Shelev Oberoi Earns IM Norm at Diesen Memorial

courtesy Jeff DiOrio

The Mark Diesen Memorial Invitational was held in Chicago from September 16th-20th. Named in honor of the late 1976 World Junior Champion, IM Mark Diesen (1957-2008), the ten-player Round Robin was one of the first norm events in Chicago since the passing of International Organizer Sevan Muradian (1976-2016). Both men were giants of regional chess, and the void they left behind is only starting to be filled now.

The field was a wonderful combination of Chicagoland's finest players, young sensations from across the country, veteran titled players, and a friend of Mark Diesen's playing in his first classical chess tournament in over six years. All of them gathered at the Elite Chess Center with different goals, but with a shared desire to play their best chess.

courtesy Jeff DiOrio

The players came out swinging with six decisive results in the first two rounds. In round three, Chicago's Jonathan Kogen provided the upset of the tournament by defeating GM Vladimir Georgiev and putting himself in norm contention.

Georgiev would rebound nicely, as he is known to do, and would go undefeated in the final six rounds.

courtesy Jeff DiOrio

Round four featured the ever-rare knight and bishop checkmate with Mexico's IM Roberto Martin Del Campo executing the pattern over Chicago native Aakaash Meduri with perfection.

Local legends FM Gauri Shankar (L) and Aakaash Meduri square off.

Round five pitted Kogen against Shelev Oberoi, who joined Kogen atop the leaderboard with 3½/4. The match did not disappoint, with Shelev sacrificing a pawn for a bishop pair that would eventually help him win a piece. Now with 4½ points after five rounds, Oberoi's dreams of an IM norm were starting to materialize.

In rounds five and six, Dr. Eric Moskow showcased his renowned preparation and brilliant endgame technique to score back-to-back victories over Meduri and Kogen.

While most high-level players stop competing in their 60's, Dr. Moskow is doing the opposite by re-entering the gladiator's arena at age 64. And if this tournament is any indication, he has the skill and stamina to battle for years to come.

courtesy Jeff DiOrio

Heading into the final round Oberoi, who is taking a gap year from school to focus on chess, found himself just one point shy of his coveted second International Master norm. He and his family are all-in on chess. His mother, whose dissertation was titled, "Using Chess as an Intervention to Improve Executive Functioning Among Youth", is the epitome of support. But even with many people in his corner, defeating Cuban IM Pedro Rodriguez Rivera with the black pieces would be no easy task.

The struggle that ensued captivated all who were in attendance, as well as those following the event live online. In the end, Oberoi's strong knight outposts were enough to create a tactical advantage. Then with under two minutes on his clock he found all the right moves to navigate a complex ending and came out on top. The International Master norm was his!

Elite Chess is committed to providing norm Round Robin opportunities to players from all demographics. Information on upcoming events can be found here: https://www.elitechess.net/tournaments

Annotations by JJ Lang