Winick, Robledo Top '13 Northern Illinois Fall Classic Open Section

Newly-minted Class A-player Jon Winick and Expert Mark Robledo, Jr. both came within a half-point of perfect scores at the '13 Northern Illinois Fall Classic, drawing in the fourth and final round.

The dual-rated tournament was held October 19 in Lisle, attracting a robust field of 30 competing within three sections. Complete crosstables can be viewed here.

In the Reserve, Gama De Luna scored a perfect 4.0/4 in only his second USCF tournament. In the Booster, the ANCC's Matthias Guillet also ran the table 4.0/4 competing in his first USCF event. Matthias recently returned to chess after a multi-decade absence.

It was truly a tournament of personal bests for many:

• Jon surpassed 1800 for the first time, posting an 1842 post-event rating.

• Armel Peel went over 1600 for the first time, increasing his rating 145 points while scoring 2.5/4. Starting the event in Class C territory, Armel drew a Class B player, beat an Expert and a Class B player, before succumbing to another Expert. And thus Armel can add "Class B" to his chess resume, quite impressive considering his 992 provisional-rating one year ago.

• Also posting a 2.5/4 tally, Vic Zaderej eclipsed 1500 for the first time, jumping 70 rating points.

Edward Zhang, taking advantage of his 1586 official October rating, claimed second place in the Under 1600 prize distribution with a 2.0/4 score. Edward has been a busy camper since the event, claiming the Fifth Grade Championship at the 2013 All Grade and boosting his rating to a whopping 1759.

Aaron Maney, Bob Stoltz and Marissa Li split second place prize money among Under 1800's within the Open. All three scored 2.0/4.

Paul Schmitt finished 2.5/4 in the Reserve, claiming second place in the section.

In the Booster, ANCC's Steve Wilson posted a 3.0/4 score, tying for second with Ming Zhang. This was Steve's first USCF-rated event, losing only to Matthias in the third round.

Adam Bareket won the upset prize, edging out his brother, Tom, who also staked a claim. Class D Adam defeated a Class B player in the first round, while Class C Tom bettered another Class B opponent in his initial game.

The Northern Illinois Fall Classic represents the third tournament hosted by the Aurora Naperville Chess Club at the fantastic training facilities of Molex Corporation in Lisle. A debt of gratitude goes out to all the Molex participants who make this hosting possible. These are truly excellent playing conditions, and the registrant pool keeps growing at each event.