2019 Senior Open (and Junior Open)

All Things Chess
1

I am happy to announce that the 2019 U.S. Senior Open and the 2019 U.S. Junior Open will be held June 28-30 at North Central College in Naperville, IL., just west of Chicago – following the 2019 Caveman Chess Camp June 23-28.

Many details are still in the works, but here is some information:

For those of you who enjoyed the 2017 tournament at St. Olaf College, we will enjoy some of the same pricing advantages such as inexpensive dorm rooms and meal packages (we are working with the College to be more flexible on meal service times.) Of course, these costs also avoid taxes and tips. (We are still in negotiation, but expect the dorm cost to be around $50/bed/night, meals will likely be $25-$30 a day.)

There are also hotels within walking distance of the playing site.

  • One 3 star within a few blocks
  • 23 hotels within 2.5 miles, 8 within 1.5 miles of primary playing room
  • Ranging from 2-stars to 3-stars, price from $50 to $170 per night. We will be looking for some discounts, but I suspect we won’t do much better than AAA rates.

The site is reachable by Metra Rail (4-ish blocks from the station) and is 35 minutes from both O’Hare and Midway Airports (via shuttle or cab or car.)

Naperville is an upscale community with over 240 restaurants, including a broad array of bistros, quality chains (such as Maggiano’s or Houlihan’s, Texas Roadhouse, etc.), breakfast places, high quality (Catch35, Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse), diners, and so on. The issue may be TOO MANY good places;we’ll be working to provide a good restaurant communication for players

We are also working so that in addition the College food service, the Au Bon Pain and the Cage Coffee Shop, which are located in the two main playing areas, will be open. More on that as things develop.

A major change is that we are looking to add some things for the adults who attend the camp or spouses who are at the tournament. Ideas currently being worked on include:

  • Yoga class
  • Workout class
  • Trip to Naperville shops
  • Dinner/Dinner-theater the Thursday night before the tournament WITH GMs
  • Trip to Chicago
  • Massages
  • Other

Of course, we will also have side events such as a lecture and a simul.

We expect to have the baseline camp items set within about a month, and baseline tournament and ccommodations by mid-fall. Some of the special side items above will likely shake out in late fall early Winter. These items will have an additional charge.

Naperville is a large and classy town, and it would be easy to coordinate the trip with a short vacation or as a get away weekend for the significant other. And you could use dorm stays, hotel stays, or a combination to manage costs.

Naperville Named 2018’s Best City to Raise a Family chicagotribune.com/suburbs/n … story.html
Naperville ranked 2nd best city to live in America chicagotribune.com/suburbs/n … story.html

Watch for more details. We’re excited, and hope to break 400 total participants.

Watch here, our website and Facebook for updates.

2

Let’s do everything to try to break that modern-day record for attendance you set at St. Olaf.

Thanks, Mike

3

Well, to give credit where credit is due, Glenn Panner and Maret Thorpe organized the tournament while I was organizer of the chess camp that preceded it - and when Glenn told me he was working to have the event in Minnesota I suggested the idea of following the camp.

Maret will be our Chief TD for the Junior and Senior, and we’re hoping to do as great of a job as they did organizing the event.

4

Just an input, as I played in the 2017 Senior Open, and would definitely consider this for next year.

My only problem with the 2017 tournament at St. Olaf’s was that there were no eating places within easy walking distance off campus. The hours for the school cafeteria did not always fit in very well with the playing schedule, and the food wasn’t very good. There was a snack place in the student union, but again, the hours weren’t terribly convenient. Mind you, obviously I didn’t starve; I was able to make one or two meals a day and keep some things in my dorm room. But it wasn’t ideal

I stress walking distance because bringing my own car wouldn’t have been convenient, and renting one would have been an unwelcome extra expense on top of the airline ticket, dorm fee, and entry. Same for next year. So I’d hope that for 2019, some of those “too many good restaurants” are within a couple of blocks of the campus.

5

Hi!

We have several potential solutions for this issue at the 2019 Senior Open:

  • First, Naperville has 240 restaurants. Many are in the downtown, which is about 3-4 blocks from the playing site (depending upon angle, etc.)
  • We are working with the college to see if they can be more flexible on dining hours to match up with round times
  • The two main playing rooms each have food service and we are trying to have that open during the events. One is a college run cafe, the other is an Au Bon Pain.
6

I really enjoyed the well run 2017 St.Olaf event (and was happy with the cafeteria chow) and am looking forward to 2019 in Naperville.

