ICA Tour
2012 Tour Winners Set To Begin New Season
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A final congratulations to our fifteen 2012 Illinois Chess Tour performance prize winners! In the Open section, NM Sam Schmakel took first place with 25.5 points, securing the victory with a score of 4.5 in the year’s final event, the Illinois Class. Sam was followed, in positions 2-5, by GMs Nikola Mitkov and Dmitry Gurevich, NM Jonathan Kogen and FM Albert Chow.
2013 Tour Begins in Oakbrook
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
A new year brings football bowl games, renewed resolutions and, most importantly, a new Illinois Chess Tour! The 2013 tour kicks off this weekend with the five-round, two-day Tim Just Winter Open. This marks the 29th continuous year for the event and organizers report a record pre-registration count already!
Tour Enters the Homestretch
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This Illinois Chess Tour enters the homestretch this weekend with the eighth of nine Tour events, the 21st Annual Midwest Class Championships in
A group of six scholastic players are chasing Andrew with point totals in the 17-20 range: Akshay Indusekar, Maximilian Zinski, Ethan Brown, Aakash Meduri, David Tianjian Peng and Jason Daniels. Of these, Ethan leads in average score, netting 4.75 per event.
In the Reserve – Adult section, Jim Froehlich leads with 23.5 points, followed by Joe Delay (20.0), Michael Penway (18.5), Gregory Bungo (16.0) and Charles Craigmile (15.5).
Games from Tim Just Winter Open
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- Written by Maret Thorpe Maret Thorpe
Just in from FM Albert Chow: Games from the Tim Just Winter Open. We will be publishing the games four at a time over the next few days in ICA's Chess Blog.
- Hart, Vince (2020) - Schmakel, Sam (2249)
- Schmakel, Sam (2249) - Applebaum, Andy (2120)
- Zhang, Jiahua (1830) - Kogan, Jonathan (2151)
- Kogan, Jonathan (2151) - Peng, David (1901)
- Menon, Gopal (2231) - Connelly, Patrice (1617)
- Moskwa, Robert (1965) - Velikanov, Alexander (2221)
- Connelly, Patrice (1617) - Marovitch, Mark (2000)
- Kogen, Jonathan (2151) - Chow, Albert (2229)
- Velikanov, Alexander (2221) - Shaw, Tenzing (2205)
- Schmakel, Sam (2249) - Rajendra, Avinash (1959)
- Arond, Dean (1742) - Hart, Vince (2020)
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Tour Launches This Weekend with TJWO
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The 2012 Illinois Chess Tour begins this weekend with the traditional opener to the Illinois chess calendar, the Tim Just Winter Open. This year's event, labeled XXVIII, maintains a two-section format, with an Open section and Reserve section restricted to players rated 1799 and below. Billed as "Chicagoland's longest continuously run chess tournament organized by the same organizer", the TJWO returns to the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Brook, and once again includes a scholastic side event; a book dealer; and sets, boards and clocks provided by the North American Chess Association.
The Tour is pleased to announce that FM Albert Chow has joined the staff as its Games Editor. Chow is a many-time winner of the Illinois Chess Tour, last capturing the crown in 1997, and has a long resume of covering chess, including lengthy stints for the Chicago Sun-Times and Illinois Chess Bulletin. In addition to providing reporting coverage and game annotations of Tour events throughout the year, Albert will be playing in the TJWO, and must be considered among the favorites. Also pre-registered as of 1/4 is NM Sam Schmakel, a two-time scholastic national champion; standout member of the reigning Illinois State High School champions of Whitney Young; and integral member of the Chicago Blaze of the USCL.
Join the the revived Tour and follow the Tour on Twitter @ILChessTour!
Tour Rules
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Illinois Chess Tour – Rules
Purpose
The purpose of the Illinois Chess Tour is to provide a fun and engaging benefit to members of the Illinois Chess Association. The ICA Tour is intended as a “tour” of Illinois chess. This tour does require that the participants be able to travel, either by themselves or with others.
Goals include: increased participation in upstate and downstate Illinois chess tournaments; increased travel to Illinois tournaments, in order to build a stronger social network of players bringing a greater diversity of opposition in over-the-board play; and increased ICA membership.
