Presents arrived early for a slew of Illinois chess players who were in Orlando earlier this month for the National All Grade tournament, in the form of big shiny trophies for some great performances. Leading the Illinois pack was Whitney Young freshman Sam Schmakel, whose superior tiebreaks in a 6-way tie for first in the ninth grade section earned him a second national championship title with 5.5/7 points. His first title was as a 2nd-grader back in 2003.
Also turning in stellar results were Burr Ridge fourth-grader Matthew Stevens and Lincolnshire fifth-grader Alex Bian, both of whom tied for second place at their grade levels with six points each.
Stevens, whose only loss came in the final round, earned the second place trophy on tiebreaks, and Bian earned the 7th place trophy on tiebreaks.
Chicago’s Whitney Young High School and Evanston High School both had notable team performances. Whitney got team awards for second place in 10th grade and fourth place in 12th grade; and Evanston won fourth place honors for 11th grade.
Below, Schmakel’s teacher, Illinois Grandmaster Dmitry Gurevich, reminisces about the first time Sam won a national championship, as a second-grader back in 2003. At the end of the story, you’ll find a complete list of all Illinois trophy winners.
GM Gurevich: I still vividly remember the 2003 tournament which was held in Rosemont, Illinois. Sam won clear first place out of more than 150 participants in his section. Sam's father Art strung a rope from their house chimney to the tree on the parkway. Luckily, Art is in the construction business, so he is used to walking on roofs. The Schmakels had signs that said "Congratulations Sam" and "Hooray, National Champion".
At that time I had been teaching Sam for less than a year, and was very impressed by his achievement. For a few months afterwards during our lessons, if Sam would ask a question which was simple enough for him to solve, I would respond "Who is a National Champion, you or me?". Sometimes I would give the same response if the question was, indeed, too difficult for me.
Back then gifted Chicago chess players often met at the University of Chicago Quadrangle club at seminars organized and sponsored by a law professor there.I remember once I asked a question and Sam was the first from the audience to raise his hand, so I invited him to the demo board to show the solution to the combination. To my astonishment he quickly snorkeled under the the table and promptly arrived at the board.
"What are you surprised about?" asked the law professor. "He simply found the fastest way."
“Well," I responded." I just didn't expect this move from the Champion of the Country.”
But my favorite moment came at the very end of the year, when Sam, his mother Eileen and myself went to participate in the North American Championship which is always held in Las Vegas. Before the first round we met for breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. Our waiter happened to be a friendly young guy, who came from South America. He liked Sam and made some funny comments about the 7-year-old. So I told him, "You probably think that Sam is just a little kid. But in fact he is.. a Champion of the United States!" And the waiter laughed like crazy! He thought that I said something hilarious!
Seven years have passed. And again Art Schmakel has put a sign celebrating Sam’s victory over the roof of their small house in Edgebrook, on the north side of Chicago.
They are:
Individual Winners: