On April 16, Derek O'Dell, the President of the Virginia Tech Chess Club was sitting in German class. Seung-Hui Cho burst in and began shooting, killing the instructor and several students in the front row. Derek helped prevent the shooter from re-entering the class, and he is being awarded a lifetime USCF membership for his heroism.
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Photo Jennifer Shahade

Bay Area IM Josh Friedel is the 2007 Samford Scholar. Friedel has two GM norms, an aggressive chess style and a strong work ethic. Josh joins his friend and team-mate 2006 Samford Scholar David Pruess.
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In Part III of How Wojo Won, Jonathan Hilton examines some of the aggressive King's Indian and Grunfeld structures against Aleksander Wojtkiewicz's legendary Catalan.
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High School Nationals co-champ Alexander Barnett. Photo Betsy Dynako

Alex Lenderman, Alexander Barnett and Michael Zhong tied for first in the High School Nationals with 6.5/7 each. In the team competition, rivals Edward R.Murrow from Brooklyn and Catalina Foothills from Tucson tied for first. Read full story for photos, games and drama.
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In this month's check-up, "Fixing Sam", Dr. Steven Dowd teams up with Gary Kevin Ware to find and remove cooks in some of Sam Loyd's most inspiring problems.

GMs Julio Becerra (left, by Clint Ballard) and Magesh Pachanathan

GM Magesh Panchanathan edged out GM Julio Becerra in a match in Miami (April 15-16). Tied in the regular and playoff games, the exciting match came down to the Armageddon game.
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Brana Malobabic-Gaincristofaro Photo courtesy Monroi

In a revealing interview, Monroi CEO and founder Brana Malobabic-Giancristofaro talks with Monroi spokesperson Jerry Hanken about a personal experience which led to the idea for Monroi, resistance to technological change, and how Monroi protects against cheating and theft.
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Photo Jennifer Shahade

Hikaru Nakamura tops the April 07 rating list, surpassing Gata Kamsky for the first time in a year. Greg discusses Hikaru's short-lived but impressive seat at the throne and sets a new goal for GM-elect Jesse Kraai.
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Photo Michael Aigner

At the same time as most of the foxes played in the woods of Connecticut, the 7th Far West Open in Reno drew 185 chessplayers from the left coast, competing for a $18,000 prize fund. U.S. Championship qualifier Michael Aigner reports.
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#1 ranked player in the world, Viswanathan Anand, will be giving a charity simul on ICC to benefit Vidyasagar, a non profit organization that helps children with autism and cerebral palsy. See how you can participate!
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Iryna Zenyuk. Photo Elizabeth Vicary.

In CLO's final Foxwoods report, we bring you a photo gallery, more news on Iryna Zenyuk's WIM norm, and the midnight playoff game between Gata Kamsky and Zviad Izoria.
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Sofia Daniella Fridman. Photo Anna Zatonskih

CLO is happy to announce that on March 16, U.S. Women's Champion Anna Zatonskih had a healthy baby girl, Sofia Daniella Fridman. The father is GM Daniel Fridman, who is now living in Long Island with Sofia and Anna.
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Photo Tina Gao

On March 24, GM Hikaru Nakamura took on 30 Columbia University students. IM Eli Vovsha reports on two Hikaru bishops that beat two rooks, near misses by simul participants and why such events are so infrequent at Columbia.
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GM elect Jesse Kraai. Photo E.Vicary

Jesse Kraai defeated GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Alexander Shabalov on the way to winning his final GM norm in Foxwoods, making him the first American-born GM in over a decade. Kamsky, Izoria, Ibragimov, and Stripunsky finished at the top with 7/9. Kamsky won the title in a blitz match over Izoria.
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Jaan Ehlvest and Alexander Shabalov are leading the Foxwoods Open after seven rounds. Photo E.Vicary

Live from Foxwoods: See Jaan Ehlvest's round 7 sacrificial gem against Alexander Stripunsky and find out how Shabalov convinced Kamsky to play a Sicilian. Round 8 Update: Kraai beats Shabalov and Ibragimov beats Ehlvest! Kamsky, Kraai and Ibragimov now tied for first with 6.5/8.
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