The weather was warm in Raleigh, and the atmosphere on fire as 25 players engaged in their favorite board game. Tournament Director Jeff Kuang ran the show smoothly and pairings appeared quickly. A sumptuous lunch was again provided by Arlene and Adam Bridges.
For the second year running, Chen An 7d won the North Carolina State Championship with a perfect 4-0 record. He faced strong competition this year from another 7 dan player, Chengyu Fu, who placed a very respectable second in the event. The Open Section was quite competitive with two 7 dans, a strong 5 dan, two powerful 4 dans and four battling 3 dans.
Section A ended with a tie between Chen Yuan 2d and Sheng Huo 2d, each with a 3-1 record. Justin Blank 3k was the clear victor in Section B with the only other 4-0 score for the day, with Andrew Thieman 7k and John Aiken 8k tying for second place. Section C produced a 3 way tie for first, with Jeremy Marshburn 9k, Ganning Xu 11k, and Bhaskar Bharath 12k each finishing with a 3-1 result. Yet another tie emerged for top honors in Section D between Justin Su 12k and Russell Herman 12k. Complete results and more photos can be found on the club website.
-report and photos provided by Bob Bacon
