As the roads clear from Mother Nature's overnight blanketing, pre-registrations are shaping up for Saturday's USCF event in DeKalb.
Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch was born March 5th (1862) and passed away February 17 (1934) so we picked a date in between to memorialize the chess pundit some consider the best chess player in the world at the end of the 19th century.
Three rounds of Game/65 should do the trick, although I'm sure Dr. Tarrasch would have preferred more time for his own games. If a time machine should transport the good doctor to our little tournament, what would his reaction be to the newfangled electronic clocks set to a 5-second delay?
So far we have two of the highest players ever to play with us pre-registered, Len Weber (2200) and NIU accounting major Ilya Meerovich (2150ish).
Also, pre-registered is Vincent Do (1920ish), the 20th-ranked 11 year-old in the country, and Kelebrant Hays, who was the second-ranked 7 year-old in Illinois before he recently turned 8! (Happy Birthday, Kelebrant!).
Discounted pre-registration continues through 9pm tonight... with onsite registration only $5 more. Scholastic teammates also receive discounted entry.
At the conclusion of the main event, we may hold a Game/5 blitz tournament if enough folks express interest at check in. Let's try to arrive before 9:50 so that pairings can get posted in plenty of time for a 10am first round start.