7

I also enjoyed the venue at St Olaf’s. Very quiet and beautiful campus. $45 rooms in a great facility. Also, the food supplied by Bon Appetit food service was very good. Great choices for your money. When compared with a breakfast buffet I just had at the US OPEN at the Marriott Hotel for $15. the buffet at St Olaf’s was $10 with a heck of a lot more choice. Wasn’t even a comparison. I admit you needed a car to take advantage of the fantastic restaurants Northfield had. If someone needed a ride to dinner they should have posted on the board wanted a ride to fast food or to a restaurant. The one outside the college was so good I ate there twice, atmosphere great, service fantastic, food super and price reasonable. Some say it is within walking distance although I could not take that walk in the heat myself.
It as the Ole Store Restaurant closest place to St Olaf’s and ranked #2 in all restaurants in Northfield, MN. and it lived up to its ranking.

I hope this new venue is as good and nice as St. Olaf’s but I am guessing the restaurants being so close to Chicago will be much more expensive unless of course, you go to fast food which is about the same everywhere.

8

If you were staying in the Marriott hotel then for $10 you could get a coupon to cover the buffet breakfast, making the price a wash with St. Olaf. I do not know about the choices.

9

Did not know about the $10 coupon at Mariott. I just stayed there in Middleton, Wi. and no one said anything about the $10 coupon for the buffet breakfast. Thay should have advertised it. At St. Olaf’s I stayed in the dorms for $45, could not go wrong when you think the cheaper motels were going for a chess rate I believe of $135 and up. Was only a quick 10-15 minute walk from the dorms to the laying halls.

10

There was at least 1 announcement made about the $10 breakfast [charged to your room] at the US Open. What I did not hear was any announcement [like deadline for submission] on the mixed teams.

Larry Cohen

11

Also keep in mind the savings in taxes and tips. A$45 dorm room is $45. A $135 hotel room could be $150 or more. A $10 meal at the college is $10, or $12 at a restaurant (if it is even at the same price.)

12

Hi Kevin. Since the US SENIOR OPEN 2019 is once again in the MidWest I should be attending. Can you make comparisons to the dorm rooms with St Olaf’s rooms? I felt very comfortable at St Olaf’s dorms. Also, the walk was not that far at all from the dorms to the playing hall.
The tips you gave last year for the dorm rooms proved very helpful. Thanks, Mike

13

Hi,

We are currently finalizing things - but here is what I can tell you:

  • All dorms are air conditioned
  • Depending upon the finalization of dorms and playing room, the walk will be from .5 to 3 blocks - so at the worst maybe 30 yards or so further than the St. Olaf walk and at the best, much shorter.
  • Dorm rooms are comparable quality. Probably a bit less humid. Price is likely to be $50/bed/night, but we are still working on that.
  • For most dorms, the food hall is between the dorms and the playing site - so on the way.
  • We are working on having the food hall open during “tournament feeding hours” :smiley:
  • My understanding is that there are more single dorm rooms available if people want.

Our goal is to have all this finalized and on the website in about 2-ish weeks.

Kevin

14

Sounds like another winner. I do believe the Northfield, MN location was a success because of the dorm rooms so this should be also.

Just curious do you know how many participants from the 2017 US SENIOR OPEN stayed in the dorm rooms?
Hope you have another record attendance for 2019.

15

I don’t know for the Senior Open only. For the Senior/Junior combined, it was about 60.

16

Websites are up.

We are still working out some details, and still need to add dorm room registration for the Junior and Senior Open (that should occur within the week) but tournament details are up, online TLAs are up, and registration is up.

This page provides links to all the tournaments cavemanchess.com/events (side events when finalized will also be here)

This page also provides registration links to all the tournaments cavemanchess.com/sr-jr-camp-registration

Direct links to information:

cavemanchess.com/us-junior-open

cavemanchess.com/us-senior-open

TLA links: uschess.org/tlas/upcoming.ph … AT#2019-06

As I noted, we are still doing some work on these pages (feel free to email or pm if you find something that needs work).

Thank you!!

17

Dormitory registration for the Junior Open and Senior Open has been set up.

18

A simul with GM Alex Goldin has been added for the Thursday evening prior to the tournament, for those arriving the night before. cavemanchess.com/events/

19

Due to a change by North Central College, the venue for the Senior Open has been moved to:

North Central College
Wentz Concert Hall and Fine Arts Center
171 E. Chicago Ave
Naperville, IL 60540

We will actually have close to 1,000 square feet of additional space, and will be directly across the street from dormitories, and Starbucks, and next to additional parking. We will also be closer to downtown Naperville, and therefore closer to restaurants, etc., and ½ block from the College food service.

20

A reminder that the winner of the 2019 U.S. Senior Open is seeded into the U.S. Senior Invitational 2020.