CFCC 2024 Autumn Open Concludes With a 3-Way Tie for 1st Place!

Final Round, Boards 1 & 2 with FM Jorge Leon Oquendo (2477) (L)vs FM Brejesh Chakrabarti (2368) (R) on board 1 (front) and NM Theo Slade ( 2243) (L) vs FM Yans Griones Barrios (2463) (R) on board 2 (back).

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With a final score of 4/5 points, CFCC wishes to congratulate FM Jorge Leon Oquendo (2477), FM Brejesh Chakrabarti (2368), and FM Yans Griones Barrios (2463) for their 3-way tie for 1st place in our 2024 Autumn Open tournament this past weekend at the Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista Resort!

We’d also like to thank all the players who participated and congratulate those who placed in their respective sections!

Central Florida Chess Club (CFCC)

2024 CFCC Autumn Open
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[Event "CFCC 2024 Autumn Open"] [Site "Orlando, FL"] [Date "2024.09.30"] [Round "Round 5, Board 1"] [White "FM Jorge Leon Oquendo"] [Black "FM Brejesh Chakrabarti"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2477"] [BlackElo "2368"] [EventDate "2024.09.29"] [ECO "A01"] [PlyCount "150"] 1.b3 Nf6 2.Bb2 g6 3.Bxf6 exf6 4.d4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.g3 f5 7.Bg2 d5 8.Ne2 c6 9.O-O Nd7 10.c4 Nf6 11.Nbc3 Be6 12.cxd5 Bxd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Rc1 Re8 15.b4 Qd7 16.Qb3 Nc7 17.Rfd1 Red8 18.Nf4 Qe7 19.a4 a6 20.Nd3 Rab8 21.Nc5 Bf6 22.Bf1 Kg7 23.b5 axb5 24.axb5 cxb5 25.Bxb5 Ne6 26.Bf1 Nxc5 27.Rxc5 Rdc8 28.Rb5 Qc7 29.Rb1 b6 30.Rxb6 Rxb6 31.Qxb6 Qc2 32.Qb3 Qc7 33.Bg2 h5 34.Bd5 Qe7 35.Kg2 Rd8 36.Bf3 h4 37.Qa4 Rc8 38.Rb7 Rc7 39.Rb8 Rd7 40.Bc6 Rc7 41.Qa8 Qd6 42.Bf3 Rd7 43.Qc6 Qxb8 44.Qxd7 hxg3 45.hxg3 Qd8 46.Qc6 Be7 47.Bd5 Qd6 48.Qb5 Qf6 49.Kf1 Bd6 50.Qc6 Qe7 51.Ke2 Qc7 52.Qxc7 Bxc7 53.Kd3 Kf6 54.Bb3 Ke7 55.Ke2 Ba5 56.f3 Bc7 57.Kf2 Bd6 58.Bc2 Bc7 59.f4 Ba5 60.Kf3 Bd2 61.Ke2 Ba5 62.Bd1 Bc7 63.Kd3 Bb8 64.Kc4 Kd6 65.Kb5 Bc7 66.Bb3 Ke7 67.Bd1 Kd6 68.g4 fxg4 69.Bxg4 f6 70.Bd1 g5 71.fxg5 fxg5 72.e4 Bd8 73.Bg4 Bf6 74.Kc4 Bg7 75.Kd3 Bh6 1/2-1/2 [Event "CFCC 2024 Autumn Open"] [Site "Orlando, FL"] [Date "2024.09.30"] [Round "Round 5, Board 2"] [White "NM Theo Slade"] [Black "FM Yans Girones Barrios"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2243"] [BlackElo "2463"] [EventDate "2024.09.29"] [ECO "E35"] [PlyCount "54"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 c5 7.dxc5 Nc6 8.e3 Qa5 9.Bd3 d4 10.exd4 Nxd4 11.Qc1 O-O 12.Ne2 Nxe2 13.Bxe2 Re8 14.Bd2 Bg4 15.f3 Bf5 16.Kf1 Qd8 17.a3 Bxc5 18.Bg5 Qd4 19.Nd1 Rxe2 20.Kxe2 Qd3+ 21.Ke1 Re8+ 22.Ne3 Bxe3 23.Bxe3 