On May 28th the Endgame Chess Academy hosted the Memorial Day Dual event. 28 players competed across two sections in five rounds of Swiss System play that featured one first-time champion, one repeat champion, and several first-time visitors to the academy.
The Under 1200 section featured 7 players. James McDonald took clear first in the advanced section with an undefeated score of 4.5/5. This continues James’ dominance at ECA events as he has not lost a game in three events! Ryder Davenport finished in clear second place with a score of 3.5/5 and passed the 900 rating mark. Abhiram Madire and Pradosh Swain and Wyatt Justice rounded out the top five.
In the Under 600 section, 20 players competed resulting in a 3-way tie for 1st place! On tiebreaks Queen of Peace’s David Greene won his first event despite losing his last-round game to co-champion James Du. Olivia McLellan won her first trophy at an ECA event and gained an impressive +206 points bringing her to 533. There was a 3-way tie for 2nd place, with Adan Qiu, Jason Bian, and Xinbo Xang rounding out the top 5. In addition to Olivia, Ximbo Xang gained +305 rating points and Julieta Salazar-Gomez gained +174 points.
In addition to the leaders,Marcelo Salazar-Gomez won his first USCF-rated game by delivering a checkmate in the last round of the event!
