Zagar wins Hall of Fame Classic Tournament

The Minnesota chess community generally knows Dane Zagar as a tournament organizer and TD, but we should not forget that Dane is also a very good chess player! Dane went undefeated (4.0/5.0 pts) to capture 1st prize at the Hall of Fame Classic Chess Tournament the weekend of December 17-18. Strong performances were also put in by the Castle Chess Club’s Monday night regular rapid triumvirate of Jordan Timm, David McNeil and Eddie Wasserman who all managed to score 3.5 points to join Andrew Sheehan and Vihaan Pendse for 2nd prize. Pendse, who is a 5th grader from Rochester, now has his rating up to 1987 and may be emerging as the next bright star in the long history of Minnesota scholastic chess success stories.

In the U1900 Section Mohamed Hadj Mohammed and Joshua French tied for 1st prize with 4.0/5.0 points. In the U1400 it was Aarav Salil with a tournament start rating of 1063 outpacing the field with 4.5/5.0 points to capture clear first. Overall there was great attendance at the event with 61 players fitting comfortably into the Castle Chess Club space at Southdale Mall.

Many thanks to Jack Bellinger for serving as the Chief TD.