Spokane Area Scholastic Tournaments

2011-2012 School Year

We will post all local tourney flyers as we receive them. For the most current listing of tourney dates, check the St. Georges chess calendar link:

http://dragon.sgs.org/webs/chess/chess_calendar.htm

Posted below you will find flyers for the GSL Individual (to be rescheduled) and Team (Feb. 3) tournaments, as well as the Groundhog Gambit (Feb. 4).

___________________________________________________________________________________

The Rogers H.S. Chess Club

Will Proudly Host

The 2012 GSL Individual Championship

Friday, ??????

A tournament in the Rogers HS Library

3:15-9:00pm

Students in grade 9-12 only

4 round Swiss, Game 30
(unless otherwise determined by the TD)

Pizza provided - $8 cost per person

Make checks payable to Barb Silvey.

Bring your payment to the tournament.

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The Gonzaga Prep Chess Club

Will Proudly Host

The GSL Team Championship

Friday, February 3, 2012

A team tournament at Gonzaga Prep Library

3:30 to 9:00pm

Teams of 5 High School players

3 round swiss, game 45

(or possibly 4 round swiss, game 30)

$10 cost per team

Make checks payable to Gonzaga Prep

Bring your payment to the tournament.

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Groundhog Gambit

Chess Tournament

February 4, 2012

Saint George's School, Spokane

2012 Washington State Elementary Chess Championship Qualifier

Trophies awarded to top players and top teams

Email: chess@sgs.org

Include player’s name, school, and grade.

Entry Fee: $10.00 if preregistered (pay at check in); $15.00 at door

Schedule: First round begins at 10:00 a.m. Check in 8:30 to 9:30.

Players not checked in by 9:30 a.m. will not be paired in the first round.

Format: 5 round Swiss paired by computer, G/30, NWSRS rated

Divisions: K-3, 4-6, 7-12 (strong younger players may elect to play up).

Mark your calendar now: Black Knights’ Quest, March 10

Dragonslayer, March 31

Washington State Elementary Championship, April 21

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Scholastic Event Reports 2011-2012

Winterfest (January 21, 2012)

by Dr. James Stripes

Eight schools were represented by forty-four players at Saturday's Winterfest Scholastic chess tournament, the tenth time that this annual tournament has been held. Aside from a single player who made the trip north from Pullman, all the others were from north Spokane. Friday's freezing rain deterred others who had planned to attend.

Northwest Christian playes were unbeatable until they were forced to play one another. They easily captured the team trophy. Nick Seleski won the Grand Champion trophy in K-6 on tiebreaks, as he dispatched two of the players scoring 4.0. The next five places all received trophies: Nathan Sacpopo was first in grade 5, Jacob Gray was second in grade 5, Ray Johnson was third in the same, Torrey Casper was fourth in grade 5, and Kenny King was first in grade 4. The top 3.0 player was Tristan Udby, winner of an in-house tournament at his school last spring. First place in grade 6 went to Zeph Johnson, who edged out the other sixth grader with 2.0 on tiebreaks.

Competition between Saint George's School and Arcadia was strong in the K-3 section that had well over half of the entries from SGS. The top SGS second grader elected to play in the K-6 section where he earned valuable lessons from the Northwest Christian players before earning two wins against Arcadia players, helping secure second place in the team competition for his school.

James Gunn won the Grand Champion trophy in K-3 with slightly stronger tiebreaks than Zac Johnson. The two drew each other in the second round. Zac won first place in grade 3. He was followed by Dana Mogensen was second in grade 3, and Holden Adams was third in the same. My admonition to the third graders at a previous tournament that age does not always prevail and that the second graders were the hard ones to beat in that section appears to have spurred a few to improve. Jack Morris and Tariq Ravasia won first and second in grade 2 behind their classmate, the Grand Champion. Sam Morris, also with 3.0, was first place in kindergarten. Gabe Gustafson was first in grade 1 with 2.5.

The MS/HS section was small. Peter Schumaker easily won all six games in the double round robin. Dane Lindh won all his other games, taking the second place prize.

The cross table link: http://chess.ratingsnw.com/report11-12/DeerParkWinterfest.html

The K-6 team champions:

Solstice Sacrifice (December 10, 2011)

by Dr. James Stripes

Fifty-five players from nine schools competed in the Solstice Sacrifice chess tournament at Saint George's School on December 10. The team competition was a repeat of last month's Black Knight's Joust, pitting Northwest Christian fifth graders against Saint George's School second graders. However, this time Northwest Christian prevailed 19-18. Arcadia again took third.

In the K-3 section, second grader Tariq Ravasia was grand champion with a perfect 5-0. First grader Seth Arthurs and third grader Holden Adams were next at 4.0. Arthurs' only loss was to Ravasia, and Adams lost only to Arthurs. James Gunn, Zach Robertson, Jack Morris, and A.J. Stenbeck each had 3.5. Katherine Gunn was the top kindergartner with a very impressive 3.0. All players scoring 3.0 or higher qualify for the Washington State Elementary Chess Championship in Pasco, April 21. In addition, kindergartners Sam Morris and Josh Lubanski (2.5 each) qualified for state.

In K-6, Jacob Gray defeated his teammate Nathan Sacpopo in the final round to earn grand champion. The top five fifth graders were the top five in the section and all won trophies. Sacpopo, Daniel Arthurs, and Nick Seleski each scored 4.0. Shawn Lewis had the strongest tie-breaks of the seven players with 3.0 in the upper elementary section, which included four more fifth graders and sixth graders Katie Thew and Connor Cremers. First place in fourth grade went to Kenny King, who scored 2.0.

The high school/middle school section had one more player than last month's tournament in Deer Park with seven players. Lincoln School teammates won the top two prizes. Nathan Arthurs beat Peter Schumaker in their individual encounter to capture first. Brothers Drew and Dane Lindh tied for third.

Notably, there were only two draws in the fifty-five games played in the K-6 section. In contrast, several draws in the K-3 section revealed players not yet able to deliver checkmate with a queen and king against a lone king. Beginning players are advised to have a look at http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2011/11/lesson-of-week_08.html, which offers a useful technique for learning this elementary skill.

SGS Alum Michael Cambareri, and his father John Cambareri ran the pairings for this event, the first SGS tournament directed by SGS Lower School coach James Stripes.

The NWSRS cross table link: http://chess.ratingsnw.com/report11-12/Solstice.html

Black Knights Joust (November 5)

by Dr. James Stripes

The Black Knights' Joust was slightly larger than any of last year's Spokane area scholastic tournaments, although the MS/HS section was the smallest in memory. Forty-eight players from a handful of schools competed.

Players from Idaho comprised half of the six-player MS/HS section. Savanna Naccarato beat all the others, easily capturing first place. Post Falls senior Michael Fellegy finished second

In the elementary sections, four Northwest Christian fifth graders dominated K-6, while five Saint George's second graders finished in the top eight in K-3. Only two players in K-3 were from schools other than Saint George's School and Arcadia. One of these two was a late entry who had another activity to attend in the morning. Her participation in the last two rounds as Northwest Christian's fifth player produced the points needed to lift NWC into second in the team competition, one point ahead of Arcadia. Saint George's captured first.

Individual champions Torrey Casper (K-6) and Ethan Wu (K-3) took home nice trophies. Both had perfect 5.0 scores. All players in the elementary sections who scored three or more took home a trophy or a medal. An unusual number of teammates who had to play each other due to the small number of schools represented, and in the final round the Naess sisters were paired. That game ended in a hard-fought draw, which benefited Casper, the only other K-6 player with 4.0 going into the final round.

The NWSRS cross table link: http://chess.ratingsnw.com/report11-12/BlackKnightsJoust.html

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2010-2011

The Last Hurrah (April 16)

The last Chris Copeland-produced tournament at St. Georges was held April 16, 2011. Chris is moving to Portland this summer after more than a dozen years of leading scholastic chess in Spokane.

There were 37 players in this event. Zach Countryman (4.5) topped the K-12 section. Shawn Lewis and Drew Lindh each scored 4.0 to tie for first in K-6. Ethan Wu was a perfect 5.0 in winning the K-3 section.

The NWRS cross table: http://chess.ratingsnw.com/report10-11/LastHurrah.html

Black Knights Quest (March 5)

Girls Top Black Knights' Quest

by James Stripes

Chess is a sport in which girls and boys compete as equals. Two girls contested this notion at the Black Knights' Quest in Deer Park by beating all the boys. In the K-12 section, Savanna Naccarato won her first round game, as expected, and then went on to beat four boys with higher ratings. She took out the top seed, Nikolay Bulakh in round two, then dispatched a trio of boys from Pullman. For her success, Savanna won a $50 gift card. Another girl in the top section, fourth grader Sara Naess playing up for tougher competition, finished in a four-way tie for third, but fourth on tie-breaks. From Norway, Sara and her sister from Norway brought an international dimension to an event that had players from across Washington state—Whatcom and Whitman counties, as well as Spokane and Grant. Savanna lives in Idaho and did well in the Idaho Scholastic Girls Championship last Saturday in Boise.

Maria Naess swept the K-3 section with a perfect 5.0, winning the grand champion trophy. Behind her was Koh Micek, who lost to her alone. The four-way tie for third in K-3 was topped by Sarah Wu on the basis of slightly stronger competition. The other players with 3.5 each were top in their grade: Joey Aho in second grade, Tariq Ravasia in first grade, and Seth Arthurs in kindergarten.

In K-6, Alexandra Elkins won her first three games, including beating the top rated player in the section in round three. Alas, she lost to a determined Daniel Arthurs in round four, and then in round five played Reo Reyes, who had beat Daniel in round three. Reo finished with 4.0 and tied with top seed Cyril Berndt who recovered from his loss to Alexandra to win the rest of his games. Cyril's victory over Reo in round two and stronger opponents gave him the grand champion trophy for K-6. Reo was the top fifth grader, Daniel the top fourth grader, and Alexandra won a trophy for biggest upset.

The team competition in elementary was a repeat of Winterfest with host school Arcadia outscoring Saint George's School in K-6 and Saint George's triumphing in K-3. The competition combined the sections with the top five scores for each school counting. It came down to the fifth player, and Saint George's won by one-half point.

