A foursome of Illinois-registered Grandmasters tied for top honors at the 22nd Midwest Class Championships completed October 13th in Wheeling, IL. GMs Dmitry Gurevich, Yury Shulman, Nikola Mitkov and Mesgan Amanov each finished with 4.0/5 tallies. 

Over 200 players competed at the Westin North Shore which saw class championships claimed by entrants from Oklahoma, Iowa and Indiana in addition to the host state.

With tiebreaks, Gurevich earned an $85 bonus on top of the $800 (and change) earned by each of the four GMs.  He and Shulman drew head-to-head in the final round, while Mitkov and Amanov both needed fifth round victories to share in top honors.

Shulman and Mitkov were co-defending champions of the event, with Gurevich and Amanov finishing a half-point back in 2012.

WIM Enkhtuul Altanulzii won Under 2300 honors within the Masters section with a 3.0/5 result, earning just under $700. With 2.5/5 finishes, there was a seven-way tie for second among U2300 competitors.

In the Expert Section, Iowa's Robert Keating won $1200 with a 4.5/5 score. Keating took a fifth round draw with Greg Bungo to close out the event. Bungo participated in a three-way tie for second, along with Audrius Macenis and Anthony Parker, each banking just under $400.

In Class A competition, Oklahoma's Joshua Alexander achieved a perfect 5.0/5 score, earning $1200. Guy Kittilsen and 11 year-old Hanson Hao both scored exciting fifth round victories to tie for second with 4.0/5, each earning $470.80 in prize money. Douglas Middleton and 16 year-old Eli Goering tied for fourth with 3.5 scores, clearing $128.40.

2012 Illinois Chess Tour Scholastic Reserve winner Andrew Fei, aged 13, topped Class B, sweeping his four opponents after receiving a first round bye. Iowa's Pranav Krishnamurthy was a half-point back, earning just under $600 for second. Jon Winick and Jordan Gumiran both lost to Fei but were otherwise perfect, finishing with 4.0/5 worth just under $300. Niranjan Panneerselvam scored 3.5/5, finishing out of the money in fifth place.

With 4.5/5, Matthew Klosinski and Jonathan Lee tied for the Class C Championship, earning $770 payouts. Martin Stukan and Danial Wilson scored 4.0/5, collecting just under $300. Klosinski's only blemish was his draw with Stukan in the final round, while Lee's was due to a bye requested in the fourth round. Stukan also drew Theron Plaines in the first round. Wilson was defeated by Lee in the third round.

In Class D, Indiana's Kurt Bendoraitis posted a perfect 5.0/5 score cashing out with $856. Segun Kamara recovered from a first round draw to finish second with a 4.5/5 tally, earning $428. Michael Spoerl and Michigan-registered Torrance Henry scored 4.0/5 earning checks of $214.

Weisong Xu swept all five rounds in Class E competition, earning $428. Unrated Anthonie Lombard finished second with a 4.5/5. A three-way tie for third distributed $85.60 checks to Nathan Finkelshteyn, Sahil Conjeevaram and Aria Hoesley based on 4.0/5 scores.

Within the Class E section, Prithvi Velpuri earned top honors for U1000 competitors with a 3.5 tally, winning the plaque over Lewis Melton by tiebreaks.

Maret Thorpe bumped up her USCF rating 144 points in earning top honors among U800 players, finishing 2.5/5, edging out competitors from Kentucky and Michigan who finished a half-point back. 

Wisconsin's Luke Buck earned the U600 plaque with a 2.0 score on tiebreaks.

Gerald Springer claimed the top unrated plaque since Lombard participated in the overall prizes.

Among the Mixed Doubles Teams, Weisong and Annie Xu compiled a 8.5 score (both in Class E), sharing $513.60. Jeremy Margolin (Class C) and Aria Hoesley (Class E) combined for a 7.5 score, sharing $256.80 in second place. The Yury Shulman-Shreya Mangalam team was only a half-point back with 7.0/10, as was the duo of Dimitry Gurevich and Iris Yi-xian Zhou. 16 pairs competed in the mixed doubles.

The Midwest Class represents the ninth of ten events in the 2013 Illinois Chess Tour. The tour concludes with the Illinois Class Sunday, November 24.