(by Steve Hopkins)
The Rhode Island Winter Open was held on Sunday, January 27th at the Rhode Island Club in Manville. With 8-10 in each of the six events there were a little over fifty entries for the day. Each of the six events was a rating event: U1000, U1200, U1500, U1800, U2100, and Open. Matches took place on six Butterfly tables beginning at 9am and with the conclusion just before 6pm.
The U1000 event was won by Jeffrey Lehouillier over John Shunney (3-2). The U1200 event went to Kalvin Luong with Daniel Silverman in second (3-0). The U1500 event went to Svetoslav Kirtchev over Eugene Cheah (3-1). The U1800 event went to a tricky David Maisel with Igor Yankov finishing second (3-0). The U2100 event went to Steve Hopkins over fast-rising junior Krish Gandhi (3-0).
In the Open, top seed Rich DeWitt fell to Steve Hopkins (3-0), but advanced to the semifinals as the second player. Second seed Murali Mani was undefeated in his qualifier and Larry Bavly finished second. In the cross-overs, Murali Mani defeated Rich Dewitt (3-1) and Larry Bavly defeated Steve Hopkins (3-2). Mani and Bavly played three very tight finals games, but Mani came out on top in all three. Murali Mani over Larry Bavly 3-0 (9, 9, 10).
The next Rhode Island tournament is planned for April. Join us for the next tournament when the snow melts!
