The U.S. Chess Championship will gather the nation’s best players in San Diego beginning Wednesday, March 1. The 11-day tournament, co-sponsored by the NTC Foundation, is the first event to be held at their new location within the former Naval Training Center, the NTC Promenade. The championship will include a series of nine matches among 64 competitors, culminating in a high-speed final round on Sunday, March 12.
The best of the best will be participating in the event, including 17-year-old phenomenon and defending champion, Hikaru Nakamura. The New York prodigy has been described as the next Bobby Fischer. Last year’s female winner, Rusa Goletiani, will also be returning. The only participant from San Diego is also the youngest competitor. Elliott Liu, 15, currently attends Bishop’s School in La Jolla and resides in Encinitas.
The players will be competing for $250,000 in prizes, of which $25,000 goes to the overall champion and $12,500 to the top-ranked woman. Each round will match all competitors in one lengthy game. After nine rounds, the two top overall and the two top female scorers will face off in a two-game championship round. All matches start at 1 p.m. at the McMillin Event Center, with the exception of the championship, which begins at noon.
“Chess goes on for a long time; you could play games up to four, five or six hours,” said Toni Robin, spokesperson for the NTC Foundation. “The championship will be quicker. It’s a timed match, so it will be very exciting to see.”
While the daily matches will provide hours of intellectually stimulating entertainment, the family-friendly Chesstival on Saturday, March 4, will make chess accessible to all ages. The festival, which begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m., will feature chess related art, music, workshops, youth matches and autographs from participating players.
“The whole idea about the Chesstival is to show the community what we are trying to do here [at the NTC Promenade], which is create a festival space and a community space where there are parties and activities and family fun,” Robin said.
Grandmasters”the World Chess Federation’s highest ranking for chess players”will break from the championship for the chess-themed festival. A handful of masters will play blindfolded matches in which a commentator announces the challenger’s move to the Grandmaster, who must rely on memory and visualization to determine his moves.
Other Grandmasters will put their skills to the test in a tournament against kids of all ages. The Kids Simul Tournament costs $5 to enter and begins at noon, with registration starting at 10 a.m. Nearly 300 chess boards will be set up for participants and divided into groups of up to 20 according to skill and age. Ten to 12 Grandmasters will take on one group each, circling around making a move at each board, while playing up to 20 games simultaneously.
Also playing chess for spectators will be various local dignitaries and famous faces, including the San Diego Padres mascot. Amateur and intermediate players can benefit from the advice of local chess experts, who will offer free lessons to kids and adults alike.
NTC Promenade resident groups Visions Art Quilt Gallery and San Diego Watercolor Society will join community organizations San Diego Design and Build and Point Loma Artists in presenting displays and activities that incorporate quilt design, watercolor and wood making. The festival includes art and culture as a way of showcasing the promenade’s main use as a gathering place for creative expression and exploration.
“The Chesstival is a way to sort of enliven the promenade, and make it a place where people come for events and activities,” Robin said.
This is the foundation’s second year partnering with America’s Foundation for Chess to host the event, which now calls San Diego home. Last year, the two organizations held the championship at the Sheraton Grande Torrey Pines.
With NTC Promenade construction nearly complete, the championship can now take up residency at the McMillin Event Center. It is the first building to open at the promenade and will be used in the future for special events, weddings, conferences, exhibits and receptions. The promenade’s other buildings will be occupied by cultural and educational nonprofit organizations, with the first phase of 16 tenants moving in by the year’s end.
Now called Liberty Station, 361 acres of the former Naval Training Center have been redeveloped by the City of San Diego and The Corky McMillin Companies into schools, offices, shopping centers, homes, a park and a golf course. The NTC Promenade’s 26 historic buildings complete Liberty Station’s arts, civic and cultural district.
The festival and all chess matches throughout the week are free to attend. For more information, visit www.uschesschampionship.