The first tournament of the Epicure Grand Prix chess tournament series took place in the Franco Center this past Saturday. MCDS welcomed 187 participants of all ages from the South Florida area. Actually, I came to learn that not everyone was from nearby. I spoke with one student who said his family made the drive here from Jacksonville. Skeptical, I asked his parents, and they confirmed the location of their domicile. Looks like someone really loves his chess! Also, while Grandmaster Julio Becerra has competed on our campus before, this is the first time he has participated in an Epicure event. GM Becerra went undefeated in the Open section.
There were 21 Spartans collectively in the five age-based sections, composing three teams in the K-12, K-8, & K-5 categories.
The Spartan K-12 team (upper school) finished in 3rd Place. Julian Schultz had a career-best day and played remarkably well (4.0/5.0), finishing in 4th Place overall (in a tough section) as well as taking home the trophy (& gift card) for the best performance by a player rated under 1000. Needless to say, he’s now rated above 1000 and becomes the high school team’s third Class E player. David Gonzalez & Giovanni Cragnotti also played well for the Spartans, scoring 2.5/5.0, and Pascal Dafinis & Jordan Rosendorf had two points and increased their ratings at this event. The team also welcomed newcomer Jacob Strouse.
The K-8 team finished in 3rd Place. Elliot Starkman led the team scoring with 3.5/5.0, finishing tied for 8th Place. Andre Harper-Rosenberg also played well for the Spartans, scoring 3.0/5.0. Grant Giovannetti (welcome to the MCDS team!), James Srebnick, & Filippo Sbroggio earned 2.5 points, and Daniel Gallup also had multiple wins. It should be noted that most of this team is “playing up.” Fourth-graders Starkman, Giovannetti, Srebnick, & Sbroggio are eligible to play in the younger K-5 section, but they have decided to play in an older and higher rated category.
The K-5 team finished in 4th Place. This team welcomed four new MCDS team members. We would like to extend a special welcome to Jackson Jimenez, Nikolay Bespalenko, Sean Finny, & Olivia Borchers. Jimenez returned to rated chess competition after a two-year hiatus and scored two points. Bespalenko & Finny exceeded expectations with two wins in their first-ever rated chess competitions! Borchers & Nathan Gumenick also scored a point for the team in the event. It will be exciting to see this team grow.
Chase Giovannetti took home the second individual trophy won by a Spartan at this event, finishing in 3rd Place in the K-1 section. Congratulations & welcome to MCDS! The Spartans were also represented by Oliver Perez & Tucker Gumenick in the K-3 section.
If you are interested in a more detailed breakdown of the results, please visit http://www.bocachess.com/epicure-grand-prix. A special thank you to Epicure Gourmet Market & Café for continuing to serve as our Sponsor and helping making this the best chess tournament series in Florida.
Epicure Grand Prix #2 will take place on Saturday, October 20. Anyone interested in registering for the event should contact me.
Michael Hutsko
Spartan Chess Program Director
South Regional Vice President, Florida Chess Association
USCF Local Tournament Director
601 NE 107 Street | Miami, FL 33161
305.779.7341 office | 305.759.0684 fax
hutskom@miamicountryday.org
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