Who We Are

Board of Directors

Bill Brock (Treasurer) specializes in corporate and personal taxation. He has been a CPA since 1987. He also holds a Ph.D. in English (Loyola University Chicago, 1995) and taught in Loyola’s English Department from 1988 to 1997. At the age of 9, Bill played in the 1967 U.S. Junior Open Chess Championship and lost his first seven games before finally winning one. He has previously served as bulletin editor, treasurer, president, and membership secretary of the Illinois Chess Association and currently serves as an at-large board member. Brock writes frequently for national and regional chess publications, edits the Chicago Chess Blog, and teaches students privately.

Chris Christmas (Director) has been playing chess for more than 45 years. He is a chess tutor and coach who has taught more than 1,000 students between the ages of 4 and 75. He teaches before- and after-school chess classes in Evanston and Niles and has conducted chess camps at the North Avenue Beach chess pavilion.

Ani Emrikian (Secretary). Retired owner and President of ANI Safety and Supply, Inc., a national distributor of safety, janitorial and maintenance supplies. Her time is now spent supporting her 3 children and following her passion in education. Her youngest son, Aren Emrikian, won 1st place in the 2017 World Cadet Chess Championship in the U8 section.

Jingwei Lou (board member) is a former top-tier management consultant with an MBA from INSEAD. He has extensive experience taking clients through large-scale strategy and implementation transformations. Jingwei is a lifelong chess player. During his undergraduate studies, Jingwei was president of the Northwestern University chess club.

Adam Chambers (board member) works as a data analyst within the financial services industry. He also holds a Ph.D. in German. Adam has taught chess extensively from the elementary level through adults and currently mentors several younger chess players.  Adam is a Class A/Expert player who plays prolifically in CCC and other Illinois chess events.

Advisory Board

Our Advisory Board is made up of individuals who have endorsed the Chicago Chess Center and offered their expertise in support of our mission:

GM Mesgen Amanov
FM Albert Chow
Allison Clark John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Zack Fishman Chess Education Partners
Kiran Frey Chess Without Borders
Pieta Garrett
GM Dmitry Gurevich
Daniel Hart
GM Nikola Mitkov
GM Yury Shulman
 

Join Our Board

Chicago Chess Center NFP Inc. is seeking to enlarge and diversify its board of directors. We’re looking for people who are committed and passionate, who show common sense and good judgment, who respect group process, who are centered and self-aware, and who have a sense of humor. As a startup organization, we need self-starters, risk-takers and freethinkers along with organized and dependable professionals. We need people with experience in fundraising, entrepreneurship, for-profit and/or nonprofit management, curriculum development, and/or marketing or public relations. Also, as an organization seeking to serve the entire city, we want to include members of demographic groups underrepresented in the chess community. For more information, please reply through our contact page.

Your generosity will help us open our doors and ensure the viability of this new educational, recreational and civic institution. With your support, the Chicago Chess Center will provide regularly scheduled chess instruction and training for players of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels, along with a full calendar of U.S. Chess Federation–rated tournaments.

Give a gift of $250 or more and become a a member of our Founders’ Court. You’ll receive all the benefits of membership plus free instruction, access to exclusive events and more. In addition, you and a guest will be invited to attend the grand opening of the Chicago Chess Center.

Founders' Court

The Chicago Chess Center thanks its founding members: