CFCC 2024 Winter Open Concludes With IM Ray Kaufman Winning Clear 1st Place!

Final Round, Board 1, IM Ray Kaufman (2305) (L) vs John Ligotti (2219) (R) with IM Ray Kaufman winning his final round and scoring 4.5/5 points!

With a final score of 4.5/5 points, CFCC wishes to congratulate IM Ray Kaufman (2305) for winning clear 1st place and champion of our 2024 Winter Open tournament at the Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista Resort!

USCF Rating Reports

MASTER/EXPERT/A/B/C/D
SCHOLASTIC U1200
SATURDAY BLITZ
View the Tournament Slideshow Gallery

 
 

by Steven Vigil, CFCC Senior Tournament Director

The 2024 Winter Open Chess Tournament took place from January 5-7. The 3-day event was held at the Holiday Inn Resort in Lake Buena Vista. This has been home to Central Florida Chess Club weekend tournaments for the past few years.

For the second straight year, the Winter Open featured a field of over 200 participants! For the five round event, players had the option of a 3-day schedule starting Friday or a 2-day schedule, with shortened time controls for their first two rounds on Saturday. The full time control was 90 minutes with 30 seconds of delay time. The shortened rounds for the 2-day schedule were both game in 60 minutes with 5 seconds of delay time. While the entire tournament was rated for USCF, the top 2 sections (Master/Expert & Class A) were also dual rated for FIDE.

Play began on Friday night at 7:00pm with about 70 players for the 3-day schedule. The competition resumed Saturday morning at 11 a.m. with the full roster of players now present in the tournament room. The Master/Expert Section was a strong field that included 10 players above 2200, and one IM, Ray Kaufman from Canada.

After two rounds of play there were no big surprises. Going into round 3 the schedules merged and all players would now have the full time control for the rest of the tournament. The competition heated up with the third round starting at 5pm on Saturday afternoon. NM Theo Slade (2212) converted a winning endgame to hand NM Nick Moore (2278) his only loss. Advait Nair (2086) executed a 4-move combination for checkmate for a nice win against NM Todd Bryant (2242). Meanwhile, in the A Section, there were several close games that went late into the round and ended in draws.

Sunday morning began with a free chess lecture given by coach Steven Vigil (1905). It was announced that the lecture would honor and commemorate the beloved late FM Alexander Zelner. A small group, many of them Alex’s family members and friends, were in attendance. Steven presented an overview of Alex’ chess career and USCF tournament history. The lecture covered a 12 move miniature victory of Alex’ from back in his playing days in Ohio during the 1990’s. Then, challenging the crowd to analyze and find the winning lines, Steven analyzed an elegant tactical endgame finish where Alex had his first win against a GM (Rased Ziatdinov) in a game played in 2003 at the Tampa Open. Many told stories and recounted experiences of how Alex had touched their lives.

The fourth round began promptly at 10 a.m., in which many of the best games were played. Most noteworthy was IM Ray Kaufman’s (2305) 22 move victory over FM Corey Acor (2330), which was also selected as the tournaments’ best game. This was followed by the fifth and final round of the competition that started at 2:30 p.m. When the dust was settled, we were left with the following results broken down by section.

Master/Expert Section

With one of the largest turnouts ever for the section, 40 players competed in the FIDE rated Master/Expert section, the tournaments’ top section. Congratulations to Canadian IM Raymond Kaufman (2306) who won clear first place in the section.

IM Kaufman scored an impressive 4.5 points winning the first-place prize of $1020! Ray’s only blemish was a 2nd round draw with Raghav Venkat (2387). Raghav would finish undefeated with 4 points to tie with Nicholas Moore winning each player $595. Four players; Marvin Gao (2318), John Ligotti (2219), Theodore Slade all tied for 4th place and $71 each. Aleks Fetlyaev (2069) also scored 3.5 to win the U2200 prize of $340.

CLASS A SECTION

With 32 players, The Class A/U2000 Section was extremely competitive. This was evidenced by the fact that 7 of the top 8 players finished undefeated! This included four players who tied for first place with four points: Vignesh Sikar (1917), Ayush Roy (1888), Yi Sha (1869), and William Hardison (1786. The 4-way split for first place netted each player $329.50. With 3.5 points, Phillip Durand (1973) and Fabio Lozano (1949) split 4th place and took home $42.50 each.

