Culver City, CA—International Children Education Association (ICEA) hosted a free chess tournament at Wende Museum to promote and provide equal opportunity for children regardless of background on Sunday, June 28.
On June 28, ICEA, holding the belief and mission to provide opportunities and values to children, hosted a free chess tournament. In support of these ideals, the Wende Museum of Culver City provided the venue for the competition, encouraging a healthy environment of competition to help the growth of children. “The mission and goal match the model of our museum,” Michael, head of education at the Wende Museum, said.
The event began with an opening ceremony hosted by Felix Guo, founder of ICEA Chess. Guo expressed a strong sense of excitement for this event as he introduced the rules. After that, Ben Xin, founder of student-led story project 1001 Lives, introduced his book sale featuring different life stories, and he is willing to donate 100 percent of today’s profit to the International Children Education Association.
As the competition proceeded, people with different roles expressed a positive attitude. Ronan Volmen, one of the first-time competitive chess players who participated in the match, said that the great venue, staff, and competitors resulted in an overall mood that was very fun
From the ICEA, the staff showed a sense of enjoyment as they set up and guided the event. As a part of ICEA, they firmly hold the idea of providing equal opportunities and chances. Miana Guo, one of Tournament Director Assistants of ICEA, organized the venue for the competition with great honor. “ICEA helps all kinds of people to get insights,” Guo said.
Other than the player and speaker, volunteers also participated throughout the event. Many of them decided to volunteer because they are motivated by the mission and ideals behind the competition. Volunteer Austin Hong has been practicing lion dancing, a traditional Chinese performance, for 6 years, and he recently decided to engage more in volunteering for ICEA because “ I am inspired by this chance and what it means.”
The event concluded with award ceremonies for the most skillful individuals in this competition. The audience, amazed by their performance, applauded as they went above the stage to receive their award.
(The final tournament results and more pictures can be found here: https://iceachess.org/tournament-results-20260628)