By Jason Woolem, Chess Instructor
Over the final weekend of January 2018, the Saint Louis Chess Club hosted an event called “Chess Like It Oughta Be”. The tournament was 5 rounds with a time control of Game in 40 minutes with a 5 second delay. Because the tournament was played with a time control between 30 and 60 minutes, this tournament was rated under both the Regular and Quick USCF ratings. With 55 players, it was a wonderful tournament that spanned both sides of the tournament hall.
In the end, Alex Marler won the tournament with a perfect 5 out of 5 score. Aaron Lin finished in 2nd Place with a 4.5 out of 5 score.
As for the rest of the class prizes, here is how those broke down.
A Class – Steven Bange and Asish Panda
B Class – Spencer Conklin
C Class – Dennis LaRue
D Class – Jacob Sanders
U1200/Unrated – Nam Duc Nguyen, Wes F. Turner, and Iovane Sakhelashvili
Two of the biggest rating improvements came from our class winners: Jacob Sanders and Iovane Sakhelashvili. Iovane gained over 200 rating points, which involved the biggest upset of the tournament; Iovane defeated a 1567 rated player, which was a 730 point rating difference between them. Jacob also gained over 140 rating points, which included a draw against a player rated over 400 points higher than his own rating.
Thanks to everyone who came out to compete in this month’s event. The next event will be the 10th Annual Metro Class Championship on February 17th and 18th. There will be a Master Section and an Expert Section which will both be FIDE Rated. The tournament will also have Class Sections for A, B, C, and D level players, as well as an Under 1200 to Unrated Section which will be USCF Rated. The event will be four rounds over two days with the time control being Game in 90 minutes with a 30 second increment for each move. Register here >
