An Incremental Kind of Weekend

It has been quite a weekend. One for the family history book, in fact. I spent most of it in Skokie, Illinois, where Trevor was making his fourth and final ever appearance at the Illinois state qualifying round of the national Denker high school chess championship. Trevor has been invited to the state round every year of his high school career. As a sophomore he won and represented Illinois at the national tournament, where he tied for fourth place. (My husband and I blogged our way through that amazing experience, which is why "Denker" has its own category in my sidebar!)

Well, history repeated itself this weekend as Trevor again won the Illinois state high school championship! Out of five games played he was the only player to score four wins, giving him a clear claim to the title, no tiebreaks necessary. Trevor will go on to represent Illinois once again at the national tournament, which will be held this year in Orlando.

I think the best word to describe this tournament is "tempestuous." It was quite a wild ride! Last year's Illinois Denker champion, junior Eric Rosen, was upset in the first round by freshman Sam Schmakel, who went on to upset Trevor in round 2. But both Eric and Trevor recovered nicely, however, and ended up playing each other in the final round. It was definitely a deja vu moment, as these two have sparred many, many times over the years. Sometimes Eric wins, sometimes Trevor, but it is always interesting! Here they are a few years back, getting ready to face off in another state championship tournament. I can't believe how little they used to be: Here they were yesterday before the final round on the top board. Some things never change, but obviously some things do. The game was quite a nail-biter. I did not watch for the first several hours. Chess makes no sense to me, so there is no point torturing myself. But finally I went back into the playing room to see how things were going. At the point I started watching, Eric had somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 minutes on his clock and Trevor had 1 minute. Yikes! (One way to lose a chess game is for your clock to tick down to nothing.) The time control for this tournament, however, also used a 30-second increment. What this means is that each time a player moves he gains 30 seconds, so if he has not used more than that amount of time to think, he will break even on time. If he has used less time than that to think, he will come out ahead. For something like an hour I watched Trevor's clock tick down as low as 25 seconds and go as high as a minute and a half as he alternately used up time and got it back. Talk about pressure! I don't know how he can stay so cool, much less how he can think in that situation. (Trevor is renowned among his peers for thinking for incredibly long periods of time and ending up in "time trouble"--short on time--at the end. Obviously, he was true to form in this game.)

As Trevor's clock was doing its manic depressive thing, Eric's clock slowly ticked down a little at a time, until he was in the 6-minute range. With the game dragging on, the tournament director joked to me, "These two players should never be allowed to play with increments." In other words, "We could be here all night." But we weren't. Finally, over four hours after the game started, Eric resigned and Trevor claimed victory. Here is a photo of the board and clock immediately following the game. It's hard to see, but I think Eric's time is 6:16 and Trevor's is :49. Phew!

Serious players rarely immediately get up from the board. There is always something to talk about, and here are Trevor and Eric doing just that.

The thing that always impresses me about chess and those who play it is the absolute passion for the game as well as the camaraderie of the players. The above picture shows the 2010 Illinois Denker champion (Eric) immediately after losing to the 2009 Illinois Denker champion (Trevor). It had to be a tough moment for Eric. Nevertheless, he smiled, congratulated his opponent, and proceeded to join that opponent in some post-game debriefing. And I know if Trevor had lost he would have done the same.

This will be Trevor's last year to play high school chess. He starts college this coming fall. We are thrilled that he will wrap up his high school chess career with another shot at the national championship. Next year we will be rooting for Eric to have that chance again during his senior year. Trevor and Eric will not play each other again in high school competition, but I have no doubt that they will play each other again. The question is only, when?

Denker Photos and a U.S. Open Update

Day One--Arriving at the Marriott--Let's play chess!

Check-in

Opening Ceremony

Trevor with Bill Hall, Executive Director of the United States Chess Federation

Nice jewelry!


First round, against Matthew Parshall




Final round against Robert Lau

Closing Ceremony - The Winners!

Abby Marshall, first woman ever to win the Denker!

Read Abby's own thoughts on the tournament here.

U.S. Open Update: Trevor ended with 6 out of 9 points, tying for 4th place in the Expert division. He has mixed feelings about that outcome because although it is quite an excellent finish, the pairings/results were such that he essentially came out even in ratings points, losing what he had gained in the Denker tournament. I guess that's the heart of a true competitor--never being quite satisfied, always looking to the future and wanting to do even better. And he will have that chance, as this fall is full of playing opportunities for him. The Chess-Mobile (also known as a Volkswagen Eurovan) is going to be on the road a lot the next few months!

