Area Event Updates
Check out several events coming up in
the next couple of months by clicking on the Area Events link above!
JULIAN, LESLIE WIN IEO
John Julian and Cameron Leslie each finished at 4.5 to win this year's installment of the Inland Empire Open, our oldest weekend event (first played in 1954). John drew with fellow Expert Tim Moroney in their fourth round game, and then defeated Mark Havrilla in the final round on board one. Cam had to take a first round bye due to work obligations, but won his four games to join John on top. He defeated Tacoma's Joseph Kiiru on board two in the final round to earn the tie with Julian. Top seed Moroney had to take a fifth round bye due to work and finished third with 4.0.
The class A prizes were shared by Havrilla, Michael Cambareri, and Kairav Joshi, each of whom scored 3.5. Kevin Korsmo and Jim McAleer won the class B prizes with 3.0 scores. Tim Kennedy won class C with 3.0, while John Hay and Ron Weyland took second in the class with 2.0 scores. A tally of 2.5 secured first place in class D for Jim Burney, while Rory Peterson and Brian Rinker finished one half point behind to share the second prize. Ted Baker's first round upset of 491 points held up for the biggest upset prize.
The event saw 30 players take part -- a great turn out considering the conflict with the state elementary tournament that took many of our locals away from the IEO. Dave Griffin again directed the event at Gonzaga's Schoenberg Center. The cross table link can be found on our Inland Empire Open page (link at left).
Scholastic News
Northwest Christian Claims Trophy at Nationals!!
Congratulations to Northwest Christian, the first local school to take a team to Nationals in several years. The team claimed a trophy in the K-8 Under 1000 category on the strength of four finishers. Torrey Casper scored 4.5 (from 7) to lead the team, which was hampered by two of their stronger player having to play in higher sections. The results for Torrey and some of the others should send their USCF ratings climbing nicely. Our congratulations also to coaches John Dill and Kelly King, as well as the supportive parents of this group, for their efforts to put Spokane back on the national chess scene. Way to go, everyone!! This year's national tourney was held in San Diego on April 28-29.
The NWC team with its trophy.
LOCAL SCHOOLS STRONG AT STATE
While the IEO was being played, our local scholastic players were in Richland competing in the state elementary championship. Nathan Sacpopo, Jacob Gray, and Nick Seleski each scored 4-1 while finishing 14th through 16th respectively in fifth grade, leading the Northwest Christian team of eight players to eighth place out of 113 schools. It was an excellent result for the first year program directed by John Dill and Kelly King.
St. Georges finished 21st in the K-3 section and secured a trophy. Individuals who won trophies with scores of 3-2 were James Gunn, Sam Morris, and Ethan Wu.
Eight Deer Park students qualified at state and played as the Arcadia team. Two of them took home trophies: Zachary Robertson (3.5-1.5) and Shawn Lewis (3-2).
Congratulations to all of the students who qualified for State, and special congratulations to those who won trophies. There were 800 students competing in this year's event. The championship will return to eastern Washington in 2015.
KRASIN, LESLIE TOP MONTANA OPEN
Jeremy Krasin and Cameron Leslie each scored 4.5 to top the 35 player Montana Open held in Missoula April 28-29. Both pushed their ratings higher into the 1900 category in search of an Expert rating. Ted Baker and Pat Kirlin also gained rating points in the event.
The USCF cross table link: http://main.uschess.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,181/
SUMMER TOURNAMENTS SCHEDULED
Check out our Area Events page for the flyers for the Qualchan Quads on June 23 and the Spokane Falls Open on July 14-15. The quads will be played in conjunction with a qualifying event for the city championship which will be played alongside the Spokane Falls Open.
CLUB HISTORY IS NOW POSTED!
Club alum Steve Fabian has put in a lot of historical research and come up with a lengthy (32 page) history of Spokane chess from 1899 to present! This well-researched article, written in the indomitable Fabian style, is found on our History page (link at left). Contact information for Steve is at the end of the article, so if you have more insights or any corrections, please feel free to write Steve or your editor to share you thoughts and contribute to the telling of the club's story. The club owes an immense thanks to Steve for all the effort he put into writing this article.
Currently at Club
Weyland is Quick!
Ron Weyland won a pair of quick quads held May 3 and May 10, each with a perfect 3.0 score. The link is posted our our Recent Results page (link at left).
The club's May 17 meeting will feature a Dutch Thematic night. The following week, May 24, sees the club's annual Election of officers, as well as an evening of blitz.
Previously
The Taxing Quads began its three week run on April 12 with ten players taking part in the g/2 event. The top quad was won by Jeremy Krasin (2.5). Ted Baker was a perfect 3.0 to win the mini-Swiss that made up section two. Second place in that section was shared by Jim Burney and Ron Weyland (2.0).
Nikolay Bulakh was perfect in winning the four round g/45 March Madness tourney played at club March 22 and March 29. Second place (2.0) was shared by Jim Burney, Michael Cambareri, Dave Griffin, Jeff Jaroski, and Ron Weyland.
The club's March 15 meeting saw 11 players compete in a four round g/15 quick tourney. Four players tied for first with 3.0 scores: Nikolay Bulakh, Michael Cambareri, John Julian, and Kevin Korsmo. The under 1500 prize was shared by Jim Waugh and Ron Weyland, each of whom scored 2.0.
CD'A CHESS CLUB STARTS UP AGAIN
The Coeur d'Alene Chess Club is starting up again with a meeting April 4 at Strategy Games at the Silver Lake Mall beginning at 7 p.m. Harold Wetmur is directing the club and has a new website: cdachessclub.com. We have amended the link on on our links page (left) to reflect the new web address. There will be an unrated event on April 4, and Harold encourages local players to turn out to help with lessons and the tourney.
