| St. Louis Chess News |
| UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS-- http://www.mochess.org/Calendar.htm Sep 1, 2007: MHS 4 (30 participants) X: Kevin Dale Johnson (3) A: James Smallwood (4) B: Henry Cao, Troy Krimminger (3) C: Brad Herbst, Arjun Khurana (2) D: Lou Sarmento, Joss D’Souza (1.5) U1200/Unrated; Jailin Ding (2) The 2007 St. Charles Open is scheduled for October 6, 2007 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] August 22, 2007: simultaneous exhibition by Grandmaster Maurice Ashley at Eliot Unitarian Chapel in Kirkwood. Details August 13, 2007: an out-of-town visitor gives his impressions of the chess scene at the St. Louis Bread Co. at the west end of the U City Loop: Hardcore Pawnography Oh, here's a previous entry. August 11, 2007: Mathnasium YDM2 in St. Peters was won by Nick Karlow (1875) with a 4-0 score. Joseph Garnier (1834) and Brad Schlosser (1842) tied for second with 3-1 scores. The Under 1000 section was won by William Nesham (272) with a 4-0 score. 20 players participated in the two events. Aug 4, 2007: MHS 3 (42 participants) X: Jim Davies and Kevin Dale Johnson (3) A: James Smallwood (3) B: Renzo Herrera and Nick Karlow (4) C: John Boyer, Mike Kummer and Brad Herbst (2.5) D: Luke Brodland (2.5) U1200: Nate Noss (2) MHS 4 is scheduled for Sep 1, 2007 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] July 7-8, 2007: MidAmeriSwiss 1 (31 participants) 1st: Alex Marler, Renzo Herrera (5) X: Kevin Dale Johnson (4) A: Steve Bange (4) B: Tom Rehmeier (4.5) C: Mike Kummer (4) D: Lou Sarmento, Mike Coy, Russ Hammersmith (2.5) E: Margaret Hua, Don Harper (2) MHS 3 is scheduled for Aug 4, 2007 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] Questionnaire from Bob Jacobs about setting up a new, permanent chess club in St. Louis. Chess Courses taught by National Master Loal Davis through the St. Louis Community College at Meramec. Beginning Chess starts 6/06 and goes through 6/20 - Wednesday evenings from 6:30-9:30. The cost for three class sessions (Nine hours) is $27 ($13.50 for adults 60 and over). Intermediate/Advanced Chess starts 7/11 and goes through 8/15 (no classes on 7/18, 8/1) - Wednesday evenings from 6:30-9:30. The cost for four class sessions (Twelve hours) is $36 ($18 for adults 60 and over). http://www.stlcc.edu/ (314) 984-7500 June 2, 2007: MHS 2 (33 participants) 12 players were new to HCA events, which was quite encouraging as there can tend to be a rut with playing the same opponents month after month. Expert: Jim McLaughlin, Bob Jacobs, Waldo Odak (3.5) Class A: Kevin Guo (3.5) Class B: Kevin Cao (3) Class C: Henry Cao, Matt Angeli (3) Class D: Ray Bennett, Dan Tuttle (2) U1200/unr: Renzo Herrera (3) The first tournament director/organizer session went very well. There were 6 in attendance including myself (Joe Epplin, Tom Epplin-Zapf, Gunnar Isaacson, Tim Nesham and Matt Angeli). The 2nd and 3rd training sessions (covering the same material) are scheduled for September 1, 2007 and December 1, 2007. MidAmeriSwiss 1 (6SS G/90) is scheduled for July 7-8, 2007 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] June 2, 2007: Al Howlett is offering lessons in how to be a chess Tournament Director/Organizer on Saturday morning from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. (just before registration starts for MHS 2). See details May 5, 2007: MHS 1 (30 participants) Expert: Kevin Dale Johnson (3) Class A: Steve Bange (3.5) Class B: Kevin Cao (3.5) Class C: John Boyer, William Tong, Doug Howe (3) Class D: Matt Angeli (2.5) U1200/unr: Jared Barger (2) MHS 2 is scheduled for June 2, 2007 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] April 28-29, 2007: the St. Louis Open was won by Ron Luther (2242) with a 4½-½ score. Bob Holliman (2126), Zebedee Fortman (2060) and Maurice Bock (2000) tied for second with 4-1 scores. Ed Baur and Thomas Rehmeier directed the 55-player event. This event was a qualifier for the upcoming Missouri Invitational Championship in September. Since Luther was already qualified as the reigning Missouri champion, Holliman qualified on tiebreak over the other two players. April 15, 2007: Article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Millionaire chess player plans moves to eliminate Missouri income tax, St. Louis earnings tax April 7, 2007: SwissTrilogy 1 results: (30 participants) Champions (Who were also in the U1600 group): Joseph Garnier, Matt Conway and Kyle Berry (6.5-2.5) 1600 and over winners: (and the only team over 1600) Steve Bange, Brad Schlosser and Tom Fleming (5-4) U1200 team winners: (Margaret Hua has a 3-0 score) William Tong, Luke Broadland and Margaret Hua (4-5) MHS (Maryland Heights Swiss) 1 is scheduled for May 5, 2007 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] March 31-April 1, 2007: The Region I Spring Open was won by Jim Voelker (2112), Steve Bange (1941), and Zebedee Fortman, Jr. (1917), all with 4-1 scores. There were 36 players under the direction of Ed Baur and John Wiedner, along with organizer Bill Wright. This event was a qualifier for the Missouri Invitational Championship in September. Jim Voelker had the lucky tiebreak and qualifies for that event. March 3, 2007: SwissZILLA 2 results: (22 participants) Champion: Doug Eckert (5) 2nd place: Jim McLaughlin, Waldo Odak (3.5) Class A: David Gilchrist (3.5) Class B: Herbert Vaughn (3.5) Class C: John Slattery (2) Class D: Ray Bennett (3) U1200: Mike Santschi (2) SwissTrilogy (a team event) is scheduled for April 7, 2007 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] February 3, 2007: SwissDual 1 results: (35 participants) CHARLES IS BACK. I so looked forward so the battle between Charles and Steve Saidi, due to Steve being undefeated in USCF rated tournament play (20 games so far), but this would not be the day. In any case, I applaud the play of the co-champions. Champions: Charles Lawton, Steve Saidi (4.5) Class A winner: Kevin Guo (4) Class B winner: Matt Barrett (4) Class C winners: Troy Krimminger, Henry Cao (3.5) Class D winner: Matt Angeli (3) U1200 winners: Tom Morrell, Ari Moskowitz, Margaret Hua (2) SwissZILLA 2 is scheduled for March 3, 2007 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] January 12-14,2007: The FIDE-rated invitational Kansas City Masters round robin was won by St. Louis master Loal Davis. Davis was the only player to go undefeated and finished with 4 out of 5 points. Thomas Gossell was second with 3.5. Ron Luther was third with 2.5. Tim Steiner as fourth with 2.0. Keneth Jones and William Orton finished with 1.5 Loal Davis received the First Place Plaque and $300.00 from TD Ken Fee. Reports, Games, Results, Pictures available at http://www.powerpawn.net January 6, 2007: SplitSwiss 1 results: (19 participants) Open Champion: Steve Bange (3) Class A winner: Justin Arnold (2) Class B winner: Kevin Cao (1.5) Reserve Champion: Henry Cao (2.5) Class D winner: Mike O’Neill (2) U1200 winners: Tom Morrell, Luke Broadland (1) SwissDual (so named because G/60 time controls are both regular and quick rated) is scheduled for February 3, 2007 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] December 16, 2006: MRD 2 (20 participants) 2 RD G/150 Champions: Kevin Dale Johnson and Behrooz Vakil (2) 3 RD, G/105 Champion: Steve Saidi (3) 3 RD, G/105 Runner-up: Brad Herbst (2.5) SplitSwiss 1 is scheduled for January 6, 2007 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] December 8-12, 2006: The USCF 2006 K-12/Collegiate Chess Championship was held in Florida. 