Club News
Wallach wins Highland Park, Liang takes second
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- Written by Leo Vilker Leo Vilker
NM Ken Wallach, the perennial winner of Highland Park tournaments had no trouble in his games against his opponents in the last installment, which took place on April 24 at the Moose Lodge. There was one exception: when he sat across the board from Awonder Liang in the 3rd round. Ken and Awonder played to a draw the day before at Scott Silverman Memorial Tournament organized by Sevan Muradian. The 8 year-old from Wisconsin, who is ranked #1 nationally, fought bravely and wisely in this game as well, with the contest going down to the wire until he had only 6 minutes left to Wallach’s 1 minute in the G/45 event.
Downers Grove Club Tournament Draws Strong Field
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- Written by Daniel Parmet Daniel Parmet
Downers Grove Chess Club hosted its 7th tournament this past Saturday April 9th. 40 players turned out for the occasion including 6 masters! The winner was Indiana FIDE Master Dennis Monokroussos with a perfect 4-0 score (defeating FM Aleksandar Stamnov in the final round) to take home the first place prize of $275. 2nd and 3rd was a tie between IM Florin Felecan and FM Albert Chow who drew each other in the final round during an immense time scramble for 3.5-.5 – each took home $138.
The tournament’s turnout was so great that the prizes were increased from 3 book prizes to 10 book prizes! Two of the winners of the upset prizes came in round one, Hao Hansen (1497) defeated DGCC member Daniel Dugovic (1984) and Sritej Vontikommu (1434) took home a win over Wisconsin player Phil Shields (1929). While the third upset prize was taken down by Luo Chengliang (1951) for his victory against FIDE Master Aung Thant Zin (2322). Click here to read about some of the games in the ICA Chess Blog.
Simul with IM Florin Felecan
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On January 15, 10 brave souls came out to face International Master Florin Felecan in a simultaneous exhibition at the North Shore Chess Center. Gracious as he always is, Florin gave his opponents the option of what color they wanted to play with. Four of his six opponents braved further and took on the black pieces.
Our cast of players included: Cardiologist Dr. Hetal Gandhi and his son Om Gandhi, David Peng, Abe Sun, Kris Flaga, one of Chicago's Finest Dimitri Kosteris, the ever jubulent Vito Vitkauskas, Family Health Specialist Dr. Mark Coleman, the ever friendly Vlad Djordjevic, and one of Florin's old teammates from Evanston Township High School Matthew Pullin. In the background the parents of David Peng and Abe Sun relaxed and caught up on their work while their sons tumbled and rumbled with Florin.
Not the End of the World: Free Tournament Will Study Armageddon Format
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- Written by Larry Cohen Larry Cohen
I have always thought that the standard time controls used in most Armageddon play-offs was too fast and an inaccurate way to determine a winner. In general the 6/5 Armageddon time control (6 minutes for White, 5 minutes for Black with draw odds) usually resulted in a “Win” for the Black side about 80 percent of the time. I recall that Bill Goichberg experimented with 7/5 Armageddon time controls, but this usually resulted in a “Win” for the White side about 70 percent of the time. Any percentage that is greater than a 60 percent advantage for either color I would consider to be inaccurate or a failure in terms of a true determining tie breaker.
The South Suburban Chess Club of Greater Chicago
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- Written by Len Weber Len Weber
The South Suburban Chess Club (SSCC) was formed in 1994 on the efforts of Fred Gruenberg and others in the wake of the closing of the Orland Park Chess Club, which in turn was formed in 1983 after the closing of the Homewood Flossmoor Chess Club. The SSCC is permeated in south suburban chess history!
The SSCCs first home was a community center in Palos Heights, and this was followed by a move to a church in Alsip, and later to its current home at the Oak View Community Center at 110th & Kilpatrick, in Oak Lawn, where the club has met every Friday night from 7PM to 1030PM excepting holidays since 1999. During all these years the club has been guided by the dedicated leadership of Joe Bannon, who, though largely inactive now, continues to stop by from time to time to make sure everyone is playing chess and having a good time. There will be no slacking on Joe's watch!