The first Potowotami Open & Fort Dearborn Reserve was held July 7-8 at UIC Student Center East. Sixty-six players competed for a guaranteed prize fund of $5,500.
GM Priyadharshan Kannappan won $1,000 for clear first in the Potowotami Open: Priyadharshan has finished his master's program at Webster University and has accepted a job offer back home in India: we'll miss him! International Master Zhaozhi Li took clear second: George earned $700. There was a massive tie for third: GM Dmitry Gurevich, NM Steven Cooklev, Dimitar Mardov, Ben Rothschild, and Anupama Rajendra (who won $242 each) as well as Under 2000 winners Shreyas Reddy and Hiro Higuchi (who won $245 each) all scored 3.5 points. Nine-year-old Dimitar lost only to George Li & won all his other games!
In the Fort Dearborn Reserve, Leon Lang Cao, John De Mastri, William Cahill, and top Under 1600 Conor Patrick Dorn all tied for first with undefeated 4-1 scores, winning $377.50 each. Alex Zhang won $105 for second U1600, and Kevin Cahill and Orin Harris won $150 each for best scores among Under 1400 place. Jim Davis, Charles Pieper, Joshua Darnall, Max Yang, and Chris Hinkle won $57 each for best Under 1200 scores.
Thanks to NTD Maret Thorpe, assisted by Kirti Sanchana. The nice but slightly incompetent organizer, Bill Brock (hi folks!), learned about Student Center East's summer closing time of 10 p.m. the night before the event. He forgot to tell Maret, who was rather surprised when security came to ask the players to leave at 10:15. She had to learn how to adjourn the three unfinished games under both US Chess and FIDE rules. Thanks to the patient and understanding players, it all worked out in the end. And special thanks to Kirti Sanchana, who drove from Cincinnati to Chicago to assist Maret. He drove back to Cincinnati last night to be with his pregnant wife, then is driving to work in Atlanta tonight. Road warrior!
SwissSys Standings. Potawatomi Open/Ft. Dearborn Res.: Potawotami Open (Standings (no tiebrk))
| # | Name | Rtng | Team | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Tot |
| 1 | Kannappan, Priyadharshan GM | 2622 | W21 (w) | W6 (b) | W4 (w) | W10 (b) | W3 (w) | 5.0 | |
| 2 | Li, Zhaozhi IM | 2476 | W9 (w) | D7 (b) | W18 (w) | W5 (b) | W11 (w) | 4.5 | |
| 3 | Gurevich, Dmitry GM | 2451 | D22 (b) | W14 (w) | W28 (b) | W20 (w) | L1 (b) | 3.5 | |
| 4 | Cooklev, Steven | 2261 | W19 (w) | W8 (b) | L1 (b) | D17 (w) | W16 (b) | 3.5 | |
| 5 | Mardov, Dimitar | 2119 | W29 (w) | W36 (b) | H--- (-) | L2 (w) | W17 (b) | 3.5 | |
| 6 | Rothschild, Ben | 2105 | W34 (b) | L1 (w) | H--- (-) | W22 (w) | W19 (b) | 3.5 | |
| 7 | Rajendra, Anupama Shashikala | 2085 | W25 (b) | D2 (w) | D12 (b) | D19 (w) | W18 (b) | 3.5 | |
| 8 | Reddy, Shreyas | 1977 | W32 (b) | L4 (w) | W23 (b) | W13 (w) | D9 (b) | 3.5 | |
| 9 | Higuchi, Hiroyuki Michael | 1943 | L2 (b) | W25 (w) | W14 (b) | W12 (w) | D8 (w) | 3.5 | |
| 10 | Ng, Gary FM | 2262 | D23 (b) | W26 (w) | W22 (b) | L1 (w) | H--- (-) | 3.0 | |
| 11 | Szpisjak, Steven J | 2214 | W13 (b) | W33 (w) | H--- (-) | H--- (-) | L2 (b) | 3.0 | |
| 12 | Gratz, Glen E CM | 2109 | D24 (w) | W30 (b) | D7 (w) | L9 (b) | W26 (w) | 3.0 | |
| 13 | Engelmann, Yannick | 1814 | L11 (w) | W31 (b) | W38 (w) | L8 (b) | W24 (w) | 3.0 | |
