Ian Wilkinson was re-elected unopposed to start his fourth two-year term as president of the Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF), at the annual general meeting and awards ceremony of the JCF, held at the Alhambra Inn in Kingston last Saturday.

Wilkinson, who was unchallenged for the post, will lead a team of 13 council members who were elected at the AGM. They include National Master (NM) Mark Holness - vice-president for Cornwall, NM Peter Myers - vice-president for Middlesex, FIDE Master (FM) Warren Elliott - vice-president for Surrey, Michael Ramsay - secretary, NM Robert Wheeler - treasurer, NM Shane Matthews, FM Jomo Pitterson, Maurice Robinson, Daren Wisdom, NM Geoffrey Byfield, Woman FM Deborah Richards, Thelma Shaw and Zachary Ramsay.

In expressing his appreciation for again being entrusted with the leadership of the JCF, Wilkinson indicated that he would be focusing on the establishment and development of parish associations and the development of women’s chess over the next two years.

Source: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090704/sports/sports2.html

The marquee event in the USA has begun and a projected 1100 players will make their way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to compete for a $250,000 prize fund. The tournament has added several new side tournaments and will be featured throughout. However, the main event will feature the world’s top players including U.S. Champion, GM Hikaru Nakamura. The Chess Drum is on site and will be blogging and filing reports during the event.

The 37th World Open. July 1-5, 2-5, 3-5 or June 29-July 5, Pennsylvania, USA

Details: http://www.chesstour.com/wo09.htm
Games: http://www.monroi.com

Orrin Hudson continues to make forays onto the biggest stages throughout the country. He is on the cover of the current Sports Illustrated Teen, the question for him is whether this will translate into the mass movement that he envisions. For the past five years, Hudson has blazed a trail across greater America pitching his “Be Someone ” campaign.

Hudson has stated that he wants to teach a millions kids around the world and has been able to spread a message of hope using chess as a metaphor. The idea is that chess forces one to take responsibility for actions and to think before making a decision. Hudson frequently tells the story of a news report of seven people in a fastfood restaurant for $2000. The former State Trooper and car salesman invested his savings and is now seeking sponsors to spread his message.

Main Site: http://www.besomeone.org

Born in Buffalo, New York, U.S. Chess Master Barry Davis had honed his skills in the chess Mecca for decades and is part of a cadre of Black players who trail-blazed the chess circuit in the 70s. Having just celebrated his 53rd birthday, Davis remembers what it was like in the heyday of the “Fischer Boom” and played in his first tournament in 1970.

He got his first taste of success in the Western High School Chess Championship beating out 115 other players with a 6-0 blitz. In subsequent years, he would earn the U.S. ranking of Expert (1974) and National Master (1976) and won the Mississippi State Championship (1977). Davis joined the Air Force and participated in the Armed Forces Championship in 1977 and was able to win the tournament once before discharging in 1981. One Air Force colleague would become the focus of an interesting story:

While stationed at Andrews Air Force Base Washington DC, I met a young man at the Your Move Chess Club in downtown DC. I believe Vincent Moore was the manager at the time. This youngster was amazed at how well I played chess and he asked me what I attributed my success to. My response was I have been blessed, but if you are looking for something to take with you, here is my “12 Question Checklist”… this is how I play chess! The young man’s name was Emory Tate and you know the rest of the story!!!

Of course Emory Tate would become the material of legends and would help spawn a boom of the “Black Chess Master” in the 1980s. The type of example that players like Davis provided was crucial in a tim when not many players of African descent were playing chess. Apart from Walter Harris, Frank Street, Kenneth Clayton, Leroy (Jackson) Muhammad and Charles Covington, there were few Masters to look to as role models. Of course the Fischer euphoria was still raging in the mid-70s and the men mentioned above paved the way for many of the Black players on the east coast.