CLASS B SECTION

The Class B (U1800) Section was the smallest in the tournament with 22 players. Just like Class A, the first place score was just 4/5 points, and four players achieved it. Those players were: Rui Sha (1744), Nazar Deputat (1745), Daniel Flores (1651), and Samuel Xu (1453). Each player’s share of the prize was $324.25. Andrew Kan (1738) and Celine Chen (1645) each won $42.50, splitting the 4th place prize.

CLASS C SECTION

Thirty players competed in the Class C section. Congrats to William Lacey (1393) who won clear first place and $680 with a score of 4.5 points. Three players finished tied for 2nd-4th place. They were Anish Gupta (1326), Lawrence Cerrato (1417), and impressive 8-year old Daniel Tal (1392), who displayed some impressive tactics in his 1st and 3rd round victories. Each received $199.66 for their performance. Four players: John Lebon (1555), Jack Firestone (1537), Kalen Pray (1396) and Varshini Venkat (1368) finished with 3.5 points and shared 4th place; $21.25 each.

CLASS D SECTION

The Class D (U1400) section was, along with the Scholastic U1200 Section, the largest with 41 players. Congratulations to Kaiden Taing (1327), the only player in the entire tournament to win all 5 of their games! A cheerful young Kaiden, accompanied by his proud mother, took home a check for $553.

Finishing with 4 points were: Brandon Robertson (542), Lucio Luini (1310), Todd Kay (1300) and Clayton Greene (unr.) who shared 2nd-4th Place netting them each $143.50. Robert Hinton (1156) and Frank McNamara (1097) Split the U1200/U1100 prizes to each win $53.50.) Brandon Robertson (542) also overcame a rating difference of 666 points to Shubbam Shanublogue (1208) win the tournament’s $21 Upset Prize.

SCHOLASTIC U1200 SECTION

The U1200/Scholastic also had 41 players in the section and featured many bright young talented players. Congratulations to Evan Qian (1170) who scored 4.5 points to win clear first place and a $213 prize. A pack of six players finished with 4 points to share the rest of the prize money in the section, $49.66 each. They are Stone Wang (1106), Johnny Jobst (1025), Nicolas Yap (965), Gabriel Lorenzo (730), Hamsini Honmurgi (882) and Jackson Blouet (853) who had a strong performance and gained 200 rating points to break 1000 for the first time.

SPECIAL BRILLIANCY PRIZE

In memory of Alex, the CFCC offered 3 cash prizes for the best games at the Winter Open. Dozens of scoresheets were submitted and after a review of the games the winners were announced as follows:

  • Best Game $50 – IM Ray Kaufman vs Coery Acor 1-0 Rd.4 Master Section

  • Runner Up $30 – Advait Nair vs Todd Bryant 1-0 Rd.3 Master Section

  • 2nd Runner Up $20 – Neel Sahai vs Tristan Elvers 0-1 Rd. 4 Master Section

  • Honorable Mention – Daniel Tal Class C

SATURDAY NIGHT BLITZ

A blitz tournament was held on Saturday night after play finished in the main tournament hall. The action kicked off just before 9:30 p.m. with a field of 42 players, including IM Ray Kaufman, competing in the four double-rounds, where each player plays one game with white and one game with black. Congratulations to Blitz tournament champion Vincent Stone (2189) who put forth an impressive performance with a perfect score of 8 points to win the $300 first place prize. Three players: IM Ray Kaufman (2289), Rion Okuno (1911), and Vivan Mulay (1955) finished with 6.5 points to share the 2nd-3rd place prize of $40 each. Since there were several unrated players in the section, a prize was offered to the top unrated player. That was Adrian Lara who won the $40 prize with 4 points.

CLOSING COMMENTS

The Central Florida Chess club would like to thank all the players who participated in the Winter Open. Thanks to CFCC Club president Larry Storch and VP Kevin Sibbitt who organized the event. The experienced team of National TD/FIDE Arbiter Charles Hatherill and CFCC Senior TD Steven Vigil shared duties of pairing and administrating the tournament. Renaud Lajoie (Local TD) served as floor TD. Thank you to Wayne Strickland who donated the best game prizes and, along with Steve Vigil, served as judges for the contest.

A special thank you also to Dr. Catherine Zelner, and the Zelner Family (David & Roo, Greg & Lucy, Zoe & Peter, and Roza) who ran the chess store throughout the weekend. On short notice, they setup a fantastic chess shop that featured a wide selection of books, sets, clocks and chess merchandise. Alex would have been proud.

