Gordon Boomstra, Anthony Yang win at Rated Beginners' Open #13

Rated Beginners' Open #13 drew 22 players to UIC's Student Center East on December 9th. Gordon Boomstra won the Under 1200 Section, scoring a perfect 5-0 and increasing his provisional rating to 1374 after only 14 games. (In case you're wondering, eligibility for this event is always based on the current month's official US Chess ratings) Jared Slucter, Jack Glerum, and Matthew Chang tied for second with 3½.

 

In the Under 800 section, Anthony Dan Yang swept the field 5-0. Aya Bareket lost only to the winner and scored 3½.

Kirti Sanchana directed for Chicago Chess Center.

The section winners received a chess clock and their choice of chess book. All participants received their choice of chess book.

We were pushing Murray Chandler's How to Beat Your Dad at Chess. The most frequent comment from players claiming their prizes was (of course), "I don't need that book, I already know how to beat my dad!" For marketing purposes, the Oedipal title works (How to Beat Your Dad has probably supplanted Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess as the bestselling chess book in the USA). Players are often surprised to find out what's in the book, however: How to Beat Your Dad is actually a guide to using some of the most common checkmating patterns.

There's a lot more to tactics than knowing the basic checkmates, but we all have to start somewhere!

Here's a nice example from the final round of the U1200 section:

 Genil - Meharenna, Chicago 2017

White to play and mate

Bill Brock, Chicago Chess Center