Welcome to This Week at the Charlotte Chess Center, which will recap all the tournaments hosted by the CCC from April 14 to April 20, 2024!
This week's post will highlight our weekly events at both the North and South locations, not including the ongoing ALTO Tournament which is currently in progress at the Hilton Garden Inn (SouthPark). That event will be recapped in a separate standalone piece which will be posted soon.
To find a specific event, navigate using the headings below.
Sunday Afternoon Classical (CCC North)
Our Sunday Afternoon Classical tournament is a weekly event held at the CCC North location. Charlotte Chess Center members are paired into one round of g60+10 USCF-rated chess every Sunday. The following players won their games this past week:
Top: Aaron Wilson, Jared Crawford, Alex Kaelin, Frank Johnson, and Grant Jones
U1300: Imhotep Collins, Akhil Dhinakar, Major Collins, Druv Balamurugan, Alex Sedlock, and Shrinika Musuluri
The top adult and junior player in each section of SAC, across all rounds of the month, will receive a $25 gift certificate from USCF sales. The current leaders in the Top section are Aaron Wilson and Jared Crawford, while three players (Imhotep Collins, Akhil Dhinakar, and Major Collins) are on a perfect 2/2 in the U1300 section.
For full results, see the current SAC standings.
Our next Sunday Afternoon Classical will be held this weekend at the CCC North location on April 21.
Sunday Action Quads (CCC Main/South)
Every Sunday evening, the CCC Main/South location hosts our Sunday Action Quads tournament, open to all players in grades K-12. Participants are placed into quads of four and compete in three rounds of g20+10 USCF-rated chess. We had 25 players this week across 6 quads.
Our quad winners this week were:
Quad A: three-way tie between Ranveer Sachdeva, Alexander Arkhipov, and Jack Cassidy (2 points)
Quad B: Arin Samanta and Reyansh Mayank (2 points)
Quad C: Yisen Dong (2 points)
Quad D: Riaan Patel and Anvay Mishra (2 points)
Quad E: Kishor Saravanan (2.5 points)
Quad F (five players): Gauri Sinkar (3 points)
Congratulations to all quad winners! Remember that all perfect scorers in our scholastic quad events in grades K-8 are qualified for the NEW Tournament of Champions event, scheduled for May 4, 2024. Detailed results from April 14 can be viewed here.
The next Sunday Action Quads will take place at the CCC Main/South location this weekend on April 21.
Monday Action Quads (CCC North)
Our Monday Action Quads event takes place every Monday evening at the North location. All K-12 scholastic players are welcome to participate in the three round USCF-rated tournament. This week's event attracted a total of 23 players across five quads.
Congratulations to the following players who finished in first place:
Quad A: Akhil Dhinakar (2.5 points)
Quad B: Isaac Kidd and Harshal Dadi (2 points)
Quad C: Shrinika Musuluri (3 points)
Quad D: Soren Nelson (3 points)
Quad E: John Stokes (3 points)
All 3-0 scorers in grades K-8 are qualified for our Tournament of Champions event.
For full results and rating changes from the April 15 MAQ tournament, click here for the USCF crosstables.
The next Monday Action Quads event is scheduled for April 22.
Tuesday Night Action (CCC Main/South)
Tuesday Night Action is a rated tournament that takes place every Tuesday evening at the CCC's Main/South location. Following a lecture by FM (and Charlotte Chess Center founder) Peter Giannatos, participants get paired into one USCF standard-rated game a week. This tournament is open to players of all ages and strengths!
The following players won their games this past Tuesday:
Top: Patrick McCartney, Alex Kaelin, Vihaan Purohit, Namish Kondabathini, Musa Naushad, and Naitik Rathi
U1600: Arsh Sharda, Jared Crawford, Frank Johnson, Brent Jenkins, Nandhan Gummi, Shreyas Karki, Trishona Kumar, and Mike Day
U1300: Anthony Gentile, Akshith Chintalacheruvu, Nilai Gummi, Henry Yoo, Advik Mani, Anirudh Mani, Reyansh Mayank, Andrew Quintero, and Neal Woodruff
There are three players tied for first in the Top section with two points: Patrick McCartney, Alex Kaelin, and Vihaan Purohit. Arsh Sharda and Jared Crawford are tied atop the U1600 this month with 2.5/3, while Anthony Gentile is the only player in the entire event with a perfect 3/3 across all rounds this month.
