By Matt Barrett

The Arch Bishops are RUTHLESS! The Bishops went Snake hunting in Carolina country, and caught a Cobra! IM Priyadharshan Kannappan, current leader in the League MVP race, displayed his immense calculation skill with a nice finish against FM Kassa Korley. IM Leon Bregadze enforced his will with an unstoppable pawn roller versus FM Ron Simpson. GM Ben Finegold played an insane game against IM Jonathan Schroer. Be sure to check the game with your chess engine just to watch the machine lose its mind!

The Arch Bishops are currently in 2nd place in the Western Division. Not only is the team destined for playoff glory, but this season represents the best results for the team in league history! 

Week 6: Saint Louis Arch Bishops vs. New Jersey Knockouts

by Matt Barrett

IM Priyadharshan Kannappan continued his USCL dominance on Tuesday night against New Jersey, this time taking out three-time U.S. Champion GM Joel Benjamin (and with the black pieces, no less!) The rest of the team cemented the victory with some big wins of their own. IM Levan Bregadze noticed that his opponent, the veteran IM Kapengut had migrated all of his pieces to the queenside and saw an opportunity to sacrifice with Nf5! The result was a completely exposed Black King on the naked g and h files. The Black pieces were cut off from support and Kapengut was forced to resign in the face of impending mate.

It was a familiarly humble Ben Finegold who had observed in advance of the match that he was "the only player on the team who had any chance of losing". After establishing an advantage and a comfortable game against GM Alex Stripunsky, Ben simplified and settled for an easy draw to await the results of the other games. While we were watching the remaining encounters, Matt Larson played a surprising and obviously unsound Knight sacrifice. We discussed the question of how easy it would turn out to be to find the moves White needed to defend and there was little question that White was simply winning. Nevertheless, Matt had seen that his opponent had much the worse of the clock situation, with under 20 minutes to find ways to consolidate his vulnerable King, and gambled that the sacrifice might be difficult to figure out under pressure at the board. Nobody was optimistic until White tried the equally stunning h4??, which altered Stockfish analysis from White up 3.00 to Black up 5.00. Generally a swing of this kind would be unheard of, but in a complicated tactical position (and especially under time pressure) anything is possible. At that point it became clear that the Arch Bishops would win the match, especially given that Kannappan had 40 minutes to Benjamin's 1 or 2 minutes in a roughly equal position and that Bregadze was similarly solid in his game.

Kannappan has been on quite a roll recently. In his last four encounters with Grandmasters, he is 4-0, including 3 wins in the USCL! If these were all rated encounters, they would represent a ridiculous 2900+ performance rating for a player who was virtually unknown in the United States until his arrival at Lindenwood University this Fall. Overall, Kannappan has scored 5.5/6 in the USCL and is clearly the runaway frontrunner for league MVP honors. I can't think of a better city for a new international chess player to come to than Saint Louis. As Priyadharshan himself said "Coming to Saint Louis has been the best thing for my professional and academic careers. It is a great city for chess."

As it turns out, the rating difference between East and West was not the determining factor in the result of the match. When the games have to be played at the board it is often the will to win that scores the point. Despite being out-rated by 100 points on Board 1, 200 points on Board 2, and almost 200 points on Board 4, Saint Louis won this match going away. Prior to the season, predicting that Matt Larson (listed at 1918) would have 2 wins over players 2100 and 2200+ might have sounded unlikely. That Saint Louis would be able to outperform some of its higher-rated editions from previous seasons should have seemed more than overly optimistic. To everyone's surprise, the team has the best record in its history, has an MVP-caliber performance from its new IM superstar, and sits in a solid position at 2nd place in the West.

The Saint Louis Arch Bishops started week eight of the U.S. Chess League in second place in the Western Division, 1.5 points behind leader Dallas. While they couldn't catch the first place team this week, things are certainly heating up at the right time with the playoffs approaching. After winning 3-1 versus the Los Angeles Vibe, and in light of Dallas' defeat this week, the Arch Bishops sit at 5.5-2.5, just a half game out of first with two matches to play. The critical meeting will be the final regular season tilt with Dallas, which will in all likelihood decide the seeds for the playoffs. Saint Louis is in prime position to make the USCL playoffs for the first time and to challenge Dallas for the regular season division championship.

Board four was decided most quickly, where Matt Larson fell to FM Eugene Yanayt. As usual, Larson was up on his opening theory, managing to keep the game in theory (against an opponent rated 300 points above him!) until move 19. It is really on move 23, when black centralizes his bishop pair, that the advantage becomes obvious for black. With his king under pressure, Larson found himself in trouble after 24.Nd3 h3! where there is no defence.

On board two, it was much the same for IM Priyadharshan Kannappan, who has iced the regular season League MVP award with 7.5 points in 8 games! After taking a huge space advantage in the opening, Kannappan traded and used his control of the c-file and the center to push home the victory and give the Arch Bishops a 1-1 tie at that time.

IM Levan Bregadze continued his brilliant USCL play this week. He is currently number two in MVP points behind teammate and fellow Lindenwood star Kannappan. Bregadze once again played a nice game for the Arch Bishops on board three, this time matched against Kostya Kavutskiy, who was in Saint Louis last week with teammate IM Zhanibek Amanov for the Spice Cup Open 2012. He gained the Bishop pair on move 14, grabbed a key positional advantage after 19.Bg5 with Qd3, encouraging a queen trade and seizing initiative inside the white camp. With white's pieces stuck in defensive roles, Bregadze uncorked a dandy exchange sacrifice with 29. ... Rxd2! after which opponent Kavutskiy played on valiantly, but to no avail. The black pawns posed a big threat on the queenside and Kavutskiy had to give up his knight to stop them. Bregadze's win put the Arch Bishops up 2-1 and left the final match result up to GM Ben Finegold.

On board one, GM Ben Finegold opted for a closed center and a slow positional battle against his lower-rated opponent IM Zhanibek Amanov. After some maneuvering, white played to open the kingside with 24.f4, but ended up with a weak backward e pawn. Finegold quickly piled up on that weakness and after b5-b4, seized an open file, leaving white tied down and with very little play. Eventually, Finegold pressured Amanov into virtual zugzwang. Nevertheless, with the score 2-1 in favor of Saint Louis, Zhanibek found himself in the awkward position of having to continue to try to play for a win. Eventually, Finegold's safer king and active pieces encouraged 51.Qa6, after which black's rook sacrifice is almost automatic, creating a passed pawn and a simple win. From a visual point of view, the conclusion was exciting for some viewers because of the prospect of perpetual check if the king does not find a clear route to safety. By angling through the crevice at f4 and e3, black neatly sidesteps the numerous checks and with multiple mate threats, White was forced to resign.

Tonight Saint Louis will face off against Arizona, which currently stands at fourth place in the west at 3.5-5.5.

SAINT LOUIS (October 31, 2012) -- Grandmaster Wesley So of the Philippines and Grandmaster Georg Meier of Germany headline the strongest field in the history of the Thanksgiving Open, scheduled to be held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis November 23-25. This FIDE-rated event features a guaranteed prize fund of more than $10,000.

The featured titled players that have committed as of October 31 include:

• GM Wesley So
• GM Georg Meier
• GM Anatoly Bykhovsky
• GM Fidel Corrales
• GM Ben Finegold
• GM Andre Diamant
• GM Denes Boros
• WGM Anna Sharevich
• IM Steven Zierk
• IM Priyadharshan Kannappan
• IM Mac Molner
• IM Justin Sarkar
• IM Vitaly Neimer
• IM Levan Bregadze
• IM Angelo Young

The tournament features two-day and three-day options and three separate sections: Open (FIDE rated), U1800 and U1400. For more information or to register, click this link.

Immediately following the Thanksgiving Open, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis will host the 2012 CCSCSL Invitational, a GM and IM norm event. 

