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by Steven Vigil, CFCC Senior Tournament Director

The Central Florida Chess Club held its 2022 Winter Open Tournament from January 21-23. It was the first major 3-day CFCC event since the 2020 Winter Open held approximately two years ago. The tournament was held at the Holiday Inn Resort in Lake Buena Vista. This was the first-time venue for a CFCC tournament with more tournaments planned here for the future. Over 140 players in 5 sections participated in the tournament, choosing between a 2 and 3-day schedule.  It was great to see many players and acquaintances I had not seen since the start of the pandemic, after a two-year hiatus.

When I arrived to set up at 5pm on Friday I was greeted by several players who had arrived early eager to compete! The 3-day schedule began as planned on Friday night at 7pm with two International Masters competing in the Open section and players spread out in the playing hall. In the premier section, youngster Nate Ziegler (1908) held a nice draw against IM John Ludwig (2446). Things went smoothly and the round finished just before 11:30pm. I took some time to prepare the playing hall and then retired to my room to rest up for what promised to be an action-packed Saturday of chess. 

Saturday morning began with an interesting lecture given by NM Alex Zelner (2344) on tactics in the Scotch Opening. Alex and Catherine Zelner also ran the chess shop that was open throughout the weekend, offering a wide range of chess books, as well as clocks, sets, scorebooks and other chess equipment. I would have liked to hear more of the master lecture, but a small crowd of players had come to ask questions and register for both the main tournament, and the blitz event on Saturday night.

Saturday turned out to be an overwhelmingly busy day, and it had been some time since I had directed a larger multi section tournament. Thankfully, I had the help of our experienced floor TD, Charles Hatherhill (ANTD). Charles worked tirelessly on the floor keeping things running smoothly and ensuring pairings and time controls were correct, which made my job easier.

The start of Saturday mornings’ round saw everyone in the tournament playing hall together for the first time. Two and 3-day schedules began at 11am, with Rd. 2 for the 2-day schedule starting seamlessly at 1pm. By the start of Round 3 at 5pm on Saturday evening, the 2&3-day sections were successfully merged into one big section for the duration of the tournament. The final two rounds were held on Sunday 10am & 2:30pm and when the smoke cleared, several winners in each section were announced and prizes were distributed.

Premier Section

Congratulations to Chilean IM Alvaro Valdes (2508), the tournament’s overall winner in the Premier Section with a score of 4.5 points and the first-place prize of $800. IM Valdes drew IM John Ludwig in the anticipated round 5 game between the tournaments two top rated players. The two IMs were the section’s only undefeated player (Ludwig had 3 draws and 2 wins).

Up and coming youngster, Abihiram Pothuri (2004) had an impressive comeback performance. After losing his first game, Abihiram rattled off four wins in a row to finish with 4 points finishing in clear second place and winning the $500 second place prize. This left only 3 players with 3.5 points in a very competitive section. Congratulations to FM Yans Girones Barrios (2489) and IM John Ludwig who tied for second place and received $150 each and to Arav Patel (1854) who took home the $200 best U2000 prize.

Under 2000 Section

The U2000 Section interestingly had no players above 1900 and it was clear that there were some talented under-rated young players in the section. Congratulations to Arbor Kurbanov (1745) for winning the U2000 section and the $700 prize. Arbor was also one of two players in the entire tournament to finish with a perfect score of 5 points. Three players with 4 points tied for the 2nd/3rd & U1800 prizes. Congratulations to Kyle Knapp (1630), Jacob Guisto (1511) and Agrim Kumar (1506) who all received a prize check of $308.

Under 1700 Section

Congrats to Talha Ozsoy (1483) who finished with 4.5 points to win clear first place in the U1700 section and a $700 payday. Talha’s lone draw came in the final round against Chloe Min(1607). Chloe along with Brian Bird (1664) and Aaron Marian (1654) would tie for 2nd/3rd place with a score of 4 points. Each player won $242 for their efforts. Tristan Elvers (1489), Anmay Chadhury (1452) and William Lacey (528) shared the $200 U1500 prize with 3.5 points.

Under 1400 Section

Kevin Harrilal (1314) won the U1400 section and was the only other player to score a perfect 5 points. Congrats to Kevin who took home a prize of $700. William Hardison (1225) finished in clear second place with a score of 4.5 netting him $500. Four players; Santiago Lopez (1357), Zach Douglas (1163), Joe Libretto (1143) and Alison Solik (1066) all finished with a score of 4 points to tie for 3rd place/U1200 prize of $100 each.

Scholastic U1200 Section

The U1200/Scholastic Section is usually the largest section in the tournament, but this time around there were just 23 participants. Only the Premier Section had fewer players (21). Possibly the pandemic has had the greatest impact on scholastic chess. Many after-school chess programs and local scholastic tournaments, important outlets for young players to learn fundamentals, gain experience and improve at chess, have stalled during the pandemic and are just now getting back into gear. 

Nonetheless, it was great to see so many younger players in attendance. As a chess coach, this is often my favorite section to oversee. As a director, it affords me the opportunity to help young players get familiarized with the rules and etiquette involved with rated tournaments and help ensure that their introduction to chess tournaments and/or their earliest chess experiences are a positive one.

Congratulations to Ethan Shephard (888) and Cole Osieger (699) shared first place honors with 4 points earning them each a prize of $162.50. Alex Rodriguez, Tristan Squire, Grace Yang, and Arham Shah all tied for third place and walked away with $17.50 each. The U800 prize was won by Sonam Jani (798) who had 3 points.

Saturday Night Blitz Tournament

A blitz tournament was held on Saturday night at 9:30pm. A group of 30 players competed in the four double-round event where each player plays one game with white and one game with black. When a player unexpectedly didn’t show up for the first round it presented me with an opportunity to jump in as a house player at the last minute. After losing with the white pieces to an impressive youngster, I figured he got lucky and was able to refocus and win my second game as black getting the 1/1 split. Afterward I looked more closely at the pairings, and realized that perhaps it was I who was lucky to score a win against overall tournament second place finished Abhiram Pothuri. It was nice to be able to let loose and play a few blitz games after a long and busy day.

And while my performance of 2/4 wasn’t noteworthy, Blitz tournament winner, Vincent Stone, put on an impressive display. He handily won first place with 7/8, defeating IM Alvaro Valdes twice and losing only one game to FM Yans Girones Barrios in the process. This netted him the $200 first place cash prize for winning the side event. In a tough field, Abihiram Pothuri gave another second-place performance along with Jeffrey Tobergte, both finishing with a commendable 6.5/8. I was very impressed that these three younger players were able to shut out two FMs and an IM from the top three places after a long day of chess at a blitz tournament that ended just shy of 11pm!

Our Next Hotel Weekend Tournament

The Central Florida Chess club would like to thank all who participated in the 2022 Winter Open to help make it a successful event.  I talked to players who traveled from as far as New York, Idaho and California to Orlando to play in the tournament.  On a personal level it was gratifying to be back directing a 3-day hotel tournament after such a long pause. It was also nice to see so many familiar faces as well see several new ones. The CFCC’s next 3-day event, The Summer Open, will be at the same venue, June 3-5. Our next event will be the CFCC Club Championship at Orlando Chess and Games March 26th and 27th.  We look forward to seeing you there!

2022 Winter Open Slideshow Gallery

All tournament photos have been uploaded.