Many times there are those in chess who do are not always known as the strongest players, but who have the greatest impact. Davis counts meeting two-time Buffalo City Champion Johnny Swanson as a defining moment. Swanson was the second Black player to win the Buffalo City Championship, doing so twice in 1960s!

Davis held a position of prestige winning the Buffalo City title three times and 2nd in a NY State Championship. He has played some of the legendary figures in chess including Dr. Kenneth Rogoff, the distinguished economist at Harvard University and IM William Lombardy. He also had memorable game with the IM Maurice Ashley, a game that he Ashley “executed beautifully.” Despite these tough losses, he was able to record a win over Canadian GM Peter Biyiasis and had many other exciting encounters.

Davis has worked with many local players helping to spawn a cadre of strong players.

I have been blessed to work with some of the following students/colleagues include: Ahmoad Ware, James Ware, Vance Williams (2009 Buffalo Champion), James Lampkin, Joseph Lentini, Douglas W. Dubose, Lionel Davis, Bem Tyhemiba (born Timothy Daniels), Negash Bezaleel (born Damon Baldwin), Scott Reister and James Davis.

Davis is passing on the tradition and currently works with youngsters Sam Santora and Bob Simpson. He hopes to pass on his knowledge to help a new generation of chess players rise to higher heights. Stay tuned!

This past weekend a story leaked that GM Hikaru Nakamura had been extended an invitation to Corus “A”. The story was keep under wraps for a few days. In fact, The Chess Drum’s Daaim Shabazz chatted with Hikaru Nakamura on Facebook and the 21-year old U.S. Champion said he had accepted the invitation. At the time, the news was to be “off the record,” but once a John Watson interview with Nakamura was released then the news spread like wildfire.

This will be Nakamura’s first Corus event and it will also feature another new face in GM Fabiano Caruana, who the Corus B tournament last year with an impressive showing. Other young stars will guarantee exciting chess as Magnus Carlsen, Teimour Radjabov and Sergei Karjakin will join Levon Aronian and Wang Yue as the game’s future.

Eyes will be on Nakamura as this will be considered his first “elite” classical event. He is coming off a great run of tournaments including his win of the U.S. Championship last month. Nakamura will play in the World Open beginning next week.

Main Site: http://www.coruschess.com/

Trinidad’s FM Ryan Harper has been his island’s national champion for a number of times. Having broken the dominance of countryman FM Christo Cave, he has ventured out find opportunities for IM norms. Harper is competing in the New York International with seven GMs and 14 IMs. GM Jaan Ehlvest is top seed and at press time, he was been knocked from the top board. Currently, Harper is having a good result at the tournament and has beaten WIM Iryna Zenyuk (2311), FM Daniel Yeager (2378) and IM Irina Krush (2474). No word on whether Harper will play in either the Philadelphia International or World Open.

Main Site: http://www.marshallchessclub.org/

One sure sign that summer is in full swing is when the World Open is near. However, there is also the Philadelphia International, a relatively new tournament that has attracted attention the last few years since its inception. This tournament allows players to play in two strong tournaments back-to-back. The one drawback has to be the entry fees which are high for untitled players. Nevertheless, these two tournaments offer two of the few opportunities for earning norms in the U.S.

Bill Goichberg has been running the World Open for the past 37 years and it can be considered the marquee tournament in the U.S. It always proves to be exciting and there is usually a break-out performance by an unheralded player. Perhaps the best part of the tournament is the gathering of the stars from around the world which usually includes a strong Indian contingent. Last year Parimarjan Negi tied for 1st with Evgeny Najer, but lost the tiebreak. Which stars will grace the hall this year?

Be there!

Philadelphia International: http://www.chesstour.com/pi09.htm
World Open: http://www.chesstour.com/wo09.htm

The clock strikes one… or two! In yet another controversy brought on by the FIDE “no tolerance” rule, two players forfeited games at the Chinese Championships recently held in Jiangsu, China. The rule was famously deployed at the 2008 Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, an event replete with controversial ruling. There were several forfeits and in several cases, the ruling was applied inconsistently.

Amon Simutowe of Zambia (left) questioning the forfeit of Suriname’s Roger Matoewi (far right) who was seconds late. Simutowe wanted to play the game. The arbiter stood firm on the policy. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

The new ruling states that a player has to be seated at the board when the round begins or they IMMEDIATELY forfeit the game. This issue was debated during the FIDE Congress in Dresden and a poll was taken. Predictably, the players felt that a grace period was far while the arbiters and organizers felt the rule was just. The rule still reads that player gets an hour to make the appearance, but FIDE has employed the rule across the board. The rule states,

E.I.01A. Laws of Chess

6.5 At the time determined for the start of the game the clock of the player who has the white pieces is started.

6.6 If neither player is present initially, the player who has the white pieces shall lose all the time that elapses until he arrives; unless the rules of the competition specify or the arbiter decides otherwise.

6.7 Any player who arrives at the chessboard more than one hour after the scheduled start of the session shall lose the game unless the rules of the competition specify or the arbiter decides otherwise.

The proposed rule change is:

6.7 Any player who arrives at the chessboard after the start of the session shall lose the game, unless the arbiter decides otherwise. Thus the default time is 0 minutes. The rules of a competition may specify a different default time.

There was particular outrage at the imposition of the rule. One may ask, “What is the purpose of the rule?”? Is it to instill discipline in the players? Is it to attract support from the IOC? One poster made the point that coming within an hour of game is just since the loss of time is a tangible penalty. So what happened in the Chinese Championships?

The arbiter awards a forfeit win to Ding Liren!
Photo by Sina Chess News.

GM Wang Hao had played solidly throughout the tournament and had held the lead for practically the duration of the tournament. However, Wang summarily lost to Ding Liren, a 2400-rated player who was playing the tournament of his life. Wang was still in the lead, but needed to win to clinch 1st since the overachieving Ding would have better tiebreaks. Ding’s opponent was Zhou Jianchao, a GM who had played in the middle of the pack, but was clearly a favorite. When the bell sounded, Zhou was not at the board so the arbiter declared Ding the winner.

In other action, Hou Yifan was also victimized by the rule. According to the ChessBase report,

Incidentally the youngest player and the only female in the event, Hou Yifan, was also forfeited in round eight, against tailender Liang Chong. Hou was in the hall, we are told, had filled out her scoresheet and was waiting for the game to start. But when it did, at 14:00:00h, she was not actually sitting on her chair in front of the board. 0-1.

So there you have it… FIDE’s “no tolerance” rule. Eventually the rule will be tested when a high profile match is decided by such a fluke. It will force FIDE to ease since there would be tremendous publicity damage in one instance of protest. After the Dresden controversies, there was a meeting and there was discussion of finding a compromise in the time allowed to get to the board. However, that rule apparently is not on the books. The saga continues.

Good afternoon,

Vaughn L. Bennett

Charles Lawton did not travel the traditional path of any of the participants in the U.S. Championship. Most had come up through some sort of coaching or training, but the St. Louis native was primarily self-taught.

Lawton, 56, grew up in “The Village” area in the Carr Square with his father, mother and three siblings. His mother voluteered in the community and his father made sure his three boys were getting a normal boyhood experience by encouraging sports. This competitive spirit would eventually be transferred to the chess board and Lawton would become a local legend.

Lawton attended St. Patrick’s elementary school and then went to St. Nicolas High where he encountered two boys playing chess, a common way of initial exposure. An article written by Joe Holleman in the St. Louis Dispatch, Lawton was quoted as saying:

“I saw two guys playing: Jim McLaughlin and Doug McClintock. I didn’t know how to play, but I’d always been good at board games. So I said, ‘I can beat you guys.’ They showed me the moves and gave me two weeks to practice. After two weeks, I went back and played them — and they kicked my butt.”