Structure
The Board of the Illinois Chess Association shall appoint a Tour commissioner (Emily Dawson & Patrick Cohen) to a two-year term. The Tour commissioner shall appoint assistants as necessary, including, but not limited to, a statistician and a marketing director. All Tour positions will be volunteer positions without compensation.
Amendments to these rules, as well as the yearly approval of the Tour schedule, Tour awards, and Tour budget, as outlined below, will be made by majority vote of the ICA Board. The commissioner shall make recommendations to the Board on an annual basis, but shall not have the authority to amend rules, or set the schedule, awards, or budget, without Board approval.
Event Selection
To be considered for inclusion as a Tour event, a tournament must be open to all USCF members, without any minimum or maximum rating requirement. Events must have a minimum of four rounds and be played at a time control of Game/60 or slower. New events will not be eligible during their first year.
In choosing Tour events, preference will be given to prestigious, long-running, weekend events. Events should be spaced a minimum of two weeks apart, with a wide geographic distribution.
The Commissioner will recommend a schedule to the ICA Board for ratification by majority vote.
12 Events (6 Northern & 6 Downstate)
- Tim Just Winter Open, Jan. 5-6
- Bradley Winter Open, GPCF/Bradley University Feb 3 $1160 purse
- Springfield March into Spring March, Springfield Chess Club
- Greater Peoria Open, GPCF, April 6-7, $1870 purse
- Chicago Open, Continental Chess Association, May 23-27, 100,000 purse
- Springfield Mid-Year Open, Springfield Chess Club, July 1
- Chicago Class, Continental Chess Association, July 19-21
- Bradley Summer Open, GPCF/Bradley University, End of August, $1160 purse
- Illinois Open, Aug. 31- Sept. 2, ICA
- Springfield Harvest Time, Springfield Chess Club, Nov 1
- Midwest Class, Continental Chess Association, Oct. 11-13 $20,000 purse
- Illinois Class, ICA, Nov. 17
Scoring
The Tour will award both performance and participation points on the basis of a simple scoring system.
Performance points will be awarded per tour event on the basis of the tournament score earned (1 point for a win, ½ point for a draw, with byes included).
Participation points will be based simply on the number of tournaments played. One bonus point will be given per tournament on the tour schedule. To earn the participation bonus, at least one-half of the scheduled rounds must be played (byes not included).
Tiebreakers -
The first tiebreaker for performance awards will be the number of tournaments played.
The second tiebreaker will be total number of wins.
The third tiebreaker will be the biggest upset at a Tour event as measured by rating difference at the time of the match.
Membership Requirement
Tour events require USCF membership. The Tour events themselves may not require ICA membership but to qualify for either performance or participation awards, individuals must be a member at the time of the Tour event or become ICA member within 6 weeks of the Tour event inorder to retain the earned points and maintain membership throughout the balance of the Tour.
Prizes
A list of awards will be presented by the Commissioner to the ICA Board for ratification by majority vote on a yearly basis. In determining the quantity and value of awards, performance and participation will be weighted approximately equally.
When possible, prizes will be awarded in January 2025 or sooner.
2024 Prizes
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Open: Awarded to players with the most Tour points accumulated in open or top-level sections, including the U2300 section at the Chicago Open.
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$500.00 1st
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$450 2nd
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$400 3rd
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$350 4th
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$300 5th
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Reserve – Adult: Awarded to players 19 years of age or older as of the final Tour event who played in one or more reserve or class sections.
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$300 1st
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$250 2nd
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$200 3rd
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$150 4th
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$100 5th
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Reserve – Scholastic: Awarded to players under 19 years of age as of the final Tour event who played in one or more reserve or class sections.
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$300 1st
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$250 2nd
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$200 3rd
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$150 4th
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$100 5th
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Players will earn participation awards based solely on the number of tournaments entered, subject to the requirement of playing a minimum of at least one-half of the scheduled rounds (byes not included).
