Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 10, 2009 - Two prominent members of the Missouri chess community, James Allan Davies and Ed Baur, recently joined the board of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

ST. LOUIS, August 20, 2009  --  Gregory Shahade figures things couldn't have gone much better for the 10th U.S. Chess School, an intensive camp for the nation's top young players held Aug. 11-15 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

"The students were great. We go from 9 to 6 each day, and at the end of the day they still have plenty of energy," said Shahade, the founder and president of the Chess School.

The 10th Chess School differed from the previous nine because all eight students were female. They ranged in age from 12 to 19. It was an experiment that initially had Shahade concerned. "I wasn't sure about the symbolism" in separating one gender from the other.

ST. LOUIS, August 6, 2009  --  Saint Louis was named Chess City of the Year by the U.S. Chess Federation, and two other Saint Louisans also were honored by the federation for their part in promoting chess.

Saint Louis will formally receive the honor at the federation's annual awards luncheon on Aug. 8 in Indianapolis. Typically, the Crossville, Tenn.-based Chess Federation honors more than one city each year, but Saint Louis was the sole honoree this year. That's happened only nine other times since the first Chess City of the Year was named in 1983. 

Perhaps just as remarkable as the players and the games at the Saint Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center are the tables themselves. Or, more accurately, Nate Cohen, the person who made the tables.

"The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis' facility and enterprise has tremendous potential, not just for Saint Louis but for the entire country"
-Dr. Benjamin Chavis

On March 10, 2009, Dr. Ben Chavis stopped by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis! Dr. Ben Chavis has worn many hats, most notably were CEO of the NAACP (National Association of Advancement of Colored People), VP of the National Council of Churches, National Director of the Million Man March, Executive Director of NAALS (National African American Leadership Summit) and a prominent figure of the United Federation of Teachers. Throughout the years, Dr. Chavis has worked one-on-one with celebrities and politicians such as Run DMC, Russell Simmons, Bruce Willis, Sean Combs, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.