Young Charles had gotten bit by the “chess bug” and had begun getting books on the subject. After initial losses, he began to improve until he finally beat his two nemeses. Prior to reaching Master level, Lawton joined the Navy and like many Black chess players who would become masters, was involved in a technical science. His craft was electrical engineering and worked on nuclear submarines. During this stint, he had one 10-month stint at sea and would become a force to be reckoned with.

After leaving the Navy in 1976, he enrolled in University of Missouri-St. Louis, but had to postpone his education after taking a full-time job at a pharmaceutical company named BioMerieux Incorporated. While working at BioMerieux during the day, he took classes at night at Washington University in St. Louis where he completed his Bachelor’s in Electrical Technology. Now a 30-year veteran, he is the company’s chief engineer.

While Lawton was forced to abandon any grandiose hopes at being a chess pro, he frequented national tournaments back in the 80s and won the Missouri State Championship twice. Lawton is an inveterate attacking player and explains his evolution.

When i was starting out in tournaments I would lose any game I was not up a piece or more going into the ending so I developed an aggressive style of play that made sure I would not get to endings.

He and comrade IM Michael Brooks represented a dominant duo in much of the decade. Both participated in the 2009 U.S. Championship as “wildcard” selections.

In the aforementioned article, it is evident that “Charles” received the respect worthy of a local champion. We all know the type. It was based on this status that the organizers chose the highest rated St. Louis player at America’s premier closed tournament.

Charles has been such a big influence on chess players in St. Louis. He’s been the force in town for such a long time,” stated local player Greg Williams said.

Lawton has served as a mentor to young players and he mentioned that he does so on an informal basis. During the U.S. Championship, Lawton would finish his game and then retire to the skittles area where he would play a few games of blitz and sign autographs. Such a sight is indeed refreshing and a welcome sight in a sport dominated by youth.

Local legend Charles Lawton interacting with kids.
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

There is at least one player at each chess club exhibiting the alturistic deeds of Lawton, but perhaps no one came put together the combination of humour, humility, generosity and strong chess as the man who gives new meaning to “The Spirit of St. Louis.” Congratulations Charles!

Bay area’s Adisa Banjoko has opened registration for the Kings and Queens Invitational to be held on October 10th. Past events have featured a mixture of chess competitors, hip-hop legends and martial artists. There have been panels at each of the events and the events have received media coverage.

Registration opens up on June 15th 2009. Details at www.bayareachess.com and www.hiphopchess.blogspot.com. Banjoko states that this event will be bigger and better than ever!

The 2009 African Individual Championships will be held in Tripoli, Libya between the dates of July 20th-31st. The nine-round Swiss format will be the qualifier for the World Cup Knockout tournament to be held in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia. There are six slots awarded to the top finishers.

The invitation was sent to all African federations and all titled players are encouraged to participate in the Open event. There is a concurrent event for the women. Visas should be applied for at least one month in advance.

Invitation (PDF format)

Nizar ElHajj
Fax: + 218 -21- 4780495
Fax: + 218 -21- 3408305
E-mail: libyanchessfederation@yahoo.com, elhajnizar@yahoo.com

Darrian Robinson in action against Columbian opponent
in Ecuador’s 2006 Pan-Am Games. Photo by Cenceria Edwards.

New York is a chess machine. It has been the “mecca” of American chess for more than a century. Fast forward and the age of technology and professional trainers has pushed the development curve down and players are improving at a blistering pace.

Grandmasters are routinely being developed at ages 14-15. The Ukraine’s Sergey Karjakin set the bar for excellence by making the level of Grandmaster at 12 years 7 months. Of course, that record will fall one day. However, for mere “mortals,” chess development may come a bit more gradually. The latest rash of young masters as seen by IM Ray Robson shows that U.S. chess may have a future.