1540 young chessplayers, representing 40 states, participated in this national championship! Missouri's own Kevin Cao (1700) tied for first/second in the 4th Grade Championship with a 6½-½ score. Kevin also tied for first, again with one other player, with a 10-2 score in the K-6 Blitz Championship. Congratulations Kevin! USCF Press Release December 2, 2006: SwissPoint 1 results: (30 participants) M-X-A Champion: GM Alejandro Ramirez (3) 1500-1799 Champion: Brad Schlosser (3) 1200-1499 Champion: Henry Cao (3) U1200 Champs: Jake Amann,Tom McGrath (2.5) MRD 2 is scheduled for December 16, 2006 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] 18-year-old GM Ramirez is from Costa Rica but going to school in Texas. He is the only GM from Central America. scores of Guo-Ramirez and Ramirez-Thomas pictures of GM Ramirez, director Al Howlett, and Stephanie Camille Klimczak November 18, 2006: MRD 1 (24 participants) 2 RD G/150 Champion: Steve Bange 3 RD, G/105 Champion: Bill E. Brooks 3 RD, G/105 2nd place: Kevin Guo SwissPoint 1 is scheduled for December 2, 2006 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] November 10, 2006: Mamun Rashid has compiled a list of the top 25 rated chessplayers in the St. Louis area, which I have posted here (in my Ratings section). Let me know if anybody has been left out, or if anybody shouldn't be on the list because they don't live in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Thanks Mamun! November 4, 2006: SwissAugment 1 (22 participants) Champion: Jim McLaughlin: (4) 2nd place: Jim Voelker, Kevin Dale Johnson, Steve Bange, Kevin Guo, Matt Barrett, Brad Schlosser: (3) Class C: Josh Morris, Henry Cao, Dan Tuttle (2) Class D: Matt Angeli (2) U1200: Tom McGrath, Luke Herbst (1) MRD 1 (Minimum Rating Difference pairings: 2 Rounds, G/150) is scheduled for November 18th, 2006. [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] October 7, 2006: SwissMadness 1 9SS G/29: (26 participants) Champion: Joseph Garnier (7.5) 2nd place: Kevin Guo (7) Class A: Dan Huff and Dwight Beasley (5.5) Class B: Steve Bange (6) Class C: Kevin Cao and William Tong (5) Class D: Henry Cao (4) U1200/unr: Quinton Mabins (5) Honorable Mention: Although there was no 3rd place prize, both Charles Lawton and Jim McLaughlin tied for 3rd with 6.5 points. Charles worked all night Friday and then came to the tournament. Jim was the only one to defeat Garnier who was otherwise on fire. SwissAugment 1 is scheduled for Nov 4, 2006 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] September 15-17, 2006: The 6-player Invitational Missouri Championship was won by NM Ron Luther (2230) with a 4-1 score. IM Michael Brooks (2439) also scored 4-1, but the tournament rules dictated that the title would not be split and that all the prize money would go to the winner on tiebreak. The St. Louis representative, Nick Karlow (1725), did very well considering how much lower rated he was than the rest of the players. The Invitational was part of a series of tournaments in which 162 players participated. The Open Section was won by Francis Crow (1767) with a 4½-½ score. See the KC Chess Club site for more information. September 15, 2006: NM Loal Davis chess lectures for October to December. More details. September 15, 2006: Jeff Vollmer is starting a CYC Chess League. More details. September 15, 2006: Joseph Garnier gives lessons to players under 1500. More details. September 9, 2006: Mathnasium Tourney II in St. Peters, Mo., was won by Kevin Johnson (2000) with a 3½-½ score. Kenneth Thomas (2170), Daniel Coryea (1827), and Brad Schlosser (1655) tied for second with 3-1 scores. 17 players participated, under the direction of Tim Nesham. September 5, 2006: Bob Jacobs is nominating Robert Steinmeyer for the Mo. Chess Hall of Fame. He has ample information about Mr. Steinmeyer's accomplishments in chess, but if anyone has any personal or family information about Mr. Steinmeyer please let us know. Sept 2, 2006: BrentSwiss 6 (37 participants) Champions: Steve Bange (4), ending the BrentSwiss series with a BANG! Alex Marler (4), winning against 2 experts in the process. Expert: Jim McLaughlin, Waldo Odak, Kevin Dale Johnson (2.5) Class C: Josh Morris, William Tong (2.5) Class D: John Slattery, Bob Luckey, Kyle Berry (1.5) U1200: Dale Jordan (2) SwissMadness 1 (9SS, G/29) is scheduled for Oct 7, 2006 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] August 12, 2006: the Mathnasium Tourney in St. Peters, Mo., was won by Kevin Cao (1683) with a 3½-½ score. Second place was shared by Thomas Rehmeier(1501) and Henry Cao (1415) with 3-1 scores. 14 players participated under the direction of Tim Nesham. August 5-13, 2006: The 2006 U.S. Open in Oak Brook IL (near Chicago) was won by GM Yury Shulman of IL, with an impressive 8-1 score. Rising local star Tony Cao (from across the river in IL) scored 7-2 to win $1200 in a 3-way split of the top 2000-2199 prize. Roger Smith and Ray Kurczynski scored 5-4 to tie for 4th-17th best 1600-1799. Top MO scorer was NM Loal Davis with a 6-3 score. Other MO players (from an entry in my Guestbook by Mamun Rashid) included Selden Trimble (1890), Derrick Bartotto (1494), Gary Schaeffer (1419), Russell Hammersmith (1181), Daniel Baker (513), and Blaine Russell (1051). Kevin Guo (1914) represented MO in the Denker Tournament of High School State Champions and finished 25th. I didn't check all the side events, so there may have been other successes there. August 5, 2006: BrentSwiss 5 (42 participants) SMALLWOOD DRAWS A 2500 AND SENDS HIM BACK TO IOWA WITH NO BOOTY! Champion: Jim McLaughlin (all the way to the bank) (4) Class A: Dan Huff (and puff and don’t take no stuff), James (Big Oak Tree) Smallwood (3.5) Class B: William (not Gates but) Brooks (3.5) Class C: Bradley (playing madly) Herbst (3) Class D: Ray (In it to win it) Bennett (2.5) U1200: Luke (I’m not a fluke) Herbst (2) BrentSwiss 6 is scheduled for September 2, 2006 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] August 2006: The current issue of Scientific American has an article about chess. July 15, 2006: The 2006 St. Charles Open (42 participants) 18 of 42 players cashed. Now that’s a lot of cheese spread all over the place. I’m having visions of a “Mousetrap Open”, but I’m sure they have pills for that. Champions: Waldo Odak, Behrooz Vakil, Brad Herbst (3.5) Class A: Steve Bange, Nate Swinger (3.0) Class B: Craig Hines; Dan Roberts, Kevin Cao (3) Class C: Bill Thompson, Kevin Power, Shan Siddiqi (2.5) Class D: Vikram Arun, Henry Cao, Philip Liu, Ray Bennett, Dan Tuttle, Vair Arunachalam (2) U1200: Sam Meyer (2) BrentSwiss 5 is scheduled for August 5, 2006 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] July 5, 2006: MCA election results Congratulations to Bill Wright, Ed Baur, and Tony Rich for being elected to the Missouri Chess Association Board of Directors from the St. Louis area. July 1, 2006: BrentSwiss4 (36 participants) Champion: Jim Davies (4) Class A: James Smallwood (3.5) Class B: Matt Barrett; Dan Roberts (3) Class C: Kevin Power, Shan Siddiqi (3) Class D: Henry Cao, Dan Tuttle (3) U1200: Matt Manley (2) The 2006 St. Charles Open is scheduled for July 15th [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] June-August 2006: National Master Loal Davis will be teaching chess classes this summer at St. Louis Community