The GM Invitational will take place November 26-30, and will feature the following line-up:

• GM Ben Finegold: USA 2493
• GM Denes Boros: HUN 2492
• GM Andre Diamant: BRA 2471
• IM Mac Molner: USA 2489
• IM Darwin Yang: USA 2485
• IM Steven Zierk: USA 2483
• IM Marc Esserman: USA 2445
• IM Justin Sarkar: USA 2408
• IM Priyadharshan Kannappan: IND 2407
• IM Vitaly Niemer: ISR 2373

Tournament organizers expect players will need to score 6.5/9 to secure a GM norm.

The field features a number of strong contenders for norms. Both Zierk and Yang are perennial Junior Championship participants, and Kannappan has turned in an unparalleled performance in the U.S. Chess League, securing the MVP title with three weeks left in the regular season. Neimer recently earned a GM norm with a superb performance at this year's SPICE Cup, which was held in Saint Louis this past week, and Esserman just wrote a thoroughly ground-breaking work in the Morra Gambit Sicilian published by Quality Chess.

The IM norm event will be held in conjunction with the GM norm event. A complete list of players is being finalized, so stay tuned for more details.

Since its inception in 2007, the CCSCSL has worked to promote chess locally and nationally by offering lessons and classes at its world-class facility, bringing chess programming to schools all across the greater Saint Louis area and by hosting major events like the U.S. Championships, international matches between the world’s best players and special training camps for the country’s top talent. 

Hosting GM and IM norm events allows us to provide even more opportunities for U.S. chess players to bring their game to the next level.

For more information about the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, visit www.saintlouischessclub.org.

In undoubtedly the most entertaining match the Arch Bishops have played this season, Arizona and Saint Louis came down to the wire. The match began at 8 p.m. Central and ended just after midnight with Arizona winning the game on board four and draws on the other three boards.

In the opening stages, many of the boards had similar pawn structures, and there was not much flair in any of the positions. But with Arizona needing a good result to improve their playoff outlook, things would get more dynamic as there was a lot of chess left to be played.

Things started well for the Arch Bishops on board one. GM Andre Diamant was making his USCL debut for Saint Louis and established an early edge with white against IM Mackenzie Molner. With a dangling c-pawn reminiscent of something from a Gruenfeld, Diamant tried to activate quickly and apply pressure down the h1-a8 diagonal. Molner was able to improve his position after ganging up on the c-file and forcing a couple of trades to enter an endgame with chances for both sides. Diamant ended up on the defensive side of a rook-and-pawn ending and easily held the draw.

On board two, IM Priyadharshan Kannappan looked to be in serious trouble after he lost control of the center and had to give up a knight for three pawns. Things only got worse when he allowed a passed pawn to advance like a spike to d6. The awkwardness of the position was compounded by the fact that black's king was severely exposed. IM Levon Altounian missed the natural follow-up 33.Rc7, which would have been a nail in the coffin for Kannappan's king. Instead, he played 33.Qxd3 and later opted to force a queen trade, entering an endgame that while technically winning, would require some caution to execute accurately. The other members of the team already know that Kannappan has a strong will to play out even the most challenging positions. GM Ben Finegold was in the audience and confidently pronounced: "He's down a piece and he's obviously losing, but he'll draw." No one disagreed. Still, more-so in this game than in any of his previous ones, perhaps because of how rarely he has been in a losing position this season, Kannappan proved resourceful and demonstrated resilience in the face of repeatedly sloppy play by Altounian. Down a full knight in the endgame, Kannappan just calmly maneuvered rook and king to keep the white king at a distance from defense of its weak a pawn, allowing the black h pawn to gradually make its way up the board. Despite being obviously losing for black in many variations, this game proved the importance of continuing to fight for chances, playing a position out to the end, and keeping pressure on the opponent.

Of all the games in this match, the one where the Arch Bishops appeared to have the best shot at a victory was on board three, where IM Levan Bregadze gained two pawns in the opening and held a strong central pawn majority. After 20.Qc4, white was in the driver's seat. Clearly, he would have to give a pawn back because of the awkward position of his king and his lack of development. 24.d4 ensured a pair of passed pawns for white. As things continued, black established a nice blockade on d5 and Bregadze's passed pawns couldn't make any headway. They settled for a repetition and it was clear that the Arch Bishops would not be able to win the match, and that a tie was unlikely considering Kannappan and Nolan Hendrickson's games.

At board four, Hendrickson did a fine job out of the opening with the black pieces and held a seemingly equal position against FM Dipro Chakraborty. It wasn't until 30.Qc8+ and 32.Qb8 that Hendrickson's king looked challenged and his queenside pawns began to appear too weak to defend. Interestingly, with the white queen a bit out of play at a7, Nolan got some counterplay and managed to open up white's kingside. Up a pawn, though, white had only to force a queen trade to consolidate a winning advantage on the queenside. Hendrickson had to give up a knight to avoid the first such trade and ultimately resigned on 63.Qe3+ where the loss was unavoidable.

Tonight the Arch Bishops meet the division-leading Dallas Destiny, which has already clinched the top seed in the playoffs.

Thousands of Boy Scouts across the country are being introduced to chess thanks to the recent launch of the Boy Scout Merit Badge for Chess.

By Alex Vergilesov

On a chilly Saturday in Saint Louis, 54 shivering Boy Scouts descended on the Central West End on November 3 to participate in the Boy Scout Merit Badge Day. Scouts and parents from across the greater Saint Louis area, many of whom had never been to the Chess Club, finally had a reason to visit our world-class facility: the coveted Chess Merit Badge!

Extra staff had to be called in to open the chess club early at 9 a.m. to conduct the nine-hour workshop, which had a few built-in breaks including one hour for lunch. Scouts were randomly split into two classrooms. Scholastic Coordinators Matt Barrett and yours truly were lead instructors while part-time staff Justin Rulo-Sabe, Thomas Pathiyil and David Koehr assisted with the workshop and kept everything from getting out of hand.

The first hour and a half of the workshop revolved around chess history and vocabulary. Scouts were taken through history on the chess board and learned how the pieces got their functions and names. Scouts were also instructed on basic chess tactics because each had to know at least five different maneuvers such as a “fork”, a “pin” and the commonly devastating “discovered check!” Scouts also learned the importance of sportsmanship in chess, although the concept was far from foreign to them!

After the lecture portion of the workshop, the scouts participated in a quad-format tournament. Scouts had to take chess notation and abide by the rules of tournament chess. Each scout played three games against fellow scouts. This portion of the workshop satisfies several merit badge requirements, notably the knowledge of chess notation, tournament play and tournament etiquette, not to mention it gave the chess club staff a minute to breathe!

Once the tournament was concluded, scouts were thoroughly tested by Chess Club staff and Boy Scout Chess Merit Badge Counselor, Ernest Hayes. We were all relieved to see that every scout had enough knowledge and experience to pass the requirements exam. Each scout was approved to receive the merit badge and as an added bonus, they received a medal for participating in their first chess tournament!

Big thanks to the Boy Scouts of America for promoting the event, the scouts and parents for participating and the chess club staff that came in early on a Saturday to have a successful event! The next Boy Scout merit badge workshop is scheduled to take place on January 5, here at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

By Matt Barrett

Lindenwood's first-year chess team took on one of the oldest chess clubs in the country this weekend in ten-board match versus Yale University. In its infancy, it is remarkable that LU chess stands a chance against such a famous institution and one which takes great pride in annually fielding one of the top 10 or 15 university chess teams in the country. The Yale team features perennial U.S. Championship contender Grandmaster Robert Hess at board one. They have a solid roster from top to bottom, and they were rating favorites coming into the match.

It was perhaps poetic justice that the final game of the match to finish was the at board one. With the match 5-4 in favor of LU, IM Priyadharshan Kannappan, the U.S. Chess League MVP for 2012, managed to draw Hess in exciting fashion. With both players having less than 30 seconds on their clocks, Kannappan calmly forced the draw by repetition. It was a big upset as Hess was a 250-point rating favorite. Of course, had Kannappan lost, the match would have ended in a draw. Boards two through four were victorious for Lindenwood, but that didn't come as too much of a surprise. The LU team has a very quality top five. Even missing WGM Anna Sharevich, IM Levan Bregadze, NM Nolan Hendrickson, and WIM Carla Heredia were able to pick up the slack by winning convincingly on each of their boards.

