No team had a perfect 3.0 score and three teams tied for first with 2.5 points in the 2-on-2 Team Championship Saturday, June 18 at the Chess Club & Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

Under the set-up both players would have to win for a complete point for the team. However several individual players did have perfect scores but the team score determined the final standings.

The three teams taking the top spot and $83.33 (to be split by the team members) were the Kansas City Chess Club (Kenneth Fee Jr., 1865, and Franklin Whitsell, 1777), Space Monkey Mafia (Danny Machuca, 1858, and Iris Zhou, 1718), and Baby Bears (Tom Polgar Shutzman, 2134, and Rakshana Sundara, 1314).

Kansas City Chess Club and Space Monkey Mafia faced off in the final round. Zhou beat Whitsell but Fee beat Machuca as the teams tied.

“Iris sacked her queen and got one rook and two knights,” Whitsell said. “And her two knights had outposts in the middle of the board.”

Asked why the two made the journey to the River City to play, Fee said, “It’s a happening place.”

“We like the team concept,” Fee said. “Franklin and I travel a lot to tournaments and we don’t like to play each other.”

Mike Kummer (1799) performed double duty directing the tournament and playing with Teo Quijada (1758) on the team Mega Men.

Kummer called it a “fun tournament.”

“It’s good to see the camaraderie between the team mates,” he said.

Among the clever team names was Al About That Bass, featuring Al Howlett and Keith Bass. Honwlett said Bass didn’t get it until he played the song “All About That Bass” for him. They also split $60 for their winning effort. The Naples Knights were a team from Florida, presumably Naples (Tony Burrus, 1878, and Dylan Flegel, 841). Michael Pugachev, 1082, and Leonardo Ludaescher, 828, comprised the team, Turtle Power! (Two of the Teenage Mutant Teenage Turtles are named Michelangelo and Leonardo.)

Three teams each won $13.33. Those teams were the Terrible Toddlers (Grant Johnson, 1293, and Aidan Johnson, 1292), Cloud Nine (Steven Evans, 1684, and Jason Woolem, 540), and Booooooo (Santosh Ramakrishnan, 683, and Prakash Ramakrishnan, 614).

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Full tournament crosstable: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201606184582

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

Grandmaster Alex Shimanov (2639) came into the Thanksgiving Open as the top-rated player and ended it with 5.5 points out of six games and first-place prize money of $1,500. GM Ashwin Jayaram (2614) and Shimanov drew in the third round and Jayaram came in second with 5, good for the $1,000 second-place prize. Jayaram and GM Benjamin Finegold (2588) drew in round 5. Finegold finished with 4.5 points, good for third place and $800.

However, in the under 2000 section the top rated player did not come in first. Eric Hoffner (1653 before the event began) swept the field winning all six of his games to pick up first place, $1,000 and a post-tournament rating of 1871. He took out three players rated higher than 1800 and two rated higher than 1900.

Hoffner, of St. Louis, said it was his best result in a standard tournament although he has gone undefeated in quad tournaments. Playing white he focused on e4 openings.

“I was trying to play more gambits this time,” Hoffner said. One line included the delayed wing gambit against the Sicilian. “As black I played the Dragon and in the last game I played the center counter.”

For his e4 and Dragon lines he said he watched videos on chess.com.

“I played the center counter because that’s what my computer plays against me,” he said.

This year’s tournament format changed this year to only two sections, the Open and Under 2000.

“We figured with the Open being FIDE rated more of those players would want higher quality games,” said Mike Kummer, the tournament director.

He also said the turnout of just under 100 players was nearly perfect.

“If we had over 100 not everybody would have got to play in the tournament hall and boardroom,” Kummer said. “It was a good turnout with a lot of prize winners. Over a third of the field won prizes.”

A time control of an hour and 30 minutes with a 30-second increment created several exciting games. One such game was Saturday nights round 4 matchup between Kansas City IM Michael Brooks (2437) and IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (2564). Kannappan tried to win with his rook and bishop against the rook and pawn held by Brooks. The game lasted nearly six hours before the game ended in a draw.