College (Meramec) and also in his home. I would highly recommend these. More information Jun 3, 2006: BrentSwiss3 (34 participants) Champion: Tony Song (4) Class A: Dwight Beasley (3.5) Class B: Alex Marler (3.5) Class C: Gary Howe (3) Class D: Dan Tuttle (2.5) U1200: Russ Hammersmith, Jake Amann (1.5) BrentSwiss4 is scheduled for July 1st, 2006 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] Tony Rich is running for the Board of Directors of the Missouri Chess Association. He explains why on his website StLChess.com I'm sure he'll do an excellent job if elected, and bring some new ideas to the table. May 15, 2006: Joseph Garnier points out the following local chess site: www.enpassantchessclub.com May 6, 2006: BrentSwiss2 (28 participants) Champion: Joseph Garnier (4) Class A: Steve Bange (2.5) Class B: Dennis Humphries (3.5) Class C: Kevin Cao, Josh Morris (3) Class D: Philip Liu, Dan Tuttle, Tom McNamara (2) U1200: Jared Barger (2.5) BrentSwiss3 is scheduled for June 3rd, 2006 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] June 12-16, 2006: Chess Camp at St. Ambrose April 29-30, 2006: The St. Louis Open was won by Nick Karlow (1625) with a 5-0 score. Nick's rating has gone up an incredible amount in his last two tournaments (see entry below): from 1498 to 1625 and now to 1754. I've never seen anything like that. Todd Plagemann (1954) and Dwight Beasley (1936) tied for second with 4½-½ scores. Steve Bange (1948) and George Elgin (1838) tied for fourth with 4-1 scores. 62 players competed under the auspices of Bill Wright, Ed Baur, and Tom Rehmeier. April 21-23, 2006: 2006 National High (K-12) Championship in Milwaukee K-12 Under 1500 section was won by Nick W. Karlow of Missouri with a perfect 7.0 score! In all there were 1423 players. USCF Press Release April 8, 2006: BrentSwiss1 (31 participants) Champion: Andy Witte (4) Class A: Steve Bange, Dwight Beasley (3) Class B: Mike Clark, Joseph Garnier, Dennis Humphries, Dan Roberts; Matt Barrett (3) Class C: Humberto Anorbes, Gary Howe (2.5) Class D: Philip Liu, Dan Tuttle (2) U1200: Kyle Berry (2.5) BrentSwiss2 is scheduled for May 6th, 2006 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] March 28, 2006: Today's Post-Dispatch had an article about the benefits of chess in school. [Thanks to Tony Rich for pointing this out] March 3-4, 2006: SwissZILLA! (31 participants) Champions: Jim McLaughlin, and Dwight Beasley (5) Class B: Matt Barrett (4.5) Class C: Darian Turner (4.5) Class D: Ray Bennett and Jeremy Crum (3) U1200: Matt Angeli (3) Unr: Ray Head (2) BrentSwiss1 is scheduled for April 8th, 2006 [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] February 19th, 2006: St Ambrose Parish Chess Club The Mardi Gras Tournament was won by Dennis Humphries (1738) and Alejandro del Castillo (1714) with 3½-½ scores. Farrel Hill (949) placed third with a 3-1 score. There were 13 players. February 11, 2006: QuickSwiss 1 was won by Charles Lawton (2363) and Tony Cao (1492) with 6-1 scores. James McLaughlin (2138) and Joseph Garnier (1392) tied for third with 5-2 scores. This marks the return of Charles Lawton to rated play (albeit Quick Rating) after something like 15 years. Welcome back Charles! 28 players participated under the direction of Al Howlett. January 15, 2006: The St. Ambrose January Open was won by Jeff Volmer (1259) with a 4-0 score. Bill Wright (1400), Dominick Freeman (unrated) and Quinn Volmer (600) tied for second with 3-1 scores. There were 12 players. January 2, 2006: Chess '06 in Columbia IL was won by David Long (2011) and Alex Marler (1630) with 2½-½ scores. Jennifer Laupp (1584) and Troy Krimminger (1523) tied for third with 2-0 scores. The Under 1500 Section was won by Henry Cao and Russell Day with 3-0 scores. 29 players competed. December 10, 2005: FloriSwiss 12 (22 participants) Champions: Jim Davies, Steve Bange, Joseph Garnier (3) Class C: Jennifer Laupp, Henry Cao, Kevin Cao (2) Class D: Josh Morris, William Tong (1.5) U1200: Nathaniel Noss, Dane Greer, James Alverson (1) SwissZILLA is scheduled for March 4-5, 2006. [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] November 7, 2005: I found that http://www.print.google.com/ has the text (or partial text) of a large number of chess books online. I just searched for "chess" then had to do some sort of free Google registration. November 5, 2005: FloriSwiss 11 (17 participants). 1st place: Steve Bange and Barry Wood Walker (3) Class B: Thomas Gaul, Dennis Humphries, Roger Smith (2) Class D: Kevin Power (2) U1200: Russ Hammersmith (2) FloriSwiss 12 is scheduled for December 10, 2005. This is the last scheduled Florissant tournament. After SwissZILLA in March, I plan for future tournaments to be held at the Brentwood Community Center, and appropriately titled the BrentSwiss series. These will consist of 4 rounds with a time control of game in 70. [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] October 1, 2005: FloriSwiss 10 (19 participants). 1st place: Bob Jacobs and Waldo Odak (3) Class A: Steve Bange (2.5) Class B: Dennis Humphries (2) Class C: Jason Clark and Kevin Y. Cao (2) Class D: Lou Sarmento (1) U1200: Philip Longfei Liu (1.5) FloriSwiss 11 is scheduled for November 5 2005. [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] September 17-18, 2005: The Missouri Open in St. Louis resulted in a seven-way tie for first place among Bob Holliman (2148), Jim McLaughlin (2146), Thomas Gossell (2200), Zeb Fortman III (2048), Panagiotis Massouros (1933), Kevin Guo (1870), and Jim Voelker (2159), all with 4-1 scores. Bob Holliman was awarded the Championship Plaque on tiebreak. Ed Baur directed. September 10, 2005: FloriSwiss 9 (19 participants). 1st place: Panagiotis Massouros, Kevin Cao (3) Class A: Steve Bange (2.5) Class B: Dennis Humphries (2.5) Class C: Brad Schlosser (2) Class D: Lou Sarmento (2) U1200: Philip Longfei Liu, Kyle Berry (1.5) FloriSwiss 10 is scheduled for October 1, 2005. [report by TD Albert D. Howlett] August 26-28, 2005: The U.S. Class Championships were held in Chesterfield, MO. Section champions: Master: Movses Movsisyan from Norman, Oklahoma scored 4.0 points. Expert: Sylvester Smarty of Broadview Hgts., Ohio and Jeremy M. Volkmann of St. Charles, Missouri tied with 4.0 points. Class A: Joshua Dubin of Buffalo Grove, Illinois finished with 4.5 points. Class B: Daniel M. Mc Nally from Niles, Illinois took first with 4.5 points. Class C: Brad A. Schlosser of Chesterfield, Missouri scored 4.5 points. Class D: John R. Boyer of Arnold, Missouri and Taylor Bailey of Portland, Oregon tied with 4.5 points. Class E: Michael W. Nelson from Glen Carbon, Illinois finished with 4.5 points. Unrated: Carlos Ortiz of O’Fallon, Missouri and Vairam Arunachalam of Columbia, Missouri tied with 4.0 points. USCF offers a huge thank you to all players and to Chief Tournament Director Walter M. Brown, Jr. and Assistant Tournament Director Grant Perks for running this event. [taken from the USCF website] August 6, 2005: FloriSwiss 8 (31 participants). 