Forever Young

Five-time Illinois State Chess Champion Angelo Young is now the six-time Illinois Chess Champion, following a victory this weekend in the annual Illinois Open, held in Lombard. IM Young was ahead from the beginning of the meet and never looked back, finishing with an outstanding 5.5/6.0 against a tough field. The runner up was NM Christopher Nienart with 5.0/6.0.

Other high points were excellent performances by ten-year-old Brian Luo, who finished 10th with a 4.0/6.0, and 92-year-old Erik Karklins, who took the 17th spot in the final standings (in a field of 57), with a 3.5/6.0. (Hat tip: Bill Brock.) Mr. Karklins's rating rose to 2027 after the match, pretty remarkable for a gentleman born in 1915.

The final standings are here, and the official cross table is already up, due, no doubt, to the efficiency of Tournament Director Tim Just. Congratulations, Angelo.

Addendum (09/05/07): There’s more. Though you can’t tell their ages from the cross table, an uncommon number of the players in this year’s Illinois Open were juniors—high school kids and younger— some of them as young as seven. They all went up against much more experienced adult players and more than held their own. I've learned, for example, that Christopher Nienart, the National Master who finished second, turns seventeen this year.

Other juniors who deserve a round of applause for playing in a high-level open tournament like this include Alex Bian, Jason Chien, Josh Dubin, Trevor Magness, Gavin McClanahan, Dan McNally, Ilan Meerovich, Eric Rosen, and Sam Schmakel.

Hat tip: Chessmom64/Chessdad64.

More here at the Illinois Chess Association forum.

Photo: johhnyscars via flickr

Marco Sighted in ChiTown

Sightings of Elvis have doubtless been on the rise this week, it being the thirtieth anniversary of his putative death, but The King isn’t the only one being spotted in unexpected places. Marco Codenotti, the former Ray School chess star who returned to his native Italy two years ago, has been seen in Chicago, where he is spending the summer. He is of course active in chess, training with local GM Dmitry Gurevich and playing in the odd tournament, most recently the August 12 Third Coast Challenge by Renaissance Knights in Northbrook.

Marco with his co-winners in Dubai

Marco, you may recall, made headlines in the chess world a few months ago when he beat an International Master in a tournament on the island of Elba. Since then he’s been quite the globetrotter. His father reports that he played in a major international youth tournament in Dubai, finishing first in the U10 division and second in the tournament overall. He finished right behind FM (FIDE Master) Srinath Narayanan of India and ahead of another FM, Ulvi Bajarani of Azerbajian, who came in third. Meanwhile, the Italian blogger Mida, himself a FIDE Master, spotted Marco playing in a major tournament in Bergamo. Marco’s World Chess Federation rating is now 1969. Not bad for a ten-year-old.

Speaking of last Sunday’s Third Coast tournament, congratulations to Chicago FM Aleksandar Stamnov for winning it, which he did against stiff competition, including the remarkable Brian Luo of Wisconsin, who’s about Marco’s age and rated over 2000 USCF; and Indiana IM Emory Tate, about whom we have discoursed before.