The Queen City Classic Plays for Progress in Cincinnati

The Cris Collinsworth ProScan Fund hosted the 21st Annual Queen City Classic Chess Tournament on Saturday, March 13, 2022. The youth chess tournament began over 20 years ago at the newly constructed Paul Brown stadium. Since then, the tournament has grown to include over 600 competitors each year. After the enormous success of the Queen City Classic, the Chess in Schools program was born in 2013 as a way to grow the grassroots excitement for chess and to provide children with many developmental benefits from learning the game.

Due to Covid concerns, the tournament has been held virtually for the last two years through their partners at chesskid. com. The online tournament saw hundreds of kids participate and garnered sponsorship from the city’s top companies and benefactors. Cris Collinsworth opened the event and three world-renowned International Chess Grandmasters Maurice Ashley, Gregory Kaidanov, and Irina Krush presided and provided commentary via Livestream throughout the day, with a special appearance from child chess phenom Tani Adewumi. New York Chess Guru and founder of Chess Across Borders, Jerald Times, was awarded the annual Shining Knight award. The grand winner of this year’s Queen City Classic was 5th grader Sri V Bandalapati!

Proceeds from the Queen City Classic go to supporting the CCPF Chess in Schools program, now active in 50 area schools serving over 1,800 kids a year. The program provides students with the opportunity to learn critical and strategic thinking skills, cause and effect planning, patience, and good sportsmanship. CCPF’s goal is to help kids develop essential life skills that will help them succeed in academics and beyond as they become productive adults.

For more information and to donate visit ccpf.org.