Spokane Chess Club

Michael Cambareri and Walter van Heemstede Obelt swept their respective “quads” in the two week quick quads held October 22 and 29. Michael won all six games in the double round robin first quad, while Walter won all five games of the six person second section. Congratulations to the two champions!

There’s a new kid in the neighborhood. Idaho Panhandle Chess has launched and will be hosting a tournament in Post Falls November 14-15. Our friend Deon Goodwin is directing the tourney. There is both a USCF-rated event and a scholastic event.

The USCF open tourney is a five round, g/75 event on Saturday and Sunday.

Full details are in the flyer: Inaugral IPC Tournament – Google Docs

Welcome to the neighborhood, IPC!

With the coming of November, the annual Turkey Quads are nearly here. This three week event starts November 5 and runs through the 19th. Show up by 6:45 on the 5th to enter.

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. The event will be played in two sections. GM Var Akobian will be playing in the open section.

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 four 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