One final note: Trevor's friend and fellow Illinoisan Eric Rosen had a barn burner of a tournament, first drawing one GM and then defeating another! Eric apparently decided it wasn't enough to merely walk through the gate to Master status; no, that gate is meant to be knocked down and flattened! Congratulations, Eric! We are all so proud of you!

And That's a Wrap

I'm back! (Thanks for filling in this morning, honey.) I arrived in Indianapolis just in time to watch about the last five minutes of Round 6. For the last hour of the drive Phillip was giving me regular updates via cell phone, and for the last fifteen minutes or so we didn't hang up. We were interrupted at one point by the fire alarm going off in the hotel where the tournament is being played! It turned out to be a false alarm (I always kind of wonder about those "false" alarms in public places) and the game proceeded. As is so often the case, Trevor's game was the last one to finish. So I quickly found a place to deposit children and belongings and joined my husband and other onlookers in the board-side nail biting. By the time I got there Trevor was down to a rook and a pawn against his opponent's lone rook. Given that the rooks cancel each other out, it all boiled down to whether or not Trevor could get his pawn to the other side of the board, whence it would be promoted to a queen and he'd win the game.

Excuse me? Did you say something? Oh, you mean you would like to know how the game turned out?

It was a draw. :-) At the conclusion of the game Trevor and Robert exchanged handshakes and smiles as they each finished the Denker 2009 Tournament of High School Champions with 4 points each. And Miss Abby Marshall of Virginia (one of only two girls in the tournament) drew her last game, giving her clear first place. Abby, a senior, may now claim (if she so desires) a 4-year full scholarship to the University of Texas at Dallas! Congratulations, Abby! Let's hear it for girl power (something that is statistically rare in the chess world).

The award ceremony is starting soon. We don't know Trevor's final position, but of course as soon as we do we'll post it here

UPDATE: Trevor tied for 5th place, and so was recognized at the awards ceremony. A nice finish to a wonderful tournament!

Can you believe this young man is not finished with chess this week? His first round of the U.S. Open starts TONIGHT!

The Final Round

Good morning, RoundUnvarnished readers! The final round of the 2009 Denker National Tournament of Champions is up and running. This morning we find Trevor playing Robert Lau on the third board. The winner of this match has a strong chance of coming in 3rd or 4th in the tournament, where Abby Marshall of Virginia remains undefeated on the top board. She's playing Michael Yang of Minnesota, who has 4.5 points to Marshall's perfect 5.0. Two players have 4 points: Jeffrey Haskel (FL) and Vincent Huang (CA). Currently Trevor is tied for 5th along with Lau, Deepak Aaron, and Steve Breckenridge of Oregon. (Special Note for Pastor Rossow: Matt Anzis of Iowa has 2.5 points with a group of 10 other competitors.)

As usual, the Champ spent time this AM on opposition research and game prep while Chess Dad fixed breakfast. Trevor is black this round, and so Lau will set the pace. Trevor explained over breakfast that he was wary of another closed Italian game, and hoped that Lau would play the Ruy Lopez. Fortunately for Trevor, he doesn't have a lot of games readily available over the internet, so unless Lau of Hawaii reads Illinois Chess Bulletin, the "opposition research" on Trevor actually shows a player with success against the Italian. So perhaps Lau will go with the Ruy Lopez - Trevor's best game - and play into Trevor's hands. So Dad will look for 3. B-b5 as the game begins.

We have some turmoil getting here. We neglected to watch the weather this AM, and so were surprized by a fierce thunderstorm. We rushed to get out the door, knowing that it might take extra time to get to the site. The parking lot was already flooding and my Grand Marquis was only a couple minutes' rain more from not getting out of the lot. A little hail was felt, but I plodded on, saying: "This is why we have insurance!" Fortunately, the hail held off. Traffic snarls were fortunately on the other side of the freeway and we got to the tournament early.

Arriving early gave me a chance to soak in the hall one last time. I took a few pictures and listened to the TD (tournament director) give final instructions to the players. Six years of "Denker Dreams" in our household and now it is coming to a close. We've worked hard to get here and Trevor has done well in the tournament to get to this point. No matter how this board turns out, this has been a great experience. Time to bask. God is good.

Meanwhile, the tournament starts and so Dad watches the opening before heading off to blog and to read. Watch for that third move. White plays B-b5. The Ruy Lopez!

