Stephen Jesus De Lara Wins Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Chicago

STEPHEN JESUS DE LARA HOLDS OFF OTHER ELITE DUELISTS AT Yu-Gi-Oh! CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES CHICAGO FOR THE TITLE OF CHAMPION

El Segundo, Calif. (April 15, 2015) – Duelists from across North America descended on the Mid-West ready to wage epic card battles at this past weekend's Yu-Gi-Oh! CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (YCS) Chicago event. Inspired Duelists of every age participated in the premier-level Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) event, presented by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KONAMI), ready to show off their impressive Dueling skills for the chance to be crowned the YCS Champion. In the end, it was Stephen Jesus De Lara from Santa Ana, California who outpaced the field to claim the coveted title of YCS Champion and Michael Sakowicz from Naperville, Illinois who took home the Dragon Duel Champion's title.

Chicago continues to shine as one of the best places to host enthusiastic Yu-Gi-Oh! players from across the nation as it is in close proximity to the downtown area and minutes from two major airports. Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series events are amazing platforms for Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelists wanting to assess the latest big match strategies and card combinations against their opponents. Throughout the weekend, many in the field of players showed refined skills and a splash of luck, but it was the elite players that emerged to win top honors.

De Lara confidently battled his way into Sunday's Top 16 Draft with his own first-rate Nekroz Deck. Then, after three rounds of Single Elimination with their newly-drafted Decks from Battle Pack 3: Monster League, it came down to an exciting playoff with Barrett Keys from North Hollywood, California. De Lara combination of precise play and smart risk-taking helped earn him the title of YCS Chicago Champion.

In addition to the title of YCS Champion, De Lara returned home with a stellar set of prizes that included a YCS Championship Trophy, an Ultra Rare YCS Ascension Sky Dragon Prize Card, an exclusive YCS Top Cut Game Mat, a PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, and an invitation and paid travel to the 2015 World Championship Qualifier tournament!

In the Dragon Duel, an event for Duelists born in 2002 or later, Sakowicz used his Sealed Deck then switched to his HERO Deck in the final matchup to beat Jackson Sayre, from Lindenhurst, Illinois, in a head-to-head playoff. Sakowicz picked up some great prizes, including an invitation to the 2015 World Championship Dragon Duel Qualifier tournament.

Duelists can watch all-new Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal episodes every Tuesday as well as all of classic Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's on www.yugioh.com in the United States. In addition, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal airs twice on Sundays on Nicktoons. In Canada, Duelists can watch episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal every Friday and Saturday on Teletoon! For more information on KONAMI, the Yu-Gi-Oh! CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES or the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, please visit www.yugioh-card.com or call 310-220-8630 to speak directly with a Yu-Gi-Oh! customer support team member.

©1996 Kazuki Takahashi
©2011 NAS • TV Tokyo

About The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG
The Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME is the #1 trading card game in the world with over 25 billion cards sold. It is a game of strategy, where players create individual Decks of cards collected from Structure Decks and Booster Packs. Two players engage in a Duel while using cards that represent powerful monsters, magical Spells and surprising Traps. Duelists with well-constructed Decks, dominating monsters, solid strategy and good fortune are the victors in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. is the exclusive licensee and rights holder to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in North America and Latin America.

About KONAMI
KONAMI is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties and traditional trading card games. KONAMI's software titles include the popular franchises Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, DanceDanceRevolution and Castlevania, among other top sellers. KONAMI is also the manufacturer of the wildly popular Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, which has sold more than 25 billion cards worldwide. The latest information about KONAMI can be found on the Web at www.konami.com. KONAMI CORPORATION is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiaries, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. in the United States and Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. in Windsor, the United Kingdom. KONAMI CORPORATION is traded in the United States on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KNM. Details of the products published by KONAMI can be found at www.konami.com.