Scouting Report: Prairie Series Event

Last weekend, I spent some time scouting in Cedar Rapids to assess the local chess talent. My main motivation for this trip was to observe the five to ten Iowa City chess players who were participating in the event. Among them were some familiar faces, as well as students from schools where I previously coached.

During the event, I played a game against the tournament winner, who is currently rated around 1550. He relocated from India around eight months ago and, based on his performance, seems to be significantly underrated. Although I did not keep a record of our game, which featured a botched London opening on my part—he managed to gain a winning advantage before slipping up tactically. Based on this tense encounter I assessed his playing strength somewhere between 1800 and 2000. He matched my expectation by beating everyone he played in the high school section (5.0/5.0).

There is likely no way for me to coach up some Iowa City players to beat him before the Denker/Barber qualifying tournament takes place so I will resign to rooting for him.