4th Metropolitan FIDE Invitational
FM Joel Banawa and FM Pedram Atoufi achieved IM norms
The 4th Metropolitan FIDE Invitational concluded this weekend on April 10th. It was organized by Ankit Gupta and directed by Randy Hough and Michael Belcher. The playing venue was Suite C998 of the California Market Center at 110 East 9th Street, Los Angeles 90079.
The tournament was sponsored by California Market Center, Fashion Business, Inc, Chess.com, MonRoi, LawyerFy, and Betty Bottom Showroom.
FM Joel Banawa and FM Pedram Atoufi both achieved IM norms. This is Banawa’s second norm, and Atoufi’s first. On the way to the norm, FM Joel Banawa also picked up clear first with a very respectable final score of 7.5 out of 9.0. The full MSA crosstable for the tournament is here.
Standings from this tournament are fully updated on the website on the schedule page of the Metropolitan Chess website at www.metrochessla.com.
The participants included: IM Zhanibek Amanov (KAZ), IM Timothy Taylor (USA), IM Andranik Matikozyan (ARM), FM Pedram Atoufi (IRI), FM Joel Banawa (USA), FM Michael Casella (USA), NM Alessandro Steinfl (ITA), Vadim Kudryavtsev (RUS), NM Yian Liou (USA), and SM Roman Yankovsky (RUS).
Metropolitan Chess is also hosting a 9-round swiss event in August in Los Angeles.
Nice job by Joel. Doesn’t he have a brother who plays chess?
Congrats to Banana and Patchouli!