Andrew Titus continues to enjoy his summer break from college with some excellent chess. Andrew scored 4.5/5.0 points at this past weekend's Lake Superior Open to claim 1st Prize. This great result pushed his USCF rating up to 2311 (+17) and also pushed him to the top of the MSCA's Summer Grand Prix Standings with 224 points (+11 over 2nd place Jackson Wahl). Andrew scored a key win against local Duluth Chess Master Okey Iwu in Round 5 to win the event. In the Open Section there was a pile up for 2nd-7th place as 6 players scored 3.5 points to finish a full point behind Titus. Of special note was the incredible performance of rising star Arvind Thiagarajan who gained 66 rating points by drawing the two highest rated players (NM Titus and NM Alex Richter) and by defeating NM Kyler Weatherspoon.
In the U1800 Section, John Blomer blitzed the field with a perfect 5-0 performance to claim top prize and surge to the top of the U2000 Summer Grand Prix Standings. Jakob Michelizzi took 2nd with 4 points...only losing to Blomer in Round 4. Local chess players Cody Roberts and Allisun Zagar shared 3rd place in the U1800 section by scoring 3.5 points. Long Chen scored 3 points to take home the U1400 prize and also now leads the U1700 Section in the Summer Grand Prix standings.
In the U1200 Bantam Section it was an exciting finish when Brandon RichardWebster defeated Ryker Johnson in Round 5 to pull even with him at 4 points. Brandon and Ryker split the 1st and 2nd Place prize money and gained many rating points in the process. Other prize winners included Noah Helke & Ksenija Matus (shared 3rd place with 3.5 points), Benjamin Frisch who scored 3.5 points to be the Top U1000, and Joel Kennedy who posted 2.5 points to be the Top U800.
Overall there were 66 players in attendance at the spacious UW Superior Campus for this event. Dane Zagar & Andy Grube led the TD Team and also received some assistance from Ionatan Giurgiu & Sofia Doroshenko who are new TDs in training.