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by Steven Vigil, CFCC Senior Tournament Director

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.

A small group gathered on Friday night at 7pm for the 3-day schedule. Players competed with a time control of 2hrs. per side + 5 second time delay. Play continued Saturday morning at 11 am with 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 at 2pm. 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. Here is a recap of the winners and prizes awarded in each section.

Master/Expert Section

With only 10 players, the Master/Expert Section was the smallest in the tournament. It was a hard-fought section that featured many close games. Congratulations to FM Corey Acor (2333), the tournament’s overall winner in the Master/Expert Section. Corey scored an impressive 4.5 points winning the first-place prize of $760. Corey’s only draw came in the final round against the tournaments’ second highest rated player, FM Andrew Boekhoff (2307). Andrew and Vincent Stone (2085) both finished with 3.5 points and shared the 2nd/U2200 prize and received $332.50 each. With 3 points, Vikram Rajmohan (2033) and Jason Shen (1964) shared 3rd place honors and received $133 each.

Class A Section

Congratulations to Sam Sokhanvari (1916) for winning the Class A Section (U2000) and the $532 prize. After drawing his first-round game, Sam went on to win his next four games and finish with a score of 4.5 points. Christopher Fashek (1791) and Aaron Bias (unr.) tied for 2nd place with 3.5 points, winning $209 and $100 respectively. With 3 points, Paul Leggett (1706), Akshat Suresh (1853), and Anthony Coleman (1800) shared the best U1900 prize and each received $38.

Class B Section

In the Class B Section (U1800) Brooks Chandler (1575) won clear first place with a score of 4.5 points netting him the $532 prize. With 2 draws, Jack Rhoton had a nice undefeated performance and finished with 4 points. This put him in a tie for 2nd/3rd place with Jolie Huang (1665), who only lost to Brooks in round 2. Each player received $199.50. Brian Bird (1628) took the best U1700 prize with his score of 3.5 points.

Class C Section

Meanwhile in the Class C Section (U1600) Amit Prasad (1447) and Darvin Alejandro Lopez (1468) shared first place with 4.5 points. Although the players never faced off, they each received their $380 cut of the 1st/2nd place prizes. There was a 3 way tie for 3rd place/U1500. Rithwik Hedge (1432), Logan Mazurek (1461) and Christian Harrs ( 1474) each finished with 3.5 points and won $88.67 each.

Class D Section

With 32 players, the Class D Section (U1400) was one of the largest sections in the tournament. Congratulations to Armando Ayes (1310) who finished with a score of 4.5 points to win the $494 first place prize. A group of four players finished with 4 points to win 2nd/3rd and $118.75 each. They are Prajit Manivannan (1313), William Lacey (895), Robin Chastain (unr.) and Thomas Slaten (1225). Kevin Acevado won the best U1100 prize of $38 with his score of 3.5 points.

Scholastic U1200 Section

The U1200/Scholastic Section featured 33 players, who all competed on the 2-day Schedule. Congratulations to Damian Alexander (1108) who won the $342 first place prize with a score of 4.5 points. Moitri Santra (1048) , Kas Baumstark (1012), Tiana Semenov (1052), and Alex Rodriguez (1126) all finished with score of 4 points winning them $42.75 each for 2nd/3rd place. Also with 4 points, Arham Shah (879) took home $57 for best U1000. With 3 points; Isabelle Matthew (669), Cody Li (793), Caleb Rodrigues (786) and Anastasia Veretennikova (547) all had solid performances and shared the best U800 prize of $38.

Saturday Night Blitz Tournament

A blitz tournament was held on Saturday night at 9:30pm. A group of 20 players competed in the four double-round event where each player plays one game with white and one game with black. Congratulations to Blitz tournament winner, Vincent Stone, who coasted to first place with and impressive 7.5/8,. This netted him the $125 first place cash prize for winning the side event. With 6.5 points, Phillip Durand (2047) won 2nd place and $65. Carlos Hoyos a (2101) and Jack Rhoton tied for 3rd place with 5.5 and each won $15. With 5 points, Tiago Ribeiro (1244) and Kiani Walker (1378) shared the U1400 prize and took home $50 each

Lecture & Weekend Chess Store

An audience of over 40 people gathered at 9am on Sunday morning to catch the master lecture given by FM Alexander Zelner. Alex gave an entertaining and insightful lecture on the Classic Paulsen vs. Morphy game from the 1857 American Chess Congress. The lesson offered something for chess players at every level. Alex and Dr. Catherine Zelner also ran the chess shop throughout the weekend. They had an impressive collection of book as well as a variety of chess equipment for sale.

The Central Florida Chess club would like to thank all who participated in the 2022 Summer Open to help make it a successful event. This tournament went smoothly. Prizes were all paid out by Sunday evening ,and the tournament was rated quickly. Charles Hatherhill (ANTD) and Steven Vigil (STD) served as tournament directors for this event.

The CFCC’s next weekend tournament event, the Autumn Open & Scholastic, will be at the same venue on September 16-18, 2022. We look forward to seeing you there!

2022 Sunshine Open Slideshow Gallery

All tournament photos have been uploaded.