The 3rd Annual Continental Class Championships were held from October 4-8, 2012, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia.
The event had 7 sections: Master, Expert, Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D and Class E. The event had a $50,000 projected prize fund with $30,000 guaranteed.
The Master Section was a 9 round event with 53 participants.
Grandmasters Sergei Azarov and Sergey Erenburg finished at the top of the standings after nine battling rounds in a thrilling event that saw many lead changes at the top. Both players scored 7/9 to earn $2,250 each but Azarov had the better tie-breaks to take the title and an additional $120 bonus to bring his total to $2,370.
Final standings:
1-2. GM Sergei Azarov 2618 BLR ($2370.00) and GM Sergey Erenburg 2629 ISR ($2250.00) – 7,0
3. GM Alexander Shabalov 2570 PA ($900.00) – 6,5
4-7. GM Aleksandr Lenderman 2614 NY ($440.00), GM Joshua Edward Friedel 2495 NH ($440.00), IM Leonid Gerzhoy 2469 CAN ($440.00) and Luke Harmon-Vellotti 2320 ID ($1200.00) – 6,0
8-16. IM Greg Shahade 2468 PA, IM Faik Aleskerov 2436 AZE, FM John Daniel Bryant 2420 CA, Robert M Perez 2355 FL, GM Vladimir Romanenko 2503 BLR, Kevin Mo 2256 PA, FM Jeffery Xiong 2236 TX, Christopher Wu 2239 NJ and Giovanni Carreto 2247 MEX ($160.00 each) – 5,5 etc
