Pitbull Wins Chess Zone Event!
Welcome to Chess Zone News (CZN), a monthly offering from your home for rated tournament chess in metro Atlanta. Please send your games and photos from Chess Zone events for possible inclusion in a future edition of CZN to Dan Lucas. You can send full games or simply interesting tactical or strategic positions. PGN preferred.
Game annotations are by Arturo Mesa Imberno, a Kid Chess coach. Originally from Cuba, he has a FIDE rating of 2106. If you’re interested in having your Chess Zone game annotated by Coach Arturo, please send it as a PGN file or LiChess study to Dan Lucas.
This month’s lineup:
Featured Event: Chess Zone March Melee
Kevin Rojas is March Action Champion
What Does Richard Staples have in Common with Capablanca and Anand?
Monthly Motivation
There wasn’t any particular player I modeled my game after. I tried to learn from everyone and create my own style. I studied past players. Truth be told I never had a favorite player. It’s just not my nature to go around idolizing people. I just go try to learn.
FEATURED EVENT: CHESS ZONE MARCH MELEE
Damian Krotov: Championship Section Winner
Alyssa Sullivan: Reserve Section Winner
March Melee final round Bowler:Krotov
March Melee final round Jiang:Roberson
March Melee final round Kosalai:Sullivan
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:
Kevin Rojas is March Action Champion
Kevin Rojas has achieved his peak rating of 1992, a mere 8 points shy of becoming an expert, with his 3.5 score at the Chess Zone March Action event. Only Yi Sun was able to nick Rojas for a draw in the 19 player Championship section. The March 15 event also had Amateur and Reserve sections as part of the G/60+5 event; Brandon Moore won the 17-player Amateur section with a 3.5 score. The 8-player Reserve had a tie at the top with Lincoln Blaylock and Andy Pierce both posting 3.0 scores.
See tournament cross table by clicking here.
Take a look at this fighting draw from round 2 between Rojas and Yi Sun (annotated by our Coach Arturo Imberno):
More from the March Action Event:
March Action Brandon Moore Amateur Section Champion
March Action round 3 Lathrop:Harris
March Action general 1
March Action general 2
What Does Richard Staples Have in Common with Capablanca and Anand?
The March Generations event attracted 20 players of all ages to Chess Zone on March 1. The planned age divisions had to be combined due to lower than expected attendance, including the Capablanca/Anand sections which was topped by Richard Staples. Staples scored a perfect 3.0 in the G/60+5 tournament, and his rating experienced a significant bump from 1500 to 1573. Class B is just around the corner!
See tournament cross table by clicking here.
There was a three-way tie for second place; here is a nice win by Kid Chess coach Lucas Hernandez against one of his fellow second-place finishers (annotated by our Coach Arturo Imberno):
More from the March Generations Event:
Viraj Daram Generations U700 winner
Match Generations Gukesh Section first place ties
March Generations Hernandez:Staples last round
March Action general 2
March Action general 1
Chess Zone TV!
Herman ‘Mr. Checkmate’ Jones takes on Lee Creel ‘The Real Deal’ at Chess Zone! Who wins game 3 of this exciting blitz match? (See previous months’ newsletter for games 1 and 2.)
Chess Zone News is edited by Dan Lucas. Contributors include: Arturo Mesa Imberno, Zac Bolton, Ryan Darling, Doug Cox, Jane Baxter, Sarah Pak, Michael Farris.
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