Spencer Lehmann, Alex Bian Finish 1-2 At '16 North American Open in Under 2300; Roger Li Ties For First in Under 1500

 

With 6.5/7, Spencer Lehmann has won the Under 2300 section of the 2016 North American Open. Alex Bian placed clear second with 6.0/7.

The pair of Illinois high schoolers drew head to head in the penultimate round, with Bian drawing Iowa high schooler Arshaq Saleem in the final round to finish a half-point back.

Three players, including Saleem, finished with 5.5 to tie for third place.

The Continental Chess Association event concluded December 30 in Las Vegas drawing almost 800 players in seven sections.

Roger Li, whose FIDE-Master brother George played in the Open section, finished 5.5/7 in the Under 1500 section, in an eight-way tie for first place.

Roger posted three wins, followed by three draws, closing out with a win in the final round. He earned $1500 for his outstanding accomplishment.

George's 5.0/9 was the top Illinois result in the Open, a half-point better than David Peng who tallied 4.5/9. GM Nikola Mitkov posted a win, two draws and a loss in his four rounds played.

George and Roger's younger brother Brooklyn Li finished with 4.0/7 in the U1250 -- watch out for him!

94 played in multiple rounds of the Open, 112 competed in multiple rounds of the U2300; 89 played in two or more rounds in the U1500's.

U2300 results have not been finalized on the Continental website as of this posting, January 2nd, but it appears Spencer won $7,000 and Alex will cash a $4,000 check according to pre-tournament guarantees.

Given the three-way tie for first in the Open, the five-way tie for first in the U2100 championship, and the two-way tie in the U1900's, Lehmann was the big money winner from the CCA event.

Wisconsin GM Josh Friedel took home just over $6,000 as the highest tiebreak among three 7.0/9 scorers in the Open.