Darrian Robinson (right) is one of the crop of scholastic chess players making a splash. She is one of the many of New York scholastic players to come of age. Here is the record:

The three are now 200 points away from the coveted Master’s title. Robinson (14) and Colas (10) have age on their side and will improve rapidly. These milestones are important because it shows the potential. There must be support in place to see the talent harnessed and that initial moral support usually comes from family, friends and the communities they originate from.

There are other players such as New York’s Rochelle Ballantyne (1961 at age 13), Isaiah Gadson (1945 at age 13) of St. Louis and Jehron Bryant of New York (1922 at age 12) all show promise. They may shatter all the records of predecessors such as Howard Daniels, K.K. Karanja, Shearwood McClelland III and Kayin Barclay.

Detroit’s Jimmy Canty III (2165, age 16) is not to be overlooked! It’s great to see young players of the various ethnic groups enjoy the fruits of chess. Asians thoroughly dominate U.S. scholastic chess, but many players of African descent are coming fast. Interesting. Let’s keep our eyes out for future developments.

Note: Thanks to Brian Richardson of Texas for the note on Darrian’s accomplishment!

For decades, there has been a characterization of chess that may be considered flattering by some and insulting by others. It is the idea that chess is somehow associated with those who are socially-retarded, but intellectually overdeveloped.

GEEK (n.)

1. A person regarded as foolish, inept, or clumsy.
2. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.

While there is no evidence of when this stereotype about chess players was created, it may have had to do with the idea that chess was associated with the exclusive “high society” or well-to-do aristocrats who were focused on fine arts or intellectual pursuits. Ironically, playing chess had always been a game of social erudition, not social backwardness and isolation.

Chess has evolved into a game that has captured the imagination of people from different socioeconomic backgrounds for decades. Reading articles in the press (written by non-chess players) you will find words like “geeky,” “nerdy,” or “whiz”… words normally associated with teens. In a more mature context, you will see chess as a metaphor in business, sports, politics and warfare. While some of the metaphors are appropriate, the myth of chess “geekism” has long been misplaced and even damaging.

Much has been done to present chess in a broader sense by showing supermodels, athletes, motorcyclists and rappers playing chess to highlighting stories of chess in the inner cities of America. These public relations efforts provide chess with valuable exposure, but may actually bring more attention to the stereotype since a celebrity playing chess is presented as a “WOW effect” and not a normal occurrence.

Ironically, chess has very little to do with raw intelligence, but is associated more with spatial processing and computational skills. This is why those who excel in chess range from those with the highest degrees to those who live on the street and hustle chess.

We have all heard of the “next Bobby Fischer” when a 7-year old has only learned to play chess. Many news programs will run stories about the next “whiz kid” who is taking on adults and will claim they will be a future World Champion merely because they know the rules. In actuality, learning to play chess is not a significant feat at all. Now if the same 7-year old was beating seasoned Masters or Experts, then we’d have a story.

Bobby Fischer… a suave geek?

Educational attainment and social factors have little bearing on one’s capacity to attain a decent skill level in chess. Chess is often presented as a game that can only be played by people with a certain level of intellectual maturity or pedigree. However, practically any person of sound mind can learn the rules of chess in roughly an hour’s time. The hard part comes in knowing what to do with the pieces and how to develop a coherent strategy to defeat the opponent.

The irony is that many chess players actually revel in the exclusivity that chess gives them. It may be flattering to feel smart or to be part of an elite group of people associated with intellectualism. Of course many chess players have above average intellect, but the geek persona is one that truly doesn’t apply to most chess players. It is common to see amazement of the faces of visitors when they visit a chess tournament for the first time. “Not what I expected,” they say.

The problem is how the game is marketed to the public. It is typically the subject of many analogies written by people who have little understanding of chess. Journalists tend to overemphasize the stereotypes because many not investigated any other reference points. However, things are changing. The recent SuperNationals event in Nashville, Tennessee had more the 5,000 school kids from nearly each of the 50 states. Chess is becoming trendy.

