The 7th Annual Carolinas Classic features an increased $15,000 guaranteed prize fund in 10 sections and a $1,000 Blitz Tournament for all participants. The tournaments will be played at the Hilton Charlotte University Place, in Charlotte, USA.
In addition to the main events and side events, participants may engage with special guest GM Sam Shankland who will lead Q&A’s, blitz challenges, game analysis, and more throughout the event! Former World Champion, GM Veselin Topalov, and world-renowned trainer GM Jacob Aagaard will also be present and hold a book signing/autograph session on Sunday of the event.
The main event – Championship section (for players rated 2000+) will be held from 9-11 June with $4,800 in prizes and $1,600 reserved for the Winner of the event. The tournament is played in 5 rounds, swiss system, with a time control of 115 minutes + 5 seconds increment. The top seeds are GM Yasser Quesada Perez, GM Tuan Minh Le, and GM Giorgi Margvelashvili.
Detailed information and the time schedule can be found on the official website of the event.
The 7th annual Carolinas Chess Classic – Championship section starting list: of players
| Name | Rating | |
| 1 | GM YASSER QUESADA PEREZ | 2684 |
| 2 | GM TUAN MINH LE | 2669 |
| 3 | GM GIORGI MARGVELASHVILI | 2591 |
| 4 | GM FIDEL CORRALES JIMENEZ | 2587 |
| 5 | GM ALEXANDER SHABALOV | 2554 |
| 6 | GM MAGESH PANCHANATHAN | 2552 |
| 7 | GM DARCY LIMA | 2544 |
| 8 | IM LEVAN BREGADZE | 2511 |
| 9 | IM DEAN IPPOLITO | 2487 |
| 10 | GM JESSE KRAAI | 2459 |
| 11 | WGM TATEV ABRAHAMYAN | 2393 |
| 12 | FM RYAN AMBURGY | 2374 |
| 13 | IM JUSTIN SARKAR | 2360 |
| 14 | SUDARSHAN SRINIAIYER | 2324 |
| 15 | BENJAMIN YAN | 2309 |
| 16 | AVI KAPLAN | 2307 |
| 17 | NAVEEN PRABHU | 2303 |
| 18 | JAMES NGUYEN | 2252 |
| 19 | EMMANUEL CARTER | 2245 |
| 20 | ADVAITH KARTHIK | 2237 |
| 21 | JAMES CHIRILOV | 2231 |
| 22 | ESHAAN HEBBAR | 2218 |
| 23 | CARTER PEATMAN | 2210 |
| 24 | NEAL HARRIS | 2200 |
| 25 | REECE THOMPSON | 2169 |
| 26 | SIHAN TAO | 2165 |
| 27 | JULIAN COLVILLE | 2137 |
| 28 | ETHAN LIU | 2121 |
| 29 | RONAK HIWALE | 2121 |
| 30 | SREEKAR GANGAVARAPU | 2119 |
| 31 | YOGESHWAR YEHAMANDRAM | 2117 |
| 32 | JACK HELLER | 2111 |
| 33 | KRISHNA RALLABANDI | 2109 |
| 34 | BRIAN TAY | 2100 |
| 35 | DANIL MCQUILLIN | 2097 |
| 36 | SRITEJ SATTARU | 2091 |
| 37 | CHLOE GAW | 2089 |
| 38 | ANDREW WU | 2086 |
| 39 | MARIUS CUTITARU | 2043 |
| 40 | MAXWELL BARNES | 2039 |
| 41 | EVAN KOEHL | 2037 |
| 42 | ARAV PATEL | 2032 |
| 43 | NIRAV NATHA | 2016 |
| 44 | AARON MARIAN | 2016 |
| 45 | SHAWN MCINTOSH | 2015 |
| 46 | OWEN LEVINE | 2006 |
| 47 | KEVIN SUN | 2004 |
