Reverse Angle 71

Author: Grant Oen, CCCSA Assistant Director

CCCSA's Reverse Angle 71 on April 29 was attended by 55 players in the Top, Under 1800, and Under 1400 sections, competing for a guaranteed prize fund of $850.

Top
Always a strong event, the Top section of RA71 featured 3 National Masters (Daniel Cremisi, Elias Oussedik, and Klaus Pohl), in addition to a cluster of Experts and Class A players, for a total of 16 players.  Cremisi (2295) scored 3/3, earning $175 after defeating Mark Biernacki in the final round, who had won against Klaus Pohl in round 2.  Elias Oussedik and Sulia Mason earned 2.5/3, each earning $37.50 for their share of second.

Under 1800
The 20 player U1800 section featured tough competition, with ratings from 1300 to the 1700s.  After the dust settled, Dwayne Tutt, Carson Cook, Michael Miller, and Ali Shirzad all scored 2.5/3, each earning $56.25 for their share of first place.

Under 1400
The Under 1400 section also had 19 players.  After the final round, Henry Quintanilla (1286) and Donald Johnson (1249) earned perfect scores and $112.50 each.  Nikhil Kamisetty (1128) earned the $50 Under 1200 prize.

USCF Results can be found here

Reverse Angle 72 is Saturday, May 20.

Endurance Test

A total of 24 players showed up to take part in round 4 of Tuesday Night Action 32. In technical terms, endurance testing refers to when an application is put under stress levels equivalent to that which it would typically face during peak times and observing memory consumption, performance (how badly it slows down the program), and potential defects that either may cause. Tuesday night, that level of testing was put on 3 players from the top 3 boards, and only one could withstand the pressure. On board 1, Dominique Myers(2117) took on Daniel Cremisi(2304) in a French where Dominique played his beloved two knights variation. He sacrificed a piece, and put Daniel under massive pressure with his King stuck in the middle of the board. The stress proved to be a non-issue for Daniel as he defends the position and forces a trade down to a piece up endgame and puts Dominique away, giving him a perfect score after four rounds. Meanwhile, board 2 sees a Sicilian Dragondorf played between Patrick McCartney(2131) and Pradhy Kothapalli(1870). After getting the position traded down to two rooks and a minor piece each, Patrick proceeded to virtually paralyze the Black position, and the stress test proved to be too much for Pradhy. He eventually cracks, drops an exchange for a pawn, and proceeds to go down in the endgame.

The game can be viewed below.



Meanwhile, board 3 saw a From's Gambit between Ali Shirzad(1695) and Sulia Mason(1985). Sulia got White's Queen early, but at the cost of a lot of material, far more than a Queen's worth. That said, his pieces were better placed, and when the stress test was put on Ali, his position cracked. He dropped both his bishops to tactics and what was originally a material advantage became a material deficit and that cost him the game. On the lower boards, Vishnu Vannapalli(1975) took down Luke Harris(1707) while David Blackwelder(1695) defeated David Richards(1641).

In the lower section, Sampath Kumar(1448) took down Hassan Hashemloo(1307) while Julian Parker(1427) defeated Mohnish Behera(1251) and Aarush Chugh(1188) got the upset against Corey Frazier(1404). Other winners include James Scott(629), Phillip Miller(1555), and Bruce Parrish(UNR) while Aditya Vadakattu(1062) got his fourth draw in as many rounds, this time by declaring peace with Richard Trela(1092).

All result can be viewed here.

No Risk, No Reward!

A total of 24 players came to see if they could mimic Lenoid Stein, known by many as the "Master of Risk Strategy", and took part in round 3 of Tuesday Night Action 32. The top board saw Daniel Cremisi(2304) and Pradhy Kothapalli(1870) where both players started the game at lightning speed, and they were down to a Rook and Knight each before most others were even out of the opening. Then play slows down, and White takes the risk of allowing the Black pawn to advance as far as the second rank, but proceeds to attack without allowing Black to promote, grabs a couple of pawns, and eventually wins. Meanwhile, Aditya Shivapooja(1815) took on Patrick McCartney and while the former played passive moves throughout the game, the latter proceeded to advance the pawns in front of his King, sacrifice a minor piece in the mid-teens, and then proceed to play aggressive moves until White couldn't stop a passed pawn and Black proceeded to win, the game of which can be viewed below. On the third board, Sulia Mason(1985) took on Michael Uwakwe(2039), and while the latter continued his typical passive play, the former was out for blood, and the risk paid off as he got the full point by scoring the victory. In addition, Ali Shirzad(1695) defeated Luke Harris(1707).



