Josiah Jorenby made 5 road trips to Minnesota chess tournaments, accumulated 596 points, and claimed the 2024 Grand Prix Championship by finishing 3 points ahead of runner-up NM Okey Iwu. Jorenby's play during the Grand Prix was marked by consistency as he was a fixture in the standings and on the top boards throughout the series. Jorenby hails from South Dakota and helped make Minnesota's Grand Prix a Midwestern Chess success as he took home the gold...and Iowan Joseph Wan took home the bronze. Jorenby also finished the series with a 2203 rating and newly gained National Master status as a bonus for his great chess. NM Okey Iwu captured the silver and was one of 8 players to participate in all 6 legs of the tour.
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Overall the Grand Prix was a HUGE success. 659 players competed in 1,505 games and racked up 43,247 points during the 6-tournament series. Stops on the tour included St. Cloud, Duluth/Superior, Rochester, Franklin, Edina & Roseville. $2,500 in prizes were distributed...and that is despite the fact that the Grand Prix series is FREE to compete in. As the MSCA now plans the May 2025 - April 2026 chess season there will certainly be consideration of further improving/expanding their patented Grand Prix series.
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Other winners included Kyler Weatherspoon in the U2200 (Kyler also competed in all 6 events). Kyler had a phenomenal run in this year's Grand Prix and was at the top of the leaderboard throughout the summer. In the U2000 Section it was another showdown between John Blomer & Bill Murray. Blomer once again outdistanced Murray despite Bill competing in all 6 of the events.
The lower sections featured the emergence of two young Minnesota chess stars. In the U1700 Matthew MingMing Liu carried a 484P8 rating one year ago today, entered the Grand Prix series in St. Cloud with a rating of 1177, and then shined throughout the summer to win the U1700 Section and finish with a 1629 rating after the Northern Open! In the U1400 it was Paulo Soto carrying an UNRATED status one year ago, beginning St. Cloud with a 948P13, and then taking the U1400 title and finishing with a new rating of 1330. Congrats to both MingMing and Paulo on their brilliant chess throughout the Grand Prix.
In the U1100 it was ironman Johnny Harbieh competing in all 6 events and winning this heavily contested section despite holding a rating of around 900 that was a couple hundred points under the section ceiling. 44% of the players participating in the Grand Prix Series had ratings under 1100...so Johnny outpaced a good portion of the field to take home his well earned prize!
A final note of thanks to the MSCA for their vision and design of the Grand Prix Series...and especially to MSCA Board Member & Tech Coordinator Scott Carpenter who really makes the Grand Prix go with his stellar work on the now famous Grand Prix Scorecard.
š° Related: Chess Talent on Display at Northern Open š²