Checkmate

Lou Domanski Chess Festival registration ends April 9, tournament April 11

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

There’s still time to register for the annual Lou Domanski Chess Festival in Sandpoint.

Registration remains open until the end of the day Thursday, April 9 and the festival begins promptly at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 11 at Sandpoint Community Hall (204 S. First Ave.).

The event is named for Lou Domanski, the founder of the Sandpoint Chess Festival, which was renamed in his honor.

Born in Poland in 1918, Domanski enlisted with the 18th Infantry Division Cadet Officers School and advanced to the rank of corporal warrant officer by the time World War II broke out in Europe. He was captured and sent to prison camps three times during the war, was decorated with the Virtuti Militari Cross, Poland’s highest military honor; the Cross of Valor three times; the Polish Air Force Medal; Gold Cross of Merit; the Home Army Medal; and the September 1939 Campaign Medal. He was also decorated five times with various medals by the British Royal Air Force.

Domanski moved to Sandpoint in 1988 and immediately started a chess program with elementary school students that continues to this day. By the time he passed away in 2011 at 92 years old, he’d taught thousands of local schoolchildren the game of chess.

The one-day tournament uses the Swiss system and is coordinated by James Stripes. Players are encouraged to bring lunch and be ready to play all day.

There are three divisions: Elementary (entering grades 1-6) $7 entry fee; Middle/High School (entering grades 7-12) $10 entry fee; and Open (this division will combine youth and adults on tournament day) $12 entry fee.

For more information, or to register for the tournament, visit bit.ly/47ApUmK.