Maryland Sweet 16
MD Sweet 16
Round 2 in 2023 Maryland Sweet 16 - Power Restored!
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By Chris Y Kim
Round 2 of the 2023 Maryland Sweet 16 has been completed with a very competitive field. We almost had a 7-way tie for first place again with 1.5 points except for a decisive Board 2 game. Jayant Maheshwari defeated Gabriel Joshi in a tight match to take sole first place with 2.0 points. Round 2 also featured a Board 1 matchup between undefeated brothers Devesh and Nitesh Cherukuri that resulted in a draw.
The biggest news of Round 2 was the restoration of power (from a tree downing a powerline feeding UMBC) around 17:34 this afternoon - assuring that the tournament would continue. Power went out in the middle of Round 1 and through Round 2. Round 2 was shortened to G/60; +30 sec increment, as the building would close at sundown if the power were not restored. Sunlight in the playing room ensured that games could be played, but the room was gradually darkening at the completion of the last two matches of Round 2 when power was restored. Without power, standings and pairing sheets could not be printed - had to be handwritten.
Thank you for all the players and parents for enduring the unusual circumstances and conditions. Below are the results from Round 2; Brief Standings; Pairings for Round 3 for those players that had to leave early after Round 2:
Results Round 2 (White listed first)
Board 1: Devesh Cherukuri (1.0) - Nitesh Cherukuri (1.0) 0.5-0.5
Board 2: Gabriel Joshi (1.0) - Javant Maheshwari (1.0) 0-1
Board 3: Anish Mariappan (1.0) - Siddarth Kurup (1.0) 0.5-0.5
Board 4: Sherlock Grigsby II (1.0) - Carissa Zheng (0.5) 0-1
Board 5: Andy Yue (0.0) - Sandeep Thimmasamudram (0.5) 1-0
Board 6: Michael Deng (0.0) - Eliot Wu (0.0) 1-0
Board 7: Angelina Verma (0.0) - Anushka Skariah (0.0) 1-0
Board 8: Alexander Zlodorev (0.0) - Joshua Liu (0.0) 0-1
Brief Standings (tiebreak order)
2.0 - Jayant Maheshwari
1.5 - Nitesh Cherukuri, Anish Mariappan, Siddharth Kurup, Devesh Cherukuri, Carissa Zheng
1.0 - Sherlock Grigsby II, Gabriel Joshi, Angelina Verma, Andy Yue, Michael Deng, Joshua Liu
0.5 - Sandeep Thimmasamudram
0.0 - Alexander Zlodorev, Eliot Wu, Anushka Skariah
Pairings - Round 3 (Sunday 3/5/2023 10:30am) - White listed first
Board 1: Jayant Maheshwari (2.0) - Nitesh Cherukuri (1.5)
Board 2: Carissa Zheng (1.5) - Siddharth Kurup (1.5)
Board 3: Devesh Cherukuri (1.5) - Anish Mariappan (1.5)
Board 4: Angelina Verma (1.5) - Andy Yue (1.0)
Board 5: Joshua Liu (1.0) - Gabriel Joshi (1.0)
Board 6: Sherlock Grigsby II (1.0) - Michael Deng (1.0)
Board 7: Sandeep Thimmasamudram (0.5) - Alexander Zlodorev (0.0)
Board 8: Eliot Wu (0.0) - Anushka Skariah (0.0)
2020 Maryland Sweet 16 - Benjamin Shoykhet is Champion!
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by Chris Y Kim
Day 2 of the 2020 Maryland Sweet 16 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country (UMBC) exhibited some excitement at the top in addition to extra sunshine courtesy of the Daylight Saving Time change. There were three players undefeated after two rounds, and one player, top-rated Bijan Tahmassebi just 0.5 points behind. In Round 3, co-leaders Benjamin Shoykhet and Shane Jayasundera met with Shoykhet prevailing in a long game. Bijan Tahmassebi and Ryan He also were paired, and despite being the longest game of the round, Tahmassebi could not escape the draw result. This set up a round 4 matchup with between the top ranked players - Shoykhet and He with He needing a win to capture the title. The two players played a relatively quick draw - leaving Shoykhet with the 2020 Maryland Sweet 16 titile. Shoykhet is the recepient of a tuition scholarship to UMBC. He has moved from the St. Louis, Missouri area this past summer.
