On April 25th and 26th, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis played host to the 2009 Saint Louis Open. For the past few years, this prestigious event has been forced to use the rather unassuming conference room at a no frills hotel because of cost constraints. This year saw this high class event finally get the proper venue it deserves, and Missouri chess players showed their support for the change. While some common names were missing from the list of registrants, the event also managed to bring in some unfamiliar names that were hopefully dazzled by the venue and will continue to support the chess endeavors of the CCSCSL and its tournament aspirations. Overall, the event brought in 51 paid entries and the event was extremely well run by the very competent TD staff of Ed Baur and MCA president Thomas Rehmeier.
The tournament got off to a shocking start when a few of Saint Louis' many underrated players were able to notch half point draws against some very strong consistent players. These surprises came by the way of C class player Derrick Bartotto drawing Master Bob Holliman and rising star (and recent Mid America Open Class D champion) Stephen Zhang "nicking" Expert Nick Karlow for a half point. Round 2 saw Master Bob Holliman on the wrong side of a tough draw again as Class E player Paul Yoder was able to finesses a half point from Mr. Holliman who was over twice his rating! The same round also saw Shimin Cao and Steve Bange manage half point byes against their Expert opponents. Perhaps the most shocking result came in Round 3 when Expert Nick Karlow was run down by Saint Louis chess stalwart Steve Bange. This loss convinced Mr. Karlow to call it a day, and with one horse less in the race, the fight for the Expert prize got much more intense, especially because of a TD ruling that resulted in Kevin Cao withdrawing from the event. A round 4 loss by Robert Jacobs, coupled with two earlier draws, dimmed his chances, and both Jim Voelker and Kevin Dale Johnson were able to hang on with 4.0/5.0 for a split of the Expert price.
The talk of the tournament had to be Master Ron Luther however, trucking it all the way down from Kansas City, to demolish the predominantly Saint Louis field with a perfect 5.0/5.0 and clear first place. Mr. Luther admittedly avoided a first round scare against youngster William Nesham, and a 4th round seemingly drawn position from Kevin Dale Johnson who may have pressed his chances too much and overreached. As most good players do, Mr. Luther persevered in the face of adversity and finished with his deserved perfect record.
Class A was very competitive, with an incredible 12 A players duking it out! In fact, 40% of the entire field was rated class A or above, illustrating just how strong this years tournament was. Despite the large turnout, there would be no split prize as Josh Frank emerged with a respectable 4.0/5.0 performance for clear first. Four other class A players found themselves on the outside looking in, coming up a half point short. This was especially painful for Todd Plagemann and Thomas Gaul whose 3.0/4.0 last round pairing meant that a win by either would ensure them at least a tie for the class A prize. A tough battle between the two evenly matched opponents however could produce no clear cut winner, and Josh Frank benefited as neither Steve Bange nor Jeffrey Kovalic were able to upset their last round Expert opponents and were forced to settle for 3.0/5.0 scores and no share of the top prize.
Class B was equally contested with 10 participants giving it their all for the top Class B prize. Shimin Cao, who had an exceptional tournament, gaining over 50 rating points en route of a tie for the top class B prize. Dennis Humphries was able to match his 3.5/5.0 performance, but both players needed help from an outside source, and that help came via Josh Frank. Unfortunately for William Tong, who was having a great tournament by all accounts, a last round pairing with the class A Josh Frank meant that while he controlled his own destiny, a class B win was going to prove difficult. Josh Frank's victory not only assured him a part of the class A prize, but knocked William Tong out of contention for the class B prize, something he could have won outright had he bested Mr. Frank.
Class C may have been the toughest class of the tournament, with the combined 9 players accumulating 143 rating points for their performances! Derrick Bartotto found himself in the same exact position as William Tong, controlling his own destiny for his class prize. He was able to hold his class A opponent, Randy Gimenez, to a draw, assuring him at least a tie for the top prize. Both James Bates and Marek Ziolkowski took advantage of his result and notched W's against their last round opponents for a 3.0/5.0 finish and a 3-way tie for first place. A special congratulations goes out to Mr. Bartotto though as his above average performance netted him an impressive 74 rating points and assures all the other class C players he will soon be competing up in the B class where Mr. Bartotto certainly belongs, once his rating catches up to his skills.
Class D and the Under 1000 sections had the weakest turnouts. Only 3 Class D players mustered up the courage, and youngster Aravind Ganapathy took full advantage, garnering 2 full points for clear first. The Under 100 section was fought out between 4 players, and it was young Jason Zhou's 2 points that assured him clear first in the Under 1000 section. For his strong performance, Mr. Zhou gained 149 rating points! Jason Zhou's supplemental rating as of 05/2009 was 297 meaning that in less than 2 months, he has gained over 500 rating points. Nothing can be more intimidating than seeing Jason Zhou strut to the table and climb up into the chair. At only 7, he is a rising star and will undoubtedly be one of the strongest players in the Saint Louis scene if he continues to improve at the pace he is currently setting. In fact, his chess instructor, Joseph Garnier, says that the young Mr. Zhou has an insatiable appetite for chess and is one of the most focused and hard working students he has ever had the privilege of instructing! I predict big things for Mr. Zhou and I implore everyone to watch him closely over the next few years as he continues to improve.
While the lower Class D and Under 1000 sections had relatively disappointing turnouts, Class E showed its support, producing 9 players ready to battle it out over the 64 squares. Of those 9, and incredible 5-way split of first place occurred as 2.0/5.0 proved enough for a share of the first place prize. Both Paul Yoder and Ken West, who both had great performances, gaining 101 and 73 rating points respectively, controlled their destiny going into the last round. However, neither could notch even half a point from their tougher, and higher rated opposition, and Howard Granok, Vishal Bharadwaj, and Mindi Cao took full advantage by winning their last round games to finish with 2 points as well and a part of the first place prize. Class D's overall performance was impressive, with a net gain of 234 points for the participants! Obviously these class E players proved troublesome for their higher rated opponents throughout the tournament, and many of them will soon find themselves competing in that slim Class D section.
Overall, the Saint Louis Open was a well run event that many people had numerous positive things to comment on! Players were able to have fun competitive games, and the venue was a real treat for those used to the hot and noisy "dump", as many Saint Louis Open veterans had come to affectionately refer to it as. Hopefully the Saint Louis Open will continue to be held in Saint Louis' most impressive chess venue, but for now the CCSCSL prepares itself for bigger things coming down the line. This includes the United States Championships on May 7th-17th and the reincarnation of the Show Me Classic on May 23rd and 24th. For more information about either of these events, or any other upcoming CCSCSL events, see the event calendar at www.saintlouischessclub.org/Events. Thank you to the MCA and TDs Ed Baur and Thomas Rehmeier for bringing this event to the CCSCSL and thanks to everyone who came out and made this event the colossal success that it was!