In the lower section, David Richards(1641) proceeds to grab the lead for himself as the lone 3 and 0 player in the section as he took down Hassan Hashemloo(1307). Other winners include Sampath Kumar(1448), Corey Frazier(1404), Debs Pedigo(1340), Saanchi Sampath(1225), Aarush Chugh(1188), and James Scott(629) while Aditya Vattakatu(1062) appears to have taken on the title of "Draw Master" as he proceeded to declare peace for the third straight week, this time with David Magee(1512).

All results can be viewed here.

A Trip to the Dentist

A total of 20 players took part in Round 2 of Tuesday Night Action 32. On the top board, Daniel Cremisi(2304) didn't even bother to offer any novocaine, and simply ripped every tooth out of Patrick McCartney's(2131) mouth as he handed him a 20-move drubbing that can be viewed below. Meanwhile, Dominique Myers(2117) proceeded to fill in the cavities created by Michael Uwakwe(2039) and didn't miss a single one of them as he cruised to a win and claimed a share of the lead with Daniel Cremisi with a perfect score after two rounds. Pradhy Kothapalli(1870) bridged the gap and pulled the upset against Gary Newson(2014) while Aditya Shivapooja(1767) drilled Curtis Ianni(1803) while William Clayton(1748) went for his six-month cleaning and proceeded to polish off Ali Shirzad(1695).



In the Under 17 pediatrics, David Richards(1641) and Hassan Hashemloo(1307) showed that they brushed three times a day every day as they maintained perfection by taking down Julian Parker(1427) and Richard Trela(1092) respectively. Adam Lipshay(1014) avoided the braces by keeping it all straight and in order as he took down Rishi Jasti(766) while the other four patients, Daniel Boisvert(1089) and Mohnish Behera(1251) along with Aditya Vadakattu(1062) and Harshitha Jasti(895) all came out of their cleaning with gleaming smiles as peace was declared in both cases.

The cross table with all results can be viewed here.

The English, written by David Cummings, 2016, 399 pages, Everyman chess - A review by Davide Nastasio

To read and review a good book takes a while, but it may be worthwhile to discover what this author has to say!

I learned the English using 2 DVDs made by GM Williams for Chessbase around 2 years ago.

I tried it for 6 months, nearly a year in various tournaments, but the results were definitely bad. I realized one mistake I made was my lack of understanding how I should study an opening. For example, one error was relative to the amount of games I should have watched and played, before using it in a tournament. I had to become more mature as player in order to use it. Now, I'd like to give it another try, because often I play the same players in the state where I live, and play some of these players even in matches, consequently I do need to be able to vary my openings. This is the reason I got this volume, to see if I will be able to play it successfully in tournament. The author begins the book telling us why is a good idea to play the English, the main reasons are: avoiding to study tons of theory, since it can be used like a system, similar to the London, and Black players tend to spend more time studying and preparing for 1.e4 and 1.d4, instead of 1.c4. But the most important point, which made me decide I wanted to read the book, was at page 8: "Most of the existing English opening repertoire books offer White systems involving an early g2-g3. Most notably, the seminal works by Tony Kosten and Mihail Marin are based on playing 1.c4, and 2.g3 against any of Black's replies. One key decision I made early on was not to follow in their footsteps..." and then he continues: "the theory after 1.c4,e5; 2.g3 which Marin covered in close to 500 pages in 2009, is the very domain that has exploded most dramatically." the author makes the example that at the Moscow Candidate tournament 2016 a 20% of the games were 1.c4,e5; with White playing 2.g3. Cummings is trying to teach us how to avoid the most fashionable path, used by all the Top GMs at the moment, and which would be known by our opponents who pay minimal attention to the video commentary of the main tournaments.