Rxe3+ 24.Kf2 Ne4+ 25.Kg1 Qd4 26.Kf1 Nd2+ 27.Kf2 Rc3+ 0-1 [Event "CFCC 2024 Autumn Open"] [Site "Orlando, FL"] [Date "2024.09.30"] [Round "Round 5, Board 3"] [White "NM Nick Moore"] [Black "NM Brayan Amaya"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2321"] [BlackElo "2202"] [EventDate "2024.09.29"] [ECO "A20"] [PlyCount "99"] 1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Nd5 Bc5 6.e3 O-O 7.Ne2 Nxd5 8.cxd5 Ne7 9.d4 exd4 10.Nxd4 c6 11.Nb3 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 d6 14.dxc6 bxc6 15.O-O d5 16.Rfc1 Qb6 17.Nc5 Rb8 18.b3 Rd8 19.Rc3 Bd7 20.Nxd7 Rxd7 21.Rac1 Qb4 22.Qc2 f5 23.Rd3 Qd6 24.Rd4 Rb4 25.Qd2 Rxd4 26.Qxd4 Kf7 27.h4 Qf6 28.Qd2 Qe5 29.Bf3 g6 30.Kg2 Kg7 31.Rc5 h6 32.b4 g5 33.hxg5 hxg5 34.Kg1 g4 35.Bg2 Rb7 36.Bf1 Kf7 37.a3 Qe6 38.Qc1 Qd6 39.Bd3 Rb8 40.Ra5 Rh8 41.Qf1 Qh6 42.Qg2 d4 43.Re5 dxe3 44.Bc4+ Kf8 45.Rxe3 Qf6 46.Re1 Qc3 47.Qf1 Qf3 48.Qg2 Qc3 49.Qf1 Qf3 50.Qg2 1/2-1/2 [Event "CFCC 2024 Autumn Open"] [Site "Orlando, FL"] [Date "2024.09.30"] [Round "Round 4, Board 1"] [White "FM Yans Girones Barrios"] [Black "FM Jorge Leon Oquendo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2463"] [BlackElo "2477"] [EventDate "2024.09.29"] [ECO "D24"] [PlyCount "109"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e3 a6 6.a4 c5 7.Bxc4 Nc6 8.O-O cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bd7 10.Qe2 Be7 11.Rd1 Qc7 12.Nxc6 Bxc6 13.e4 O-O 14.e5 Nd7 15.Bf4 Rfd8 16.Rac1 Nc5 17.Qc2 Rxd1+ 18.Rxd1 Rd8 19.Rxd8+ Qxd8 20.Be3 Qd7 21.b3 b5 22.axb5 axb5 23.Bxc5 Bxc5 24.Bd3 g6 25.Ne4 Bxe4 26.Bxe4 Qd4 27.g3 Qxe5 28.Kg2 Qd4 29.Bd3 b4 30.Bc4 Kg7 31.Qe2 e5 32.Qf3 f5 33.h4 Qd2 34.Qe2 Qd6 35.Qd3 Bd4 36.h5 e4 37.Qe2 Qc6 38.hxg6 hxg6 39.Qd1 Qb6 40.Qd2 Qd6 41.Qd1 Qe5 42.Qd2 Bc5 43.Qd5 Qxd5 44.Bxd5 Kf6 45.f3 e3 46.Bc4 Ke5 47.g4 fxg4 48.fxg4 Kf4 49.Be2 g5 50.Kf1 Ke4 51.Kg2 Bb6 52.Kf1 Bd4 53.Kg2 Be5 54.Kf1 Kd4 55.Bc4 1/2-1/2 [Event "CFCC 2024 Autumn Open"] [Site "Orlando, FL"] [Date "2024.09.30"] [Round "Round 4, Board 2"] [White "FM Brejesh Chakrabarti"] [Black "Arav Patel"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2368"] [BlackElo "2119"] [EventDate "2024.09.29"] [ECO "A20"] [PlyCount "189"] 1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.O-O Be7 7.Nc3 Nb6 8.d3 O-O 9.a3 Be6 10.Be3 f6 11.Rc1 Qd7 12.Ne4 Nd4 13.Nxd4 exd4 14.Bd2 c6 15.Nc5 Bxc5 16.Rxc5 Rfe8 17.Re1 Kh8 18.b4 Bg4 19.a4 Re5 20.Rxe5 fxe5 21.Qb3 Be6 22.Qc2 Bd5 23.e4 dxe3 24.Rxe3 Bxg2 25.Kxg2 Re8 26.Re4 h6 27.Bc3 Rd8 28.d4 exd4 29.Rxd4 Nd5 30.Bb2 Rf8 31.Qe2 Qf5 32.h3 Qf7 33.Re4 a6 34.Re6 Kg8 35.Re4 Qf5 36.Re5 Qf7 37.Re4 Qf5 38.Rd4 Qf7 39.Re4 Qf5 40.Ba1 Qf7 41.Bd4 