Once a month, about 40 employees of Kemper Insurance in Long Grove get together after work to play chess. Some play only for fun; others are more competitive.
The more competitive players represent Kemper in tournaments of the Chicago Industrial Chess League, according to team captain Norm Hughes of Carpentersville. “Some just like the game,” he said. “They don’t want to play at the competition level.”
Kemper is the only company from Lake County with a team in the league, Hughes said, but he added that the north division to which Kemper belongs is very strong.
Because of that, Hughes said, his team has made it to the playoff rounds only twice. “We won the first round in 1979 but played to a draw in the second round and lost in a tie-breaker.”
Last year the team again made it to the playoffs but fell short.
But, Hughes said, teammate Mark Siwek of Park Ridge was named most valuable player, having remained undefeated during the regular season.
The Chicago Industrial Chess League includes 28 teams from the Chicago area. The last season, Motorola, headquartered in Schaumburg, won the league championship.
The league was formed in 1957, when Miroslav Mejzr of the First National Bank invited commercial teams to consider a league. Six teams joined the first year, and First National Bank won the championship.
The six best players from each corporate team play in competition with other teams in the league within their divisions, which are set up geographically. Matches are played at the company sites.
The two teams in each of the four divisions enter the playoffs, according to Jim Hodina of Amoco Oil in Chicago, this year’s league president.
Each team pays $65 in yearly dues. Kemper pays the cost for its players. At the end of the season, a league banquet is held at which trophies are awarded.
Hodina said that in addition to businesses, the league includes teams from government agencies, such as the Chicago Transit Authority, and college teams like Columbia College.
While Kemper may be one of the most remote teams in the league, Hughes said it is definitely not passive in league operations. “We’ve had a league president and a north division chairman, and we have been part of the board of directors,” he said. “Kemper has taken a leadership role in the league.”
Hughes, who has played 100 games in league competition since he joined in 1977, said he would like to see more companies in Lake County and throughout the Chicago area join the league. “I don’t think people know we are out there,” he said.
