Peruvian Wins Chicago Latino Chess Championship XXIII

The 23rd annual edition of the Chicago Latino Championship saw two South American players competing in it for the first time: Hugo Padilla and Gustavo Berenstein. The non-rated event was hosted November 28 at the Rudy Lozano Branch of the Chicago Public Library in the Pilsen neighborhood.

The event included two sections, one Open (Section I) and one for players aged 14 and younger (Section II). An article regarding Section II was posted previously on the ICA site. 

Peruvian Master Hugo Padilla won the Open competition with a perfect 5-0 score.

Mr. Padilla, rated 2269 by USCF, is ranked 24th out of 2,865 active players in Illinois. [Editor's Note: By FIDE, Padilla is ranked 55th among active players in Peru. After a 7-year absence from US-rated play, he tied for 11th place in the 2015 Chicago Open's U2300 section.]

His Chicago Latino Championship included wins over National Master David Rubin, Expert Glenn Panner and Class A-player Tom Bareket.

Three players tied for 2nd through 4th place with 4-1 scores: Bennett Joseph -- last year’s winner, Dimitri Kosteris and Malik Brewley. Bennett’s only loss occurred when he faced Tom Bareket.

Gustavo Berenstein, from Buenos Aires, took home the 5th place trophy. Gustavo’s only loss came at the hands of Mark Jungo.

On tiebreaks, Bareket brothers Tom and Adam ended up at the top of a large 3-2 group. They walked away with 6th and 7th place trophies.

Mark Jungo, a senior at John Hancock High School, took 8th place. Abdel Raoul, Mt. Carmel’s top player, nabbed 9th place. David Rubin, a National Master who has not played in a regularly-rated USCF tournament in 22 years, earned the 10th place prize.

The other 3-2 players were Ken Marshall, C. Wiley, Raúl García and Glenn Panner.

Distinguished participants included: Pablo Alvarez, chess coach for Highland Park High School; Abdallah Clark, chess coach for the Royal Guards Chess Club at North Pulaski Branch of the Chicago Public Library; Raúl García, a retired CPS Assistant Principal; and former Illinois Chess Association secretary Ken Marshall. Ken ran the Master Challenge tournament for many years. As ICA secretary he would send copies of the Illinois Chess Bulletin to public libraries in Illinois free of charge.

Marshall and García tied for 6th place along with seven others.

A total of 34 players did battle in the top division. While the number of players was lower than most of our previous championships, the quality of play was higher. This group had two each: Masters, Experts, Class A and B players. Seventeen juniors participated.

This event drew players from the following high schools: Amundsen, Mt. Carmel, John Hancock, Highland Park, St. Ignatius, Marshall, West Leyden and Whitney Young.

Keith Amman served as Tournament Director.

Section I final standings:

1. H. Padilla (5.0)

2. B. Joseph (4.0, M11.5, S13.5, C12)

3. D. Kosteris (4.0, M11.5, S13.5, C10)

4. M. Brewley (4.0, M11)

5. G. Berenstein (3.5)

6. T. Bareket (3.0, M17)

7. A. Bareket (3.0, M14)

8. M. Jungo (3.0, M13.5)

9. A. Raoul (3.0, M11.5, S13.5)

10. D. Rubin (3.0, M11.5, S13)

Honorable Mentions:

K. Marshall (3.0, M10.5) , C. Wiley (3.0, M10), R. García (3.0, M9), G. Panner (3.0, M8.5)