November Preview/ This month in Chess Life and CLO
Editor’s Letter
I still remember listening to National Public Radio in 1999 when an interview with GM Maurice Ashley aired discussing his becoming the first black grand- master. Ashley has remained relevant to the U.S. chess scene these last 13 years; on page 30, we bring Ashley’s profile up-to-date, penned by our globetrotting (and former chess journalist of the year) Macauley Peterson. 1999 was not so long ago, but chess has been getting a lot of this type of mainstream coverage lately in a way it never did then. It is no longer as big a deal now, but it certainly helps in our promotion of our game and in bringing new play- ers to the USCF. Our cover subect, Phiona Mutesi, has just the kind of story that can generate even more of this type of positive press, and beginning on page 36, Jamaal Abdul-Alim profiles the organization responsible for bringing Mutesi to light. Howard Goldowsky reviews the book about Mutesi, The Queen of Katwe, within the same article.
This year’s U.S. Open was held in the beautiful Pacific Northwest in charming Vancouver, Washington, just across the mighty Columbia river from Portland, Oregon. The Open is a convention of sorts for the USCF. You can get a good sense of what it is like at this annual event in Al Lawrence’s report beginning on page 20. Lawrence finds a hook involving the ultimate winner Manuel Hoyos and a long-ago Open. He also looks at a couple of the premier side events (actually, major events in their own right that just happen to be held alongside the Open) the Denker Tournament of High School Champions and the Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions. Happy Thansgiving, good chess, and good reading. -Daniel Lucas, Editor
CHESS LIFE ONLINE PREVIEW: NOVEMBER
Carving 64 Squares Thanksgiving weekend is full of wholesome good chess from the National Chess Congress in Philadelphia, the Thanksgiving Open in St. Louis, the Burlington Open in Massachusetts and the American Open in Los Angeles. CLO coverage will include U.S. Chess Scoop videos from Philly and a report by Randy Hough on the American Open. If you have a Thanksgiving chess game or memory of your own, send it over to
jshahade@uschess.org for possible inclusion in CLO. Also this month:
• World Youth: The World Youth heads to Maribor, Slovenia from November 7-19. Follow along as dozens of our most talented players fight for medals and make meaningful connections with young champions from all over the world. Participants include Awonder Liang (right), who earned a gold medal last year in the Under 8 division.
• K-12 hits Disney: This year’s K-12 Grade Championships will return to Orlando, Florida from November 30-December 2. Find games, stories and photos on
uschess.org/clo and look for full tournament details, including schedule and pairings at
http://uschess.org/tournaments/2012/k12/
• Siberian Quest: Root on reigning U.S. Women’s Chess Champion Irina Krush, Anna Zatonskih and Tatev Abrahamyan as they head to Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia to hunt for the women’s world championship crown. The knockout tournament spans from November 9-December 3.
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Al Lawrence
“The U.S. Open” is covered for us by the former executive director of both the USCF and the World Chess Hall of Fame. He is currently director of the Texas Tech University chess program. His latest book, with GM Lev Alburt, is Chess Training Pocket Book II.
Macauley Peterson
Our GM Maurice Ashley interviewer is an independent multimedia producer and online video consultant to chess organizers and publishers worldwide. He is co-creator of “The Full English Breakfast” podcast, a lighthearted look at the professional chess world, available at
www.TheFEB.com and on
Facebook.com/TheFEB.
Jamaal Abdul-Alim
Our Cover Story author this month is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C., where he covers higher education policy. He is also an instructor and program developer with Chess Challenge in the District of Columbia, an after-school program that brings chess to youths in elementary and middle schools throughout the city.
www.uschess.org
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CONTRIBUTORS
PHOTO: ERIC ROSEN
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