Yale has a deep team, though, so while LU expected to have an advantage on average in the top six, there were serious questions at boards seven through ten. Indeed the match came down to the wire, and while Lindenwood didn't win any of the bottom four games, a draw was all it took to clinch the match. LU got just that from Micah Losee on board seven, sealing a 5.5-4.5 victory over the historic Yale Club. There is a chance the two teams will meet again at this year's Pan-Am Collegiate Championship in December. That event decides the National Collegiate Chess Final Four, which advance to play later in the school year for the National Championship.

Lindenwood is 2-0 now, with narrow victories over Washington University and Yale. The calendar gets exciting for the school's titled players in the next few weeks as there are several big events to look forward to. There will be plenty of entertainment for chess spectators, who should tune in for the Thanksgiving Open, featuring perhaps 20 or more IMs and GMs on November 23-25. It is expected to be the biggest tournament at the CCSCSL this year. Additionally November concludes with an IM Invitational (at which IM Levan Bregadze is one of the competitors) and a GM invitational where IM Priyadharshan Kannappan begins his quest for the coveted grandmaster title.

By Matt Barrett

In the final regular reason matchup of the USCL season, the second-place Arch Bishops met the division leading Dallas Destiny last Monday. In what amounted to a playoff tune-up for both teams, Saint Louis fielded its strongest lineup for the second week in a row, featuring GM Andre Diamant, IM Priyadharshan Kannappan, IM Levan Bregadze and NM Nolan Hendrickson.

Hendrickson grabbed the inititiative early in his Board 4 encounter with Travis Guenther with 6.Bd3!? This temporary pawn sacrifice yields White attacking chances and easy development, while posing some early questions to Black. Guenther had trouble and never got out of the opening. 9.... Ng6?? was a critical error and the position was untenable after 11.Qh5 and the black king is in hot water. This was the second shortest game in USCL history, with Black resigning on move 13.

Things looked promising early in Bregadze's game at Board 3. Then, as his f and g pawns made their way up the board, spectators started to wonder whether black's king was really safe enough. Bregadze found a free knight with a quick tactical error on move 27 when Gater couldn't recapture on d4 because an overworked Rook at d1 and the impending threat of Rxe1++.

Up 2-0, Diamant found himself in a complicated position on Board 1 against GM Conrad Holt. Despite having the black pieces, Diamant had a comfortable position after Holt's 19.Kd1!?. The Webster University GM said he thought he was simply winning after 22.hxg6 hxg6 but was surprised by the continuation, having missed white's possible response to Qh5 of g4! where black is losing a piece.

When Diamant resigned, the lead was cut in half, 2-1. On paper, this had looked like an important game for Saint Louis to draw, since the Arch Bishops had a sizeable rating edge on Boards 3 and 4, so there was some concern about the outcome of the match, which hung on Kannappan's result.

Kannappan, who has had a strong season as USCL MVP and having played several inspired games, did not have his best stuff in this match. He was struggling out of the opening, with his pieces awkwardly placed. His opponent, IM Puchin Wang, is a strong competitor who knows how to maintain the pressure. As has been the case in a few of Kannappan's recent games, there were chances for both sides, but mostly for his opponent. Wang entered the endgame with winning chances, and Kannappan was only hoping to hold a draw. This game was very interesting and again emphasized the importance of theoretical knowledge in the endgame. Wang could have simply won several times, including with Rc2!, as Bregadze showed us in the analysis room.

With the second-place finish to conclude the regular season, Saint Louis placed higher in 2012 than in any of its previous league campaigns. Now for the first time, the Arch Bishops compete in the USCL playoffs where they will meet the Arizona Scorpions in the Quarterfinals. Saint Louis looks to avenge a narrow defeat at the hands of the Scorpions in round 9. It will certainly be a match to look forward to. Tune in to watch games live!

IM Priyadharshan Kannappan scored a big first-round victory over IM Darwin Yang.

Click here for more pictures from the event.

By Alex Marler

2012 CCSCSL Invitational: GM Norm Event

IM Steven Zierk landed a major upset over GM Ben Finegold. These norm tournaments are all about making the necessary points to earn the norm, so defeating a GM is a major victory. In this game GM Finegold played a little bit too passively in the opening, and allowed IM Zierk to take over the initiative. Defending is tough, even for grandmasters; GM Finegold's position was tenuous after 11..Nf4?, but IM Zierk failed to find the best line. Both sides committed several blunders over the next 20 moves or so; when the dust settled, GM Finegold found himself a piece down in an endgame.

The players demonstrated great fighting spirit in this encounter. The game began in a quiet line of the Moscow Semi-Slav. IM Justin Sarkar tried to create winning chances by sacrificing the exchange with 21. Bb3!?. For the exchange, he gained a dominate knight on d5 and strong initiative. IM Marc Esserman defended well and eventually returned the sacrifice material by giving up his 'a' and 'b' pawns to get his rook doubled on the second rank. Both sides quickly liquidated material into an equal rook-and-pawn endgame.

IM Mac Molner vs IM Vitaly Neimer featured an archaic opening in the Italian Game. White sacrifices a pawn for long-term initiative. IM Neimer creatively thwarted white's play on the f-file and began creating his own threats on the queenside. White committed two inaccuracies that led him into a losing position, 28. Bh5 and 32. Rxa5.

This game was real tactical melee, and it was not surprising that one of the players blundered in the complications. IM Darwin Yang played the losing 21..Ke7??. Unfortunately, he should have captured the rook in the corner despite GM Larry Christiansen's advice. After that error, IM Priyadharshan Kannappan finished the game quite nicely.

GM Denes Boros versus GM Andre Diamant featured the ultra-fashionable Chinese Dragon, which mostly leads to wild, opposite-side castling positions in which both kings come under assault. However, in this gme white seem to skip all the fun, and forced a draw rather early.

2012 CCSCSL Invitational: IM Norm Event

IM Levan Bregadze versus FM Tom Bartell saw the players cautiously maneuver until they agreed to a draw on move 21.

WGM Anna Sharevich achieved a positional advantage out of the opening, but she was unable to convert her advantage to a victory. The players soon agreed to a draw.

This game was a hard technical fight. Tommy Ulrich essayed the Rubinstein variation against Konstantin Kavutskiy's Nimzo-Indian defense. Ulrich strived for early aggression with 12.e4. Kavutskiy was able to dissipate the pressure and eventually forcing the liquidation of several pieces. The game reached an equal endgame and the players shook hands after a few moves.

FM Seth Homa pulled off a great victory against the highest rated player in the field, IM Michael Brooks. The game started off as a Queen's Gambit Declined exchange variation, however Brook's played a suspect variation with 6..Bf5. Homa played accurately and forced IM Brooks to part with his d pawn. The rest was easy for Homa.

This game seemed to be heading for a draw when FM Eckert played 31.dxe6??. This move loses on the spot to 31..Bc6+, the move that Ecket missed.

FM Seth Homa from Detroit leads the IM Norm event with a perfect score of 2/2.

By Tony Rich

Round two of the 2012 CCSCSL Invitational saw some excitement, with decisive games on more than half the boards. In the GM norm section, Webster University student IM Vitaly Neimer defeated IM Priyadharshan Kannappan of Lindenwood University to take the lead. The game was a complicated c3 Sicilian, where black sacrificed an exchange on move 20 to reach a level position. However, Kannappan, who should have focused on developing his queenside, misjudged the position and subsequently lost.

IM Darwin Yang outplayed GM Denes Boros to reach an endgame with two bishops versus a single knight. Try as he might, Darwin couldn’t snag the full point and settled for a draw after 118 moves.

A small incident arose in IM Marc Esserman’s battle against IM Mac Molner. According to the FIDE Laws of Chess, both players are required to take notation for the entire game due to the 30-second increment the players receive per move. Esserman stopped taking notation near the end but was able to catch up after the arbiter pointed it out. In time trouble, Molner blundered and resigned before waiting for Marc’s reply.

In the IM norm section, FM Seth Homa widened his lead by defeating fellow FM Konstatin Kavutskiy. Homa, a native of Michigan, is on track for his IM norm with a perfect 2-0 score.

