Two tournaments in one day? In Oklahoma?
Photos by William Schubert and Rebecca Rutledge
Once upon a time, it was common to go a month or two between tournaments in Oklahoma. If you wanted to play regularly, you had to travel. That wasn't so long ago—some of our older scholastic players still remember those days. (And their parents certainly remember fighting the Friday-evening traffic on I-35 to get to the Dallas Chess Club in time for round one.)
We are happy to report that those days are long gone. The proof: Two tournaments were held in Oklahoma on January 31, one in Tulsa and one in Oklahoma City.
In Tulsa...
The Tulsa Cathedral Chess Tournament was held at Holy Family Cathedral Classical School in Tulsa. The four-round Swiss, game/30;+5 event comprised both a rated and an unrated section. NM Chuck Unruh scored a perfect 4.0 to win the rated section. Tied with 3.0 points each were David Luscomb, Chris Dooley, Paarth Jain, Liam Bond, Ryan Samadder, Daniel Koehn, Jacob Rothrock, Landon Tedford, and Peter Thomer.
First-time tournament players Maliex Brophy and K. Clark Phipps tied for first place in the unrated section. Top three under 18 were Edgar Nolte, Eric Portillo, and Mason McCombs.
Matthew Cole, an officer at Knights of Columbus of Holy Family Cathedral, was the event organizer and chief tournament director. Mike Waters served as assistant TD and oversaw the rated section.
...and in Oklahoma City
The third installment of the NC-17 Open was held in Oklahoma City on the same day. The annual Oklahoma City Chess Club event is restricted to players age 18 and older. Time control for the four-round Swiss was game/60;+10.
Josh Alexander won the Open with a perfect 4.0 score. Tied for second with 3.0 points each were Thomas Nguyen, Jenny Baranker, and Carter Williams (of San Antonio). In the Reserve (U1700), Jeff Carter took first place (3.5) with Matthew Huber and Ish Kissinger tied for second/third (3.0 each). Andrew Gerding and Cody Hunter scored 3.5 points each to tie for first/second in the Novice (U1000). In third place with 2.5 points was Jared Bashaw.
Rebecca Rutledge directed the event. She said that as Oklahoma's tournament scene has grown, directors and organizers have worked together to avoid scheduling conflicts. "You don't want to schedule on top of somebody else if you can help it," she said. "But when you think of how things used to be, this seems like a good problem to have."
Amburgy plays 10-board simul in OKC
PHOTO: FM Ryan Amburgy makes a move against Joseph Zacharias. Also pictured: Douglas Ray, Jake Williams, and Gabe Coss. The field also included Sandor Konyves, Mark Konyves, Kiara Pavithran, Curtis Williams, and Clarence Ellis.
FM Ryan Amburgy played a 10-board simul on Friday, February 6 at Kamp's 1910 Café in downtown Oklahoma City. His opponents' ratings ranged from unrated to 1819. Amburgy won all his games in a little over an hour. To his opponents' credit, he reported feeling "pretty tired" afterwards.
Amburgy is a two-time Oklahoma state champion and five-time state blitz champion.
Norman's tournament scene is on the rise
PHOTO: Organizer Tom Nichols with winners FM Ryan Amburgy (first) and Aviel Ndengang (second) at the February 7 Valentine's Checkmate.
With a 36-player field including players from Enid, Altus, Tulsa, and all over the Oklahoma City metro, the latest Norman tournament made it clear that the Sooner Chess Club has become a major player in the Oklahoma tournament scene.
FM Ryan Amburgy won the February 7 Valentine's Classic with a perfect 4.0 out of 4. In second place with 3.5 points was Aviel Ndengang, a scholastic player from Tulsa.
Seven players tied with 3.0 points each: Thomas Patton, Arya Roy Choudhury, Jenny Baranker, Brandon Ware, Justin Nichols, Farooq Abdullah, and Andrew Gerding.
Michael Langston was chief tournament director, and Tom Nichols organized the event. The Valentine's Checkmate tournament was part of the Sooner Chess Club's first Saturday tournament series. Next on the schedule is "March Mate-ness" on Saturday, March 7.
Results: Sooner Chess Club Valentine's Checkmate
Information & registration: March Mate-ness
ALEXANDER • AMBURGY • BRAUNLICH • HULSEY • LUSCOMB • UNRUH
2026 Rózsa Trophy field announced
The fourth annual Rózsa Trophy, originally scheduled for January 30–February 1, has been postponed. When a new date is confirmed, we'll update this article.
The event is a round robin invitational for the top six active players in the state. This year's field is as follows:
FM Ryan Amburgy (2416)
LM Tom Braunlich (2200)
Joshua Alexander (2138)
David Luscomb (2132)
NM Mark Hulsey (2100)
NM Chuck Unruh (2010)
LM Tom Braunlich won the inaugural event in 2023. FM Ryan Amburgy won it in 2024 and 2025. Who will win it this year? Watch and find out! Games will be streamed live all weekend. We'll post the link here when it's available. Stay tuned . . .
Scholastic tournament held in Edmond
The Deer Creek K-12 Open was held Saturday, January 10 at Deer Creek Intermediate School in Edmond. The event drew just shy of 180 players who competed in five sections. Aviel Ndengang and Jack Xue tied for first place in the top section. Visit the Scholastics page for more results.
David Luscomb wins 34th Holiday Open
The Holiday Open was held December 27 at the historic Campbell Hotel in Tulsa. David Luscomb won the Open, earning himself the first-place prize and getting him ten points closer to 2200. Just a half point behind him was scholastic player Jack Xue, who finished second with 3.5 points. Hable Samadder won the Reserve with 3.5/4. Brandon Escobedo (3.0) finished second.
Now in its thirty-fourth year, the Holiday Open was originally held in Stillwater and organized by Jim and Frank Berry. Tom Braunlich organized this year's event; David Stewart was chief TD. Results are here: The 2025 Holiday Open