"Deerfield High chess champ shares skills with youngsters"

Jonathan Kogen is profiled in the Highland Park / Deerfield edition of the Chicago Tribune.

Sam Schmakel simul

Thanks to Mike Cardinale for organizing  NM Sam Schmakel's simul at the Lincoln Square Marbles to publicize the 2013 Illinois Tour, and of course thanks to Sam for generously donating his time.

I pointed out to the participants that I am still undefeated against Sam in tournament play (for an example of Sam's play at age nine(!), see page 6 of this PDF).  Sam quietly replied, "There's a board available"; wisely, I chickened out.

Sam scored a perfect 12-0 in the simul (several experienced tournament players, including Paul Kash and Keith Ammann, were among his victims), and played one of the boards blindfold.  After the event, I bought a tchotke for the office and a game for a relative: Marbles is a fun place to shop!

Last Sunday at the Lincoln Square Marbles
Foreground: Bill Brock, NM Sam Schmakel, ICA Metro VP Mike Cardinale
Photo: Eileen Schmakel

595 at 2013 Illinois K-8 Championships

Bloomington-Normal Area Scholastic did their typically wonderful job hosting the 2013 K-8 Championships, held March 9-10 at the Bone Student Center on the Illinois State University campus.

It's tax season, so the congratulations are much briefer than they should be.

Individual results:

• Vincent Do of Thurgood Marshall in Rockford took the Junior High section with a 7-0 score.
• Edward Zhang of Hoffman Estates took the Elementary (grades 4-5) section with 6½-½.
• Aydin Turgut (1852!) of Decatur took the Upper Primary section with 6½-½.
• Aaron Gan of Sprague Half Day in Lincolnshire and David Zimmerman of Monroe Elementary in Hinsdale tied for first in the Lower Primary 6½-½.

Team results:

• Elementary: Grove Elementary, Normal
• Upper Primary, Avery Coonley School, Downers Grove (on tiebreaks over Benjamin Elementary of Bloomington)
• Lower Primary: Monroe Elementary, Hindsale
• Junior High: Thurgood Marshall, Rockford

Hmm, Chicagolanders, the Downstate kids more than held their own...

Brr

Viktorija Ni
(photo Chess Life Online)

One gets the impression that Astana, Kazakhstan, is colder than Chicago.

 Weather notwithstanding, Viktorija Ni had a very solid performance as the alternate for the U.S. in the Women's World Team Championship. Her win against Olga Giyra of Russia was decisive in the U.S.'s 2½-1½ win; it's featured on Chess Life Online. That match, and Irina Krush's performance on board 2, were the highlights for the U.S. team. Ukraine won the event, and the U.S. took sixth place.

Yet another

I may not know much about real chess, but I can still mate off random fish on the Internet.