Educator to Discuss Chess for At-Risk Kids

ChessFest, a celebration held annually by
McDermott Library and the UT Dallas Chess Program, will feature a presentation by Beatriz Marinello, who will discuss “Chess and the Development
of Social Skills for At-Risk Children.”

Marinello will receive the “Chess
Educator of the Year” award, a national honor established
five years ago by the UT Dallas Chess Program. The event is free and open to the public at 7
p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 27, in the library’s McDermott Suite.

Marinello became National Women’s Champion of her native Chile when she was 16. She moved to
the U.S. in 1990.

She has a long list of credits establishing
scholastic chess programs in New York City and has
devoted many years to chess education for the U.S.
Chess Federation. In 2003 she became the first woman president of the
federation after serving as that organization’s National Scholastic Director.

Past recipients of the UT Dallas Educator award are Susan Polgar, 2004; Sunil
Weeramantry, 2005; Erik Anderson, 2006; and David MacEnulty, 2007.

The public is invited to a reception beginning
at 6:15 p.m. A light buffet will be provided. Participants planning to attend the reception are asked to
send an RSVP to Jim Stallings at james.stallings@utdallas.edu or call (972) 883-2898.

Other Chessfest events:

• UT Dallas team member Alejandro Ramirez will repeat last year’s feat of playing blindfolded. The grandmaster won last year against several
  challengers. The event will be in the library lobby from 11:30
  a.m.-12:15 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 28. The games will be projected onto a
  large screen for easy viewing.
• “Challenge the Champions”
  returns to the library lobby 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 28.
  Members of the UT Dallas chess team and chess club will play anyone wishing to challenge them. Team members
  often compete with as many as three to five challengers simultaneously.