FM Tom Bartell sits just a half point behind the leader thanks to his round two victory over WIM Inna Agrest. The game started as a King’s Indian Defense, but soon began to look more like a Benoni. In the sharp middlegame that ensued, Agrest was unable to find a safe haven for her king and resigned on move 48.

Chicago resident IM Angelo Young, who is known for his offbeat hypermodern style, defeated NM Tommy Ulrich in what appeared to be a Maroczy Bind with colors reversed.

The final decisive game was the encounter between Lindenwood University teammates IM Levan Bregadze and WGM Anna Sharevich. The game started as a typical English Opening, but Levan demonstrated the weakness of Anna’s isolated queen pawn. After losing this important pawn, Sharevich’s position collapsed.

Live games from both events can be viewed by clicking the link here. Games start at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Central each day, with the final round taking place on Friday. Tune in to see if any of our GM/IM hopefuls will emerge with the highly coveted norm. 

IM Vitaly Neimer maintained his perfect score with a big win over GM Denes Boros.

By Alex Marler

The GM Norm event is in no need of an anti-draw rule, as the players are fighting hard. Round three produced four decisive games! All three grandmasters were defeated, thus removing the favorites for first place from the leader's group.

GM Ben Finegold tried to hold off IM Justin Sarkar with the Chigorin's Defense, an opening that he has had in his repertoire for more than 20 years. However, IM Sarkar came well prepared and slowly pushed GM Finegold's pieces to the back rank. With no space and a weak h5 pawn, black could not hold on, and soon resigned.

IM Steven Zierk defeated IM Mac Molner in a doubled rook-and-pawn endgame. This win puts Zierk in second place and on his way to a GM Norm.

The game between IMs Priyadharshan Kannappan and Marc Esserman proved to be the only quiet draw of the round. Presumably both players were still emotional from their dramatic second round games, so a display of caution was in order.

IM Vitaly Neimer scored the biggest upset of the round against GM Denes Boros. Incredibly, IM Neimer has won all three of his games! This game proved to be a rarity as the defender came out on top, rather than the attacker.

After missing his chance to defeat GM Boros in round 2, IM Darwin Yang took great risks to win against GM Andre Diamant in round 3. Fortunately for Yang, luck was on his side.

Unlike the GM Norm group, the IM Norm group saw four draws with the only decisive game between IM Michael Brooks and WIM Inna Agrest. FM Seth Homa and FM Tom Bartell are in first and second place respectively, which present them with good chances to earn an IM Norm.

The game between WGM Anna Sharevich and FM Thomas Bartell was quite balanced through and through. Once the players reached an equal queen and minor piece ending, they decided to call it a day.

IM Levan Bregadze utilized a risky variation of the modern defense in an attempt to take advantage of his lower-rated opponent, Tommy Ulrich. The game quickly turned into a real mess with both sides producing atypical piece development. The players soon found themselves in something of a gridlock, and so a draw was agreed.

FM Seth Homa maintained his first-place spot with a smart, early draw agaisnt one of his toughest competitors, IM Angelo Young.

For the second day in a row FM Doug Eckert missed his chance to achieve a winning position. In this game with FM Kostantin Kavutskiy, he missed 23. Nxe7+ followed by 24 Rxh4, which would have led to a winning position. Instead he played 23. Rxh4, which allowed Black to maintain equality with 23...Ng6!.

WIM Inna Agrest outplayed IM Michael Brooks and achieved a comfortable advantage, but the looming threat of time forfeiture provoked a series of inaccuracies followed by a blunder. This allowed IM Brooks to easily convert the win.

Sam Sevian, left, and Kayden Troff, right, each earned a gold medal at the World Youth Chess Championship in Maribor, Slovenia. Cameron Wheeler, center, won a silver medal.

SAINT LOUIS (November 26, 2012) -- Sam Sevian and Kayden Troff each won a gold medal at the World Youth Chess Championship, which concluded in Maribor, Slovenia, on November 18.

Sam finished first overall in the under-12 section and Kayden earned the top spot in the under-14 section. Earlier this year, both players were selected by the Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF) to participate in an intensive training program, which started in the beginning of 2012 with a special training camp conducted by World Champion and KCF Chairman Garry Kasparov in Saint Louis in June.

The KCF and the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis established a five-year grant partnership to develop several American chess prodigies from across the nation. The program, called Young Stars - Team USA, is designed to offer extraordinarily talented children the opportunity to maximize their potential and to achieve the highest level in chess. 

"Our goal is to prepare the best young players in the country for the most difficult competition in the world," Kasparov said. "Kayden and Sam prepared diligently for this event and proved they have what it takes to become the world's elite. With continued hard work and dedication, these rising stars can help lead the next generation of chess players in the U.S."

The Young Stars - Team USA program includes two training sessions with Kasparov each year, one in the summer in Saint Louis and one in the winter in New York City, and individual coaching for each participant. The winter Master Class session will take place December 14-16.

Kayden said hours of daily preparation and special training sessions with his coach GM Alex Chernin and Garry Kasparov have been key to his recent success. 

“When it comes down to it, a result like this is why I spend 30-plus hours a week on chess, and I am just grateful it paid off,” Kayden said.

Because of the Young Stars program, Sam also has benefitted from special training sessions with both Kasparov and Chernin. He said the fact that he entered the tournament ranked first overall in his section put some additional pressure on him to succeed. 

“Plus the fact that many of my games were available in the database prior to the tournament [meant that] opponents could prepare specific lines against me,” Sam said. “In some of the games I found myself under severe time pressure, especially with black pieces. I had to spend a lot of time at the board just to equalize.” 

Sam said that in addition to continuing to fine-tune his game, he hopes to attain his third IM norm in the coming year and plans to begin competing in tournaments that offer GM norm opportunities.

Kayden, who has already achieved the three IM norms necessary for the title, said he is working on improving his FIDE rating to 2400 and trying to maintain consistency in his performances. His results and upcoming tournaments can be found at http://kaydentroff.blogspot.com/. 

For more information on the KCF, visit www.kasparovchessfoundation.org.

Kayden Troff received his award from the legendary Grandmaster Garry Kasparov.

About the Kasparov Chess Foundation

The Kasparov Chess Foundation offers hope to millions of U.S. students through chess education - developing a complete chess curriculum for public and private schools, from K through 12, that delivers much more than a strong end-game to students. Their in-school and extracurricular programs are designed to encourage creativity, instill self-discipline and bring hope and a feeling of accomplishment to millions of children.

The Kasparov Chess Foundation also sponsors tournaments for those students who are attracted to the competitive and social aspects of chess, while encouraging our youth to strive for higher levels of intellectual achievement. While delivering an approved in-the-school chess curricular is a primary focus for the Foundation, it is just the beginning. Delivering invaluable enrichment programs, such as after-school clubs, chess programs and awards programs, as well as a gifted program for advanced students, are all part of the bigger picture for the Foundation. More information can be found at www.kasparovchessfoundation.org.

NM Tommy Ulrich has had a fantastic performance thus far and still has chances to earn an IM norm.

After six rounds at the CCSCSL Invitational, IM Vitaly Neimer continues his impressive play going undefeated thus far with a score of 4.5/6. Neimer can earn his second GM norm by scoring two points over the next three rounds (2/3).

The road to earning the norm will not be easy, however, as each of his final three opponents: IM Steven Zierk, IM Marc Esserman, and IM Justin Sarkar, are all sitting at 3.5/6, which means they each need to score three straight wins in the final rounds to earn a norm.

In the IM section, the surprising dark horse norm candidate is Tommy Ulrich, who entered the tournament as the lowest-rated player in the field. Ulrich kept his norm hopes alive with a draw in round 6 against FM Seth Homa. Homa, the early tournament leader, has been eliminated from norm contention. Ulrich also will need three wins in the final three rounds to earn the norm.

Full recap of round 6 including games will becoming soon. Stay tuned!

