A monument of Minnesota chess: the Roger Hale Open.
The Roger Hale Open is perhaps the most significant chess tournament in the history of Minnesota chess. It represents the culmination of the Chess Castle of Minnesota, a club which has developed some of the finest talents in the country, from Andrew Tang to Alice Lee. Spanning back to the days of Bobby Fischer and his match against Boris Spassky, this club has a rich history of chess, community, and has shaped the Minnesota chess culture like no other.
In 2025, the 2nd Roger Hale Open was held at the Castle, and the ensuing chaos on and off the board left no doubt; this is an icon of Minnesota chess.
Table of contents:
- Who is Roger Hale?
- Rounds 1-3: chaos and confusion.
- Rounds 4-5: may the best man win.
- Personal Impact on me and a path forward.
Who is Roger Hale?
In 1979, the Chess Castle of Minnesota was founded. Benefitting from the chess boom that resulted after the 1972 World Championship, it attracted many strong players from the Midwest who would come to play, as well as helped grow chess locally in Minnesota.
But in 2006, the Chess Castle had fallen on hard times financially. There wasn't enough profit to keep the Castle afloat, and it looked like all would be over.
Enter Mr. Roger Hale, a businessman and entrepreneur with a passion for chess. Hale only started playing chess in his 70s (!), but he loved the game and reached a peak rating of 1546 in 2015! Roger Hale became a sponsor and donor to the Chess Castle, giving generously to keep the Castle running, and it is no exaggeration to say that without him, the Castle would not be around today.
In 2024, a special tournament was created at the Chess Castle to honor Hale's legacy of generosity, and the 1st Roger Hale Open drew almost 140 participants in August of 2024. In 2025, the tournament continued for its second run, featuring an U800 "Future" section, an U1600 "Roger" section (courtesy to Roger Hale, who would play in this section), and an Open "Voje" section, named after TD and National Expert Dan Voje, who ran events at the Chess Castle for decades. Grandmaster Robby Kevlishvili also participated, and featured a simultaneous exhibition the day before, during which he lost only one game against local player Nathan Dohman.
I played this tournament last year, and scored 2/5. My highlight was drawing my first National Master in classical, an amazing step in my journey towards the NM title. This year, I have more experience, a tricky opening, and a whole lot of confidence.
Rounds 1-3: chaos and confusion.
The Chess Castle has eight DGT boards, so the top 16 players of each round got to have their games broadcasted live on YouTube and the Chess Castle's official website. Because of this, I will be recapping the entire Voje tournament and sharing games from the top eight boards, as well as showcasing my best games.
The time control for this tournament is G75+30s, midway in between the more common controls of 60+30 and 90+30. Plenty of time to think, while still being able to play 3 rounds a day. As with most Minnesota tournaments, there are 3 games on Saturday, and 2 on Sunday.
Round 1: Because of the large number of high-rated players who joined, in Round 1 I played a National Master by the name of David. I played him last year in blitz, and we went 1-1, but classical is a whole other story. I played David on board 4, so our game was broadcasted live with commentary.
Although that game wasn't my best, the other games left nothing to be desired. Local player Eddie played a solid game against GM Robby but was pushed off the clock and ultimately fell. Robby Kevlishvili finished the game with more time than he started with.
After the games had finished the players were left with an hour or so until the second round. I spent that time playing blitz and bughouse with some friends. When it was time for the second game, I was ready to go.
Round 2: In my second game I played a gentleman who has inspired me since our first game, Andres. We played out an Exchange Caro-Kann that turned into a Scandinavian, and I drew the game by holding a knight vs rook endgame. It was a very hard struggle, but I got my first points and moved on to the next round.
The top boards had all the excitement. On board 3, NM David (my opponent from Round1) drew blood from a stone against 2102-rated Luke from Nebraska.
And on board 6, a young player named Varin missed out on a chance to beat 2204-rated NM Josiah.
Round 3: The third round started at 7:00 PM local time, so it was a late night of drama and chess. Through the most unfortunate pairing possible, I was paired against my brother, @ChessicalMoves, and we played a game that I got the better of. 1.5/3 for me, let's check out the top boards once again!