Recently the National Basketball Association ran a very effective commercial showing the league’s top players engaging in chess battles to simulate basketball grit and determination during competition.

The visual appeal was fascinating, but some still questioned whether any of the athletes could play chess. Why would that be such a big deal? Is it because of the double stereotype that you have to be smart to play chess and since “jocks” aren’t smart, they can’t play chess? Wrong on all counts!

Chess is in a paradoxical situation: showing the universality of the game may draw more people to the game, but it may lose its enigmatic prestige. Prestige may attract some sponsors, but at the end of the day, sponsors of chess would like to see their brand imagery reach a wide variety of potential consumers.

One thing is for certain, chess has long outgrown the “geek” image. Are there chess players who are geeks (as it is defined)? Of course. Does this image represent the average chess player? Of course not. However, the runny-nose, socially-challenged, bespectacled, skinny, genius kid characterized as a chess club President is one that we all hear.

A few years back, a producer of the show “Beauty and the Geek” called the President of the Boylston Chess Club looking for a 20-something geek. She set up a meeting with the club to “interview” chess players. There was no indication if she in fact found such a person fitting her geek stereotype. If she was looking for Urkel (pictured right) or someone like him, she no doubt would have been disappointed.

The idea of a super-smart, socially-detached chess geek still remains in the non-chess public and may not leave soon.

Chess actually lacks the erudition that it once bore in the “romantic” period when the players wore suits to the matches and discussed philosophy between games. Nowadays, the game is dominated by the youth and it is much more of a sport than a culture of science and art. Nevertheless, it remains something that holds tremendous intrigue and increasingly everyone seems to want to be associated with it on different levels. Chess imagery may not suffer in other countries as it does in America, but over time chess may find its allure to be normal and not perceived as one for a group of geniuses who are social misfits.

Grandmaster Jaan Ehlvest bested Gabriel Sargissian in the blitz playoff to claim the 2009 Chicago Open title. For decades, Ehlvest has been one of the strongest blitz players in the world. Both players scored 5.5/7 and edged out several contenders in a hotly-contested tournament that included several participants from the U.S. Championship.

Varuzhan Akobian, Alexander Shabalov and Yury Shulman were three such contenders and they ended on 5/7 along with Tigran Petrosian (no relation to the late World Champion), Giorgi Kachieshvili and Benjamin Finefold. Twelve-year old FM Darwin Yang beat a couple of Grandmasters, drew a couple of strong IMs and scored an impressive +1.

Tyler Hughes, another alumnus of the U.S. Championship, score a strong 6/7 to win the under-2300 section. His undefeated score culiminated in a win for the U.S. Junior Champion and perhap his strong month of chess. He had a respectable showing in the U.S. Championship. Hughes shared 1st with the famous blitz specialist Yaacov Norowitz, who repeated the same undefeated formula.

Besides the strong Armenian contingent, honorable mention goes to the Nigerian contingent at the Chicago led by IM Oladapo Adu (3.5/7) in the Open section; National Master Okechukwu Iwu (4/7) in the under-2300 and a number of players in the under-2100 including Sylvester Smarty (5.5/7). Kenneth Odeh started in the Open section, but after an unfortunate start he moved to the under-2100 section and ended on 2.5/5. Abiye Williams and Oluwole V Awoyemi also competed in the under-21s. Here is “Okey” Iwu’s game against Airapetian.

Nigeria’s Okechukwu Iwu battling Chouch Airapetian in an well-played game. IM Benjamin Finegold observes. This position on the board came out of a French and Iwu hit her with a tactical resource starting with 29…Bxe2!

Isaiah Gadson is another name to watch out for in the future. The St. Louis, Missouri native is a 13-year old scholastic player and is approaching the “Expert” ranking. He ended on 4.5/7 getting a free point in the last round against Sedrick Prude.

