Reports

Holland Junior Open

Reported by Dr. Tony Palmer

43 juniors competed at Holland Christian High School on March 26th, 2011 in an inaugural tournament organized by HollandChess.com and the Holland Scholastic Chess Club. David and Tamara Posthuma coordinated the planning and preparation, while the four Sections were very smoothly run by Tournament Directors Dan Hronchek and Derrick Baker. The players displayed great fighting spirit along with good sportsmanship, and everyone had a great time. Special thanks to Gold Sponsors Haworth Corporation and CapTrust Financial Services, and Silver Sponsors Hemco Gauges and assessme.org for generously supporting and promoting the Holland Junior Open.

The Section winners and their prizes:

Top Rated Section:

1) Isaac Zylstra – First Place trophy, Lifetime MCA Membership, $50 savings bond, chess book

2) Will Brooks – Second Place trophy, One Year MCA Membership

3) Joshua Posthuma – Third Place trophy, One Year MCA Membership

Reserve Rated Section:

1) Zachary Lewis – First Place trophy, One Year MCA Membership

2) Paul Buhrer – Second Place trophy, One Year MCA Membership

3) Will Gadbois – Third Place trophy, One Year MCA Membership

Unrated 3-6 Section:

1) Keith Takens – First Place trophy, free chess lesson

2) Malachi Jobin – Second Place trophy, free chess lesson

3) Kaleb Packard – Third Place trophy

4) Vishall Muralidhar – Fourth Place medal

5) Abhisek Pusty – Fifth Place medal

Unrated K-2 Section:

1) Trisha Pal – First Place trophy, free chess lesson

2) Tucker Kooi – Second Place trophy

3) Anshuk Rudrangi – Third Place trophy

4) Ian Geiersbach – Fourth Place medal

5) Ethan Meyers – Fifth Place medal

All participants were awarded an event ribbon for attending, and players in the two rated sections all received the recent Lake Effect Chess Newsletter featuring the Holland Scholastic Chess Club. Thanks to everyone who made the first Holland Junior Open such a success!

Additional reporting from Andy Catlin:

The inaugural Holland Junior Open was a big success. I can't remember the "first edition" of a tournament ever running so smoothly! 42 Scholastic players and their families enjoyed the fine facilities at Holland Christian High School. Thank you to David Posthuma and the Holland Chess Club staff for putting on this superb event! David said that "we'll be back next year."

Isaac Zylstra won all his games in the premiere section, upsetting top seed Will Brooks with a fine combination and beating local favorite Joshua Posthuma. Isaac's toughest game was what looked to be a typical "Round 1 Swiss mismatch" against underdog Benjamin Beach. Beach had Zylstra on the ropes for most of a tight middle game, but he couldn't hold onto his advantage in time pressure. Isaac has annotated his game against Will here:

http://www.westmichiganchess.com/Shared%20Documents/2011/03%20-%20March/2011hollandjunioropen.htm