The CFCC’s next 3-day event, the 2024 Sunshine Open and Scholastic, will be held at the same venue, June 14-16 with the top two sections FIDE rated. We look forward to seeing you there!

 -Steven Vigil

CFCC Senior Tournament Director

2024 Winter Open Slideshow Gallery

All tournament photos have been uploaded.

In Memoriam: FM Alexander Zelner - Veteran Central Florida Chess Player, OCG Coach and Tournament Organizer, and CFCC Chess Bookstore Vendor

CFCC was greatly saddened to learn about the sudden passing of FM Alex Zelner on January 3, 2024.

With Alex and family being longtime CFCC friends, supporters, our weekend tournament chess store vendor, and founder of the Orlando Chess & Games Center (OCG) that’s organized 482 USCF rated tournaments over the past two decades, Central Florida has indeed lost a stalwart supporter and champion for the local chess community.

We extend our deepest and heartfelt condolences to the entire Zelner family.
- Central Florida Chess Club

Eulogy For Alexander Zelner
by Steven Vigil

FM Alex Zelner (2323) (R)

Last week the Central Florida chess community was stunned to hear the news that FM Alexander Zelner passed away. Alex had a positive impact and touched the lives of many throughout the chess world. The Central Florida Chess club is grieving this tremendous loss, and would like to extend its condolences to the Zelner family.

Originally from Moscow, Russia, Alex achieved the rank of National Master shortly before moving to Orlando from Springfield, Ohio in 1999 along with his wife Dr. Catherine Zelner and young sons Gregory, David and Joshua. All fierce competitors, the Zelner family quickly became a staple in local chess tournaments.

In November of 2002, Alex opened Orlando Chess & Games Center in Plaza Venezia on Sand Lake Road with a vision for a tournament venue, teaching academy, and chess retail store. It became a thriving club that offered not only tournaments, but lessons, summer camps, and GM simuls. “OCG” closed its store front in 2008, but Alex continued to train students and run at least one OCG tournament a month at various venues throughout central Florida. 

Alex was a tenacious competitor over the board, who in his prime had wins against GMs and reached a peak rating of 2481. But perhaps Alex was better known as a superb chess coach who trained countless players and aspiring young talents. He was not only passionate about the royal game, but of its merits and benefits, especially for scholastic players. His favorite students were his two daughters Roza and Zoe, whom he loved to travel to tournaments with.

Alex was also well known as a chess vendor for larger weekend tournaments, including those organized by CFCC. Always approachable and personable, he had a larger than life personality and a witty sense of humor. A gifted chess lecturer, he could regale audiences with countless anecdotes and jokes. Alex was best known by his peers as a generous and kind spirit, who was constantly helping people in and out of the chess world.

I had the pleasure of meeting Alex in March of 2003 and had the privilege of being his friend for over 20 years. Through Alex, I played in my first USCF tournament, became a tournament director, and discovered a fulfilling niche career that I feel blessed to have. I am a full time chess coach and tournament director, and I owe much of my professional life to Alex. He was my mentor and I hope he knew how grateful I am to him and how much I appreciated our relationship over the years. He will be with me every time I hang up a demo board. 

RIP Alex.

Your Friend,

Steven

Read more about FM Alex Zelner’s life on legacy.com

CFCC 2023 Autumn Open Concludes With a Tie for 1st Place!

CFCC 2023 Autumn Open Concludes With a Tie for 1st Place!

CFCC wishes to congratulate FM Corey Acor (2326) and NM Nick Moore (2245) for their 1st place tie, where both players scored 4.5/5 points, in our 2023 Autumn Open & Scholastic tournament at the Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista Resort. We’d also like to thank all the players who participated and congratulate all those who won their respective sections!

In Memoriam: Local Chess Supporters John Driscoll and Steve Cernobyl


John Driscoll

John Driscoll

We are saddened by the recent news that passionate scholastic chess coach John Driscoll, who coached Winter Park’s Trinity Preparatory School chess club at National and State level USCF tournaments for many years, passed away on July 31, 2023 after a hard-fought battle with cancer.

Additionally, Mr. Driscoll taught Math at Sweetwater Episcopal Academy in Longwood, FL while coaching their on-campus chess club. In 2018, John also began coaching the on-campus chess club at Park Maitland School in Maitland, FL until his passing.

