Thirty Compete in DeKalb's Tarrasch Memorial

Amidst the backdrop of pithy phrases such as "In tournaments it is not enough to be a connoisseur of chess; one must also play well,” thirty chess stalwarts competed in the Siegbert Tarrasch Memorial, held February 23 in DeKalb.

Robert Loncarevic won the Open Section, Armel Peel claimed the Under 1500 Section, and Aaron Weber and Josh Sandine both went undefeated to split top honors in the Under 1200 section.

Robert defeated 11-year old Vincent Do in the third round to claim the $100 first prize money in the Open.  Robert was playing in his first DeKalb event while the up-and-coming Vincent has been a frequent competitor “in the cornfields”.  Both were Class A players heading into the event. With his 3.0 out of 3 performance, Robert re-entered Expert territory with a 2009 post-event rating.

Armel, who’d previously won the Rubinstein section of DeKalb’s Home for the Holidays event, defeated Mike Flynn in the third round to complete a perfect tournament.  Mike split second place section prize money with Douglas Jennings, both earning 2.0/3 scores.

Aaron was competing in his first USCF-rated event since helping to bring Illinois’ youngest USCF member into this world. Sadly, Max wasn’t quite ready to compete at this event, still struggling with mastery of opening theory.

Josh, coached by Indian Creek High School’s Dane Bell, participated in his first USCF event and went undefeated, splitting the section prize with Aaron.

DeKalb club members Aaron Bartelt and Cliff Adams, along with Aurora-Naperville club members Jason and Kelebrant Hays all went 2.0/3 in the 12-player section.

Chelsea Harper, Mohammad Askari, and Steven Do split the Under 1800 prize money in the Open Section with 2.0/3 scores.

Crosstables.  Astute observers will notice the sections were named after Best Oscar awards in honor of the movie event to be held the next day.

The Tarrasch Memorial was sandwiched between the anniversaries of the good doctor’s birth and death (b. 3/5/1862, d. 2/17/1934). He was perhaps the premier chess player at the turn of the twentieth century and authored numerous chess books with fantastic observations such as:

·          Mistrust is the most necessary characteristic of the chess player.

·         He who fears an isolated Queen's pawn should give up chess.

·         Before the endgame, the Gods have placed the middle game.

Such quotes were posted in the tournament room for contemplation between and during rounds.

The DeKalb Chess Club will next host the “Give Me Liberty!” Challenge on Saturday March 23, in honor of the anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous declaration on that day in 1775. The event should feature five rounds of dual-rated games. Details are posted in the ICA calendar, pre-registration discounts available through emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..