Chess in Spokane
Michael Cambareri defeated Dave Rowles in their final round encounter to claim the club’s Fall Championship with a 4.0 score. Five players shared second place and claimed all of the class prizes with scores of 3.5: Keith Brownlee, John Frostad, John Miletus, Jonathon Rorabeck, and Dave Rowles. Congratulations to all of the winners!
The USCF cross table link: 2026 Spokane Fall Championship | US Chess Ratings
The annual Turkey Open, in your editor’s view the premier Montana chess tournament, will be played November 21-22 at the Holiday Inn of downtown Missoula. GM Var Akobian will be playing in the open section, and NM Nicholas Ladan (2344 USCF) also will be attending, likely making this the strongest Turkey Open ever.
Check out the flyer here: Missoula Chess Club Schedule – Missoula Chess Club
Drew Bunch (4.5) won this year’s installment of the Eastern Washington Open by defeating Michael Cambareri (4.0) in the final round. Bunch gave up only a second round draw to frequent playing partner Mark Havrilla, while Cambareri defeated Missoula high school junior Declan Pham in round for to set up the title clash.
There were plenty of other prize winners. Third place (3.5) was shared by Eric Billaux, John Frostad, Declan Pham, and Eshan Reddy, and they accounted for the two class A prizes and the first class B prize. Second in class B was Ben Legard with 3.0. That same score earned Steve Brendemihl the first class C prize. Second in class C was shared by Dave Griffin, Henry Phillips, and Eric Spletstoser (2.5). Liam Weiss-Hurd (3.0) won the class D prize. The top two class E prizes went to Bradyn Mahnke and Zac McLeod (3.0).
Eric Flaten (530 point differential) scored the largest upset. Henry Phillips (492) and Liam Weiss-Hurd (351) garnered the second and third largest upsets. There were a total of 15 upset results.
This year’s event drew 32 players to the club’s home at the West Central Abbey.
The USCF cross table link: Eastern Washington Open – 2026 | US Chess Ratings
Tamsyn (tam-zin) Paige Shedlock, first child of Ben and Katie, was born September 8. Mother and daughter are doing fine. Here’s hoping the proud parents bring her to club soon. Congratulations!!
Michael Cambareri won the Warm up for Fall, a two-week four-round event, with a perfect 4.0 score. Dave Griffin and Jonathon Rorabeck shared second with 3.0 scores.
The USCF cross table link: WARM UP FOR FALL | US Chess Ratings
Several players and friends showed up Thursday for a night of casual chess play and Bennidito’s Pizza. Here are some photos from the evening.
The annual Ajeeb Quads completed action August 20th. Michael Cambareri and Travis Miller, having drawn each other, won Quad A with 2.5 points. Vibi Varghese was a perfect 3.0 in Quad B. A three-way tie for first in the six-person MiniSwiss featured Patrick Kirlin, Karl Milton, and Brian Thomas. Congratulations to all the winners! The USCF cross table link: 2026 AJEEB QUADS | US Chess Ratings
A unique quad pairing format — grouping players by age instead of rating — was used for the “Old Men Rule — Not Quick Quads” that was played July 9 through July 23. The One (formerly Elder) section saw Dave Rowles victorious with a perfect 3.0 score. The Middle Age quad was won by John Frostad (2.5), while Michael Cambareri won the Youngsters section with a 3.0 score.
The cross table (and a photo) can be found on our Recent Results page (link at top).
The Mid-Summer Night’s Dream event drew 8 players on June 25. Three tied with 3-1 scores for the top honors: Michael Cambareri, Ken Erickson, and John Frostad. The class D prizes were shared by Brian Thomas, Sean Thomas, and Jim Burney, each of whom scored 2.0 in the four round event.
Jo Ong took advantage of an early blunder and beat Michael Cambareri, who had entered the final round with the sole perfect score among a field of 20, to win the club’s Spring Championship. Michael and Travis Miller (4.0) tied for second place.