 Let's begin with an overview of Chapter 1, the author dedicates about 8 pages to explain the theory, and the reasons behind the moves he proposes for his repertoire. Then he begins to show some games. This position is reached after the moves: 1.c4,e5; 2.Nc3,Nf6; 3.Nf3,Nc6; 4.e3, 

 Next, he continues to explain the theory till a quite distinct crossroad which happens at move 8, when White takes on F6. 1.c4,e5; 2.Nc3,Nf6; 3.Nf3,Nc6; 4.e3,Bb4; 5.Qc2,0-0; 6.Nd5,Re8; 7.Qf5 (the author explores in Chapter One also some alternatives) 7...,d6; 8.Nxf6,

Now I'd like to show you one game, because the story behind is quite funny. The author chose as first game in the book a loss by Giri as Black against Grischuk in 34 moves, played in 2013. Now the game you are going to see, is a win, by Giri as White, in 2015, in 30 moves, using the same opening Grischuk used against him in 2013! As we can see, one can learn from the losses, and eventually use them against new opponents who will lose too! 

[Event "Qatar Masters op"] [Site "Doha"] [Date "2015.12.20"] [Round "1"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Sunilduth Lyna, Narayanan"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2784"] [BlackElo "2494"] [ECO "A28"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "QAT"] [SourceTitle "CBM 170"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2016.01.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2016.01.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 O-O 6.Nd5 Re8 7.Qf5 d6 8.Nxf6+ gxf6 9.Qc2 e4 10.Ng1 d5 11.a3 Bf8 12.cxd5 Qxd5 13.Ne2 Bf5 14.b4 a5 15.Nc3 Qe6 16.b5 Ne5 17.Nxe4 Nd7 18.d3 Bxe4 19.dxe4 Nc5 20.Bb2 Rad8 21.Rc1 Nxe4 22.Bd3 Nxf2 23.Bxh7+ Kg7 24.O-O Nd3 25.Bxd3 Qxe3+ 26.Kh1 Rxd3 27.Rxf6 Kg8 28.Rcf1 Qe2 29.Qc4 Rd7 30.Rg6+ 1-0

In the first chapter there are a total of 5 games heavily annotated to show possible alternatives for both colors.

The second chapter deals mainly with 5...Bxc3; and White's responses, while also outlining some alternatives to 5...Bxc3.

After 1.c4,e5; 2.Nc3,Nf6; 3.Nf3,Nc6; 4.e3,Bb4; 5.Qc2,Bxc3;

 

Also this chapter, like Chapter One, follows the same pattern, 2-3 pages of theory, followed by 4 games heavily annotated.

While I follow this book, I also use other tools to keep my research updated. For example thanks to Megabase 2017, 

which I update every couple of weeks, I can discover if games with the lines explained in Chapter Two, were played lately, and I discovered the following game, just played a little over a couple of months ago.

[Event "Hastings Masters op 92nd"] [Site "Hastings"] [Date "2016.12.31"] [Round "4"] [White "Rasmussen, Allan Stig"] [Black "Kjartansson, Gudmundur"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2502"] [BlackElo "2468"] [ECO "A28"] [EventDate "2016.12.28"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 12"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.01.14"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2017.01.14"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 Qe7 7.d3 d5 8.Be2 e4 9.dxe4 dxe4 10.Nd4 Ne5 11.b4 Bg4 12.f3 exf3 13.gxf3 Rd8 14.h4 Rxd4 15. exd4 Nxf3+ 16.Kd1 Qe4 17.Qe3 O-O 18.Rf1 Qxe3 19.Bxe3 Nxh4 20.Bg5 Ne4 21. Bxh4 Nc3+ 22.Kd2 Nxe2 23.Bf2 Rd8 24.d5 b5 25.Bh4 f6 26.Rae1 bxc4 27.Rxe2 Rxd5+ 28.Ke1 Bxe2 29.Kxe2 a5 30.Be1 axb4 31.Bxb4 Rb5 32.Bc3 h5 33.Rf4 Rc5 34.a4 f5 35.a5 g5 36.Rf1 f4 37.a6 Rc6 38.a7 Re6+ 39.Kf2 Re8 40.Rb1 1-0

Chapter 3 is dedicated to the alternatives to Black's fourth move 4...Bb4 examined in the previous chapter. The author examines 4...Be7; 4...d5; 4...g6; 4...d6;

Of these 4 alternatives the one we must really pay attention to is: 4...d5; because it can lead to an open Sicilian with reversed colors.

