Three players scored a perfect 4.0 to tie for first in the Show Me Classic at the Chess Club & Scholastic Center Saturday, May 28.

However, one of the three stands out. Corey Axelson of St. Louis played in his first classic tournament and went undefeated to go from unrated to a provisional rating of 2253.

Axelson, 24, said he played high school chess at Parkway Central a few years ago but has been coming to the chess club the past two months. He has been taking lessons from club chess instructor Danny Machuco (1859). Student beat teacher in the third round. Axelson also took down Tim Nesham (1751) in the second round.

Also tying for first were Bob Holliman (2205) of Kansas City and Tom Gaul, of Iowa. Gaul beat William Nesham (1994) in the last round to tie for the top spot.

Kansas City master Ron Luther (2200) finished just behind them at 3.5 in another teacher vs. pupil match. Vikram Arun (1962) and Luther battled to a draw in the last round and a tie in the standings. Arun won the class A section with the draw. For Arun it was his first tournament in two years.

“My play is better than it has been,” Holliman said. “I did a better job of making my opponents come up with bad ideas, which I usually do,” he said, laughing.

Tournament Director Jonathan Schrantz had been shooting for 50 players for the one-day tournament over the holiday weekend. When Saturday morning hit, he more than surpassed that number.

“It was a frenzy,” he said. “We had 25 people show up at the last minute. We weren’t sure we would be able to get everyone in the tournament hall.”

The reason for the numbers: Several young players. Of the 73 players, 24 had triple digit ratings. And many did not just roll over. Praveen Chakinala of Missouri scored three points, good for 17th place, and boosted his rating from 818 to 992.

Full tournament crosstable: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201605285892