Open Section

It looked like Coach Goran was not going to win an Ohio tournament, after he blew a promising position to GM Bryan Smith, coming away with a zero. However, his students came to his rescue with 8th grader Maggie Feng drawing GM Smith in round 3 while 7th grader Luke Xie drew GM Smith in the final round.  When the smoke cleared, Goran was saved by his students and went on to tie for first with GM Smith.  Joining Maggie and Luke in a tie for 3rd place was 5th grader Chris Shen.   This was pretty much a reunion of the CCL team that won MOTCF earlier in the year.

These young CCL players just keep getting better and better. I keep thinking that there is an end to it but I guess that there may not be.  Maggie Feng and Luke Xie both drew GM Brian Smith.  Maggie is in 8th grade, Luke is in 7th grade, and Bryan Smith is an adult Grandmaster in his prime.  I am not knocking Bryan at all, he is a very strong player.  I am just stunned to see you all grow up so much, both in and outside of chess.