The 2023 Joe Yun Memorial Tournament
The 3rd Annual Joe Yun Memorial Tournament July 11th, 2023
From July 7-9, 2023, players from across the country celebrated a life fully devoted to the chess community in the most suitable fashion: a momentous classical chess tournament. At the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn, 111 players, including 9 masters, competed for over $10,000 in prizes. Long time control tournaments like this one provide players with a unique opportunity to play their most accurate games.
This annual tournament is coordinated in honor of National Tournament Director and member of the Progress with Chess family, Joe Yun. In addition to running events with a clean and consistent professionalism over the course of many years, Joe was instrumental in developing many current tournament directors, leaving behind a legacy which shaped the trajectory of our community. The USCF posthumously awarded Joe Yun 2021 Tournament Director of the Year.
“Joe was a great servant of chess, a National Tournament Director who was the Chief TD of hundreds of tournaments in Northeast Ohio and Columbus, including dozens of Ohio Championships. He was highly regarded nationally and was actively recruited by USCF and Continental Chess Association to work at their most important events. Joe was a long time board member of the Ohio Chess Association and was President of the Ohio Scholastic Chess Association. Joe was a great friend and mentor. His hard work, expertise, and dedication was instrumental in the growth of both Northeast Ohio chess and Progress with Chess and an inspiration to all of us. He will be sorely missed.
Joe gave of himself selflessly in many capacities, and never cared about getting attention for it.“
– Mike Joelson