Discounted US Chess (USCF) Memberships Available, Reduced-Cost Use of Online Chess Sites Also Arranged

If you are still in high school -- or younger -- and you need a USCF (US Chess) membership, you've come to the right place!

For a limited time, the ICA is offering $9 full-year memberships equivalent to the regular membership (the magazine is available for online viewing). These memberships are normally $22 for high school freshmen and $26 for sophomores, juniors and seniors. Update: Requests must be processed by January 31.

This offering is open to all -- but it is hoped will support the Illinois All-Girls Championship in January, the Illinois High School Individual Championships in February and the 2016 K-8 Championships in March.

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Schmakel Wins 2016 Winter Open; Perez Sweeps Reserve

With a fifth round victory over Eric Rosen, Sam Schmakel won the 2016 Tim Just Winter Open completed January 17 in Schaumburg, Schmakel's tally was 4.5/5 for the event. 

Rosen was up 4.0-3.5 heading into the last set of matches. Rosen tied for second through sixth place with Jonathan Kogen, David Peng, Tansel Turgut, and Pete Karagianis.

Schmakel's only blemish was a draw against Karagianis in the penultimate round. Karagianis also drew Peng in the final round.

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Padilla Is U2300 Co-Champion at North American Open

741 competed in the 25th North American Open completed December 30, 2015, in Las Vegas. Illinois-registered players made certain the Land of Lincoln was well-represented in the seven-section Continental Chess Association event. US Chess crosstables have posted.

In the Under 2300, Peruvian Hugo Padilla compiled one of four 5.5/7 scores to tie for top honors. Padilla recently won the prestigious Chicago Latino Championship but has not played much rated chess, with two Chicago Opens spanning 7 years: 2008 and 2015.

In an eight-way tie for fifth place, Angel Angelov finished a half-point back with 5.0.

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2016 Brings New Content to ICA Website

With the new year, brings much newness... not the least of which is the challenge to remember to write the correct year on notation sheets.

The ICA website is at a crossroads and we'd love your feedback. Do you find the articles to be helpful and interesting?  What features would you like to see added? Do you yourself have an idea for an article?  Do you know someone in the chess community who is worthy of a profile?  Or are you aware of a chess organization which we may not know about?

Also, we are looking for skilled and insightful players to annotate games from our major tournaments played by members of our chess community.

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Peruvian Wins Chicago Latino Chess Championship XXIII

The 23rd annual edition of the Chicago Latino Championship saw two South American players competing in it for the first time: Hugo Padilla and Gustavo Berenstein. The non-rated event was hosted November 28 at the Rudy Lozano Branch of the Chicago Public Library in the Pilsen neighborhood.

The event included two sections, one Open (Section I) and one for players aged 14 and younger (Section II). An article regarding Section II was posted previously on the ICA site

Peruvian Master Hugo Padilla won the Open competition with a perfect 5-0 score.

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