[imagefield_assist|fid=5430|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]After the long arduous tournament that was the 2010 U.S. Championship, there is no rest for the Resident GM! Executive Director Tony Rich and I have gone to Wheeling, Ill., for the 2010 Chicago Open. The turnout is amazing, and I expect over 700 players this year. The Open section, which started Thursday, has over 140 players and is nine rounds this year to allow for norms! There are over 20 GMs, and I was #15 on the wallchart in the first round.
There are many foreign players this year, and leading the field by rating are GMs Michael Adams, Evgeny Najer, Daniel Fridman (husband of 2009 U.S. Women's Champ Anna Zatonskih), Loek van Wely, Victor Mikhalevsky, Timor Gareev, and Var Akobian.
There were not too many upsets in round 1, but GM Mesgen Amanov was held to a draw, and WIM Iryna Zenyuk was upset by Saint Louis' own Kevin Cao!
I was able to win round 1 versus a 2150 player. I was slightly worse with white out of the opening, but the position was very messy and I was able to get two rooks for a queen, and my opponent tried two piece sacrifices that were unsuccessful.
Round 2 is Noon CDT Friday. Tony starts tomorrow night in the seven round U2100 section. All results, pairings, games, etc. can be found at: http://chesstournamentservices.com/cca/chicago-open/
[new_pgn|path=content/ben-chi-town]