2012 CCSSL Invitational: Round 5 Recap

IM Mac Molner went all out today in a desperate bid to defeat his Grandmaster opponent. GM Ben Finegold surprised Molner with the Russian Defense, an opening that Finegold has rarely used. The Russian Defense is known to be a drawing weapon, the bain of 1. e4 players. Molner, desperately in need of a win, used a swashbuckling gambit that was popular in the 1800's, the Cochrane Gambit. Unfortunately for Molner, Finegold defended well, and the two shook hands on move 19.

This was a key game for both player's chances at earning a norm. Kannappan caused Sarkar to slip up in the opening by utilizing a rare sideline, 4.c3 in the Moscow Variation. Sarkar, unaware of the subtleties, had to figure things out over the board. He slipped up with 9..Rb8 and 12...b4, thus presenting Kannappan with a massive advantage right out of the opening. Kannappan prosecuted his opening advantage, and came away with the full point.

GM Boros demonstrated why he is a Grandmaster in this game with IM Zierk. GM Boros clearly out-prepared his opponent, as by move 15 IM Ziek found himself in a thankless position with white in possession of a massive kingside attack. In fact the position was so difficult for black that Zierk blundered with 16..Nf5??.

GM Diamant versus IM Esserman turned out to be one of the more interesting contests of the round. The players created a real mess of the board with hanging pieces abound. Unfortunately for Esserman, he missed the winning continuation, 18...cxd5!!, and had to settle for a repetition of moves.

This was the last game of the round to conclude, and well worth the wait. In the last few minutes of the game with both sides in severe time trouble, IM Yang missed the winning continuation! He allowed IM Neimer to execute a cute stalemate trick to force a draw, 69..Qc5+!!!Many dreams of IM norm possibilities were crushed this round. Only Tommy Ulrich, FM Konstantin Kavutskiy, and FM Seth Homa are still in contention for an IM Norm. The pre-tournament favorite for an IM Norm, FM Thomas Bartell, lost his chance today when the dark horse of the event, Tommy Ulrich, defeated him in a tense game.

FM Bartell's loss to Ulrich in this game left Bartell crestfallen, as he is no longer capable of earning the necessary points for an IM norm.

Homa's loss in this game is surely a result of an unnecessary king march to the wrong side of the board! After 36. Kc1?? white is dead lost.

Bregadze wins in a masterly style by with his superior positional play.

After blundering in time trouble with 46. Nxd6??, Agrest managed to save the game with a beautiful swindle! However, the swindle did not actually work, even several GM's watching the game did not find the move 62..Qa3!! The move stops the threatened perpetual check and setups up mate in one with Qag3#.

Kavutskiy managed to hold off IM Brooks in his favorite pet line of the Exchange Ruy Lopez. This is a good result for Kavutskiy because it keeps his hopes for a norm alive.

2012 CCSCSL Invitational: Round 4 Recap

After four exciting rounds, three IMs are leading the field: IM Neimer with 3.5 points, IM Zierk with 3 points, and IM Sarkar with 2.5 points. Two Grandmasters, Finegold and Diamant, have found themselves at the bottom of the standings, which is rather unusual considering their strength.

Certainly this will be one of the more unusual games of the event. GM Finegold has utilized this opening before in a game with IM Angelo Young, a game inwhich he won very quickly. GM Finegold claimed that he actually hallucinated, and saw a different position in his mind than the one that occurred on the board at move 10. Since there is really no play left for either side, a draw was agreed.

IM Neimer is on a roll in this event! This draw versus one of his rather more dangerous opposition can only help his chances of achieving the GM Norm. In this game he stumped GM Diamant with a novelty, 9. a4. However, GM Diamant eventually equalized, and a draw was agreed.

Esserman versus Boros was turning in to an interesting struggle, until Esserman blundered with 26.Rae1??.

IM Zierk and IM Kannappan drew in a highly theoretical position, which keeps both their hopes of earning the norm alive.

Often the most aggressive openings lead to early simplification; IM Sarkar and IM Molner illustrated just that with their round 4 draw. Round 4 of the IM group saw IM Brooks jump to second place, and FM Kavutskiy and FM Eckert keep their norm hopes alive with nice victories over WIM Agrest and IM Angelo Young. Unfortunately, both WGM Sharevich and WIM Agrest are out the running for norms.

FM Thomas Bartell achieved a slight edge out of the opening, and seemed to be doing well into middlegame, however IM Brooks landed a terrific shot with 28..Nf3+!!. The shot immediately wins, and was so good that Bartell did not even realize he was lost until Brooks played 29. Qg3!.

Agrest blundered right before time control with 39..Rf6, which allowed Kavutskiy to obtain a winning ending with 40. Rxf6 Kxf6 41. Bg4! Rd8 42. bxa5 bxa5 43. Rb5.

This is Eckert's first win of the tournament, and what a way to get on the scoreboard! IM Young had sunk deep into time trouble and was worse, so he tried to mix things up against his lower rated opponent with a sacrifice, 30. Bxd5?. Eckert saw found the best move right away, and counter sacrificed with 30..Ncxe5!!. The complications were immense, but Eckert never faltered.

Bregadze's games are magical; he plays inoffensively in the opening, then somehow quickly achieves a winning position. In his game with FM Seth Homa, he follows said formula to the T. Bregadze utilizes a very offbeat line against the Sicilian, which gets his opponent out of his preparation. Homa, relying on his resources, commits several inaccuracies between moves 13 and 16, thus leaving him with a losing position by move 17. IM Bregadze masterfully took home the full point.

Ulrich scored a nice victory with a fantastic exchange sacrifice that left his opponent befuddled.

IM Levan Bregadze poses with his Lindenwood U teammate WGM Anna Sharevich. Bregadze leads the IM section with 5.5/8.

Results from round 8 ensured that there will be no norms earned at the CCSCSL Invitational, but the players are still fighting for prizes and ratings points. IM Levan Bregadze maintains a slim half-point lead in the IM Norm section, and IMs Steven Zierk, Justin Sakar, and Vitaly Neimer all are tied for first in the GM Norm section.

Stay tuned for a full video recap of the event after today's final round.

2012 CCSCSL Invitational: Round 7 Recap

IM Sarkar's win over GM Diamant was the only decisive result in round 7. This win for IM Sarkar not only put him in sole second, but also kept his chances alive for an IM Norm. Sarkar needs to win both his remaining games to achieve the necessary 2 points to boost his score to 6.5 points. He will have to face off with IM Yang in round 8 and his main competitor for the norm, IM Neimer, in round 9! IM Neimer managed a draw versus IM Esserman, so if Neimer can gain 1.5 points in the last round, then he will gain a GM Norm. Due to the unfortunate pairing in the last round, IM Neimer vs. IM Sarkar, only one participant can actually walk away with the norm.

Kannappan - Finegold

Boros - Molner

This is turned out to be the longest game of the event thus far at 124 moves. Both sides fought hard, but due to mutual time trouble, neither side could really make any headway at the end.

Diamant - Sarkar

This was easily the most important game of the round, since a win for Sarkar kept his Norm chances alive. In the middle game Diamant misjudged the safety of his a5 pawn and so he tried to give it up in exchange for the b7 pawn. Sarkar demonstrated great positional skill, by not only capturing Diamant's a5 pawn, but also maintaining his own pawn at b7. Diamant faced with the dour possibilities of defending a pawn down endgame or sacrificing the exchange, he chose the latter,31. Rxb7+. Even though white is down a Rook for a Bishop the position remains equal! In the ensuing endgame, Dimant blundered with 44. Kg4?, however the unlikely 44. Rxe4 might be enough to hold a draw. Sarkar finished him off quite nicely beginning with 44...h5+.

Yang - Zierk

Neimer - Esserman

Luck was not on IM Neimer side in this contest. Vitaly missed a winning continuation, 28. Rb7 Bxe5, 29. Rb5 forking the queen and bishop. Also, 28..Qxe5 loses to 29 Rb5 and the black queen is trapped. After the missed win, Neimer found himself in an endgame that he thought was winning, but he just could not achieve the desired result.