Kannappan also posted on Facebook about one of his other games, his round 5 game against WFM Hulkar Tohirjonova (2250), which he lost. He said he played the rating more than the board and that it cost him. Tohirjonova came in fourth and pocketed $625.

NM Matt Larson (2319) of St. Louis tied for fourth and also scored $625.

In the Under 2000 section following Hoffner were Harper Evan Smith (1928) of St. Louis and Joshua Arden Campbell (1885) who each finished with 5 and each won $475. Tying for for fourth were Behrooz Vakil (1880) and Todd Plagemann (1981) with 4.5 points good for $100 each.

By Ken West
MCA Bulletin Editor

Upsets, draws and more highlighted The Bill Wright Saint Louis Open at the Chess Center and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis April 17-19. In the Open section, 21 players faced off, with 13 of them holding master’s titles. IM Ashwin Jayaram (2552), GM Alejandro Ramirez (2675) and GM Vladimir Georgiev (2598) to the top three spots, each taking home just over $1,500. But none had a perfect five rounds as they each finished with four points.

NM Nick Karlow, a name familiar to Missouri chess players, had a tournament to remember scoring draws against Ramirez and IM Priyadharshan Kannappan,both times with the black pieces, and finished with three points. Karlow said they were his strongest draws.

“I was better in the final position (against Ramirez), but chess is hard,” he said. “It was very complex. I saw the three-fold and took it.”

He has had tournaments with perfect scores but he said those results were against weaker fields. “This is definitely my strongest performance, I think so,” Karlow said. “I was completely outclassed in the last game. Georgiev just strangled my King’s Indian.”

CCSCSL Manager Alex Marler had a strong follow-up to his Mid-America Open results. In the opening round he beat IM Angelo Young (2426) and finished with 2.5 points. “I should be at my all-time rating high around 2140,” he said. Marler said Young kept finding moves to hold off his eventual victory.

Joey Michael Kelly (2101) broke the string of titled players at the top, finishing sixth. He finished with 3.5 points, scoring draws against NM Alex Richter (2273) and NM Spencer Finegold (2197). He won his final round game against a regular on the Missouri chess scene, FM Doug Eckert (2294).

Young Julian Proleiko (2001) of Saint Louis scored a draw against NM Richter on his way to 2.5 points and a $275 payoff.

Adil Skuka (1993) won the Under 2000 section with 4.5 points, good for $1,000. He won his first four rounds and drew second place finisher Leo Poppante (1828) in the final game. A name everyone will recognize, Selden Trimble (1943) came in third with four points. He and Poppante each won $475. Out-of-state player Alex Stiger (1745) took fourth place with 3.5 points, which earned her $500.

Scott Anderson (1397), followed up his Mid-America performance with three points, good for $300. His first round game was a win over Micah Losee (1901).

James Ivy (1543) also pocketed $300 with three points. He credited his success to an opening he began studying about three months ago.

“I played the Colle everytime I had white,” he said. It was good for two wins, with a loss in the system to Robert Taras (1947).

“I get good results with it,” Ivy said. “They are simple lines to memorize. Yeah, I’ve been playing it in the quads, everything.”

Dylan Mize (1235) grabbed the upset prize with a win over Nicholas Naylor (1874). He also held Jeffrey Schragin (1864), Jason Joseph Clark (1839) and Paul Goddard (1828) to draws on his way to 2.5 points.

MCA Secretary Bob Howe returned to over-the-board play and cited his personal history with the event as one reason.

“The St. Louis Open was the first tournament I ever played, and I always look forward to coming back and playing in it again,” Howe said. “I believe this is my tenth time playing it.  My results weren’t as good as hoped, but I enjoyed spending the weekend with so many chess lovers.”

Howe (1731) knocked the dust off his chess game with 2.5 points.

