In the 39th Exton Commons Event (all tournaments so far), we had 22 players in 3 sections, with numerous upsets.
In the Open section, the first round saw top seeds winning. In the second round, however, Mohit Maringanti, a 1500, upset Joe Mucerino. Maringanti was not as successful in the third round, drawing up and comer Andy Wu, a fellow 1500. In the final round, both players, as well as Mucerino, were able to win as expected, though Kevin Kennedy gave Maringanti quite a battle. Thus, Maringanti and Wu won $50 and 1st and 2nd respectively, with both having 3.5 points.
The Under 1000 was the largest section with 10 players. Top seed was Rithik Rao, one of three players rated over 800. It was another +800 player, Ashrith Maringanti who won the event, going 4-0. In second place was Samika Nettem, who much to her little brother’s annoyance, scored 3-1, just like him, but edged him out on tiebreaks. Subhang had lost in the first round and thus tended to play weaker players throughout the event, whereas Samika won her first two games, losing only to Ashrith, in a game where he had to fight hard to defeat her in the end. Aanya Kollur finished with 2.5 and won the Under 700 trophy.
In the Under 600 section, Pranav Srinivasula, who spent a good time in summer chess camps at the club, and was playing in his second event, won going 4-0. Swanik Gandhe, a regular club player, came in 2nd, 3 – 1, losing only to Pranav. There was a tie for 3rd place, between Zihem Omebere-Iyari and Cam Tsao, both scoring 2 wins and 2 losses.