We're off and running.

And we have . . .

. . . another win! Those 2-1/2 points just became 3-1/2!

One round remains to be played at 11:00 a.m. EST tomorrow. Trevor and his dad are on their way back to the hotel to get as much sleep as possible. My other children and I will be departing Chicagoland tomorrow morning so as to make it to Indianapolis in time for the closing ceremony at 4:00 p.m. I think Phillip may need to hijack my blog entirely tomorrow since I will be on the road and unable to post.

See what I mean about the roller coaster?

. . . and another update from Dad

It's hard to believe that by this time tomorrow Denker 2009 will be over. But there is still a lot of action and excitement to take place. Each round sees top players fall and, at this point, only Abby Marshall of Virginia remains undefeated. (An interesting aside: she is one of only two girls in the tournament.) She's playing Deepak, who defeated Trevor in the last round, on Board One.

Trevor fell from being tied for 3rd to being tied for 10th, with Robert Lau. Trevor's now playing on Board Six on the "strong side" against Joshua Bowman of Pennsylvania. In between the top board and Trevor's are some exciting matches, as favored players such as Jeffrey Haskel, Andrew Ng, and John Patrick Tae fight to get back on top. There are three players with 3.5 points and 5 players with 3 points, followed by Robert & Trevor leading the pack of 2.5's.

Anything can happen when so many state champions mix it up. Chris Andrews of Wyoming came in as the lowest-rated player (only a 1118), but has two points and is tied for 19th with Evan Sandberg of California (2131)! This puts him ahead of Richard Herbst of Colorado, a USCF Expert with a rating of 2052 who has had a rough start and will have to work hard to come out above .500 in the tournament. Biggest surprise so far: Felix Yang of Massachussetts may "only" be a 2033, but he has 3 points and is holding his own against Robert Lau.

On a personal note, I was very proud of how Trevor handled his loss today. Sure, we weren't expecting to win this thing. But it is still hard to watch a dream die. So we had some quiet time to absorb the loss and then went out for a cold, invigorating swim. And Dad's "bachelor food" seemed to provide just the right fuel to get us back on track. We got to the tournament site a little earlier than usual, so had a chance to enjoy meeting Trevor's opponent, Joshua. They are off to a good start and are both enjoying what we all came to do: play (or at least, watch) good chess!

A Photo . . .

The Master (Almost) at Work

I'm not sure which game this is, but I think the photo was taken yesterday, so it's probably either Round 2 or Round 3.

He's a handsome fella, ain't he? And to think he's just as good at piano as he is at chess.

Disappointment

Cheryl, reporting from home base in Chicagoland.

If you read my huband's comments on the morning post you know that at some point while he was going for coffee the game took a turn for the worse (from Trevor's perspective, anyway). Phillip called at about 1:30 Chicago time to let me know that Trevor had lost. :-(

It's okay. Trevor has been here many times before. How does that old saying go . . . the "thrill of victory" and the "agony of defeat"? "Thrill" and "agony" are pretty fitting words for the roller coaster ride that is the typical chess tournament. This tournament in particular, pitting as it does a group of young players who are so similarly talented and equally matched, means that the ride is going to be even more harrowing than usual. There are slight ratings differences among the players at Denker, but they are slight, and any one player is capable of vanquishing any other player in any given game. Trevor was the underdog in this round, by virtue not only of his rating but of playing as Black. And yet the result could have easily gone the other way, and no one would have been surprised. Every competitor at Denker knows how amazing every other competitor is. That is what makes it so special.

One of the things I have come to deeply appreciate about the world of chess is the cameraderie of it. How many times have I watched as Trevor, after experiencing a dizzying win or a devastating loss, has left the tournament room with his opponent, only to immediately find an empty table or open spot on the floor where the board is rolled out yet again and he and his opponent set about analyzing the game they just finished? Sometimes it goes on for an hour, as the winner and loser consider together where the loser went wrong and how the game might have played out had he made another choice at this or that point. Does this sort of thing happen anywhere else? Maybe. But I don't remember the last time I saw two football, basketball, or tennis players spend an hour after their game going back through it step by step as they play out other ways the game could have gone.