GSL Team Championship (Feb. 4)

Powered by the GSL co-champions on the top two boards, Lewis & Clark won its first GSL team championship with a perfect match score of 3.0. In board order, their team was Zach Countryman, Alex Chow, Elliot Chow, Andrew Kovash, and Will Dittman. Alex Chow was perfect on board two and claimed the trophy for the outstanding individual performance. Gonzaga Prep and a combined Mead-North Central team tied for second with 2-1 scores (both falling to LC), with Mead-NC edging Prep in tiebreak 10-9 to win the second place trophy. A total of six teams representing six schools competed in the event held at G-Prep on February 4.

The cross table: http://chess.ratingsnw.com/report10-11/GSLteam.html

Winterfest (Jan. 22)

James Stripes reports:

Nikolay Bulakh prevailed in the Winterfest Scholastic. Five seventh graders and one third grader not only comprised just under half of the entries, but also made up just under half of the group scoring three or more. Behind senior Bulakh was seventh grader Peter Schmaker in second place. Places three through seven were shared by high schoolers David Blue, Titus Berndt, and Dane Lindh, as well as seventh grader Nathan Arthurs and third grader Braxton Casey. Blue had the strongest tiebreaks and was one of two in that group rated under 1200, so he won the best under 1200 prize. Lindh had the biggest upset. Casey beat Blue who beat Arthurs who beat Casey, and Casey and Arthurs had almost identical tiebreaks. Because of their individual encounter, Arthurs took home the third place prize (best under 1200 was more gilt) and young Casey went home only with additional experience and knowledge gained competing with the older players.

The elementary divisions featured the usual battle between Arcadia and Saint George's for the team trophies. Arcadia prevailed in 4-6, while Saint George's dominated K-3 so strongly that the combined team score between the two elementary sections gave Saint George's clear first. Although seven other schools had players, none had enough to be competitive in team scoring. Certainly there must be other school chess clubs in the Spokane area that could be part of the competitive scene.

In the K-3 section, Ethan and Sarah Wu tied for the top prize with Ethan winning the Grand Champion trophy on tie-breaks and his older sister taking first place in grade three. Their teammates Tariq Ravasi and James Gunn were the top first and second graders. Seth Arthurs was the only kindergarten player, but his three points demonstrated that he certainly earned the trophy for top in his grade. In 4-6, or K-6 as we call it because younger players sometimes play up, Connor Cremers was the sole five-point-zero and won the grand champion trophy. Cyril Berndt was second overall and the top sixth grader. In third, Nikhil Chaudhry won first in fourth grade. First place in fifth grade (because fifth grader Connor won a taller trophy) went to Alexandra Elkins who was part of the pack sharing fourth though seventh.

All elementary players scoring three or more went home with a trophy.

The NWSRS cross table link: http://chess.ratingsnw.com/report10-11/Winterfest.html

GSL Individual Championship (Jan. 21)

LC juniors Alex Chow and Zach Countryman won the GSL Individual Championship held at Rogers on January 21. The two each scored a perfect 4.0 to claim first place. Using their own unique tie-breakers, Alex took home the first place trophy and Zach the second place. Mead senior David Burke won the biggest upset trophy. A field of 22 took part.

The NWSRS cross table link: http://chess.ratingsnw.com/report10-11/SpokaneLeague.html

Solstice Sacrifice (Dec. 18)

The re-scheduled Solstice Sacrifice, postponed from its original December 11 scheduled date, drew only 31 players to St. Georges on the opening weekend of Christmas break.

The NWSRC cross table link: http://chess.ratingsnw.com/report10-11/SolsticeSacrafice.html

Black Knights Joust (October 15)

Your editor lost the story of this Deer Park event that kicked off the season. The site will be updated when it is retrieved!

This was another fine scholastic season, with a record number of local tourneys.

Scholastic Event Reports 2009-2010

STATE TOURNEY WRAP-UP

The state elementary championships drew 1200 players to the Tacoma Convention Center on April 24. Dr. James Stripes filed the following report on local participants:

Spokane Area Players and Teams Win State Trophies

Garrett Casey is the kindergarten co-champion and took first on tie-breaks over the other two with perfect scores. Tariq Ravasia placed sixteenth with the strongest tie-breaks of all the 3.0 scores; his teammate James Gunn also had 3.0. All competitors with 3.0 or more earned trophies.

In first grade, Dawson Jury finished without a loss, and had stronger tie-breaks than the player he drew in the final round, placing him third.

Second grader Braxton Casey had a disappointing loss against last year's third place finisher in their grade, Max Wu (whose rating has improved 500 points over the past year), but bounced back to win his last round game and finish with 4.0. In second grade, 4.0 was good for places 7-26, and Braxton's tie-breaks put him at sixteenth.

Wenatchee's Gregory Berndt, a regular at Spokane area tournaments, scored 3.0 at placed 106 in third grade, and Pullman's Daniel Arthurs, also with 3.0, finished at 111.

With 3.0 (places 44-105) and eighty-fifth on tie-breaks, Alexandra Elkins was the top placing fourth grader from the Spokane area. Reo Reyes was five places down from her.

Brandon Hill's twenty-fourth place finish in fifth grade with 4.0 put him at the top of the Spokane contingent in that section. His teammate Jacob Gifford had 3.5 and placed thirty-eighth. Drew Lindh's 3.0 placed him in seventy-sixth place, and earned a trophy.

In sixth grade, Pullman teammates Nathan Arthurs (eighth) and Peter Schumaker (nineteenth) both finished with 4.0, as did Shay Hutyler (twenty-first) and Collin Cremers (twenty-third).

Lake Spokane Elementary won twelfth place in the team competition in 4-6. Saint George's strong kindergarten contingent led them to twenty-first in K-3 team scoring.

Eagle Quest (April 10, 2010)

This Eagle Scout service project by Ryan Ackerman served as a last chance opportunity to qualify for the state elementary championships. There were 47 in attendance, with 19 taking part in the K-12 section. Jack Martin (4.5) edged Nikil Chaudhry (4.0) to win the 15 player K-3 section. Braxton Casey (5.0) swept the 13 player K-6 section by two points! Alex Chow was perfect in the K-12 and defeated both runners up -- Nickolay Bulakh and Richard Schumacher.

The cross tables:

SwissSys Standings. Eagle Quest: K-12

#	Name	ID	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot	TBrk[R]	Prize
1	Alex Chow	LWCK7419	1772	W11	W12	W4	W2	W3	5.0	15.5
2	Richard Schumaker	PULKE164	1562	W14	W9	W6	L1	W8	4.0	10.5
3	Nikolay Bulakh	GPSLJ610	1397	W18	W8	W12	W6	L1	4.0	9
4	Peter Schumaker	LINGG354	1431	W10	W16	L1	D5	W9	3.5	8.75
5	Kashif Ravasia	SGSIJ525	1200	W19	L6	W14	D4	W11	3.5	6.75
6	Ben Blue	NCLM7344	1621	W7	W5	L2	L3	W15	3.0	8.5
7	Jimmy Derocher	MHSM5875	1092	L6	W18	L8	W10	W14	3.0	5.5
8	David Joslin	CETHF372	670	B---	L3	W7	W11	L2	3.0	5
9	Collin Cremers	SGSGJ116	1173	W17	L2	D10	W12	L4	2.5	5.25
10	James Eckart	RGRK2941	1016	L4	W13	D9	L7	W17	2.5	5.25
11	David Blue	NCLJ8543	1118	L1	W15	W16	L8	L5	2.0	4
12	John Gunn	SGSLF325	1218	W15	L1	L3	L9	W19	2.0	3
13	William Sperling	NCLM7045	1189	L16	L10	W17	L15	W18	2.0	3
14	David Tran	RGRLD682	1024	L2	W19	L5	W16	L7	2.0	3
15	Klint Minnameier	RGRM5155	942	L12	L11	W18	W13	L6	2.0	3
16	Jaxon Lindauer	SGSHJ779	926	W13	L4	L11	L14	B---	2.0	2
17	Chloe Andersen	CETHG455	400	L9	B---	L13	W19	L10	2.0	1
18	Joseph Verchota	SGSH4296	965	L3	L7	L15	B---	L13	1.0	0
19	Kellen Blue	NCLK5886	662	L5	L14	B---	L17	L12	1.0	0

SwissSys Standings. Eagle Quest: K-6

#	Name	ID	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot	TBrk[R]	Prize
1	Braxton Casey	HSCCJ393	1277	W10	W5	W3	W2	W6	5.0	14
2	Garrett Casey	HSCA8919	1204	W4	W6	W5	L1	L3	3.0	9
3	Jesse Alves-foss	MCDGY437	1065	W11	W7	L1	L4	W2	3.0	8
4	Alexandra Elkins	EGNED937	847	L2	W11	W7	W3	L5	3.0	8
5	Dawson Jury	OKSB8614	1032	W9	L1	L2	W12	W4	3.0	7
6	Robby Jones	SGSFA135	1015	W12	L2	W9	W8	L1	3.0	7
7	Rew Hoover	MDWG	unr.	W8	L3	L4	W10	W11	3.0	7
8	Zeph Johnson	ARCE7117	883	L7	W13	W12	L6	W9	3.0	5
9	Jehan Ravasia	SGSGH643	745	L5	W10	L6	B---	L8	2.0	2
10	Connor Cremers	SGSEA459	858	L1	L9	W13	L7	B---	2.0	1
11	Kyle Luiten	SGSFJ557	758	L3	L4	B---	W13	L7	2.0	1
12	Max Mihalick	SGSEA535	462	L6	B---	L8	L5	W13	2.0	1
13	Mason Crawford-heim	GSPE2785	401	B---	L8	L10	L11	L12	1.0	0

SwissSys Standings. Eagle Quest: K-3

#	Name	ID	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot	TBrk[R]	Prize
1	Jack Martin	SGSDJ316	854	W8	W6	W2	W5	D3	4.5	14.25
2	Nikhil Chaudhry	SGSD4965	1036	W10	W9	L1	W7	W4	4.0	10
3	James Gunn	SGSA	unr.	H---	D4	W13	W9	D1	3.5	7.75
4	Ethan Wu	SGSA9608	664	W13	D3	D8	W6	L2	3.0	8
5	Sarah Wu	SGSC9045	851	W12	W7	L9	L1	W8	3.0	7.5
6	Grant Starkey	SGSDJ434	697	W11	L1	W12	L4	W9	3.0	6
7	Hana Hill	LSEBJ325	689	W15	L5	W10	L2	W14	3.0	5
8	Tariq Ravasia	SGSAJ803	457	L1	W11	D4	W12	L5	2.5	5.5
9	Joshua Joireman	JFPDJ741	748	W14	L2	W5	L3	L6	2.0	4.5
10	John Field	SGSBG492	574	L2	W14	L7	D15	D11	2.0	3.25
11	Taylor Sande	SGSB9139	400	L6	L8	D14	B---	D10	2.0	1.75
12	Xander Werkman	SGSDB439	404	L5	W15	L6	L8	B---	2.0	1.5
13	Gina Hill	LSEAG183	400	L4	B---	L3	L14	W15	2.0	1.5
14	Chiara Ravasia	SGSCJ097	401	L9	L10	D11	W13	L7	1.5	3
15	Olivia Nelson	SGSCJ175	400	L7	L12	B---	D10	L13	1.5	1

Dragonslayer (March 20, 2010)

There were 73 players in attendance at the annual Dragonslayer at St. Georges on March 20. Third grader Gregory Berndt turned in the only perfect score of the tourney in winning the K-3 section. Five tied for first (4.0) in winning the K-6 section (listed in tiebreak order): Cyril Berndt, Garrett Casey, Jacob Cifford, Jesse Aves-Foss, and Ryan Walker. Alex Chow (4.5) won the K-12 section.

