US Open, local tournaments and more

The U.S. Open

The U.S. Open has always been the kind of thing where, I wish I could go, but I know for most people, even chess fanatics, taking that kind of time off and travelling is a once in a year thing, if that.  For me, it's more like never.  

I'll be receiving games at some point, and hopefully being strong enough (class A) to even comment on what I see, but a quick look at the submission shows a few things I found interesting.

> I've never met Gopal Menon, but I think it's pretty cool that he finished 22nd, which makes him the top finisher from IL.   

> I debated Richard Roy Martin on a chess topic recently on facebook.  I'll try not to do that anymore, considering Martin's only losses in the Open were to GM Joel Benjamin and GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez.

> Jim Dean, with whom I once had an epic battle in junior high, returned from a hiatus from chess, had early struggles, but still finished with 6.0/9 putting him at 36th.  

> Interesting to see NW Indiana's Bernard Parham get to 5.0 points.  I once played him at a McDonald's in Hammond, IN.  I wonder if, after 1. e4 c5 he played 2. Qh5 at any point.  

> Nice to see Matt Hollaway from Orland Park, who has come out and supported my club, finish at 4.5 out of 9.0.  Not bad.  

Other than that, I didn't see many I personally recognized.  I understand there were tons of great players, but you'll get coverage of all of that from Chess life.  

Worth Sunday quick tournament

I really recommend this venue.  They get together every Sunday at VFW in Worth, you don't have to be there until after noon, you get three games in at either quick rating speed or a dual rating speed that is as close to quick as it gets, and you're out before dusk.  

Some people need to get to the tough tournaments.  And everyone should do a couple Evanston Tri-Levels a year at least.  However, especially for a lot of south suburban scholastic players whose parents can't take them all over, this is a great venue if you just need to play.

Tinley Park Chess Club has a player named Jarun Jannak who was in the 1100s in May.  I try to take a carload to as many tournaments as I can get to.  In between trips to Glenwood, Evanston and the Chicago Class, Jarun was going to Worth to do the quick tournaments, and doing a lot of studying also.  Well, in February he was 1128, and he's 1365 now.  Getting a lot of quick games in is not the only reason for Jarun's rise in rating, but it is a reason.

I visited last week, and though I won the tournament, I got a fight from each player I played.  Argo's 2016-17 3rd board, Andrew Orlos.. dropped a piece to me early, but I was struck by how he was able to fight back down material.  After the tournament ended, I was playing Orlos and teammate Moises Conejo at the same time, when they taught me I shouldn't do that.  

Megan Chen had the big upset of the weekend in Illinois, landing what I hear was a high pressure win against Dmitri Kosteris and the clock.  Though the difference in quick rating is a mere 150 points, the difference in regular rating is 500.  

Megan also had a win over Orlan Smith.  I can attest to the toughness of Orlan, he's beat me twice.

So great job Megan.  Your tireless dedication to chess improvement is admired by many and you'll soon be reaching for higher and higher classes.

It was a slow week in Illinois chess with the US Open.  I'm looking forward to being at the Hammond Mayor's Open in Hammond, IN this coming Saturday. 

I'm hoping to get some score sheets of upsets this coming week and hopefully analyze some of them here.  

Games!

As part of weekly writings, I'll be sharing games from others as they are made available to me, but for now, I thought I'd share a few of mine.

Worth Sunday Tournament 07-31-16
G25 d5
White: Eric Mendenhall 1514
Black: Joe Anthony 1869
Grand Prix Attack

1. e4 c5 2. f4 e6 3. Nf3 Ne7 4. Be2 Nbc6 5. 0-0 g6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 d6 8. Be3 a6 9. c3 Bg7 10. Bg5 0-0 11. f5 exf5 12. exf5 Ne5 13. Bh3 Nd5 14. Qe2 Re8 15. Bd2 b5 16. b3 Nc4?! 17. Qf2 Nxd2 18. Qxd2 Qh4?! 19. Nf3 Qe4 20. Re1 Ne3 21. Kf2?? Bh6 22. Qxd6 Qc2+ 23. Nbd2 Bxf5 24. Bxf5 Nxf5 25. Rxe8+ Rxe8 26. Qd7 Kf8 27. g4

and while we went under five minutes stopping notation, white was later mated along the h-file.  0-1

Worth Sunday Tournament 07-31-16
G25 d5
White: Joe Anthony 1869
Black: Orlan Smith 1504

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Bf5 4. Bxc4 e6 5. Qb3 Qc8 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. d5 Nb6 8. Bb5+ c6 9. dxc6 bxc6 10. Be2 Nf6 11. 0-0 Bd6 12. Nd4 Bg6 13. Nxc6 0-0 14. Bf3 Qc7 15. h3 Nfd6 16. Nd4 Qc4 17. Nd2 Qxb3 18. N2xb3 Rac8 19. Bd2 Nc4 20. Bc1 Bb4 21. Bg4 Bd3 22. Rd1 Bg6 23. Nxe6! Nf6 24. Nxf8 Rxf8

1-0