For the third time in a row, NM David makes an appearance. This time though, he has the black pieces against GM Robby Kevlishvili, can he triumph where no one has done before?
And on board 5, NM Josiah fought valiantly against Michael (the same Michael that I played in my State Championship run) but fell victim to another brilliant attack.
After a full day of chess and 3 rounds, only GM Robby had 3/3 points. But there was a pack of players chasing him from just behind, and the chaos is not over yet.
Rounds 4-5: may the best man win.
It was a bright and sunny morning, a perfect day to spend in a chess club grinding out wins, sacrificing brilliantly, and perhaps a blunder here and there. I went to church, and then returned to the Chess Castle, ready to play a good game and win.
Round 4: My opponent in Round 4 was none other than the man the section was named after, Dan Voje. I have played Dan three times before: losing twice and winning once. Here, I was fully confident that I could win, and I sat down and played my Tiger Modern.
A good win. On board 1 GM Robby won a maneuvering game against NM Okey to make it 4/4. On board 2 Michael beat NM Dexter to achieve the score of 3.5/4, half a point behind Robby, and board 3 featured a win from 2103-rated Dane to also make it 3.5/4. Commentary was provided live on the Chess Castle's YouTube channel featuring US Expert Chris Zweber and International Master Nubairshah Shaikh.
Round 5: After recovering from my shaky start in the first two rounds, I forced my way back up to 2.5/4 and was once again on the top boards. I played NM Dexter, a strong player currently at his floor of 2200. In US Chess, your floor is the minimum rating you can ever get, and it's typically 200 points lower than your peak rating (in multiples of 100)/ For example, my peak rating is 1985 and my floor is 1700. Dexter's floor is 2200, but that means at some point he was 2400.
That wasn't great. To say the least. I finished with 2.5/5, lost to the two NMs I played, drew and won twice against 1900s, and I felt disappointed. Like there was more in me, like I could and should have done better. I think I'm done with being 1900, it's time to be 2000. I want to be, excuse me, I will be a National Expert (have a rating of 2000), very soon. It's time.
Enough about me. Let's go on to the final games, the first being Dane against GM Robby Kevlishvili. Perhaps a spoiler is in order, the result is not what you think it is?
What a result from Dane! This puts Michael in striking distance, however. If Michael can win against NM Jordan, he'll tie Robby for first with 4.5/5. Can he do the impossible?
What a crazy game! Although the impossible wasn't... possible, this was still a great event for both Michael and Jordan.
Your winner of the Roger Hale Chess Festival 2025 is GM Robby Kevlishvili!
Yusef Khan tied for first with Yohan Myburgh in the U1600 "Roger section", both had 4.5/5. Vinay Karthik and Amogh Lohe both scored 4.5/5 points in the U800 "Future" section for first as well.
Personal Impact on me and a path forward.
This event overall was a success for me. I beat (with one draw) the people my level, and only lost to the NMs 200 points above me. But as I said earlier, I felt disappointed. I was rated 1985 at the beginning of the Roger Hale, and I gained 6 rating points at the end, to take me to 1991, but not to 2000. I'm almost there, but one thing is lacking.
After my Round 5 game, I talked to Andres a bit and he had some thoughts to share. He pinpointed the root cause of my holdbacks as being the opening I chose with Black, namely, my Tiger Modern. I love playing the Tiger, but it runs me into trouble from the beginning, and is holding my back. Andres made a bold prediction, that if I give up "that crappy opening", I will be a Master within a year. That is his prediction, and I'm going to fulfill it. That is now my goal, to be a Master within a year, and I will sacrifice my Tiger Modern for it. What opening I will choose to replace it, I don't yet know. But the road is now clear.
My next tournament is the two year anniversary of my classical career. In 2023, I played the Northern Open, won 5/5 in the U1000 section, and got my first rating of 1757. Two years later, I will play the 2025 Nothern Open and become an Expert.
Thank you for reading, and have a blessed day!
Huge thanks to Tournament Director Jiten Patel for his website featuring the event and links to the DGT board games. Check his website out (mnchess.org) for chess news throughout the Midwest.
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