| 14 | Qian, Bill Ningyuan | 1772 | W38 (w) | L3 (b) | L9 (w) | W32 (b) | W21 (w) | 3.0 | |
| 15 | Gronski, Gabriel W | 1589 | H--- (-) | L18 (b) | D24 (w) | W36 (b) | W28 (w) | 3.0 | |
| 16 | Bareket, Tom | 1997 | D26 (b) | D23 (w) | H--- (-) | W29 (b) | L4 (w) | 2.5 | |
| 17 | Ho, Kevin | 1957 | L20 (w) | W35 (b) | W36 (w) | D4 (b) | L5 (w) | 2.5 | |
| 18 | Abbott, James | 1904 | D37 (b) | W15 (w) | L2 (b) | W28 (w) | L7 (w) | 2.5 | |
| 19 | Fricano, Paul | 1820 | L4 (b) | W32 (w) | W33 (b) | D7 (b) | L6 (w) | 2.5 | |
| 20 | Georgiev, Vladimir GM | 2577 | W17 (b) | D28 (w) | H--- (-) | L3 (b) | U--- (-) | 2.0 | |
| 21 | Ladan, Nicholas John | 1971 | L1 (b) | W34 (w) | H--- (-) | D26 (w) | L14 (b) | 2.0 | |
| 22 | Gulecyuz, Deniz Alp | 1922 | D3 (w) | W24 (b) | L10 (w) | L6 (b) | D25 (w) | 2.0 | |
| 23 | Kaplan, Avi Harrison | 1891 | D10 (w) | D16 (b) | L8 (w) | L24 (b) | W34 (w) | 2.0 | |
| 24 | Menon, Gauri | 1740 | D12 (b) | L22 (w) | D15 (b) | W23 (w) | L13 (b) | 2.0 | |
| 25 | Rogers Jr, Edward | 1708 | L7 (w) | L9 (b) | H--- (-) | X--- (-) | D22 (b) | 2.0 | |
| 26 | Kessinger, Joseph Shea | 1648 | D16 (w) | L10 (b) | W35 (w) | D21 (b) | L12 (b) | 2.0 | |
| 27 | Wilson, Matthew Spencer | 2104 | D30 (w) | H--- (-) | H--- (-) | U--- (-) | U--- (-) | 1.5 | |
| 28 | Zhang, Richard | 2038 | W35 (w) | D20 (b) | L3 (w) | L18 (b) | L15 (b) | 1.5 | |
| 29 | Guth, Joseph R | 1794 | L5 (b) | D38 (b) | W30 (w) | L16 (w) | U--- (-) | 1.5 | |
| 30 | Connelly, Patrice | 1723 | D27 (b) | L12 (w) | L29 (b) | W35 (w) | U--- (-) | 1.5 | |
| 31 | Chen, David Baokang | 1584 | L33 (b) | L13 (w) | H--- (-) | D34 (b) | D32 (w) | 1.5 | |
| 32 | Shetty, Anshul P | 1582 | L8 (w) | L19 (b) | B--- (-) | L14 (w) | D31 (b) | 1.5 | |
| 33 | Pinkney, Foster James | 1981 | W31 (w) | L11 (b) | L19 (w) | U--- (-) | U--- (-) | 1.0 | |
| 34 | Wang, William | 1728 | L6 (w) | L21 (b) | H--- (-) | D31 (w) | L23 (b) | 1.0 | |
| 35 | Wisniowski, Natalie WCM | 1704 | L28 (b) | L17 (w) | L26 (b) | L30 (b) | W36 (w) | 1.0 | |
| 36 | Johnson, Henderson | 1500 | B--- (-) | L5 (w) | L17 (b) | L15 (w) | L35 (b) | 1.0 | |
| 37 | Velikanov, Alexander FM | 2419 | D18 (w) | U--- (-) | U--- (-) | U--- (-) | U--- (-) | 0.5 | |
| 38 | Pullin, Matthew | 2110 | L14 (b) | D29 (w) | L13 (b) | U--- (-) | U--- (-) | 0.5 |
Prizes. Potawatomi Open/Ft. Dearborn Res.: Potawotami Open
| # | Name | Cash | Non-cash prize | Prize credited to pool |
| 1 | Kannappan, Priyadharshan GM (5.0/2622) | 1000.00 | Place: 1 - $1000 | |
| 3 | Li, Zhaozhi IM (4.5/2476) | 600.00 | Place: 2 - $600 | |
| 18 | Reddy, Shreyas (3.5/1977) | 245.00 | Class3/1 - $295 | |
| 21 | Higuchi, Hiroyuki Michael (3.5/1943) | 245.00 | Class3/2 - $195 | |
| 7 | Cooklev, Steven (3.5/2261) | 242.00 | Class1/1 - $310 | |
| 9 | Mardov, Dimitar (3.5/2119) | 242.00 | Class2/1 - $300 | |
| 12 | Rothschild, Ben (3.5/2105) | 242.00 | Class1/2 - $200 | |
| 4 | Gurevich, Dmitry GM (3.5/2451) | 242.00 | Place: 3 - $300 | |
| 14 | Rajendra, Anupama Shashikala (3.5/2085) | 242.00 | Place: 4 - $100 |
SwissSys Standings. Potawatomi Open/Ft. Dearborn Res.: Ft Dearborn Rsrv (Standings (no tiebrk))
| # | Name | Rtng | Team | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Tot |
