Evanston Chess Club was delighted to sponsor two teams at the US Amateur Team-North in Northbrook on February 17-19. The USAT is a set of four very popular USCF national team events held around the country on President's Day weekend. It's a chance for chess players to take their game on the road as a team. Sure, you can go to a regular tournament with a friend, but it's more fun to have three others facing the opposition with you, who want you to succeed, and who want to succeed on your behalf. Near the end of a long round (g/90, increment 30) when the room has cleared out, it's a good thing to have teammates who stick around when their own games are done because they want to see the outcome of yours.

Team captain Jon Burgess put it best in an email to his teammates before the event: "All of you have your own goals for this weekend. It may be to win all your games, it may be to score 1/5, but that one win is against a strong player and means the world to you. It may be you're playing just to have fun. Whatever the goal you seek, I wish you all well with it and I will be there to support you in trying to achieve your goal."

Evanston's teams were made up of a diverse group. Our team rating range was 890 to 2187. Team age range was eighth grade to some unspecified point north of retirement. In spite of the "amateur" label, these events tend to bring out strong players--in a field of 171 there were 48 players rated 2000 or higher--so both teams had their work cut out for them.

This tournament was my experiment. I was trying two things:

• Quick Quads: a round-robin format at a quick time control (G/26, delay 3) that would let players fit in three games of chess and still have their afternoons free.
• Unrated: how would players respond to an opportunity to play in regular tournament conditions, with zero impact on ratings?

The experiment was a success, with 18 players coming out for the event. They ran the gamut--Evanston Chess Club regulars, players who hadn't played a rated game in a few years, high school students gearing up for next weekend's IHSA team championship, and one player who has never been a USCF member.

In the top quad, NM Sam Schmakel was the player to beat, and he won all three of his games. The next quad down saw Daum Hazners (2.5) edge out Mark Coleman (2.0) for first place. Evanston Chess Blitz TD Michael Matek took first with a perfect 3.0 in the third quad. Said Matek: "I really should play rated." We agree. Our bottom section was a sextet, which played three games and featured another perfect 3.0, this time by ETHS player Justin Liao. We'll definitely repeat this experiment. Continue on for complete results.

by Maret

It's not often that adult chess players get to play on a team. The US Amateur Team North (a USCF national event) is returning to Northbrook on February 17-19, 2012. Evanston Chess Club would like to field at least one team for the event. We're looking for team members!

NM Jon Burgess has agreed to be our team captain. Jon has generously volunteered to coach team members and review games during the event.

A team has four players plus one alternate, and the tournament is five rounds G/90, increment 30 sec. Jon's preference is to play the three-day schedule, so there is one round on Friday evening at 7 p.m., then two rounds each on Saturday and Sunday. Complete tournament info is here. Team members will be chosen as follows:

• Anyone interested in being on the team should email Maret Thorpe ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) no later than January 1, 2012. Please indicate your current rating, and whether you're able to play the Friday evening round.

• The top three players by the January 2012 officially published regular USCF rating will be chosen for the team. The fourth highest-rated player will be chosen for team alternate. Evanston Chess Club will pay $90 of the $140 team entry fee for this team; each team member and the alternate will contribute $10 toward the entry fee, and that payment will be due by January 15.

• Team Captain Burgess will work out a playing schedule that allows the alternate to play at least two games. One example might be: two players play five rounds each, two players play four rounds each, the alternate plays two rounds.

• What if more than five players are interested in forming a team? If we get enough player response to form a second team, Evanston Chess will help organize the team; players on the second team will be responsible for the entire entry fee, which is $140 per team.

We hope you'll take this opportunity to be part of a fun event. The rest of us will be cheering on the home team!

by Maret

Plenty of strong players came out for the Gold Section of our November 5 Tri-Level G/45. Four rounds later, Illinois had two new experts: Christopher Girardo and Thomas Kaczynski. The clear winner of the event with 3.5/4 was Abe Sun, a youth player who gained over 100 rating points and is closing in on the 2000 mark himself. Girardo, Kaczynski and NM Jon Burgess tied for second place with 3.0/4.0 each. Special thanks go to our guest master FM Kevin Bachler, who came out to play his first regular rated games in six years. It’s great to have the Caveman back at the board.

Five players led the Silver Section with 3.0/4.0 performances. Julien Bendelac and David Sye each had two wins and two draws, and picked up almost 100 rating points for their day’s work. Adem Music and Frank Lasch also scored 3.0/4.0 and played up a section for one round. Rahul Dhiman was our other 3.0 scorer.

Jon Burgess and Christopher Girardo each scored a perfect 3-0 to land at the top of the standings at the 3x3 tournament on September 10. Sadly, our chess day was not long enough to allow for four rounds, which might have yielded a clear winner in the Gold Section field of 14.

Four players went 2/3 in a closely matched Silver section: Abdulah Prijic, Edward Bustamente, Rahul Dhiman and Ricky Wang.

In the Bronze section, Douglas Selph and Aman Grover went 3-0. This was Selph's rookie tournament, and his perfect score gave him a provisional rating of 1519.

Crosstables

by Maret

Jon BurgessIt's been our pleasure at the Evanston Chess Club to play a couple of simuls against NM Jon Burgess. The simuls were a lot of fun, but the games we played left some of us asking, "How can I play better chess against stronger players?"

So we asked Jon to talk to us about how to improve our games and be more effective when we play up. The result was a lecture given on February 22, 2011, which featured three games in which David beats Goliath: Burgess-Shulman (2004 Chicago Open), Magness-Villarreal (2009 Greater Peoria Open) and Hart-Weber (2011 USAT-North). To read the notes and analysis, visit: Burgess Lecture on il-chess.org

Thanks to Jon for both the lecture and for providing the materials.

by Maret