- 7 Tour events played - Free ICA Membership for the following year ($15.00 value)
- 9 Tour events played - $25 chess merchandise gift
- 11 Tour events played - $50.00 chess merchandise gift
- 12 Tour events played - $100.00 chess merchandise gift certificate
Funding
The Tour will seek sponsorship and donations outside of the ICA to cover annual Tour expenses, with the goal of self-sufficiency. In addition to sponsorship, the Tour may supplement revenue through the sale of promotional items such as t-shirts though third party sites.
2024 - Title/Main sponsorship OPEN
In the case of a budget shortfall, the ICA, to the extent practicable, will cover expenses to maintain the Tour’s viability. ICA also reserves the right to contribute to the Tour budget on a voluntary basis as it sees fit.
The Commissioner will submit an annual budget to the ICA Board for approval.
Acknowledgements
The Tour recognizes and acknowledges the contributions of the many individuals involved in the drafting of these rules, including ICA Board members, and members at large. Also, thanks go to the inspiration and guidance offered by the rules of other state chess association tours, especially our neighbors in Wisconsin, and also West Virginia, Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, North Carolina and Delaware; the previous Illinois tour; and the USCF Grand Prix and Junior Grand Prix.
Emily Dawson
ICA Treasurer & Tour Commissioner
January 2024
Amended January 15, 2024
Tour Prizes
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2017 Illinois Chess Tour – Awards
Performance Awards
Performance awards will be based on the total points accumulated during the Tour year according to the scoring system specified in the Tour rules. Prizes will be awarded in three categories:
- Open: awarded to players with the most Tour points accumulated in open or top-level sections, including the U2300 section at the Chicago Open.
- Reserve – Adult: awarded to players 19 years of age or older as of the final Tour event who played in one or more reserve or class sections.
- Reserve – Scholastic: awarded to players under 19 years of age as of the final Tour event who played in one or more reserve or class sections.
Players who play solely in open or top sections will compete for the Open prizes.
Players who play solely in reserve or class sections will compete for the Reserve prizes.
Players who play in a mix of open and reserve sections can compete for either prize category, but only points earned in open sections will count toward the Open prizes. Points earned in any section will count toward the Reserve prizes. Only one prize per person will be awarded. If a player qualifies for prizes in both open and reserve only the award from the higher qualifying category is earned.
Prizes
- Open: $500.00 plus plaque for 1st, plaque for 2nd – 5th
- Reserve – Adult: $200.00 plus plaque for 1st, plaque for 2nd – 5th
- Reserve – Scholastic: $200.00 plus plaque for 1st, plaque for 2nd – 5th
Participation Awards
Players will earn participation awards based solely on the number of tournaments entered, subject to the requirement of a minimum of three rounds played as specified in the Tour rules.
- 5 Tour events played - $10 discount off entry fee to an ICA organized event such as Illinois Open, Illinois Class, or Illinois Senior
- 6 Tour events played - $25 discount off entry fee to an ICA organized event such as Illinois Open, Illinois Class, or Illinois Senior
- 7 Tour events played - $50.00 reimbursement of entry fee for any CCA event in Illinois
- 8 or more Tour events played - $100.00 chess merchandise gift certificate
All participation awards include recognition on the Tour page of the ICA website.
Tour Kick-Off Sale and Simul October 29th
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Join us at Marbles: The Brain Store on Saturday, October 29th, as the 2012 Illinois Chess Tour gets revved up with a simultaneous exhibition by National Master Eric Rosen, along with a fundraising sale.
The simultaneous event begins at 11:00 a.m. at Marbles: The Brain Store located at 55 E. Grand Ave., in Chicago. Eric will take on a minimum of 16 opponents, with a standby replacement pool aimed at keeping the pressure on. 10 slots are reserved for members of the Illinois chess community, and are available for a nominal fee of $10.00 for adult players or $5.00 for scholastic players. 100% of entry fees collected will be contributed to the Tour fund.
Additionally, for a three-hour period beginning at 11:00, Marbles will donate 15% of the proceeds of all sales to the Tour. This is a great opportunity to get an early start on your holiday shopping while supporting the relaunch. 2012 Tour t-shirts will also be on sale during the event.