The 2022 Rochester Open was a huge success. 110 chess players converged on the Rochester Civic Center on July 9 and 10 to play in their first tournament (30) and in their N+1 tournament (80). The tournament was expertly directed by Dane Zagar and sponsored by Rochester Chess, Rochester Math Club, Mayo Civic Center, Experience Minnesota’s Rochester, and ChessGoals, a chess improvement organization dedicated to helping players improve their chess. Mayor Kim Norton and other local dignitaries made the ceremonial first moves in the top sections. 

When the dust settled, the winners were 

Open Section: 

1-2, Andrew Titus and Michael Takahashi (4/5)

Top U2100, Nastassja Matus (3.5/5)

U1900 Section

1, George Paulik (4.5/5)

2, Larry Jasperson (4/5)

Top U1600, Jack Bellinger (3.5/5)

U1400 Section

1-3, Ethan Zhang, Charles Johnson, Jake Schoenbauer (4/5)

Top U800/unr, Jacob Arroyo, Will Cunningham (3.5/5)

U1000 Section

1, Nicholas Touchette (4.5/5)

2/unr, Samarth Singh, Si Chakravartha, Bahma Binu (4/5)

The USCF rating report for the above sections can be found here: https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202207107162-12562041

Novice/Unrated Section

1-2, Renzen Kidd Caughey, Carter Weinzierl (4/4)

3-7, Sam Blocksome, Collin Schmit, Andrew Ott, Jacob Bosely, Michael Speck (3/4)

We were very happy to see many local players and players from other areas of the state and beyond participate in the 2022 Rochester Open. We were especially happy that more than 30 individuals participated in their first ever in-person chess tournament. How great is that!