Chicago Open this year is being held on July 25th, and there will be peripheral events going on all weekend. For those of you who don't know, the Chicago Open is the premiere open tournament of the year, and is probably the hub of the quizbowl circuit. It is an annual event run by the University of Chicago that features some really hard questions, and lots of amazing players as well as people who aren't great yet but are motivated to improve, and is something I wholeheartedly think everyone here could get a lot of benefit from. In addition to the main event on Saturday, there is going to be a trash tournament on Sunday and some singles/doubles tournaments in specific subjects such as literature and history. Because it is an open, you can make teams with anyone you want, so there is no MSHSAA rule prohibiting attendance. The only rule is that your team would need to write one packet for the tournament.
I would really love to organize a group of people from Missouri to attend this en masse, because it is a truly fantastic experience. There's no reason to be afraid about not doing well, because as long as you look at it the way I did, which is an opportunity to see what you can aspire to and learn a whole lot of new stuff, then it is a great experience, not to mention you get to meet all of the really cool people from the college circuit. I can directly attribute a lot of my motivation to improve between my junior and senior year to going to this tournament and getting blown away, and would love to see how other players react to it. If you are someone who thinks you want to keep playing in college, or who wants to improve a lot before you graduate high school, this really is the place for you because it is a whole lot of fun and is unlike any other tournament you've probably ever been to. Also, it is a nice thing to plan a trip to Chicago around. If you think this sounds like something you would like to go to, please email me so we can figure out things like who's on what team and travel. My address is charlie16@gmail.com.

Yes.

I would like to play. Do you have a full team charles?

Charlie & Kent are already taken, but I'm also tentatively interested and I think I'll have at least one opening. Brian, I'll get back to you in about a week to see if we could accomodate you...

Oh yeah, I'm probably going to this as well.

Yeah, I'm on a team with Carsten Gehring, Mike Cheyne, and Frank Firke ... should be fun.

Just to bump this, the team unofficially named Legends of Missouri Quizbowl, Take 2 (Matt Chadbourne, Charles Hang, Paul Nelson) is tentatively looking for a fourth player, due to Jeff likely having to work. Contact one of us if you're interested in joining us for what is sure to he a lot of fun.

Matt, I am very interested in joining this team, even though I'm not a legend of Missouri quiz bowl.

That's alright--I'm hardly a legend of Missouri Quiz Bowl.

Awesome. I'll get in touch with you.

Our team is now looking for one more person, if anyone is interested.

Bump. Teammates are still needed.

It's sad, I'm going to be right near there, but I'm not free to participate in the tournament. I might be able to stop by for a little bit to watch, though, if that's allowed.

It is allowed. There will be numerous super-teams on display, so it will be well worth your time.

This happened.
I had a lot of fun.
Everyone should look over the set when it gets posted.
Thanks again to Jason for driving Charlie and I.
Saturday was just a day full of good quizbowl and I'm glad that I went, despite the mental fatigue it induced.

I think it's worthwhile to point out that noted high schooler Tommy Casalaspi was the seventh-leading scorer for this tournament, and he was hardly the only pre-collegian that played well.