Kevin Mo, Photo Shaun Smith April 2010
This year's edition appears to be following in that tradition, with four GMs already in the mix, and more strong players likely to arrive Saturday morning. GM Kaidanov is one of the contenders. Here he gives a lesson on the importance of King safety-- even in "safe" positions! White falls to a cute shot on Black's 23rd move.
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One of the "veteran" youngsters on the tournament circuit, expert Kevin Mo, already nicked one of the GMs, top-seeded Alex Shabalov, for a first-round draw on Board One-- with the Black pieces!
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Stay tuned to see whether Kevin can continue to come on strong, and if any other surprise entries appear for the 2-Day Schedule on Saturday. Update: The tournament grew to 307 entries, including 5 GMs and 2 IMs, along with an assortment of WIMs, FMs, WFMs, among the 29-Master field. GM Alexander Ivanov, IM Bryan Smith and Timur Aliyev began with 3/3. Final results and full story coming to CLO soon!