After our summer break, Chess A2Z was excited to welcome everyone back for the September Open on September 19, 2026. A total of 70 players joined us for another great day of competitive chess, learning, and community.
It was wonderful to see so many returning players as well as new faces joining us for the first time. Between rounds, players had opportunities to review their games and learn from experienced players. National Masters Austin Tang and Derek Heath, US Chess Expert Karthik Bimod, and the kids’ longtime friend John Hart provided game analysis throughout the day, helping players understand their games, learn from their mistakes, and discover new ideas for future games.
This tournament also marked a change for our Open section, which moved to a four-round format. With more games to play, players had another opportunity to test themselves over the board and gain valuable tournament experience.
We are grateful to all the parents, volunteers, coaches, and supporters who helped make the tournament possible. USCF rating report can be found here: https://ratings.uschess.org/event/202609190763?section=0
More tournament pictures can be found here. A big thank-you to Anh for capturing so many wonderful moments and memories from the tournament!
Read the story behind Saturday on our Facebook page.https://www.facebook.com/ChessA2Z
Congratulations to Our Winners!
U400 Section
1st Place (Perfect Score): Timothy Zhang
2nd Place: Nicole Fridrik-Ovchinnikov
3rd Place: Aazawn Khan
4th Place: Kyle Song
5th Place: Arsh Singh
Even Medalists: Noah Atwood; Meenakshi Saripalli; Francis Lannom; Charlie Song; Kaiden Fanthony
U700 Section
1st Place (Perfect Score): Andrew To
2nd Place: Akshaj Bahuguna
3rd Place: Mohammadsadra Abbasi
4th Place: Noah Donohue
5th Place: Avighna Kasireddy
Plus Medalist: Ryan Guan
Even Medalists: Ayaan Singh; Siddharth Bondhey; Maxim Guffey
U1000 Section
1st Place: Michael Adzhigirey
2nd Place: Sophia Nguyen
3rd Place: Oliad Farris
4th Place: Neil Basil
5th Place: Nikhil Astekar
Even Medalists: Abhiram Kasireddy; Thomas Lannom
Open Section
1st Place (Perfect Score): Pragit Arunkumar — $70 cash
Tied for 2nd & 3rd Place: Dylan Caleb Randall, Roger Wood, Pranav Balasubramanian, Ian Zhang, and Lucas Maokhampio — $16 cash each
Plus Medalists: Nimay Ranjit; Vihaan Rahul; Philip Adzhigirey
Even Medalists: Rihaan Rahul; Prakrithi Balasubramanian; Alicia Le; Tristan Zhai; Vincent Xie; Tim Hu; Olivia Maokhampio; Corina Maokhampio
Queen’s Award: Nicole Fridrik-Ovchinnikov
Thank you again for being part of Chess A2Z tournaments. We look forward to seeing everyone at our upcoming events!