The chess world is not large. One sees the same names at tournament after tournament after tournament. Trevor has repeatedly played many of his Illinois chess friends in competition. Right now in Skokie, Illinois, the family of the young man with whom Trevor tied at the Illinois Denker Qualifying Tournament is watching and cheering for Trevor as he gives this his best shot. (Although Trevor and his friend Eric each had the same number of points at the qualifying tournament, Trevor squeaked through on tie breaks.) If the shoe were on the other foot, we would be doing the same. Next year Trevor and Eric and the rest of the top-rated Illinois high school chess players will again contend for the Illinois Denker title, and each of them will give it his all, showing no mercy, playing to "kill." And yet after the dust has cleared, they will smile and shake hands and study their games together and play some "skittles" (chess for fun) while wishing the victor well as he moves on to Nationals.

So here we are, more than halfway through. Wow, it's going fast! No matter what happens, the memories that have been made and the things that have been learned will be a part of Trevor and will return home with him. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. There are two rounds left to be played. And I have a feeling Trevor is already looking to the future.

An Update

Yes, chess fans, it's CLOSED. We're in for a long one!

Time for a cup of coffee.

A Beautiful Morning in Indy . . .

and we are up and running with Round 4 of the Denker National Tournament of Champions!

This morning Trevor is playing Deepak Aaron, a USCF Master (i.e. rating over 2200) from New York. Deepak is the third seed in the tournament, besting some stronger players along the way--no surprise, as New York is the strongest state for youth chess. Trevor would have played the former tournament leader, Robert Lau of Hawaii (who also drew his game last night), but this would have meant one of them playing as White for three games out of four. Thus, computer adjusted the pairings to keep things more even, resulting in this morning's battle: Aaron (White) v. Magness (Black).

Thanks to the tireless efforts of our tournament officials, who are doing a great job keeping things running smoothly and making everyone feel comfortable and well-informed, we were able to discover Trevor's pairing first thing this morning. So "opposition research" was intensely being pursued as Chess Dad cooked a high-protein breakfast (bacon, eggs, cheese, lo-carb bread). For those watching on MonRoi, expect Trevor and Deepak to play what is called "The Italian." The big question for Trevor is whether Aaron will make this an "open" Italian or a "closed" Italian. (Hint: look for move 4 or 5, to see if Aaron plays d3, to "close" the Italian, or d4, to open it up.)

What does this mean for the general spectator? An open game will move more quickly; a closed likely means a long match. As Black, Trevor will have more opportunities to gain an advantage with the open game. (Side note from Cheryl for those who like me are not chess "savvy": Black is always at a disadvantage because White moves first and determines the opening and pace of the game. Thus, a draw for Black is akin to a win because it means that Black was able to overcome his inherent disadvantage. If Black wins, it's probably because White made a mistake and Black was able to capitalize!). If the game is closed, black has to play very carefully and wait for white to make some sort of mistake. Trevor comments that this latter game is similar to a variation of the Ruy Lopez known as "The Spanish Inquisition."

Fortunately, Trevor does well with long games, and is strongest in the end game. It may be that Aaron will close the game, thinking that it will give Black fewer opportunities. But then, he may have done some opposition research on Trevor . . . . :-)

Round 4

The pairings are posted for the morning round. Trevor will be playing Deepak Aaron of New York (rating 2208) on the third board. The round begins at 11:00 EST. No rest for the weary! (But if I know my son, he's not feeling weary right now, just motivated.)

I'll post more as soon as I get the "on location" report from my husband. Good luck, Trevor!

Round 3 Result!

A DRAW!

(Cheryl here, filling in for Chess Dad Phillip, who is whisking our fearless warrior back to the hotel for some much needed zzzz's. It's an hour later in Indianapolis than it is here in Chicagoland, so they will do well to get to bed by midnight.)

My husband says the game played out pretty much as anticipated. Almost exactly four hours after they began, the players agreed to a draw. For the final hour, Trevor's parents' ears were glued to their respective phones and their eyes fixed on their respective computers as they simultaneously viewed the progress of the game on Monroi, each trying to keep the other from having a stress-induced heart attack. Because my chess understanding is almost non-existent, much of the conversation also focused on my husband trying to help me understand what was going on. At one point, however, he was scratching his head in bewilderment as it first appeared that Trevor had "sacked" a rook and that his opponent had then declined taking that same rook. It turned out that there was a glitch in the Monroi reporting that had skewed what we were seeing on the screen.

So . . . Trevor goes to bed tonight, so far undefeated at Denker, with two wins and a draw under his belt. Sweet dreams, honey. I love you and am so happy and proud. See you in a couple of days! Keep playing your game!

