| Photos From ChessFest 2009 |
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| By Jennifer Shahade | |
| May 22, 2009 | |
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The second annual 9Queens ChessFest was held on May 2 in Tucson, Arizona. The event,
hosted by 9Queens, a non-profit I co-founded with Jean Hoffman reaches out to the community, not just chessplayers. Chess Fest '09 featured a blitz tournament, a human chess match, face-painting, an art auction, as well as my favorite new activity, hula-hooping! Live music was provided by the psychedelic country band Golden Boots. I was hoping to make this event- I had a blast last year. But on the same exact day, I was finishing my marathon simul in Saint Louis to promote the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship, and unfortunately my teleporting device malfunctioned at the last minute. But many Tucson luminaries attended: the mayor of Tucson, Bob Walkup, the Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Council Member Rodney Glassman, local news anchor Mark Stine and college athletes from the University of Arizona. Members of the U.S. Chess League team the Arizona Scorpions and the three-time National Championship team Catalina Foothills High came out to volunteer and enjoy the festivities. The art auction included work donated by artists including clamdiggin, Paula Wittner, Carina Jorgensen, and Margo Burwell. Carina Jorgensen is a young Danish chessplayer and artist, and she has a very cool website with many chess and art pieces. She even created the following Shahade chess match digital work! You can read more about the piece here.  Chess Fest Photo Highlights (see the full gallery on 9queens.org.) All photos are provided courtesy of Jeff Smith at www.fotosmith.usa.com           |
