The Saint Louis Chess Club celebrated its 10-year anniversary with an all-day gathering alongside 80 children from Gary Gore Elementary, Demetrious Johnson Chess Champ, and St. Vincent Home for Children on July 17.
“When we opened the club 10 years ago, it was with the really simple idea of just providing a community center, a fun place to go play chess,” said Tony Rich, executive director of Saint Louis Chess Club.
“Then that grew into providing scholastic chess, where we teach 100 schools in the St. Louis area now. We have classes, lectures, and tournaments for 1,000-plus members. We also host big events.”
The celebration also marked the halfway point in the U.S. Junior Championship and U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, both of which took place at the Saint Louis Chess Club from July 11-21.
“There’s a lot on the line for these players,” Rich said. “With the exception of two of them, they have all competed in this event before so they are coming back and they want to prove that they are the best.”
One of the U.S. Junior Championship competitors from St. Louis is Akshat Chandra. He became a frequent visitor to the Saint Louis Chess Club when his family moved here in 2016.
“I like it because there’s always something to learn,” Chandra said. “It’s an infinite game. There are a lot of intricacies, and it’s a subtle game. There’s a lot of beauty in it. You have to be very precise in chess.”
Attendees had the opportunity to help paint a new chess-themed MetroBus that will operate throughout the city for a year and participate in additional family-friendly activities, giveaways, food/drinks, music, movies and shopping.
“The kids out here get so much enjoyment out of it, and it’s the reason why we host those big events because we want to create role models that are smart, that are able to travel the world and be famous and hopefully rich one day so that you can prove it’s not just about being a musician or an athlete or something,” Rich said. “You can play chess too and achieve those same goals.”
Kids attending the event were mostly from the club’s scholastic summer camp programs, including St. Vincent Home for Children, Demetrious Johnson Charitable Foundation, and the Jennings School District.
“At its heart and soul chess is fun, especially in St. Louis. The club makes so many opportunities possible because of chess, and we want them to have access to those opportunities as well,” said Scholastic Manager Kareem Talhouni.
“What’s interesting about chess, compared to a lot of the other board games where the pieces all look the same, in a way chess has diversity. Each piece has its own personality and look, and you can bond with the pieces a little more. I think that’s the magic of chess: the personalities in the piece and how they relate to the personality of the player.”
For more information, visit saintlouischessclub.org or https://www.youtube.com/user/STLChessClub, call (314) 361-2437 or visit the center at 4657 Maryland Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108.
