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2022 WCA President's Report

  • Written by Mike Nietman
  • Published: 02 April 2022
  • Last Updated: 02 April 2022

2022 WCA President’s Report

April 1, 2022

Although not at full strength yet, I’m happy to report that over-the-board tournaments are slowly coming back! Proving the need for events, two recent one day events drew over 100 participants each. One problem that tournament organizers are experiencing are greatly increased site costs. Whether it be hotels trying to recoup lost revenue during the pandemic or an increase in the number of weddings that were delayed due to the pandemic now vying for space with us, hotels are getting more expensive for chess tournaments. And more expensive hotels mean higher entry fees, reduced prize funds or both. If you have any suggestions for venues, please contact a Board member.

With minimal activity in the past year, WCA’s financials remain on strong ground.

Likewise, US Chess is running national events and doing very well financially.

Guy Hoffman, James Coons and myself have terms as Board members expire in 2022. All three were re-nominated and accepted nomination. With only three nominees all are re-elected to the Board for three year terms. We thank two others who were nominated, both former WCA Presidents, but each declined nomination.

We have not had a reorganizational meeting to determine 2022 officers as of yet.

The WCA sponsors the Marshall Rohland Memorial/Wisconsin Closed Championship, the Arpad Elo Open, the William Martz Memorial/North Central Open, the Wisconsin Memorial, the Game/60 State Championship and the Wisconsin Junior Open and Veterans Tournaments. All are open for bids from state organizers and/or tournament directors. If you are interested in more details on how to bid for these events, please contact any board member.

I was able to hold the 2022 State Scholastic Championships in March in Oshkosh. Congratulations to Waupaca High School for winning their first state championship! University School of Milwaukee won the K-8 section and the Milwaukee German Immersion School won their first K-5 state championship.

Since the State Scholastic is a team Swiss event at the high school level, Wisconsin uses the Wisconsin Junior Open as its qualifier for national individual invitational events. Please plan to participate in the event November 5-6 at UW-Oshkosh to qualify for the 2023 GM Arnold Denker National Tournament of High School State Champions, the Dewain Barber National Tournament of Middle School State Champions, the John D. Rockefeller III National Tournament of Elementary School State Champions and the WIM Ruth Haring National Tournament of Girls State Champions which will be held in conjunction with the US Open in Grand Rapid, MI. In 2022 these events will be held in Rancho Mirage, CA. Our representatives will be Hersh Singh, Ethan Liang, Arie Sadnoor and Madeline Weber. Good luck team!

With the same format as the Denker, Barber, Rockefeller and Haring is the John T. Irwin National Tournament of Senior State Champions. We use the Veterans Tournament held in conjunction with the Wisconsin Junior Open in November to select our representative. Due to a tie for the spot from last November, a playoff is still needed to determine the 2022 Irwin rep.

When deciding on when to hold an event, tournament organizers need to contact the state tournament clearinghouse director Guy Hoffman to find open dates on the tournament calendar. Guy can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

With tournaments starting up again, the WCA is re-starting the Wisconsin Chess Tour. At this point we don’t have a full list of events for 2022. Organizers desiring to have their event considered for the 2022 Wisconsin Chess Tour need to contact a board member immediately. To ask for Tour status in 2023 contact Tour Committee Chair Guy Hoffman by November. Tour standings are listed on our website www.wischess.org.

Tournament organizers are able to add calendar entries to our website calendar and we encourage them to do so. It is free advertising for their events. After submission, you need to e-mail me so that I can approve the event. We have received only a couple of news stories this year and depend on the state players, organizers and TD’s to supply content. If you have an interesting game to share or wish to write up a chess tournament or event, please do so and send it to me. I may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

While not done yet, I’ve updated content on the Clubs page of our website at www.wischess.org/clubs. In some cases, I’ve delisted clubs that have not responded to my e-mails for updates. Please pass along any updates to me or if you are part of a new club and want to get listed, let me know that too with all the pertinent information. I get a large number of inquiries (e-mail and phone) every year for clubs I’m involved with and for which I have my contact information posted on the website. This is valuable free advertisement for your club.