Qf5 42.Bc5 Rf7 43.Re5 Qg6 44.Re8+ Kh7 45.Kh2 Qf5 46.Re5 Qf6 47.h4 Qf3 48.Qc2+ g6 49.h5 Rf5 50.hxg6+ Kxg6 51.Kg1 Kf6 52.Re1 Kf7 53.b5 axb5 54.axb5 b6 55.Bd6 c5 56.Re5 Rxe5 57.Bxe5 Ke6 58.Bg7 Qf5 59.Qe2+ Kd7 60.Bxh6 Qe6 61.Qd2 c4 62.Bg7 Qe4 63.Bb2 Qb1+ 64.Kh2 Qh7+ 65.Kg2 Qe4+ 66.f3 Qd3 67.Qxd3 cxd3 68.Kf2 d2 69.Ke2 Ne3 70.Kxd2 Nf1+ 71.Kd3 Nxg3 72.Bd4 Ke6 73.Bxb6 Kd5 74.Bc7 Nf5 75.b6 Kc6 76.Ke4 Ne7 77.Bd8 Nc8 78.Ke5 Nd6 79.Ke6 Nb7 80.Bc7 Nc5+ 81.Kf5 Kd7 82.f4 Nd3 83.Kg6 Nc5 84.f5 Ne4 85.f6 Nxf6 86.Kxf6 Kc6 87.Ke6 Kb7 88.Kd6 Kc8 89.Kc5 Kb7 90.Bg3 Ka8 91.Kb5 Kb7 92.Bf2 Ka8 93.Kc6 Kb8 94.Bh4 Ka8 95.b7+ * [Event "CFCC 2024 Autumn Open"] [Site "Orlando, FL"] [Date "2024.09.30"] [Round "Round 4, Board 3"] [White "NM Brayan Amaya"] [Black "NM Theo Slade"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2202"] [BlackElo "2243"] [EventDate "2024.09.29"] [ECO "C67"] [PlyCount "27"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.dxe5 Nxb5 7.a4 Nbd4 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 d5 10.exd6 Qxd6 11.Qe4+ Qe6 12.Qd4 Qd6 13.Qe4+ Qe6 14.Qd4 1/2-1/2 [Event "CFCC 2024 Autumn Open"] [Site "Orlando, FL"] [Date "2024.09.30"] [Round "Round 3, Board 1"] [White "FM Jorge Leon Oquendo"] [Black "NM Nick Moore"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2477"] [BlackElo "2321"] [EventDate "2024.09.28"] [ECO "D12"] [PlyCount "119"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Be7 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.g3 Nbd7 12.Be2 Rc8 13.Kf2 dxc4 14.Bxc4 a6 15.Rac1 Qb8 16.a4 b5 17.Be2 b4 18.Ne4 Nxe4+ 19.fxe4 a5 20.e5 O-O 21.Rc2 c5 22.Rhc1 cxd4 23.exd4 Nb6 24.Bb5 Rxc2 25.Qxc2 Rc8 26.Qe4 Re8 27.Rc6 Qa7 28.Ke2 Nd5 29.Qd3 Bf8 30.g4 Ne7 31.Rc4 f6 32.exf6 gxf6 33.Qe4 Kf7 34.Be3 Nd5 35.Bf2 Bd6 36.Rc6 Qb7 37.h4 Ne7 38.h5 f5 39.hxg6+ Kg7 40.Qxe6 Nxc6 41.Bxc6 Qe7 42.Qxe7+ Bxe7 43.gxf5 Bf6+ 44.Kd3 Rc8 45.Bd5 Rc1 46.b3 Bg5 47.Ke4 Rc2 48.Kf3 Rc3+ 49.Kg4 Bf6 50.Kf4 Rc2 51.Be3 Be7 52.Be6 Re2 53.Kf3 Re1 54.d5 Bf6 55.d6 Rd1 56.d7 Bd8 57.Ke2 Rd6 58.Bc5 Rc6 59.Bd4+ Kh6 60.g7 1-0 [Event "CFCC 2024 Autumn Open"] [Site "Orlando, FL"] [Date "2024.09.30"] [Round "Round 3, Board 2"] [White "NM Theo Slade"] [Black "FM Brejesh Chakrabarti"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2246"] [BlackElo "2373"] [EventDate "2024.09.28"] [ECO "E92"] [PlyCount "72"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 Qe7 8.Qc2 exd4 9.Nxd4 c5 10.Nb3 Nc6 11.f3 Be6 12.O-O Ne5 13.Nd2 Nc6 14.Nb3 a5 15.a4 Nb4 16.Qd2 Nd7 17.Bg5 f6 18.Bf4 Ne5 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.exd5 b6 21.Rfe1 Rae8 22.Bf1 Qd7 23.Nc1 Qf5 24.Bxe5 fxe5 25.Re4 