of chess boards!

The USCF event will undertake registration beginning at 9am with the first of three rounds getting underway at 10am.

Registration for the junior event will take place starting around noon, just as the first round of the USCF event is concluding. The junior event will feature four rounds, wrapping up around 3pm, followed by a brief awards ceremony. Sections will be crafted based on the people who show up, but it may wind up being just one section. Anyway you cut it, it'll be a comfortable and educational setting for a first chess tournament.

The all-ages USCF event features G/65 plus a 5 second delay for time controls. Sections will be divided according to registrations received, but we hope to have an Under 2200 section, an Under 1600 section and an Under 1200 section. In addition, we hope to have prizes for Class B (1799-1600) in the Under 2200 group and Class D (1399-1200) in the Under 1600 group. But all this depends upon registrations and is subject to the tournament director's whim.

Hope to see you there, before 10am for the USCF event and around noon for the junior's event. USCF memberships are available at the tournament site, but is not required for the junior's event.

In the words of Huck: "I was a-trembling, because I'd got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it." Isn't this the very essence of chess?