Updated 23 February 2013 - The standings have now been updated with the final MCA scholastic qualifying event results. The Rally Points have been renamed to Varsity Points to reflect the change in the name of the top section in the local scholastic tournaments.

The 2012-2013 MCA scholastic season is underway, and one of the featured competitions is the Varsity section qualification to the 2013 MD Sweet 16, where 16 of the top Maryland scholastic players will compete in a separate section of the UMBC Open on March 2-3.

The Maryland Sweet 16 Champion receives a 4-year Maryland Sweet 16 Scholarship to UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County).  The fixed-dollar scholarship covers tuition and fees, but not room and board (valued at $39,056 over 4 years in 2012-2013).

All participants in the 2013 MD Sweet 16 are required to play all 4 rounds over the weekend.

The final standings after 8 events are at the end of this article (click below to read more).

After all of the 8 planned events in the 2012-2013 MCA scholastic season, below is the final list of the 2013 Maryland Sweet 16 qualifiers.

Top 6 (USCF rating): Andrew Zheng, Bendeguz Offertaler, Dobrynya Konoplev, Sahil Sinha, Saketh Papaiahgari, Nathan Feldman

Next 10 (MD-Sweet-16 Varsity Points): Pieter Heesters, Alexander Davydov, Robert Pekarek, David Snyder, Quil Kibak, Jerry Wu, Andrew Mao, Madeline Kim , Kundan Chintamaneni, Aditya Balasubramanian

Alternates (next 6): Kevin Huang, Douglas Malcolm, Zachary Jablow, Charlotte Kim, Joseph Dipietro, Ronald Best, Jr


Qualifying rules for the 2013 MD Sweet 16: Essentially unchanged from 2012.


1.  Qualifiers for the Maryland Sweet 16 must be full-time students in grades K-12 currently enrolled in school or home-schooled.  Qualifiers must be residents of Maryland, or non-residents of Maryland who attend a school in Maryland.  Qualifiers may not already be high-school graduates.  There is no age cut-off for Qualifiers.  (The University System of Maryland’s definition of a Maryland resident is posted here: www.umbc.edu/registrar/Pages/Services/residency.html and www.usmd.edu/regents/bylaws/SectionVIII/VIII270.html.)

2.  Qualifiers must compete in all rounds of the top section (the Varsity section) of at least 1 MCA local scholastic tournament during the scholastic year in which the Sweet 16 is held.  However, if a player were to receive a 1-point bye because there were an odd number of players in a particular round at that tournament, then the MCA would consider the player to have competed in that round.  Only in the event of an emergency may a player may be excused from competing in at most 1 round of that tournament.  The emergency-exemption claim must be approved by the Chief Tournament Director.  Furthermore, after the tournament the player must submit to the MCA Scholastic Director documentation (a doctor’s note, a relative’s obituary, etc.) that affirms the legitimacy of the emergency-exemption claim. If the tournament is cancelled by the MCA, then the player must compete in 1 of the remaining Varsity tournaments.  However, if the tournament were to be cancelled by the MCA, if the tournament could not be rescheduled before the Maryland Sweet 16, and if the tournament were the final Varsity tournament before the Maryland Sweet 16, then the player will have fulfilled the Maryland Sweet 16’s tournament-participation requirement, by virtue of being considered to have competed in the cancelled Varsity tournament.  However, Varsity Points will not be allocated to a player in this situation.

3.  If a player competes in 1+ rounds, but not in all of the rounds of a Varsity section, and if the player’s absence is not excused by the Chief Tournament Director and the MCA Scholastic Director, then the player will earn Varsity Points for the round(s) in which he competed at that tournament, only if he competes in all rounds of the Varsity section of at least 1 MCA local scholastic tournament during the scholastic year in which the Sweet 16 is held.

4.  The formula for determining Varsity Points accrued by a player per tournament is: the number of players in the Varsity section of an MCA scholastic tournament divided by the player’s place in the Varsity section.  If there are ties, then each player with the same score (the number of tournament points) receives the average number of Varsity Points earned by all of the players who tied but who placed differently, according to tiebreaks.  (Players from out of state count toward determining Varsity Points, but they do not count in the Varsity Point standings.
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5.  The 16 Qualifiers eligible per Section 1 are the top 6 players by USCF rating and the 10 players with the highest number of Varsity Points (excluding the top 6 players by rating).  The March Rating Supplement (which includes the results of tournaments submitted by the third Friday in February) is used to determine the Qualifiers by rating.

