Do, Adams and Patell Claim 2nd Home for the Holidays Sections

Clear firsts were achieved in all three sections of the Home for the Holidays tournament, held December 28 in DeKalb. Altogether 25 participated in the dual-rated event. USCF crosstables can be viewed here.

Warren Junior Scholar Vincent Do achieved his all-time high rating, 2027, winning all four rounds. Chicago Marish High School Senior Joe Fennessey, who recently qualified for the Warren program, overcame a second round defeat at Vincent's hands, to claim second with a 3.0/4 score.

In the Reserve Section, the DeKalb club's Cliff Adams went 4.0/4, boosting his rating 134 points to a mind-boggling 1433. Playing in over 100 events since 2004, Cliff has rotated between the high 1000's and the low 1300's in his USCF rating. Smashing the 1400-barrier is an impressive accomplishment for the Sycamore octogenarian. Cliff's previous high in the last two decades was 1361-rating achieved through a 2008 Quad in Elgin.

David Black and James Zhang split second place honors in the Reserve with 2.0/4 results.

Playing in his first rated event in 16 years, Aarish Patell won all four of his matches in the Booster Section, increasing his rating 230 points.

Freeport's John Werkheiser claimed clear second in the Booster, posting a 3.0/4 tally, losing only to Aarish in the third round.

DeKalb Club to Host Multiple Events Over Five Days

Ever the glutton for punishment, the DeKalb Chess Club will be hosting a bevy of events to conclude 2013 and to kick off 2014. All events will be at the First Congregational Church in DeKalb.

The two main events are a USCF dual-rated, 4-Round, event on Saturday, Dec. 28 and a USCF dual-rated, 4-Round (may become five) on Wednesday, Jan. 1 (in honor of 2014, get it?).

• Saturday, 12/28: This is the 2nd Home for the Holidays Open... and who can forget last year's thrilling tournament? Game/45, 5 second delay.
  
• Wednesday, 1/1: 2014 Illinois Kick-Off, Game/20, 14 second delay (if my calculations are correct, this should come out to about an hour per game for both sides, assuming 40 moves and players generally taking advantage of the delay).

There will also be an unrated event with the same time controls and round set up on Saturday, 12/28 with both individual and team prizes. Cheap entry fee, no USCF membership required for THAT section. It's basically designed as a high school event, but it is open to all ages -- and would make a wonderful first tournament. USCF rules will be followed meaning that the taking of notation is HIGHLY encouraged unless you have a really, really good excuse.

If that's enough there will also be an unrated section on Wednesday, 1/1, again following the round structure of the rated event, but this does not require USCF membership. Again, a low, low entry fee, open to all ages.

And, if all that's STILL not enough, there will be both RATED and UN-RATED Blitz events Wednesday morning to kick off the day. So those of you who want to get an early start on New Year's Day can play blitz games... and those of you who don't want to show up until noon or so, you can do so and still enjoy an afternoon of chess.

Hit me with questions or your pre-registrations.