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By Andy Primm
Last month, one of Missouri’s most enduring annual chess events, the Missouri Open, has come to a satisfying conclusion after three days of high-level chess and a record turnout of participants. The event, put on by the Missouri Chess Association and hosted by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, thrilled spectators with not one, but three exciting events: the standard-rated Missouri Open Championship, the quick-rated Missouri Quick Championship, and the blistering Missouri Blitz Championship.
The event kicked off with the Missouri Quick Championship on Friday. Grandmasters Le Quang Liem and Georg Meier, hailing from Saint Louis’ own Webster University, were the frontrunners. Both GMs remained perfect throughout the tournament, winning all four of their games. However, the MCA considered both GMs ineligible for the title*, leaving seven players tied for first with 3.0: GM Denes Boros, Nick Karlow, Joseph Garnier, Jim McLaughlin, Tom Polgar-Shutzman, and Daniel Garrett. GM Boros ultimately received the plaque, winning on tiebreaks to become the 2013 Missouri Quick Champion.
(Click here to see the full standings)
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The Missouri Open Championship began the first of five rounds Saturday morning. With 46 Players in the Open section and 40 in the Reserve (under 1600) section, a total of 86 turned out for the event -- up from only 45 in 2012! Such a huge turnout is not surprising at all given Saint Louis’ increasing importance in the global chess scene. Many of the players, including International Master Priyadharshan Kannappan, came from the Lindenwood University chess team, coached by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center’s own resident Grandmaster rotation.
After five hard-fought rounds, Cuban Grandmaster Fidel Corrales Jimenez emerged victorious on Sunday afternoon, in clear first at 5.0 -- undefeated! -- and was crowned the 2013 Missouri Open Champion. Runner up was Women’s International Master Inna Agarest, with 4/5. Eight strong players tied for third place with 3.5: IM Kannappan, FM Jake Kleiman, FM Doug Eckert, Iskander Aripov, Zach Stuart, Jim Voelker, Alex Vergilesov, and defending Missouri Open Champion Matt Larson, who despite losing his title had a huge rating gain thanks to his strong performance.
The Class A Prize went to David Askin, while the Class B prize went to Micah Losee. Daniel Garrett snagged the prize for Biggest Upset for his win against expert Frank Smith in round one.
In the Reserve Section, Vairam Arunachalam, Director of MU’s the School of Accountancy, finished first with a perfect 5/5, a wonderful performance for the professor who hadn’t played in years. Three players tied for second place and the Class C prize: Harper Smith, Martin Stahl, and George Kransnopolskiy.
The Class D prize went to Erik Tkachenko, who gained an amazing 200 points and finished 4/5! Vishvarath Karthikeyan bagged the Class E prize, and three players tied for the U/1000 prize, each with 3/5: Richard Bennett, Brent Butler, and Manikandan Jeyarajan. The prize for Biggest Upset in the Reserve Section went to Shelley Rhode for her round one victory against CJ Armenta.
(Click here to see the full Open standings)
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The Blitz Championship, held Sunday morning, resulted in another tie between the Webster Grandmasters, Le and Meier. Each won every game, save for round four when they played each other -- and drew! Both Grandmasters finished the tournament at 4.5, resulting in a tie. However, the two GMs were again ineligible for the title. With the two strongest out of the running, six players ended up tied at 3.0: Adait Patel, Harold Linde, William Nesham, Julian Prolieko, Daniel Garrett, and Akshay Srinivasan. Chess Club regular and up-and-coming player Julian Proleiko emerged as the victor on tiebreaks, taking home the plaque for 2013 Missouri Blitz Champion.
After three exhausting days of chess, the players went home for a well deserved rest. Given this year’s record turnout and incredibly strong field, we can all look forward to an even more exciting tournament in 2014!
*Despite Meier’s and Le’s first place finishes, neither were Missouri residents according to their USCF information, and thus they were ineligible for the title, although they did split the first place prizes.
(Click here to see the full Blitz standings)
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