September: a month of changing seasons, a new school year, Labor Day… but most importantly, of course, Puddletown’s birth month! It’s amazing to see how much we’ve grown in just one year. So far this year, we’ve donated over $16,000 to our community, including (but not limited to) cash donations to chess organizations large and small; free/discounted entries to female or low-income players; and grants or scholarships available to all players.
Over 150 (!) players joined us at our celebratory tournament. This was by far our biggest turnout so far, with the Open sections even having to play in a separate room. Almost half the entries were provided for free: 49 for female players, and 12 for low-income/rural players. 5 players played their first USCF-rated tournament.
Congratulations to our following winners:
Section C1 (U400)
- Even score medalists: Zane Moore, Wilhelm Orendorff, Kenan Qusay Bkour, Camden Singhal, Olivia Burbank, Saaz Shah
- Plus score medalists: Isabel Smith, Pragnya Sri Vemprala, Sebastian Burbank
- 5th place: Dhyan Kanadhibhotla
- 4th place: Raina Paul
- 3rd place: Corina Maokhampio
- 2nd place: Sage McGoogan
- 1st place (perfect score): Isaac Waldemer
Section C2 (U400)
- Even score medalists: Isaiah Burbank, Trapper Malcolm, Jayden Katayama
- Plus score medalists: Stephen Chen, Stephen Orendorff, Eduard Borochkin
- 5th place: Erin Burbank
- 4th place: Vishnu Chethan
- 3rd place: Shaarav Khetan
- 2nd place: Elise Petra Gordon
1st place (perfect score): Tanisha Jain (BEST FEMALE player)
Section B1 (U800)
- Even score medalists: Henry Wark, Riana Paul, Sharanya Pingale, Jackson Spink, Emilia Smith
- Plus score medalists: Sophia Ting, Aarna Hegde, Vincent Xie, Miles Okamoto, Ridhaan Saraswat
- 5th place: Yuvan Vutukuri
- 4th place: Dhruv Pavan
- 3rd place: Kyle Yang
- 2nd place: Jaskaran Singh
- 1st place: Vijay Rao
Section B2 (U800)
- Even score medalists: Ethan Gong, Namish Vikaskiran, Lasya Sri Vemprala, Neil Katira, Saanvi Shah, Cohen Burgett, Logan Babian, Avery Herring, Anisha Jain
- Plus score medalists: Amartya Kadali, Roman Davis, Gabriel Fidel, Jocelyn Cattone
- 5th place: Shokei Katayama
- 4th place: Parth Juneja
- 3rd place: Maily Quach
- 2nd place: Prakrithi Balasubramanian
- 1st place (perfect score): Yousef Bkour
Section A1 (U1100)
- Even score medalists: Matisse Jamil, Saaz Doguparthy
- 5th place: Vinh Quach
- 4th place: Abigail Hall
- 3rd place: Krish Patel
- 2nd place: Olivia Maokhampio
- 1st place: Eevie Tare (BEST FEMALE player)
Section A2 (U1100)
- Even score medalists: Pranav Balasubramanian
- 5th place: Vivaan Kalra
- 4th place: Jeffrey Zhou
- 3rd place: Roushil Satta
- 2nd place: Garud Shah
- 1st place (perfect score): Isaiah Fattal
For the first time, our Open sections had cash prizes for all top finishers. Trophies were given by tiebreak order, but cash prizes (in case of a tie) were combined and split. Congrats to the following winners:
Open I (1100+)
- Even score medalists: Aksh Singhal, Felix Kayser
- Plus score medalist ($14): Dylan Randall
- 5th place ($14): Bohan J Li
- 4th place ($14): Raymond Zhao
- 3rd place ($80): William Ho
- 2nd place ($80): Jesse Yan
- 1st place ($120, perfect score): Axl Arun
Open II (1100+)
- Even score medalists: Maanika Singh
- 5th place: Aditya Sharma
- 4th place ($36): Lucas Maokhampio
- 3rd place ($36): Oscar Baldivieso
- 2nd place ($110, perfect score): Dash Brier
- 1st place ($110, perfect score): Elliott Kayser
The USCF rating report for the Open sections can be found here, while the rating report for the other sections can be found here.
Below are some photos from this tournament. More photos can be found here.
