By Chris Y Kim
Round 2 of the 2023 Maryland Sweet 16 has been completed with a very competitive field. We almost had a 7-way tie for first place again with 1.5 points except for a decisive Board 2 game. Jayant Maheshwari defeated Gabriel Joshi in a tight match to take sole first place with 2.0 points. Round 2 also featured a Board 1 matchup between undefeated brothers Devesh and Nitesh Cherukuri that resulted in a draw.
The biggest news of Round 2 was the restoration of power (from a tree downing a powerline feeding UMBC) around 17:34 this afternoon - assuring that the tournament would continue. Power went out in the middle of Round 1 and through Round 2. Round 2 was shortened to G/60; +30 sec increment, as the building would close at sundown if the power were not restored. Sunlight in the playing room ensured that games could be played, but the room was gradually darkening at the completion of the last two matches of Round 2 when power was restored. Without power, standings and pairing sheets could not be printed - had to be handwritten.
Thank you for all the players and parents for enduring the unusual circumstances and conditions. Below are the results from Round 2; Brief Standings; Pairings for Round 3 for those players that had to leave early after Round 2:
Results Round 2 (White listed first)
Board 1: Devesh Cherukuri (1.0) - Nitesh Cherukuri (1.0) 0.5-0.5
Board 2: Gabriel Joshi (1.0) - Javant Maheshwari (1.0) 0-1
Board 3: Anish Mariappan (1.0) - Siddarth Kurup (1.0) 0.5-0.5
Board 4: Sherlock Grigsby II (1.0) - Carissa Zheng (0.5) 0-1
Board 5: Andy Yue (0.0) - Sandeep Thimmasamudram (0.5) 1-0
Board 6: Michael Deng (0.0) - Eliot Wu (0.0) 1-0
Board 7: Angelina Verma (0.0) - Anushka Skariah (0.0) 1-0
Board 8: Alexander Zlodorev (0.0) - Joshua Liu (0.0) 0-1
Brief Standings (tiebreak order)
2.0 - Jayant Maheshwari
1.5 - Nitesh Cherukuri, Anish Mariappan, Siddharth Kurup, Devesh Cherukuri, Carissa Zheng
1.0 - Sherlock Grigsby II, Gabriel Joshi, Angelina Verma, Andy Yue, Michael Deng, Joshua Liu
0.5 - Sandeep Thimmasamudram
0.0 - Alexander Zlodorev, Eliot Wu, Anushka Skariah
Pairings - Round 3 (Sunday 3/5/2023 10:30am) - White listed first
Board 1: Jayant Maheshwari (2.0) - Nitesh Cherukuri (1.5)
Board 2: Carissa Zheng (1.5) - Siddharth Kurup (1.5)
Board 3: Devesh Cherukuri (1.5) - Anish Mariappan (1.5)
Board 4: Angelina Verma (1.5) - Andy Yue (1.0)
Board 5: Joshua Liu (1.0) - Gabriel Joshi (1.0)
Board 6: Sherlock Grigsby II (1.0) - Michael Deng (1.0)
Board 7: Sandeep Thimmasamudram (0.5) - Alexander Zlodorev (0.0)
Board 8: Eliot Wu (0.0) - Anushka Skariah (0.0)