In an announcement that elevates chess in Nebraska, Senior Master Chess Player and Nebraska native Rodney Malpert announces the “Nebraska Hall of Fame Chess Celebration” that will be held Saturday and Sunday, June 1st and 2nd, at the Graduate Hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska.
This celebration of Nebraska chess history includes a chess tournament and is a trifecta of events: USCF Rated Grand Prix event, Nebraska Hall of Fame event, and Player of the Year event. The total prize fund for the tournament is $13,650. First Place wins $1500. Second Place wins $1000. Many other prizes included. Players who enter the tournament will also be treated to a lecture by a Chess Hall of Fame member, and a meet & greet with chess special guests from around the country.
“Nebraska deserves a chess renaissance,” says chess visionary Malpert, who is also the principal financial backer of the tournament. “After WWII we began hosting prestigious events, even drawing future World Champion Bobby Fischer. The culmination was a golden era from 1969 through the ’70s, which we are celebrating in this event. In that decade we produced a National High School Champion (from Brownell Talbot) and other top juniors, a powerhouse Husker team that won an NCAA championship, an eventual U.S. Women’s Champion, a host of prolific writers, publishers, and historians, and countless energetic club players. We even hosted four premier national tournaments in Lincoln (three at the same address as our current event) and had prominent chess organizers, including a future U.S. Chess Federation Executive Director. So, we are having an unprecedented reunion of players from that era, to celebrate their achievements and inspire our current players, talented organizers, and chess journalists during a time of booming chess popularity worldwide.”
Tournament Organizer, Bruce Draney, says this about the upcoming weekend, “Organizing an event like this has been a dream of mine for over 30 years, and I’m proud to team up with Rod to make it happen. This will be the most exciting chess event in Nebraska in almost 50 years.”
Special guests will include the four newest members of the Nebraska Chess Hall of Fame: Rodney Malpert, Alexey (Rudolph) Root, Kent Nelson, and Keaton Kiewra. The formal induction of these members will be held at a banquet the night before the Hall of Fame Champions Event, on Friday, May 31st. All four new honorees plan to attend not only the banquet, but also to play in the tournament, which gives attendees a rare chance to play chess greats. Also attending and playing in the event is Fide Master and Nebraska Chess Hall of Fame member, Loren Schmidt.
For more information on the event or to enter, visit: http://nebraskachess.com/event/nebraska-hall-of-fame-chess-celebration/
