Photos from the 2012 Missouri State Championships: https://picasaweb.google.com/116302832360230031699/2012MOChampionships

Another Triple-Crown for Webster University

From Kansas City to St. Louis, some of the best players in the state of Missouri convened in Columbia from September 21 to 23 to compete in 3 separate 2012 State Championships:

– Missouri State Championship
– Missouri State Blitz Championship
– Missouri State Rapid Championship
6 members from the Webster University chess team (Corrales Jimenez, Bykhovsky, Boros, Neimer, Agrest, and Young) competed for the first time at the State Championship. After 14 games of intense chess competition over the weekend, members of the Webster University Chess Team swept the Triple-Crown.
In the first event, the Missouri Rapid Championship, Webster freshman GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez (Cuba) and sophomore IM Vitaly Neimer (Israel) tied for 1st.
 In the second event, the Missouri Blitz Championship, GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez finished 1st while his teammate, GM Anatoly Bykhovsky (Israel), a junior, got 2nd.
 
 In the main and final event, the Missouri State Championship, 2 Webster juniors, GM Denes Boros (Hungary) and GM Anatoly Bykhovsky, shared the top spot.
 
Webster freshman Vanita Young tied for 1st in category B while gaining a whopping 59 rating points to earn a career high rating. Another member of the team, WIM Inna Agrest (Sweden), finished in a tie for 4th overall while gaining a monstrous 66 rating points.
 
It is a clean sweep and excellent performance overall for Webster University in the strongest Missouri State Championships in history. Even with the spectacular results, it was not so easy for the students. Quite a few games were long and intense. Sometimes they had less than 15 minutes to grab a quick bite for lunch or dinner. 

At night, they did not have a chance to properly relax and prepare for the next round. Many had to do homework or study for important tests on Monday. They even helped each other with their homework on the car ride back from the tournament.

But at the end, they took care of business and brought back more pride for their beloved Webster University. In August, Webster University also won the triple crown at the US Open Championship! This is a back to back triple crown for Webster! Congratulations to everyone!

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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