The 2025 Rochester Chess Festival was held in the Mayo Civic Center on July 18 – 20. Rochester Chess partnered with the Minnesota State Chess Association (MSCA) to organize the Festival. One hundred sixty five players competed in the Open and Women and Girls tournaments. Fifty seven players competed in the simultaneous exhibition on Friday. A report by MSCA board member Tim Rademacher can be found here: https://www.minnesotachess.com/post/rochester-chess-festival-is-big-success. Photos of the event can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/MinnesotaChess/posts/pfbid02bCkH4xHbxbNacMzwQ4xo4rs8BPmRWmMdE2bSMCsAhEXBfTqdcLDMZtxPQzFFvT7rl.

Rochester Mayor Kim Norton continued to show her support of chess in our community by making the ceremonial first moves in both swiss tournaments.

The Friday evening simul was organized by MSCA and sponsored by Matt Jensen’s ChessGoals, which features chess improvement programs targeting players rated 2000 and under: https://courses.chessgoals.com/. IMs John Bartholomew and Sean Nagle took on all comers (57 total!) in the simul. They alternated moves and played until after midnight! The simul players were looking for IM scalps. The final record was 48 wins, 4 losses, and 5 draws. Michael Kern and John Blomer were among the winners (the other winners have not been reported at this time). Local players Charlie Johnson, LT Taylor, Ben Schimke, and Ansh Singh drew their games, as did Dan Voje of Chess Castle fame. Congratulations to all and many thanks to IMs Bartholomew and Nagle for providing an exciting start to the festival weekend.

The MSCA organized the first-ever Midwest Regional Championship for Women & Girls. 18 girls competed in the event. Top-seed Joshini Sudhakar cruised to victory by winning the tournament with a perfect 5-0 score. The complete list of prize winners is below:

• 1st – Joshini Sudhakar (5) $300
• 2nd – Yuno Shemesh (4) $200
• 1st U1100 – Shreya Binu (3.5) $100
• T-2nd U1100/1st U800 – Dhansika Sasikumar, Margot Lagnado Ling, Sanvitha Vallurupalli, Claire Niu, and Riya Dadala (3) $30 each

• Trophies:
• 1st U700 – Dhansika Sasikumar (3)
• 2nd U700 – Margo Lagnado Ling (3)
• 3rd U700 – Sanvitha Vallurupalli (3)
• 4th U700 – Riya Dadala (3)
• 5th U700 – Risa Dadala (2.5)
• 6th U700 – Veera More (2)
• 7th U700 – Viha More (2)
• 8th U700 – Seerat Singh (2)

The women and girls tournament has been rated by USCF: https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202507208812-31982688.

One hundred forty seven players competed in the Rochester Open in one of 5 sections. IM Samrug Narayanan finished in first place in the premier section with a perfect score of 5-0.

Cade Sigl finished in first place with 4.5 points in the U1900 section. In the U1500 section Yusuf Khan continued his winning ways and took 1st prize with 4.5 points. Brothers Isaac and Luke Sellon finished in a 5-way tie for 2nd place in the U1500 section.

Teddy Clisbee topped the field in the U1100 section with 4.5 points. In the U700, unrated newcomer Mauro Carmona from Rochester scored a perfect 5-0 in his first-ever OTB tournament.

The open tournament has been rated by USCF: https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202507208842-16917452

Many members of the Rochester Chess Advisory board and other members of the chess community pitched in the make this event successful. Without them the Rochester Chess Festival would not have been possible. The Mayo Civic Center offered substantial discounts on the rental space. The chess community appreciates the generosity of Monika Kopek and Kindra Knutson of the Mayo Civic Center for supporting community activities like the Rochester Chess Festival.

Media coverage of the events:

https://www.kaaltv.com/news/rochester-chess-open-encourages-female-players-to-join/

https://www.kttc.com/2025/07/20/rochester-hosts-largest-chess-festival-citys-history/