TNA is rated at the end of the month, with a $25 USCF sales gift card awarded to the top scoring adult and junior player in each section. Current TNA standings can be viewed here.
Our next Tuesday Night Action will be held at the Main/South location April 23.
Wednesday Action Quads (CCC Main/South)
On April 13, the CCC hosted our weekly Wednesday Action Quads event at the Main/South location. WAQ is a quads tournament open to players of all ages and strengths, with three rounds of g20+10 USCF-rated chess. We had a total of 41 players this week across ten quads, including a five player Quad J.
The following players finished in first place this week:
Quad A: Karthikeya Malireddy (2.5 points)
Quad B: Luke Zimmer (2 points)
Quad C: Andrew Khariouk (2.5 points)
Quad D: Kyle Cameron (3 points)
Quad E: Micah MacLean (2 points)
Quad F: Pranav Arun and Neil Harit (2 points)
Quad G: Benjamin Gamayunov and Rishaank Channad (2 points)
Quad H: Shanmukhi Malireddy (3 points)
Quad I: Kody Crouch and Daniel Freeman (2 points)
Quad J (five players): Druv Balamurugan (3 points)
Kyle Cameron rocketed up to a new peak rating of 1730 with his 3/3 score. Shanmukhi Malireddy also achieved a new peak rating, while Rishaank Channad broke 1400 USCF for the first time. Congratulations to all quad winners!
Detailed results from the April 17 Wednesday Action Quads can be viewed here.
Our next Wednesday Action Quads tournament is scheduled for April 24.
Friday Action Quads (CCC Main/South)
Our weekly Friday Action Quads event is a scholastic tournament with three rounds of g20+10 USCF-rated chess. It takes place at the CCC Main/South location every Friday evening. This week's FAQ hosted a total of 20 players, grouped into 5 quads.
The following players finished in first place:
Quad A: Grant Jones (2.5 points)
Quad B: Mekhai Collins, Moses Collins, and Claire Xu (2 points)
Quad C: Temir Alimov (3 points)
Quad D: Vishaanth Aravindhan, Emma Sun, and Major Collins (2 points)
Quad E: Zahar Shuvalov (3 points)
There were several very impressive performances in FAQ this week! Grant Jones broke 1400 USCF for the first time, while Mekhai Collins crossed the 1300 barrier. Other big gainers included Temir Alimov and Zahar Shuvalov in Quads C and E, each tacking on at least 50 points of USCF rating.
Don't forget that all players in grades k-8 who score 3/3 at FAQ are qualified for the Tournament of Champions, scheduled for May 4, 2024!
Detailed results of the April 19 FAQ tournament can be viewed here. The next Friday Action Quads will be held on April 26.
Rated Scholastic (CCC Main/South)
On April 20, the Charlotte Chess Center hosted our monthly Rated Scholastic tournament at the CCC Main/South location. The tournament was open to all players in grades K-8 rated under 1500 and featured four rounds of USCF-rated chess.
Our Rated Scholastic tournaments are qualifier events for the NEW Tournament of Champions scheduled for May 4. The following players each scored 2.5/4 or higher and have earned a spot in the Tournament of Champions:
U1500: Alexander Little, Moses Collins, and William Jindal
U1000: Jayan Medvin, Shrehit Dhiman, Sayooj Nair, Maxwell Mitzner, and Gabriel Williams
U500: Ishaan Babu, Aaryan Nagolu, Sanjay Mani, William Davis, and Krishan Dharmaraj
Full results from our Rated Scholastic event on April 20 can be viewed at this link. Congratulations to the qualifiers, including Jayan Medvin and Ishaan Babu who finished with perfect scores!
For upcoming tournaments, bookmark our Events Schedule. The CCC hosts nearly 8 events a week at our facilities in North and South Charlotte, along with bi-monthly major events such as the CCC Club Championship and the Carolinas Classic.
Not a member of the CCC? Join over 1000 members today!
NM Dennis Norman
Chess Coach - Club Journalist