The Eleventh Annual David Mote Memorial Open, held March 29, drew the highest turnout of any one-day event in Springfield since 2001.

The tournament is the second stop on the ICA's 2014 Illinois Chess Tour.

Forty chess players, including large contingents from the Peoria and Bloomington areas, came to play at Douglas United Methodist Church.

At the end of the day, there were a pair of perfect 4-0 scores: Pete Karagianis, of Bloomington; and Tian Lu Peng, of Springfield. 

Crosstables can be read here.

According to organizer David Long, turnout was large enough to increase the prize fund and award additional class prizes. Says Long, "The club extends its thanks to everyone who played."

There was a ten-way tie in Class A-B. Those players, each with a score of 3-1, were Brando Pawling, Andrew Fei, Shawn Rhoney, Scott Schmidt, Phil Jarrette, James Healy, Will Kerns, Evan Gresen, Daniel Wilson, and Brandon Williams.

In the Class C-D section, there was a five-way tie. With 2 points, these were Jimmie Cecil, Thomas Knoedler, James Risoli, Raymond Boske, and Senthil Shanmugam.

2 points was also enough for first in Class E and below. Two players tied, they were Nithin Sebastian and Pranav Venkatesh.

Finally, Jarek Millburg was the top unrated player, also with 2 points. 

(Despite what the system-generated byline says, the above article was created by David Long. All credit to David -- and the Springfield Chess Club for a wonderful event)