The leaders of each of the three performance prize divisions of the 2014 Illinois Chess Tour have established daunting leads, chiefly by playing in six of the eight completed Tour events.

With just four events remaining, beginning with the Illinois Open over the upcoming holiday weekend, players pursuing the leaders will need to excel in multiple events down the stretch to pressure the frontrunners. But just beneath the leaders in the standings, the fight for prizes in positions 2-5 is extremely tight.

Both Pete Karagianis and Andrew Fei missed the Tour opener, the Tim Just Winter Open, but haven’t missed a beat since, playing in six of the next seven events, both downstate and in the Chicago metro area.

FM Karagianis, in the Open section, holds the biggest lead - a commanding 11.0 points. Pete is looking to nail down the title of Tour champion after finishing second to GM Nikola Mitkov in 2013.

Behind Pete, Bill Brock has a two point cushion with 18.0 points earned in four events. Bill has chosen to eschew the four points he earned in the U2100 section of the Chicago Open in order to compete for an Open prize.

2012 Tour champion FM Sam Schmakel, FM Tansel Turgut and Michael Auger round out the top five, with Akshay Indusekar nipping at their heels, just half a point behind.

Fei’s lead in the Reserve – Scholastic section stands at 9.0 over new ICA member and Tour player Aidan Carey. Carey was one of a group of four scholastic players who joined ICA at this year’s Orwell Memorial, and all four are in contention for the top five slots. To get there, they’ll need to pass those players holding down the third-fifth slots in the standings; Paul Peterson, Max Zinski and Aydin Turgut.

The Reserve – Adult standings are currently the tightest, with Rudy Padilla holding a 4.5 point lead over Slawomir Borkowski. Padilla is a veteran player whose career stretches back to earlier incarnations of the Tour. Greg Bungo and Danial Wilson are just a point behind Borkowski, while Ken Marshall holds down the coveted 5th spot. But there are six players within two points of Marshall applying pressure down the stretch.

Karagianis, Fei and Padilla have all earned the first two levels of participation prizes, which include a $25.00 entry fee reimbursement to the Illinois Open or Illinois Class. A large number of players hope to join Bill Brock in earning the popular Julius Meinl cocoa prize for five tournaments played.

With four tournaments remaining, significant changes in the standings remain possible. After the Illinois Open, October will see the Midwest Class and the Quad Cities Chess Classic, with the Tour concluding in November with the ICA-organized Illinois Class.

Please report any questions or concerns about the Tour to Mike Cardinale at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Complete Tour standings and more information about the Tour can be found elsewhere on this site.