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By Mike Kummer
April Knights Champion Matt Barrett was in prime position to go back-to-back as Knights Champ at the 15-player June Knights. Just like in the April Knights, he was paired in the final round against Knights regular Dan Coryea. But there were two key differences in this match-up. In April, Matt had accumulated 3 points to Dan's 2.5. Also, Matt had the advantage of the white pieces. For this encounter, the circumstances were reversed. Matt trailed Dan by a half point and had to win with the black pieces. Matt lost a pawn in the opening, so he tried to make the position complicated.
Although Matt accomplished his goal, Dan ended up winning the tactical mess. With the triumph, Dan Coryea has now won a Knights tournament in every year the Chess Club has been open.
Aspiring Master Julian Proleiko jumped into the event halfway through with just a half point in his pocket and parlayed it into two crushing victories to take the U1700 prize by storm. Along the way, he notched the "Biggest Upset" of the event, good for a free entry into an ensuing Knights tourney, and a slew of rating points.
Alex Marler's former chess students, Shaz Iqbal and Erik Tkachenko, both scored upsets to split the U1300 prize.
The three-round July Knights will start a week later than usual. It will blast off 6:30 on Wednesday July 11th, as the Chess Club will be closed for Independence Day on July 4th. It will held in conjunction with the United States Junior Closed Championship. See you there!
SwissSys Standings. June Knights: Open
| # | Name | Rtng | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Tot |
| 1 | DANIEL J CORYEA | 1829 | W15 | W12 | W2 | W4 | 4.0 |
| 2 | JOSEPH F WOJCIK | 1710 | W7 | W3 | L1 | W9 | 3.0 |
| 3 | RODNEY VAUGHN | 1842 | W11 | L2 | W10 | W6 | 3.0 |
| 4 | MATT BARRETT | 1882 | W14 | H--- | W9 | L1 | 2.5 |
| 5 | JULIAN PROLEIKO | 662 | H--- | U--- | W13 | W10 | 2.5 |
| 6 | PAUL J GODDARD | 1818 | L9 | W11 | W8 | L3 | 2.0 |
| 7 | SHAZ IQBAL | 1252 | L2 | L10 | B--- | W11 | 2.0 |
| 8 | ERIK TKACHENKO | 1039 | L12 | W15 | L6 | B--- | 2.0 |
| 9 | KEN WEST | 1344 | W6 | H--- | L4 | L2 | 1.5 |
| 10 | ADRIAN MARLEY-WEAVER | 1213 | H--- | W7 | L3 | L5 | 1.5 |
| 11 | NEIL SCHECHTER | 1486 | L3 | L6 | W15 | L7 | 1.0 |
| 12 | LARRY KREUGER | 946 | W8 | L1 | U--- | U--- | 1.0 |
| 13 | BENJAM PIROGOVSKY | 869 | H--- | U--- | L5 | U--- | 0.5 |
| 14 | JAMES A SPALDING | 1655 | L4 | H--- | U--- | U--- | 0.5 |
| 15 | SEAN A MALONE | 1415 | L1 | L8 | L11 | U--- | 0.0 |