The cross tables:

SwissSys Standings. Dragon Slayer: K-3

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Gregory Berndt	898	GCL	3	W17	W16	W2	W11	W3	5.0
2	Shawn Lewis	845	ARC	3	W11	W4	L1	W15	W8	4.0
3	Koh Micek	854	MOR	2	W9	W19	W5	W7	L1	4.0
4	Sarah Wu	781	SGS	2	W10	L2	W23	W6	W7	4.0
5	Daniel Arthurs	870	JFP	3	W22	W6	L3	D10	W15	3.5
6	Nicholas Akins	687	EGN	3	W13	L5	W12	L4	W10	3.0
7	Joshua Joireman	752	JFP	3	W23	W12	W20	L3	L4	3.0
8	Ethan Wu	679	SGS	0	L19	W9	W13	W20	L2	3.0
9	Nicholas Dawson	440	SOP	1	L3	L8	W18	W21	W16	3.0
10	Ian Abrams	425	LSE	3	L4	W17	W14	D5	L6	2.5
11	Hana Hill	686	LSE	1	L2	W18	W19	L1	D12	2.5
12	Jocelyn Thew	597	SGS	2	W15	L7	L6	W19	D11	2.5
13	George Gregory	400	MCD	1	L6	B---	L8	W17	D14	2.5
14	David Thew	819	SGS	0	D21	D20	L10	W23	D13	2.5
15	Connor Lester	912	GCL	2	L12	W21	W16	L2	L5	2.0
16	Isaac Manwell	631	LSE	3	W18	L1	L15	W22	L9	2.0
17	Tariq Ravasia	470	SGS	0	L1	L10	W21	L13	W20	2.0
18	Taylor Sande	unr.	SGS	2	L16	L11	L9	B---	W23	2.0
19	Cesar Galvin	unr.	EGN	3	W8	L3	L11	L12	D22	1.5
20	Josh Manwell	400	LSE	0	B---	D14	L7	L8	L17	1.5
21	Gina Hill	437	LSE	0	D14	L15	L17	L9	B---	1.5
22	Chiara Ravasia	458	SGS	2	L5	L23	B---	L16	D19	1.5
23	Dylan Pearson	416	HAM	2	L7	W22	L4	L14	L18	1.0

SwissSys Standings. Dragon Slayer: K-6

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Cyril Berndt	1300	GCL	5	W6	W21	W4	W7	L2	4.0
2	Garrett Casey	1204	HSC	0	W19	L5	W12	W10	W1	4.0
3	Jacob Gifford	1130	LSE	5	W15	L4	W17	W9	W8	4.0
4	Jesse Alves-foss	875	MCD	6	W24	W3	L1	W13	W12	4.0
5	Ryan Walker	909	SGS	5	W23	W2	W16	L8	W7	4.0
6	Zeph Johnson	800	ARC	4	L1	D23	W22	W21	W14	3.5
7	Brandon Hill	1069	LSE	5	W18	W9	W10	L1	L5	3.0
8	Dawson Jury	1053	OKS	1	W14	L16	W19	W5	L3	3.0
9	Alexandra Elkins	811	EGN	4	W25	L7	W11	L3	W16	3.0
10	Katie Thew	819	SGS	4	W26	W13	L7	L2	W17	3.0
11	Reo Reyes	638	ARC	4	L21	W15	L9	W18	W22	3.0
12	Shea Bryan	1026	SCB	5	D22	W20	L2	W16	L4	2.5
13	Shay Hutyler	1061	LSE	6	W17	L10	W18	L4	D15	2.5
14	Sam Long	751	LSE	5	L8	W25	D21	W20	L6	2.5
15	Peter Breuer	727	EGN	5	L3	L11	W26	W24	D13	2.5
16	Matt Nelson	521	LSE	5	W20	W8	L5	L12	L9	2.0
17	Andrew Akins	653	EGN	5	L13	W26	L3	W19	L10	2.0
18	Jacob Dawson	669	BOW	6	L7	W22	L13	L11	W24	2.0
19	Andy Ames	800	LSE	5	L2	W24	L8	L17	W25	2.0
20	Drew Lindh	891	ARC	5	L16	L12	W23	L14	W21	2.0
21	Connor Cremers	911	SGS	4	W11	L1	D14	L6	L20	1.5
22	Sean Breen	675	LSE	5	D12	L18	L6	W23	L11	1.5
23	Shaelyn Pearson	537	HAM	6	L5	D6	L20	L22	W26	1.5
24	Max Mihalick	475	SGS	4	L4	L19	W25	L15	L18	1.0
25	Mason Crawford-Heim	400	GSP	4	L9	L14	L24	W26	L19	1.0
26	Ryan Duclos	400	LSE	5	L10	L17	L15	L25	L23	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Dragon Slayer: K-12

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Alex Chow	1759	LWC	10	W16	W7	D5	W2	W4	4.5
2	Ben Blue	1612	NCL	12	W19	W8	W3	L1	W6	4.0
3	Nikolay Bulakh	1386	GPS	11	W15	W9	L2	W8	W10	4.0
4	Ryan Ackerman	1780	MHS	12	W13	W11	D6	W5	L1	3.5
5	Peter Schumaker	1387	LIN	6	W14	W10	D1	L4	W11	3.5
6	Nathan Arthurs	1453	LIN	6	W17	W18	D4	W7	L2	3.5
7	Titus Berndt	1354	GCL	7	W20	L1	W19	L6	W14	3.0
8	Jimmy Derocher	1044	MHS	12	W21	L2	W15	L3	W19	3.0
9	David Tran	821	RGR	11	W12	L3	L13	W17	W18	3.0
10	David Blue	1100	NCL	9	W22	L5	W17	W14	L3	3.0
11	John Gunn	1207	SGS	11	W24	L4	W16	W13	L5	3.0
12	Braxton Casey	1303	HSC	2	L9	L15	W24	W16	W13	3.0
13	Chris Hatten	1040	CET	7	L4	W20	W9	L11	L12	2.0
14	David Burke	927	MHS	11	L5	W21	W18	L10	L7	2.0
15	Klint Minnameier	894	RGR	12	L3	W12	L8	L18	W22	2.0
16	James Eckart	1022	RGR	10	L1	W22	L11	L12	W20	2.0
17	Jaxon Lindauer	948	SGS	7	L6	W23	L10	L9	W21	2.0
18	Collin Cremers	1235	SGS	6	W23	L6	L14	W15	L9	2.0
19	Joseph Verchota	980	SGS	7	L2	W24	L7	W22	L8	2.0
20	Dane Lindh	843	DPH	10	L7	L13	D21	W23	L16	1.5
21	Steven Walton	unr.	RGR	10	L8	L14	D20	W24	L17	1.5
22	Anthony Burkhart	unr.	CET	7	L10	L16	W23	L19	L15	1.0
23	Alex Sipraseuth	400	RGR	11	L18	L17	L22	L20	W24	1.0
24	Josh Foster	unr.	CET	7	L11	L19	L12	L21	L23	0.0

Black Knights Joust (March 6, 2010)

by Dr. James Stripes

The Black Knights’ Quest ended with an exciting sudden-death blitz game between two of the area’s top players. After drawing their round four game, and both winning their other four games, Alex Chow and Ryan Ackerman finished atop the 7-12 section with 4.5 each. All three of the tie-breaks failed to resolve the equality. They drew for colors, and Ackerman got White. Thus Ackerman started with five minutes and Chow with four, but Ackerman had to win. A draw would be a victory for Chow. The tough battle for advantage ended in a race to move faster; Ackerman had six seconds left when Chow’s clock expired. Ryan Ackerman succeeded in winning his third event in three days!

Ryan won a $50 gift card, while Alex took home $25 for second. Third place in 7-12 went to Nikolay Bulakh with 4.0. Two Idaho players and one from Pullman finished next with 3.5. Kairav Joshi and Peter Schumaker took home medals for their performance, while Savanna Naccarato won a $25 gift card for best player under 1300. Second place under 1300 was David Burke, who earned a $15 gift card. Trevor Joireman scored the biggest upset and took home the last of the gift cards.

The twenty-one player 7-12 section included two sixth graders, a second grader, and one kindergarten player. These young players averaged nearly three points each against the older kids.

Mead was the top high school, and Lincoln of Pullman the top middle school.

In the K-6 section, Lake Spokane prevailed over Arcadia. The top two schools finished with 15.5 each, but Lake Spokane had stronger tie-breaks so took home the first place trophy. Saint George’s settled for third for the first time this year (they usually win first).

Cyril Berndt was the only perfect 5.0 in the entire tournament, and was the Grand Champion for 4-6. One point behind him were Shay Hutyler, Jacob Gifford, and Drew Lindh, all winning trophies. Leading the pack of 3.0 finishers was the top fourth grader, Katie Thew. Also with 3.0 were Ali Hartley, Zeph Johnson, Jehan Ravasia, and Alexandra Elkins. Matt Nelson showed that he is becoming a stronger player by scoring the biggest upset. The 4-6 section had only a single draw among the forty-five games played.