Round 3, Continued

The opening proceeded as expected, with the French Defense. Then, in a surprizing acceleration, moves 18-23 saw a massive exchange of major material moving the players quickly to the end game. Now that the fireworks are done, both players are settling in for the long haul: trying to calculate a win instead of a draw when they are both looking at a rook and seven pawns each. Trevor is down on time, with 23 minutes left to Haskell's 38, but the clock is ticking on Haskell as he considers Magness' slight advantage: Haskell has doubled pawns in an isolated file, putting him at a disadvantage against Trevor's pawn line. Still anyone's game, though.

A little inside baseball: what does it mean when Illinois Champ taps on the top of his Lipton Iced Tea after briefly looking at Coach Dad and then turning his attention back to the board? Time for Dad to go to the Circle K down the road and get more tea!

Denker, Round 3

The third round of the Denker has started, with Trevor Magness of Illinois facing off against the top seed in the tournament, Jeffrey Haskell of Florida. Haskell's team won the U.S. Amateur Championship last year, and this is an encore appearance at the Denker for Haskell, who represented his state in 2007. Trevor and Jeffrey are playing on the fourth board. The top five boards are being broadcast over the internet on Monroi, which also has a nice article with photos on the tournament. (The gentleman in the first photo, with Alabama's Jeffrey Byrd, is Bill Hall, who talked movingly at the opening ceremonies about the impact this tournament had on his life as a young man from a small town in Tennessee.)

As usual, Coach/Manager Dad had much to do between boards: shop for groceries so that appropriate comfort food could be secured for an in-room dinner, exercise with the Illinois Champ so that he can stay in optimal tournament condition, and keep track of developments back at the tournament site. Actually, Trevor did that last part while I took a short nap. And it paid off: we found out around 4:00 p.m. that two players at a higher board than Trevor's had drawn, meaning we could be 99% sure that Trevor would indeed play Haskell. What did this mean for Trevor? It meant he had time to take advantage of opposition research and review Haskell's game style before heading in. But first, we called home so that my daughter (thanks, Caitlin!) could send the appropriate data file, which Trevor then loaded up on to ChessBase--a program that stays on my laptop for useful purposes such as this.

Trevor is playing White this round, which means he gets to move first and set the pace. Trevor plays 1.e4, to which Haskell has historically responded with what is known as the French Defense. Trevor has known the first seven moves of the "French line" like the back of his hand for years now and has further studied it and its variations this past year with his teacher, GM Yury Shulman. One likely path this line will take with Haskell goes to move 12, the other to move 18. In preparation for the game, Trevor reviews these two expected variations of the French Defense before exercising and then again before dinner.

All that remains now is the execution. Let's see if his planning and preparation pay off.

And the winner is . . .

TREVOR!

Waiting

Phillip, reporting the latest from Denker:

We are now 2 hrs, 45 minutes into the game and so boards are starting to finish. It looks, though, like Trevor and his opponent will be using most of their clocks: the board is fairly even, with plenty of material (pieces) left on the board. Trevor has a slight advantage: he's "up" a pawn (i.e. he has one more pawn on the board right now than his opponent, Spencer Bledsoe). But Trevor has one set of pawns "doubled" (on the same file), so that advantage is somewhat negated. Bledsoe has more maneuverablility on the board (more territory), but Trevor has more authority over the center files of the board, with both rooks & queen in good positions for coordinated attacks sure to come. So it appears that Trevor has yielded some territory on the board for the sake of optimizing his forces. Most auspiciously for Trevor: he is ahead on time (interpolation from Trevor's mom: this is SO rare). Trevor still has 27 minutes on his clock. Bledsoe is down to 14. (N.B. Players get 30 second "increments" added to their clock every time they make a move, so the game may continue considerably longer than the 41 minutes currently allotted.)

The next hour is going to be very interesting.

Denker, Round 2

The morning report from my husband, chaperoning our son in Indianapolis.

The second round of the Denker National Tournament of High School Champions is up and running. There was more than the usual excitement when the pairings (the listing of who is to play whom) were posted this morning. My mind was taken back to when Trevor use to play in scholastic tournaments and how excitement filled the room as the joyful report filled the air: "Pairings are up!"

