Faraday's Hobbs Grabs K-8 Under 750 Crown in Nashville

SuperNationals V: Part 3

Kiana Hobbs held a modest 429 USCF provisional rating heading into SuperNationals V completed April 7 in Nashville.

The Michael Faraday (of Chicago) 8th grader had played in only one-rated tournament, a Rated Beginners event in Wisconsin the year before, losing three matches and winning one game.

But today Kiana is a National Champion, having won all seven of her matches in her 329-player SuperNationals section, achieving the only perfect score in the bunch.

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Illinois Players Score at SuperNationals V

Matthew Stevens (L), Tej Rai, and Ricky Wang (R) collect their hardware in the Elementary division at SuperNationals V in Nashville, TN.

With 5341 competitors battling it out at the boards, Illinois players took home two of the seven individual championships conferred at SuperNationals V.

Aydin Turgut and David Peng are no strangers to tournament winner circles but they can now add "National Champion" to their chess resumes.

The quadrennial SuperNationals were held in Nashville, TN, April 5-7, 2013 with a strong Illinois presence in 20 sections.

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Illinois Class Championships

Players at Illinois Class Championships

Emerging from a five-way tie at the end of round 3 with the only win in the score group, Sam Schmakel of Chicago not only claimed a clear victory in the Master/Expert section of the 2012 Illinois Class Championships in River Forest Nov. 17 and 18 but also leapfrogged his rivals to take first place in the Open division of the Illinois Chess Tour.

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En Passant: NM Jon L. Burgess

NM Jon BurgessNM Jon Burgess, a frequent player in many Chicago-area tournaments, died on Sunday, August 12. He was 35 years old. Jon's good company and straightforward game analysis will be missed by his over-the-board opponents and those who knew him in the Illinois chess community.

He is survived by his wife Colleen Plummer Burgess, their son Robert, his parents George and Dilys Burgess, his mother-in-law Elaine Plummer, his brother- and sister-in-law Eric and Melissa Plummer and their daughter Sophia.

Visitation for Jon Burgess will be held on Monday, August 20 from 3-8 pm. at Matz Funeral Home, 410 East Rand Road, Mount Prospect. In lieu of flowers, memorials to your favorite charity are appreciated. The obituary will be listed in the Sunday tribune.

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Chess X-Men Win USAT-North

Chess X-Men: Tenzing Shaw, Pablo Diaz, Dmitri Sergatskov, Fred Scott Allsbrook and NM Mariano Acosta.The US Amateur Team (USAT) is a set of four very popular USCF national team events held around the country on President's Day weekend, February 17-19. This year's edition of the USAT-North returned to Northbrook, Illinois for the second year in a row. It drew 38 teams and a very strong field of 171 players, 48 of whom were rated 2000 or higher. Players came from home states of Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Michigan and Washington.

The clear winners with a perfect 5.0 score were Illinois' own Chess X-Men, which included NM Mariano Acosta, Tenzing Shaw, Fred Scott Allsbrook, Pablo Diaz and Dmitri Sergatskov.

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