Every month, the Charlotte Chess Center hosts the one-day Reverse Angle tournament at the CCC Main/South location, open to USCF members of all ratings. The most recent iteration, held on January 27th, was the first of 2024 and the 128th in the 10+ year history of the event!
This Reverse Angle attracted a total of 49 participants, hailing from 5 states, who gathered to play three rounds of g/80+10. The tournament featured three rounds of USCF standard-rated chess, with the top two sections also FIDE-rated.
The Top section, with all players rated at least USCF 1800, ended with a tie for first between NM Daniel Cremisi and CCC regular (and USCF expert) Patrick McCartney.
The two players each won their first two games and were paired in the final round, splitting the point in a knight-vs-bishop endgame. Despite being the heavy rating favorite, it was Cremisi who had to play very accurately to avoid losing the game outright.
After the game, a small crowd of players gathered around McCartney in the skittles area examining ideas to press for a win from the final position. Cremisi said he was concerned black could win by using the bishop to protect the g5 and d4 pawns, followed by slowly marching the king around to the queenside:
With the draw, the two players finished with shared first place and $150 each. Meanwhile, the U2100 prize was split between Hugo Nam, Karthikeya Malireddy, and Anagha Sinkar, who each scored 2/3 and received $20.
Two players also tied for first place in the U1900: Naitik Rathi and Dalton Bridges, who both scored a perfect 3/3 and each received $130. The U1700 prize within the section was split between Pranav Arun and Romeo Nehme ($30 each).
In the U1500 section, Charlie Manolakis was the only 3/3 and finished with the biggest prize of the day: $160 for clear first place. Tamaghna Roy, at 2.5/3, took home clear second ($100), while the U1200 was split between Vaibhav Chopra and John Ratledge ($30 each for 1.5/3).
There were a number of major upsets in this tournament. In the first round alone, the Top section saw three upsets of over 120 rating points. In the U1900 section, co-winner Dalton Bridges gained 109 points for his performance, due in large part to two wins over players 100+ points above him!
Players are always welcome to submit games for inclusion in these posts. To conclude this report, here is Top section co-champ Patrick McCartney's round two game against Shravan Dash, who fought valiantly but wasn't quite able to hold this Exchange French endgame:
We hope to see you at the next Reverse Angle tournament on February 24!
For upcoming tournaments, bookmark our Events Schedule. The CCC hosts nearly 8 events a week at our facilities in North and South Charlotte, along with bi-monthly major events such as the upcoming 2024 Spring Open and ALTO tournaments.
Not a member of the CCC? Join over 800 members today!
NM Dennis Norman
Chess Coach - Club Journalist
Charlotte Chess Center
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