IM Florin Felecan, the overwhelming favorite in last weekend's 1st North American Amateur Open at Skokie's North Shore Chess Center, tied with teenagers Sam Schmakel (9th grade) and Gavin McClanahan (8th grade) for first: each scored 4-1.
What goes around comes around: not that many years ago, 2009 State Co-Champion Felecan (a veteran of the 1999 Kasparov vs. the World match) was once a young teenager destroying adults....
Schmakel (who almost beat me in the Illinois Open when he was eight years old!) upset IM Felecan and NM Jon Burgess in the final two rounds and is now on the cusp of 2100.
Considering the blizzard and the minimum USCF rating requirement of 1600, a field of 23 was an excellent turnout!
USCF crosstable here.
The event has already been rated by FIDE: results are here. (Note that games involving non-FIDE rated players may not always be rated.)
Living legend NM Bernard Parham, Sr.travelled to Skokie: that's an honor!
Sevan Muradian directed for the North American Chess Association.
1 comment:
Amazing - even an IM isn't guaranteed to win a weekend tournament around here.
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