CFCC 2020 Winter Open & Scholastic, Round 4, Board 1, Theo Slade (2226) (L) vs Raghav Venkat (2300) (R)

by Steven Vigil, CFCC Senior Tournament Director

The 2020 CFCC Winter Open was held on January 10th -12th. 160 players participated in the 3-day event held at the Wyndham Orlando Resort. The tournament featured five sections: Premier, U2000, U1700, U1400 and U1200/Scholastic. Players had a choice of a 3-day or 2-day schedule.

Premier Section

The Premier section had a field of 20 players featuring 6 USCF masters as well as GM Pavel Blatny (2455). Congratulations to Raghav Venkat (2281) who won first place and a prize of $931. Raghav went undefeated with a score of 4.5 points. His lone draw came in the final round against talented youngster Bach Ngo (2166). Bach, was the only other player in the section who finished undefeated. Congrats to Bach, who not only won clear second place and $548 prize, but also scored a win against a GM, and became a USCF master at the age of eleven! Three players, Makaio Krienke (2212), Todd Bryant (2200), and Erick Zhao (2160) all finished with a score of 3.5 points winning them $274 each.

U2000 Section

Congratulations to Arnold Banner (1965), who had an impressive showing in the U2000 section. He finished in clear first place with an undefeated score of 4.5 points, netting him a check for $931. Congrats to Jeffrey Tobergte (1871) who finished with 4 points, enough for clear second place and $548. Three players, Brandon Sibbitt (1943), John Givler (1861) and Gary Cote (1824) tied for third place with 3.5 points winning them $152 each. Ryan Putney (1510) also finished with 3.5 points and won the U1800 prize of $228. This was especially impressive, because Ryan was the lowest rated player in the section.

U1700 Section

In the U1700 Jayashree Sekar (1622) and Akshat Suresh (1617) drew their final round game to share first place honors with 4.5 points. Congratulations to both players who walked away with a prize check for $685 each. Saketh Vudutala (1451) also finished undefeated with 4 points and won clear third place and $274. Four players, Kevin Jin (1568), Jolie Huang (1599), James Beltran (1662), and Matthew Elliot (1545) all finished with 3.5 points winning $46; their share of fourth place. Gary Robinson (1447) and Soham Shirode (1338) shared the U1500 prize winning $114 each with 3 points.

U1400 Section

Congratulations to Zekari Stone who won the U1400 with a score of 4.5 points. Zekari’s prize was limited to $100 per tournament rules, since he was an unrated player, nonetheless it was an impressive accomplishment for his first ever rated tournament. Stuart Elvers (1263), John Ligotti (1186) and Cole Barkett (925) finished in a three way tie for second place and won $274 each. Keyes Rodriguez (1148) and Evan Brownstein (unr) tied for the U1200 with 3.5 after their final round draw. The two players won $91 each.

U1200 Scholastic Section

With 39 players, the Scholastic/U1200 was the largest section in the tournament. Many talented young players improved their skills competing in five rounds which took place over Saturday and Sunday. Congratulations to Martin Kollarik who finished in first place with a score of 4.5 points and a $365 prize. Six players tied for second place: Darsheel Panchal (1107), Kaushik RajkumarJayaprabha (1006), Aadarsh Arul (957), Prajit Manivannan (873), Bhagyesh Jethwani (845), and John Joura (833). All of them finished with 4 points and won $46 each. Another five players split the U800 prize winning $18 each.

Saturday Night Blitz

Saturday night featured a four round, double round Blitz tournament. 16 players competed in the blitz. Congratulations to Dalton Perrine (2249) who won first place and $90 with a score of 6.5 points. Carlos Hoyos (1943) and Austin Vogt (1525) tied for second place with 6 points, and a prize of $52.50 each. Jennifer Hoyos (1269) won the U1500 Blitz prize of $65.

Lecture - Chess Store - Directors

FM Alex Zelner gave an insightful lecture on Saturday morning about tactical themes in the Sicilian Defense Grand Prix Attack. Thank you also to FM Alex and Dr. Catherine Zelner who also provided an outstanding selection of chess books/merchandise sales for the weekend. Steven Vigil, Harvey Lerman and Terrance Washington served as Tournament Directors for this event. CFCC’s next weekend tournament will be the Sunshine Open June 12-14. The tournament will be held at a new venue for CFCC, the Holiday Inn in Lake Buena Vista. We hope to see you there!