Charlotte Chess Center Standard, Rapid, and Blitz Championships: Full Recap!

Over Memorial Day weekend, the Charlotte Chess Center hosted its official Club Championship at the CCC's Main/South location. The event consisted of a standard tournament (g80+10) held on Saturday and Sunday, as well as a rapid and blitz tournament on Monday. Many of CCC's strongest and most beloved players participated!

Classical Championship

A total of 63 players participated in the standard-rated tournament on Saturday and Sunday, hailing from six states and with ratings ranging from 1000 to 2400+. The tournament was split into two groups, with an open "championship" section and a U1750 section. Both sections were dual-rated: USCF and FIDE.

The big winner in the championship section was NM James Chirilov, one of North Carolina's strongest young chess talents. Chirilov scored a perfect 5/5, clinching clear first with an upset with over FM Vishnu Vanapalli in the last round.

For his performance, Chirilov took home the $500 first place prize, also gaining 34 points of USCF rating in the process.

Finishing in clear second place was WGM Dina Belenkaya, who executed a "Swiss Gambit" to perfection. After losing her first game against Karthikeya Malireddy, Dina rattled off four straight wins, including a victory over NM Emmanuel Carter in the last round to take second place, as well as the Top Female prize ($350 total). Dina streamed the event on her Twitch channel, with the VOD still available to subscribers.

FM Vanapalli, NM Alexandre Houhou, and Thomas Fang tied for third place with 3.5/5. The latter's rating broke 2200 USCF for the first time in this tournament, making him an NM-elect. Congratulations to Thomas Fang!

Other prizewinners:

Classical U1750

Four players tied for first place in the U1750 with 4/5 each: Trishona Kumar, Matthew Sedlock, Kritarth Mishra, and Ata Erdogan. Three of the four did it with three wins and two draws, with Ata Erdogan the lone player to win four games.

Trishona Kumar finished with the best tiebreaks and took home the first-place plaque. Additionally, Kumar was the highest-scoring female player in the section, so with two prizes combined, she went home with $250. Sedlock, Mishra, and Erdogan each won $150, as well as Pranav Arun, who was the sole winner of the Top U1500 prize.

Also finishing in the money were Charles Cameron (Top Senior - $100) and Noor Alsafadi (Top U1250 - $150).

Rapid Championship

Monday's rapid championship saw a stunning upset, as the odds-on favorite GM Daniel Naroditsky was taken down by NM Emmanuel Carter in the fourth round. Carter then made a draw against NM Alexandre Houhou, and the two NMs finished on 4.5/5, splitting first place. Houhou and Carter each earned $150, with Carter receiving first place honors on tiebreaks.

Behind the two leaders, four players scored 4/5 and won prizes: the aforementioned GM Naroditsky, Kishan Karthigeyan, NM Han Schut, and FM Robby Adamson. Naroditsky and Karthigeyan won $25 each, while Schut and Adamson also split the Top Senior prize and took home $50 apiece.

Other prizes:

• WGM Dina Belenkaya (Top Female - $50)

• William Vea (Top U1800 - $50)

• Pranav Arun and Samanyu Ammasani (Top U1500 - $25 each)

• Reyansh Mayank, Sterling Seymour, and Hanwen Lu (Top U1200 - $16.67 each)

Blitz Championship

GM Naroditsky atoned for his upset loss in the rapid with a dominant performance in the blitz tournament. Only GM Olexandr Bortnyk was able to hold him to a draw, as Danya went 8.5/9 to earn the $300 first prize. Bortnyk in turn went 8/9, ceding draws to Naroditsky and the aforementioned NM Carter, and won $150 for clear second place. Third place went to NM James Chirilov, who scored 7/9 and earned $100.

The remaining prizes went to:

For detailed results of the tournament, view the classical tournament crosstables or the blitz and rapid crosstables on the USCF website.

All photographs credited to Daniel Schipper.

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For upcoming tournaments, bookmark our Events Schedule. The CCC hosts nearly 8 events a week at our facilities in North and South Charlotte, along with bi-monthly major events such as the Carolinas Classic.

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NM Dennis Norman

Chess Coach - Club Journalist