Ricky Roman Wins 2017 Lozano Late Summer Tournament; 86 Face-Off in Four Sections At CPL Pilsen Branch in Chicago

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Whitney Young high schooler Ricky Roman -- a product of the Knight Moves Chess Club -- returned to his roots August 12 at the Lozano Library in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. By virtue of his five-for-five performance, Mr. Roman claimed the championship of the 2017 Lozano Late Summer Classic, and the first place trophy.

A three-way tie for second place included Christopher Gora, Brendan O'Shaughnessy  and Master Raul Piseaux Aillon (who flagged in one match under the rigid Game/30; 5-second delay time control).

Secundino Vazquez scored 3.5 to claim the top high schooler award, with Lizzie Brahin and Sarat Sagram close behind with 3.0's. Second-grader Anshul Shetty also scored 3.0 -- but generated a slightly lower tiebreak -- otherwise he might have laid claim to some hardware. Keep it up, Anshul.

The five round event was not rated by US Chess, but included many players with extensive USCF experience.

Amid the three scholastic sections, Layla Rodriguez and Idden Tsai earned co-top honors for the Rooks section (Grades 6-8) with Layla nipping Idden for the higher tiebreak. 

In the 23-player Bishops section, Aya Bareket and Lily Meegoda both scored 4.5's, drawing head to head in the second round. Aya posted the slightly higher tiebreak to earn the first place trophy, giving Lily second place. Brennan Tsai nabbed thrid place with a 4.0/5 result.

24 players faced off in the Pawns section restricted to K-2's with Nandini Prakash posting the lone perfect 5.0 score. Hili Bareket and Risindu Withana Archchige both scored 4.0/s. Hili compiled the slightly higher tiebreak to earn second place, while Risindu earned third place hardware.

The event was organized on behalf of Hector Hernandez, the Lozano Branch Manager. Mr. Hernandez has been organizing chess events at the library for over a quarter of a century and hosts the Knight Moves Chess Club Thursdays at 6pm.  The club is free, as was this tournament.

Despite the free entry fee, 26 trophies were awarded in the four sections. For a paid tournament, a 20 percent trophy allocation is fantastic. For 30% of the entrants to receive trophies at a free event is a testimony to the hard work of Mr. Hernandez and generous Pilsen community support to the Chicago Public Library Foundation -- Lozano Programs Fund.

Participants were entertained between rounds by face painting and balloon artistry from the "King and Queen" of chess tournaments, Pawel and Monika Wisniowski. (Their daughter Natalie happens to be a Women's Candidate Master!).