Joshua Colas has been making progress since he began playing chess four years ago and got his first rating of 681. With a heavy dose of blitz and a bit of professional coaching, Colas has now broken the “Expert” barrier of 2000 rating points. This is a status above a class player and signifies that a player is now progressing to become a Master.

At this rate, Colas is bound to break Master in another year or two. He has already defeated the likes of IM Jay Bonin. He has worked with GMs Maurice Ashley and Gregory Kaidanov.

At press time, he is competing at the 2009 Chicago Open.

Executive Members of The Bahamas Chess Federation (BCF) met with The Minister of Youth and Sports, Hon. Desmond Bannister and the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Archie Nairn on Monday 11th May, 2009. While at the meeting, the parties discussed the current state of Chess in The Bahamas, plans to strengthen the BCF and opportunities of players through training. In addition, they discussed the possibilities of including Chess as an activity in the Ministry’s upcoming 2009 Summer Program.

~ Kean A. Smith, President of Bahamas Chess Federation

From left to right Mr. Archie Nairn, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Youth and Sports; Mr. Milton Evans, Vice President of The Bahamas Chess Federation (BCF); Hon. Desmond Bannister, Minister of Youth and Sports; Mr. Kean A. Smith, President of The BCF and Mr. Warren Seymour, BCF Tournament Director and BCF Scholastic Chess Trainer.

GM Loek Van Wely vs. FM Jake Kleiman and GM Mesgan Amanov vs. GM Gabriel Sargissian. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

The 2009 Chicago Open has begun and a number of strong players are present. Top seed appears to be Armenia’s Gabriel Sargissian. He was spotted in St. Louis at the U.S. Championship where he was helping Varuzhan Akobian prepare. Playing on board #1, he won his first game against Mesgan Amanov, a Grandmaster from Turkmenistan.

There were a number of international players spotted including Loek van Wely of the Netherlands and other GMs such as Zviad Izora (Georgia), Darmen Sadvakasov (Kazakhstan) and Akobian (Armenia). On Friday night, I asked Akobian if he was playing and he said “maybe tomorrow.” Yury Shulman (Belarus) was embroiled in a tense battle with wily veteran Anatoly Lein. Newly-crowned U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura will not be playing in lieu of a European tour of tournaments.

The under-2300 section is chockful of strong players. There will be a few ringers in the crowd. Nigerian International Master Oladapo Adu will vie for top honors after coming off a win in the DC Class Championship, he’ll have added motivation. His friend and compatriot Okechukwu Iwu will represent one of the hopefuls at the lower half. U.S. Championship participant Tyler Hughes is also competing.

Main Site: http://www.chicagoopen.net/
Standings: http://chesstournamentservices.com/cca/tag/chicago-open-2009-standings/

WFM Deborah Richards, Jamaica’s highest-ever rated female chess player, made a winning return to competitive chess by winning the Robert Wheeler Open on tiebreak ahead of NM Peter Myers and Mikhail Solomon.

Deborah Richards stumbled in round 3 by losing to NM Russel Porter but recovered by winning in round 4 and upsetting Peter Myers in a critical round 5 encounter. She then held NM Brandon Wilson to a draw in round 6 to gain 4.5 points and win the tournament on the tiebreaker.

NM Peter Myers and Mikhail Solomon who also ended on 4.5 points came in second and third respectively, while pre-tournament favourites NM Porter and Brandon Wilson were tied for 4th with 4 points along with Mark Henry and Melisha Smith who also ended on 4 points.

The Intermediate Section was won by Kamaal Warren with 5/6 followed by Alethia Edwards 4.5/6 and Kadian McGlashan 4.5/6.

In the Amateur section, Janique Lee copped the first place trophy with a maximum 5/5 while in 2nd place was Jeremy Parchment 4/5
and Shemar Morrison who came in 3rd, also with 4/5.

~ Mark Holness (May 19 2009)
Source: Jamaican Chess Federation