Fifth round play at the 49th GPO,
(L to R) Jon Winick, Ivan Wijetunge,
Pete Karagianis, Tom Friske

It'd been almost five years since Scott Schmidt had played a USCF-rated tournament. Under those circumstances, you can forgive the Class B player from drawing a Class D opponent in the first round of the Greater Peoria Open. With the rust dutifully scraped off, Schmidt prevailed in his four subsequent rounds to win the Reserve Section of the 49th GPO.

Master Pete Karagianis went undefeated in the Open Section to claim the $250 first prize at the April 20-21st event, played at the AmericInn of Peoria.

Texas-registered Ivan Wijetunge claimed the Class A competition and second place overall with a fifth-round victory over Thomas Friske, finishing with 4.0/5.

Nine-year old Jason Daniels defeated Chase Walbert in the final round to notch the Class B title with a 3.0/5 tally.

Chase, along with his brother Aaron, Carl Dolson and Jon Winick split third-place section honors with 2.0/5 scores.

In the 27-player Reserve Section, there was a five-way tie for second at 3.5/5, a full-point behind Schmidt's 4.5/5. 3rd grader Suraj Ramanathan and Ishaar Ganesan also tied for the Class D (and under) top spot, while Balaji Iyengar and someone who looks like this reporter tied for Class C honors. Class B Randy Crum shared in the mix following his fifth round loss to Schmidt.

Suraj had a remarkable tournament, going undefeated, winning two matches and drawing two Class B's and a Class C. In doing so, he bumped his USCF-rating 110 points! Ishaar wound up his tournament with a draw and a win against Class B opponents.

Steve Killian (left) records a deft move by his fourth-round opponent, Ishaar Ganesan. The two reached a draw by agreement.

In an event full of upsets,  top honors went to James Kelly with a 417-point first-round upset victory in the Reserve section. The host affiliate, Greater Peoria Chess Federation, awarded a $50 prize for this result. A similar prize went to Chase Walbert for his first round upset over a player rated 313-points better in the Open.

Complete crosstables can be viewed at the USCF site.

As the second stop on the 2013 Illinois Chess Tour, participation points are piling up for a select few. The next Tour event is the May 4 Normal Open, followed by the Chicago Open in Wheeling later in May.

Tournament Chief TD and house player extraordinaire, Wayne Zimmerle (left) faces ICA President Carl Dolson in the fourth round of Open Section play. After playing in the Reserve section of the Tim Just Winter Open, Carl played up in the Open Section of the 49th GPO. Wayne went 3-0 as a house player across both sections, crushing dreams but leaving the prize money for others.

Scott Schmidt (left) is congratulated by TD Wayne Zimmerle for his Reserve Section championship. Wayne later decided to supplement the handshake with some prize money. After finishing as runner up in the 2004 Illinois All Grade as a 9th Grader, Schmidt had played in only four rated events in the last eight and a half years. With his GPO success, let's hope Scott is back on the tournament circuit.