Illinois Finishes Strong at 2014 US Open

GM Conrad Holt defeated IM Michale Mulyar in a blitz playoff game to claim the 2014 US Open Championship, topping a field of six players with 7.5 scores.

Only one player in the event was able to score against both Holt and Mulyar: Illinois' Dmitry Gurevich. GM Gurevich drew GM Holt in the seventh round and IM Mulyar in the fifth round, finishing with 7.0 points, in a 9-way tie for 7th (8th on tiebreaks).

Illinois also saw four players compile 6.5/9 scores, all finishing strong. David Peng, FM Sam Schmakel, Bill Brock and Duncan Shepherd all tied for 16th place out of 384 multi-round competitors. 

Gurevich, Peng, Brock and Sheperd all won their final matches while Schmakel took a draw in the ninth round.

Elchonon Daitchman scored 5.0, Shreya Mangalam 4.5, Leon Wilson 4.0, Marissa Li 3.5, and Kevin Taylor 2.5.

Even Illinois Delegate Tim Just took time out of his meeting schedule to play a rated game in the sixth round. This marked the third US Open in a row where Just was able to squeeze in a game.

The 115th US Open completed August 3 in Orlando, FL.