ICA Tour
Freitag and Zekaj Top 5th Orwell Memorial
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With a GM draw, Experts Todd Freitag and Dritan Zekaj cemented their co-championships of the 5th Orwell Memorial Open.
The four-round event was held June 27 in DeKalb, representing the sixth stop on the 2015 Illinois Chess Tour. USCF Crosstables are posted here.
Entering the last round at 2.5, Junior Tom Bareket had a chance to join the top score group, but the junior dropped his last game to Expert Bradley Guan. Guan had lost to Freitag in the penultimate round.
Guan finished at 3.0 as did fellow Naperville North teammates Danny Emge and Mark Reed. Emge claimed top honors for those starting the tournament Under 1800 while Reed had the top score for Under 2000's (which had a slightly lower prize pool).
Texas IM Jeffery Xiong Wins 2015 Chicago Open; 14-Year Olds Rule in Multiple Sections
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With a ninth round defeat of Cuban GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista, IM Jeffery Xiong claimed the 24th Chicago Open championship. The victory was worth $10,300 to the 14-year old Texan who was undefeated with five wins and four draws for a total of 7.0/9 points.
In round eight, IM Xiong handed GM Boris Avrukh his first defeat in five events since moving to Illinois from Israel. Avrukh had compiled 19 wins and 13 draws before the loss, lauding his game against the eventual winner.
The 2015 Chicago Open, concluding May 25, attracted 826 players to the main event, an 18 percent larger field than in 2014.
At 6.5/9 there was an eight-way tie for second place with FM Eric Rosen nabbing the slightly-richer $2000 prize for top Under 2400 score in the Open. Seven others -- all Grandmasters -- each took home $1671.43.
Awonder Liang Wins '15 GPO, Jain Perfect in Reserve
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- Written by ICA Staff ICA Staff
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Iowan Youth Wan Wins 11th Tour Stop in Moline
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Defending K-6 National Champion Joseph Wan went 4-0 at the 2014 Quad Cities Classic claiming the first place trophy and over $100 in prize money. In doing so, he defeated both competing 2014 Illinois Tour participants, Aidan Carey in the first round and Jason Daniels in the third round.
Wan, currently the 30th-ranked 12 year-old in the country, recently moved to Iowa City, IA from Nebraska. His father, who teaches accounting at Western Illinois University, suggests we may be seeing more of Wan at Illinois events.
FM Zin Nabs '14 IL Class; Akintonde Wins Class A; Baumann Family Posts Three Perfect Scores
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
A fourth-round draw with FM Eric Rosen secured the 2014 Illinois Class championship for FM Aung Zin. The long-time Illinois registrant had won his three prior games at the event held November 23 in Lisle, IL.
For FIDE puproses, Zin is a Myanmar registrant, earning his FIDE Master title in 1995. He ranks in the top 20 of players from his native country. Zin was the co-runner up at the 2013 Illinois Class won by GM Nikola Mitkov.
Rosen had previously drawn GM Dmitry Gurevich, compiling a 3.0/4 result and tying with Gurevich as runners-up.
Tour Continues To Quad Cities Oct 25
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
The dust has barely settled from the Midwest Class but for 2014 Illinois Tour stalwarts, it's on to the Quad Cities for this year's penultimate tour event. This marks the first time this tournament has been included in the Tour lineup but marks the fifth year for the Quad-City Classic, to be held in Moline on Saturday, October 25.
According to Rick Rector, "The Illowa Chess Club, or as it is now called, the Illowa Bi-State Chess Club, has been around for decades in the Quad-Cities." Straddling the mighty Mississippi River, Rector explains the club serves both Illinois and Iowa. "Nowadays we meet in Moline but we have met on the Iowa side of the river, too."
The tournament announcement indicates that in addition to cash prizes that trophies will be awarded. The four-round Swiss will feature two sections, an Open and a Reserve designated for Under 1400's.