Having worked with us over the years in coaching at chess camps and scholastic tournaments in Central Florida, we would like to express our sincere appreciation for the many contributions John Driscoll gave to the local scholastic chess community.

Steve Cernobyl

Steve Cernobyl

As reported in the Florida Chess Association Spring 2023 magazine, we are saddened to report the passing of Hollywood Kings Chess Club founder and CFCC tournament chess store vendor Steve Cernobyl, of South Florida, who passed away earlier this year. CFCC would like to express its sincere appreciation for Steve’s contributions to Florida’s chess tournaments over the years.

Eric Dirga Book Donation

Eric Dirga

Eric Dirga’s widow reached out to us to notify the Central Florida chess community that her husband suddenly passed away recently. Eric was an avid chess player who accumulated a large chess book library that Mrs. Dirga wished to donate on his behalf, knowing Eric would be happy that other chess enthusiasts could benefit from his passion for chess. We appreciate her donation and wish to express our sympathies with the Dirga family during this most difficult time.


CFCC 2023 Sunshine Open Concludes with FM Jorge Oquendo Winning Clear 1st Place!

CFCC 2023 Sunshine Open Concludes with FM Jorge Oquendo Winning Clear 1st Place!

CFCC wishes to congratulate FM Jorge Oquendo (2461) for his clear 1st Place finish with a perfect score of 5/5 points in our Sunshine Open & Scholastic tournament held this past weekend! We’d also like to thank all the players who participated and won their respective sections!

2023 Winter Open Concludes with IM Artiom Samsonkin Winning Clear 1st Place!

2023 Winter Open Concludes with IM Artiom Samsonkin Winning Clear 1st Place!

The 2023 Winter Open Chess Tournament took place from January 27-29. The 3-day event was held at the Holiday Inn Resort in Lake Buena Vista, a now familiar venue for Central Florida Chess Club weekend tournaments. With a field of 220 players in 6 sections, this marked the largest attendance ever for a CFCC event! The tournament was five rounds.

Players had the option of a 3-day schedule starting

CFCC Announces Winners of October 15th Online Rapid Prize Tournament!

 

$250 Prize Fund Percentage: 50% (based on 8/18 players)

Congratulations to Sina Movahed (Akbar_mo) for winning clear 1st place in Saturday’s (10/15/22) rapid tournament with a perfect score of 4/4 points and a prize payout of $40, while Goran Markovic (goranm21) won clear 2nd place with 3/4 points and a prize payout of $25. Nicholas Claudio (nickclaud) won 3rd place with 2/4 points and a prize payout of $15.

Under Prizes

Arthur O'Connor (Ao1000) and William O'Connor (Wo1000) tied for our top U1200 prize earning them $7.50ea. There were no players who qualified for the top U1800 & U1500 under prizes.

We had 8 club players competing in Saturday’s rapid online prize tournament that includes a chess.com results table listing all the players and tournament standings.

CFCC Canceling Online Rapid Tournaments

 

CFCC Online Chess Club on chess.com

 

With Saturday’s 64th online rapid 15|10 tournament (we began hosting them in March 2020) CFCC has decided to not schedule any more rapid online tournaments due to waning interest over the past several months.

We appreciate all the players who have participated since April 2020. We’ll keep our CFCC Chess Club on chess.com so that we may host any future online tournament events should the club decide to do so.

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2022 Autumn Open Concludes with Vincent Stone Winning Clear 1st Place!

2022 Autumn Open Concludes with Vincent Stone Winning Clear 1st Place!

The Central Florida Chess Club held its 2022 Autumn Open Tournament from September 16-18. The tournament was held at the Holiday Inn Resort in Lake Buena Vista. This was the third CFCC event at this venue, and CFCC’s final weekend tournament of 2022. Over 130 players in 6 sections participated in the tournament, choosing between

CFCC 2022 Sunshine Open Concludes with FM Corey Acor Winning Clear 1st Place!

CFCC 2022 Sunshine Open Concludes with FM Corey Acor Winning Clear 1st Place!

The Central Florida Chess Club held its 2022 Sunshine Open & Scholastic Tournament from June 3-5. The tournament was held at the Holiday Inn Resort in Lake Buena Vista. This was the second event at this venue, where the Winter Open was held in January. Over 120 players in 6 sections participated in the tournament, choosing between a 2 and 3-day schedule.