Spring Open Attracts Record Attendance
By Salman Azhar   
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Alekhya Nandulla gained over sixty rating points in the Under 1900 section.
The Bay Area Spring Open attracted a record of 92 players. The prize fund was based on 55 paid entries but was increased to $3,300 to recognize the increase in the paid entries. The registration closed a few days before the tournament as the playing site had reached its capacity. Two chess parents, Azleena Azhar and Carl Moy, bought 23 additional chairs and 5 additional tables and Chief Organizer Salman Azhar and National TD Tom Langland optimized the space utilization to accommodate the record crowd.

FM Ryan Porter dominated from beginning to the end to win the Open section and $400 cash. Three middle school kids, Hunter Klotz-Burwell, Neel Apte, and Kesav Viswanadha, tied for second place and earned about $200 each. Bay Area juniors demonstrated their strength by finishing in 2nd-11th place in the standings. Allan Beilin, Colin Chow, Art Zhao, Udit Iyengar, Kevin Moy, Hovik Manvelyan, Arvind Sankar, Vikram Ganesh, and George Mandrusov also earned cash prizes. Kennedy Middle School and Weibel Elementary School had multiple players in the section.

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Chris Xiong
Charles Won won the 1500-1899 section with 4.5 points and earned $350. Chris Xiong came in second with 4 points to qualify for the $230 prize. Alvin Kong, Michael Kenny, Michael Ho, Alekhya Nandula, and Rahul Srinivas also earned cash prizes.

Dharim Bacus won the under 1500 section with 5 points in 5 games. He earned the maximum prize for unrateds and the rest was distributed. Saleem Karamali won all three games he played to earn 148 rating points and $223. Lee Cooper tied for second place and won $223 as well. Valentin Mestman, Balaji Daggupati, Vishal Narayan, and Arul Viswanathan also won cash prizes.

You can find standings at BayAreaChess.com/events/12/316ls.php and USCF ratings at MSA. We hope to see you at Best of the West Class Championship is scheduled at Santa Clara Marriott on Memorial Day weekend with a $17,000 projected prize fund.