1st place: Jim McLaughlin, Jim Davies, Tony Song, Kevin Guo (3) Class B: James Smallwood, Cesario Rodriguez (2) Class C: Robert Metzmaker, Jr., Brad Schlosser, Steve Heizer (2) Class D: Lou Sarmento (2) <1200: Edward Li, Tim Doonan, James Alverson, Jared Barger (1) FloriSwiss 9 is scheduled for September 10, 2005. [report by TD Al D. Howlett] July 8, 2005: Joseph Garnier was the only winner against Grandmaster Maurice Ashley in a simultaneous exhibition at the Kirkwood Community Center. Article in the Belleville News-Democrat, which is to be complimented for being the only local newspaper to run a regular chess column. GM Ashley won the other 24 games. July 2, 2005: FloriSwiss 7 (27 participants). Cross Table: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200507029421 1st place: Steve Bange, Kevin Dale Johnson, Thomas Gaul and James Smallwood (2.5) Class A: Tony Song (2.5) Class C: Alex Vergilesov, Brad Schlosser, Gary Howe and Nathan McGregor (2) Class D: William Tong (2) <1200: Bob Luckey and Matt Manley (1.5) FloriSwiss 8 is scheduled for August 6, 2005. [report by TD Al Howlett] June 25-26, 2005: The top section of the Missouri Class Championships was won by Zebedee Fortman III. Results of all sections. The 54-player event was held in Columbia and directed by Harold Montgomery and Charlie Ward. June 13, 2005: Today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an article about Missouri High School champion Joseph Garnier. June 7, 2005: James Smallwood wins 'quick' event at St. Clair Chess Club. See this article in the Belleville News Democrat. June 4, 2005: FloriSwiss 6 (24 participants): Having gotten my feet wet directing half a dozen Swiss tournaments, I'm making the following changes effective immediately: 1) No more accelerated pairings, 2) $10 unrated entry fee, but ineligible for prizes. I'm also considering adding an >2000 prize and removing the 1st place prize. If decided, all 6 prizes will be of an equal amount. There have been 7 >2000 players at the past 2 events.... pending. 1st place: Bob Jacobs (3) Class A: Panagotis Massouros and Kevin Guo (2.5) Class B: Matt Conway, Matt Barrett, Alex Marler (2) Class C: Brad Schlosser (2) Class D: Henry Cao, Kevin Cao (2) <1200: Edward Li, Jared Barger, Sam Meyer, Tim Doonan (1) FloriSwiss 7 is scheduled for July 2, 2005 [report by TD Al Howlett] May 28, 2005: The World Junior Chess Champion, GM Hari Krishna Pendyala, gave a simultaneous exhibition at the Daniel Boone Branch of the St. Louis County Library. Details. May 14, 2005: FloriSwiss 5 (30 Participants) 1st Place: Bob Jacobs; Kevin Johnson; (3 points) 1st Class A: Kevin Guo (3 points) 1st Class B: Dennis Humphries; Jose Clarin; Matthew Conway (2 points) 1st Class C: Alex Marler (1.5 points) 1st Class D: Dan Tuttle; Brad Schlosser (2 points) 1st under 1200: Kevin Cao; Russ Hammersmith (2 points) There were several upsets, but I consider Brad Schlosser’s performance to be most impressive as he got draws against an Expert and an A player (thus going undefeated). I believe this time last year he was only rated 900 or so. Way to go Brad. FloriSwiss 6 is scheduled for June 4th 2005 even though it reads June 6th in Chess Life magazine. [report by TD Al D. Howlett] April 23-24, 2005: The St. Louis Open was won by NM Loal Davis with a 5-0 score. Class prizes were won by:
There were 62 entrants in this event by Ed Baur and Bill Wright. First prize was increased from the advertized $140 to $200 and each class prize from $70 to $100. April 16, 2005: FloriSwiss 4. 21 Participants. 1st Place: Bob Jacobs and Matt Barrett (3 Points) Class A: Adil Skuka (2 points) Class C: Dan Tuttle (1.5 points) Class D: Zach Samples (1.5 points) Under 1200: Russ Hammersmith and Jared Barger (2 points) FloriSwiss 5 is scheduled for May 14, 2005. [report by TD Al Howlett] April 5, 2005: New chess club in St. Louis, to replace the old club at the South Grand Coffee Company. Club director: Jeff Vollmer Soulard Chess Club Starting Tuesday, April 5, 6:30 PM When: Every Tuesday starting April 5th at 6:30 pm Event Description: Where: Nadine's in Soulard 1931 S. 12th St. St Louis, MO Phone Number: 436-3045 Will run small $3 tourney for interested players or can just play open play. Tourney will be game in 15 minutes with 3 or 4 rounds depending on number of players. Ultimately will establish club ratings and the winner of the tourney and the best scoring player in the bottom half of the club split the money each week. Will run a unrated tourney during Mardi Gras for Crewe of Caissa championship. Nadine's has a full menu and drinks. As weather gets better we can progress to their patio. March 28, 2005: Today's Post-Dispatch has a nice article about chess players at the St. Louis Bread Company in the University City Loop on Delmar. See article. March 26, 2005: FloriSwiss 3. 18 Participants. Use of accelerated pairings in the 2nd round draws scrutiny as some of the co-champs dodge fire. An explanation of USCF rule 28R is being investigated. This was twilight zone type stuff. 1st Place: Adil Skuka, James Smallwood, Henry Cao, Lou Sarmento, and Linwood Mason (2.5 points) Class C: Dan Tuttle (0 points, but the only class C player in attendance) Under 1200: Jared Barger (2 points) FloriSwiss 4 is scheduled for April 16, 2005. [report by director Al Howlett] March 5, 2005: The Gateway Open in Collinsville, IL, was won by Bob Holliman with a 3½-½ score. Second place was shared by Matthew Conway and Dritan Nerhati with 2½-1½ scores. The Under 1600 Section was won by Jose Clarin with a 4-0 score. Ken Fee directed the 23-player event. February 26, 2005: FloriSwiss 2. 19 Participants. In a field where none of the top 3 seeds cashed, it was Upset City. 1st Place: Wayde Stallmann (3 points) Class B: Dritan Nerhati (2 points) Class C: Dan Tuttle (1.5 points) Class D: 4 players tied with a point each Under 1200: John Bracamontes (1.5 points) FloriSwiss 3 is scheduled for February 26, 2005. Please note the following changes to future FloriSwiss tournaments that were made in order to accomodate the responses (of several dozen players) to my survey sent out 4 weeks ago. Entry Fee: from $30 to $25; Class Prize from $120 to $90; Reg.: 9:20 to 10:20; Rounds 10:30, 2, 5:30. [report by TD Al D. Howlett] February 16-March 2 and March 9-23, 2005: National Master Loal Davis will be teaching two chess courses (Beginning and Intermediate/Advanced) for the St. Louis Community College series for Continuing Education. The Beginning course goes from February 16th to March 2nd - three sessions, all on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 9:30. The classes will be held at Crestview Middle School. The Intermediate/Advanced course (mistakenly identified in the catalog as just Intermediate) will be from March 9th through March 23rd, also on Wednesday evenings at Crestview Middle School. For more details see the Continuing Education Catalog for the Spring of 2005 or contact loaldavis@yahoo.com. I highly recommend Loal as a teacher. January 29, 2005 FLORISWISS 1: Only a few braved the elements to attend the initial event, although there were a few “news” going on (pairing format, location, laptop, software, snow and ice on the roads, etc. 1st Place: Dritan Nerhati (3 points) Class C: Alex Marler Gary Howe, Jr. (2 points) Class D: Brad Schlosser (1.5 points) Under 1200: Doug Howe (.5 point) FLORISWISS 2 is scheduled for February 26, 2005 [report by TD Al Howlett] January 21-23, 2005: The St. Louis Chess Congress was won by Stanislav Smetankin (2543) of Minnesota with a 4½-½ score. Second place was shared by Andrew Karklins (2328) of Illinois, Bob Holliman (2115) of Missouri and young Tony Cao (2030) of Illinois, all with 4-1 scores. The Under 2000 Section was won by James E. Long (AR) with a 4½-½ score. The Under 1800 Section was won by Thomas J. Gaul (IA) with a 4½-½ score. The