  The 2 players with the next highest number of Varsity Points are the Maryland Sweet 16 Alternates.

6.  Sweet 16 players are required to compete in all 4 rounds of the Sweet 16 tournament, with exceptions made only in the cases of a medical emergency or another extraordinary situation.  Failure to play in all 4 rounds affects place and tiebreaks for the other players; so, if a Qualifier cannot commit to all 4 rounds, then she must decline the MCA’s invitation to participate ASAP.  That way, the MCA will have time to determine and notify an Alternate.

  A player who fails to compete in all 4 rounds without an excused absence, will be barred from participating in any future Sweet 16 tournament—or in MCA adult tournaments for 1 year, if the player is a high-school senior. 

7.  The winner of a Maryland Sweet 16 may not compete in subsequent Maryland Sweet 16s.

8.  Final notes: The time control for the 2013 Sweet 16 will again be G/90, inc/30 - introduced last year. Clocks, sets, and boards will be provided. If there is a tie for first place after 4 rounds, then an Armageddon Quick Match will be played: White G/15,inc/5; Black G/10, inc/5 - draw odds. Higher tiebreak chooses color.

 

Final Top 6 by USCF rating (per March 2013 USCF ratings) - after MCA McDuffie Memorial (2/23/2013)

 

Place Name USCF Rating (3/13) Total Varsity Points
1 Zheng, Andrew 2100 12.750
2 Offertaler, Bendeguz 2082 12.750
3 Konoplev, Dobrynya 1945 34.500
4 Sinha, Sahil 1928 37.507
5 Papaiahgari, Saketh 1836 4.354
6 Feldman, Nathan 1786 29.104
       
7 Huang, Becky 1785 3.007
8 Wu, Jerry 1781 16.901
9 Snyder, David 1778 17.187
10 Best, Ronald 1744 7.643

 

Final MD-Sweet 16 Standings after MCA McDuffie Memorial (2/23/2013)

 

Place Name USCF Rating (3/13) Total Varsity Points Number of Tournaments
1 Heesters, Pieter 1611 39.850 8
2 Sinha, Sahil 1928 37.507 2
3 Konoplev, Dobrynya 1945 34.500 1
4 Feldman, Nathan 1786 29.104 3
5 Davydov, Alexander 1594 26.361 5
6 Pekarek, Robert 1344 23.591 6
7 Snyder, David 1778 17.187 2
8 Kibak, Quil 1510 17.187 2
9 Wu, Jerry 1781 16.901 2
10 Mao, Andrew 1559 14.165 4
11 Kim, Madeline 1563 12.887 5
12 Offertaler, Bendeguz 2082 12.750 1
13 Zheng, Andrew 2100 12.750 1
14 Chintamaneni, Kundan 1381 11.678 4
15 Balasubramanian, Aditya 1264 11.267 7
16 Huang, Kevin 1646 11.216 2
17 Malcolm, Douglas 1305 8.997 4
18 Jablow, Zachary 1554 8.362 3
19 Kim, Charlotte 1178 8.255 7
20 Dipietro, Joseph 1196 7.722 5
21 Best, Ronald 1744 7.643 2
22 Hung, Justin 1354 7.126 3
23 Grant, Joseph 1243 7.068 3
24 Kelly, Max 1097 6.094 5
25 Best, Jordan 1467 5.706 2
26 Antonenko, David 1150 5.261 3
27 Duggal, Neil 1411 4.938 2
28 Singh, Charanpreet 1160 4.640 3
29 Wang, Philip 1404 4.489 2
30 Papaiahgari, Saketh 1836 4.354 1
31 Gingles, Julius 1097 4.354 1
32 Campbell, Devon 1312 4.354 1
33 Hung, Benjamin 1192 4.255 3
34 Du, Jeffrey 1637 3.716 1
35 Tarantin, Joseph 1142 3.008 2
36 Huang, Becky 1785 3.007 1
37 Jung, Yeong 1275 2.707 2
38 Guo, Bradley 1140 2.441 2
39 Patel, Keval 1094 2.394 2
40 Sama, Manvith 1276 2.021 1
41 Thompson, Matthew 1128 1.372 1
42 Hall, Kenneth 1430 1.371 1
43 Amata, Dexter 1137 1.335 1
44 Patel, Melaap 1196 1.335 1
45 Zou, Jason 1469 1.174 1
46 Wright, Deshawn 1023 1.063 1
47 Wais, Dara 1075 1.023 1