The first annual Midwest Regional All Girls & Women’s Tournament attracted 39 on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. There was fierce competition for the available trophies. There were medals for all of the participants, raffle prizes, and a free pizza lunch buffet with some really tasty desserts.
A generous donation from the US Chess Trust helped to allow this tournament to be run. I think the girls enjoyed themselves and the chance to test their chess skills in an all-girl environment.
As there were no players for the under age 16 section, those trophies were awarded to players from the under age 14 section. First place winners included Sara Gronski in the Under age 8 section, Yaazhini Dhamodharan in the Under age 10 section, Shanthi Saravanan in the Under age 12 section, Sophie Hong in the Under age 14 section, Shakira Luster for the Under age 16, and Jade Bates in the Under age 18 section.
Due to a large number of players from 1 school in the Under 14 section it was merged after the first round with the Under 18 section [remember there was no Under 16 players entered] and had the final game of the tournament between two of the top finishers. This was an interesting game, and a really crazy final position.
[pgn]
[Event "Midwest Regional All Girls"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.11.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Bates, Jade"]
[Black "Hong, Sophie"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "1108"]
[BlackElo "1135"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2017.09.23"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 c5 4. d3 Nc6 5. O-O Nf6 6. c4 Be7 7. Bf4 O-O 8. Nbd2
b6 {Black is looking to develop the light squared Bishop. This is a slower and
more conservative than 8..h5 to remove the dark squared Bishop. However, Black
is a half point up on the rest of the field and only needs the half point.} 9.
a3 Bb7 10. Rb1 {10 Rc1 may look like a more natural move, but as is to be seen
White is planning on trading off the Knight on c6 and then push the pawn to b4.
} Rc8 11. Ne5 Bd6 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. cxd5 Bxd5 {14... exd5 was a
better move as it gives Black better control over the center and the half open
e file.} 15. e4 Bc6 16. Qe2 Qd7 17. Nc4 Qc7 18. b4 Rb8 19. b5 Bb7 20. a4 Rfd8 {
Naturally targeting the weak backward d pawn.} 21. Rbd1 a6 22. bxa6 Bxa6 23. h3
Rd4 24. Nb2 Rb4 {Leaving the strong post on d4 makes little sense. More
naturally was doubling the Rooks with 24..Rbd8.} 25. Rb1 Rd8 26. Rfd1 Qd7 27.
Nc4 Rxa4 {This is a greedy move that allows for the Knight fork, and the lose
of material.} 28. Nxb6 Bxd3 {Diagram [#]} 29. Rxd3 {Better was 29 Nxd7 Bxe2,
30 Nxf6ch gxf6, 31 Rxd8ch leaving White up a full Rook for a pawn.} Qxd3 30.
Qxd3 Rxd3 31. Nxa4 h6 32. Nxc5 Rc3 {White has ended up a full Knight, but it
has taken time. In a G/60, d5 event White is now down to just 5 minutes for
the game.} 33. e5 Rxc5 34. exf6 gxf6 35. f4 e5 36. fxe5 {Better was to push
past rather than undouble the paawns.} fxe5 37. Re1 f5 38. g4 f4 {Black now
has connected passed pawns as compensation for the piece.} 39. h4 Kg7 40. Kf2
Kf6 41. g5+ {White now gives up another pawn for no reason. Better was to
leave the pawns pn g4 & h4.} hxg5 42. hxg5+ Kxg5 43. Kf3 Kf6 44. Ke4 Ra5 45.
Bf3 Ke6 46. Bg4+ Kf6 47. Bf3 Ke6 48. Bg4+ Kf6 49. Bf3 Ke6 50. Bg4+ Kf6 {
At this point there is a draw by repetition, and the players had no problem
agreeing to it.} 1/2-1/2[/pgn]
Find the full final crosstable on MSA and more information on the Renaissance Knights homepage.
Find out more about our Women's Initiative here. 
