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For quite some time I have wanted to visit the St. Louis Chess Club (reported to be the best chess club in North America). On their excellent website: www.saintlouischessclub.org I noticed a local tournament : the Bill Wright St. Louis Open which was held last weekend. What attracted me was that 7 grandmasters were listed to play including the US Champion Hikaru Nakamura. I decided to book a flight and eagerly awaited an adventurous trip to St. Louis (I had never been there before). After much google research I planned my trip and it was not easy. Since 2001 mass transit has virtually disappeared to US links from the Canadian side. The famous trains from Toronto to Chicago are gone. (no more) Plane trips from Toronto to St Louis are about $1000 or more. The best I could do was a 5 hour Greyhound trip (milk run) to Detroit and than hope to get to the Detroit Airport. (I had booked a flight from Detroit to St. Louis for $200 return) When I arrived at Detroit Greyhound I had a plan to find the SMART bus to Detroit Airport but no one knew where to catch it. Also we had a two hour delay at Customs so I had about an hour and a half to flight time (time pressure). Lucky I am a quick thinker and I remembered the MGM Casino (from my google search) was close by. After a quick cab ride I arrived at the MGM and immediately approached the front desk. I will tell you now those folks are top notch professionals. The gentleman behind the desk (a tall (a full head taller than me!) slim Afro-American dressed in an immaculate elegant black suit) listened patiently to my rushed story and then recommended the only solution to my dilemma - he ordered a Town Car immediately. While waiting 10 minutes for my ride I was offered a complimentary coffee, free bottled water, and chocolates and the daily newspaper! (even though I was not registered at the casino) My driver drove at 90 miles an hour (I could see the speedometer from the back seat) down the 94 to the airport. He did the trip in less than 15 minutes weaving in and out of heavy traffic. At the airport exit there was a traffic jam which he skillfully avoided (talk about luck) I made my flight right on time. The flight itself was smooth. 1 hour and 15 minutes later we touched down in St Louis in golden sunshine - 30 C weather. St. Louis is stunningly beautiful. Magnolia trees and millions of flowers and luscious plants line the boulevards. I stayed at the Water Tower Inn at St. Louis University. It had free continental breakfast (no skimping on anything and great coffee!) and more importantly free shuttle service to any of its properties. I would recommend it to anyone. It took me a little while to work out the downtown map but I finally noticed that the farthest building was about a half mile from my destination (the chess club) Bingo - a free ride with a short walk!
The St. Louis Chess Club itself is located on Maryland Avenue in the Central West End. The Central West End is about a 20 block radius of wealthy businesses and homes bordered by Forest Park (the second biggest city park in the US - next to Central Park in NY) The district contains at least 500 posh cafes and bars (I would say at least 5 times bigger than Yorkville in Toronto) and the night life is booming! I spent Friday and Saturday evening touring around on foot just watching (no time for drinking or a long stay at one cafe). I spotted 4 Indian motorcycles (the collectibles not First Nations), several exotic cars including a Hispano Suizi limo from the 30's, several hundred absolutely gorgeous women, some interesting street entertainers, a monkey, some parrots and snakes, - in short I had a very interesting time. The club itself was awe inspiring. Millions of dollars and much fine detailed planning has been poured into that club. Large 4 foot screened TVs covered the walls and relayed played moves instantaneously. The club has 3 floors and is open 7 days a week. The top floor alone luxuriously seats more than 100 players, (comfortably I would say 150 max but Canadian organizers could easily squeeze in 200) The main floor is reserved for the main reception area, plenty of display items and the TD headquarters (as well as washrooms, kitchen etc) The bottom floor seated 60 luxuriously. The tables were expensive wood and the chairs almost like thrones. The pieces and boards high quality wood. There were 12 concrete chess tables outside with sign out pieces for each at the reception desk. The club is surrounded by cafes with extensive outdoor patios. In the tournament itself GM Nakamura found himself a half point back with one round to go. Luckily the leaders (GM Ramirez - the Costa Rican prodigy and GM Hess - the high school phenom) drew so there was a 4 way tie for first (including GM Friedel). The turnout was 136! (they expected 60). The Open section had over 80 players including 40 A class players, 20 experts, and 16 masters. There were no accelerated pairings (which I am sure was planned) so that club members would have maximum chance to play both masters and win prizes. Good thinking. I myself played 4 1900's and one 1700. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and highly recommend a visit to the fabulous St. Louis Chess Club to anyone. (oh yes - my entire trip cost me $600 for 4 days - a bargain) And before anyone else gets any ideas I am their first Canadian member!!
The St. Louis Chess Club itself is located on Maryland Avenue in the Central West End. The Central West End is about a 20 block radius of wealthy businesses and homes bordered by Forest Park (the second biggest city park in the US - next to Central Park in NY) The district contains at least 500 posh cafes and bars (I would say at least 5 times bigger than Yorkville in Toronto) and the night life is booming! I spent Friday and Saturday evening touring around on foot just watching (no time for drinking or a long stay at one cafe). I spotted 4 Indian motorcycles (the collectibles not First Nations), several exotic cars including a Hispano Suizi limo from the 30's, several hundred absolutely gorgeous women, some interesting street entertainers, a monkey, some parrots and snakes, - in short I had a very interesting time. The club itself was awe inspiring. Millions of dollars and much fine detailed planning has been poured into that club. Large 4 foot screened TVs covered the walls and relayed played moves instantaneously. The club has 3 floors and is open 7 days a week. The top floor alone luxuriously seats more than 100 players, (comfortably I would say 150 max but Canadian organizers could easily squeeze in 200) The main floor is reserved for the main reception area, plenty of display items and the TD headquarters (as well as washrooms, kitchen etc) The bottom floor seated 60 luxuriously. The tables were expensive wood and the chairs almost like thrones. The pieces and boards high quality wood. There were 12 concrete chess tables outside with sign out pieces for each at the reception desk. The club is surrounded by cafes with extensive outdoor patios. In the tournament itself GM Nakamura found himself a half point back with one round to go. Luckily the leaders (GM Ramirez - the Costa Rican prodigy and GM Hess - the high school phenom) drew so there was a 4 way tie for first (including GM Friedel). The turnout was 136! (they expected 60). The Open section had over 80 players including 40 A class players, 20 experts, and 16 masters. There were no accelerated pairings (which I am sure was planned) so that club members would have maximum chance to play both masters and win prizes. Good thinking. I myself played 4 1900's and one 1700. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and highly recommend a visit to the fabulous St. Louis Chess Club to anyone. (oh yes - my entire trip cost me $600 for 4 days - a bargain) And before anyone else gets any ideas I am their first Canadian member!!
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