Happy New Year from CCCSA!

Author: Grant Oen, CCCSA Assistant Director

The Charlotte Chess Center would like to wish everyone a happy new year.  In this blog, I'd like to recap the highlights of 2018 and preview our major events in 2019.


In the summer, US Chess awarded Charlotte, North Carolina the 2018 "Chess City of the Year" designation.

Grant Oen accepting Charlotte's Chess City of the Year award at the 2018 US Open

In November, the Charlotte Chess Center moved to its new, beautiful location.

Congratulations to CCCSA members who achieved the following milestones in 2018:

Daniel Cremisi – Achieved peak USCF rating of 2449, improved to the #10 eighteen year old in the country and tied for first at the North Carolina K-12 Championship

CCCSA regulars Daniel Cremisi and Ali Shirzad

Tianqi Wang – Achieved peak USCF rating of 2446 and earned his final IM Norm at the CCCSA Norm Invitational in August

IM-elect Tianqi Wang after earning his final IM norm

Mark Biernacki – Finished in clear second place (and top under 2200) at the 2018 North Carolina Closed Championship

Under 2200 State Champion Mark Biernacki

Vishnu Vanapalli – Tied for first at the North Carolina K-12 Championship

Vishnu "Vishy" Vanapalli

Klaus Pohl - Maintained #1 rating spot (2200) as top CCCSA Senior in 2018

81-year old Life Master Klaus Pohl (2200)

Ojas Panda – 2018 North Carolina Under 1800 Champion

Jeff Prainito – 2018 North Carolina Under 1600 Champion

State Champions Jeff Prainito and Ojas Panda

PJ Liotino – 2018 North Carolina Under 1400 Champion

PG and PJ

Paige Cook – Tied for first at the North Carolina K-12 U1500 Championship

Paige Cook and Mark Biernacki

Grisham Paimagam - Tied for first at the North Carolina K-3 Championship

Rohan Chugh - Tied for first at the North Carolina K-1 Championship

K-1 Champ Rohan Chugh!

Debs Pedigo - Elected as North Carolina Chess Association's President

Walter High - Elected as North Carolina Chess Association's Vice President

Karen and Walter High, co-organizers of the Charlotte Open and Carolinas Classic

Grant Oen - Earned National Tournament Director, International Arbiter, and International Organizer titles, elected as North Carolina Chess Association's Scholastic Vice President

Pradhymna Kothapalli - won the North Carolina K-8 Blitz Championship

Pradhyumna Kothapalli

Akshay !!! Rajagopal - won the North Carolina K-5 Blitz Championship

Congratulations to CCCSA regulars and special guests who achieved the following milestones in 2018:

GM Julio Sadorra – won the Carolinas Classic in June

GM Julio Sadorra against Patrick McCartney, 2018 Carolinas Classic

GM Elshan Moradiabadi - won the 2018 North Carolina Closed State Championship and the 2018 Charlotte Open

GM Elshan Moradiabadi, 2018 Carolinas Classic & Charlotte Open Champion

GM Illya Nyzhnyk – won the U.S. G/30 and G/60 National Championships in Charlotte

GM Illya Nyzhnyk, U.S. G/30 and G/60 Champion

GM Alexander Ipatov – won the U.S. G/10 National Championship in Charlotte

GM Alexander Ipatov, U.S. G/10 Champion

GM Steven Zierk - earned final GM norm at CCCSA's GM norm invitational in June

GM Steven Zierk

GM John Michael Burke - earned final GM norm at CCCSA's GM norm invitational in January

GM John Burke (middle)

GM-elect Nicolas Checa - earned final GM norm at CCCSA's GM norm invitational in November

GM-elect Nicolas Checa

FM Yoon-Young Kim – earned first IM norm at CCCSA's IM norm invitational in June

FM Yoon-Young Kim earned his first IM norm

IM Brandon Jacobson – earned first IM norm at CCCSA's IM norm invitational in June, then earned the IM title

IM Brandon Jacobson earned his first IM norm

IM Kevin Wang - earned the IM title at CCCSA's GM norm invitational in January

IM Kevin Wang

IM Kassa Korley - earned first GM Norm at CCCSA's GM norm invitational in June

IM Kassa Korley earned his first GM norm

FM Carissa Yip - earned her first IM norm, first WGM norm, and final WIM norm at CCCSA's IM norm invitational in June

"Triple Norm" winner FM Carissa Yip

IM-elect Jennifer Yu - earned her second IM norm at CCCSA's IM norm invitational in January

Jennifer Yu earned her second IM norm

IM-elect Andrew Hong - won CCCSA Elite Camp Blitz tournament held during Elite Chess Camp with GM Jacob Aagaard and GM Boris Avrukh

Adharsh Rajagopal - earned Expert title in May

Expert Adharsh Rajagopal

Aditya Shivapooja - earned Expert title in May

Luke Harris - earned Expert title in September

Over 1200 unique people played at least one rated CCCSA event in 2018!