Under 1600 Section was won by Daniel O. Roberts (MO) and Nicholas Lynch (IN), both with 4½-½ scores. The Under 1400 Section was won by Jason M. Mayer (MO) with a 4½-½ score. The Under 1200 Section was won by Jack G. Heller (IL) with a 4½-½ score. The Under 1000 Section was won by Scott M Ripperda (IL) with a 5-0 score. November 13, 2004 FLORIQUAD X: 20 Participants. It took 10 cash prize tournaments for me to find out that most of these participants (those expressing an opinion anyway) would rather not have tie breaks (most emphatically the 3rd one, blitz). The general outcome has been the teenager trouncing the middle/older aged player. I think I was locked into tie break mode from the 9 years of directing unrated tournaments in Normandy where trophies were always the prize. In any case, there will no longer be any tie breaks used in FLORIQUAD series tournaments. The results were as follows: Bob Jacobs and Kevin Guo split the 1st quad prize with 2 points each. Gunnar Isaacson, Dritan Nerhati and Alex Marler split the 2nd quad prize with 2 points each. Ray Bennett won the 3rd quad with 2 points (Head to head tiebreak (now retired) over Dan Tuttle) Bob Luckey won the 4th quad with 2 points (Head to head tiebreak (now retired) over Quinton Mabins) Philip Liu won the 5th quad with the only 3 point score of the day (TIE BREAKS?, WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ TIE BREAKS!) The FLORIQUAD series has been discontinued. FLORISWISS 1 is scheduled for January 29, 2005. The new tournament site is the Florissant Church of Christ at 16460 New Halls Ferry, Florissant, MO 63031 (report by TD Al Howlett AL_Howlett@charter.net) October 29-31, 2004: Thomas Gossell tied for first with three GM's and one IM in the Governor's Cup in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He defeated GM Yury Shulman of NY in the first round! The biggest upset of the tournament. Winning $800 in prize money. NM Ken Jones of Missouri tied for 7th overall with a 3.0 score in a very tough field full of GM's, IM's, and NM's. Shared in top master honors and won $150 for his efforts. [report by Randy Merrell] September 18-19, 2004: The Missouri Open in Rolla was won by International Master Stanislav Kriventsov (2515) with a 4½-½ score. There was a six-place tie for second place (and Missouri Championship title as Kriventsov is not a Missouri resident) among: Jim Voelker (2155), Loal Davis (2208), Jim Ellis (2200), Bob Holliman (2109), Bob Jacobs (2106), and Waldo Odak (2069), all scoring 4-1. Jim Voelker was awarded the Championship Plaque on tiebreak. I *think* the following are the class winners, but please correct me if I'm wrong: Class A: Zebedee Fortman, 3½-1½ Class B: Joseph Garnier, 3½-1½ (beating two Experts) Class C: Alex Marler, 3-2 Class D: Gary Howe and Thomas Rehmeier, 2½-2½ Class E: Henry Cao, 3-2 U1000: Bryan Brenner, 3-2 Unrated: John Herbst and Zachariah Koehler, 2-3 The 60-player event was ably organized by Selden Trimble and directed by Harold Montgomery. September 11, 2004 FLORIQUAD IX: 22 Participants. We shared a moment of silence to remember the tragedy of three years ago. We also reflected on freedoms that we have, one of which is playing a game that many have come to love. Chess has a war and peace of its own. Panagiotis Massourros went 3-0 to take the 1st quad. Joseph Garnier went 2-0-1 to take the 2nd quad. James Neal went 2-0-1 to take the 3rd quad. Mark Kieffer went 2-1 to take the 4th quad. Quinton Mabins went 3-0 to take the 5th section. FLORIQUAD X is scheduled for November 13, 2004 [report by TD Al Howlett] August 10, 2004: Steve Randoll and I dropped by the St. Louis Bread Company on Delmar in the U City Loop where I lost a couple 5-minute games to Charles Lawton. Other players who frequent the Loop include Julio Santiago and Pan Massouros. Picture courtesy of Joseph Garnier, who also sent pictures of Jeremy Volkmann, Tony Cao, Steve Bange and David Cole and Kenneth Wendling. More pictures of local players. July 17, 2004 FLORIQUAD IIX: 28 Participants: The top 3 quads came down to blitz games. Steve Saidi won a blitz tiebreak over Joseph Garnier to claim top quad honors. Mike Kummer likewise won a blitz tiebreak over Joe Regenbogen to take the 2nd quad. Alex Marler won yet another blitz tiebreak over Ken Wendling to take the 3rd quad. Gary Howe, Jr. had a perfect 3-0 score as the low seed to stun the 4th quad. Jack Regenbogen had a perfect 3-0 showing as well to crush the 5th quad. Brad Schlosser was 3-0 as the low seed for the second time in a row taking the 6th quad. Quinton Mabins simply dominated the 7th quad with a perfect 3-0 mark. FLORIQUAD IX is scheduled for September 11, 2004. [report by TD Al Howlett] June 19-20, 2004: New Missouri Class Champions: Master/Expert: Thomas Gossell (2051) won this section with a 4½-½ score, beating the two masters (Ron Luther and Jim Ellis) who participated. Class A: Zebedee Fortman and Chris Pitts, 4½-½ Class B: Ed Irish, 4½-½ Class C: Nathaniel Fast, 5-0 Class D: Troy Wolz, 4-1 Class E-F: Luke Ruggles, 5-0 May 22, 2004: FLORIQUAD VII: 14 participants: Alex Vergilesov won the top Quad with 3 points. Dan Tuttle won the 2nd Quad with 2.5 points. Brad Schlosser won the 3rd section with 3 points. Dave Atchley won 2nd in the 3rd section with 2 points. FLORIQUAD IIX is scheduled for July 17, 2004 [report by TD Al Howlett] May 8, 2004: The Collinsville (IL) May Swiss was won by Panagiotis Massouros (1898) with a 3-0 score. Four players tied for first in the Reserve Section with 2½-½ scores: Craig Butler (1522), Alexander Vergilesov (1482), John Boyer (1195), and Dritan Nerhati (unrated). Paul Holland directed. April 24-25, 2004: Eight (!) players tied for first in the St. Louis Open, held at the Kirkwood Community Center. Jim Voelker (2154), Bob Jacobs (2100), Waldo Odak (2060), Herman Chiu (2038), Adil Skuka (1934), Tony Cao (1912), Panagiotis Massouros (1898), and Selden Trimble (1896) all scored 4-1, splitting first, expert and "A" prizes. The "B" prize was won by Dennis Humphries with a 3½-1½ score. The "C" prize was shared by Richard Pope, John Hyde, and Bill Thompson with 3-2 scores. The "D" prize was shared by Derrick Bartotto, Gary Howe, and Thomas Reihmeier, all with 3 points. The "E" prize was shared by Lou Sarmiento and Brad Herbst, also with 3-2 scores. The "F" prize was shared by Blaine Russell, Emily Thompson, and James Alverson with 1-4 scores. The Unrated prize was won by Dritan Nerhati with a 3-2 score. 55 players participated under the auspices of Ed Baur and Bill Wright. March 20, 2004: FLORIQUAD VI: 17 participants: Bob Jacobs dominated the top Quad going 3-0. X's and M's come forth. Robert Hillard went 3-0 and was the lowest rated player in the 2nd Quad. Nathan Swinger went 2-1, recovering from an early loss to win the 3rd quad. Linwood Mason went 3-0 in his first tournament, to win the 4th section. FLORIQUAD VII is scheduled for May 22, 2004 [report by Al Howlett] March 13, 2004: The 2nd Annual Mark Oestreich Memorial Tournament was won by Jim Davies (2005) and Richard Martin III (1955) with 3-0 scores. 