By Jason Woolem, Chess Instructor
For the month of June, the Saint Louis Chess Club held another multi-day tournament, the Premier and Amateur. From June 22-June 24, 62 players competed in the two sections (19 in the Premier, which was FIDE Rated, and 43 in the Amateur, which was USCF Rated and Under 2000).
In the Premier section, it was Saint Louis University student GM Yaroslav Zherebukh who took the 1st Place prize of $1000 with an impressive 4.5/5.0 score in the event. The 2nd Place and $500 prize went to GM Priyadharshan Kannapan with a 4.0/5.0 score. WGM Anna Sharevich and Elton Cao both finished on 3.5/5.0 and earned $212.50 each. Finally, FM Doug Eckert, NM Tom Polgar-Shutzman, Tianlu Peng, and Jonathan Gollapudi all earned $62.50 with a 3.0/5.0 score.
In the Amateur section, 1st Place was a three way tie between Aleksey Kazakevich, Selden Trimble, and Ako Heidari who all earned $300 for their 4.0/5.0 score. Six players with a USCF rating over 1450 earned you $33.33. The players were Derrick Bartotto, Steven Bange, Erick Tkachenko, Arron Lin, Sushen Kolakaleti, and Nischal Ada. The final set of prizes was left for those under the 1450 rating. That prize was split between two players, Ayden Huang and Gaaythri Binoj who both earned $112.50 for their 3.5/5.0 score.
There is one final Open Tournament at the Saint Louis Chess Club before the Summer of Chess starts with the best players from around the world coming to the Saint Louis Chess Club to compete in the premier Grand Chess Tour tournaments. That tournament is the Sunday Spectacular which takes place on Sunday, July 8. It is a 5 round, dual rated tournament with a $10 entry fee ($5 for annual members registered before 7/7, and free for GMs and IMs). For more information and registration, visit the Chess Club website.
