Kosokin, Keating Win Cedar Rapids Open: Zahedipour, Leyhe Win Reserve

Sixty players participated in the Cedar Rapids Open and Reserve October 9 & 10. A fitting turnout on National Chess Day. Valeriy Kosokin and Robert Keating finished 4-2-0 in the Open while Hashem Zahedipour and Martin Leyhe swept 5-0 to shared first place in the Reserve.

An eye-popping 48 players participated in the Reserve with five players participating in their first tournament. Zahedipour and Leyhe are still provisionally rated as were 19 other players in the field. It is exciting to see all of the new players entering our tournaments.

The Open had a smaller 12-player field and, in contrast to the Reserve, veterans Kosokin and Keating rode the top boards throughout the two days to finish with a share of first place.

Players traveled from across the State of Iowa as well as from Nebraska, Missouri, and Minnesota.

The tournament was sponsored by the Cedar Rapids Chess, Chief TD Jim Hodina. Additional thanks go to Robert Keating for providing the venue and Jim White for his assistance in setup and teardown as well as serving as a house player.

The full tournament rating report is available on the US Chess website.