This event will take place virtually at 4pm PST/7pm EST. Not in PST or EST? Check your time zone.
NJ Alumni Association has partnered with the Columbia University Club of New York to bring you the 1st Ever All-Ivy Chess Invitational!
The tournament will be hosted by the dynamic and talented National Chess Master Evan Rabin & Chess Grand Master Mark Paragua on Lichess.org, one of the most popular chess websites in the world.
Prizes will be awarded to the top 8 players and the winner will receive a beautiful trophy, custom chess set, and the title of All-Ivy Chess Champion!
In addition to the tournament, they will be offering entertaining live commentary, insightful interviews with chess masters, and a breakout room for those who want to receive instruction, feedback, and analysis of their games via a private Zoom video link.
Bruce Pandolfini, American's most experienced chess teacher, will also join for a 30 minute Q&A. Bruce consulted for the #1 Netflix TV Series, "The Queen's Gambit", so bring your questions and get them answered by a chess legend!
If you plan to watch as a spectator or participate, there is something for any level of chess enthusiast.
Head here for more info and registration.
Cohosted by:
National Chess Master Evan Rabin:
Evan Rabin is the CEO of Premier Chess. When he was 7, his brother and father taught him how to play. Two months later he was playing in school. Two months after that, he went to his first tournament. One month later he went to Nationals. He never looked back. After graduating from Brandeis University, Evan started teaching chess full-time but eventually decided to set his sights on the corporate world. However, Evan became disillusioned with corporate life and founded Premier Chess in 2017. Evan started programs in 14 schools within 2 months. From there he started offering corporate classes. Now, partnering with vendors like the National Scholastic Chess Foundation, National Education Chess Association, and Top Level Chess, Premier Chess is expanding to Florida, Massachusetts, Washington, Colorado, while international efforts are continuing in Myanmar. One day, Evan hopes that any student anywhere in the world who wants to play chess will be able to.
Chess Grand Master Mark Paragua:
Mark Callano Paragua is a Filipino chess grandmaster. He was the youngest Filipino master ever, at nine years of age. He also became the youngest Filipino GM ever at 20 (until Wesley So surpassed it), beating out Eugenio Torre's record by about two years. Paragua qualified for the 2004 World Championship in Tripoli, Libya, where he was eliminated by Viktor Bologan of Moldova in the first round 1-3. He also qualified for World Cup Chess 2005 (qualifying tournament for world championship). He upset Armenian GM Sergei Movsesian in the first round before narrowly losing in the tiebreaker against Alexey Dreev of Russia in the second round. He played for the Philippines in the Chess Olympiads of 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2012. In his most recent tournament, the 42nd Annual World Open held at Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Arlington, Virginia, he placed 12th after tiebreaks with Gata Kamsky of the United States, Lazaro Bruzon of Cuba, and Victor Laznicka of the Czech Republic.