Maryland Sweet 16

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By Chris Y Kim

Round 2 of the 2024 Maryland Sweet 16 has been completed with a very competitive field. This is the first year the tournament has been held outside of UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County); this year it is held in conjunction with the MCA Old Line Open tournament in the Rockville Hilton Hotel in Rockville, MD. This year's leaders includes two players with Russian backgrounds. We had our first withdrawal due to medical illness after the first round - Eliot Wu had to withdraw due to fever. Krish Ghosh (one of the alternates) will fill in for Rounds 3-4.

Thank you to all the players and parents who came to participate in this year's Maryland Sweet 16. Below are the Brief Standings after Round 2; and the Pairings for Round 3. Round 3 starts at 9:30AM Sunday - watch out for Daylight Saving Time, which will push the clock forward Sunday morning  at 2 AM to 3 AM.

Brief Standings (Rating order)

2.0 - Alexander Zlodorev (2079); Siddharth Kurup (2053); Svetoslav Fedorov (1916)

1.5 - Sandeep Thimmasamudram (1892)

1.0 - Anish Mariappan (2109); Brandon Chen (2080);  Andy Yue (1931); Sherlock Grigsby II (1887); Ari Bershak (1804); Kevin Fang (1800); Jordan Go (1794); Matthew Zhou (1777)

0.5 - Eliot Wu (1919) - Withdraw;  Angelina Verma (1855); Gabriel Joshi (1843);  Caden Liu (1626)

0.0 - Architsai Ramnath (1994); Devesh Cherukuri (1871); Caroline Jiang (1826); Krish Ghosh (1681) - Alternate

Pairings - Round 3 (Sunday 3/8/2025 9:30am) - White listed first

Board 1: Alexander Zlodorev (2.0) - Siddharth Kurup (2.0)

Board 2: Svetoslav Fedorov (2.0) - Sandeep Thimmasamudram (1.5)

Board 3: Anish Mariappan (1.0) - Ari Bershak (1.0)

Board 4: Kevin Fang (1.0) - Brandon Chen (1.0)

Board 5:  Jordan Go (1.0) - Andy Yue (1.0)

Board 6: Sherlock Grigsby II (1.0) - Matthew Zhou (1.0)

Board 7: Architsai Ramnath (0.0) - Devesh Cherukuri (0.0)

Board 8: Caroline Jiang (0.0) - Krish Ghosh (0.0)

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By Chris Y Kim 

Nitesh Cherukuri has won the 2024 Maryland Sweet 16 Championship with a Round 4 victory over Alexander Zlotorev and a perfect 4 win weekend (March 2-3) at the University of Maryland - Baltimore County (UMBC). He is a resident of Howard County and attends McDonogh School as a 7th-grade student. The tournament consisted of 16 strong scholastic players (grades 3-12) rated from 1623 - 2159.

It has been 10 years since the winner of the Sweet 16 had a perfect score! Cherukuri with the victory also wins a 4-year tuition scholarship to UMBC. He had the only 3.0 score heading into the final round and needed at least a draw (to ensure a spot in a rapid playoff), but he ensured the Championship with the fourth round win.

Here are the final standings in tiebreak order (out of 4 games):

Read more: Nitesh Cherukuri is 2024 Maryland Sweet 16 Champion!

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By Chris Y Kim

Round 2 of the 2024 Maryland Sweet 16 has been completed with a very competitive field. Most of the results favored the higher rated player in the 1st 2 rounds. There were only 2 draws in the first 2 rounds (occurring in Round 2). Fortunately, we did not have any power outage that we encountered last year. 

Thank you to all the players and parents who came to participate in this year's Maryland Sweet 16. ions. Below are the Brief Standings after Round 2; and the Pairings for Round 3. Round 3 starts at 10:30AM Sunday, as the Commons Building does not open until 10AM on Sundays.

Brief Standings (Rating order)

2.0 - Nitesh Cherukuri (2159); Alexander Zlodorev (2098); Anish Mariappan (2059); Siddharth Kurup (2055)

1.0 - Architsai Ramnath (2012); Andy Yue (1922); Sandeep Thimmasamudram (1912); Eliot Wu (1906); Svetoslav Fedorov (1862); Krish Ghosh (1653)

0.5 - Angelina Verma (1855); Gabriel Josh (1843); Ari Bershak (1768); Caden Liu (1626)

0.0 - Sherlock Grigsby II (1842); Kevin Fang (1746)

Pairings - Round 3 (Sunday 3/5/2023 10:30am) - White listed first

Board 1: Siddharth Kurup (2.0) - Nitesh Cherukuri (2.0)

Board 2: Alexander Zlodorev (2.0) - Anish Mariappan (2.0)

Board 3: Eliot Wu (1.0) - Architsai Ramnath (1.5)

Board 4: Andy Yue (1.0) - Krish Ghosh (1.0)

Board 5: Svetoslav Fedorov (1.0) - Sandeep Thimmasamudram (1.0)

Board 6: Caden Liu (0.5) - Angelina Verma (0.5)

Board 7: Gabriel Joshi (0.5) - Ari Bershak (0.5)

Board 8: Sherlock Grigsby II (0.0) - Kevin Fang (0.0)

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By Chris Y Kim

Carissa Zheng, a 12th grade student at Winston Churchill High School in Montgomery County, has won the 2023 Maryland Sweet 16 this weekend (March 4-5) at the University of Maryland - Baltimore County (UMBC). She is the first female winner of the Maryland Sweet 16 in the nearly 30 years of the event. This was the first time the Maryland Sweet 16 has been held in 3 years, since the pandemic cancelled over-the-board tournaments right after the 2020 version.

It is often the case that a player in the top half after the 1st day who can win both matches on the 2nd day will often win the Maryland Sweet 16. Round 4 featured the match between the top two seeds on Board 1 who were tied for the lead: Nitesh Cherukuri (2055) - Carissa Zheng (2035). Nitesh Cherukuri is in 6th grade in Howard County. Both players had won their 3rd round matches to take the lead at 2.5/3.0. Zheng prevailed in the drama-filled game to win the tournament, which includes a 4-year tuition scholarship to UMBC. The Maryland Chess Association would like to thank all the players and parents who accepted participation on very short notice and endured a power outage at UMBC on Saturday that shortened Round 2.

Here are the final standings in tiebreak order (out of 4 games):

3.5: Carissa Zheng

3.0: Jayant Maheshwari, Anish Mariappan

2.5: Nitesh Cherukuri, Siddharth Kurup, Gabriel Joshi

2.0: Devesh Cherukuri, Sherlock Grigsby II, Michael Deng, Andy Yue

1.5: Joshua Liu, Alexander Zlodorev, Eliot Wu

1.0: Angelina Verma, Sandeep Thimmasamudram

0.5: Anushka Skariah