New state champions

Grandmaster Mesgen Amanov, International Master Angelo Young, and FIDE Master Aung Thant Zin are the 2011 Illinois Open Co-Champions!  Young lost to Amanov, but was the only player to win five games.

Aung Thant Zin, Mesgen Amanov, and Angelo Young

Crosstable here: even without Yury Shulman (recovering from the World Cup), this was one of the strongest championships in recent memory.  It was a particular honor to have three of our grandmasters (defending champion Dmitry Gurevich, Nikola Mitkov, and Amanov) playing in this event for two years running.

Akshay Indusekar won clear first in the Reserve Section with a 5½-½ score.  Crosstable here!

Thanks to the Illinois Chess Association, Chess for Life LLC (Tim Just and Wayne Clark), chief TD Sevan Muradian, and all who made this weekend's event possible.

More to follow!