Tournament Report: Evangel October Open 2021

Contributor: Michael Porcelli

Edited – October 20, 2021

     This past Saturday, October 16th, was the Evangel October Open. Held at the Evangel Church in Montgomery and hosted by Doug Strout, 30 players met to compete. The format was 4 games of G45+10, in 3 sections. The event had players from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.

      The Open Section had 6 players, including our new state champion Chibuzo Ilonze. In Round 1 Kristian Jordan held Ilonze to a draw with the black pieces to start off a day of hard-fought chess. After the first 2 rounds, I was the only player on 2 points and faced Ilonze on Board 1 in Round 3. In a sharp and messy position, I had full compensation for an exchange, but could not manage the complications and resigned with us each having about 2 minutes on the clock. In the end, Ilonze was first with 3.5/4, I was second with 2.5/4, and third was a tie with both Samuel Baskrraj and Saikarunya Kesireddy having 2/4. Samuel and Saikarunya both played up a section to be in the Open and split the U2000 prize. Strangely 5 of the 6 players lost 2-5 rating points and all the gains went to Kristian Jordan picking up 22. He scored 1.5/4 with 3 draws, drawing Ilonze, myself, and Kesireddy.

      The U1800 and U1200 sections both took place in a separate building from the Open section. In the U1800 there were 8 players and the first round saw the top seed (Jayashree Sekar) losing to Alisher Khasanov. Sekar bounced back and finished in a tie for first with 3 points. Alisher continued his good form after his round 1 upset and finished with 2 wins and 2 draws to tie with Sekar for first and gain 130 rating points! Winston Wu scored 2.5/4 to finish in clear third. Special shout out to Cory Butzon, scoring 2/4 in his first tournament.

      The U1200 section was by far the largest, with 16 players. This included 8 players in their first tournament! Claiborne Davis had the only perfect score of the day, with a commanding 4/4. Paul Laymon took second with 3.5/4, having taken a second-round bye, which means he won all three games that he played. I expect that when and if Davis and Laymon meet in a future tournament it will be a clash at the top of their section. There was a three-way tie for third with 3 points. Shane Peters, Jon Tessier, and Moranu Adedoyin all had great days, each suffering only a single loss. Peters and Tessier were each playing in their first tournament. Adedoyin only lost to Davis in the last round, and ended up taking home 321 rating points!

     A special thanks to all of those players who were in their first tournament. In the U1800 section that was Cory Butzon and Jacob Miller. In the U1200 section, there was Shane Peters, Jon Tessier, Chase Martin, Trevor Stewart, Jaiden Trawick, Ulugbek Khasanov, Destry Gilmore, and Timothy Taylor.

For the official final standings click here: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202110162132.0-17241595

—

Photo Creds: Doug Strout – Evangel Chess Club

—–

Highlights