Practically after the moves: 1.c4,e5; 2.Nc3,Nf6; 3.Nf3,Nc6; 4.e3,d5;

we must take in d5 with 5.cxd5,Nxd5; now the author proposes to continue with 6.Bb5.

Often in books we just see games in which the opening we are going to play is winning. This is the reason why I use the Megabase 2017, with nearly 7 million games on it, I found out less than 500 games were played in this line in over 140 years! I gave a quick look at all the games with names of important players, independently from the result, in order to better understand what are the pros and cons of playing this particular line. This is an example of a game between two big names of the past:

[Event "Berlin Tageblatt"] [Site "Berlin"] [Date "1928.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Nimzowitsch, Aron"] [Black "Spielmann, Rudolf"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A28"] [PlyCount "128"] [EventDate "1928.10.11"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "12"] [EventCountry "GER"] [SourceTitle "HCL"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] [SourceVersion "2"] [SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bb5 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Bd6 8. d4 Bd7 9. e4 exd4 10. cxd4 Bb4+ 11. Bd2 Bxd2+ 12. Qxd2 O-O 13. O-O Qe7 14. Qf4 Ne5 15. Be2 Nxf3+ 16. Bxf3 Rac8 17. d5 Rfe8 18. Rfe1 Qd6 19. Qe3 b6 20. Red1 Re7 21. Rac1 Rce8 22. Qc3 Bc8 23. Qc6 Qxc6 24. Rxc6 f5 25. e5 Bb7 26. Rc3 Rxe5 27. h4 Re1+ 28. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 29. Kh2 Re7 30. Kg3 Kf7 31. Kf4 Kf6 32. g4 fxg4 33. Kxg4 Rd7 34. Kf4 Bxd5 35. Bxd5 Rxd5 36. Rc6+ Rd6 37. Rxc7 Rd4+ 38. Kg3 Ra4 39. Rc2 h5 40. f3 g5 41. hxg5+ Kxg5 42. Rg2 Ra3 43. Re2 h4+ 44. Kg2 Ra4 45. Rc2 Kf4 46. Rb2 h3+ 47. Kxh3 Kxf3 48. Rh2 Ke3 49. Kg3 Kd3 50. Kf3 Kc3 51. Ke3 Rb4 52. Rh7 a5 53. Rh2 b5 54. Rd2 a4 55. Rf2 Rb2 56. Rf5 Kb4 57. Kd3 Rxa2 58. Rf4+ Kb3 59. Rf3 Rh2 60. Kd4+ Kb2 61. Rf5 b4 62. Kc4 a3 63. Kxb4 a2 64. Rf2+ Rxf2 0-1

  

The book finishes to treat all possible deviations on 2nd and 3rd move to 1.c4,e5 in chapter 4.

The next 5 chapters are dedicated to the symmetrical English. In Chapter 5 the author makes a really nice introduction to the symmetrical English  giving some simple rules to remember in order to fight Black possible different move orders. I think chapter 5 is essential, and shows why one cannot really study an opening like the English without an experienced guide like David Cummings. 

(image symmetrical_english)

The rest of the book is based on 7 chapters, where the author analyzes different setups Black can use to throw us off-guard and lead us into our opponent's theoretical preparation. Therefore Cummings develops the chapters with the names of the major openings used by Black like: anti-slav system, anti-nimzo system, anti-Grünfeld, King's Indian, Dutch etc. The book ends with the index of the variations, and the index of the complete games.

In conclusion: I think the English is a very important opening that everyone should try to learn and use for at least a couple of years in their chess lives, also if they don't like it, or it is not part of their nature, because the pawn structures, ideas, and plans, learned from the English can be used in other openings as well. David Cummings did a good job in synthesizing all the material, and a good game selection for a total of 44 games! The annotation of the games helps the learner to see more sidelines and ideas on how to contrast Black's plans. The English is the kind of opening which can be used to surprise the opponent, or transpose into other openings we know well, avoiding our opponent's preparation, obliging him to think from the beginning.

 

Doing the Household Chores

A total of 22 players showed up to play in round 1 of Tuesday Night Action 32. In the top section, four players started off the tournament by yielding half a point as Adam Clontz(1858) and Luke Harris(1707) declared peace as did Aditya Shivapooja(1767) and Pradhy Kothapalli(1870). This set the table for three others to take the early lead after one round. We start with Daniel Cremisi(2304) who mopped up Michael Uwakwe(2039) while Dominique Myers(2117) dusted off Robert Callahan(1884) and Patrick McCartney(2131) took out the Tarrasch that Vishnu Vanapalli(1975) left laying around, resulting in the three winners being tied for first place after one round.

