From the Oklahoma Chess Foundation bulletin:

Young Srikar Chikkala (1591), of Fayetteville, AR, upset Mark Anderson (1783) to complete a remarkable 3-0 score including wins over Zelnik (1981) and Bailey (1183). Twelve-year-old Chikkala, rumor has it, is being coached by NM Bill Orton. His rating has risen over 200 points this year, playing mainly in adult tournaments. Watch out for him (and his sister) in the future!

Narducci,Alicia - Umbarger,Lance, American Open (1) 2009
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 cxb5 Qa5+ 5 Nc3 Bb7 6 Bd2 Qb6 7 e4 e6 8 Bc4 Nxe4 9 Nf3 Nxc3 10 Bxc3 exd5 11 Bxd5 Bxd5 12 Qxd5 Qe6+ 13 Qxe6+ fxe6 14 O-O-O Rg8 15 Rhe1 g5 16 Kc2 Be7 17 a4 a6 18 Ra1 g4 19 Ne5 Rg5 20 Nc4 Rf5 21 Re2 axb5 22 Nb6 Ra6 23 Nc8 b4 24 Nxe7 Kxe7 25 Bd2 Nc6 26 Be3 c4 27 b3 c3 28 Rd1 Raa5 29 Bb6 Rad5 30 Re4 Rxd1 31 Kxd1 Rd5+ 32 Kc1 h5 33 h3 gxh3 34 gxh3 Kd6 35 f4 Rd3 36 h4 Kd5 37 Re2 Rh3 38 Bf2 Rf3 39 Be3 Ke4 40 Bb6+ Kxf4 41 a5 Rf1+ 42 Kc2 Ra1 43 Rf2+ Kg3 44 Rf7 Ra2+ 45 Kc1 Nxa5 46 Bxa5 Rxa5 47 Rxd7 Rf5 48 Rb7 Rf4 0-1

Noah Ballinger won first in the fourth grade division, while Levi Knight won the sixth grade division. Here are the crosstables. If Srikar had been there, they would likely have captured the fifth grade title, too, but he was playing in the adult Stillwater FIDE Rating Tournament. Here's Srikar's win over Jim Berry.

Chikkala,Srikar (1438) - Berry,Jim (1900), Stillwater (3) 2009
(C47 Four Knights, Scotch, 4...exd4)
1 e4 Nf6 2 Nc3 e5 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4 Bb4 6 Nxc6 Bxc3+?! {This gives white the two bishops and the initiative - more than enough for the pawn weakness.} 7 bxc3 bxc6 8 Bd3 h6 9 Ba3 (9 O-O {is also good, e.g.} 9 ... O-O 10 e5 Nh7 11 Qg4 d5 12 Qg3 Kh8 13 Ba3 Re8 14 f4 f5 15 Qg6 +/- {Ankerst,M - Stevanec,L, Slovenia ch wmn (1) 1992.}) 9 ... d6 10 O-O O-O 11 e5! Ne8 12 Be4 Bb7 13 Qd3 f6 14 e6! {This pawn interferes with black's coordination, and will become a protected passer after f2-f4-f5.} 14 ... f5 {Black seeks counterplay at the cost of a pawn rather than utter passivity, but with accurate defense white rebuffs the danger.} 15 Bxf5 +- Qg5 16 Bh3 c5 17 Bc1 Qd5 18 Re1 Rf6 19 Bb2 c4 20 Qd4 Rg6 21 Qxd5 Bxd5 22 f4 Kf8 23 f5 Rf6 24 g4 Ke7 25 Bg2 c6 26 Bxd5 cxd5 27 Ba3 g6 28 Re5! gxf5 29 gxf5 Nc7 30 Rb1 Rg8+ 31 Kh1 Rff8 32 Rb7 Rb8 33 Rxc7+ Kd8 34 Rd7+ Ke8 35 Re1 1-0

Bill Orton tied for second place overall, and Les Kline won the class B prize at the Nahas Memorial in Hot Springs on Sept. 26. Oscar Torrijos also played.

Chris Niggel won the Arkansas Championship with 5.5 out of 6. He took clear first, ahead of Tony Davis, Salar Jahedi, Bill Orton, James Long, Dennis Cummings, and Lance Umbarger among others. The tournament was held at the Clarion Inn in Fayetteville, and had 44 players. Here are the crosstable and some games.

Bill, Les, Sneha, and Srikar played in the North American Open in Stillwater, Oklahoma on Memorial Day weekend. It was seven rounds and had two Grandmasters and two International Masters. GM Sergey Kudrin won outright with 6¹/₂ out of 7. Bill tied for second with a GM and two IMs with 5¹/₂. Here are some games Bill and Les played^{PGN file} and here is the crosstable.