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Media Stories
St. Ethelreda making moves @ Chicago Chess Open!
Shakira Luster At the 2019 Chicago Open, I walked into a tournament hall and noticed the wide range of ages playing in the under-1000. However, what also stuck out was three girls who were under the watchful eye of their coach. I snapped a few pictures not immediately realizing the…
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The Chess Drum
2019 Haitian (Jr.) Chess Championships
The 13th edition of the the Federation Haitian Chess Chess Championship (FHE) took place, for the first time, on two days at the Hotel Le Plaza on Saturday 1ST AND SUNDAY 2 June 2019, from 8am TO 4pm. The tournament is made following the Swiss system with a pace of…
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The Chess Drum
Atlanta’s Troutman at 2019 Chicago Open
Charles Troutman III Charles Troutman III had been one of the top 100 players in age categories between 9-11 years old. After a lull in his tournament play during 2017, he began playing more online activity and his classical chess began to improve. He’s on the verge of eclipsing the…
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Drum Majors
Renewed Energy @ Chicago Open!
The Chicago Open has been one of the marquee tournaments for two decades. It is the first major of the summer season and generally attracts a healthy mix of professionals, norm seekers and scholastic phenoms. However, what made this tournament different was the buzz created by the online battles that…
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The Chess Drum
Vasif Dararbayli wins 2019 Chicago Open!
Illia Nyzhnyk and Vasif Dararbayli face off in round 7.The game was drawn. Aided by a strong 5.5/6 start Vasif Dararbayli held off a field of strong GMs to win the 2019 Chicago Open. Perhaps the key win was his 6th round win over then-co-leader Jeffery Xiong (2015 Chicago Open…
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The Chess Drum
2019 Chicago Open (Wheeling, Illinois)
Summer is here and just outside of the “Windy City” in the suburb of Wheeling, the Chicago Open has begun. Aleksandr Shimanov is the defending champion, but Jeffery Xiong is the top seed and wants to repeat his 2015 win. Then only 14-years old, he has since evolved into a…
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Cote d'Ivoire
Reflections on 2019 Abidjan Rapid & Blitz
Going back to Africa! Before traveling to Francophone (French-speaking) Africa for the first time, I had to brush off my French instruction books from grad school to brush up on vocabulary, cognates, listening, phrases, and passe compose’. I discovered that there were a lot of videos on YouTube and went…
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The Chess Drum
The Chess Drum chats with Nigeria’s Oladapo Adu
Nigeria has plans to break through to produce their first Grandmaster and an official campaign was launched in February. One of the hopefuls in the Africa’s most populous nation is International Master Oladapo Adu. A long-time national team member, Adu spent a number of years in the U.S. before returning…
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