The chess competition room was silent, save for the clink of chess pieces and the taps of the chess clocks being pressed. (Eran Fann | Staff Photographer)

In collaboration with the St. Louis Chess Club, the WashU Chess Club hosted the WashU Rapid and Blitz tournaments on Feb. 8.

Open to the entire St. Louis community, the two tournaments were official United States Chess Federation (USCF)-rated tournaments. Over 100 players of all ages competed for part of the $1000 prize pool.

“This is our third year since we opened the tournament up to the St. Louis community. We’ve gotten more than 100 participants every single year,” Woman Candidate Master and WashU Chess Club co-president and senior Shreya Mangalam said. 

Starting in the fall of 2022, the WashU Chess Club began hosting fast-time control Rapid and Blitz tournaments for WashU students. In spring 2023, the St. Louis Chess Club began to collaborate with WashU Chess Club, canceling their own Blitz tournament to work with WashU.

“I’m really happy with how we’ve transitioned from just a WashU tournament to a more large-scale event while also making it run smoothly over the years,” Mangalam said. “We try to appeal to a diverse range of players to come and play, and we’re really happy that this is a tournament that people who are more intermediate or casual can still play and have a fun time.” 

The Rapid tournament started in the morning with both an Open section, where anyone can compete, and an Under 1500 (U1500) section. Through five rounds, nearly 100 players, including Grandmaster (GM) Emin Ohanyan, played head-to-head 15 minute games.

“This is our largest Blitz event with nearly 10 titled players playing, so we’re really happy with the turnout,” Mangalam said, referencing the turnout of many different experience levels. 

Senior Ilan Schwartz competed in the U1500 section and tied for third place, scoring four out of five points. “This tournament is really fun. I find that when I’m playing chess, my brain operates at a higher capacity in other aspects of life. If I’m thinking and reading about chess, my school work and work is better. It’s cool to see the St. Louis community coming to WashU and getting to share the game of chess,” Schwartz said.

After the five rapid rounds, visiting player Jonathan Kwong won the U1500 section with a five out of five score. In the Open section, five visiting players, Ohanyan, International Master Steve Wang, Fide Master Doug Eckert, Candidate Master Alex Beck, and Forrest Yang tied for first place with a score of four out of five.

“I could’ve done better in half my games. In fact, I may have gotten lucky that one of my opponents gave up pursuing a win, but anything goes in 15 minute games. Reading the rating number doesn’t necessarily provide a clear evaluation of what is to be expected. We saw some upsets which resulted in all the prizes merging and someone with a lower rating tying the four other players,” Wang said.

The Blitz tournament followed the Rapid tournament in which five rounds of games were played. Each game started with a three minute time limit per turn, with two second increments throughout. Over 60 players competed for over $300 in prizes. The U1500 section was won by Gavin Martin, who took first place by winning all five games.

Benjamin Bok, a Grandmaster with a Blitz rating over 2600, and the commentator of GM Hikaru Nakamura’s games, clashed with Ohanyan in the fourth round, ending in a sharp draw. In the fifth round, Bok and Ohanyan defeated the third and fourth place players respectively to tie for first place overall.

“It was fun to play over-the-board chess. I play a lot of online chess myself. I saw the tournament listed on the website of the St. Louis Chess Club, so I decided to play. During COVID, a lot of things were happening online like streaming and online tournaments. But now I feel like it’s going back,” Bok said.