Junior player Harvey Zhu was the surprise winner of the 2023 NSW Rapid Championship. Seeded 12th in the tournament he scored an impressive 6.5/7, finishing a full point clear of 2nd place. After a 2nd round draw, he reeled of 5 straight wins, beating IM George Xie in round 6 and FM Alexis Vargas Arteaga in the final round.
In 2nd place were 12 players tied on 5.5/7, including Xie, Vargas Arteaga and top seed FM Jason Hu. Hu had a rough start, losing in round 1 after dropping a queen, and drawing his 4th round game. With the large field of 134 players, a single lost point was enough to drop players out of the running.
Despite the size of the field the event ran quite smoothly. There were no major disputes and the tournament was played in good spirits. The NSWCA also doubled the advertised prize pool due to the large entry, with the winner taking home $600 for 1st. With ACF Rapid ratings being used to seed the tournament, the rating prize winners were a mix of adult and junior players, instead of the usual case of underrated juniors taking home the cash.
Full results can be seen at https://www.vegaresult.com/vega/index.php?id=2338
(*I was a paid official for this event *)
1 comment:
I think the kid who won is only 12 or 13.
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