3 Norms Earned in First Charlotte Chess Center Norm Invitationals

The Charlotte Chess Center held its first GM/IM norm tournament March 23-27. You can find a full article on the event with annotated games by GM Ben Finegold here. There were two groups, each a 10 player RR, one with GM norm possibilities and the other with IM norm chances. Participants in the GM Group were:

GM Group: FA Rudy Abate, FM Nicolas Checa, GM Ashwin Jayaram, IM Steven Zierk, IM Dean Ippolito, GM Niclas Huschenbeth, FM Michael Brown, GM Tanguy Ringoir, IM Safal Bora, IM Kassa Korley, IM Justin Sarkar, FA Korey Kormick, NM Peter Giannatos (organizer)

Participants in the IM Group were:

IM Group: FA Rudy Abate, NM Peter Giannatos (organizer), NM Malaku Lorne, NM Matthew Larson, FM Seth Homa, IM David Vigorito, FM Hans Niemann, FM Alex Velikanov, IM Roberto Martin del Campo, IM Angelo Young, FM James Canty, FM Gauri Shankar, FA Korey Kormick

Alexander Velikanov secured his norm with a round to spare, beating James Canty. Had Velikanov won his last round against Del Campo, he would have broke 2400 FIDE, and had everything he needed for the title, since this was his third and final norm. It was not to be, and, instead he tied for first with his opponent. There are so many people to thank to have such a nice event where an amazing three norms were scored and one player broke 2300 to earn his FM title! Congrats again to Velikanov and Brown for securing their IM norms with a round to spare, and to IM Bora for winning his last three and earning his first GM norm! Thanks to Karen Boyd for her support, driving the players back and forth from the tournament and hotel, and for getting me Starbucks at a moment’s notice! Thanks to Peter Giannatos for organizing and sponsoring the event at his Chess Center. And thanks go to many more who helped and made this the best event ever in Charlotte, NC! CCCSA Director and Owner Peter Giannatos said, "I am very excited and happy to have completed this very successful event. 3 Norms were earned as well as 1 FIDE title. I could not have asked for a more action packed tournament. I would like to thank the players for being extremely sportsmanlike and honorable. A huge thanks goes to my right hand men GM Ben Finegold and NM Dominique Myers who helped me in every way, making this event possible. Our FIDE Arbiters: Korey Kormick and Rudy Abate did a fantastic job of starting all rounds on time, clarifying rules, and of course submitting norm forms!! Last but not least I would like to thank Chacha Nugroho of Chessstream.com who has provided a great interface for viewing games, pairings and standings." Final Crosstables and Games http://www.charlottechesscenter.org/#!live/cc0j Round Updates http://www.charlottechesscenter.org/#!news/c59x Video Interviews https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGApU6Z3AVmpETGmgfzvvfQ Like Charlotte Chess Center on Facebook and Follow on Twitter