STEVE SZPISJAK FIFTH AT 40 PLAYER 2021 IRWIN NATIONAL TOURNAMENT OF SENIOR STATE CHAMPIONS

Master Steve Szpisjak [pronounced SPEE-zak] (2234) represented Illinois in the July 31 – August 3 Irwin National Tournament of Senior State Champions in Cherry Hill, NJ.  He scored 4-2 along with six others (including GM John Fedorowicz) to finish equal fourth through tenth in the 40 player field, taking fifth place on tiebreaks.  Szpisjak won four games, losing only to International Masters Douglas Root (2556) and Igor Khmelnitsky (2488), the tournament’s top seeds who ended up second and first at 5.5 and 5.0, respectively. 

Szpisjak, a Master since 1989, earned his spot in the Irwin event by winning the Illinois Senior Open in May.  He is a four time state Senior champion, having previously taken the title outright in 2018 and tied for first in 2017 and 2020.

A long time Illinois chess stalwart, Spzisjak joined the Gompers Park Chess Club in 1978 at age 11.  He participated in his first U.S. Open the following year.  While at Marmion Military Academy Szpisjak won three Illinois High School Class A Championships (1982, 1983, and 1984.)  He was part of a five way tie for the Illinois Open championship in 1993.  Szpisjak taught chess at various schools as part of the Warren Junior Scholar Program from 1994 to 2000, including a three year stint at Evanston Township High School during which that school won two state titles.  Since 2000 he has been a math tutor and chess coach at Glenbrook South High School.