In K-3, first grader Dawson Jury was the Grand Champion with 4.5. Close behind were Alex Herron and Nikhil Chaudhry with 4.0, taking the top two trophies for third grade. Shawn Lewis was the next in third grade with 3.5, and scored the biggest upset. Also finishing with 3.5 was Koh Micek. Sixth place overall with 3.0 in order of tie-breaks were Joshua Joireman, Augustus Beeler, and Daniel Arthurs. The top kindergarten player was Tariq Ravasia. There were quite a few draws in this section, many due to the young players not yet skilled in delivering checkmate

The cross tables:

SwissSys Standings. BK Quest: K-3

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Jury, Dawson	987	W13	W6	D4	W5	W2	4.5
2	Herron, Alex	910	W14	W10	W3	W9	L1	4.0
3	Chaudhry, Nikhil	1031	W18	W8	L2	W4	W7	4.0
4	Lewis, Shawn	676	W7	W13	D1	L3	W9	3.5
5	Micek, Koh	812	W17	D9	W6	L1	W10	3.5
6	Joireman, Joshua	763	W16	L1	L5	W17	W15	3.0
7	Beeler, Augustus	unr.	L4	W18	W14	W12	L3	3.0
8	Arthurs, Daniel	902	W15	L3	L9	W11	W14	3.0
9	Berndt, Gregory	928	W11	D5	W8	L2	L4	2.5
10	Whitmer, Ethan	565	W12	L2	D11	W15	L5	2.5
11	Ravasia, Chiara	403	L9	D17	D10	L8	W18	2.0
12	Sabori, Lauryn	unr.	L10	D15	W16	L7	D13	2.0
13	Ravasia, Tariq	499	L1	L4	D17	D14	D12	1.5
14	Shroyer, Aiden	400	L2	W16	L7	D13	L8	1.5
15	Werkman, Xander	400	L8	D12	W18	L10	L6	1.5
16	Thew, David	400	L6	L14	L12	D18	B---	1.5
17	Gregory, George	400	L5	D11	D13	L6	U---	1.0
18	Harris, Adam	400	L3	L7	L15	D16	L11	0.5

SwissSys Standings. BK Quest: 4-6

#	*Name*	*Rtng*	*Rd 1*	*Rd 2*	*Rd 3*	*Rd 4*	*Rd 5*	*Tot*
1	Berndt, Cyril	1230	W4	W9	W12	W2	W3	5.0
2	Gifford, Jacob	1121	W17	W5	W6	L1	W7	4.0
3	Hutyler, Shay	1026	W15	W8	W10	W12	L1	4.0
4	Lindh, Drew	734	L1	W19	W5	W11	W6	4.0
5	Thew, Katie	811	W13	L2	L4	W15	W14	3.0
6	Alves-foss, Jesse	887	W18	W11	L2	W14	L4	3.0
7	Hartley, Ali	744	L11	W18	W8	W13	L2	3.0
8	Ravasia, Jehan	735	W19	L3	L7	W17	W11	3.0
9	Johnson, Zeph	807	W16	L1	L13	W19	W12	3.0
10	Elkins, Alexandra	829	L14	W17	L3	W16	W13	3.0
11	Gedicke, Hunter	471	W7	L6	W15	L4	L8	2.0
12	Bethmann, Samuel	951	B---	W14	L1	L3	L9	2.0
13	Nelson, Matt	481	L5	B---	W9	L7	L10	2.0
14	Reyes, Reo	597	W10	L12	W18	L6	L5	2.0
15	Bolton, Robert	605	L3	W16	L11	L5	W18	2.0
16	Mihalick, Max	491	L9	L15	B---	L10	W19	2.0
17	Frost, Robert	732	L2	L10	D19	L8	B---	1.5
18	Johnson, Nathan	616	L6	L7	L14	B---	L15	1.0
19	Cabrera, Leo	unr.	L8	L4	D17	L9	L16	0.5

SwissSys Standings. BK Quest: 7-12

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Ackerman, Ryan	1747	W16	W3	W7	D2	W4	4.5
2	Chow, Alex	1743	W10	W8	W5	D1	W7	4.5
3	Bulakh, Nikolay	1356	W15	L1	W14	W13	W11	4.0
4	Joshi, Kairav	unr.	D11	W16	W12	W6	L1	3.5
5	Schumaker, Peter	1391	W19	W18	L2	W9	D6	3.5
6	Naccarato, Savanna	1261	W20	W12	W11	L4	D5	3.5
7	Arthurs, Nathan	1445	W13	W17	L1	W8	L2	3.0
8	Casey, Braxton	1306	W9	L2	W19	L7	W14	3.0
9	Burke, David	732	L8	B---	W17	L5	W13	3.0
10	Derocher, Jimmy	1057	L2	L11	W20	W19	W15	3.0
11	Ravasia, Kashif	1114	D4	W10	L6	W12	L3	2.5
12	Berndt, Titus	1413	W14	L6	L4	L11	W18	2.0
13	Dittman, Willy	922	L7	W15	W18	L3	L9	2.0
14	Joireman, Trevor	904	L12	W20	L3	W17	L8	2.0
15	Berndt, Monica	839	L3	L13	B---	W16	L10	2.0
16	Lindauer, Jaxon	979	L1	L4	W21	L15	W20	2.0
17	Casey, Garrett	1277	W21	L7	L9	L14	W19	2.0
18	Cabrera, Desi	430	B---	L5	L13	W21	L12	2.0
19	Lindh, Dane	864	L5	W21	L8	L10	L17	1.0
20	Sibley, Mark	unr.	L6	L14	L10	B---	L16	1.0
21	Sherman, Adrian	unr.	L17	L19	L16	L18	B---	1.0

GSL Team Championship (March 5, 2010)

FERRIS HIGH SCHOOL TEAM CHAMPIONS

Ferris (2.5) edged Lewis & Clark (2.0) to win the GSL team championship on March 5. The south hill schools ended Mead's (1.5) hopes of a repeat championship. Six schools competed in the event hosted by Gonzaga Prep. Rogers, North Central, and Prep finished tied for fourth with 1.0 scores. The Ferris team consisted of seniors Khoi Thai, Daniel Parkison, and Khai Le, junior Daniel Berg, and sophomore Montana Killpack.

Mead senior Ryan Ackerman was perfect (3.0) on board one to claim the trophy for the outstanding individual performance. LC's Alex Chow (board 2) and Will Dittman (board 4) were the perfect scores on their boards. Khai Le of Ferris was perfect on board 3, and Rogers senior Klint Minnameier was perfect on board five.

Groundhog Gambit (St. Georges, Feb. 6, 2010)

Groundhog Gambit has International Flavor

The annual Groundhog Gambit drew 96 players to St. Georges on February 6. The event had an international flavor when Azerbaijani ten-year-old Ayshan Aliyeva made her second local scholastic event a success with a perfect 5.0 score and first place in the K-6 section. Alysahn is staying in Pullman for a month while her mother completes work on a Fulbright Fellowship. Her previous foray into local play was a successful tie for first at Winterfest. Her success there made its way on to an Azerbaijani news website: http://www.news.az/articles/7665

Regional players also did well! The 23-player K-3 section title was shared by three who scored 4.0 (listed in tie-break order): Koh Micek, Nathan Arthurs, and Joshua Joierman. Koh goes to school at Moran Prairie, while Nathan and Joshua are teammates at Pullman's Jefferson school.

North Central senior Ben Blue followed his victory at Winterfest with another perfect 5.0 score to win the K-12 section. The section featured 43 players, which is the largest for the K-12 section at any local open scholastic tourney in your editor's recent memory (the 53 player GSL individual championship at Mt. Spokane in 2001 may be the largest).

The standings:

SwissSys Standings. Groundhog's Gambit: K-3

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Koh Micek	616	MOR	2	W17	L6	W13	W8	W4	4.0
2	Daniel Arthurs	832	JFP	3	W11	W12	L14	W9	W5	4.0
3	Joshua Joireman	596	JFP	3	W22	L4	W16	W14	W7	4.0
4	Gregory Berndt	806	GCL	3	W13	W3	W8	D5	L1	3.5
5	Nikhil Chaudhry	1057	SGS	3	W18	W10	W6	D4	L2	3.5
6	Dawson Jury	871	OKS	1	W9	W1	L5	D12	W14	3.5
7	Grant Starkey	584	SGS	3	W14	L9	W15	W10	L3	3.0
8	Jack Martin	894	SGS	3	W20	W15	L4	L1	W12	3.0
9	Shawn Lewis	608	ARC	3	L6	W7	W18	L2	W19	3.0
10	Nicholas Akins	683	EGN	3	W19	L5	W11	L7	W16	3.0
11	John Field	437	SGS	1	L2	W20	L10	W22	W15	3.0
12	Isaac Manwell	586	LSE	3	W23	L2	W22	D6	L8	2.5
13	Tariq Ravasia	429	SGS	0	L4	W17	L1	D20	W22	2.5
14	Connor Lester	832	GCL	2	L7	W21	W2	L3	L6	2.0
15	Ethan Williams	668	LSE	3	W16	L8	L7	W21	L11	2.0
16	Xander Werkman	400	SGS	3	L15	B---	L3	W17	L10	2.0
17	Dylan Pearson	unr.	HAM	2	L1	L13	W21	L16	W23	2.0
18	George Gregory	426	MCD	1	L5	W23	L9	L19	B---	2.0
19	David Thew	400	SGS	0	L10	L22	B---	W18	L9	2.0
20	Josh Manwell	unr.	LSE	0	L8	L11	W23	D13	L21	1.5
21	Nico Morales	unr.	SGS	1	H---	L14	L17	L15	W20	1.5
22	Zac Johnson	unr.	ARC	1	L3	W19	L12	L11	L13	1.0
23	Reagan Ivey	unr.	SGS	1	L12	L18	L20	B---	L17	1.0