Bf6 26.Ne2 Bg5 27.Qc3 Qd7 28.b3 Rf7 29.Ng3 Bf4 30.Ne2 Bg5 31.Re1 Ref8 32.Ng3 Bf4 33.Ne2 Bg5 34.Ng3 Bf4 35.Ne2 Na6 36.Nxf4 Rxf4 1/2-1/2 [Event "CFCC 2024 Autumn Open"] [Site "Orlando, FL"] [Date "2024.09.30"] [Round "Round 3, Board 3"] [White "FM Jorge Leon Oquendo"] [Black "Jacob Sperber"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2477"] [BlackElo "2103"] [EventDate "2024.09.28"] [ECO "A40"] [PlyCount "63"] 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.Nf3 Bb4 5.Qb3 a5 6.a3 a4 7.Qc2 Bxc3+ 8.Qxc3 Nf6 9.g3 c5 10.Be3 cxd4 11.Qxd4 Nc6 12.Qxb6 Qxb6 13.Bxb6 Ne5 14.Nxe5 Bxh1 15.f3 h5 16.h4 g5 17.hxg5 d6 18.gxf6 dxe5 19.Kf2 h4 20.Bh3 hxg3+ 21.Kxg3 Rb8 22.c5 Bxf3 23.exf3 Rh6 24.Re1 Rxf6 25.Rxe5 Kd7 26.Rd5+ Ke7 27.Rd2 Rg6+ 28.Kf2 Rh8 29.Bf1 Rh2+ 30.Ke3 Rxd2 31.Kxd2 e5 32.Bd3 1-0 [Event "CFCC 2024 Autumn Open"] [Site "Orlando, FL"] [Date "2024.09.30"] [Round "Round 2, Board 1"] [White "NM Brayan Amaya"] [Black "FM Yans Girones Barrios"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2202"] [BlackElo "2463"] [EventDate "2024.09.28"] [ECO "C96"] [PlyCount "120"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d6 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 Bb7 11.d4 Re8 12.Bg5 Nd7 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Nbd2 exd4 15.cxd4 c5 16.Nf1 Nc4 17.Rb1 Qf6 18.Ng3 g6 19.Bd3 Ncb6 20.Bf1 Rac8 21.b3 cxd4 22.Qxd4 Qxd4 23.Nxd4 b4 24.Rbd1 d5 25.exd5 Rxe1 26.Rxe1 Nxd5 27.Ra1 Nc5 28.a3 Rd8 29.Bc4 Nb6 30.axb4 Rxd4 31.bxc5 Nxc4 32.bxc4 Rxc4 33.Ra5 Rc1+ 34.Kh2 Rc2 35.Kg1 f5 36.f3 Kf7 37.Nf1 Rc1 38.Kf2 Bc6 39.Ne3 Bb5 40.g4 f4 41.Nd5 Rc2+ 42.Kg1 Rc1+ 43.Kg2 Rc2+ 44.Kg1 Rxc5 45.Nxf4 Rc4 46.Nd5 Ke6 47.Ne3 Ra4 48.Rxa4 Bxa4 49.f4 Bb3 50.Kf2 a5 51.Ke2 a4 52.Kd2 a3 53.Kc3 a2 54.Kb2 Kd6 55.h4 Bf7 56.f5 Ke5 57.fxg6 hxg6 58.Nf5 gxf5 59.gxf5 Kxf5 60.Ka1 Kg4 1/2-1/2 [Event "CFCC 2024 Autumn Open"] [Site "Orlando, FL"] [Date "2024.09.30"] [Round "Round 1, Board 1"] [White "FM Yans Girones Barrios"] [Black "Neel Sahai"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2463"] [BlackElo "2032"] [EventDate "2024.09.27"] [ECO "E35"] [PlyCount "85"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.Bg5 O-O 8.e3 Re8 9.Bd3 h6 10.Bh4 c5 11.O-O c4 12.Bh7+ Kh8 13.Bf5 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qb6 15.Rab1 Qc6 16.Rfe1 b6 17.Nd2 Bb7 18.f3 g6 19.Bh3 Rg8 20.e4 g5 21.Bxd7 Nxd7 22.Bg3 Rae8 23.exd5 Qxd5 24.Qa4 g4 25.Qxc4 Qxc4 26.Nxc4 Bd5 27.Nd6 Bxa2 28.Rxe8 Rxe8 29.Rb2 Re3 30.Rxa2 a5 31.Nxf7+ Kg7 32.Ne5 Nf6 33.Nxg4 Nxg4 34.fxg4 Rxc3 35.d5 Rd3 36.Bc7 b5 37.Rxa5 Rxd5 38.Bf4 h5 39.Ra7+ Kg6 40.Ra6+ Kg7 41.g5 Rf5 42.Bd2 Rc5 43.Rb6 1-0
 

