There are several events planned. Han Schut, a National Chess Master and certified chess trainer who has participated in many tournaments at the famous Marshall Chess Club in New York and at international tournaments in Spain and The Netherlands. Han will be playing a simultaneous exhibition, where he battles all comers at the same time.
Hleb Zharkov, another National Master was born in Minsk ( Belarus). He moved to France at the age of 16 and was the French National Scholastic Champion and in the US, won Jacksonville city championship in 2015. Hleb and a group of the strongest players in the area will hold a rapid chess tournament where each side has 10 minutes to complete the game. This time limit produces exciting games with sacrifices across the board.

Rick Knowlton will be displaying several chess sets and discussing a book he coauthored, A World of Chess: Its Development and Variations through Centuries and Civilizations (McFarland publishing). As an artist and consummate chess enthusiast, Rick has gone on to produce faithful reproductions of chess sets based on the most significant archeological discoveries. In Sarasota since 2009, Rick is a founding member of the Suncoast Chess (formerly Sarasota Scholastic Chess) tournaments, and has taught chess in many local schools and cooperatives. His offers videos, instruction and diverse chess materials on his website, AncientChess.com.

There will be an area for youth and casual players to play, with advisors to assist players in all phases of their game. The next major event for the local chess community is the Suncoast Fall Chess Tournament held on October 29 at Pine View High School in Osprey. This event has been held three times a year since October 12. Please go to the web site for more details. http://www.suncoastchess.org/

We are forming a Sarasota/Manatee County Chess club that will meet at area libraries on Saturdays and hold competitions on Sunday. The mission will be to enrich the lives of all