One of the United States’ best chest players, Hikaru Nakamura, will play 50 members of the Detroit City Chess Club simultaneously at the Detroit Institute of Arts this month.
Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, the highest title in chess awarded by the World Chess Federation, is ranked number one in the Unites States by the U.S. Chess Federation, and number four in the world by the World Chess Federation. He became the youngest master in American history at age 10, and the youngest American grandmaster at age 15.
Detroit City Chess Club founder and coach Kevin Fite says the club, with members ranging from five to 18 years old, has won regional and state championships, as well as third place nationally. He says he founded the club in an effort “to teach children to think critically and make good judgments.”
Fite says Detroit City Chess Club members have competed in several simuls (matches) with renowned chess players, including international master and grandmaster Martha Fierro, grandmasters Ben Finegold, Maurice Ashley, and John Brooks, and Michigan master Atula Shetty, who was in ninth grade at the time of the match.
The Detroit City Chess Club will play Nakamura on Aug. 21 in the DIA’s Great Hall. The match is free with admission, and free for residents of Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties along with Detroit Institute of Arts members.