 

by Steven Vigil, CFCC Senior Tournament Director

 

The 2024 Autumn Open Chess Tournament took place from September 27-29. The event was held at the Holiday Inn Resort in Lake Buena Vista. A field of 163 players competed in the five-round tournament.

Players had the option of a 3-day schedule starting Friday evening with a time-control of 90 minutes with 30 second delay or could opt for a 2-day schedule starting Saturday morning, with the first two rounds having a shorter time control of 60 minutes with 5 second delay. The tournament featured six sections ranging from Master/Expert to Scholastic U1200.

The action kicked off on Friday night at 7:00pm with 43 players for the 3-day schedule with the final game ending just around midnight. Play resumed Saturday morning at 11 a.m. with the full roster of players present in the tournament room. Round 3 started at 5pm on Saturday evening with the 2 & 3-day sections merged into one section for the rest of the tournament.

The third-round games finished just after 9pm. This was followed by a USCF rated Blitz tournament that began just after 9pm, (see below). Sunday morning began with a free chess lecture at 9am. Then the fourth round of the tournament started promptly at 10 a.m. This was followed by the fifth and final round of the competition that started at 2:30 p.m. and continued until just after 6:30. After play concluded prizes were awarded to the winners of each respective section.

Master/Expert Section

A total of thirty-four players competed in the Master/Expert; the tournament’s top rated section. This was also the largest section other than the Scholastic/U1200 and was dual rated for both USCF and FIDE. Congratulations to the trio of FIDE masters: FM Jorge Oquendo (2484), FM Yans Griones Barrios (2463) and FM Brejesh Chakrabarti (2377) who shared first place with 4 points winning them each a prize of $544.

Each FM had 3 wins and 2 draws. FM Oquendo drew both FM Barrios and FM Chakrabarti in rounds 4 and 5. Three masters would each score 3.5 points to tie for 4th place and win $56.67 each. Nick Moore (2321) lost only to the top-rated player FM Jorge Oquendo and drew his final round game with Brian Amaya (2202) who along with Ryan Hamley (2246) went undefeated with 2 wins and 1 draw. Nate Ziegler (2112) also scored 3.5 points to win the top U2200 prize of $272.

