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Christina O'Connor | The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech Chess Club president Derek O’Dell (left) and Chuck Ronco play a game of speed chess during the weekly chess club meeting in Johnston Student Center.

Hokie Memorial Open chess tournament

• When: Saturday and Sunday
• Where: Squires Student Center
• Registration: Saturday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. with a $20 entry fee.
• Competition: There will be categories for all levels of ability and trophies and cash prizes for winners.
• Lecture: Grandmaster Susan Polgar, the first woman to qualify for the men’s Chess World Championship and winner of four women’s world championships, will speak from 6 to 7 p.m. Saturday. Location to be determined.
• Auction: A silent auction on various items and gift certificates donated by local businesses will be held from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday.
• Donations: At least have of the entry fees and all proceeds from the silent auction will go to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. Donate by contacting Chuck Ronco at 540-295-9706 or at charitychess@vt.edu
• More information: Go to chess.org.vt.edu

BLACKSBURG -- It takes about six seconds of watching Chuck Ronco play speed chess before his personality becomes evident.

Frantically shifting pieces on the board and smacking the digital timer, Ronco is a bundle of nervous energy. In this particular game, the Virginia Tech senior and his opponent, Tech junior Derek O'Dell, have five minutes each to make their moves.

But the time crunch doesn't prevent Ronco from talking trash as if he's playing a game of pickup basketball.

"Get out of my world," he says after O'Dell moves the knight. "This is my world. You're just visiting."

O'Dell, who became famous as the first victim of the April 16 shootings to talk to the media, does very little talking at the chess board. Wearing a barely perceptible smile, Tech's chess club president calmly manipulates the pieces and focuses on the board.

Ronco's energy and O'Dell's thoughtfulness came together this summer to organize the Hokie Memorial Open chess tournament, which will take place at Tech this weekend. Ronco came up with the idea in May to hold a tournament to raise money for the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, formed to aid victims of April 16 and their families. The fund has raised more than $7 million so far.

He spent the summer and fall taking care of things such as getting the event sanctioned, finding a location to hold it, soliciting materials and donations, and spreading the word. When he'd run into obstacles, O'Dell was there to make a phone call or send an e-mail to the right person. Ronco refers to him as his "maven," a term used in sociology to describe someone who has a great deal of influence on others.

Ronco and Tech graduate student Becky Hoffner solicited donations over the past several months for a silent auction that will be part of the event. Several local businesses have donated items and gift certificates. Ronco said it was just his way of trying to do something to help, and others who have stepped up felt the same way.

"I guess I wasn't the only person who had a feeling of helplessness," Ronco said. "You know, just, 'What the hell just happened to us?' "

Ronco's been playing chess since he was 3, but he wasn't a member of the chess club last spring and didn't know O'Dell. But he knew O'Dell was president of the chess club, so he sent him an e-mail in early June about his idea.

O'Dell, inundated with media requests in the months after April 16, still hasn't caught up to all of his e-mail messages. But scanning through his in box, the subject line on the e-mail from Ronco caught his eye.

"Hokie Memorial Chess Open."

"It was sort of refreshing to hear about something more positive," O'Dell said. "You hear about so much money coming into the fund, this was a way to be part of that."

O'Dell's fame also brought a chess celebrity to town for the tournament. Susan Polgar, winner of four women's world championships, will give a lecture Saturday. The Hungarian-born Polgar is a chess pioneer. In April 1986, she became the first woman to qualify for the Men's World Chess Championship. She also was the first woman to earn the men's "grandmaster" designation, the highest title a chess player can attain. She now lives in Lubbock, Texas, where she teaches chess at Texas Tech University.

After the shootings, she learned that O'Dell was president of his chess club and immediately took an interest in him, seeking him out and giving money toward his education as well as donating to Tech's chess club.

Among the auction, the lecture and the tournament itself, Ronco said he's still trying to tie up loose ends with the event just days away. He's not sure what to expect because registration will be held Saturday morning. He's received about 30 e-mails from people who want to participate and hopes that the tournament will draw 100 players.

Even if the tournament doesn't raise a lot of money for the fund, Ronco said he hopes it will encourage other student groups to hold similar fundraisers.

"If I get 100 people, I'll have a big chunk of change to give the fund, and if I don't, then I don't," he said. "But we'll have made our point."