Results of the 2024 Big Island Chess Tournament

Forty-two chess players participated at the Puna Covenant Church Ohana building in Keaau on Saturday, February 24th. Tournament starts to play four rounds of slower chess games (Game in 40min with a 10-sec increment) and six rounds of Blitz chess games ( Game in 5min with a 3 sec. increment. The full tournament results are online at swisssys.com.

In the USCF rated section, Congratulations  to NM Gary Pickler who returned to tournament chess after 35-year absence, winning the Big Island Open 4-0. Tied for second and third place at 3-1, tournament organizer Joel Hernandez, Sean Daniel Kobayashi, Oliver Kangwai and Blayze Davis.

In the Unrated section, Kinohi Betts was the clear victorious at 3-0. Thomas Eimer is second at 2wins-1draw, while Alex Van Brunt is for third at 2wins-1loss. 

In the Scholastic K-12 section, Russell Merrigan, King Alatini, Saji Azure-van Loon and Kaimu Childress-Powell all tied for first place at 3-1, while Evan Faidit, Ne'emia Maiava-Mahoe, Connor Torigoe, Delilah Kahler and Isaiah Herbert all tied for 2nd and 3rd place at 2points.