17 players competed in the Salem, Illinois, event. For upcoming events on the Illinois side of the river, see House of Chess. February 21, 2004: the Open Section of the Collinsville (IL) February Swiss was won by Grigoriy Kapranov (2014) with a 3-0 score. Waldo Odak (2064) and Steven Miller (2052) tied for second with 2½-½ scores. The Reserve Section was won by Joseph Garnier (1511) and Craig Butler (1471) with 3-0 scores. See The House of Chess for more details and upcoming events. January 31, 2004: FLORIQUAD V 17 participants: Steve Bange (1998: 3-0) Banged up the competition in the 1st Quad. Joseph Garnier (1511: 2-1) Garnished the prize fund in the 2nd Quad. Nathan Swinger (1323: 3-0) Hit every pitch to take the 3rd Quad. Tom Jonas (1083: 2.5-.5) Had a whale of a showing to drown his section. FLORIQUAD VI is scheduled for March 20th [report by director Al Howlett] January 23-25, 2004: The Open Section of the St. Louis Chess Congress was won by GM Dashzeveg Sharavdorj (from Mongolia), IM Mike Brooks (Kansas City), and Jake Kleiman (2264) from Tennessee, all with 4-1 scores. Ron Luther (2216) and Clark Harmon (2206) tied for 4th-5th with 3½-1½ scores. The Under 2200 Section was won by Sedrick Purdue and Thomas Gossell with 4-1 scores. The Under 2000 Section was won by Tony Song with a 4½-½ score. The Under 1800 Section was won by Josito Dondon and Wayde Stallmann with 4½-½ scores. The Under 1600 Section was won by Chris Fieber, Luke Kappas, Francis Crow, Joseph Garnier, and August Piper, all with 4-1 scores. The Under 1400 Section was won by Lawrence Figg with a 4½-½ score. See Crosstables December 23, 2003: Two questions I get asked a lot are (1) Do you know someone who gives chess lessons? Answer: National Master Loal Davis (2) Do you know someone who sells chess equipment? Answer: Bill Wright (314-822-5334) or Al D. Howlett (314-387-5127) December 19, 2003: The New York Times has an article on the National Scholastic Champtionships in Chicago. [free registration required] November 22, 2003: FLORIQUAD 4: 15 entrants at 9:45 ... ok, I'll wait ... 15 entrants at 10 am ... ok I'll play. As a TD, he only thing that I'd rather not do than play in my own tournament, is to have someone not be able to play 3 games due to there being an odd number of entrants. Having said that, there were 16 of us and the results were: Al Howlett (1778: 3-0), Graydon Stephens (1518: 2-1), Joe Garnier (1340: 3-0) and Dan Ladd (unr: 3-0). FLORIQUAD 5 is scheduled for January 31st [Report by director Al Howlett] November 21, 2003: Man vs. Computer: Still a Match by syndicated author Charles Krauthammer November 15, 2003: the open section of the Collinsville (IL) November Swiss was won by young Tony Cao (1816) with two wins and a draw against the redoubtable Andy Witte (2170). The reserve section was won by Craig Butler (1454) and Paul Holland (1429) with 3-0 scores. Both events were organized by Paul Holland. See The House of Chess for more details and upcoming events. October 11, 2003: The St. Louis Fall Open was held at the Brentwood Community Center. With 34 participants, it was smaller than usual, but some great chess was played none the less. First place was shared between Doug Eckert (2267) and Grigoriy Kapranov (unrated, but 2234 unofficially), with 4/4 scores. Expert and Class prizes were awarded as well. The expert prize went to Bob Jacobs (2100), with 3.5/4. Class A prize was taken by Zebedee Fortman III (1896), with 3 out of 4 points, and the class B prize went to Jose Clarin (1719), with 3/4. Class C and D were won by Adonis Reddick (1475) and Joseph Garnier (1340), respectively, each with 3 points. Class E was a tie between Charles Manley (1153) and Alex Marler (1126) with 1.5 each. Since Grigoriy Kapranov tied for first overall, he wasn't eligible for the under 1000/unrated prize. Instead, Roy Kerns (unr) was awarded this prize. The tournament was directed by Tony Rich. Please check out http://www.wayde.com/Calendar.htm for more tournaments to come! [report by Tony Rich] October 4, 2003: The St. Louis County Quads. Quad 1 was won by Steven Bange (2005) and Jeremy Volkmann (1794) with 2-1 scores. Quad 2 was won by Behrooz Vakil (1751) with a 3-0 score. Quad 3 was won by Joseph Garnier (1340) with a 3-0 score. Quad 4 was won by Alexander Vergilesov (1140) with a 2½-½ score. David Cole directed. September 27, 2003: FLORIQUAD 3: Late start, then smooth as silk. There were 18 participants and the results were as follows: Top Quad honors went to Bob Jacobs (2100) with 2.5 points. The 2nd quad was won by Jon Winick (1604) with 3 points. The 3rd quad was won by Joseph Garnier (1309) with 2.5 points. The 4th section (6 players) was won by Jack Regenbogen (1211) with 3 points; with 2nd place going to Alex Vergilesov (1140) with 2 points. FLORIQUAD 4 is scheduled for November 22nd. [Report by director Al Howlett] September 6-7, 2003: The very strong Missouri Open in Rolla was won by GM Pavel Blatny (2561) with a 4½-½ score. There was a eleven-place tie for second place (and Missouri Championship title as Blatny is not a Missouri resident) among: Ken Jones (2337), IM Michael Brooks (2490), Pavel Bereza (2279), Doug Eckert (2267), Loal Davis (2232), Ron Luther (2200), Jim Ellis (2200), Bob Holliman (2152), Waldo Odak (2060), Thomas Gossell (1997), and young Tony Cao (1769), all scoring 4-1. Ken Jones was awarded the Championship Plaque on tiebreak over the others. Randy Merrell posted some pictures from the event: pix And so did Tony Rich: more pix Randy Merrell and Selden Trimble did a great job directing/organizing, as usual. IM Michael Brooks was this year's inductee into the Missouri Chess Hall of Fame. He is a most-deserving recipient of this honor and received a handsome plaque and some kind words from Ron Luther. August 3-15, 2003: Randy Merrell reports on Thomas Gossell's excellent result at the Denker Tournament of High School Champions, held concurrently in Los Angeles with the US Open: "Thomas Gossell finished 9th out of 38 State High School Champions playing in the Denker scholastic invitational tournament. With draws against two masters including the highest rated player in the tournament! I'd say he represented Missouri very well." Crosstable The August 2003 issue of Smithsonian magazine includes a nice eight-page article about America's "Chess Queen," 22-year-old Jennifer Shahade. Author Paul Hoffman describes her as "the strongest American-born woman chess player ever." July 22, 2003: Mostly about music, but this St. Louis Post-Dispatch article mentions U City Loop chess activity. July 19, 2003: FLORIQUAD 2 went quite well. The winners of the 5 sections were: Kevin Guo (1576) who defeated 2 class A players on his way to a 3-0 score; Graydon Stevens (1458) went 3-0. He thought so hard that I think he forgot his shirt; James Neal (1350) from Iowa, won a close blitz tie-breaker with Dan Tuttle to cash; Spencer Neal (1209) from Iowa, matched his brothers effort with some cash of his own; Alex Marler (997) went 3-0 after going 0-4 just last week. WHAT A COMEBACK!!! Crosstable at the MCA site. FLORIQUAD 3 is scheduled for Sept. 27th. (Report by director Al Howlett.) July 15, 2003: The U City Loop chess scene has been getting a lot of coverage lately. Here's an article published in various suburban papers. There's even a picture of Julio Santiago. July 12, 2003: the St. Louis Summer Open was won by Doug Eckert (2270) and Panagiotis Massouros (1906), both with 4-0 scores. For complete results see the crosstable at the MCA site. Ronnie Luther suffered an upset by a local player: Howlett-Luther [annotated by Al Howlett] July 10, 2003: The Wall St. Journal has an article, "For Aging Knights of College Chess, Endgame is Near." Covers the scandal of grandmasters in their 30s