Peoria is a city rich in chess history and tradition, with active clubs operating continuously since the 1930s. Peoria hosted the 46th U.S. Open in July, 1945 at the Pere Marquette Hotel, which still stands in the heart of Peoria’s downtown district.

Murrel Rhodes was a Bradley University undergrad when he organized the first Greater Peoria Open in 1965. Master Ross Sprague won that inaugural event.  Over the succeeding years, the Greater Peoria Open victor has included many masters, a few Senior Masters, and the U.S. Women’s Champion.

The 50th annual event took place April 26 and 27 at the Grand Hotel in Peoria, with Murrel again organizing a “beefed up” event, both in terms of guaranteed prize money offered and the number of master-level players committing to play. Crosstables available here.

Masters Eric Rosen, Tansel Turgut, Michael Auger, Pete Karagianis, Steve Tennant, and Mariano Acosta led the field of 66 players in two sections in the five-round contest. But only two would finish at 4.5/5, tying for the championship.

Going into the final round, Rosen led with a perfect 4.0 score, but managed only a draw with Dr. Turgut to finish 4.5. Having previously drawn his Bloomington-area counterpart Scott Schmidt in the second round, Karagianis needed a full point in the final round, which he earned from his match with Auger.

Turgut, Akshay Indusekar, and Bill Brock shared third place overall with 4.0 points.

Open class prize winners were:

Class A – Suhas Kodali 3.5, Andrew Fei & Scott Schmidt 3.0

Class B – Vince Springer 3.5, James Healy 3.0

Class C – Anthony Gasunas 2.5, and an 8-way tie for 2^nd in class with 2.0 among Vish Chandrasekar, Randy Crum, Varun Malladi, Adam Bareket, Arnold Ogerio, Patrick Li, Victor Kalil and Carl Dolson.

The Reserve (U1400) section was won by James Kelly of Peoria with 4.5 points. Narayan Karra, James Risoli, and Gustav Jennetten tied for second with 4.0 points.

Reserve class prize winners were:

Class E – Pierce McDade & Raghav Mukundan 3.0

Under 1000 – Paul Peterson 3.0

Play featured several exciting Houdini-like escapes. Perhaps the most exciting was Michael Auger’s escape from Suhas Kodali. Michael’s attack fizzled out leaving him with a Queen against Bishop, Knight and two Rooks on an open board with both players short on time. In the ensuing time scramble he managed to pick off a pair of pieces before Kodali flagged.

Master Len Weber was on site to help players analyze their games. Len’s efforts were very well received by the players, especially the younger ones.

A unique feature of the tournament was the video projection of the top 2 boards on the wall, which was donated by professional videographer Rand Kuhlman of Kuhlman & Company. All the players seemed to appreciate the display which allowed everyone to watch the progress of the top board from anywhere in the playing room.

The Greater Peoria Chess Foundation provided sets, boards, and clocks, and guaranteed the prize fund. The tournament was directed by Patrick Cohen.