UW-Winter Open, Madison WI, Feb. 7, 8

Tex De Wit goes 5-0

Click here for the Winner's report

Click here for a few positions from his games at the event *Added 2/13/2009

USCF results

Tex De Wit 2243 is an exchange student from Holland studying in Iowa City

Click here for his blog. His USCF history is here.

Playing Hall

The "Cool Shades" section

History
2009 54 (FM Tex De Wit)
2008 53 (J ROMICH)
2007 58 (FM A BETANELI)
2006 58 (A VAJA, B LUO)
2005 57 (FM A BETANELI, E SANTARIUS , J RICHARDS)
2004 51 (IM S SMIATANKIN,  R JOYNT)

45th Northeastern Open Chess ChampionshipsJan. 24, 25 Neenah, WI

This has been the most attended yearly event in Wisconsin. (non-scholastic)

History
year / players / winner(s)
2009 98 (NM E SANTARIUS, H PAN)
2008 95 (IM M AMANOV, NM A BETANELI, E SANTARIUS)
2007 97 (FM A STAMNOV)
2006 116 (A VAJA , G ARANOVICH)
2005 100 (FM A STAMNOV, E SANTARIUS)
2004 108 (IM S SMIATANKIN, NM A BETANELI, J ROWE)

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I had a horrible 2nd day. I was telling someone the other day how I had not made any really bad blunders in a long time. I may have jinxed myelf. In round 4 after

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 Ne4 4.Bf4 e6 5.Nd2 c6 6.Nxe4 dxe4 7.Bc4 Nd7 8.Ne2 g5 9.Bg3 Qa5+ 10.c3 Nb6 11.Bb3 h5 12.Be5 Rh6 13.h4 g4 14.Bf4 Rh7 15.Bc7 f5

I had the following position as White against J BECKER (2053) . Black's last move was f5. I was so eager to put a Knight on f4, that I overlooked Rxc7.

The ritziest chess club in the world?

I got the opportunity to stop by the Saint Louis Chess Club a couple of weeks ago.

I had heard a lot about this club and had seen several pictures, but one has to be there to really appreciate it.

The club will host the 2009 US Championship

Tony Rich - Executive Director

NAO Las Vegas So close, yet so far...

I had a great time at the 2008 NAO. It was a chance to meet old friends and make new ones. It was also a chance to see if my #3 seed status in the U1900 section was justified.

Take 1
I arrived for the first round late because of a flight delay, and also with very little sleep the two previous nights. Despite these handicaps I managed to get the following position as White.

In bad time trouble I played Rg1?! , instead the obvious f4 was much better. I managed to lose this game.

Take 2
I decided to re-enter with a bye for the first round, and scored 4.5/5.0 in rounds 2-6

My best game was in round five where I played Bg6 as White in the following position against Daniel Pecherski . After ...f6, Nf7+ Rxf7, Bxf7 Qxf7, Rd8+ Bf8, Bxb8 Black is paralyzed.
I found Re2 as Black in round four vs Roland Zhu in bad time trouble (Thanks CTS)

Round 7

Win = $2500.00
Draw=$1000.00
Loss=$75.00

My last round opponent was Michael G Da-cruz from California. He has been rated as high as 2048 in the past.

I had the opportunity to see some of his games since he was sitting next to me in several previous rounds. He was winning most of his games very easily in tactic heavy positions. In fact we became friends and he helped me analyze a couple of my games.

He was the only opponent I did not want to face in round 7. When we were paired in the last round I was already at a psychological disadvantage.

I then got the following position as White and was sure that Black had to repeat moves. I was happy with a draw, but he was not!
Instead of playing the expected ...Rb8 (3-fold repetition draw), he played ...cxd!? My best move after that is to take the rook and play Ke2 after the Bishop check, but I played Be2.

He won around $2500.00, and me $75.00! Michael did bye me dinner after the game though!

Old guy 4, young guys 0

As an adult player I am envious of the young guys, they mostly:

• have more time to study
• improve faster
• have experienced coaches
• don't have to worry about finances etc.

In this tournament I am happy to report that I won all four games against younger opponents.

My round three draw was against Daniel Mallaghan who came all the way from Ireland!

CCA Results etc. here

USCF results here