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2nd Annual Independence Day Open
GM Vojtech Plat (left) is deep in thought against IM Tianqi Wang (right) in the 5th round of the Independence Day Open.

2nd Annual Independence Day Open

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The 2nd Annual Independence Day Open was held from July 5-7, 2024, at the Hotel Marriott in Dulles, VA. There were 3 sections: Open, U1900, and U1500. There was also a Scholastic side event, which I will cover in a separate blog. Additionally, the broadcast for all the livestreamed games can be found here.

Both GM Vojtech Plat and GM Gabor Nagy were playing in this event, following the Independence Day GM Norm Invitational, as well as IM Tianqi Wang, IM Oladapo Adu and several other strong titled players. 

GM Plat and GM Nagy ended up being co-winners of the Open section. Going into the final round, Plat had 3.5/4, while his closest rival, IM Wang, was on 4/4. Plat was able to defeat Wang to score 4.5/5 points: 

GM Nagy also faced a close scare after reaching a losing position against Owen Levine, but went on to win in complications: 

Notably, NM Vaibhav Kalpaka was able to tie for 2nd place with 4/5 after a heartwrenching draw from a winning position against Yohan Ghosh in Round 3. Here is his final round game against Pranav Swaminathan: 

In the U1900 section, WCM Chloe Wang was able to get clear first place after finishing on 4.5/5! Here is her 4th round game where she won against Franco Alejandrino: 

Furthermore, Iqraa Manuel ending up winning the U1500 section with a clean 5/5 sweep. Here is his final round game against Wesley Thaler: 

From left to right: IM Tianqi Wang, GM Vojtech Plat, GM Gabor Nagy, and our Chief TD IA Greg Vaserstein.

A full list of the final standings can be found here for the Premier section, and here for the U1900/U1500 sections. We want to extend a big thanks to all the players for playing! See you at the next tournament!