Reposted from CentralIowaChess.com. Author: Hank Anzis

Okoboji Open Report

Bartholomew wins Open, 4 way for first in Reserve!

April 21, 2013

The 2013 Okoboji Open kicked off on Friday afternoon with a simultaneous exhibition by International Master John Bartholomew, which saw the personable chess teacher and aspiring grandmaster from Minneapolis score 11 wins out of 12 games with Southwest Minnesota Chess president Sam Smith notching the sole blemish on Bartholomew’s record when his Budapest Defense gained a draw offer from the IM.   When the simul ended, the tournament began with the first round of the three day open and reserve schedules and it soon became apparent that this tournament was going to be hotly contested with no one safe from being on the wrong end of an upset. In the reserve section, Smith couldn’t capitalize on his IM draw and found himself on the wrong end of a 325 point upset at the hands of JP Wagle while pre-teen Nastassja Matus scored a 341 point upset of perennial reserve prize winner Bill Broich. In the open section, NM Okechukwu Iwu scored a relatively easy victory, three time Iowa champion and life master Tim McEntee managed to convert a drawn endgame against 2012 Jackson Open champion Eric Bell, but 2011 Iowa champion Bob Keating caught a 290 point upset bug at the hands of David Floeder and re-entered into the two day section.   On Saturday morning, the two day section kicked off while the three day section continued and an Okoboji record 62 players were matching wits on Saturday morning, with each game having its own large table in the spacious Bay Hill room of the host facility Arrowwood Resort. The increase in tournament attendance was aided in large part by the use of Dr. Sisira Amarasinghe's excellent chess registration website www.onlineregistration.cc. The two day open section was packed with top level players with IM Bartholomew being joined by FM Kevin Wasiluk, the youngest ever USCF master in history in 10 year old FM Awonder Liang, 14 year old master Andrew Tang, master Prasantha Amarasinghe, as well as the re-entered Keating and former master James Ellis. There were no upsets in the Open’s two day section opening round or the Saturday morning round two of the three day section, but the reserve section wasn’t immune to carnage as the two day section began with defending champion John Flores being knocked off by unrated Nathaniel Arnold in the opening round.

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Players from four states traveled to set a new record attendance of twenty-six (26) at the 6th Annual Jackson Open. The states represented in the new milestone were: Minnesota 15; Iowa 6; South Dakota 4; and Montana 1. See Wall Chart for all six events.

One third of the Minnesota group hailed from Southern Minnesota; Mankato 2; Mountain Lake 1; Worthington 1; and Jackson 1. But for Douglas Hansen, Montana, Dane Zagar would have represented the player travelling the furthest - Duluth. The six players from Iowa came from: Sibley 1; Algona 2; and three from central Iowa. The remaining four players came from South Dakota.

Winning the 6th edition of the Jackson Open was Eric Bell with a perfect score of 4.0. Tied for second and third were Jackson Wahl and Jaleb Jay with 3.5. Final standings and prizes awarded can be found Jackson Open Results. The prize fund of $700 was guaranteed and $725 was awarded with the addition of $25 for U1200.

Sam Smith, organizer, made a special presentation to John Flores by unveiling the Flores Cup. The trophy had a plate read: "This trophy carries the names of the winners of the Jackson Open Chess Tournament and is named in honor of John B. Flores in recognition of his lifetime of service to the chess community August 18, 2012." The "Cup" had plates for the winners of the first five tourneys: 2006-Ron Deike/Michael Wangen; 2008-Christopher Gill; 2009-William Dobbs; 2010-William Dobbs; and 2011-John Flores. This year's winner to be added: 2012-Eric Bell with an additional 24 plates, enough space for a total of 30 champs.

...to be continued.

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