SwissSys Standings. Groundhog's Gambit: K-6

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Ayshan Aliyeva	1404	FEP	4	W10	W15	W8	W3	W2	5.0
2	Shay Hutyler	945	LSE	6	W22	W13	W5	W7	L1	4.0
3	Shea Bryan	977	SCB	5	W14	W19	W11	L1	W12	4.0
4	Cyril Berndt	1269	GCL	5	L6	W20	W16	W9	W8	4.0
5	Ryan Walker	875	SGS	5	W26	W6	L2	D15	W11	3.5
6	AJ Hord	687	LSE	5	W4	L5	D25	W16	W18	3.5
7	Katie Thew	694	SGS	4	W30	D16	W18	L2	W15	3.5
8	Connor Cremers	863	SGS	4	W17	W12	L1	W14	L4	3.0
9	Jehan Ravasia	546	SGS	6	W21	L11	W13	L4	W17	3.0
10	Alexandra Elkins	693	EGN	4	L1	W23	L12	W21	W20	3.0
11	Andy Ames	792	LSE	5	W29	W9	L3	W17	L5	3.0
12	Sean Breen	453	LSE	5	W18	L8	W10	W25	L3	3.0
13	Drew Lindh	730	ARC	5	W27	L2	L9	W23	W19	3.0
14	Robert Frost	629	ARC	4	L3	W27	W21	L8	W24	3.0
15	Tatyana Hubbard	776	BTD	6	W23	L1	W22	D5	L7	2.5
16	Zeph Johnson	834	ARC	4	W28	D7	L4	L6	W25	2.5
17	Reo Reyes	510	ARC	4	L8	W24	W19	L11	L9	2.0
18	Peter Breuer	778	EGN	5	L12	W28	L7	W22	L6	2.0
19	Jacob Dawson	714	BOW	6	W25	L3	L17	W28	L13	2.0
20	Hunter Gedicke	400	LSE	4	W24	L4	L26	W29	L10	2.0
21	Sam Long	836	LSE	5	L9	W29	L14	L10	W28	2.0
22	Jacqueline McAleer	604	JFP	4	L2	W30	L15	L18	W27	2.0
23	Matt Nelson	419	LSE	5	L15	L10	W30	L13	W26	2.0
24	Andrew Akins	739	EGN	5	L20	L17	W27	W26	L14	2.0
25	Shaelyn Pearson	unr.	HAM	6	L19	W26	D6	L12	L16	1.5
26	Nick Reich	574	BTD	6	L5	L25	W20	L24	L23	1.0
27	Dalton Young	unr.	LSE	5	L13	L14	L24	W30	L22	1.0
28	Max Mihalick	531	SGS	4	L16	L18	W29	L19	L21	1.0
29	Cory Hatten	unr.	PPA	4	L11	L21	L28	L20	W30	1.0
30	Mason Crawford-heim	unr.	GSP	4	L7	L22	L23	L27	L29	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Groundhog's Gambit: K-12

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Ben Blue	1570	NCL	12	W26	W25	W7	W3	W2	5.0
2	Ryan Ackerman	1786	MHS	12	W35	W20	W5	W4	L1	4.0
3	Titus Berndt	1388	GCL	7	W8	W27	W11	L1	W14	4.0
4	Nathan Arthurs	1430	JFP	6	W23	W14	W12	L2	W9	4.0
5	Nikolay Bulakh	1346	GPS	11	W31	W13	L2	W18	W11	4.0
6	Peter Schumaker	1403	LIN	6	W16	W29	L9	W13	W12	4.0
7	Michael Thew	1255	SGS	6	W24	W22	L1	W26	W10	4.0
8	David Tran	469	RGR	11	L3	W40	W29	W17	W20	4.0
9	John Gunn	1123	SGS	11	W39	W15	W6	D10	L4	3.5
10	William Sperling	unr.	NCL	12	D17	W19	W25	D9	L7	3.0
11	David Blue	1140	NCL	9	W38	W21	L3	W15	L5	3.0
12	Collin Cremers	1251	SGS	6	W32	W41	L4	W16	L6	3.0
13	James Eckart	853	RGR	10	W30	L5	W32	L6	W31	3.0
14	Jaxon Lindauer	966	SGS	7	W42	L4	W23	W28	L3	3.0
15	Chris Hatten	unr.	CET	7	W18	L9	W41	L11	W27	3.0
16	David Burke	555	MHS	11	L6	W33	W27	L12	W25	3.0
17	Stephen McAleer	1184	PUL	9	D10	W37	D20	L8	W26	3.0
18	Taneum Luciani	852	NWD	7	L15	W39	W30	L5	W28	3.0
19	Ben Reich	868	NWD	7	L21	L10	W37	W33	W32	3.0
20	Timothy McAleer	1117	JFP	6	W43	L2	D17	W36	L8	2.5
21	Klint Minnameier	unr.	RGR	12	W19	L11	L26	D23	W36	2.5
22	Josiah Hopkins	843	NWD	8	W28	L7	D36	L25	W35	2.5
23	Joel Sivanish	719	NWD	8	L4	W42	L14	D21	W37	2.5
24	David Remsen	400	NWD	8	L7	L28	B---	W41	D30	2.5
25	Joseph Verchota	1013	SGS	7	W34	L1	L10	W22	L16	2.0
26	Derek Boles	744	CET	8	L1	W43	W21	L7	L17	2.0
27	Michael Thayer	905	NWD	7	W40	L3	L16	W39	L15	2.0
28	Kaitlynn Ingram	unr.	CET	7	L22	W24	W35	L14	L18	2.0
29	Justin Shoemaker	932	MHS	12	W33	L6	L8	L32	W42	2.0
30	Mccall Skay	unr.	CET	7	L13	W31	L18	D35	D24	2.0
31	Sean Long	400	NWD	8	L5	L30	W34	W40	L13	2.0
32	Austin Kratzer	400	CET	7	L12	B---	L13	W29	L19	2.0
33	Garrett Hackley	unr.	CET	7	L29	L16	W38	L19	W39	2.0
34	Tyler Cole	unr.	CET	7	L25	L35	L31	W43	X41	2.0
35	Kellen Blue	756	NCL	10	L2	W34	L28	D30	L22	1.5
36	Austin Holyk	unr.	CET	8	L41	W38	D22	L20	L21	1.5
37	Cameron Edwards	400	CET	7	B---	L17	L19	D38	L23	1.5
38	Desi Cabrera	unr.	NWD	7	L11	L36	L33	D37	W40	1.5
39	Jacob Hausam	unr.	MHS	12	L9	L18	W42	L27	L33	1.0
40	Chloe Andersen	unr.	CET	7	L27	L8	W43	L31	L38	1.0
41	Seth Jordan	759	DPH	12	W36	L12	L15	L24	F34	1.0
42	Austin Auckerman	unr.	CET	7	L14	L23	L39	B---	L29	1.0
43	Laine Johnson	unr.	DPH	7	L20	L26	L40	L34	B---	1.0

Winterfest (Deer Park, Jan. 23, 2010)

by Dr. James Stripes

Arcadia Elementary School's eighth Winterfest Scholastic attracted eighty-seven players from more than twenty schools. Competitors included an unrated player that has competed in her hometown of Baku, Azerbaijan, but is new to scholastic chess in the United States. Those that travelled far played well, as did some of the younger players.

In the twenty-three player 7-12 section, the three elementary age competitors all scored at least three points. Sixth grader Nathan Arthurs placed second behind North Central senior Ben Blue. Gonzaga Prep junior Nikolay Bulakh tied Arthurs, but had weaker tie-breaks. In fourth place Sandpoint seventh grader Savanna Naccarato won the prize for best under 1300. Second grader Braxton Casey—likely the youngest competitor ever in the 7-12 section of Spokane area tournaments—placed second in under 1300 as one of seven players tied for fifth through eleventh place. Deer Park sophomore Dane Lindh, also in that group, won the prize for biggest upset.

Teams in high school/middle school were small, and the top middle school teams benefitted from the participation of elementary students playing up. Three teams finished with the same score. North Central took home the trophy for top high school. Northwood triumphed on tie-breaks over Lincoln of Pullman for the middle school trophy.

In the Elementary team competition, the top three teams finished in the order that has become a pattern through recent tournaments. Saint George’s won first with players averaging four points each. Lake Spokane was second, and Arcadia placed third.

Individual trophies in elementary went to grand champions Ayshan Aliyeva in 4-6 and Nikhil Chaudhry in K-3. Shay Hutyler was the top sixth grader. Cyril Berndt finished without a loss, drawing Aliyeva in the final round to win top fifth grader (Aliyeva had better tie-breaks as all of her opponents scored at least three points). Zeph Johnson earned the trophy for top fourth grader (the only other player in his grade that scored three or more was the grand champion). Due to the strength of the fifth graders at the top, trophies went to Brandon Hill, second in fifth grade; Jacob Gifford, third; and Ryan Walker, fourth. Kindergartner Garrett Casey won a trophy for fifth place overall in the 4-6 section. Robert Bolton won biggest upset in 4-6.

Bolton’s teammate Lucas Keller won biggest upset in K-3. Those scoring four points in K-3 each won first in grade: Jack Martin, third grade; Jacob Keyes, second grade; and Dawson Jury, first grade. The top kindergartner in K-3 was Ethan Wu, playing in his first tournament. Trophies also went to second graders Connor Lester, second place; Sarah Wu, third; and Marshall Starbuck, second place in third grade. All players scoring three or more that did not win trophies took home medals, as did kindergartners scoring two or more.

The cross tables:

SwissSys Standings. Winterfest Scholastic: Winterfest K-3

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Chaudhry, Nikhil	948	W11	W10	W3	W9	W6	5.0
2	Martin, Jack	880	W13	W21	L8	W16	W9	4.0
3	Jury, Dawson	809	W34	W15	L1	W13	W8	4.0
4	Keyes, Jacob	950	W31	L8	W22	W5	W14	4.0
5	Lester, Connor	809	W30	D6	W12	L4	W10	3.5
6	Wu, Sarah	635	W33	D5	W17	W8	L1	3.5
7	Starbuck, Marshall	555	D29	L12	W24	W34	W17	3.5
8	Keller, Lucas	744	W24	W4	W2	L6	L3	3.0
9	Berndt, Gregory	785	W25	W18	W14	L1	L2	3.0
10	Hill, Hana	654	W23	L1	W31	W11	L5	3.0
11	Lewis, Shawn	449	L1	W23	W18	L10	W20	3.0
12	Wu, Ethan	unr.	D17	W7	L5	W28	D18	3.0
13	Yamada, Akio	400	L2	W29	W20	L3	W21	3.0
14	Arthurs, Daniel	860	W26	W20	L9	W21	L4	3.0
15	Joireman, Joshua	565	W32	L3	L16	W26	W24	3.0
16	Williams, Ethan	unr.	L20	W34	W15	L2	W22	3.0
17	Micek, Koh	635	D12	W22	L6	W30	L7	2.5
18	Thew, Jocelyn	603	W27	L9	L11	W25	D12	2.5
19	Ravasia, Tariq	unr.	L22	D25	D23	D33	W28	2.5
20	Starkey, Grant	601	W16	L14	L13	W27	L11	2.0
21	Whitmer, Ethan	577	W28	L2	W26	L14	L13	2.0
22	Keller, Molly	531	W19	L17	L4	W32	L16	2.0
23	Gregory, George	unr.	L10	L11	D19	W29	D25	2.0
24	Hill, Gina	400	L8	W32	L7	W31	L15	2.0
25	Ourada, Ryley	400	L9	D19	W30	L18	D23	2.0
26	Field, John	400	L14	W27	L21	L15	W32	2.0
27	Lim, Brooke	unr.	L18	L26	W34	L20	W31	2.0
28	Shroyer, Aiden	unr.	L21	D30	W29	L12	L19	1.5
29	Werkman, Xander	430	D7	L13	L28	L23	W33	1.5
30	Roth, Gabrielle	400	L5	D28	L25	L17	W34	1.5
31	Ravasia, Chiara	459	L4	W33	L10	L24	L27	1.0
32	Nelson, Olivia	unr.	L15	L24	W33	L22	L26	1.0
33	Harris, Adam	unr.	L6	L31	L32	D19	L29	0.5
34	Thew, David	400	L3	L16	L27	L7	L30	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Winterfest Scholastic: Winterfest K-6