Tournament Crosstable

By Ken West
MCA Bulletin Editor

The 19th Annual Mid America Open returned to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Clayton for three days in mid-March. The popular event again drew a large field and Missouri chess players scored well, racking up rating points.

Players affiliated with Missouri took three of the top four spots in the Open section and the chess connection with universities in the Saint Louis area played a role. GM Illia Nyzhnk, 2748, scored 4.5 out of the five games to take first and $2100. He plays for the Webster University team. IM Pryadarshan Kannapan, 2559, took second with four points. He has played for Lindenwood University. GM-elect and IM Ashwin Jayawaran, 2561, placed fourth with 3.5 points. He plays for the Webster University team and is playing in the U.S. Chess Championships now underway at the Chess Club & Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

Alex Marler, assistant manager of the Saint Louis chess club, not only tied for first to pocket $1050 but also broke the 2100 mark, a goal he said he set in January.

“I had no byes and no plan to win any money,” Marler, the 2010 Missouri Amateur champion said, “so I just showed up to play and have fun.”

In his last round game he beat the young Aden Turget to tie for the top spot. But it did not look so promising at the start.

“I felt like I was losing,” he said. “I was able to force an ending and outplay him in the endgame.”

The wins boosted his rating to 2116. It also was the most money he has won in a tournament.

Thalia Cervantes, a sixth grader in the Affton School District, took first in the Under 1900 section with 4.5 points to win $1400. She moved with her family from Cuba to the Saint Louis area last summer and spoke little English. She has since picked up the language and has been a constant at the Saint Louis chess club. She said this was not her best tournament result but she was happy about the prize money she pocketed.

Missourians Behrooz Vakil placed third in that section and Serdar Aykent took fourth.

In the Under 1700 section, Missouri resident Jonathan Orsay scored 4.5 to tie for first and nabbed a check for $1050. Luke Majeske of Missouri had four points to tie for third, good for $300.

Nathan Summerville tied for first in the Under 1500 section with four points, winning $460. Missourian Peter Immer finished in sixth just out of the money with 3.5 points. Scott Anderson came in 13th and did not win any money with his three points but said he was pleased with his result.

“This was the first time I was playing where I had to make time control,” Anderson said. “Overall I was pleased with my performance.”

Anderson played the French defense with three games as black and against it once.

Five Missouri players tied for second through sixth in the Under 1300 section. Those players were Jeffrey Ying, Todd Lifka, Kyle Neese, Nigina Aripova and Nathan Mittenzwey. Each pocketed $200 for their efforts.

Neese credited a change in his opening repertoire as black from the French to the Pirc.

“I think a lot of players were not familiar with it, D6 against E4. I think they were not as prepared as they are against the French.”

He also credited Jeremy Silman’s endgame book. “In one game I got my opponent into zugzwang. I learned that from his book.”

Nigina Aripova, 11, also had a strong performance in that rating section, scoring four points with two draws and no losses.

“I studied tactics, some endings and some openings,” she said. She stuck with E4 as white and E5 as black.

In one game she said she was up a pawn but gave up the draw because she misplaced her rook in front of her pawns and her opponent’s rook captured a pawn “and my king was helpless.”

In the Under 1000 section Sushen Kolakaletti took first, winning $500. Lucas Alvarez of Missouri came in second to win $120 along with Andrew Voelker, son of long-time chess player Jim Voelker. Voelker also took first in the Under 800 group that was part of the Under 1000 section. Voelker, 10, is a member of the Clark School chess team in the Webster Groves School District. His father is the coach.

“I did read some books and played a lot of chess on-line,” the young Voelker said.

When asked about any chess goals, he said, “I don’t know, maybe to become a grandmaster. My goal is now to get to 2000 and to beat my dad.”

His father carries a 2100 rating.

When asked what advice he would give young players, Andrew said, “I like playing a lot of chess games against people who are better than me. I don’t like losing unless I learn something. It also depends if it’s a rated game or a practice game. Dad always says to do a lot of puzzles and play a lot on line.