[imagefield_assist|fid=3547|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]It's been an interesting two weeks, but the tournaments are over, and it is time to "wrap it up."
I drew quickly yesterday with IM Angelo Young, and Mackenzie Molner was able to hold a draw against GM Mesgen Amanov, so we tied for first place, and Molner earned his first GM norm! Molner played the five highest rated players in the event, in rating order, in the final five rounds --- all GMs! An amazing performance.
GM Kolev pressed for a long time, but could not break down the resistance of my second round opponent, Siddarth Ravichandran. Siddarth, along with Molner, earned his final IM norm!
I played rated chess every day from March 12-24, and ended up with 6 wins and 12 draws in 18 games, for a shared second in Lubbock, TX, and a shared first in Skokie, IL. I would like to thank the CCSCSL for their help on this trip, Tony Rich, and the great organizers (Susan Polgar and Paul Truong in Lubbock, and Sevan Muradian in Skokie). I hope to play in these events again.
My next tournament will be April 10-11 at the CCSCSL, The Saint Louis Open. The tournament will have several GMs, IMs, and WIMs, and I expect over 150 players total!
A special thanks to Lynne, whose encouraging words (and icons!) the last two weeks made traveling and playing chess every day even more fun when I wasn't playing.
Final Standings:
1-2 GM Ben Finegold, Mackenzie Molner - 6.5
3 GM Atanas Kolev - 6
4-7 GM Vladimiar Georgiev, GM Nikola Mitkov, GM Mesgen Amanov, Siddarth
Ravichandran - 5.5
8-10 IM Michael Mulyar, IM Florin Felecan, IM Angelo Young - 5
11-12 FM Gauri Shankar, WIM Iryna Zenyuk - 4.5
13-14 Adarsh Jayakumar, John Gurczak - 4
15 IM Arjun Vishnuvardhan - 3.5
16-17 FM Robby Adamson, Timur Aliyev - 3
18-19 Mariano Acosta, Tommy Ulrich - 2
20 Jose Perez Reisler - 1.5
