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July 31, 2010 We will have yet another excellent new coach in our program in the fall. Eric Rosen, a junior at Niles North High School, has agreed to coach advanced players at Sherwood. Eric is a National Master (with a rating of 2209). He won the 2009 U.S. Junior Open Championship and this year’s Illinois qualifier for the National High School Denker Tournament of Champions. Last year, Eric defeated Grandmaster John Fedorowicz (rated 2640) in 16 moves at the U.S. Open. That game was one of the major upsets of the year in U.S. chess. Eric recently competed in the U.S. Junior Closed Championship in St. Louis, the most prestigious tournament in the country for the nation's top ten players under age 21. Although he was the lowest rated player in the tournament, he scored 4.5 out of 9, including gaining a draw against the tournament's top seed, Grandmaster Ray Robson (rated 2613). This was a spectacular performance for Eric. The Junior Closed was webcast live and many of us watched the commentary. Eric is now playing in the Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Champions in California. See http://main.uschess.org/content/view/10576/596/. It is our great fortune that Eric will be joining us soon. Niles North won the Illinois State High School Championship this year. Several other top players at Niles have also agreed to coach for us in the fall. Details are being worked out. * * * We reported recently on another incoming coach, Florin Felecan. Florin is an International Master rated over 2400, will coach the advanced players at Indian Trail. Florin lives in Evanston and is a former multiple junior national champion of Romania. He played in three Junior World Championships, finishing in 7th Place in Germany in 1992. He also played in three junior European Championships, tying for 1st Place in 1994. Florin went undefeated in winning the 1998 national Denker Tournament of High School Champions in Hawaii. He continues to compile an extraordinary record, including serving as one of four advisors on the World team in the "Kasparov versus The World" chess match in 1999, and winning his first game against a grandmaster at the age of 14. One of his latest wins against a grandmaster was against Yuri Shulman in the 2009 Chicago Open. Florin will also be available as a private tutor. * * * Drop-in Chess at the Highland Park Library is over for the summer. Stay tuned for an update about upcoming Drop-In opportunities. * * * Congratulations to Indian Trail, which took first place in an invitational tournament organized by Leo Vilker for Highland Park 2nd and 3rd graders on May 28th. Players were assigned board positions based on their strength, and the top finisher for Indian Trail was Sam Lichtman, who had a perfect score of three wins on Board 1. Henry Coplan had one win on Board 2, Evan Rosenblum had 3 wins (and top honors) on Board 3, and Max Kaplan had 2 wins on Board 4. The same Indian Trail group captured 3rd place in the state in the March K-8 championship at St. Charles. Ronin Moore from Sherwood was the runner-up on Board 1 with 2 points. Eddie Esgar, also from Sherwood, won Board 2 with 2 points. Dylan Harradine of Red Oak took 2nd place on Board 2 with 2 points, having lost only to Esgar. Mitchell Svetov from Wayne Thomas was the runner-up on Board 3. Sammy Fourlas had the best result on Board 4 with 2 points. * * * Ever wonder how the girls are doing? It is sometimes said that scholastic chess is dominated by male players. But the tables were turned at the year-end tournament at Indian Trail in May, when girls finished 1-2-3. The winners of the five-round tournament, played over two days, were Jackie Connors (1st place, 5th grade), Victoria Walsh (2nd place, 4th grade), and Taylor Czerwinski (3rd place, 5th grade). Connors and Czerwinski are club veterans. Walsh has been playing only one year, and vaulted over dozens of intermediate and advanced players. Ally Connors was unable to attend one day of the tournament but finished 6th on the club ladder. Other top finishers at the Indian Trail club were Sam Lichtman, Anthony Donati, Henry Coplan, Jason Otgonbaatar, Uly Noffsinger, Christopher Allen-Muhammad, Joseph Khader, Max Kaplan, Evan Rosenblum, and Jorge Aguilar-Pan. The club had approximately 85 members during the year, and 44 played in the year-end tournament. * * * Congratulations to our District Team, which on April 16th defeated a Barrington team coached by former U.S. Champion Yury Shulman. The final score was 52-17. Our team remains undefeated in three matches. We hesitate to single out particular players for their success because their opponents varied considerably in strength. But among our top performers were Dylan Harradine, Mitchell Svetov, Caitlin Hong, Sammy Fourlas, Ezra Boldizsar, Mitchell Strehler, Jonathan Hrach, Patrick Tippens, Michael Vilker, Harrison Burns, Brennan Staib, Matthew Warshell, Jacob Hersh, Eddie Esgar, Elli Faletsky, Ronin Moore, Per Wagenius, Matthew Strehler, Eli Elder, Josiah Davis, Mason Bates, and Tyler LaForce Team members, nominated by their coaches based on their ratings, are listed in the About Us/District Team section of this site. * * * Six Highland Park High Schoolers received Outstanding Achievement Awards on April 30th from the District 112 Chess Committee in a ceremony at the high school. The awards recognized their contributions to our program. Five seniors, all top players on the high school team, served as coaches in our five clubs -- Adi Wasserman, Eric Emer, Jordan Bohmbach, Michael Blonsky, and Jordan Sparagana. Bryce Robertson, a sophomore, is our webmaster and runs the computer operations at our Saturday tournaments. Many thanks to them all and best wishes as they move on to college. * * * Four members of the Indian Trail club received “Character Counts” awards from the city of Highland Park at a ceremony at the Highland Park Country Club on March 24th. Ally Connors, Sam Chase, Jack Kirkwood and Taylor Czerwinski were cited not only for their excellence as coaches of players in grades K and 1 at Indian Trail but for forming themselves into a cohesive unit, sharing teaching tips and techniques, and becoming role models and mentors for the entire club. * * * Please visit our new section called "Leo's Corner" for puzzles, interesting games, and news from the chess world. Many thanks to Leo Vilker for the content, and to our fearless webmaster, Bryce Robertson, for making it all work. * * * Scheduling problems? Some kids are unable to attend particular clubs because of schedule conflicts with other after-school activities, but we can usually accommodate these kids in another club with a different schedule. We’ll be glad to help you find a suitable club. Registration forms for all clubs appear in their respective sections of this website. To access those sections, “Create an account” at left (if you haven’t already done so). * * * Is your child ready for more? Consider our Tutors program. Most of our coaches do private tutoring for individuals or small groups, and approximately 30 kids in the district took advantage of this opportunity during the past year. See “Resources/Tutors.” * * * We are running a Mentors Program in which adults in the community coach club members in the adults' homes for an hour a week on whatever schedule proves convenient. We will supply a curriculum and teaching tips. If you are interested, let us know. * * * Want to get involved? New volunteers are always welcome, especially parents and other adults able to help out in our clubs. No chess experience is necessary.
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