Midwest Class: C, D, and E!

Our own Robert Gorodetsky and Angelo Fleming of Indiana drew with each other in the first round, then swept their remaining games to finish equal first with 4½-½ in Class C.  Ethan Brown and Souroush Kanideh, both of Illinois, tied with Michael Slosson of Indiana for third, all with 4-1.

Another local preteen, James Biondo (post-event rating 1566) and an adult who refused to be a victim, Talhah Chaudhry, split Class D honors, each scoring 4½-½.  Ben Marks and Tiffany Madson divided third with 4-1.

Willam Wang of Illinois and Andrew Trattner of Wisconsin, tied for first in Class E, each with 4½-½.  Jim Epley and Douglas Campbell, both of Illinois, tied for third with 4-1.

Chess can be cruel, as Keith Amman discovered in this final-round game against Alexander Breydburd from Class E:

34.Qd4! would have been a killer.  But White ate a rook, which made winning surprisingly hard.  38.Qc5! would have done the trick.

Steve Immitt, Wayne Clark, and Jeff Wiewel directed for the Continental Chess Association.