The draw for the Challenger Knockout is complete!
Losers Bracket
The first round of the Florida Challenger Blitz Knockout has been drawn and there are many enticing matchups! Several of the pre-tournament favorites face tough challenges, including top-seeded Alex Sinnott vs 11-year old rising star Abhiram Pothuri, and #2 seed Rolly Weaver (a late entry after Mike Lucente pulled out) vs #5 Aniket Shukla. The first matches will be starting on 5/8 and you can find the schedule below once it is confirmed.
Since this is a double-elimination tournament, players who lose round 1 are not out, but they will have to win their next 4 matches in order to qualify for the Florida Master Blitz League.
Scheduled Matches:
Presenting: Season 2 of the Florida Blitz Leagues!
Orlando Chess House is happy to announce Season 2 of the Florida Blitz Leagues!
After the success of the events in 2020, we are back to organizing a new season of tournaments starting with the Florida Challenger Blitz Knockout. The Challenger event features 16 players rated between 1800-2100 classical USCF, and they will battle it out in a double-elimination knockout tournament with the top 4 players earning qualification to season 2 of the Florida Master Blitz League!
The players will once again compete in matches of best of 16 3+0 games. The double elimination format sees players falling into the consolation bracket after their first loss and they still have a chance to reach the top 4 and earning the ticket to the Master League.
The draw for the bracket takes place Sunday 5/2 at 7PM EST at twitch.tv/orlandochesshouse and the first matches are likely to be played on 5/8-5/9. All the matches will be streamed with live commentary on twitch.tv/orlandochesshouse as well! The starting list for the challenger knockout is:
NM Martin Hansen wins the Florida Master Blitz League!
NM Martin Hansen is the winner of the Florida Master Blitz League after a thrilling final against NM Adithya Bala with several twists and turns. Adithya won game 1 but Martin won the next 4 and looked to be crusing to victory. In game 6, Martin was completely winning in many different ways but he blundered mate in 1, after which the momentum in match completely turned around. With Martin still reeling from the missed mate, Adithya put on the heat and won 4 straight games to take the lead 5-4. Martin managed to settle back down with a draw and he won the next game to tie up the match at 5.5-5.5. Game 12 would prove key, as a complicated Sicilian led to an equal endgame with Martin massively down on time. Adithya overpressed however and blundered, and Martin showed the speed that helped him all throughout the tournament and converted his extra material to victory with only seconds left on the clock. Having regained the lead, Martin played confidently for the rest of the match and took down the title with a final margin of 8.5-5.5.
You can watch or rewatch the final with great commentary by Sammy Wohl and NM Ryan Hamley here:
The Florida Master Blitz League Semifinals!
We had two great semifinal matchups in the blitz league!
The match between Florida State Blitz Champion NM Adithya Bala and young talent Nicolas De La Colina was close throughout and Adithya once again survived match point to force overtime and eventually win it in a thriller.
Top seeded FM Jorge Oquendo took an early 3.5-1.5 lead against organizer NM Martin Hansen, but Martin fought back to win the next two games, tricking Jorge in some dubious rook endgames. After that, Martin had all the momentum and only gave up two more draws on his way to a 8.5-4.5 lead.
The Florida Master Blitz League Quarterfinals!
The Florida Master Blitz League has reached the quarterfinals!
Each match will be played as best of 16 3+0 games on lichess.org. In case of a tie, 2 more games will be played. If still tied, there will be 2 further games and if there is still no winner, the match will be decided in an Armageddon game where White has 3 minutes vs 2:30 for Black, but Black advances with a draw.
All the matches will be streamed with live commentary on https://www.twitch.tv/orlandochesshouse!
The Florida Master Blitz League! Group Stage
The Master Blitz League features 24 of Florida's strongest players, divided into 4 groups of 6! The group stage will have all-play-all blitz matches of best of 16 3+0 games, and the top 2 players in each groups will advance to the quarterfinals!
All the matches will be streamed with live commentary on https://www.twitch.tv/orlandochesshouse!
In case players are tied, the tiebreaker rules are:
1) Matches won
2) Total Win/Loss margin (+/-)
3) Individual match result
4) Individual match margins
5) Drawing of lots
The Florida Challenger League Final!
We have the finalists for the Florida Challenger Blitz League and it will be a rematch between Carlos Hoyos and Josh Harrison! Carlos convincingly won their encounter in the group stage but Josh will look to learn from that match and put up a better showing in the final! Josh won his semifinal against Tony Burrus by 10-8 in an overtime thriller, while Carlos continued his dominant form from the group stage to dispatch of Sammy Wohl by a score of 9-2!
Josh Harrison (2050) vs Carlos Hoyos (2088): TBD
We have received many requests for events recently for players just below the master level, and we are therefore happy to present the Florida Challenger Blitz League!
The league consists of 12 players divided in 2 groups of 6. The group stage will have all-play-all blitz matches of best of 16 games, and the top 2 players at the end of the group stage will advance to the semifinals! The semifinalists are also automatically qualified to participate in the Master Blitz League which is expected to start in September with the same format as the challenger league, except it will have 4 groups of 6 for 24 players total!
In case players are tied for a semifinal spot, the tiebreaker rules are:
1) Matches won
2) Total Win/Loss margin (+/-)
3) Individual match result
4) Individual match margins
5) Drawing of lots
The Florida Challenger League Semifinals!
After a thrilling group stage with several close matches and late comebacks, we have the two semifinals in the Challenger Blitz League! All 4 semifinalists are also automatically qualified for the master Blitz League!
Josh Harrison (2050) def. Tony Burrus (2067) 10-8
Carlos Hoyos (2088) def. Sammy Wohl (1811) 9-2