IM Kannappan Wins Thanksgiving Open in Saint Louis

By on December 06, 2013 in

By Andy Primm

A total of 78 players turned out for the 2013 Thanksgiving Open at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The event featured several titled players incluidng GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez, WGM Anna Sharevich, IM Priyadharshan Kannappan, IM David Recuero Guerra and many more.

In additin to the numerous titled players, many players from the Lindenwood Lions chess team participated, as well as a group of students that travelled all the way from Memphis, Tenn.! Up for grabs was more than $1,000 in prizes, and also a free lesson with GM Ronen Har-Zvi for the winners of the brilliancy and biggest upset prizes in each section. The two-day, five-round, three-section, G/115 event showcased superb play, back-and-forth action, and an altogether highly entertaining competition.

The tournament began on Saturday morning at 10:15 a.m. on an unusually warm day for early December in Saint Louis. One of the biggest upsets of the tournament came in the first round when NM Spencer Finegold suffered a loss at the hands of Jonathan Schrantz, who was rated nearly 400 points lower than Finegold. Schrantz’ win scored him both the biggest upset and brilliancy prizes for the Open section. In a twist of fate, this upset was Schrantz’ only win of the tournament.

Perhaps the most clearly instructive game of the tournament was a round one miniature between Fred Smith and Owen Bitting in the U1400 section: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. h4 h5 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nxe4 6. Nxe4 d5 7. Qe2 Bf5 8.Nf6#.

Many of us have lost games to a similar mating pattern, so we can certainly commiserate with the pain of such a quick defeat! Smith won both the brilliancy and biggest upset prizes in the U1400 section for the victory.

The first day proceeded smoothly and, at the end of round three, IM Kannappan and WGM Sharevich sat tied atop the open section with three wins apiece. Jim Davis and Behrooz Vakil were tied with perfect 3/3 scores in the U1800 section, while Harold Hadman and Aidan Carey were both perfect in the U1400 section. When play finally ended at nearly 11 p.m. on Saturday night, the last of the players went home to get some much-needed rest before the final two rounds on Sunday.

Between rounds, many players took the opportunity to visit the World Chess Hall of Fame across the street, currently showcasing an avant-garde fashion exhibit, A Queen Within, based around the queen’s importance in chess and history. The Hall of Fame also features an exhibit on chess promoter and player Jacqueline Piatorsky, organizer of the famous ‘63 and ‘66 Piatagorsky Cups in which several past and future world champions played.

The pleasant weather held through the weekend as players returned for round four on Sunday morning. The last two rounds saw exciting play in every section, with several last-minute comebacks Sunday afternoon. GM Jimenez battled back from a round three loss to Sharevich to score wins in both rounds four and five, while Sharevich suffered a loss in round four to Kannappan. IMGuerra, trailing 2.5 after round one, scored a win in round four against expert Sanjay Ghatti and made a crucial draw against the rock-solid Kannappan in round five.

Kannappan emerged as the ultimate victor in the Open Section, in clear first with 4.5/5, and took home the $600 prize for first place. Sharevich, Guerra, and Jimenez, each with 4/5, split the prize for second, while WIM Inna Agarest, Alex Vergilisov, Frank Smith, Hanson Hao, Tian Lu Peng, and Sanjay Ghatti split the third place prize with 3.0 each.

In the U1800 section, Davis continued his lead from day one, making a draw in round four and a win in round five for clear first with 4.5/5, enough to bag the $250 prize for first place. Vakil and Mansumeet Singh split the prize for second. Davis’ only draw of an otherwise perfect tournament was to Vakil, and Vakil’s only draws were to Davis and Singh (Singh took a half point bye in the first round). The biggest upset prize went to Manish Rangan for his round one win against Tyler Tompkins, while the brilliancy prize went to Singh for a beautiful rook sacrifice leading to checkmate against Pete Immer in round two.

Harold Hadman dominated the U1400 with the only perfect 5/5 result of the tournament, earning him the $200 first-place prize. A three-way tie for second resulted between Aidan Carey, Ben Boaz, and Bayaan Hollis, each with 4/5, and they split the prize. All three players lost only one game, winning the rest.

The Thanksgiving Open has become one of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center’s biggest annual open events, and this year’s fantastic turnout is no exception. As chess continues to grow in Saint Louis with superb collegiate teams and strong local club players, it seems inevitable that next year’s tournament will see a bigger, stronger field than ever!

