Bookmans was thrilled with the wonderful turnout for the 1st Annual All Queens Chess Day at Bookmans Speedway this past Sunday! This great event allowed kids and adults of all ages to experience the joy of chess and also hosted Tucson's first ever chess tournament just for women and girls. Over 20 girls and women showed up to compete in Sunday's tournament, including City Council Members Nina Trasoff and Karen Uhlich, who faced off in the first round of the tournament! In addition, Vice-Mayor Regina Romero and Tucson's First Lady, Beth Walkup, both were there to show their support for this great event. First, second and third place prizes were awarded for the top players in three different categories and each winner left with a special trophy or medal and a Bookmans gift certificate.

For those just learning the game, Bookmans sponsored a fun, interactive chess experience in the kids’ room! Anyone who wanted to learn was provided a "chess passport" and then traveled from station to station throughout the experience learning how each chess piece moves and functions on the board.  We had some truly wonderful chess instructors who made the game easy to understand, whether you were 5 or 50.  And to top things off, there were crowns to decorate for every king and queen and there was cake for everyone!

Bookmans has been proud to sponsor the 9 Queens' monthly chess academies for women and girls for the last year, and we are so excited that the academies have contributed to the astounding increase in female chess participation in Tucson.  We want to thank everyone who helped make Sunday's event such a success and we'd like to congratulate all the fabulous winners of this year's All Queens Chess Tournament!

Here are some great pictures from the event:

More pictures to come on our flickr site!