Zach Coffman Tops Najdorf Memorial Game/90 in DeKalb

 

Upsets abounded as nine players rated at least 200-points lower than their opponent managed to defeat (or draw) their foe.

The DeKalb Chess Club tried to offer a little bit of something for everybody April 16 as many of its regular tournament attendees were off in Indianapolis at Junior High Nationals. The Najdorf Memorial marked the 50th regular-rated event in the club's six year history.

Zack Coffman, one of the three Class A players in the field, managed to win all three of his rounds in the "Long Timers" section featuring Game/90 with 5-second delay.

Four players tied for second place with 2.0's including Brian Gong, Marcus Stinson, Kevin Boskey and Kevin Taylor. All but Stinson were also eligible for the top score Under 1800 prize, resulting in a four-way distribution of the combined prize pools. 

David Chen and Craig Boskey, both with 1.5/3, posted the top scores Under 1400. Both achieved draws against higher rated players in the process.

Kevin Boskey managed a 577-point giant killing while Alex Zhao posted a 344-point upset.  Megan Chen drew against an opponent officially rated 638 points higher, but one gets the sense that Megan's rating is still catching up with her abilities.

Many in the section enhanced their rating, but none more than Kevin who went up 143 points.

In the five-round "Short Timers" section, Parker McClane posted an opening round upset over an opponent rated 1160 points higher!

Sean Insley notched a 423-point upset while brother Austin garnered a win over an opponent rated 226-points to the good.

The "Short Timers" section featured Game/40 with a 5-second delay.

Ashwin Raje and Richard Zhang posted the highest "Short Timers" scores with 4.0/5 and split Overall First and Top Under 1600 prize funds.

At 3.5/5 Austin Insley had the top score among Under 1400 entrants. Nimrod Bareket posted the highest score among the three Under 1000 players.

The three Indian Creek High School teammates each enhanced their ratings significantly: Sean (+143), Austin (+97) and Parker (+169).

Teddy Storm bumped his rating 60 points to the cusp of Class D status (1200-1399).

In the six-round scholastic competition, Anshul Shetty managed to win five out of his six games to win the championship.

Rahul Rajeshkumar, with 4.0, had the top tally for players rated Under 625 which represents approximately the 60th percentile of scholastic players.

Aya Bareket had the top score for entrants rated Under 400 -- which represents approximately the 40th percentile for school-aged players.

Alexus Morrow played in her first US Chess-rated tournament ever -- after success in several non-rated events -- and she managed to win three of her six matches for the "Best Unrated Score" trophy.

Further information about the DeKalb Chess Club can be found at www.DeKalbChess.com.