In tiebreak order, here are the final standings with the USCF ratings:
3.5: Benjamin Shoykhet (2061)
3.0: Ryan He (1941)
2.5: Joseph Tarantin (1917); Bijan Tahmassebi (2176); Andrew Diep (2075); Shane Jayasendera (1983); Chen-Chen Ye (1964); Neel Jay (2087)
2.0: Sean Power (1933)
1.5: Anish Mariappan (1804); Jacob Jones (1906); Gabriel Joshi (1710); Max Mathura (1996)
1.0: Tad Mrozek (1853); Dylan Booth (1890)
0.5: Ariel Joshi (1847)
Results from Day 1 of Maryland Sweet 16
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Day 1 of the 2020 Maryland Sweet 16 has come to a close. There were some upsets in both rounds - notably Ryan He (1941) who has defeated two experts to be one of 3 undefeated players after 2 rounds. He is joined at the top by Shane Jayasundera (1983) and newcomer Benjamin Shoykhet (2061) - previously from Missouri last year.
Tomorrow promises more exciting chess after losing one hour tonight for Daylight Saving Time!
Standings: alphabetical oreder
2.0: Ryan He (1941); Shane Jayasundera (1983); Benjamin Shoykhet (2061).
1.5: Bijan Tahmassebi (2176)
1.0: Andrew Diep (2075); Neel Jay (2087); Jacob Jones (1906); Ted Mrozek (1853); Sean Power (1933); Joseph Tarantin (1917); Chen-Chen Ye (1964)
0.5: Ariel Joshi (1847); Anish Mariappan (1804), Max Mathura (1996)
0.0: Dylan Booth (1890); Gabriel Joshi (1710)
Pairings for Round 3:
1: Shoykhet (2061, 2.0) vs Jayasundera (1983, 2.0)
2: He (1941, 2.0) vs Tahmassebi (2176, 1.5)
3: Jay (2087, 1.0) vs Mrozek (1853, 1.0)
4: Power (1933, 1.0) vs Diep (2075, 1.0)
5: Tarantin (1917, 1.0) vs Ye (1964, 1.0)
6. Jones (1906, 1.0) vs Mathura (1996, 0.5)
7. Joshi A (1847 0.5) vs Mariappan (1804, 0.5)
8. Joshi G (1710, 0.0) vs Booth (1890, 0.0)
MD Sweet 16 Qualification Method
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The players for the MD Sweet 16 are selected using two methods:
- The eight highest rated players based on their published March US Chess ratings.
- The eight players with the highest number of Varsity Points (see below)
2019 Maryland Sweet 16 - Jason Daniels is Champion!
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by Chris Y Kim
Day 2 of the 2019 Maryland Sweet 16 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country (UMBC) exhibited some excitement at the top in addition to the snowy weather. In Round 3, co-leaders Jason Daniels and Bijan Tahmassebi (the top 2 rated players) met on the top board. Daniels prevailed in a tight game with the black pieces. This set up a round 4 matchup with the other co-leader Jeffery Du, who had won his 3rd round match with Ryan He. Both Daniels (White) and Du (Black) fought in a tense match that ended in an agreed draw - leaving both players tied for first at 3.5 points.
An Armagggedon quick game playoff followed with White having 15 mintues (increment 5) and Black having 10 minutes (increment 5). Daniels (leader on tiebreaks) chose to be Black. With an audience of around 20 watching, Du started with an English opening, and 20 minutes later Daniels emerged as the victor and the recepient of a tuition scholarship to UMBC.
In tiebreak order, here are the final standings with the USCF ratings:
3.5: Jason Daniels (2187), Jeffrey Du (2043)
3.0: Bijan Tahmassebi (2107)
2.5: Douglas Malcolm (2014), Chen-Chen Ye (1927)
2.0: Andrew Diep (1964), Ryan He (1937), Bradley Guo (1841), Max Mathura (1834), Ariel Joshi (1686)
1.5: Sean Power (1950), Joseph Tarantin (1874), Anthony Granruth (1778)
1,0: Ritz Ballares (1871), Satvik Lolla (1888)
0.5: Emerson Holcomb (1746)