Trevor is playing Spencer Bledsoe of Georgia this morning. Spencer is a stronger player than Trevor's opponent last night, a high "Grade A" player with a rating of 1962. Trevor has moved up from 10th to 9th position; Spencer is in 18th by virtue of having won his first game. With this pairing, Trevor may have dodged a bullet: the top-rated player in the tournament, Jeffrey Haskell of Floida, drew (tied) his first board last night and so dropped from 1st to 19th place. Because the "fold" right now has players 1-9 playing 10-18, and the 19th position playing down, slight changes in how the other games went could have resulted in either Trevor having to play Haskell this round or being paired up against the current gentleman on the first board: Robert Lau of Hawaii. But, of course, if Trevor continues to win, he will have to play one--or both--of these dynamos before tournament's end. Indeed, looking at the current standings, it seems likely that he'll have to mix it up with Lau tonight.

On a personal note, it was a morning to savor. We slept loud and long, having gotten to bed relatively early due to Trevor's quick win last night. This is unusual, because Trevor is a methodical player who usually prevails over his opponents three "yards" at a time. So it was great to have an alarm-clock-free morning. We went out for breakfast, taking a chance on the Waffle House nearby and being very pleasantly surprised. (I had stopped going to WH due to a couple of bad exepriences, but this one was like the WH's of my youth: clean, friendly, fast, and good.) The only drawback was Trevor's infamous "tournament tummy," which kept him away from the bacon. His stomach seems to be the way his body expresses his anxieties, and so Coach here will need to make sure that we get him on a schedule--and diet--that is as close to his home routine as possible. Fortunately, we secured a room at an Extended Stay hotel, and so have a large fridge, range, dishes, pots, utensils, and cutlery. So, we'll be off to the grocery store later so that we can have comfort food in our room for dinner tonight.

Meanwhile, for me and the rest of the chess parents, it's the "world wide wait" as the players' clocks tick away . . . .

Stay tuned for more updates!

Reflections from Denker

Because I am unable to be with my son over the next few days as he competes at the Denker Tournament of High School Champions, I asked my husband to do some journaling about the event. Here are his thoughts from the first day.

It really is a great honor to be here. The opening ceremony was about ninety minutes long and included several speeches and moving testimonies. This is the 25th Denker Tournament of Champions, and many former participants have gone on to great things--both in and out of the world of chess.

All the participants have a little state flag by their board. Trevor really is representing our state of Illinois! At the opening ceremony all the state champions got a gold medallion--plated in real gold (so, yes, they are heavy!). They also received a thickly laminated chess card of Arnold Denker, after whom the tournament is named. The cards were signed by Denker before he died and have the notation of a game he personally picked as one of his best on the back. They also got a copy of the Arnold Denker Commemorative Edition of Chess Life magazine.

Trevor is 10th seed in the tournament, so is not favored to win, but could possibly come in the top five and get a few hundred dollars for college. The winner, of course, gets a 4-year, full tuition and room-and-board scholarship to the University of Texas at Dallas.

Right now Trevor is playing his first round*, against Matthew Parshall of Alaska. He's favored to win this, but the question mark on Parshall is his rating. Because he doesn't get a lot of tournament play in Alaska, he probably is seriously underrated.

On a personal note, I'll add that I'll miss these tournaments. Trevor and I really enjoy the times we share together. As I write this my eyes mist up with memories of playing "keep off the bed" in Pittsburgh, "There is no pawn!" in Atlanta, and, of course, the wild trip to Orlando when we almost missed our flight due to my driving to the wrong airport.

We've had some heartbreaking losses along the way--especially in the beginning. But, oh, has Trevor had his triumphs! State Primary Champion in 3rd grade; 4th in Nationals at that wild Orlando tournament; tied for 5th at the U.S. OPEN last year, and now, Illinois Denker champion.

Earlier tonight, at the ceremonies, one of the chess celebrities, Bill Hall (USCF Executive Director), talked about how he played in Denker almost 20 years ago, representing Tennessee. He was from a small town (pop. 3500) and never had much opportunity to travel. He didn't say how he won the state championship, but evidently his little high school had a chess team and he won a state championship and so got to go on to nationals. He said it opened up the world to him, which is why he devotes so much of his life to promoting chess for America's youth.

I think of how much better Trevor's world is and will be because of chess, and am thankful that the Lord opened up this path for him. So many things fell into just the right place for Trevor: we moved to Chicagoland, I happened to pick up Chicago Parent magazine at a health club resulting in our sending Trevor to a chess camp on the other side of the city, etc. And now he studies with Yury Schulman, who is the highest rated U.S. player who accepts students. Yury is rated fourth in the USA right now. The top three players don't have teaching studios.

God is good.

GO TREVOR! GO ILLINOIS! :)

*P.S. from Cheryl: HE WON!