Hope to see you across the board soon!

Respectfully submitted by WCA President, Mike Nietman

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2019 WI Chess Final Tour Standings

  • Written by Administrator
  • Published: 01 January 2020
  • Last Updated: 04 April 2022

Overall

2019 WI  Chess  Tour  Standings - Top 10 Overall
Amount Rank Name Rating Class Average Rating Total Points
$112.40 1 Ulrich, Susanna Expert 2099 479.82
$89.92 2 Rudolph, Joziah Expert 2136 424.45
  3 Coons, James A 1809 419.52
  4 Stein, Josiah Expert 2087 353.45
  5 Grochowski, Robin B 1752 352.55
  6 Ellis, James A 1839 331.76
  7 Raghavan, Ashvin B 1697 307.56
  8 Santarius, Erik Master 2472 287.59
  9 Becker, Allen Expert 2028 278.69
  10 Hogg, Alexander B 1778 276.76
Read more: 2019 WI Chess Final Tour Standings
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Arpad Elo Visits the 1990 World Youth Chess Festival for Peace

  • Written by Mike Nietman
  • Published: 22 June 2012
  • Last Updated: 27 December 2013

By Mike Nietman, Local Organizer, 1990 World Youth Chess Festival for Peace

In July of 1990 Fond du Lac’s Marian College hosted the Under 14, Under 12 and Under 10 Open and Girl’s sections of the World Youth Chess Championships. Over 170 players from 40 countries and six continents descended on the small liberal arts college located sixty miles northwest of Milwaukee. Many famous players competed in the event. International stars included Romania’s Gabriel Schwartzman and a then-relatively-unknown Peter Leko of Hungary. The Americans were led by Tal Shaked, Morgan Pehme, Josh Waitzkin and eventual Under 10 champion Nawrose Nur. But the biggest name was the world’s number one rated woman, Hungary’s Judit Polgar who arrived with her contingent and her father Lazlo.

Most teams that flew came thru Milwaukee’s Mitchell airport; this included the Hungarians. We had staged greeters at the airport to welcome the teams as they landed and to shepherd them to waiting buses for the final leg of their journey to Fond du Lac. We knew the flights most of the teams would be on, so we asked the Milwaukee representatives to notify Hungarian-born and retired Marquette University Physics professor Arpad Elo about Judit’s itinerary, as he had always wanted to meet her.

Read more: Arpad Elo Visits the 1990 World Youth Chess Festival for Peace

2022 WCA Tour Leaders

2022 Wi Chess Tour
Name Rating Points
Daniel Phipps 1959 430.36
James Coons 1761 342.00
Guy Hoffman 1900 303.66
Avinash Rajendra 2149 280.17
John Hincapie 2251 260.07
  • Current Tour Standings
  • Tour Rules

2019 WCA Tour Winners

2019 WCA Tour - Final Result
Name Rating Points
Susanna Ulrich  2099  479.82
Joziah Rudolph  2136  424.46
James Coons  1809  419.52
Josiah Stein  2087  353.45
Robin Grochowski  1752  352.55 
James Ellis  1839  331.76
  • Complete 2019 Tour Standings
  • Tour Rules

Tour Events

Michael A. Selig Memorial/56th NorthEastern Wisconsin Open (02/05)
Hales Corners Challenge XXXII (04/29)

Tournaments

2023 U.S. Amateur Team-North (02/17)
2023 State Scholastic Championship Friends & Family Tournament (03/18)
2023 Wisconsin State Scholastic Chess Championship (Varsity Team section) (03/18)
2023 Wisconsin State Scholastic Chess Championship (JV, K-8, K-5 sections) (03/18)
Wisconsin Rapid and Blitz State Championship (04/22)
Hales Corners Challenge XXXII (04/29)

Champions

State Champion: Avinash Rajendra

Full list of State Champions

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