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Aliyeva, Ayshan	unr.	W9	W7	W3	W4	D2	4.5
2	Berndt, Cyril	1074	W15	W8	W18	W5	D1	4.5
3	Hill, Brandon	1038	W12	W19	L1	W9	W8	4.0
4	Gifford, Jacob	1090	W24	W14	W10	L1	W11	4.0
5	Casey, Garrett	1238	W17	W21	W11	L2	D6	3.5
6	Hutyler, Shay	934	W16	L10	W19	W18	D5	3.5
7	Walker, Ryan	870	W27	L1	D29	W20	W16	3.5
8	Long, Sam	729	W13	L2	W27	W12	L3	3.0
9	Hubbard, Tatyana	685	L1	W28	W14	L3	W20	3.0
10	Breuer, Peter	674	W29	W6	L4	L11	W23	3.0
11	Jones, Robby	1030	W30	W20	L5	W10	L4	3.0
12	Dawson, Jacob	565	L3	W29	W21	L8	W19	3.0
13	Johnson, Zeph	unr.	L8	L15	W22	W21	W18	3.0
14	Hartley, Ali	735	W26	L4	L9	W30	W15	3.0
15	Hord, Aj	574	L2	W13	D16	W24	L14	2.5
16	Lindh, Drew	741	L6	W23	D15	W25	L7	2.5
17	Frost, Robert	659	L5	D26	L25	W29	W24	2.5
18	Thew, Katie	674	W28	W22	L2	L6	L13	2.0
19	Elkins, Alexandra	719	W25	L3	L6	W26	L12	2.0
20	Bolton, Robert	539	W22	L11	W28	L7	L9	2.0
21	Lim, Tyson	866	W23	L5	L12	L13	W27	2.0
22	Ames, Andy	887	L20	L18	L13	W27	W25	2.0
23	Mihalick, Max	525	L21	L16	W30	W28	L10	2.0
24	Ravasia, Jehan	585	L4	D25	W26	L15	L17	1.5
25	Breen, Sean	400	L19	D24	W17	L16	L22	1.5
26	Nelson, Matt	412	L14	D17	L24	L19	W29	1.5
27	Reyes, Reo	525	L7	W30	L8	L22	L21	1.0
28	Gedicke, Hunter	unr.	L18	L9	L20	L23	W30	1.0
29	Jones, Matthew	unr.	L10	L12	D7	L17	L26	0.5
30	Yamada, Akina	558	L11	L27	L23	L14	L28	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Winterfest Scholastic: Winterfest K-12

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Blue, Ben	1491	W19	W3	W5	W7	W6	5.0
2	Arthurs, Nathan	1421	W9	L13	W4	W5	W8	4.0
3	Bulakh, Nikolay	1177	W17	L1	W14	W12	W7	4.0
4	Naccarato, Savanna	1206	W20	D12	L2	W15	W13	3.5
5	Berndt, Titus	1337	W16	W10	L1	L2	W12	3.0
6	Coles, Taylor	1542	W15	W8	L7	W13	L1	3.0
7	Schumaker, Peter	1407	W14	W21	W6	L1	L3	3.0
8	Casey, Braxton	1270	W23	L6	W9	W10	L2	3.0
9	Lindauer, Jaxon	910	L2	W11	L8	W21	W16	3.0
10	Gunn, John	1126	W18	L5	W17	L8	W14	3.0
11	Lindh, Dane	700	L13	L9	W23	W18	W15	3.0
12	Schumaker, Richard	1600	W22	D4	W13	L3	L5	2.5
13	Blue, David	1180	W11	W2	L12	L6	L4	2.0
14	Thayer, Michael	895	L7	W18	L3	W17	L10	2.0
15	Verchota, Joseph	1046	L6	W23	W20	L4	L11	2.0
16	Colvin, Garrison	844	L5	L22	W21	W20	L9	2.0
17	Colvin, Levi	588	L3	B---	L10	L14	W20	2.0
18	Hanson, Kelcey	unr.	L10	L14	W19	L11	W23	2.0
19	Reich, Ben	925	L1	L20	L18	W23	W21	2.0
20	Berndt, Monica	753	L4	W19	L15	L16	L17	1.0
21	Long, Sean	400	B---	L7	L16	L9	L19	1.0
22	Ravasia, Kashif	1109	L12	W16	U---	U---	U---	1.0
23	Colvin, Sawyer	758	L8	L15	L11	L19	L18	0.0

GSL Individual Championship (Ferris H.S., Jan. 22)

Mead Junior Taylor Coles captured the title with a perfect 4.0 score to best the field of 19. Second place resulted in a five-way tie among Ryan Ackerman, Nikolay Bulakh, George Joslin, Richard Schumacher, and Khoi Thai. A single elimination blitz play-off ensued, with Ackerman and Joslin meeting in the end. It took three games before Ryan broke through in a sudden death game (Ryan, with white, had an extra minute on the clock, while George had draw-odds). That left Mead with the two top trophies! The biggest upset trophy went to Ferris's Dan Berg, who claimed a 781 point upset victory.

The cross table:

SwissSys Standings. 2010GSL: 2010GSL

#	Name	ID	Rtng	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Tot	Prize
1	Taylor Coles	MHSLA315	1542	MHS	W14	W8	W3	W2	4.0
2	Richard Schumaker	PULKE164	1600	PUL	W11	W9	W6	L1	3.0
3	Khoi Thai	FRRMC864	1107	FRR	W12	W4	L1	W11	3.0
4	Ryan Ackerman	MHSMC514	1753	MHS	W5	L3	W7	W8	3.0
5	George Joslin	GPSL8814	1001	GPS	L4	W15	W13	W10	3.0
6	Nikolay Bulakh	GPSLJ610	1177	GPS	W17	W16	L2	W9	3.0
7	Ben Blue	NCLM7344	1491	NCL	H---	W10	L4	W16	2.5
8	Khai Le	FRRMH032	1171	FRR	W13	L1	W17	L4	2.0
9	Jimmy Derocher	MHSM5875	1051	MHS	W18	L2	W12	L6	2.0
10	Daniel Berg	FRRLA087	400	FRR	B---	L7	W15	L5	2.0
11	Justin Shoemaker	MHSMH686	863	MHS	L2	B---	W16	L3	2.0
12	Taylor Siok	FRRL	unr.		L3	W19	L9	W17	2.0
13	Logan Brooke	FRRM	unr.		L8	W14	L5	W19	2.0
14	Corey Tomlinson	FRRJ	unr.		L1	L13	D19	B---	1.5
15	David Blue	NCLJ8543	1180	NCL	H---	L5	L10	W18	1.5
16	Ralph Parkison	FRRLI951	1365	FRR	W19	L6	L11	L7	1.0
17	Seth Marquardt	FRRM	unr.		L6	W18	L8	L12	1.0
18	Corrine Schmidt	FRRM	unr.		L9	L17	B---	L15	1.0
19	Eric Jesberger	FRRJ	unr.		L16	L12	D14	L13	0.5

Solstice Sacrifice (St. Georges, Dec. 12)

by Chris Copeland

Seventy six scholastic players found refuge from a very cold December day pushing wood at Saint George’s School.

In both the K-3 and 4-6 divisions, the champions repeated their perfect performance at the Black Knight’s Joust in Deer Park. Kindergartener Garrett Casey continues to be unflappable, defeating the number two and number three players in the last two rounds. Garrett is now over 300 points higher rated than the next best players in the K-3!

Knocking at his door though were Saint George’s team mates, Nikhil Chaudry and Jack Martin, both third graders. Although Jack was on board one for the final round and both players only lost to Garrett, he took second in 3^rd grade behind Nikhil based on tiebreaks! Better root on your opponents after you beat them. By coming into the tournament with a higher rating than Jack, Nikhil got to play slightly more challenging opponents.

The big news in both the K-3 and the 4-6 was the huge turnout from Lake Spokane Elementary : 20 players out of the field of 51! This caused team restrictions to be turned off as early as round 2 and several Lake Spokane kids found themselves playing their teammates. Over a third of the K-3 were playing in their first tournament and one, Koh Micek from the newly formed Moran Prairie club took 2^nd in 2^nd grade. We are told we’ll see a lot more tough competition coming out of Moran Prairie.

In a move made possible by the new supply of chess clocks from last year’s State Championship, the entire 4-6 section was required to play their games on clocks. Inevitably many kids played more quickly than they should have just because the clock made them think they had to hurry, but by the third game the pace of play had returned to normal. We hope this tournament practice better prepares our area kids for State. By the time they get there they should be quite comfortable with the clock ticking away beside them and we won’t see people throw their brains out the window just because they are being timed! It was notable that most of the losers used considerably less time than their opponents. 4 point winner Braxton Casey playing in the 4-6 as a 2^nd grader(!) consistently used more of his 30 minutes than any other player in the section …Hmmm.

The chess Club from Grace Lutheran in Wenatchee also brought a strong contingent with all the Berndt’s (Gregory – 3^rd grade, 4^th place; Cyril, 5^th grade 4^th place; and Titus, 2^nd place Middle School). For the first time in many years we saw the Desmarais brothers (also Grace Lutheran) show up at a scholastic tournament. Not surprisingly, they were paired in the final round and …DREW in an opposite colored bishop ending. Peter Schumaker, playing up in the 7-12 went undefeated, drawing two games and coming in third overall and number 1 for Middle school. Notably absent this week were Ryan Ackerman of Mead who broke his shoulder the day before snowboarding and Richard Schumaker who was at a swim meet. A notable break through tournament was had by SGS Junior John Gunn, winning 4 points to take 3^rd in HS and scoring the largest upset (312 points). Even more spectacular, fifth grader Andrew Akins from Evergreen Elementary popped off a 466 point upset in the first round followed by two others over 200 points for a cumulative of 923 upset points in a single tournament. I guess his rating is going up!

