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8/21/2014 – Among the many summer events was the The 3rd Annual Washington International that was held from August 9-14 in Rockville, MD. What made it stick out in the crowd was the presence of several US juniors in a field full of masters and grandmasters. Among them were IM Samuel Sevian and IM Akshat Chandra, both in a race to complete their third GM norm, and grab a bit of history.

Samuel Sevian is trying to become the first US player to become a grandmaster before fourteen

For 13-year-old Sevian, it would bring him just a breath away from becoming the youngest US player gain the grandmaster title (he would still need to make the rating requirement), whereas for 15-year-old Chandra, he would become the poster boy of Obama's mantra "Yes, you can", as he too became a grandmaster when just five years ago he had been rated just over... 1500 Elo!

15-year-old Akshat Chandra is only one norm away from the GM title, yet five years ago

was rated just over 1500 Elo

The A section tournament had a strong field with a median rating of 2400 with 53 players in it, and was won by GM Sergei Azarov (BLR) with a score of 7.0/9 who took home the $4000 first place prize. A full point behind the winner, six players tied for second with 6.0/9: GM Yaroslav Zherebukh, GM Ioan Cristian Chirila, IM Akshat Chandra, IM Samuel Sevian, IM Levan Bregadze, and IM Justin Sarkar.

IM Jeffery Xiong finished with 5.5/9

Both IM Samuel Sevian and IM Akshat Chandra raced to their dreams and as fate would have it, the two met in the last round with a draw being sufficient for Sevian for the norm, while Chandra, playing black, needed a win as the average rating of his opponents was two Elo short.

Those future GMs start young. Very young.

Their encounter ended in a draw and Sevian scored a vital third norm, needing only to reach 2500 Elo to secure the title. For Chandra, it means he will need to try again, despite an ever-so-close result.

The dramatic last round game in which an early shake of the hands was out of the question

Final standings "A" Section

Rk Name Rtg Pts 1 GM Sergei Azarov 2635 7.0 2 GM Yaroslav Zherebukh 2625 6.0 3 GM Ioan Cristian Chirila 2515 6.0 4 IM Akshat Chandra 2472 6.0 5 IM Samuel Sevian 2454 6.0 6 IM Levan Bregadze 2435 6.0 7 IM Justin Sarkar 2399 6.0 8 GM Illya Nyzhnyk 2639 5.5 9 GM Oliver A Barbosa 2551 5.5 10 GM Kayden W Troff 2514 5.5 11 GM Bryan G Smith 2478 5.5 12 IM Darwin Yang 2478 5.5 13 IM Jeffery Xiong 2442 5.5 14 IM Michael A Mulyar 2411 5.5 15 GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez 2566 5.0 16 GM Gi Margvelashvili 2556 5.0 17 GM Mark C Paragua 2487 5.0 18 IM Nikolay Andrianov 2417 5.0 19 IM Keaton Kiewra 2392 5.0 20 FM Seth Homa 2378 5.0

To their credit, the organizers kept a steady flow of results, games and pictures at both their website and Facebook page. They are to be commended.

Pictures from the official Facebook page