Class A Section

The Class A/U2000 Section was also dual rated for both USCF and FIDE. With only 10 competitors in the section, players had an excellent chance of winning one of the 5 cash prizes being offered. Congratulations to eight-year-old Zhihan Zu (1748) who won clear first place and the $544 prize with 4 points in what turned out to be a very competitive section. Zhihan clinched his victory with a win in round 5 over tournament veteran Paul Leggett (1728) in what was a de facto first place game. With that being his only loss, Paul won clear second place and a prize of $272.

Eduardo Meza Luna (1654) and Mark Giovannetti (1970) shared 3rd place/U1900 prize $119/each with a score of 3 points. Wayne Strickland (1816) who handed Zhihan his only loss in the tournament finished with a score of 2.5, and along with Kas Baumstark (1649) and Thomas Henry (1638) won $22.67, their share of the 4th place prize.

Class B Section

Often the smallest section in the tournament, the Class B (U1800) had 17 players this time around. Congratulations to three players: Rui Sha (1795), James Williams (1655) and Evan Qian (1645) who shared first place winning them each $311.67. Although Rui went undefeated and gave James and Evan their only loses in the tournament, he drew 2 of his games, which left them all tied with 4 points. Four other players: Aaron Hawkins (1753), Alexander Kristiansson (1537) and Addison Baumstark (1530) finished with 3 points to share the rest of the prize money; $42.50 each.

Class C Section

Twelve players competed in the Class C (U1600) section. Once again, a score of 4 points was the top score and once again a talented 8-year-old won the section. Congratulations to Nicholas Tadros (1400), who won clear first place and a prize of $544. Nicholas’ only loss came against Stone Wang (1552) who tied for second place with Johnny Jobst (1223) with 3.5 points. Each received $187. Jacob Lewin (1572), Stuart Elvers (1518) tied for 4th place with 3 points, and each won $34. Mauricio Coral (1298) won the U1500 prize of $102 with his score of 3 points.

Class D Section

Twenty-seven players competed in the Class D (U1400) section. Congratulations to Robert Hinton (1243) who scored 4.5 points to win clear first place and the $442 prize. Tristan Squire (1377) and Gari Jaswin Reddy (1177) each scored 4 points to share second/third the place prize netting them each $161.50. Jared Oehrlein (1325) won the 4th place prize of $51. Coco Yao (1178)  and Luis Morales (unr) also finished with 3.5 points to share the U1300 and U1200 prizes and each received $68.

Scholastic U1200 Section

With 57 players, the U1200/Scholastic was the largest section in the tournament. This section was played with 3 games on Saturday and two on Sunday  with a time control of Game in 60 minutes with a 5 second delay. Congratulations to Rhodes Brassil (941) and Mithrran Prakash (941) who were the only players in the Autumn Open to win all five of their games!

Mithrran and Rhodes each took home $127.50, while a group of 7 players scored 4 points to share 3rd and 4th place. Congratulations to: Parvati Chakrabati (1044), Alyssa Mogg (1044), Vladislav Nazarenko (996), Fernando Centeno (874), Suraj Jani (857), Carter Hiett (830), and Nikita Mylotskyi (823) who each took home $17.

Saturday Night Blitz

A USCF rated Blitz tournament was held on Saturday night after play finished in the main tournament hall. Seventeen players competed in the four double rounds, where each player played one game with white and one game with black with a time control of 5 minutes with no delay.

Congratulations to Blitz tournament winner Bryan Amaya who won clear first place and $100 with an impressive score of 7.5 points. Brayan also tied for first place in the Blitz at our Sunshine Open in July. In second place was FM Barrios with 6.5 adding $70 to his winnings for the weekend. Adrian Lara and Ayush Roy tied for 3rd place with 6 points and each won back their $20 entry fee. Three players: Monesh Vigneshwaran (1152), Alyssa Mogg and Landon Meadors (1006) shared the 1st and 2nd U1200 adding up to $23 each.

Tournament Side Events/Comments

The Sunday morning chess lecture was given by Chess Expert Andrew Rae (2000). Andrew was also competing in the Master/Expert Section who finished with a respectable 2.5 points and only lost one game to FM Jorge Oquendo on Friday night. Thank you, Andrew, for sharing your knowledge and for giving an entertaining lecture to a small but delighted crowd. The Central Florida Chess club would also like to thank all the players who participated in the Autumn Open.

