Message from CCF Board President

First, I hope each of you reading this message, and your families, are safe and sound during this difficult time.  All of us, including the Chicago Chess Foundation, are feeling the effects of COVID-19.  The emphasis right now is on personal safety, and we wish each of you well.

I had the privilege recently of becoming the third president of the CCF Board of Directors.  I am humbled to follow a terrific leader in Ben Wong, as Ben had succeeded founding president Mike Bologna.  I’m pleased both Ben and Mike continue as productive leaders on our Board, demonstrating our mutual commitment to youth chess.  My role will be to lead us further into our mission of bringing the opportunity to play and compete in chess to every Chicago student, with emphasis on underserved neighborhoods, at no cost.

Let me introduce myself.  I am a born-and-bred Chicagoan, committed to our great city—my wife Kathleen and I live in downtown Chicago.  After graduating from Northwestern, I became a consulting actuary, and spent my entire 40-year career consulting and managing with major firms in the Human Resources field.  Immediately after retiring, I joined the CCF Board in 2017.  I also serve on the Board of Sinai Health Systems, which includes Mt. Sinai and Holy Cross Hospitals (serving the south and southwest sides, respectively). 

I have always loved chess, but my passion grew when my son became a successful scholastic player (passing his father’s skills at about age 9!).  However, my son’s school district had no chess program, and the advice from neighboring coaches was unanimous:  “Start one yourself.”  So, for the next five years, I learned first-hand the joys and frustrations of being a chess coach.  What inspired me was seeing the undeniable benefits of children playing chess:  focus, analytical skills, learning to compete, and so many others.  Years later, this drove me to seek out CCF, a great organization of dedicated people.  To this day, every time I walk into a school cafeteria or library, packed with young chess players (wouldn’t we all love to see THAT again?) concentrating silently, I am re-energized for the mission we serve.   

Our path this school year, like yours, is uncertain, but we will push ahead.  We are putting as much content online as possible, including regular online tournaments.  Our in-person tournament process is being fine-tuned to make us more effective once live tournaments resume.  We continue exploring options for alternative programming, to reach still more students.  The pandemic affects us all, but CCF is committed to emerging stronger than ever.

Once we resume live events, I look forward to meeting as many of you in person as possible.  Meanwhile, we continue to push toward our recently-established goal of doubling the number of students we reach over the next five years.  Thank you for being a part of youth chess in Chicago, and for your support of CCF.  Stay safe!

Mike Hayes

Board President, Chicago Chess Foundation

E-mail:  mike.hayes@chicagolandchess.org