GM Magesh Panchanathan
GM Magesh Panchanathan, a New Jersey resident, and GM Sergei Azarov, of Belarus, with 5-1 scores, edged out last year’s defending state champions GM Joel Benjamin and GM Alex Stripunsky, who, a half-point back, shared third place honors with fellow GMs Mackenzie Molner, Arun Subramanian, Sergey Kudrin, Alex Fishbein and John Fedorowicz.
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Spectators were thrilled that there were no short “grandmaster draws.” The games were characterized by uncompromising efforts on the part of the titled players. Stripunsky pulled off what was easily the “save of the tournament” in a losing position against Panchanathan. Up and coming young players benefitted greatly by the experience of trying their skills against the professionals, with some being very successful. Seventeen year old and national master Jeremy Glassman upset IM Yaacov Norowitz in the second round.
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The New Jersey State Chess Federation made a conscious effort to attract the grandmasters by providing free rooms at the hotel and free entry with no EF deduction if you won money. The town of Morristown was also an attraction for their families. Instead of a hotel site by a strip mall off an interstate, Morristown provided the players in their off-time and patiently waiting family members with parks, many restaurants, retail stores, movie theater, historic sites and spa all within easy walking distances. Noreen Davisson and Jim Mullanaphy directed the event.
New Jersey Open Prize List
Open Section
1st Place (tie)
Magesh Panchanathan & Sergei Azarov 5.0/6.0 $900 each
3rd Place (tie)
Alexander Stripunsky 4.5/6.0 $171.53 (each)
Mackenzie Molner
Arun Subramanian
Sergey Kudrin
Joel Benjamin
Alex Fishbein
John Fedorowicz
Top Expert Sergei Malinin 3.5/6.0 $200
Top Class A Maanav Ganthapodi 4.0/6.0 $200
Top Under Age 13 Brandon Jacobson 4.0/6.0
Top Under Age 16 Aaron Shlionsky 4.0/6.0
Top Age 55 & Over Boris Privman 4.0/6.0
Under 2000 Section
1st Place (tie) Nico Werner Chasin 5.0/6.0 $225 (each)
Jan Paragua
Vedant Rautela
Angelica Chin
5th Place Robert Forney 4.5/6.0
Top Class B David Liu 4.0/6.0 $22.22 (each)
Amey Pasarkar
Ankit Raparthi
Jessica Rattray
Shawn Wang
Mitch Fishbein
Charles Hua
Samuel Zhang
Claire Cao
Top Class C Sean Cushman 3.5/6.0 $200.00
Top Under Age 13 Evelyn Zhu 4.0/6.0
Top Under Age 16 Maxwell Weinstein 3.5/6.0
Top Overage 55 Donnally Miller 2.5/6.0
Under 1600
1st Place Tim Kraft 5.5/6.0 $500.00
2nd Place (tie) Suraj Oruganti 5.0/6.0 $200.00 (each)
Albert Yao
4th Place (tie) Sumer Maini 4.5/6.0
Dhruv Patel
Top Class D Jun Kubo 4.0/6.0 $66.667 (each)
Eric Yuhan Li
Harpal Maini
Top Class E Sean Winston Luo 3.5/6.0 $200.00
Top Class F Aryan Jhaveri 3.0/6.0 $200.00
Top Under 13 Katie Lin
Top Under 16 Jaron Bernard
Top Age 55 & Over Brian Cige