The 85th Massachusetts Open with its 253 players in 13 sections has come and gone, finding a four-way tie for first between David Vigorito, Mika Brattain, Chris Williams, and 13-year-old New Yorker David Brodsky (for complete results see MassChess.org). As only Massachusetts residents can be state champions, just Vigorito, Brattain, and Williams will have their names engraved on the championship trophy. The blitz tournament saw Carnegie Mellon student and Shrewsbury native Grant Xu winning with a convincing score of 9 out of 10 points, and Alexander Ivanov in second place with 8 points.

An early indicator that this was not going to be a typical Mass Open came when 14-time Mass Open champ Alexander Ivanov lost in the second round, leading many other players to speculate that they had a chance. He lost again in the fourth round, putting the event into competitive chaos and opening the championship door to almost everyone. Then, he lost again in the sixth. Such things just don’t happen! We only hope that Ivanov’s poor form is but a brief moment and not a permanent condition.

Winners: MCC 33rd Anniversary Swiss: Open: 1st: James Rizzitano: 4-1, 2nd-3rd: Steve Winer, Nithin Kavi: 3.5-1.5; Boylston June Quads: Quad#1: 1st: Charles Riordan: 2.5-.5, Quad#2: 1st: Peter Pashkov, Quad#3: 1st: Rian Zijian Yin, 2.5-.5, Quad#4: Phu Si Vo: 2.5-.5, SmallSwiss: 1st–2nd: Bob Oresick, Zubin Baliga: 2.5-.5

Coming events: Boylston Father’s Day Open, June 18, 40 Norris St., Cambridge, www.BoylstonChess.org; Keene Open, June 19, Congregation Ahavas Achim, 84 Hastings Ave., Keene, N.H., www.KnightsChessClub.org.

Answer to today’s problem: 1.Qb7! wins material as 1…Qxb7 loses to 2.Rd8+ Bxd8 3.Rxd8 mate and any reasonable queen move loses the knight on c7.

Chris Chase can be reached at BostonGlobeChessNotes@gmail.com.