The game between McCartney and Vanapalli can be viewed below.



Meanwhile, the lower section sees a 5-way tie for first after one round as Dave Richards(1641), Kiru Mendez(1640), Julian Parker(1427), Hassan Hashemloo(1307), and Richard Trela(1092) all won while Daniel Boisvert(1089) and Aditya Vadakattu(1062) declared peace.

All results can be viewed here.

3 Earn Norms at 2017 CCCSA GM/IM Norm Invitational

Author: FM Peter Giannatos

This year's Charlotte Chess Center GM/IM Norm Invitational produced 3 norms and one title!

International Master norms went to: FM Gauri Shankar, NM John Ludwig and NM Tianqi Wang.

NM (FM) Benjamin Moon missed out by a half of a point but nonetheless raised his rating to 2300+ FIDE earning the FIDE Master title.

Group A

Going into the last round the following players were eligible for norms: IM Michael Brown (who needed to win with black versus top seed GM Tanguy Ringoir), and FM Gauri Shankar (who needed a draw with GM Fishbein).

Round 9 was quite heartbreaking for Brown who had recovered from earlier mishaps against FM Kumar and FM Shankar. Winning with black against the runaway train in GM Tanguy Ringoir was not an easy feat by any means, but Brown gave it one hell of a try:

Despite this incredible effort by IM Brown, he fell short by 1/2 of a point. FM Shankar earned his 5th(!!) IM norm with a "Grandmaster Draw" against GM Alexander Fishbein. FM Shankar will gain his IM title once he achieved a FIDE rating of 2400+.

No.	Player's Name	USCF	Rating	Score	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9
1	GM TANGUY RINGOIR	15491021	2518	7.5/9	W9	W3	D7	W6	D8	W4	W5	W10	D2
2	IM MICHAEL W BROWN	13289023	2478	6/9	D7	W6	W8	W4	L5	L10	W3	W9	D1
3	IM JOHN DAVID BARTHOLOMEW	12718516	2453	4.5/9	L4	L1	W5	D7	W10	W6	L2	D8	D9
4	IM AMAN HAMBLETON	13468545	2441	4.5/9	W3	W5	W10	L2	D9	L1	L7	D6	D8
5	FM GAURI SHANKAR (IM NORM)	12909025	2320	4.5/9	D8	L4	L3	W10	W2	D9	L1	W7	D6
6	GM ALEXANDER FISHBEIN	12077910	2481	4/9	W10	L2	D9	L1	D7	L3	W8	D4	D5
7	IM DANIEL GUREVICH	12914206	2465	4/9	D2	L9	D1	D3	D6	W8	W4	L5	L10
8	GM ALONSO ZAPATA	11426051	2426	4/9	D5	W10	L2	W9	D1	L7	L6	D3	D4
9	FM ALEXANDER KALIKSHTEYN	12579305	2453	3.5/9	L1	W7	D6	L8	D4	D5	D10	L2	D3
10	FM NIKHIL KUMAR	14982402	2444	2.5/9	L6	L8	L4	L5	L3	W2	D9	L1	W7

Group B

Group B was great for the norm hunters. Group B produced 2 norms: 

NM's John Ludwig (who has a 2397 FIDE Rating!) and NM Tianqi Wang.

Ludwig needed only 1/2 on the last day to secure his norm which he did easily with 2 draws against IM Vigorito and WIM Harazinska. The real challenge was his 7th round game against IM Martin Del Campo which was a real scrap:

FM Giannatos and NM Tianqi Wang (holding his norm certificate)

NM Tianqi "Steve" Wang  played well above his rating and rightfully earned an IM norm. I am extremely proud of Steve as he was one of the local invitee's who really stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park!