Unfortunately for the IM norm hopefuls, the chances have all disappeared. Tommy Ulrich was the last man standing for IM Norm possibilities, however FM Eckert stopped him cold. IM Bregadze leads the group by a point, and there is a four way tie for 2nd between FM Kavutskiy, IM Brooks, FM Homa, and Ulrich.

Homa - Bartell

FM Bartell is still shaken from his shocking loss at the hands of IM Brooks in Round 4, as he made a few inaccuracies in this game with FM Homa. In fact, he was so distraught, that rather than defend a slightly worse position in a rook and pawn endgame, he resigned!

Eckert- Ulrich

At the start of round seven, Ulrich found himself in a tough position concerning the standings. He needed to win his last three games to get the IM norm! Eckert crushed those hopes in this fine performance.

Agrest - Sharevich

Brooks - Bregadze

Kavutskiy - Young

FM Kavutskiy scored his second win of the event against none other than, IM Young. Black essayed Owen's defense, an obscure opening that usually leads to an easy advantage for white. FM Kavutskiy showcased a real maturity of play in this game, it was as if Karpov himself was making the moves.

2012 CCSCSL Invitational: Round 6 Recap

Finegold - Neimer

Another solid result for IM Neimer, who only needs two more points to gain a GM Norm.

Esserman - Yang

IM Darwin Yang surprised IM Esserman by playing 1..e5 instead of his customary French Defense. Esserman's highly aggressive play created many problems for Yang. Esserman quickly took advantage of a key mistake by Yang, after Yang played the losing 29...Bc8?. Necessary was 29..Ne4, however Yang is still in trouble.

Zierk - Diamant

Sarkar - Boros

GM Boros has been playing some of the most exciting chess of the event. In this loss to IM Sarkar, Boros goes all out for the win, but finds himself blundering at time control with 40..f4?

Molner - Kannappan

Molner is known for his romantic-era openings, and in this encounter with IM Kannappan, he is given the chance to demonstrate their efficacy.

Bartell - Kavuitskiy

What happens when two ultra solid players face off?....Draw!

Young - Brooks

IM Brooks desperately needed to win this game to catch first place holder, IM Bregadze. However, IM Young defended very well through out and eventually held the draw in what was the longest game of the round.

Bregadze - Agrest

Sharevich - Eckert

FM Eckert cannot catch a break. He has failed to win 3 winning games in this event so far, and this game brings that total to four. After outplaying his opponent for the entirety of the game, Black slips up with 38...Qxd2??, which allows white to force the win of the game!

Ulrich - Homa

Although no norms were achieved at the 2012 CCSCSL Invitational, many young players earned valuable experience in their ongoing quest for GM and IM norms.

Click here to access final standings!

IM Priyadharshan Kannappan burst onto the scene, winning the U.S. Chess League MVP award in his rookie season.

By Matt Barrett

It was a season of firsts for the Saint Louis Arch Bishops. Competing in its third season in the U.S. Chess League, this campaign was marked by numerous first-time accomplishments, including a winning record, an appearance in the playoffs, and a victory over the division winner and preseason favorite Dallas Destiny. It was not pure coincidence that this performance came the same year that Webster University began a program under the tutelage of GM Susan Polgar and that Lindenwood University produced its first ever collegiate chess team. In fact, over the course of the season, it became clear that the best team the Arch Bishops could put together consisted purely of students from those two university programs.

The story of the season was certainly the surprise MVP. Practically no one outside of the biggest international chess fans had heard of IM Priyadharshan Kannappan in the United States prior to his arrival at Lindenwood. Unsung when the USCL began in September, Kannappan became a sort of hero for Saint Louis as events unfolded, defeating numerous grandmasters over the course of the year including Joel Benjamin and Larry Kaufman. Incredibily, he did not lose a single game during the entire regular season, scoring 8.5 out of 10! With the usually solid GM Ben Finegold manning board one for the first several weeks, it became apparent around the midway point of the season that there was a chance the Saint Louis team would turn out better than previous editions, even those featuring world star GM Hikaru Nakamura.

In the USCL, the average rating of the team cannot exceed 2400, so a grandmaster around 2600 generally has to be counterbalanced at the bottom board by someone lower than 2200. The key, then, becomes finding underrated players and still coming as close as possible to the maximum average rating. It wasn't until Ben left to coach the World Youth Championship in Slovenia that the idea came about of a more balanced roster, which because of precise numbers, meant featuring the collegiate players.

In the final two weeks of the regular season and into the playoffs, the Arch Bishops rode with a powerful lineup of GM Andre Diamant of Webster and three Lindenwood players, IM Priyadharshan Kannappan, IM Levan Bregadze, and NM Nolan Hendrickson. Because of the need to balance the overall team rating, this lineup was ideal because the team squeezed under the maximum average rating by only one point! It turned out to be a perfect strategy. While Diamant might not win all of his games, he can play competitively against all comers at board one, allowing Kannappan and Bregadze an easier road to wins or draws on boards two and three. Meanwhile Hendrickson on board four plays underrated at 2202, thereby improving chances of a team win in any given matchup. In no case other than the round 10 matchup versus number one Dallas did this lineup reap more benefits. Even though things did not go well for Diamant on board 1, the other players took advantage of their rating edge on the lower boards to upset the league leaders.

Even in the first round of the playoffs, things were going remarkably well for the Arch Bishops, who won quickly on board four and got an easy draw at board one. Within a half point of advancing, Kannappan and Bregadze surprisingly both faltered in equal or better positions. This occasion marked the only loss for Kannappan all year, in what truly was an incredibly impressive rookie campaign. Perhaps next season Saint Louis can match or surpass their lofty achievements from this year!

GM Denes Boros, a student at Webster U, tied two of his SPICE teammates, GMs Georg Meier and Fidel Corrales Jimenez, for first place at the Thanksgiving Open.

By Mike Kummer

More than 100 players came out to the Chess Club over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend to compete in our third annual Thanksgiving Open. A total of 21 titled players, including eight grandmasters, competed in the 58-player Open Section. The event featured a $10,050 guaranteed prize fund. There were a total 14 titled players in the three-day section, with the other seven opting to play in the two-day section, whoh merged after round 3.

A couple of FIDE Masters took down some tough competition in round 2. FM Doug Eckert got the better of fellow Saint Louis Arch Bishop IM Priyadarshann Kannappan, and FM Nikhilesh Kunche scored a huge upset when he defeated GM Yury Shulman in a wild game. FM Kunche played hard the following round, but was defeated by GM Denes Boros. GM Boros joined fellow GM Anatoly Bykovsky as the only two players with perfect 3-0 scores heading into the merge.

In the two-day schedule, with the time control condensed to G/65 with a five-second delay, the tourney got more unpredictable. Local "A" player Jacob Wilkins had IM Angelo Young down to 16 seconds and had a material advantage. But Angelo had a passed "d" pawn on the sixth rank and that was enough compensation to secure a draw. In round 2, No. 1-ranked GM Wesley So was upset by IM Justin Sarkar. When IM Sarkar came back to play round 3, he was shocked to see that he was paired against the No. 2 seed GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez. IM Sarkar had wrongly assumed that GM Amanov had won his game against a 2100, when in fact the game was drawn. GM Corrales Jimenez, needing a victory after drawing IM Steven Zierk the previous round, took advantage of of Sarkar's confusion to bring the full point home. IM Young recovered nicely to defeat GM Amanov in a wild time scramble.

IM Steven Zierk kept on rolling to join GM Corrales Jimenez and IM Young as the players with 2.5/3 heading into the merge. It just worked out that GM Corrales Jimenez was paired against IM Young. GM Corrales Jimenez employed a king side attack that was too strong for IM Young to take. GM Corrales Jimenez topped off the game by exploiting a devastating pin. IM Zierk had requested two half-point byes for the ensuing rounds, so his game against FM Eckert was paramount. FM Eckert was 1.5/2 vs. IMs in the event, and he was ready for the challenge. The two battled to a King-rook-four pawn endgame with Zierk having a small advantage. IM Zierk played the endgame flawlessly to convert that micro-advantage into a victory. After one astounding day, Zierk's score in the event was finalized at 4.5/6.