Thanks also goes out to CFCC Club president Larry Storch and VP Kevin Sibbitt who organized the event, as well as, Charles Hatherill (National TD) who served as FIDE arbiter and tournament director, Alex Dshalalow, who served as floor TD of the main tournament and the Blitz, and Steven Vigil (Senior TD), who served as chief tournament director for the event. 

Thank you also to Zoe and Peter of Orlando Chess & Games who ran the chess store throughout the weekend featuring a nice selection of books, sets and chess merchandise.

The CFCC’s next 3-day event, the CFCC 2025 Winter Open and Scholastic, will be held at the same venue, January 17-19, 2025. We look forward to seeing you there!

-Steven Vigil

CFCC Senior Tournament Director

2024 Autumn Open Slideshow Gallery
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USCF 2024 Annual Awards Ceremony: CFCC Accepting "Chess City of the Year" Award!

USCF’s 2024 “Chess City of the Year” was awarded to Orlando, Florida with CFCC President Larry Storch accepting the award at the 124th Annual U. S. Open Chess Championship from July 27 - August 4, 2024 in Norfolk, Virginia!

 

USCF President Kevin Pryor (L) & CFCC president Larry Storch (R)

USCF Communications Director Dan Lucas (L) & CFCC President Larry Storch (R)

CFCC President Larry Storch

USCF’s 2024 “Chess City of the Year”

USCF’s 2024 Chess City of the Year is Orlando, Florida!

The novelist T.M. Cicinski wrote, “No place which has ever once been perfect is worth the gamble of revisiting.” US Chess disagrees with this sentiment when applied to Orlando’s perfection as over the last 20 years, we have placed 25 national championships in the City Beautiful, including three of our U.S. Opens where we also hold our annual governance meetings. 

Just in this past fiscal year, 29 rated events have been contested in Orlando, including our 2023 National K-12 Grade Championships that had an incredible 2,449 players plus their families, friends, and coaches. 

Local business support for chess has been heartening. Rosen Hotels & Resorts has fully supported our efforts, including when the 2019 U.S. Open was canceled in St. Louis due to a hotel closure and on short notice, they made a space available for us. Rosen Shingle Creek hosted the Pan American Youth Championships that just completed two weeks ago and had almost 300 young players from across North and South America. Visit Orlando worked with us to allow those participants to experience the wonders of the city simply by showing their event badge, including discounted tickets to the major theme parks. 

We have one official US Chess Affiliate in Orlando: The Central Florida Chess Club (CFCC). Established in 1987 as a non-profit chess club, the CFCC has organized and hosted over 400 US Chess rated tournaments and continues to organize and host rated weekend tournaments in support of competitive chess players of all ages and skill levels in the Central Florida area. There are at least six other clubs in the central Florida area that aren’t official affiliates but that support chess.

This relationship between Orlando and US Chess will continue well into the future. SuperNationals VIII will be May 9-11, 2025 at the Orange County Convention Center. We are expecting over 7,000 players plus family, friends, and coaches for the largest chess tournament under one roof in history. The National K-12 Grade Championships will be in Orlando seven times between 2026 and 2033—three times at Rosen Shingle Creek and four times at the Hyatt Regency Orlando.

For all of these reasons, US Chess is pleased to name Orlando, Florida as the 2024 US Chess City of the Year.

Dan Lucas
USCF Communications Director

 

CFCC 2024 Sunshine Open Concludes With NM Nick Moore Winning Clear 1st Place!

CFCC 2024 Sunshine Open Concludes With NM Nick Moore Winning Clear 1st Place!

With a final score of 4.5/5 points, CFCC wishes to congratulate Orlando’s own NM Nick Moore (2292) for winning clear 1st place and champion of our 2024 Sunshine Open tournament this past weekend at the Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista Resort!

The 2024 Sunshine Open Chess Tournament took place from June 14-16. The event was held at the Holiday Inn Resort in Lake Buena Vista. A field of 195 players competed

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

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

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!

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

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!

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.