Chess Zone welcomed 38 competitors to our March Melee, a G/30+5 event. The March 22nd event featured two sections: Championship and Reserve (U1200).   Please click here for the crosstables.

Damian Krotov won the top sectioon with a perfect 4.0 score, a half point ahead of the top-rated Andrew Jiang (2334) who had taken a half-point bye in the first round. Krotov’s rating jumped 13 points from 2117 to 2130, so he is well on his way on his quest for the magical 2200 rating. His peak rating was 2188 in 2023.

Another perfect score took the Reserve Section. Alyssa (AKA Pitbull) Sullivan jumped more than a 100 rating points with her 4 wins, going from 977 to 1100. She is an 1800 blitz player online so there is no real surprise here and her rating is simply catchiing up to her ability. Alyssa  streams on Twitch under the name GremlinPlaysChess.

So why was Gremlin dressed like Pitbull? CZN reached out to her and she sent this response:

“Dear CZN,

Thank you for letting me share why I chose to dress as Pitbull for my recent tournament appearance. Chess is a game of intellect, yet in recent years, FIDE has made headlines for enforcing strict dress codes—fining players for wearing jeans or even the “wrong” shoes. As a sport striving for growth, these restrictions make chess feel more elitist than inclusive.

To highlight the absurdity of these rules, I decided to compete in a suit, sneakers, and a bald cap—fully embracing the look of the global icon Pitbull. It was a lighthearted way to remind everyone that chess, at its core, is supposed to be fun. And ironically, by focusing on enjoyment rather than tradition, I played my best chess and won my first-ever tournament.

I appreciate the opportunity to compete and hope this sparks a conversation about how we can keep the game serious without taking ourselves too seriously.

Best,

Gremlin”

Streaming will continue at select events. Please follow Gremlin’s schedule page on Twitch and also follow her on Instagram.

Here are selected games from the event. Any annotations (besides LiChess computer analysis) are by our Coach Arturo Imberno:

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On February 23, 19 players competed in three sections in a G/75+30 event  Please click here for the crosstables.

Arjun Garg won the Championship Section with 2.5 out of 3, and jumping from Class B to Class A in the process. Arjun started the tournament with a 1794 rating but closed with a jump to 1833.

Jonathan Lian, Jr. had a perfect 3.0 in the Amateur Section, also jumping a full class level by simply rearranging the digits in his rating from 1246 to 1426.

In the Reserve Section, the provisionally-rated Alex Kay took 3.0 in only his eighth over-the-board event ever to now sport a four-digit rating: 1023 (P25). As this was his 25th rated game, after his next one his rating will now be an established one.

But the reason this event is our featured one this month is because of an exciting development: The introduction of streaming. Allysa Sullivan, who streams on Twitch under the name GremlinPlaysChess, used our brand new DGT board to not only stream all three of her games in the Reserve Section, but also to stream casual games between rounds. You can see the stream here:

Streaming will continue at select events. Please follow Gremlin’s schedule page on Twitch and also follow her on Instagram.

We hope to begin streaming from our top boards soon as well. Stay tuned!

In between Christmas and New Years, we had 35 players show up for our Chess Zone Holiday Action Quads. The event on December 29 was divided into 7 quads and a small Swiss.  Please click here for the crosstables. 

The top quad ended in a three-way tie between Damian Krotov (2104), Dean Bowler (1972), and Sourish Uday Kavalae (1886). Each player had two draws and a win.

Also notable was in Quad 5, where Isabelle Chelladorai earned a perfect 3.0. She started the event at 1424 but tells CZN that she is excited to now be over 1500. (Her post event rating is 1520.)

Our CZ team was able to gather a number of games from the event, which you can play through below.  Send us your games, preferably annotated and as a PGN file or a link to a LiChess study, by clicking this button (CZ photos too!):