Many thanks to the parents who volunteered to act as judges and run the concessions – these tournaments would not be possible without your support. Adam Attwood was much appreciated running the High School section and as ever, Dr. John Cambareri kept the tournament smoothly running on his laptop.

The prize winners:

Solstice Scholastic 2009 AWARDS

Kindergarten

1^st Gina Hill 1.5 points Lake Spokane

2^nd David Thew 1 point Saint Georges

1^st Grade

1^st Hana Hill 2 points Lake Spokane

2^nd Nicholas Dawson 2 points SOP

2^nd Grade

1^st Connor Lester 3 points Grace Lutheran

2^nd Koh Micek 3 points Moran Prairie

3^rd Grade

1^st Nikhil Chaudry 4 points Saint Georges

2^nd Jack Martin 4 points Saint Georges

3^rd Nicholas Akins 4 points Evergreen

4^th Gregory Berndt 3.5 points Grace Lutheran

5^th Everett Pierce 3.5 points Arcadia

K-3 Champion: GARRETT CASEY Kindergarden Homeschool 5 points

4^th Grade

1^st Connor Cremers 3 points Saint Georges

2^nd Bleu Sidell 3 points Lake Spokane

3^rd Branson Garske 2 points Saint Georges

4^th Alexandra Elkins 2 points Evergreen

5^th Grade

1^st Brandon Hill 4 points Lake Spokane

2^nd Jacob Gifford 4 points Lake Spokane

3^rd Ryan Walker 4 points Saint Georges

4^th Cyril Berndt 3 points Grace Lutheran

5^th Andrew Akins 3 points Evergreen

6^th Andy Ames 3 points Lake Spokane

6^th Grade

1^st Michael Thew 4 points Saint Georges

2^nd Shay Hutyler 3 points Lake Spokane

3^rd Jesse Alves-Foss 3 points MCD

4-6 Champion: COLLIN CREMERS 6^th Grade Saint Georges 5 points

Elementary Teams

1^st Saint Georges 21 points

2^nd Lake Spokane 17

3^rd Evergreen 11

Middle School

1^st Peter Schumaker Lincoln MS, Pullman 4 points

2^nd Titus Berndt Grace Lutheran, Wenatchee 3 points

3^rd Joseph Verchota Saint Georges, Spokane 2.5 points

4^th David Joslin Centennial, Spokane 2.5

1^st place team: Centennial Middle School Spokane

High School

1^st Niles Desmarais Grace Lutheran 4.5 points

2^nd Cyrus Desmarais Grace Lutheran 4 points

3^rd John Gunn Saint Georges 4 points

4^th Nikolay Bulakh Gonzaga Prep 4 points

5^th David Blue North Central HS 3 points

6^th Ben Blue North Central 3 points

Best under 1000 James Eckart 3 points

1^st place team: Grace Lutheran, Wenatchee

The cross tables:

SwissSys Standings. solstice sac 09: K-3

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Garrett Casey	1158	HSC	0	W20	W12	W7	W2	W3	5.0
2	Nikhil Chaudhry	864	SGS	3	W10	W6	W5	L1	W7	4.0
3	Jack Martin	818	SGS	3	W18	W11	W13	W8	L1	4.0
4	Nicholas Akins	520	EGN	3	W9	L5	W17	W20	W13	4.0
5	Gregory Berndt	757	GCL	3	W17	W4	L2	W14	D6	3.5
6	Everett Pierce	534	ARC	3	W22	L2	W9	W12	D5	3.5
7	Lucas Keller	652	ARC	3	W16	W8	L1	W13	L2	3.0
8	Connor Lester	839	GCL	2	W15	L7	W11	L3	W12	3.0
9	Koh Micek	unr.	MOR	2	L4	W20	L6	W16	W14	3.0
10	Isaac Manwell	400	LSE	3	L2	W21	L14	W15	W17	3.0
11	Molly Keller	517	ARC	2	W21	L3	L8	D17	W19	2.5
12	Hana Hill	680	LSE	1	W19	L1	W15	L6	L8	2.0
13	Ethan Whitmer	unr.	LSE	3	W14	W19	L3	L7	L4	2.0
14	Jocelyn Thew	660	SGS	2	L13	W22	W10	L5	L9	2.0
15	Nicholas Dawson	400	SOP	1	L8	W18	L12	L10	W21	2.0
16	Ian Abrams	unr.	LSE	3	L7	L17	W22	L9	W20	2.0
17	Xander Werkman	unr.	SGS	3	L5	W16	L4	D11	L10	1.5
18	Gina Hill	unr.	LSE	0	L3	L15	D19	L21	W22	1.5
19	John Field	unr.	SGS	1	L12	L13	D18	W22	L11	1.5
20	Akio Yamada	400	LSE	3	L1	L9	W21	L4	L16	1.0
21	David Thew	unr.	SGS	0	L11	L10	L20	W18	L15	1.0
22	Ryley Ourada	unr.	LSE	3	L6	L14	L16	L19	L18	0.0

SwissSys Standings. solstice sac 09: K-6

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Collin Cremers	1183	SGS	6	W27	W17	W8	W7	W2	5.0
2	Brandon Hill	934	LSE	5	W16	W20	W9	W4	L1	4.0
3	Michael Thew	1267	SGS	6	W18	W9	L4	W10	W7	4.0
4	Jacob Gifford	1041	LSE	5	W28	W19	W3	L2	W12	4.0
5	Braxton Casey	1219	HSC	2	W22	W12	L7	W18	W8	4.0
6	Ryan Walker	732	SGS	5	W15	L7	W26	W11	W17	4.0
7	Cyril Berndt	1031	GCL	5	W25	W6	W5	L1	L3	3.0
8	Shay Hutyler	925	LSE	6	W14	W10	L1	W16	L5	3.0
9	Jesse Alves-Foss	882	MCD	6	W13	L3	L2	W25	W21	3.0
10	Andrew Akins	490	EGN	5	W11	L8	W20	L3	W18	3.0
11	Andy Ames	936	LSE	5	L10	W23	W14	L6	W16	3.0
12	Connor Cremers	860	SGS	4	W24	L5	W27	W21	L4	3.0
13	Bleu Sidell	485	LSE	4	L9	L16	W29	W19	W20	3.0
14	Jacob Dawson	558	BOW	6	L8	W29	L11	D26	W23	2.5
15	Nathan Johnson	unr.	LSE	5	L6	D25	W28	L17	W26	2.5
16	Branson Garske	465	SGS	4	L2	W13	W19	L8	L11	2.0
17	Alexandra Elkins	754	EGN	4	W26	L1	L21	W15	L6	2.0
18	Sam Long	729	LSE	5	L3	W22	W23	L5	L10	2.0
19	Hunter Moses	813	EGN	4	W21	L4	L16	L13	W25	2.0
20	Tatyana Hubbard	735	BTD	6	W29	L2	L10	W24	L13	2.0
21	Akina Yamada	449	LSE	5	L19	W28	W17	L12	L9	2.0
22	Katie Thew	719	SGS	4	L5	L18	L25	W29	W27	2.0
23	Matt Nelson	400	LSE	5	B---	L11	L18	W27	L14	2.0
24	Thomas Crouse	454	LSE	6	L12	L27	B---	L20	W28	2.0
25	AJ Hord	555	LSE	5	L7	D15	W22	L9	L19	1.5
26	Ryan Duclos	400	LSE	5	L17	B---	L6	D14	L15	1.5
27	Reo Reyes	575	ARC	4	L1	W24	L12	L23	L22	1.0
28	Max Mihalick	634	SGS	4	L4	L21	L15	B---	L24	1.0
29	Tucker Williams	unr.	LSE	4	L20	L14	L13	L22	B---	1.0

SwissSys Standings. solstice sac 09: K-12

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Niles Desmarais	1775	GCL	12	W16	W6	W12	W7	D2	4.5
2	Cyrus Desmarais	1909	GCL	12	W15	W5	D3	W8	D1	4.0
3	Peter Schumaker	1373	LIN	6	W21	W4	D2	D12	W6	4.0
4	John Gunn	1028	SGS	11	W23	L3	W11	W18	W7	4.0
5	Nikolay Bulakh	1092	GPS	11	W24	L2	W16	W15	W12	4.0
6	David Blue	1163	NCL	9	W18	L1	W20	W9	L3	3.0
7	Titus Berndt	1340	GCL	7	W11	W25	W8	L1	L4	3.0
8	Ben Blue	1512	NCL	12	W20	W9	L7	L2	W13	3.0
9	Jimmy Derocher	1042	MHS	12	W17	L8	W10	L6	W21	3.0
10	James Eckart	695	RGR	10	L12	W22	L9	W19	W15	3.0
11	Justin Shoemaker	767	MHS	12	L7	W23	L4	W16	W17	3.0
12	Kevin Cao	1211	WVS	9	W10	W19	L1	D3	L5	2.5
13	Joseph Verchota	1087	SGS	7	D14	L15	W24	W20	L8	2.5
14	David Joslin	unr.	CET	7	D13	L16	L17	W24	X18	2.5
15	Ben Reich	927	NWD	7	L2	W13	W25	L5	L10	2.0
16	Michael Thayer	916	NWD	7	L1	W14	L5	L11	W25	2.0
17	Derek Boles	unr.	CET	8	L9	L20	W14	W22	L11	2.0
18	Seth Jordan	601	DPH	12	L6	W21	W19	L4	F14	2.0
19	Jaxon Lindauer	978	SGS	7	W22	L12	L18	L10	W23	2.0
20	Geoffery Maguire	891	HAV	9	L8	W17	L6	L13	B---	2.0
21	Kellen Blue	791	NCL	10	L3	L18	B---	W25	L9	2.0
22	Jarom Abel	unr.	MHS	12	L19	L10	W23	L17	W24	2.0
23	Austin Kratzer	unr.	CET	7	L4	L11	L22	B---	L19	1.0
24	Sean Long	441	NWD	8	L5	B---	L13	L14	L22	1.0
25	Cameron Edwards	400	CET	7	B---	L7	L15	L21	L16	1.0

North Idaho Fall Chess Tournament (Coeur d'Alene, Nov. 21))

Turnout was small, but big things are expected in the near future as scholastic organizers are already planning a second event. There were 15 players, spread across five divisions, in the inaugural event. The winners are:

Subject: North Idaho Fall Chess Tournament Results

Adult Division: Score

1st James Stripes 5

2nd Eric Edmonds 4

9 - 12 Grades Division Score

1st Kairav Joshi 4

2nd Johah Gookin 3

3rd Matt Geddes 2

4th Jacob Dolan 1.5

5th Lauren Speirs 1

K - 8th Grade Division Score

1st Savanna Naccarato 3

2nd Jack Lyon 2

3rd Ben Geddes 0.5

* Each player played 5 games even though there weren't that many people in all divisions. Players played out of division but the best scorer in each division decided who won.

