News
Illinois GM Plays for US Championship
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- Written by Jeff Wiewel Jeff Wiewel
- Created: 27 April 2011 27 April 2011
GM Yury Shulman of Barrington, IL played in the US Closed Championship. The field was divided into two sections. The top two players in each section (including Yury) played semi-final matches, with Yury winning his match against GM Robert Hess. That put Yury into the finals versus Gata Kamsky. Kamsky won the championship with a score of 1.5 to .5 over the two final games. Last year ended with Yury never losing a game and Gata winning the match by drawing both play-off games at the regular time control, both games of the tie-breaker match at the quicker time control and then drawing the final Armageddon game (Gata bid a lower amount of time to get black and draw odds). Follow the coverage at http://saintlouischessclub.org/.
Scott Silverman Memorial Tournament
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- Created: 27 April 2011 27 April 2011
On Saturday, April 23 Sevan Muradian organised the Scott Silverman Memorial tournament at his club in Skokie. The format of the tournament was 4 rounds G60 with a 5 second delay. Sevan had the rule that 6 Master players could play invited by him and that everyone else who wanted to play had to be expert and below standard. So 6 Masters, some experts and everyone else competed over 4 rounds of chess. In total 46 players competed.
In the end Expert Sam Schmakel won the tournament with 4/4 which included wins over 2 of the Masters. Sam gained 31 rating points to move to 2149 and $250 for 1st place. IM Florin Felecan, FM Albert Chow, NM Jon Burgess and Expert Dmitri Sergatskov tied for 2nd place with 3.5/4. Games to follow later.
A great day was had by all with lots of interesting games. USCF Results http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201104239791Chess in Philly
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- Created: 21 April 2011 21 April 2011
Over the course of April 20th - 24th Philly hosted a large chess event. The Open section was 9 rounds over 5 days and the other sections are 7 rounds.
A few IL players played in the Open section. They included GM's Mitkov and Amanov. Also FM Andrew Karklins, NM William Aramil and Expert Bill Brock. Yes thats right, Bill has left the state to go play chess. I was shocked too! During the first round, Mitkov won, Amanov and Aramil drew (game included below), FM Karklins lost to IM Daniel Ludwig and Expert Bill Brock lost to fellow Expert Stuart Finney. The website for information and results is http://www.philadelphiaopen.net/.
Update NM William Aramil ends on 4.5/9, Expert Bill Brock ends also on 4.5/9 which included a last round win over a 2300 player. FM Andrew Karklins ends on 1.5/4.
USCF Results http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201104240211
FIDE Rating Results http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_report.phtml?event16=54627
Mike Zacate to Receive USCF Award
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- Written by Maret Thorpe Maret Thorpe
- Created: 18 April 2011 18 April 2011
The USCF executive board has selected Illinois native Mike Zacate to receive the USCF Outstanding Career Achievement award. Zacate has been active at all levels of Illinois chess since 1967. Thanks to his efforts, chess was added as an official sport in the Illinois State High School Association in 1974, and Zacate served as Chair of the IHSA Advisory Committee on Chess until 2010. He recently worked to help the Illinois Elementary School Association establish its first elementary chess championship.
Zacate has also been active in the Illinois Chess Association, serving as Illinois Chess Bulletin editor in the early 70s, and as ICA President. He was one of the first people to become a USCF National Tournament Director. He has served as a USCF delegate on several occasions and worked on the USCF Rules Committee on revisions to the USCF rulebook.
The award will be presented at the US Open Awards Banquet in Orlando, Florida.
Former local chess prodigy says chess skills helped him succeed in business
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- Created: 06 April 2011 06 April 2011
Former teenage chess prodigy IM Josh Manion was well known among Chicago area chess players during the height of his chess playing days in the early 1990s. While he rolled up his chessboard many years ago after enrolling as a student at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he considers the skills he honed over the board key to his successful entrepreneurial career. Manion, who grew up in Wisconsin, also found true love through chess. He is married to to former Illinois junior high chess champion Julie Oberweis, who he met a a chess tournament. Read my full story from the April 2011 Chess Life, courtesy of the United States Chess Federation.