Results of the 2023 Big Island Open Tournament
Thirty-two chess players convened at the Ainaloa Community Center near Pahoa on Saturday, February 25th. They all had the opportunity to play four slower chess games (Game in 30 with a 10-second increment) and eight fast chess games (Game in 5 with a 3-second increment). The full tournament results are online at SwissSys.com.
In the USCF rated section, tournament organizer Joel Hernandez emerged as the sole player with a perfect 4-0 score, winning the big first-place trophy and the $120 first prize. According the the official USCF rating report, he is Hawaii's newest "Candidate Master" with a provisional rating of 2031. His excellent result will put him in the top 5 on the list of active Hawaii tournament players, bumping tournament director Damian Nash off the list. Tied for second and third place at 3.5-0.5 were Howard Bromberg, a law professor from the University of Michigan rated 2100, and musician Andre Gorostiaga from Maui who held Bromberg to a draw in an exciting game. Blayze Davis won the prize for the top unrated player, tied at 3-1 with Maui's Franklin Bromberg.
Professor Howard Bromberg makes a move against Andre Gorostiage.
In the Unrated section, Adam Kessler was the clear winner at 4-0. Maka Hall and Aaron Lanuza tied for second at 3-1, while Ezekiel Raczkowski, Adrian Chen, Adam Rogers and Ines Hall all tied for 4th at 2-2. In the Blitz tournament Professor Bromberg dominated the field, yielding only a half a point to second-ranked Nash and winning his other seven games. Franklin Bromberg finished second, losing two games to his dad and winning the other six. Erik Cohen won the unrated prize with 5 points.
Adam Kessler- Big Island Tournament 2023 Reserve Champion
Joel Hernandez - Big Island Open Tournament 2023 Champion receives the trophy from TD Damian Nash
Professor Howard Bromberg - Big Island Tournament 2023 Blitz Champion
Here are Joel's crucial final match wins over Franklin Bromberg in Round 4.
Joel Hernandez (Unrated) vs Franklin Bromberg (1383)
1-0 { Big Island Open Tournament 2023 / 25 February 2023 / Round 4 / Benoni Defense
