The 2025 Cornerstone Chess Labor Day Invitational opened on August 27 in San Jose, featuring three parallel round-robin norm events (GM, IM-A, IM-B). The tournaments run through September 1 under standard FIDE time control of 90 minutes plus a 30-second increment from move one.
GM Norm Event
The top section, registered with event code 432813, brings together 10 titled players. The lineup includes three Grandmasters, three International Masters, and four FIDE Masters.
Starting rank list (top three):
- GM Dambasuren Batsuren (MGL, 2520)
- GM Nikolozi Kacharava (GEO, 2519)
- GM Joshua Sheng (USA, 2480)
The United States is the most represented federation with six players, followed by Mongolia, Georgia, Canada, and Russia with one each.
Schedule (San Jose local / PT → convert EDT):
- R1: Aug 27, 7:00 p.m. PT / 10:00 p.m. EDT
- R2: Aug 28, 7:00 p.m. PT / 10:00 p.m. EDT
- R3: Aug 29, 6:00 p.m. PT / 9:00 p.m. EDT
- R4: Aug 30, 11:00 a.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. EDT
- R5: Aug 30, 5:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. EDT
- R6: Aug 31, 11:00 a.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. EDT
- R7: Aug 31, 5:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. EDT
- R8: Sep 1, 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. EDT
- R9: Sep 1, 3:30 p.m. PT / 6:30 p.m. EDT
The tournament is directed by Chief Arbiter Richard Koepcke (USA) and organized by Josiah Stearman (USA).
IM Norm A Event
The IM-A section began on August 28, also running nine rounds. The field includes two GMs, one IM, one WIM, two FMs, and several untitled players, making it a key opportunity for IM norm seekers.
Top seeds:
- GM Tal Baron (ISL, 2432)
- GM Batchuluu Tsegmed (MGL, 2428)
- IM Ganbold Odondoo (MGL, 2289)
The field has broad representation: USA (6), Mongolia (2), Iceland (1), India (1).
Schedule (PT → EDT):
- R1: Aug 28, 7:00 p.m. PT / 10:00 p.m. EDT
- R2: Aug 29, 12:00 p.m. PT / 3:00 p.m. EDT
- R3: Aug 29, 6:00 p.m. PT / 9:00 p.m. EDT
- R4: Aug 30, 11:00 a.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. EDT
- R5: Aug 30, 5:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. EDT
- R6: Aug 31, 11:00 a.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. EDT
- R7: Aug 31, 5:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. EDT
- R8: Sep 1, 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. EDT
- R9: Sep 1, 3:30 p.m. PT / 6:30 p.m. EDT
IM Norm B Event
The IM-B tournament features GM Gabor Nagy (HUN, 2467) as the top seed, joined by Hungary’s IM Gellert Karacsonyi (2411) and Slovakia’s IM Tamas Petenyi (2245). The section also includes six U.S. representatives and one player from India.
Title distribution: 1 GM, 2 IMs, 3 FMs, and 4 untitled players.
Schedule matches the IM-A section, with play from August 28 to September 1.
Previous Edition (2024)
The 2024 Invitational saw IM Kyron Griffith (USA, 2382) claim first place in the GM-A section with 7/9, ahead of GM Oliver Barbosa (PHI, 6/9) and IM Robert Shlyakhtenko (USA, 6/9).
In IM-B, IM Mykola Bortnyk (UKR, 2418) won with 5.5/9, narrowly ahead of FM Leif Pressman (USA, 5/9) and CM Pedro Espinosa (USA, 5/9).
Tournament Facts
- Format: 10-player round robin, classical control.
- Location: San Jose, California, USA.
- Dates: Aug 27 – Sep 1, 2025.
- Federations represented across all groups: USA, MGL, GEO, RUS, CAN, ISL, IND, HUN, SVK.
- Norm opportunities: GM and IM norms possible in respective sections.
2025 Cornerstone Chess Labor Day Invitational schedules and results
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