Horobetz Tops Charlotte Summer Open: Full Recap!
Last weekend, the Charlotte Chess Center's annual Charlotte Summer Open took place at the Southpark Hilton Garden Inn, welcoming over 150 players across four sections! The tournament featured five games of USCF standard-rated chess, with the top two sections also FIDE-rated, as well as a $500 blitz tournament on Saturday evening.
This recap will highlight the top finishers and most notable performances in each section, with select games included and annotated below. Importantly, since games were not broadcasted via DGT during this event, all games included here were provided by players involved. So, before getting into the section-by-section recap of this year's Charlotte Summer Open, a big thank you to all those who sent in a game!
Championship
With a 4.5/5 score in the top section, NM Graham Horobetz finished as the clear winner of this year's Charlotte Summer Open!
Hailing from Tennessee, Horobetz has often made the trip to Charlotte to play in CCC events, including our IM/GM Norm Invitational tournaments and the Charlotte Spring Open. He shared his third game against GM Alonso Zapata, who won all his other games and ended up tying for second with 4/5.
Horobetz drew NM Theodore Slade in the fourth round before taking down NM Zubin Baliga to clinch clear first with 4.5/5. The performance earned him the tournament's top prize of $1,000, while Zapata and Slade tied with FM Vishnu Vanapalli and expert Aaron Wang (perhaps soon to be titled himself!) with 4/5, splitting the second place prize and taking home $325 each.
Under 2000
One of the CCC's most talented junior players, Matthew Khariouk, scored 4.5/5 to top the U2000 section! Khariouk has been a consistent presence at the Charlotte Chess Center for three years now, playing in countless Wednesday Action Quads as well as many of our other major events. Khariouk's performance earned him the top section prize of $600 and also vaulted his rating up to a new peak of 1940.
Also finishing in the money were Jason Marshal, Celine Chen, and Harshil Jagga, each scoring 4/5 and earning $266.67 apiece. The latter sent in his game against Anvay Phadke, in which he created a powerful bind over the light squares in the center, later breaking through with tactics:
Under 1700
The U1700 was our only section without a clear winner, as Matias Zapata Sanchez and Jayanth Saravanakumar drew each other and won all their other games, splitting the top prize for $500 each. Both players gained over 100 points of USCF rating for their fantastic performances, each reaching new peaks in the process!
Just behind the two co-champions were three CCC students! Diya Balamurugan, Siddhant Gutgutia, and Harith Hmimda all scored 4/5 in the tournament ($66.67 apiece for shared third place), with the latter sending in his game against Atticus Kresge in the fourth round.
Several competitors in the U1700 section who didn't finish atop the standings nonetheless achieved very impressive results. Brian Rhodes gained nearly 100 points with three upsets of higher-rated players, including this win over Eldar Gabidoff:
Not to be outdone, CCC student Shaurya Nannapaneni tacked on 138 points and rocketed past 1500 USCF for the first time, splitting the U1550 prize with Rhodes ($100 each). Here's his fourth round victory over another very talented youngster, Siddharth Basavaraju of Georgia:
Under 1400
With a "Grandmaster draw" in the last round to clinch clear first, Mihir Sharma took home the top prize in the U1400 section, winning $600 for his 4.5/5 score. Sharma, a CCC regular who also participated in several of our summer camps this year, has gained nearly 300 points in the past month and is now rated 1517!
Steven Libonati and Neil Shimer each won $300 for shared second place, while Vihaan Singh, Murali Kongot, and Bryan Powe tied for the U1200 prize and each took home $66.67.
Blitz Tournament!
Alongside the main tournament, the Charlotte Chess Center hosted a blitz side event on Saturday night with a guaranteed $500 prize fund! The tournament was open and free to all Charlotte Summer Open players, but also attracted several notable contestants who didn't play the main event. Those included NMs Dominique Myers and Andrew Wu, as well as Grandmasters (and CCC Head Coaches) Kayden Troff and Daniel Naroditsky.
As he's been known to do at CCC blitz events, Danya posted a perfect score with 6/6, taking down Troff in the last round to clinch the $200 first prize. Troff's 5/6 was good enough for split second ($30) alongside NM Wu, Vihaan Pendse, Arjun Malik, and Steve Alappatt. Also winning prizes were Josh Smith (Top U2000 - $50), Siddharth Basavaraju and Braden Miller (Top U1700 - $25 each), and Sutirth Mellachervu (Top U1400 - $50).
Congratulations to all of our Charlotte Summer Open winners! Full standings from the tournament, complete with USCF rating changes, can be viewed here.
A big thanks to Kelly Centrelli for providing the photographs in this recap, as well as the many tournament directors and players who made this event possible.
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NM Dennis Norman
Chess Coach - Club Journalist
