Illinois Chess Association

Bidding Re-Opened 2010 Illinois State Scholastic Chess Championships

Due to site and date issues with the bidder chosen in March, Illinois CoChess is re-opening the bidding for the 2010 Illinois State Scholastic Chess Championships. Organizer bids for the 2010 Illinois State Scholastic Chess Championships are due to Sandra Machaj at smachaj@sbcglobal.net by June 24, 2009.

Bid specs, instructions and deadlines available here: Illinois State Scholastic Chess Championship (K-8) bids for 2010

Maret Thorpe 15-Jun-2009

2009 Illinois Scholastic Chess Championship

Vincent Do

The 2nd and 3rd grade Warren Scholars with their awards at the state K8 championship tournament in Bloomington

More than 650 chess players from across the state met up at the Illinois State University student center in Bloomington the weekend of March 7-8 for the Illinois Scholastic K-8 championships. It was an exciting weekend of chess with many talented players.

Taking first place out of 100 players in the Lower Primary K-1 division was Vincent Do of Rockford. Vincent was the only player in the whole tournament to achieve a perfect score of 7-0.

In the Upper Primary 2-3 Division, the largest section with 218 players, Zhaozhi (George) Li (3rd Grader) and Jack Xiao (2nd Grader) tied for first with 6.5 points each, with George taking home the first place trophy on tiebreaks.

The Elementary 4-5 Division saw lots of upsets and wound up with a 6-way tie for first place: Allen Guo, Bryce McClanahan, Phillip Parker-Turner, Noah Weeks-Brittan, Gurveer Singh and Jason Kitson all finished with a score of 6/7. Allen took the first place trophy on tiebreaks.

And in the Jr. High 6-8 Division, Zachary Holecek, a 4th grader from Lincolnshire who was playing up, took clear first place with 6.5 points and gained 85 rating points in the process. Way to go, Zachary!

Crosstable

Andi Rosen 31-Mar-2009

Super Sunday in Chicagoland Chess—March 22, 2009

Chess fans were treated to five great events in the Chicagoland area this Sunday, March 22nd. They included the 19th NA FIDE Invitational, the MCA FIDE Futurity VII, the Dolphin Blitz Extravaganza, the Illinois Denker Qulaifier, and the Illinois Polgar Qualifier. What a memorable day for Chicago chess.

Participation and diversity make chess a richer experience for all of us.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

19th NA FIDE Invitational

Steven Tennant

Carl Boor

Sevan Muradian

Sevan Muradian, founder of North American Chess Association, conducted rounds 3 and 4 of the 19th NA FIDE Invitaional at Holiday Inn in Skokie. Sevan's tournament had a strong contingent of players headed by GM elect Mesgen Amanov.

13822947 (IL) 2353   AMANOV, MESGEN 
12559845 (IL) 2384   YOUNG, ANGELO 
12811348 (IL) 2358   PASALIC, MEHMED 
12717022 (IL) 2424   FELECAN, FLORIN 
12480475 (OH) 2292   BOOR, CARL B 
12909025 (IL) 2174   SHANKAR, GAURI 
11299083 (IL) 2257   CHOW, ALBERT C 
10341752 (IL) 2217   TENNANT, STEVEN 
12455466 (TN) 1925   HORTILLOSA, ANDRES D 
12596003 (IL) 1667   MURADIAN, SEVAN A

MCA FIDE Futurity VII

Rear L-R: Chris Baumgartner, David Nordahl, Alex Strunk, and Dimitri Kosteris
Front L-R: Larry Cohen and Angelo Young

On the north side of Chicago at Touch Move Chess Center, Chris Baumgartner of Midwest Chess Adventures, presided over rounds 4 and 5 of his MCA FIDE Futurity VII. This motivated group of players are striving to earn FIDE ratings. A hearty thanks to Chris for his organizing work.

12560532 (IL) 1818  BAUMGARTNER, CHRISTOPHER 
12422751 (IL) 1715  BRITT, JEFF 
12755672 (IL) 2089  BRASWELL, ISAAC M 
13000704 (IL) 1948  STRUNK, ALEX 
10341841 (IL) 2001  COHEN, LAWRENCE S 
12762240 (IL) 1646  KOSTERIS, DIMITRI 
20076809 (IL) 1959  NORDAHL, DAVID 
12841334 (IL) 1898  JONES, DANIEL 
12433402 (IL) 2055  INUMERABLE, FLORENTINO V 
12453866 (IL) 1690  FORRO, VIRGILIO

Dolphin Blitz Extravaganza


Paul Kash	Phillip Parker-Turner

Paul Kash organized and directed a 7SS G/5 Double Blitz. The tournament was held in the Gymnasium of Whitney Young High School, where Paul is the chess coach.

The tournament was contested by 36 players ranging in strength from FIDE Masters to beginners. Phillip Parker-Turner, a regular in state scholastic chess, is shown at the right. Blitz is a lot of fun for the players, and is great for the spectators as well.

Congratulations Paul on a great tournament!

Tom Sprandel as reported by Fyodor 25-Mar-2009

Magness wins Illinois Denker -- Bian wins Illinois Polgar

Front L-R: Gordon Ruan, Josh Dubin, Eric Rosen, James Pavese
Back L-R: Trevor Magness, Zach Kasiurak, Fedor Titov, Michael Auger

Trevor Magness won won the IL Denker Qualifier with 3.0/4.0. He tied with Eric Rosen but won on tie-break. Magness wins the right to represent Illinois in The 2009 Denker Tournament of High School Champions. Rosen is the alternate.

L-R: Penny Xu, Victoria Bian, Adele Padgette

Victoria Bian won clear first in the IL Polgar Qualifier scoring 3.0/4.0. She wins the right to represent Illinois in The 2009 GM Susan Polgar National Invitational Tournament for Girls. Penny Xu took second on tie-break and will serve as alternate. Adele Padgett took third on tie-break.

Crosstable

Fifty-eight Illinois players compete

On the weekend of March 13-15th, the 13th Annual Mid-America Open was held in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton, Missouri. Two hundred ten chess players came from as far away as Texas, New York and British Columbia. They competed for nearly $20,000 in prize money. No less than fifty-eight were from Illinois. NTD Wayne Clark served as Assistant Tournament Director.

Notable results by Illinois players

In the Open section GM Dimitry Gurevich finished in a tie for 2nd with 4 points. FM Aleksandar Stamnov, FM Andrew Karklins, and FM Doug Eckert all finished with 3.5 points and tied with five others. Larry Cohen, veteran player and former ICA President, upset Charles Lawton, a 2358 master.

Paul Mechem won the "A" section with 4.5 points. He was followed by Rene Ancheta of Touch Move Chess Club who had 4 points and tied with three others for second place.

Mike Mei won the "B" section with 4.5 points. Adam Schuld with 3.5 tied for fourth in the "C" section. Also, an aknowledgement goes to GB Potratz, U1400 section, for another demonstration of how to lose a totally won position.

Well done fellows!

Crosstable

Players, we need games and pictures for the ICB and the website. Please submit them to president@il-chess.org

By Tom Sprandel as reported by Fyodor 19-Mar-2009

Upcoming Tournaments

Check out the Events Calendar for these and other tournament.
Attention Tournament Organizers: Please send all tournament listings to the Events Editor at events@il-chess.org