Final Round, Board 1 - FM Jorge Leon Oquendo (2481) (R) vs NM Theodore Slade (2253) (L), CFCC 2025 Winter Open & Scholastic weekend tournament.
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With a final score of 4.5/5 points, CFCC wishes to congratulate FM Jorge Leon Oquendo (2481) for his clear 1st place win in our CFCC 2025 Winter Open this past weekend at the Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista Resort!
We’d also like to thank all the players who participated and congratulate those who placed in their respective sections!
Central Florida Chess Club (CFCC)
2025 CFCC Winter Open
PGN’s For The Top Boards
CFCC’s 2025 Winter Open & Scholastic weekend chess tournament took place from January 17-19. The event was held in Orlando at the Holiday Inn Resort Lake Buena Vista. A field of over 200 players competed in the five-round tournament. Players had the option of a 3-day schedule starting Friday evening with a full time-control of 90 minutes with 30 second delay or they could opt for a 2-day schedule starting Saturday morning, with the first two rounds having a shorter time control of 60 minutes with 5 second delay. The tournament featured six sections ranging from Master/Expert to Scholastic U1200.
The first round began on Friday night at 7:00pm with 62 players for the 3-day schedule. Play resumed Saturday morning at 11 a.m. with the full roster of players present in the tournament room. Round 3 started at 5pm on Saturday evening with the 2&3-day sections merged into one section for the rest of the tournament. The third-round games finished just after 9pm.
This was followed by a USCF-rated blitz tournament that began just after 9pm, (see below). Sunday morning began with free chess lecture at 9am. Then the fourth round of the tournament started promptly at 10 a.m. This was followed by the fifth and final round of the competition that started at 2:30 p.m. and continued until just after 6:30. After play concluded, prizes were awarded to the winners of each respective section.
Expert/Master Section
A total of 33 players competed in the Master/Expert, the tournament’s top-rated section. This section was dual rated for both USCF and FIDE. Congratulations to FM Jorge Oquendo (2481) who won clear first place and the $1020 top prize. Jorge went undefeated with an impressive score of 4.5, his lone draw came against IM Yaacov Norowitz (2481) in the fourth round. With an undefeated score of 4 points, IM Norowitz won clear second place and a payout of $595. His second draw was against CM Marvin Gao (2352) in the final round.
This left a group of six players tied for 3rd/4th place with 3.5 points each. With money pooled up from the U2200 prize, each player received a prize payout of $163.00 for their efforts. Congrats to CM Marvin, NM Theo Slade (2253), FM Julio Morella Cabrerra (2193), Arav Patel (2144), Truman Hoang (2126) and Lyubomir Gospondinov (2063) for their third-place finish.
Class A Section
The Class A/U2000 Section was comprised of 25 competitors and was also dual rated for both USCF and FIDE. Coming into the final round, Nicholas Wethington (1899) had a 1-point lead over the rest of the field, and needed only a draw to capture clear first. This set up a de facto first place game vs. Deyvison Pereira Dos Santos (1983) in the final round. Deyvison won a close game allowing him and Nicholas to share first place honors and a prize payout of $510. Five players: Barry Lazarus (1900), Aashish Jagan (1703), Stone Wang (1687), Alexander Kristjansson (1683) and Saketh Vutudala (1683) tied for 3rd/4th place with 3.5 each. This earned them $76.60 each.
Class B Section
Twenty-seven players competed in the Class B (U1800) section. Congratulations to William Lacey who won clear first place with 4.5 points and took home $680. Benjamin Sisler (1731) captured clear second place, and $319, with his final round victory. The trio of Joshua Roux (1758), Diego Garrido Prats (1737) and Diego Sanchez (1703) shared 3rd.4th place honors scoring 3.5 points and netting them each $85. Meanwhile, Andrew Kaan (1624), Joseph Toth (1515), Hrehaan Waghmode (1528) and Kalyani Puranikma (1434) shared the Under 1700 prize.
Class C Section
The Class C (U1600) Section had 25 players. Congratulations to Jacob Lewin who won clear first place with a score of 4.5 points. Jacob finished a full point ahead of the rest of the field and took home a $680 prize for his efforts. This left a group of six players with 3.5 points, who shared the remaining 2nd,3rd,4th and U1500 prizes. Ishir Kumar (1576), Nyle Siddiqui (1533), Shreyas Deo (1522), Matthew Saba (1504), Mauricio Coral (1376) and Jaswin Reddy (1296).
Class D Section
Thirty-eight players competed in the Class D (U1400) section. Congratulations to Amiel Hernandez (1132) who scored 4.5 points to win clear first place and the $553 prize. Four players: Jacob Vassilev (1341), Darsheel Panchal (1301), Javier Arocha (1251) and Brandon Robertson (1154) finished behind Amiel with a score of 4 points to share the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place prizes. Each player won $143.50. Zane Dean (1065) finished undefeated with 3.5 to capture the $64 U1100 prize
Scholastic U1200 Section
With 62 players, the U1200/Scholastic was the largest section in the tournament. This section was played with 3 games on Saturday and two on Sunday with a time control of Game in 60 minutes with a 5 second delay. Congratulations to Tharusha Gallage (1034) and Fernando Centeno (916) who tied for 1st place. Tharusha and Fernando were the only players in the entire tournament to score a perfect 5 points. Each player received $159.50. Six players tied with 3.5 points and shared the remaining prizes. Akshaj Goppakumar (916), Mithrran Sai Prakash (982), Ronit Prasad (939), Siddarth Shakya (863), Ridhaan Dande (790) and Arhan Bandero (737) each won $32.
Saturday Night USCF-Rated Blitz
The blitz tournament was held on Saturday night after play finished in the main tournament hall. Thirty-six players competed in the four double rounds, where each player plays one game with white and one game with black with a time control of 5 minutes with no delay.
Congratulations to Blitz tournament winners IM Jaacov Norowitz and Lyubomir Gospodinov (2087) who each score a perfect 8 points to share first place and $175 each This left a 4 way tie for 3rd place between Anthony Gospodinov (2125), Ayush Roy (1916), Nicholas Wethington and William Lacey who each score 6 points and won $25. With a score of 5 points, young Jacob Vasilev (1147) won the U1600 Prize of $70. Prajwal Nidadavolu (1018) won the $50 U1400 prize with a score of 4.5.
Tournament Side Events
The Sunday morning chess lecture was given by yours truly, chess coach Steven Vigil (1905). A crowd of about 30 players endured my bad jokes and anecdotes as I presented an insightful analysis of the 1914 game between Jose Capablanca and Benito Villegas. The Central Florida Chess club would like to thank all the players who participated in the Winter Open.
Thanks also to: CFCC Club president Larry Storch and VP Kevin Sibbitt who organized the event. As well as Charles Hatherill (National TD) who served as FIDE arbiter and tournament director. Alex Dshalalow, who served as floor TD or the main tournament and the blitz, and Steven Vigil (Senior TD), who served as chief tournament director for the event. Thank you also to Zoe and Peter, Catherine and David of Orlando Chess & Games who ran the chess store throughout the weekend featuring a nice selection of books, sets and chess merchandise.
The CFCC’s next 3-day event is our 2025 Sunshine Open and Scholastic, held at the same venue, June 13-15. We look forward to seeing you there!
-Steven Vigil
CFCC Senior Tournament Director
2025 Winter Open Slideshow Gallery
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