With matching 3.0/5 results, Jacob Plotnick and Amrutha Venkat tallied positive scores at the 2016 Iowa RBO for players rated Under 1200. These were the top scores for Illinois participants in an August 27 event that drew players from nine states.

The time control was Game/30 with a five-second delay meaning it was dual-rated, impacting both US Chess Regular and Quick ratings.

The 54-player competition was won by Iowa middle-schooler Issay Niki who was a perfect five-for-five, raising his rating an impressive 275 points.

Unlike scholastic events, this competition was open to both adults and juniors. However, both Jacob and Amrutha both happen to be juniors.

Despite his championship performance, Issay was far from the highest-rated player heading into the event, proving once again that ratings only matter so much.

Californian Scarlett Martinez was awarded a hardcovered notation book for the furthest distance traveled of the six first-timers participating in the event. There was some disagreement whether her brother Ezekiel's Golden State living quarters might be located further from the Coralville, IA Marriott where the tournament was held.

Due to the superior notation taken through the fourth round, the Chief TD awarded the scorebook to the younger sibling. An appeal to US Chess is anticipated.

The fierce competition saw an eight-way tie for second place, all with 4.0/5.

Receiving top overall prizes behind Issay were Yusef Alaya (2nd), Eddy Xu (3rd), Puwit Moerlien (4th) and Arun Dixit (5th).

Aman Reddy won the top U600 trophy, also with 4.0. Kyrus Wu was awarded the top U1000 trophy although Adil Oryspayev and Daniel Xiang had an identical score with lower tiebreaks.

Aaron Thomasson, Atharv Neema and Timothy Bergal all posted identical 3.5 scores, with Aaron winning the U800 trophy on tiebreaks. Three of the top five overall actually had pre-event ratings Under 800.

Lisa Acherkan had the top score for Under 400's with 2.0 while Evan Xiang's 2.5 was the best score among the six unrateds playing in their first US Chess event. Thanvee Paga received a second place unrated trophy while the other four first-timers were all awarded medals to honor their participation.

Crissy Vigil and Teresa Knecht served as Floor TD's under the gentle direction of a Chief TD from Illinois who also hit a few buttons on a computer.

The tournament was held in conjunction with the Iowa Open Championships held over the course of two-days in the Convention Center portion of the facility.