A special thank you to the following players who played at least 20 CCCSA rated events in 2018:

Luke Harris – 53

Donald Johnson - 44
William Merritt - 40
Akshay Rajagopal - 39
Vishnu Vanapalli, Adharsh Rajagopal - 37
Arjun Rawal - 36
Mark Biernacki, Pradhyumna Kothapalli, Advaith Karthik - 35
Aarush Chugh - 34
Pranava Kumar - 33
Andrew Chen - 32
Aditya Shivapooja, Ali Shirzad, Raamcharan Puttagunta - 31
Daniel Cremisi - 28
Tianqi Wang, Senthil Muthusamy - 26
Dominique Myers, Sulia Mason - 25
Austin Chuang, Dan Boisvert, Smayan Ammasani - 23
Patrick McCartney, Danny Cropper - 22
Saanchi Sampath, Hassan Hashemloo, Otto Resteeli - 21
Jeff Prainito, Ethan Liu, Sarvajith Nalaneelan - 20

Donald "check!" Johnson was CCCSA's second most active player in 2018

In March 2017, our good friend and longtime CCCSA member Marnzell Hand passed away.  We hold a Marnzell Hand Blitz Tournament each spring to remember Marnzell – the 2017 edition was won by Peter Giannatos and Elias Oussedik.  The 2018 edition was won by Daniel Cremisi.

Marnzell Hand (1955-2017) at CCCSA with John Bartholomew

In 2018, CCCSA hosted players from 31 states and 28 countries

IM John Bartholomew, Mega Camp Instructor and GM Norm Invitational participant

CCCSA organized over 75 tournaments in 2018, including Reverse Angle, Tuesday Night Action Tournaments, Unrated Scholastics, Rated Scholastics, Blitz Tournaments, G/60 Actions, GM/IM Norm Invitationals, Junior Invitationals, and many championship events - Southeast Regional All-Girls Championship, NC K-12 Scholastics, Carolinas Classic, U.S. G/10, G/30, G/60 National Championships, NC Closed Championship, and the Charlotte Open.

Our GM/IM Norm Invitationals produced 13 FIDE norms in 2018 alone, and we will be holding more of these in 2019.

GM Praggnanandhaa competed at CCCSA's January 2018 GM Invitational!

24 Grandmasters, 31 International Masters, and 25 FIDE Masters competed in CCCSA tournaments this year!

GM Jianchao Zhao (2716) vs GM Alonso Zapata (2508), 2018 Charlotte Open

IM Roberto Martin del Campo vs IM Brandon Jacobson, June GM/IM Invitational

The Charlotte Chess Center also hosted many GMs and IMs not just for rated tournaments, but also lectures, camps, and activities at the club.  In 2018, CCCSA members were welcome to lectures by GM Daniel Naroditsky, GM Jacob Aagaard, GM Boris Avrukh, GM Aman Hambleton, GM Alex Lenderman, GM Elshan Moradiabadi, and IM John Bartholomew.

In 2019, on top of our Saturday tournaments, we will be continuing our regular Thursday Blitz, Rapid, and Pub Chess events, in addition to Friday Night Action Quads.

June's Pub Chess Outing, featuring GM Jacob Aagaard and GM Boris Avrukh

We will against host the NC K-12 State Championship, and continue with our large championship events such as the Carolinas Classic, Charlotte Open, GM/IM Norm Invitationals, and NC Closed Championship.

Our Tuesday Night Action tournament has been very strong recently, with TNA 48 hosting 61 players and many masters.  Tuesday Night Action is free to CCCSA members and includes a lecture and a slow USCF-rated game at 7:30.  TNA is the best attended weekly meeting in the Southeast, with over 50 players competing in each five week cycle.  With our new membership fees at only $40 annually, there is no reason to not swing by on Tuesday nights!

Here is our weekly schedule:

Monday - closed

Tuesday - tournament tips master lecture 6:45pm, Tuesday Night Action 7:30pm

Wednesdays - closed

Thursday - Blitz tourney, Rapid tourney, or Pub Chess - check calendar!

Fridays - Friday Night Action Quads and casual play 6pm-close

Saturday - check tournament schedule

Sunday - Kids Classes - open 12:00-6:00pm

Friday Night Quad winner Saanvita with CCCSA's Anna Wyzywany

Tuesday night and Friday night activities are free for members, who also receive discounts on all of our tournaments, classes, camps, and merchandise.  CCCSA membership is a great deal even if you only do some activities, and is an affordable way to support local chess.

Our next GM/IM Norm Invitational, January 17-21 will feature a twenty player field with many GMs and IMs.  Many of these players will seek their FIDE title norms.  This will be the first of many GM/IM Invitational events in 2019.

We will also host four US Chess national championship tournaments in 2019.  In July, we will again organize the U.S. G/10, G/30, and G/60 Championships.  In December, we will host the 2019 Pan-American Intercollegiate Championship, the national team championship tournament for collegiate chess players.

Our second CCCSA Elite Camp will take place in June, and will offer open lectures by GM Jacob Aagaard, GM Boris Avrukh, and one other instructor.  Finally, we will host the 2019 North American Junior (U20) Championship which is a FIDE Continental Championship and offers IM, FM, WIM, WFM titles and GM, IM, WIM, WFM norms for medalists.

The Charlotte Chess Center wishes everyone a great 2019!

Dom and Peter after some Tuesday Night Action

Happy New Year from the Charlotte Chess Center!