4th Annual Thanksgiving Open: Open Section

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot	Prize
1	IM Priyadharshan Kannappan	2501	W23	W29	W14	W2	D3	4.5	600.00
2	WGM Anna Sharevich	2324	W21	W6	W4	L1	W12	4.0	233.33
3	IM David Recuero Guerra	2463	W8	W15	D5	W10	D1	4.0	233.33
4	GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez	2645	W25	W30	L2	W7	W5	4.0	233.33
5	WIM Inna Agrest	2240	W17	W7	D3	D11	L4	3.0	100.00
6	Alexander Vergilesov	2060	W12	L2	H---	W9	D8	3.0	100.00
7	Frank H Smith	2008	W24	L5	W13	L4	W20	3.0	100.00
8	Hanson Hao	1946	L3	D19	W24	W18	D6	3.0	112.50
9	Tian Lu Peng	1967	W26	L14	W28	L6	W19	3.0	112.50
10	Sanjay Ghatti	2090	D13	W27	W29	L3	H---	3.0	100.00
11	NM Bob Holliman	2206	W18	W20	H---	D5	U---	3.0
12	Micah Losee	1805	L6	W21	W22	D14	L2	2.5
13	Paul J Goddard	1826	D10	D22	L7	D25	W24	2.5
14	FM Doug D Eckert	2247	W31	W9	L1	D12	U---	2.5
15	Selden Trimble	2024	W28	L3	D18	D20	D16	2.5
16	Thomas Gaul	1838	L29	L23	B---	W28	D15	2.5
17	Matthew C Hosler	1885	L5	D26	W27	D19	H---	2.5
18	Ashok S Kirumaki	1839	L11	W25	D15	L8	D22	2.0
19	Steven D Bange	1837	L30	D8	W26	D17	L9	2.0
20	Jonathan Patrick Schrantz	1862	W32	L11	H---	D15	L7	2.0
21	Kyle J Miles	1932	L2	L12	L25	W31	W27	2.0
22	James McLaughlin	2100	D27	D13	L12	D24	D18	2.0
23	Jason Zhou	1950	L1	W16	W30	U---	U---	2.0
24	Logan Wu	1706	L7	B---	L8	D22	L13	1.5
25	James D Pollitt	1951	L4	L18	W21	D13	U---	1.5
26	Emmanuel Paxton	1679	L9	D17	L19	D27	H---	1.5
27	Julian Proleiko	1829	D22	L10	L17	D26	L21	1.0
28	Joseph C Stafford	1779	L15	W31	L9	L16	U---	1.0
29	Zach Stuart	2163	W16	L1	L10	U---	U---	1.0
30	Matthew W Larson	2102	W19	L4	L23	U---	U---	1.0
31	Rodney Vaughn	1910	L14	L28	U---	L21	B---	1.0
32	NM Spencer Finegold	2218	L20	U---	U---	U---	U---	0.0

4th Annual Thanksgiving Open: U1800

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot	Prize
1	Jim Davis	1723	W17	W15	W5	D2	W6	4.5	250.00
2	Behrooz Vakil	1766	W10	W11	W14	D1	D3	4.0	125.00
3	Mansumeet Singh	1431	H---	W17	W12	W14	D2	4.0	125.00
4	Dennis G Taylor	1504	H---	W21	W7	D6	D5	3.5
5	Serdar Aykent	1785	W12	D8	L1	W9	D4	3.0
6	Harper Evan Smith	1580	W18	D7	W8	D4	L1	3.0
7	Nathan Tu Phan	1769	W9	D6	L4	W10	D8	3.0
8	Ronit Kirumaki	1723	W20	D5	L6	W13	D7	3.0
9	Erik Tkachenko	1487	L7	W18	W11	L5	W12	3.0
10	Iris Yi-xian Zhou	1466	L2	W20	D13	L7	W19	2.5
11	Shimera Paxton	1208	W16	L2	L9	W19	H---	2.5
12	James Ivy	1552	L5	W19	L3	W15	L9	2.0
13	Manish Rangan	1202	W21	L14	D10	L8	D16	2.0
14	James Oslica	1747	W19	W13	L2	L3	U---	2.0
15	Keertana Subramaniyan	1112	B---	L1	L19	L12	W17	2.0
16	Timothy W Barrett	1599	L11	H---	H---	D17	D13	2.0
17	Peter Immer	1409	L1	L3	W18	D16	L15	1.5
18	Kaiwan Harris	1147	L6	L9	L17	W20	H---	1.5
19	Ken West	1411	L14	L12	W15	L11	L10	1.0
20	Marley Davis Fabijanic	1346	L8	L10	H---	L18	H---	1.0
21	Tyler Tompkins	1593	L13	L4	U---	U---	U---	0.0

4th Annual Thanksgiving Open: U1400

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot	Prize
1	Harold L Hadman	1329	W18	W10	W6	W2	W8	5.0	200.00
2	Aidan M Carey	1181	W16	W9	W5	L1	W10	4.0	125.00
3	Ben Boaz	1246	W19	L8	W11	W15	W7	4.0	125.00
4	Bayaan B Hollis	unr.	W23	W7	L14	W21	W6	4.0	125.00
5	Akshay Srinivasan	1290	W24	W11	L2	D10	W14	3.5
6	Reid Doctor	1197	W20	W14	L1	W9	L4	3.0
7	Shelly Rode	1280	W13	L4	W17	W14	L3	3.0
8	Bruce W Potratz	1398	W12	W3	H---	H---	L1	3.0
9	Joshua B Cardenas	1314	W22	L2	W23	L6	W20	3.0
10	Fred A Smith	949	W15	L1	W21	D5	L2	2.5
11	Ricky Smith	887	W21	L5	L3	W18	H---	2.5
12	Teiraney L Biggs	1141	L8	W19	L15	W22	H---	2.5
13	Aleha Cole	953	L7	L23	X16	W17	H---	2.5
14	Sean A Malone	1379	W17	L6	W4	L7	L5	2.0
15	Owen O Bitting	1314	L10	W22	W12	L3	U---	2.0
16	Steve Ohmer	unr.	L2	L17	F13	W20	B---	2.0
17	Jasmine Thomas	1090	L14	W16	L7	L13	H---	1.5
18	Christy Thomas	1087	L1	L20	W19	L11	H---	1.5
19	Antrayvon Jones	729	L3	L12	L18	B---	H---	1.5
20	Yasin A Hollis	unr.	L6	W18	L22	L16	L9	1.0
21	Maya Caissa Vollmer	1246	L11	W24	L10	L4	U---	1.0
22	Dale Hart	1064	L9	L15	W20	L12	U---	1.0
23	John Bean	1244	L4	W13	L9	U---	U---	1.0
24	Brent Butler	1048	L5	L21	H---	U---	U---	0.5