Chess Enthusiasts Turn Out For St. Cloud Open

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- Chess players from across the state came to the River’s Edge Convention Center this weekend. The Minnesota State Chess Association is holding the St. Cloud Open, the first in its Grand Prix Series. Board Member Tim Radermacher says the tournament is for all ages and levels of chess players:

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“We like to say we’ll have players from 8 to 80 years old at the tournament and we often do, and so it’s not restricted to any scholastic age or just adults, it’s everyone that would like to participate in chess.”

He says the games are highly competitive and can be quite lengthy:

“And our time control for this event is, is basically you have to make all your moves in 90 minutes and so you know that means if each player has 90 minutes you add that up together that’s about 3 hours and so if they use all of their time you’re looking at games that last about 3 hours.”

Radermacher says they have 8 masters in attendance and it is a rated tournament which helps to tier the players in the different sections.

There are cash prizes for the top finishers in each section and the event is open for the public to come to watch, and they can hang out with the players after games to talk strategy or get pointers. Other cities in the Grand Prix include Duluth, Rochester, Franklin, and a couple of sites in the Twin Cities.

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