Original date sent: January 31, 2017
Something occurred this past weekend at the Winter Open that needs to be addressed. The winners of all three sections, Andrew Tang, Uri Moon-Rosha, and Ritesh Eswar, are all are kids. They took clear first, collectively finishing 14.5 of of 15, undefeated. What is the meaning of all this? What is the inspiration in these youths?
I blame Wesley. No…I thank him. For those not aware, Wesley So has risen to his peak world ranking, 2nd in the world!! This rapid rise has also included an unbeaten streak of a staggering 56 games! GM Wesley So has been an impressive presence since he has lived in Minnesota. Even graciously taking time out of his demanding schedule to hand out awards at the MSCA State Scholastic and SCA Championships last year. His value to the Minnesota chess community is unquestioned, our boon to the Scholastic boom.
Leading up to the State Scholastic and SuperNationals, I may be more frequent on the emails. Thanks are not needed, you can definitely blame me, without question.
The Minnesota Open, Feb 17-19 is the big one, registration is already up for it. If you can only commit to one tournament before the State Scholastic, this is the one. The longest consecutive running tournament in the nation, a tournament that existed before US Chess came into existence.
The collective ages of the Winter Open champions was 34…almost old enough to run for President. Will the youth rise up once again? Bear witness to another changing of the guard, a shift in power at the Minnesota Open. We shall see in a few weeks time.
Jiten Patel
mnchess.org 