US OPEN RETURNS TO WASHINGTON
2012 -- VANCOUVER
The 2012 U.S. Open Chess Championship will be played in Vancouver, Washington, August 4-12. It is the first time the Open has been back to Washington state since Seattle hosted the event in 1966 (Portland hosted in 1987). Make your plans to attend! The playing site is to be the Vancouver Hilton.
The USCF tourney announcement:
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GRAND PRIX STANDINGS POSTED
It took some time, but we now have the 2011-2012 Grand Prix standings posted on our Club Grand Prix page (link at left). This program, sponsored by David Griffin, rates performances by local players during the club year and helps select players for the city championship contenders tournament. All prizes are donated by David.
CHOW GSL CHAMPION
Alex Chow, a senior from Lewis & Clark and co-champion of this event last year, won the 2012 GSL Individual Championship with a perfect 4.0 score. Gonzaga Prep freshman Mitch Kilayko finished second with 3.5. The event, rescheduled from January 16 when bad roads closed down the local schools, drew 22 players to Rogers High School on March 2.
Chow fought off a strong attack by North Central's David Blue in round 3. Down time, and with both players low on the clock, Alex accurately defended against David's assault and prevailed after the attack was blunted. Alex then quickly defeated Ferris junior Hallie Ervin in round four to complete his perfect afternoon. Kilayko defeated Rogers senior James Eckart in a tight contest on board two for the second place trophy. Third place (3.0) featured five players: Blue, Ervin, Shadle Park sophomore Curtis Grubb, and freshmen David Joslin (Prep) and Jomell Parajillo (Shadle). Joslin won the trophy for biggest upset when he defeated a player rated over 700 points higher in the final round.
The event was heavy on underclass players, with only a small group of seniors able to play due to conflicts with sports and debate. The exciting chess played by the youngsters ensure several more years of spirited competition in the high school ranks!
The cross table is posted on our Scholastic Events page (link at left).
DONALDSON TOPS 20TH DAVE COLLYER MEMORIAL
After the first day's action, there were five perfect (3.0) scores in this year's 20th Dave Collyer Memorial among a field of 64 players. By the end of the final round, only John Donaldson was still perfect. It was the fifth perfect score in the history of the event. In addition to winning the first place prize, John also won the Stephen Christopher Memorial Perfect Score prize of $200 donated by long time northwest chess figure Rusty Miller.
Second place went to James Stripes (4.5), whose only record blemish was taking a third round ("old man's") bye Saturday night. Third place (4.0) was shared by Paul Bartron, John Julian, Steve Merwin, and Jon Middaugh. Jon took the first class prize in A, while the other three shared the prizes for third place and Expert.
A score of 3.5 was the magic number for most of the remaining prize winners. Five of those players shared the second prize in Class A: Ryan Ackerman, Nikolay Bulakh, Kairav Joshi, Cameron Leslie, and Dave Rowles. The same score gave Dan McCourt and Steve Fabian the Class B prizes. Likewise, that score was the winning tally in Class C for Richard Williams. Second place in Class C went to Ron Weyland with a 3.0 score. The Class D category prizes were won by Jim Burney and Peter Schumaker with 2.5 scores. The Naess sisters from Norway (currently living in Moses Lake until June), Maria and Sara, shared the Class E section prizes with 2.0 scores. They also claimed the second and third place biggest upset prizes ($50 each), with Sara's upset only ten points below the top upset achieved by Ron Weyland ($100). They both claimed scalps of players rated more than 700 points above them!
A large contingent of youthful players -- 9 scholastic youth in fifth grade or younger -- augmented the turnout and helped make the 20th Collyer the youngest in event history! A special prize of a magnetic wooden travel set donated by John Dill, coach of the Northwest Christian chess program, went to Nick Seleski who recorded a 814 point upset win in round two. The upset did not qualify for prize money because it involved a provisionally rated player, but was still the most impressive upset of the event.
The event was without incident except for a late Saturday morning snow storm that dumped five inches of snow in just a few hours. It prevented one sleep-in player from making his morning game on board one and sent another player home after the first round. By mid-afternoon, though, the roads were clear and the snow was melting, leaving only slush to be dealt with the rest of the weekend.
A special 20th anniversary plaque, featuring a photo of Dave Collyer and Gary Younker (along with a very young Curt Collyer) was handed out as a door prize to each entrant. An anonymous donor spent over $600 providing 75 plaques for players.
The cross table for the event can be viewed here: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201202269352-10328357
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IM John Donaldson once again gave a well-received lecture and simul the evening before the tourney, February 24. A total of 26 players took part, with two players gaining victories, three players gaining draws, and 21 others having a fun time!
James Stripes Visits London
Samples U.K. Chess
Spokane's James Stripes managed to fit some chess into his schedule during a vacation to England in early October. He forwarded the following report on his visit to a London chess club:
James Stripes played a few five-minute games with Tryfon Gavriel in the Wargrave Arms at the September 28 meeting of the King's Head Chess Club. This club meets in a pub on Tuesday nights. Gavriel is a British Regional Master who is known worldwide as "kingscrusher"--a name he uses on his online playing site ChessWorld and for his instructive YouTube videos, which often feature him talking his way through victories over tough competition on ICC. Despite being "completely knackered from travelling," as Gavriel put it, the upstart American took some games in the pub ending a fairly impressive blitz winning streak for the Brit.
We also received a photo from that visit:
(from left: Dr. James Stripes, Teri Stripes, and the "kingscrusher" Tryfon
Gavriel.)
James also visited the British Museum, where he captured the following picture of the famed Lewis chess set.
