The 2011 Eastern Open will be held on December 27-30 at the DC City Center Westin Hotel. Go to the Web site at easternopenchess.com.
- 7 rounds: With 40/2 and SD/1 time controls
- 4 sections: Open, U2200, U1900, and U1600
- 2 schedules: 4-day option: Rd. 1 begins at 7:00 pm on 12/27; 12/28-30: 10 am & 5 pm
- Class prizes: For every 100-point interval within each section
- Upset Prizes: 4 prizes given in each round 1st = $50; 2nd = $25; 3rd/4th = book prizes
- Special prizes: Best Played Game, Brilliancy, and Best Opening Innovation
- Warmup Tourney: December 27th, Open & U1800 sections, 4 Rds, 10:30 am-6 pm, G/45, $2,500
- Blitz Tournament: December 28th at 10:30pm, 5-Rd double swiss, G/5, $1,200
- Lecture: On December 27th at 4 pm, FM Allan Savage will talk about Larsen’s Legacy
- Evening rounds: On December 28-30, rounds will begin at 5 pm so that players can make Metro subway connections after the game
- Hotel Rates: $79/night!! At the beautiful DC City Center Westin Hotel
Do my eyes deceive me? It seems that Delaware has crowned a new chess champion for 2011 and his name is Phil Saponaro! Way to go Phil. After so many years with Charlie Bouzoukis and Dave Gertler dominating the state championship scene, it is great to see a few new names make their way into the top 3. Although I’m sure Charlie and Dave will be back strong next year – so watch out. Of course, Dave did not play in this year’s championship, so that could be one reason for his poor showing.
Phil won the championship with a score of 4.5/5, followed closely by Prasanna Kannappan with 4/5 and Terence Coffee with 3/5. Phil tied for first in 2008 but this time stands alone at the top.
The ‘under 1600′ section saw Truxton Boyce come out on top also with a 4.5/5 score. Dave Power and Sal Nolfo tied for the ‘under 1400′ crown.
Congratulations to all who participated and I look forward to seeing more new names atop next year’s list. (That is a challenge to you Phil to repeat as champion!)
The full results can be found in a pdf file here.
A list of previous state champions since 1991 can be found here.

Join us for the premiere Delaware chess event – the Delaware State Championship. The 2011 Delaware State Chess Championship is this weekend, the 19th and 20th at the Milford Public Library, 11 SE Front St. Milford, DE 19963. Please note the new location. For full details and contact information please see this flier.
The August 27th Newark Quad is canceled due to potential severe weather from Hurricane Irene. The next quad will be September 24th as originally scheduled.
Congratulations to Vladyslav Anderson for winning the Newark Chess Club Championship. Vladyslav finished in first with 4.0 points. Mike Pergeorelis and Andrey Korolev were only a half-point behind. Here are the full results…
| # | Name | Rtng | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Tot | Prize |
| 1 | Vladyslav Anderson | 1945 | W3 | D2 | W4 | D8 | W7 | 4.0 | 60% – $33 / 2011 Club Champion |
| 2 | Mike Pergeorelis | 1785 | W9 | D1 | W7 | L4 | W8 | 3.5 | 15% – $8.25 / 2nd Place |
| 3 | Andrey Korolev | 1577 | L1 | D6 | W10 | W11 | W9 | 3.5 | 15% – $8.25 / 2nd Place |
| 4 | Phil Saponaro | 1983 | W5 | W8 | L1 | W2 | L6 | 3.0 | |
| 5 | Mark Byerly | 1763 | L4 | W11 | W9 | L7 | B— | 3.0 | |
| 6 | David Power | 1554 | D7 | D3 | L8 | B— | W4 | 3.0 | |
| 7 | Brad Thomas | 1913 | D6 | W10 | L2 | W5 | L1 | 2.5 | |
| 8 | Gennadiy Cheremnykh | 1871 | W11 | L4 | W6 | D1 | L2 | 2.5 | |
| 9 | Geoff Sametz | 1438 | L2 | B— | L5 | W10 | L3 | 2.0 | 5% – $2.75 / Top U1500 |
| 10 | John Anderson | 1110 | B— | L7 | L3 | L9 | X11 | 2.0 | 5% – $2.75 / Top U1500 |
| 11 | Ric Baker | 1500 | L8 | L5 | B— | L3 | F10 | 1.0 |
Great job to all who participated.
Come to the Bear Library on Saturday, April 30th for some rapid chess fun. For full details and prizes see the tournament flier.
The Delaware Capital Open is the final event in the Delaware Series Challenge. It will be held June 4-5 in Dover. Join us for this 5-round Swiss with a Game/90 time control. Full details and prizes can be found in the tournament flier.
The winner of the third event in the Delaware Series Challenge is Ken Milutin – Congratulations Ken! The full results can be seen below. There are two events left in the Series Challenge, with the next event on April 23rd – the 4th Saturday Quads in Newark.
Ken Milutin 3.0
William Wong 2.5
Harold Dean Miller 2.0
Yury Markushin 1.5
Brad Thomas 1.0
Mike Sharp 1.0
Victor Rein 1.0
Art Sargent 0.0
The results are in for the Larry Donovan Memorial and the winner is…drum roll here…
Rick Lathem 3.0
William Steven Wong 2.5
Yury Markushin 2.0
Art Sargent 2.0
Michael Coppage 2.0
Victor Rein 2.0
Mike Sharp 1.0
Phillp Riccobono 1.0
Scott LaPorte 1.0
Joe Casey 0.5
Dean Miller 0.5
Glenn Davis 0.5
Congratulations to Rick Lathem! Dean Miller would like to thank all that came to this tournament, and though the attendants was short of expectations the tournament was most enjoyable, and all who came express their thanks for such a fine tournament
The State of Delaware Elementary and Middle School Chess Championships will take place on Sunday, April 10, 2011 at the Siegel JCC. The registration fee is $15 per player until March 18; afterwards, registration will be $20. This is not a USCF-rated tournament and is open to all chess players in grades K – 8. You can register here.