Chess in the Library's Chess Library Growing

The title of this entry is quite a tongue twister eh?

Well, what it says is true, because not so long ago, the program was fortunate enough to receive another huge donation from David Filipovich and his family. The donation was made in honour of Ms.Vineeta (Bini) Kalia who passed away on October 16, 2009 in Toronto.

The donation consists of 274 chess materials including Informants, Chess Life magazines, Inside Chess magazines and many other chess book:

We got 4 full boxes of chess materials!!! (It was very very heavy...)

Group photo! The tallest is David and below are his 2 kids and me :)

The whole family is extremely into chess, and I was so glad to meet them in person! They are all very nice people and during my visit, I even got to taste some delicious cookies that David's wife baked! Almost all of the family plays chess, as you can see below:

Me vs. David's son

Me vs. David's daughter

David, is of course the main chess player of the family. He's a strong master and we've played once in the 2008 Hart House Open. After fighting for so long ( I believe the game lasted 5-6 hours), the game ended in a draw. At that time, David to me was like any other opponent I had. However, now, he and his family means a lot to me and the Chess in the Library program. His donation will most certainly be used for the great benefit of our program members. Perhaps some will be used as prizes and others will be kept in our own chess library, where members will be able read on-site or take it home for a week or two. This is one of the many things my team and I will be discussing about during the winter break.

On behalf of my team, as well as all the program participants, I want to thank David and his family for greatly supporting the program and contributing to the development of chess in Canada. Thank you!!!!!!!

An Encouragement

Recently, I received another big donation toward the Chess in the Library program from Gordon Ritchie, a huge supporter of chess in Canada. He sent me the check below:


Gordon wrote to me: "I would like to make a modest contribution to your program in recognition of the enormous contribution you are personally making." As you see, attached to the check is also a note that says "keep up the good work". This sticky note is currently attached to a box beside my computer where it is visible to me everyday. This donation will not only have an effect on the program, it will also give me a tremendous amount of strength to continue to build the Chess in the Library program bigger each and every day. This let me believe once again that there are people in Canada who are like me, wanting the chess community to become better. Without these supporters, I doubt this program will have it's place today. Thus, I represent my team as well as all the kids who will be enjoying the benefits of this donation, to thank Gordon for making such a generous contribution toward our program!

I will make sure to keep up the good work!! :D