and 40s who are apparently registered as students (with full tuition and stipends) just to play on university chess teams. Thanks to Bob Jacobs for pointing out this article. July 7, 2003: GM Maurice Ashley lecture at Kirkwood Public Library. July 6, 2003: GM Maurice Ashley simul at Kirkwood Community Center. Details June 28-29, 2003: Ron Luther (2210) won the Expert/Master section of the Missouri Class Championship with a 4-1 score. Pavel Bereza (2283) was second with 3½-1½. 13-year-old Deepyaman Datta (1999) played up to the top section and went undefeated against the top five players: draw with Jim Ellis (2200), win versus Jim Voelker (2160), draw with Steven Miller (2063), draw with Ron Luther, draw with Pavel Bereza. Charlie Ward directed. Crosstables for all sections at the MCA website. Here are some pictures from the tournament, courtesy of Randy Merrell. May 23-26, 2003: Loal Davis (2237) had a hell of a first round at the Chicago Open, beating GM Alex Yermolinsky (2622). Other Missouri players included Jim McLaughlin (2287), Steven Craig Miller (2111), Adil Skuka (1967) and Ronnie Luther (2241). Tony Rich tied for second in the Under-1600 Section. May 10, 2003: The three sections of FLORIQUAD I were won by Behrooz Vakil, Joseph Garnier, and Marcus Rumbers. Al Howlett directed, and a good time was had by all. Al is hoping that the July, Sept and Nov Quad's will go as smoothly. May 3-4, 2003: The St. Louis Open was won by Loal Davis (2237) with a 4½-½ score. Doug Eckert (2270), Jim Voelker (2158), Waldo Odak (2053), Cesario Rodriquez (1725) and Jeremy Volkmann (1708) tied for second with 4-1 scores. Ed Baur and Bill Wright directed. There were 54 players. April 23, 2003: I stopped by the Wednesday night chess club at the Excelsior Club Restaurant at 255 Union (near Lindell). Julio Santiago beat me a couple games of 5-minute and also told me a lot of chess players have been meeting at the St. Louis Bread Company in the U City Loop. With the return of warm weather we should soon see people playing outdoors on the tables in the Loop. March 22, 2003: St. Louis Spring Open was a success. Held at the Brentwood Community Center, this tournament was reminiscent of Wayde Stallman's tournaments of the past. It was a four round, G/70 tournament that drew a whopping 53 players. Competition was tough and the final standings had some surprises. First overall was a tie between Doug Eckert (2264) and Todd Plagemann (1928) with a perfect score. Todd managed to defeat Ron Luther (2230) in the last round to secure his tournament victory. The expert prize was split between the only two experts in attendance, Steven Miller (2111) and Steve Bange (2010) with 3 points each. Since Todd Plagemann was eligible for the overall prize, he wasn't eligible for the Class A prize. Accordingly, this prize went to the young up-and-comer Deepyman Datta (1944) with 3.5 points. First B prize was split four ways between Al Howlett (1736), Jose Clarin (1726), Darius Mashuhud (1679), and James Smallwood (1607), each with 3 points. Again, with 3 points each, the class C prize was split between Kevin Guo (1523) and Bill Thompson (1501). The D and E prizes were won outright with 3 points each by Nathanial Fast(1382) and Ray Song (1015), respectively. Finally, the U1000/UNR section was split four ways by Ian Wanda (949), Paul Bass (893), Brian O'Heron (UNR), and Adonis Reddick (UNR), each with 2 points. For a change of pace, there was a brilliancy prize awarded at this tournament. Players who wanted to be considered for this prize of $50 turned their score sheets in. A panel of players will go over the games and determine the one most deserving. Check back for the winner's name! [report by Tony Rich] March 2, 2003: Pictures from the 2003 Missouri High School Championship, courtesy of Randy Merrell. Results, from the Gateway Chess League site. February 6, 2003: Today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a lengthy article, "One-on-one competition draws students to chess clubs: About 200 students from 36 schools match wits in weekend tourney." See article. January 3, 2003: The Chess '03 tournament in Columbia IL was won by Steve Bange (2010) with a 3-0 score. Second place was taken by Colin Stapzynski (1949) with a 2½-½ score. Eight players scored 2-1: Brad Schmidt (1848), Keqin Gu (1899), Kyle Miles (1769), David Velloff (1884), Steve Landrum (1858), Jim Davies (2028), Troy Krimminger (1040), and David Long (1847). There were 21 players in the Open Section, under the direction of Bill Merrell. Russell Day organized the event. December 15, 2002: The St. Louis Winter Open was won by David Long (1851), Daniel Coryea (1847) and Tony Song (1804), all with 3½-½ scores. The Expert prize was won by Robert Jacobs (3-1). The Class B prize was won by Dennis Brown (2½-1½). The Class C prize was won by Tony Cao (3-1). The Class D prize was won by Todd Hedges (2½-1½). The Class E prize was won by Raymond Song (2-2). The Under 1000 prize was won by Sam Naji (2-2). Directors were Tom Rohrbaugh, Wayde Stallmann and Tony Rich. December 14, 2002: The Santa Claus Open in Farmington MO was won by Anthony Burich (1500) with a 4-0 score. There was a 3-way tie for second place by Jim Staudt (1836), Lou Sarmento (988) and Brian O'Heron (UNR), all with 3-1 scores. There were 12 players in all. October 9, 2002: The St. Louis Chess Club will celebrate its reopening at a new location with a lecture by National Master Loal Davis. The topic of this lecture is "Tarrasch, Tempo, & Tactics." To participate, a nominal fee of $5 will be charged. This is to cover Mr. Davis' transportation, and to contribute to club funds. These funds are used to purchase new boards, sets, clocks, and the like. Anyone is welcome to attend. We will be having open play from 6-7pm, the lecture from 7-8 or 8:30pm, and then open play again until 11pm. This will be for the first night (October 9th). Every Wednesday thereafter will be open play from 6pm till 11pm. The new location is at West End City Apartments, located at 245-275 Union Blvd. between Lindell and Pershing, just a few blocks from Kingshighway. This building has a library that they have generously donated for our use every Wednesday night, from 6pm to 11pm. All club members will be asked to sign in and out of the apartment building (it is a private building). Directions: Highway 40 to Kingshighway North. Take Kingshighway about six blocks to West Pine. Turn Left onto West Pine and follow it one block to where it dead ends at Lindell. Turn Left onto Lindell and follow two blocks to Union Blvd. Turn right. West End City Apartments will be visible immediately on the left. Park along Union Blvd. or Pershing Ave. (the next cross street). Enter through the front desk entrance (green awning). For further information about the club, feel free to call Tony Rich at (314) 359-1209. For more information about directions, please call Ryan Kiwala at 477-4944. October 5, 2002: The St. Louis County Quads in Brentwood consisted of seven four-player sections. The quad winners were Fred Sadoogi, David Long, James Lee Smallwood, Paul Holland, Alan Pruce, Todd Wollmann and Krishna Vemula. David Cole directed. September 14-15, 2002: The new Missouri Champion is Life Master Ron Luther (2234) of Kansas City, who won the Missouri Open in Rolla with an impressive 4½-½ score. This is the fifth time Ron has won the state title. There were ten (!) players tied for second