The winner of the GM Bykhovsky-Boros match would propel themselves into clear 1st. But the game concluded in a 23-move draw. Sunday was an interesting day as the top three boards all featured GM vs. GM match-ups. GM Corrales Jimenez beat GM Bykhovsky, GM Meier and GM Boros split the point, and GM So kept going and going and going to run his score up to four points.

In the final round, IM Sarkar had to play the No. 2 seed in the merged open, GM Georg Meier. GM Meier got the better of him to finish with a solid 5 points. The final two games in the event came down to GM So-GM Corrales Jimenez and GM Boros-GM Shulman. GM Shulman ended up sacking a piece in severe time pressure and couldn't recover. GM Boros finished with 5 points as well. GM Corrales Jimenez could win the event with a victory. He had a rook and king vs. GM So's bishop and king and had a reasonable chance at victory as GM So's king was stuck on the back row. But GM So defended well and in the end GM Corrales Jimenez took the bishop to end the tournament and secure a three-way tie for 1st place. Based on USCF tiebreaks, GM Corrales Jimenez is the official Champion of the event. But the top three prizes were divided evenly between himself, GM Meier, and GM Boros to bag them each over a grand for their performance. IM Kannappan matched IM Zierk's 4.5 points to tie for 4th place with an impressive Sunday, drawing GM Shulman and defeating fellow Saint Louis Arch Bishop IM Levan Bregadze.

Tom Polgar-Shutzman defeated his first IM to share 1st Place U2200 with Iskandar Aripov. Chess enthusiast Thomas Gaul drew WGM Anna Sharevich in the final round to take home the U2000 prize.

In the 21-player U1800 section, Chess Club members came to play. Guofu Zhou started strong winning his first three in fabulous fashion before succumbing to fellow Club member Ian Gilchrist who won all four of his games on Saturday. Nathan Phan had 3.5/4 going into Sunday's match as he was only nicked for a draw in round 1 by Lindenwood University student Micah Lossee. Julian Proleiko, lost his first match to seasoned veteran Randy Giminez in the first round, then drew a fellow 1500 in round 2. His Saturday was much better as he won both games setting himself up for success on Sunday.

Onto Sunday. Nathan Phan ended Ian Gilchrist winning streak at four to increase his score to 4.5/5. Guofu Zhou continued his downward spiral as he was defeated by Gimenez, who now stood at 4/5. Micah Losee put Nathaniel Sobery out of his misery with a nice win. Julian Proleiko defeated a 1700 in a wild one to give him 3.5/5.

In the final round, Nathan Phan could not manage to draw Randy Giminez, so his score was stuck at 4.5 points. Giminez advanced to 5 points. Gilchrist rebounded from his only loss in the tournament to defeat Nozima Aripova. Gimenez and Gilchrest split the 1st-2nd prize and earned a $750 payday.

Proleiko won again to finish with 4.5 points which was good enough for the Top U1600 prize of $450! Julian raised his rating 129 points to land him at 1636. Julian got his first rating of 571 on February 25, 2012, broke the 1000 point threshold at the end of June, then broke 1400 in mid-October. So with constant dedication to the game, in just 9 months, Julian has steadily increased his rating over 1,000 points!

Losee won again to share third place with Phan. Despite her last round loss, Nozima Aripova joined her brother, Iskandar, in the winner's circle as she took home 2nd Place U1600. 

In the 25-player U1400 section, many players came in with high hopes of winning the $1,000 grand prize. Chess Club newcomer James Ivy had a provisional rating of 1376 going into the event after defeating some good competition in ladder matches. Dennis Sprowles from Kentucky was also playing in his first tournament as his fiancee' called in to register him. She had no problem paying the $99 entry fee as she was confident that her soon-to-be-husband would sweep the field. Robert White returned to tournament action after a seven-year hiatus. Erik Tkachenko, $5 Satellite Winner, was going to try and keep his momentum alive. The only player not feeling good was U1400 section Reigning Champion Mike Buckley. Last year, his goal was to win two games in the event. He ended up winning all five of his games to collect the "G." This year his goal was just to avoid his nemesis, little Nigina Aripova, who got the better of him in the $5 Satellite.

Onto the games, the tournament newbies, Ivy and Sprowles both got off on the wrong foot by losing their first official tournament game. Then they were paired in the next round, meaning the loser would effectively have no shot at the Championship title. Sprowles emerged as the victor to keep his slim hopes of glory alive. White did not have to shake off any rust as he finished his first day 4-0. Erik positioned himself nicely for Sunday as he finished the day 3-1. Owen Bitting scored 2.5/4 after being upset by a 1000 in the first round despite being up material for the majority of the game. Buckley only managed 2/4 on the first day of the event, after being defeated by Intermediate Class regular Loren Lenzen in the 3rd round. Lenzen had 3.5 points going into round 5. Which brings us to Sunday--the money day. On board 1, Lenzen faced off against White. White was doing well and had a forcing combination to win Lenzen's rook or knight. But instead, White got too tricky as he threatened the rook and checkmate. One problem: Lenzen, who wasn't in check, had set-up his own two move checkmate combination. Lenzen improved to 4.5/5 while White was stuck at 4. Dennis Sprowles knocked out Erik Tkanchenko to improve 4-1.

Bitting was gifted a point via forfeit when his opponent assumed the game started at Noon and not 10 a.m. James Ivy got on the plus side with his third consecutive win. Unfortunately, for "Mike the Buck", he was too sick to proceed in the event but managed a rating gain of 35 points. Respectable, but a far cry from his astounding 475 point jump a year ago. Heading into the final round, Bitting claimed he was in "the perfect position" with 3.5/5 despite being tied for 4th place and only three place prizes to be awarded. Owen's dream came crashing down as Brett Eckert defeated him to knock him out of the money completely. It turns out Owen would have received $150 if he would have won game six. Instead, Brett got the payday. To the victor go the spoils. Ivy continued his winning streak, but it was too little, too late, as four points was a half point out of the money. Little Nigina Aripova, earned a huge upset victory in the final round and competed the payday trifecta for her family. She gained nearly 300 rating points and a whopping $250.

Lenzen, a half point ahead of the field, couldn't manage the draw, as newcomer Sprowles barrage of checkmate threats earned him his 5th in a row. That opened the door for White, who quickly jumped on his chance to get a share of the 1st-place prize. Co-Champions. White and Sprowles both tied for 1st-2nd and divided those prizes which meant each went home with $700. Both were very gracious winners and both happy with their paycheck. 

Thanks for everyone for coming out to support this event. With over 100 players, it was a great success.

3rd Annual Thanksgiving Open: Open Section

3rd Annual Thanksgiving Open: U1800

Scholastic Coordinator Alex Vergilesov put on a simul and blindfold simul for the students at Incarnate Word in Chesterfield.

By Alex Vergilesov

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis had another successful semester, teaching chess to more than 1,200 students across the greater Saint Louis area. Now that the holidays are here, our scholastic staff is regrouping to prepare for the busy Spring 2013 semester.

Some brand new chess clubs joined our program this semester including Incarnate Word, Andrews Academy, Reed School, Edgewood House, Rohan Woods, Fairview Intermediate, Word of Life (South City), Sorrento Springs, Roosevelt Elementary School, District 118 in Illinois, Palmyra High School, and Christ the King in University City.

With so many new schools, this Scholastic Coordinator was keeping busy this semester between coordinating our many chess instructors and teaching classes. One class I had the pleasure of instructing was at Incarnate Word in Chesterfield.

Over a period of eight weeks, I went out to the school to instruct 32 students in how to become better chess players, reap the educational benefits of chess, and to provide an opportunity for the students to compete. The students, surprisingly, all knew how to play before I even got started!

Following several week of tactics training, I began a class tournament. The Swiss tournament proved to be a perfect opportunity for students to put their chess skills to use. Students were astute in their understanding of how tournament chess works, with many games lasting past the allotted time of the class. Following the tournament, which took four weeks of classes, the students were given an opportunity to beat their teacher (me!) in a simultaneous and blindfold exhibition. Alas, the students of Incarnate Word will have to wait until next semester to best their teacher!

