Chess in Rockford                       

By Joseph R. Guth Jr.,   Christian Life Chess Coach            

Chess, in Rockford, has had a glorious past and present. The future looks bright, too. Rockford has become a meeting place for players from all over the country.  Rockford hosted the 2001, 2002, and 2003 National Youth Action Championship, a chess tournament that draws between 500 and 600 kids from 20 or more states. The United States Chess Federation chose Rockford because of it strong scholastic programs and its proximate location to Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, the Twin Cities, and other mid-west communities. 

WHAT MAKES CHESS GREAT 

            Chess is a great game for anyone to play. For kids, chess is great to help improve reading, science, and math skills. Elementary and middle school students learn to use critical thinking skills at an early age. Of the different learning modalities humans use to learn, experts say that chess causes us to exercise fourteen of them. For middle school students who have not yet developed into athletes, chess is great for developing a good self-esteem and allows them to excel in a different arena.

            For adults, chess is a lifetime hobby, activity, or passion. Chess keeps the brain working when everyday life may degrade to the mundane. The royal game is also believed to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Studies are now going on to investigate that notion.

 ROCKFORD CHESS ASSOCIATION 

The Rockford Chess Association is the umbrella organization that organizes tournaments, teaches chess, and supplies information for club development. Their website is http://www.rockfordchess.org. Three people, who work together in their areas of expertise, head up the organization.

Chuck Beach is the scholastic tournament organizer. His passion is organizing and running locals-only tournaments that are geared for beginning to intermediate chess players. He has helped at teams at M.L. King Elementary, West Middle School, and Auburn High School. Chuck started the Rockford Chess Challenge tournaments with the hopes of creating a large, strong field of local chess players. His goal is slowly coming to fruition. Chuck has also organized the Chess for Kids Projects I & II.  This program puts chess sets in every classroom of interested local schools.

Gary Sargent is Rockford’s highest-ranking Tournament Director. He is the official judge or referee who makes sure that rules are followed and results are accurate. He has been directing tournaments for decades. There is not another who knows the technical aspects of the official rules better than he. Not only does he judge scholastic tournaments; he heads up the three local open tournaments and 24 club tournaments each year too.

Joe Guth is a local chess teacher. He started the Rockford Chess Academy about five years ago. He has instructed many players in the Rockford area. After taking eighteen years off from the chess scene, Joe returned back in 1995. When he left chess, Joe was a class “C” player on the rise. When he came back, Joe shot up to class “B”. He has beaten experts, masters, and even an international master in various time controls. His goal is to make it to class “A” and then “Expert” level. Originally, his chess academy taught the best players in town with advanced techniques. Now, the academy is looking to help schools start clubs.  If anyone is interested in starting a club, check out the RCA web page and e-mail Chuck Beach or Joe Guth.

The elementary chess landscape envisioned by Chuck Beach has changed and even affected state and national results. Luther Academy at Alpine, Christian Life, and Gloria Dei has become local powerhouses in addition to King. Teams from Rolling Green, Rockford Environmental & Science Academy, New Milford, Montessori, Roscoe Middle School, Washington in Belvidere, and Monroe Center have all sent players to the local Chess Challenges.   Some have attended regional and state level tournaments.  In 2002, Christian Life’s K-3 team took 2^nd in the nation at the National Youth Action Championships and King took 5^th place. The Christian Life 3^rd graders took 4^th place at the 2003 Illinois All-Grade Championships.

ROCKFORD’S CHESS PAST 

Our chess present and future is tied to our past. Joe Drennan is the grandfather of Rockford Chess. Mr. Drennan taught in the Rockford School District where he helped to create a chess monster for the rest of the state to envy. Not only did he teach chess to the champion Flynn Middle School teams, Mr. Drennan was also the coach of the great Wilson Middle School teams. Wilson became West Middle School and carried on the torch. To build the Rockford programs, he also taught chess at Rock Valley College’s “Whiz Kids Program” for many years. Mr. Drennan had direct involvement in five state team titles alone.

Chess coaches who have had these great players fed from the middle school programs into their high school programs are Jack Armstrong of Jefferson High School and James Boyer of Auburn High School. Between the two schools, they were either “State Champions” or “Runner-up seven times”.

 ROCKFORD’S CHESS FUTURE 

            Right now, the growing programs are in the surrounding communities, such as Monroe Center, Roscoe, Rockton, and Belvidere.  The Rockford Chess Association would like local schools to consider developing a program to support the growing popularity of chess. Unlike many school activities, chess has been proven to improve math grades by 5 to 15% depending on the test group. Reading and science scores rise too. Christian Life School is partnering with Joe Guth in the purchase of software geared towards teaching kids the basics of chess. The software will be placed in computers to allow access for students up through 8^th grade. Teacher, Michele Beach is toying with the same idea for King. Joe Guth has put together 12-week and 24-week programs that could be used in classrooms across the area for only one-hour per class per week.

            In the adult arena, chess has become a competition and social time for those in their middle thirties and above. Those in their twenties and early thirties have a different focus for their lives. Many are pursuing life goals, education, careers, sports, and families. They are welcome back anytime. If they are interested, coaching a team is a great way to re-enter the chess world. We expect another renaissance of chess in the next five years. Championship players from the past will start to get the itch again will want to become active chess players again. Unlike most sports, you can continue to get better at chess even into your 50’s.                       

WHERE TO PLAY IN ROCKFORD 

            Border’s Book Store opened their cafe up to chess players more than four years ago. Every Monday night from 6:00 p.m. until close you will see pieces flying, hear the hitting of clocks, and smell defeat in the air. Unlike a chess tournament, where everyone is quiet, this club has everything from serious games, to lively blitz chess, to wild chess variants. During the year, mostly adults frequent the club. Holidays, summer vacations, and preparation time for a tournament will cause the youngsters to show up. Anyone who may be interested in regular rated tournament action can go to “Our Master’s United Methodist Church” the first and third Tuesday of the month. 

ROCKFORD AREA TEAMS: STATE AND NATIONAL LEVELS 

2003 Illinois State Scholastic Championship Local Results

2002 National Youth Action Local Results

Other Historical Results

HIGH SCHOOL - The Rockford area has had a long history of successful competitors at the state and national levels.   The area has produced several state high school team champions (North Boone High, Auburn High and Jefferson High have all won IHSA state titles), a national championship team (Guilford High won the national high school JV title in 1974).

 Middle School - Before Rockford’s high school dominance in the 90’s, the middle school’s ruled the roost. Morris Kennedy regularly went to North Boone and dominated their event in the 70’s. During the 80’s, Wilson and Flynn Middle Schools were the envy of the state.

 Elementary Schools - Elementary schools have gotten into the act over the last fifteen years too.

ROCKFORD INDIVIDUALS AT THE STATE

AND NATIONAL LEVELS