| 1 | De Mastri, John | 1600 | W17 (b) | W8 (w) | D5 (b) | H--- (-) | W6 (w) | 4.0 | |
| 2 | Cahill, William | 1579 | CAHILL | W25 (b) | W20 (w) | H--- (-) | W12 (b) | D3 (w) | 4.0 |
| 3 | Cao, Leon Lang | 1526 | W18 (w) | W14 (b) | D12 (w) | W5 (b) | D2 (b) | 4.0 | |
| 4 | Dorn, Conor Patrick | 1492 | W21 (b) | W15 (w) | H--- (-) | D11 (b) | W12 (w) | 4.0 | |
| 5 | Zhang, Alex | 1495 | YANG | W19 (w) | W6 (b) | D1 (w) | L3 (w) | W11 (b) | 3.5 |
| 6 | Heller, Harry | 1656 | W10 (b) | L5 (w) | W16 (b) | W19 (w) | L1 (b) | 3.0 | |
| 7 | Cheknis, Adam Kent | 1588 | D24 (w) | L11 (b) | W20 (b) | D14 (w) | W13 (b) | 3.0 | |
| 8 | Ding, Alexander M | 1489 | W22 (w) | L1 (b) | L19 (b) | W17 (w) | W16 (b) | 3.0 | |
| 9 | Cahill, Kevin | 1340 | CAHILL | L23 (b) | D25 (w) | H--- (-) | W22 (w) | W19 (b) | 3.0 |
| 10 | Harris, Orin | 1295 | L6 (w) | W18 (b) | W15 (b) | H--- (-) | H--- (-) | 3.0 | |
| 11 | Pham, Quoc | 1678 | H--- (-) | W7 (w) | D14 (b) | D4 (w) | L5 (w) | 2.5 | |
| 12 | Knox, Terrance S | 1502 | W26 (b) | W23 (w) | D3 (b) | L2 (w) | L4 (b) | 2.5 | |
| 13 | Zagade, Samraat Jagdish | 1442 | L14 (w) | W24 (b) | D21 (w) | W23 (b) | L7 (w) | 2.5 | |
| 14 | Geannopoulos, Nicholas | 1751 | W13 (b) | L3 (w) | D11 (w) | D7 (b) | U--- (-) | 2.0 | |
| 15 | Kolenda, T E | 1612 | W16 (w) | L4 (b) | L10 (w) | D24 (b) | D18 (w) | 2.0 | |
| 16 | Prakash, Nandini | 1293 | L15 (b) | W26 (w) | L6 (w) | W25 (b) | L8 (w) | 2.0 | |
| 17 | Ursu, Alexander | 1250 | L1 (w) | L21 (b) | W26 (w) | L8 (b) | W24 (w) | 2.0 | |
| 18 | Davis, James Ivan | 1024 | L3 (b) | L10 (w) | H--- (-) | W20 (w) | D15 (b) | 2.0 | |
| 19 | Darnall, Joshua | 726 | L5 (b) | B--- (-) | W8 (w) | L6 (b) | L9 (w) | 2.0 | |
| 20 | Yang, Max | 669 | YANG | B--- (-) | L2 (b) | L7 (w) | L18 (b) | W25 (w) | 2.0 |
| 21 | Hinkle, Chris David | unr. | L4 (w) | W17 (w) | D13 (b) | U--- (-) | H--- (-) | 2.0 | |
| 22 | Pieper, Charles | unr. | L8 (b) | H--- (-) | D24 (w) | L9 (b) | W26 (b) | 2.0 | |
| 23 | Hutter, Benjamin | 1683 | W9 (w) | L12 (b) | H--- (-) | L13 (w) | U--- (-) | 1.5 | |
| 24 | Cao, Andy | 1225 | D7 (b) | L13 (w) | D22 (b) | D15 (w) | L17 (b) | 1.5 | |
| 25 | Fang, Elbert | 1050 | L2 (w) | D9 (b) | H--- (-) | L16 (w) | L20 (b) | 1.0 | |
| 26 | Rao, Abhinav Murali | 875 | L12 (w) | L16 (b) | L17 (b) | B--- (-) | L22 (w) | 1.0 |
Prizes. Potawatomi Open/Ft. Dearborn Res.: Ft Dearborn Rsrv
| # | Name | Cash | Non-cash prize | Prize credited to pool |
| 9 | Cao, Leon Lang (4.0/1526) | 377.50 | Class1/1 - $210 | |
| 6 | De Mastri, John (4.0/1600) | 377.50 | Place: 1 - $700 | |
| 8 | Cahill, William (4.0/1579) | 377.50 | Place: 2 - $400 | |
| 12 | Dorn, Conor Patrick (4.0/1492) | 377.50 | Place: 3 - $200 | |
| 11 | Zhang, Alex (3.5/1495) | 105.00 | Class1/2 - $105 | |
| 15 | Cahill, Kevin (3.0/1340) | 150.00 | Class2/1 - $200 | |
| 16 | Harris, Orin (3.0/1295) | 150.00 | Class2/2 - $100 | |
| 21 | Davis, James Ivan (2.0/1024) | 57.00 | Class3/1 - $195 | |
| 26 | Pieper, Charles (2.0/0) | 57.00 | Class3/2 - $90 | |
| 23 | Darnall, Joshua (2.0/726) | 57.00 | ||
| 24 | Yang, Max (2.0/669) | 57.00 | ||
| 25 | Hinkle, Chris David (2.0/0) | 57.00 |
US Chess has already posted the ratings reports for the Potowotami Open and for the Fort Dearborn Reserve.