We'd like to extend many thanks to all of our new partners for helping us promote our educational mission. You could also help us reach new audiences by enrolling in the CCSCSL's Adopt-a-Student/Adopt-a-School Program. This holiday donation drive helps us provide funding for schools in Saint Louis that are struggling to provide educational after-school activities for their students.

Click here to donate to our Adopt-a-Student/Adopt-a-School Annual Giving Drive!

Global warming hit Saint Louis hard right in time for the Doomsday Festival. 60 degrees temperatures in mid-December helped boost attendance for all three events.  A total of 31 players turned out for the first tourney: the 10-Minute Decimation. Rules like "touch move" and "illegal moves end games" was in effect for all three events.

In the 10-Minute Decimation, amazingly there were no upsets in round 1. In round 2, Joseph Wojcik scored the first upset of the day by defeating expert Matt Larson. Wojcik stayed up all night getting mentally prepared for the event.

In round 3, CCSCSL favorite Senad Smajlagic crashed Wojcik's dreams back into reality to boost his score to 3-0. Top seed Joe Garnier lost to Michael Askin. Michael's brother, David, wasn't as fortunate as he lost to the always tough James McLaughlin.

In round 4, Senad and James McLaughlin kept rolling to remain the only two with a perfect score to set up the championship match. The round was scheduled to start promptly at 3 p.m. Everyone was in their seat except Senad!? The tournament director, Mike Kummer, announced the start of the round, then hurried to find Senad, who had stepped out to catch some fresh air in front of the Chess Club. He hurried up to the tourney hall two minutes late, but to his delight his opponent had mercy on him and had not started the clock. Senad played a solid game and in the end showed no mercy! Senad was thrilled with his $50 first prize.

Joe Garnier got revenge on the Askin family by defeating David and knocking him out of prize contention. Garnier was part of a five-way tie for 2nd Place/U2000. Julian Proleiko finished strong by defeating club regular Jonathan Schrantz to get in on a six-way tie for the U1700/U1400 prize. Twelve of the 31 players in the event won a prize.

A total of 17 players turned out for the Armageddon Open. In the event, white started with six minutes and black started with four minutes. But white had to win to get the full point while black could either win or draw to earn the full point. The No. 1 seed was overtaken by Iskandar Aripov, who has been on fire since moving with his family to Saint Louis. Aripov came solo on this day leaving his talented sisters, Nozima and Nigina, behind. In round 1, Jonathan Schrantz scored a huge upset by beating  No. 2 seed Joe Garnier. Schrantz kept his momentum rolling as he upset No. 4 seed Matt Larson. Larson is much better when he has more time. Schrantz's great run overshadowed Julian Proleiko's upset streak.

Julian's aggressive, quick-moving style plays perfectly into the Armageddon game. Julian "Pro"leiko got the better of much higher0rated players Michael Askin and James McLaughlin. In round 3, Schrantz could not take down the No. 1 seed Aripov and Julian fell to Chess expert Alex Marler. In round 4, Aripov ended Marler's winning streak, Garnier was too much for Proleiko and McLaughlin kept Schrantz down. In round 5, Julian beat expert Matt Larson to lock up the U1400 prize. In the sixth and final round, McLaughlin again finished the event on board 1, but to his dismay his result was the same. This time a loss to No. 1 seed Aripov. Aripov won the $50 with a perfect 6-0 score. Schrantz finished strong to capture the U1700 prize.

McLauglin tied for 2nd/U2000 with Joe Garnier and David Askin.

Onto the Bughouse Annihilation! The favorites in the winner-take-all event were Aripov and McLaughin as the "Odd Couple" along with Garnier and John "Boyer Time" Boyer, who teamed up as "The Beefy Crew." The highest-rated player, National Master Spencer Finegold, was not part of the favorite pack as he was stuck with TD Mike Kummer, who agreed to pay the team's entry fee for a shot at glory. "Ridiculous!" showed why they were underdogs in the first round as Kummer was losing to elementary school student Andrew Voelker, but Jim Voelker in his haste to get his son more pieces made two moves in a row. Illegal! Game over. "Ridiculous!" wins in ridiculous fashion. The "Odd Couple" dispensed of the duo Clark Berry and Julian Proleiko ("The Lowest Team"). Since there are no bughouse ratings, "The Beefy Crew", got the good fortune to be paired against "The Lowest Team." The match was a complete blowout.

In round 2, "The Beefy Crew" once again got a break with the pairings. Instead of playing either, "The Odd Couple" or "Ridiculous!", they played two unrated high schoolers. It is "Unkown" how that pair managed to win their first match. Once again, Garnier and Boyer pulverized their competition by communicating well and playing fast.

On board 1, Spencer chose the wrong variation to check Aripov's king to death. Aripov found a safe square for his king and prevailed from there. In round 3, "The Beefy Crew" was finally out of breaks as SwissSys paired them against "The Odd Couple." Never backing down from the challenge, Garnier and Boyer pulled out the game in typical Bughouse fashion. "Ridiculous!" stayed in the hunt by quickly eliminating Clark Berry's team. On Board 4, it is "Unknown" how there was a draw in a Bughouse event, but it happened!

In round 4, "The Odd Couple" regrouped against "The Lowest Team" boosting their score to 3 meaning they would need "The Beefy Crew" to stumble against "Ridiculous!" to get a three-way share of the title. "The Beefy Crew" played well and got off to a good start in the game. Boyer failed to sac his knight on f2 when he had the chance leaving the door open for Kummer to attack. By this time Spencer was in trouble vs. Garnier. So Boyer decided to let his clock run and not let Kummer move. Spencer, despite a 20-second disparity, decided to do the same. Tick, tick, tick. Over a minute went by with no moves.

Bam, then there was a slew of moves on both boards, with Kummer and Garnier both trying to deliver checkmate, while their opponents were just trying to survive. Less than 10 seconds remained on both Spencer's and Boyer's clock. Tick, Tick, Tick. FLAG!! "Boyer Time"! was outta time. Co-Champions. "Ridiculous!" made it into the Winner's Circle along with "The Beefy Crew" and "The Odd Couple".

As we head into 2013, the club hopes to continue to offer unique and fun tournament experiences for players of all skill levels. Your feedback and input is welocme!

We hope to see you in 2013!

Dan Coryea is the winner of the 2012 Knights Championship. He was the only player that finished the event with a perfect 3-0 score. Dan has won five monthly Knights tournaments and one Knights Championship, securing his first Knights tournament way back in October 2008. He won back-to-back Knights tourneys earlier this summer.

For winning the 2012 Knights Championship, Dan won an annual family membership to the club and a free entry into the 2013 Club Championship. The prestigious FIDE rated event will be held January 26-27 and feature a $1,300 guaranteed prize fund. It is open to all, not just those that were fortunate enough to qualify in 2012.

All 10 of the participants in the Knights Championship received GM Hikaru Nakamura's fantastic book "Bullet Chess" for successful participation.

This was the final event in the Knight Series. In 2013, the club will introduce new programming on Wednesday night.

GM Varuzhan Akobian makes a move during round 6 of the 2012 U.S. Championship.

In an effort to keep lecture content fresh and to expose our memebrs to more strong players, the Chess Club is continuing to bring in a steady stream of top players over the coming months. Grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian will be in town until January 19, and during that time he will be available for private lessons and will be offering lectures, free for members, during some of our weekly programming on Tuesday and Thursday nights as well as the Kids' Class on Sunday.

Renowned chess player and commentator Grandmaster Ronen Har-Zvi will be in to take the reigns upon GM Akobian's departure. Stay tuned for an in-depthth Q&A with Har-Zvi!

The complete GM rotation is as follows:

GM Varuzhan Akobian: January 6 - Janaury 19

GM Ronen Har-Zvi: January 18 - February 6

WGM Jennifer Shahade: February 6 - February 21

GM Varuzhan Akobian: February 21 - April 1

GM Yasser Seirawan: April 1 - August 6

These top players conduct private lessons and free lectures in an effort ot create a dynamic learning environment for our students and members. Check out this recent lecture from legendary GM Yasser Seirawan!