By Jason Woolem, Chess Instructor
The Saint Louis Chess Club hosted the Show Me Classic this past Saturday on May 26, 2018. Since it was a four round tournament, the event provided a nice start to the Memorial Day weekend. The time control for the tournament was Game in 65 minutes with a 5 second delay. A $205 prize fund was unconditionally offered with first place overall winning $50, second place overall winning $30, and $25 to the highest finisher in A Class (1800-1999 rating), B Class (1600-1799 rating), C Class (1400-1599 rating), D Class (1200-1399 rating), and Under 1200 and Unrated players.
Fifty-six players took to the boards during the tournament and it was Tianlu Peng who took overall first place with a perfect 4 out of 4 score and earned the $50 first prize. Steven Bange, Akshay Srinivasan, Thomas Gaul, and Matthew Manley finished in a tie for second prize and each earned $26.25 each. (These prizes were included with the highest finisher in the Class A, Class B, and Class C).
For the other class prizes, a four-way tie took place in the Class D section with Aaradhya Diwan, Jenna Song, Ken West, and Michael Pugachev all earning $6.25 with a 3 out of 4 score. Evan Zhang took the Under 1200 Rating prize with a score of 3 out of 4.
The next monthly tournament at the Saint Louis Chess Club will be the Premier and Amateur Tournament, June 22–June 24. The entry fee will be $50 if pre-registered before June 19. The tournament is 5 rounds with a time control of Game in 90 minutes with a 30 second increment from move 1. Rounds start Friday at 6 p.m., so join us at the Chess Club for a chance at the $3,500 prize fund!