with 4-1 scores: Pavel Bereza (2300), Jim McLaughlin (2300), Jim Voelker (2181), Bob Jacobs (2119), Steve Miller (2119), Bob Holliman (2109), Waldo Odak (2045), Tom Gossell (1967), Panagiotis Massouros (1891) and Tony Song (1747). The 73-player tournament was organized by Selden Trimble and ably directed by Harold Montgomery. A special event in conjuction with the tournament was the Third Annual Induction into the Missouri Chess Hall of Fame. The honoree this year is Life Master and International Correspondence Master Bob Jacobs. Based on his correspondence and over-the-board accomplishments, a more deserving recipient could not be imagined. Pictures courtesy of Randy Merrell. August 22, 2002: The University City Loop seems to be the place for outdoor chess. Julio Santiago tells me that there are almost always people playing in the late afternoon to late evening, i.e., 6 to midnight. While there are people there every day, Friday evenings, Saturday afternoons, and Saturday evenings have the best turnout. The range of players varies from beginner to Charles Lawton (2363). August 7, 2002: Tom Rohrbaugh tells me that the Wednesday evening chess club at the Barnes & Noble on Watson across from Crestwood Plaza will not be holding meetings for about six weeks while the meeting room is being renovated. He suggests going to the South Grand Coffee House (3183 South Grand Avenue) on Tuesday evenings instead. July 20, 2002: The St. Louis Summer Open was won by Waldo Odak (2033) with a 3-0 score. The Expert prize was shared by Aaron Dubin (2052) and Jim Davies (2012) with 2½-½ scores. The Under 2000 prize was shared by Stephen Landrum (1902) and Shan Siddiqi (1294). The Reserve Section was won by Jose Clarin (1725), Alexander Gorodinsky (unr), Vernon Smith (1609) and Nathan McGregor (1336), all with 3-0 scores. The Class C prize was shared by James Hodge (1467), Charles Marshall (1444) and James Smallwood (1420) with 2-1 scores. The Under 1200 prize was shared by Ari Bai (1191) and Sandeep Kini (1121), with 1½-1½ scores. The Brentwood event was directed by Tom Rohrbaugh, with the assistance of Wayde Stallmann, Bill Wright and David Cole. July 8, 2002: Grandmaster Maurice Ashley gave a simultaneous exhibition at the Brentwood Community Center. The Grandmaster only lost two games. One was to Paul Holland; I don't know who the other winner was. Pictures. The event was sponsored by the Missouri Chess Association. July 3, 2002: Ed Baur, Bill Wright and Loal Davis were elected Directors of the Missouri Chess Association for the St. Louis region. June 29, 2002: The Edwardsville (IL) E.H.S. Swiss was won by Steven Miller (2147) and Todd Plagemann (1935), both with 2½-½ scores. There were 12 players in the Open Section. The 24-player Reserve Section was won by Jeremy Volkmann (1294) and Roger Schmidt (1242), both 3-0. Paul Holland directed. See House of Chess under "Tournament Results" for crosstables. June 22-23, 2002: 12-year-old Deepyaman Datta (1833) of Kansas made a good choice in playing up in the Expert/Master Section of the Missouri Class Championships, since his 4-1 score won the top section! A full-point bye was followed by a win against Doug Eckert (2298), draw with Neil Fox (2280), win against Pavel Bereza (2300), and a draw with Jim Voelker (2188). Tied for second were Bereza and Voelker with 3½-1½, Bereza winning the trophy for best Missouri resident on tiebreak. It was a wild section, with four of the five masters losing the first round. Tony Song (1699) played up to win the Class A section with a 3-1 score. Ed Irish and Dave Wolz tied for first in the Class B section with 3-1 scores, Ed winning the trophy as a Missouri resident. Kevin Guo (1370, playing up) and Ed Baur tied for first in the Class C section, Kevin winning the trophy on tiebreak. John Koonce won the Class D section with a 4-1 score. Troy Wolz and Alex Richardson won the Class E section with 4-1 scores, Troy getting the trophy as a Missouri resident. Caleb Huff and Brian Hidaka tied for first in the Class F section with 3-0 scores, Caleb getting the trophy as a Missouri resident. Clifton Ricana won the Unrated section with a 4-1 score. Charlie Ward directed in his usual excellent style. May 9-12, 2002: A number of Missouri players did well in the 2002 National Junior High School Championship, held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. An outstanding result was turned in by Thomas Gossell (1936), who came in second place overall in the K-8 Championship Section. Thanks to Randy Merrell for emailing me about this. May 4-5, 2002: The St. Louis Open was won by Doug Eckert (2298) with a 4½-½ score. Doug's only draw was with Adil Skuka (1960). The Expert prize was shared by Waldo Odak, David Cole and Jim Voelker, all with 4-1. The Class A prize was won by Adil Skuka with a 4-1 score. The Class B prize was shared by Al Howlett and Tony Song with 3½-1½ scores. Tony's result was particularly good as he beat an Expert, drew another Expert, and lost only to Voelker. The Class C prize was won by Dan Roberts with a 4-1 score. The Class D prize was won by Justin Grimes, also with 4 points. The Class E prize was won by Dan Mayo with 3 points. The Class F prize was won by Ellis Smith with a 3-2 score. The Unrated prize was shared by Nicholas Vanderslice and Thomas Rehmeier with 2 points each. There were 59 players under the able direction of Ed Baur. The tournament was organized by Bill Wright, and David Cole assisted with registration. April 8, 2002: The initial meeting of the O'Fallon MO Chess Club will take place from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Middendorf-Kredell Branch Library, 2750 Hwy K in O'Fallon. After this first meeting the club will meet on the first Monday of each month. For more information contact: Dennis L. Brown (636) 978-8438 270 Waterford Crystal Drive O'Fallon, MO 63366 Chesskingslayer@aol.com March 23, 2002: 44 players participated in 11 sections in the Brentwood Super Saturday Quads. The top quad was won by Doug Eckert (2278) with a 3-0 score. Jim Voelker (2178) scored 2-1, Bob Jacobs (2121) 1-2 and Jim Ellis (2200) 0-3. The winners of the other sections were Keqin Gu, Roger Smith, Tony Song, Daniel Roberts, John Walker, John Slattery, Alan Pruce, Bryan Gerdes, Nathaniel Fast, and Joseph Garnier. Of particular note, Tony Song has played in the 3 quads that have been organized since June, and has scored 3-0 each time. The event at the Brentwood Community Center was directed and organized by David A. Cole. William H. Wright assisted. March 2, 2002: The Mizzou Open was won by Doug Eckert (2278), Ron Luther (2222), Neil Fox (2100) and Aaron Dubin (2044), all with 2½-½ scores. Barry Walker (1548) won the Reserve section with a 3-0 score. A total of 25 players competed in the Columbia, MO tournaments, under the direction of Charles Ward. March 2, 2002: The Edwardsville EHS Open was won by Richard Martin III (1941) and David Long (1824) with 2½-½ scores. The Reserve section was won by James Smallwood (1348), Mark Wright (1303) and Todd Wollmann (543), also all with 2½-½ scores. There were 27 players in the two Illinois events, under the direction of Paul Holland. February 28-March 3, 2002: The only Missouri players in the extremely strong U.S. Masters Tournament in Oak Park, Illinois, were Loal Davis (2252) and Jim Voelker (2178), who finished well down in the pack. Of course with 15 GMs and 14 IMs that's not hard to do. |