Black Knights Joust (Deer Park, Nov.7)

Black Knights’ Joust Begins Season

by Dr. James Stripes

Seventy-nine players from fourteen schools participated in the Black Knights’ Joust in Deer Park on Saturday, November 7. The turnout was a little better than expected due to competition from alternatives that kept some of the area’s top players away: the Whitworth Writing Rally, swine flu vaccinations, karate, and debate. Rogers High School made its first appearance in chess competition is several years, and their top performer Riqi Silva scored a respectable three points.

In the team competition, North Central edged Ferris by one-half a point to capture the high school trophy. Lincoln Middle School from Pullman, strengthened by two sixth graders playing up, prevailed over Saint George’s on tiebreaks for the middle school trophy. In elementary, team trophies went to the top three teams. Saint George’s won first place easily, while Lake Spokane took second by one-half point over third place Arcadia.

The top seeds had a rough day in the individual competition. In 7-12, Ryan Ackerman drew second seed Richard Schumaker in their last round encounter, and Schumaker won first on tiebreaks—his opponents collectively scoring one-half point more than Ackerman’s.

The top rated player in K-3 was kindergartner Garrett Casey. Casey beat the Grand Champion, Connor Lester from Wenatchee, in the final round but lost to third-grader Daniel Arthurs, and drew third-grader Jack Martin (first place, grade three). Casey placed third overall and won the first place kindergarten trophy. Lester’s fourth round victory over Jacob Keyes assured him of the Grand Champion trophy before his battle with Casey; Keyes placed second overall thanks to his victory over Nikhil Chaudhry in round five, and took home the trophy for first place in second grade. Ten of the sixteen players in K-3 were third graders, but Martin’s fourth place overall was the top finish for the oldest students in that section.

In the 4-6 division, the top seed was second-grader Braxton Casey who opted to play up for the challenge. He lost to Collin Cremers, Grand Champion, in round three, then drew second seed Michael Thew (first place, sixth grade) in the final round. Thus, two sixth graders from Saint George’s finished at the top, and led their very strong team to victory. Two Lake Spokane fifth graders, Jacob Gifford and Andy Ames, placed third and fourth overall and took home trophies for best in their grade. Nine sixth graders and five fifth graders were added to the list of state qualifiers by scoring three or more. The top fourth grader, Connor Cremers, scored 2.5 in a strong field.

The cross table:

SwissSys Standings. Black Knights' Joust: K-3 Black Knights' Joust

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Lester, Connor	589	GCL	2	W9	W8	W7	W2	L3	4.0
2	Keyes, Jacob	881	CDH	2	W10	W4	W6	L1	W7	4.0
3	Casey, Garrett	1097	BTD	0	W11	L6	W10	D4	W1	3.5
4	Martin, Jack	779	SGS	3	W14	L2	W11	D3	W8	3.5
5	Berndt, Gregory	778	GCL	3	D8	L11	W9	W12	W10	3.5
6	Arthurs, Daniel	852	JFP	3	W16	W3	L2	L7	W12	3.0
7	Chaudhry, Nikhil	876	SGS	3	W15	W12	L1	W6	L2	3.0
8	Pierce, Everett	400	ARC	3	D5	L1	W14	W11	L4	2.5
9	Starbuck, Marshall	unr.	ARC	3	L1	D14	L5	W13	W15	2.5
10	Keller, Molly	469	ARC	2	L2	W13	L3	W15	L5	2.0
11	Joireman, Joshua	571	JFP	3	L3	W5	L4	L8	B---	2.0
12	Keller, Lucas	684	ARC	3	W13	L7	W15	L5	L6	2.0
13	Cardoza, Michael	unr.	NDN	3	L12	L10	B---	L9	W14	2.0
14	Busselle, Lucinda	400	JFP	0	L4	D9	L8	B---	L13	1.5
15	Dawson, Nicholas	414	SOP	1	L7	B---	L12	L10	L9	1.0
16	Manwell, Isaac	unr.	LSE	3	L6	U---	U---	U---	U---	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Black Knights' Joust: 4-6 Black Knights' Joust

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Cremers, Collin	940	SGS	6	W16	W9	W5	W7	W8	5.0
2	Thew, Michael	1210	SGS	6	W4	W25	W3	W8	D5	4.5
3	Gifford, Jacob	970	LSE	5	W12	W18	L2	W14	W9	4.0
4	Ames, Andy	720	LSE	5	L2	W26	W12	W10	W17	4.0
5	Casey, Braxton	1243	BTD	2	W15	W10	L1	W6	D2	3.5
6	Berndt, Cyril	1012	GCL	5	W13	D7	W25	L5	W11	3.5
7	Alves-foss, Jesse	826	MCD	6	W27	D6	W19	L1	W16	3.5
8	McAleer, Timothy	1129	JFP	6	W14	W17	W11	L2	L1	3.0
9	Bethmann, Samuel	unr.	LBY	6	W21	L1	W23	W18	L3	3.0
10	Moses, Alexander	917	EGN	6	W24	L5	W13	L4	W22	3.0
11	Hutyler, Shay	936	LSE	6	W26	W23	L8	W19	L6	3.0
12	Keller, Shelby	700	ARC	6	L3	W28	L4	W26	W25	3.0
13	Luiten, Kyle	706	SGS	5	L6	W22	L10	W29	W18	3.0
14	Lindh, Drew	718	ARC	5	L8	W29	W27	L3	W20	3.0
15	Hartley, Ali	756	ARC	6	L5	L20	W29	W27	W19	3.0
16	Long, Sam	632	LSE	5	L1	W24	D17	W21	L7	2.5
17	Cremers, Connor	871	SGS	4	W20	L8	D16	W25	L4	2.5
18	Elkins, Alexandra	790	EGN	4	W29	L3	W20	L9	L13	2.0
19	Garske, Branson	400	SGS	4	B---	W21	L7	L11	L15	2.0
20	Reich, Nick	541	BTD	6	L17	W15	L18	W28	L14	2.0
21	Shinew, Luther	780	JFP	4	L9	L19	W24	L16	W26	2.0
22	Dawson, Jacob	545	SOP	6	L25	L13	B---	W23	L10	2.0
23	Thew, Katie	777	SGS	4	W28	L11	L9	L22	W27	2.0
24	Reyes, Reo	611	ARC	4	L10	L16	L21	B---	W29	2.0
25	Moses, Hunter	885	EGN	4	W22	L2	L6	L17	L12	1.0
26	Ravasia, Jehan	627	SGS	6	L11	L4	W28	L12	L21	1.0
27	Nelson, Matt	400	LSE	5	L7	B---	L14	L15	L23	1.0
28	Lefors, Kage	unr.	LSE	4	L23	L12	L26	L20	B---	1.0
29	Duclos, Ryan	unr.	LSE	5	L18	L14	L15	L13	L24	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Black Knights' Joust: 7-12 Black Knights' Joust

#	Name	Rtng	Team	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Schumaker, Richard	1567	PUL	10	W18	W10	W4	W7	D2	4.5
2	Ackerman, Ryan	1753	MHS	12	W29	W13	W9	W3	D1	4.5
3	Arthurs, Nathan	1401	LIN	6	W20	W12	W11	L2	W10	4.0
4	Berndt, Titus	1271	GCL	7	W23	W8	L1	W19	W9	4.0
5	Blue, Ben	1523	NCL	12	W6	W19	L7	W15	W14	4.0
6	Bulakh, Nikolay	869	GPP	11	L5	W34	W12	W13	W19	4.0
7	Parkison, Ralph	1299	FRR	11	B---	W22	W5	L1	D8	3.5
8	Verchota, Joseph	988	SG2	7	W30	L4	W28	W11	D7	3.5
9	Schumaker, Peter	1388	LIN	6	W27	W15	L2	W22	L4	3.0
10	Blue, David	1143	NCL	9	W16	L1	W29	W21	L3	3.0
11	McAleer, Stephen	1202	PUL	9	W17	W25	L3	L8	W18	3.0
12	Thai, Khoi	1124	FRR	12	W26	L3	L6	W27	W21	3.0
13	Le, Khai

Spokane Chess Club

Spokane Area Scholastic Tournaments

The 2012 GSL Individual Championship

Friday, ??????

The GSL Team Championship

Friday, February 3, 2012

SwissSys Standings. Eagle Quest: K-12

SwissSys Standings. Eagle Quest: K-6

SwissSys Standings. Eagle Quest: K-3

SwissSys Standings. Dragon Slayer: K-3

SwissSys Standings. Dragon Slayer: K-6

SwissSys Standings. Dragon Slayer: K-12

SwissSys Standings. BK Quest: K-3

SwissSys Standings. BK Quest: 4-6

SwissSys Standings. BK Quest: 7-12

SwissSys Standings. Groundhog's Gambit: K-3

SwissSys Standings. Groundhog's Gambit: K-6

SwissSys Standings. Groundhog's Gambit: K-12

SwissSys Standings. Winterfest Scholastic: Winterfest K-3

SwissSys Standings. Winterfest Scholastic: Winterfest K-6

SwissSys Standings. Winterfest Scholastic: Winterfest K-12

SwissSys Standings. 2010GSL: 2010GSL

SwissSys Standings. solstice sac 09: K-3

SwissSys Standings. solstice sac 09: K-6

SwissSys Standings. solstice sac 09: K-12

SwissSys Standings. Black Knights' Joust: K-3 Black Knights' Joust

SwissSys Standings. Black Knights' Joust: 4-6 Black Knights' Joust

SwissSys Standings. Black Knights' Joust: 7-12 Black Knights' Joust