National Senior Tournament of Champions

Representing forty-one states (and DC) in it's very first year, the National Senior Tournament of Champions made an admirable addition to the prestigious Denker, Barber, and  National Girl's tournaments. The NSTOC’s first annual event took place July 28-31, 2018 alongside the U.S. Open at the Madison Marriott West in Middleton, WI. The average rating of the 42 players going into this year's tournament was well over 2,000 and included four Grandmasters: Alexander Fishbein (New Jersey), Alonso Zapata (Georgia), Enrico Sevillano (Southern California), and Michael Rohde (New York). At the end of six rounds, GM Alexander Fishbein (NJ) and GM Alonso Zapata (GA) both finished 5.0/6 with GM Alexander winning by tiebreak. GM Alonso Zapata (GA) won second place. FM Karl Dehmelt (PA), GM Michael Rohde (NY), and GM Enrico Sevillano (CA-S) all scored 4.5/6 each thereby finishing 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively. The Top Senior Prize (+75) went to NM Klaus Pohl (SC).
Plaque awards went to the best players by age group: Stuart A. Varden (MD) - U90; NM Sergey Berchenko (OH) - U80; NM Wilson Gibbins (MN) - U70; NM Tony Davis (AR) U60.
Upset Prizes were as follows: Upset Rd. 1 - Bryan Lilly (WI) $50 certificate, Upset Rd. 2 - Ramon Tagorda (LA) $50 certificate, Upset Rd. 3 - Kenneth Sloan (AL) $50 certificate, Upset Rd. 4 - Keith Prosterman (NE) $50 certificate, Upset Rd. 5 - Ignacio Perez (WA) $50 certificate, Upset Rd. 6 Michael Presutti (ID) $50 certificate.