Steve played quite a few good games but the following miniature against IM Javakhadze was extremely crucial for his chances of getting a norm:

No.	Player's Name	USCF	Rating	Score	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9
1	JOHN GABRIEL LUDWIG (IM NORM)	13721287	2397	6.5/9	D4	W10	D8	W3	D9	W2	W7	D5	D6
2	TIANQI WANG (IM NORM)	14099361	2215	6.5/9	W3	W9	D6	W7	D5	L1	W4	W10	D8
3	FM DAVID BRODSKY	14380771	2330	6/9	L2	D7	D5	L1	W4	W10	W8	W6	W9
4	IM ZURAB JAVAKHADZE	15574183	2470	5.5/9	D1	W6	W10	W8	L3	W9	L2	D7	D5
5	IM DAVID VIGORITO	12426279	2370	5/9	W10	L8	D3	W9	D2	D7	D6	D1	D4
6	WIM EWA HARAZINSKA	16095511	2257	4.5/9	W9	L4	D2	W10	L7	W8	D5	L3	D1
7	IM ROBERTO MARTIN DEL CAMPO	12658446	2392	4/9	L8	D3	D9	L2	W6	D5	L1	D4	W10
8	FM MICHAEL KLEINMAN	12861469	2289	4/9	W7	W5	D1	L4	D10	L6	L3	D9	D2
9	RICHARD FRANCISCO	12631588	2253	2.5/9	L6	L2	D7	L5	D1	L4	W10	D8	L3
10	KAPISH POTULA	14114923	2075	0.5/9	L5	L1	L4	L6	D8	L3	L9	L2	L7

Group C

It appeared as though Group C was destined to create norms!  Moon and Zhang were in norm contention going into the last day.

NM Benjamin Moon only needed 1 of 2 on the last day for a norm although he had already achieved a live FIDE rating of 2304.8 hence already earning his FIDE Master title!

 For FM Yuanchen Zhang the norm was much harder as he needed 2/2 on Sunday.

Moon spoiled his chance at a norm with a very difficult game in the last round against IM Angelo Young where he needed a draw to secure his norm:

FM Zhang lost a difficult game against IM Stremavicius in round 8 which ended his norm chances. The game was approximately equal throughout until Zhang allowed the following breakthrough:

No.	Player's Name	USCF	Rating	Score	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9
1	IM FELIX JOSE YNOJOSA APONTE	15574198	2378	7/9	W5	W4	W10	D6	W7	D2	D9	W8	D3
2	BENJAMIN BARRY MOON	12910643	2254	6/9	W4	W9	D8	D3	W5	D1	W10	D6	L7
3	IM TITAS STREMAVICIUS	15874756	2453	5.5/9	W10	D6	L7	D2	W9	D8	D4	W5	D1
4	FM EDWARD SONG	13994740	2285	5/9	L2	L1	W9	D10	W8	W6	D3	D7	D5
5	FM YUANCHEN ZHANG	14927111	2268	5/9	L1	W10	W6	W7	L2	D9	W8	L3	D4
6	ANDREW ZHANG HONG	14941904	2378	4.5/9	W8	D3	L5	D1	W10	L4	D7	D2	D9
7	IM ANGELO YOUNG	12559845	2294	4/9	D9	L8	W3	L5	L1	D10	D6	D4	W2
8	AARON S BALLEISEN	13093767	2196	3.5/9	L6	W7	D2	W9	L4	D3	L5	L1	D10
9	FM SETH HOMA	12838750	2326	2.5/9	D7	L2	L4	L8	L3	D5	D1	D10	D6
10	SANJAY GHATTI	14114902	2276	2/9	L3	L5	L1	D4	L6	D7	L2	D9	D8

Special Thanks

A special thank you goes to my right hand man Grant Oen who really put an extreme amount of time an effort into making this tournament possible! Grant also earned his final FIDE Arbiter norm.

Another shout out goes to International Arbiter Thad Rogers of American Chess Promotions who is always easy going and very pleasant to work with.

Lastly I would like to thank William "Bill" Nash for volunteering as an additional arbiter for the event. Bill earned a FIDE arbiter norm for this event as well.

VIEW FINAL STANDINGS AND ALL GAMES HERE

VIEW ALL YOUTUBE INTERVIEWS HERE

PICTURES FROM MOST ROUND CAN BE FOUND ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE

We are looking forward to our next norm event!

Bringing a level of professionalism to chess in Charlotte,

FM Peter Giannatos

P.S. - Here are a few after-hours blitz games you may enjoy between famous YouTubers IM John Bartholomew (Fins) and IM Aman Hambleton (ChessBrahs)