Nine Still Perfect at US Masters!
Through three rounds at the annual US Masters tournament in Charlotte, only nine perfect scorers remain. Thanksgiving Thursday saw quite a few upsets, as even top-seeded GM Awonder Liang ceded a draw, and several other pre-tournament favorites either drew or lost outright!
The US Masters is an annual nine-round event hosted by the Charlotte Chess Center over Thanksgiving weekend. It occupies a secure spot as the strongest open tournament in the United States, although it’s only “open” to titled-strength players, with details about eligibility criteria viewable here.
The tournament is part of the FIDE circuit, and a total of 38 (!) Grandmasters are participating in this year’s edition, but only seven of them (along with two IMs) are on 3/3 heading into Friday. That includes pre-tournament favorites such as GMs Jeffery Xiong, Andrew Hong, and Illya Nyzhnyk.
A former US Open champion, as well as one of the highest-rated Ukranian chess players, Nyzhnyk faced his biggest test so far in round three. Against IM Samrug Narayanan, the position was drawn for many moves, until a little slip in the endgame paved the way for white’s victory.
Also still unscathed are GMs David Brodsky, Razvan Preotu, Sergey Erenburg, and Koustav Chatterjee, each defeating an IM or GM opponent in round three. Preotu actually risked a worse position just to avoid repeating against IM Mohammad Fahad Rahman, but was able to create serious attacking chances against his opponent’s centralized king soon thereafter.
GM Awonder Liang entered the tournament as the highest-rated player, and is still very much in contention to win, but no longer boasts a perfect score after drawing FM Bryan Lin. GM Francesco Sonis drew both of his games on Thursday, while GM Ivan Schitco fell to IM Almas Rakhmatullaev:
Rakhmatullaev and IM Erick Zhao are the only two non-GMs on a perfect 3/3, but 35 players have 2.5 points, with another 44 on 2/3. Standings from the tournament will be updated at this link throughout the event.
Live games from the US Masters can be viewed right here on chess.com. While the Masters event progresses to rounds four and five today, the annual NC Open is also starting, set to run alongside the US Masters from Friday to Sunday. Many Charlotte Chess Center regulars are registered to play, and side events will include commentary and friendly games with GM Yasser Seirawan!
We hope all members of the Charlotte Chess Center community had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thanks once again to Kelly Centrelli for providing the photographs in this recap, as well as to all our tournament directors! We’ll see you again tomorrow with another update from the 2025 US Masters.
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NM Dennis Norman
Chess Coach - Club Journalist
