Author: kmkorsmo

The 2024 edition of the Taxing Quads is complete, as all round robins finished regularly scheduled round 3 play on April 4 at The West Central Abbey.

Access the crosstable here: https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202404046182-12720375

Four groups of players (three quads and a 6-player mini-swiss) battled in tightly contested play that featured several upsets, including, to mix seasonal metaphors, a bracket-buster in the top quad.

From the third slot, Dave Rowles scored a perfect 3 in the event’s most challenging bracket, offing both 2000+ players, Cam Leslie and Michael Cambareri. A final-round game between the top seeds resulted with Michael scoring 2-0 and Cam finishing 1-0. Walter Van Heemstede Obelt also notched a perfect score.

The second quad aligned neatly along rating contours, with Keith Brownlee winning with 1.5, Vibi Varghese scoring 1, and Craig Moore ending with a half point. In a self-inflicted error, the TD erroneously entered a fourth player who had withdrawn with plenty of notice. As long as the auditors don’t come auditing, these results should stand just fine.

The third quad lived up to its billing as the most tightly packed round robin. Recently returned to the chess scene, top seeds Jeff Hazen and Paul Bundy were separated by only 1 rating point. Third seed Ben Shedlock was only 10 points behind. The unrated wild card Ryan Plouse made a strong tournament debut, splitting the two prizes with Ben Shedlock at 2 points apiece, though Plouse won the head-to-head. Hazen and Bundy shared third place with 1.5 points each after drawing their match.

The mini-swiss included an even spread of six players ranging from 1034 to 1306. Fourth-seeded John Stilley, with a rating of 1183, overperformed and took the group with a perfect score. Stilley’s performance, while impressive, was not shocking as he has been barely losing great games to higher rated players in the latest tournaments. Hopefully, this breakout moves him comfortably into Class D play. Stilley’s accomplishment was all the more satisfying as his path included a 120-point upset of the top seed, Carl Peterson, who shared the second- and third-place purses with Pat Kirlin, scoring 2 points each. Club stalwarts Jim Burney and Cecilia Valeriotte scored a point each, with 6th seed Nick Guerra rounding out the group.

See the Inland Classic page (link above) for the complete story of this event. Michael Cambareri and Brian Lee won the inaugural Inland Classic chess tournament held February 24-25, 2024 with scores of 4.5 each.

Michael Cambareri went a perfect 5.0, defeating second seed Dave Rowles in the final round, to claim the club’s Winter Championship. Nikolay Bulakh finished second with a 4.0 score, and Rowles, Neal Bonrud, Matt Goodale, and Keith Brownlee tied for third with scores of 3.5. Kevin Korsmo (3.0) won the under 1650 section, with five others tying for second with 2.5 scores: Steve Brendemihl, Logan Faulkner, Dave Griffin, Craig Moore, and Vibi Varghese. Benjamin Legard (3.0) won the under 1500 section, with Casey Peterson and Stan Soderberg (2.0) tying for second. Peterson also won the biggest upset prize. Congratulation to all of the winners!

The club’s winter championship, traditionally the largest Thursday night event, started January 25th. There were 26 participants this year.

The January 11 meeting saw 15 players brave the cold to enter a two-week, four round g/30 tournament, and the tally expanded to 18 for the second night’s action. Michael Cambareri was a perfect 4.0 to win the event, defeating Dave Rowles in the battle of unbeatens in round 4. Rowles (3.0) tied for second with Cam Leslie, Matt Goodale, and Craig Moore. The under 1500 prize was shared by Alberto Alberty and Casey Peterson with scores of 2.0. Congratulations to all who braved bitter cold temperatures and snowy roads to take part in a very entertaining event.

A nice turnout on December 21st saw 14 players take part in a blitz tourney, and several others engage in casual play. Thanks to everyone who turned out.

Nikolay Bulakh and Michael Cambareri each finished with perfect 3.0 scores to share first place honors in the December Quick tourney November 30 at club. The event featured three newcomers and a fourth who played in his first quick event.

The USCF cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for DECEMBER QUICK (Event 202311308102)

The Turkey Quads completed play November 16 with a clear winner in each section. Quad A was won by Michael Cambareri (2.5). Matthew Goodale won Quad B with a perfect 3.0 score. Quad C was won by Alberto Alberty (2.0). Newcomer Serhii Snihurov won both of his games (a third game was unplayed due to a withdrawal) to claim Quad D with another perfect score.

Congratulations to all of the prize winners! The USCF cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for TURKEY QUADS (Event 202311169972)

Michael Cambareri scored 5.0 to win the 60 player Turkey Open held in Missoula November 11-12. Nine Spokane chess club members helped swell the record turnout for the event. Brad Bodie (4.0) tied for second place. Steve Brendemihl (3.5) tied for the class C prize. Your editor was the victim of the biggest upset!

It took 28 years, but Dave Rowles is once again club champion, winning the Fall Championship with a perfect 5.0 score. His most recent club championship was the 1995 Winter Championship! Work and family obligations kept Dave away from regular club night events for most of that time period, but retirement is allowing the club stalwart to actively participate in our weekly competitions once again.

Dave defeated Nikolay Bulakh (3.5) on board one in the last game of the night October 19. Makeup games kept most of the prize categories up in the air through October 26th, but North Central student Benjamin Legard (2.5) won the D/unrated section on the 19th. He fought through a tough position to ultimately force Dave Griffin to play for repetition in a game that ended just before board one reached its conclusion.

After the makeup games were played, the other prize winners fell into place. Griffin Herr (4.0) won the class A prize, while Nikolay Bulakh won the class B prize. The top two class C prizes were shared by David Peoples and Vibi Varghese with scores of 3.5. There was a five-way tie for the third class prize among the following 3.0 scores: Steve Brendemihl, Jeremy Burnett, Matthew Goodale, Dave Griffin, and Jack Johnson. The second class D/unrated prize went to Pat Kirlin (2.0).

Congratulations to all of the winners!! The USCF cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for FALL CHAMPIONSHIP 2023- FC1 (Event 202310266792)

The 2023 Eastern Washington Open title was won by Michael Cambareri with a 4.5 score. He defeated Walter van Heemstede Obelt, the only perfect score after four rounds, in the final round. Walter shared second place (4.0) with Nikolay Bulakh and Griffen Herr, with Walter also claiming the top class B prize.

Second place in class B went to Andrew Rankin with a score of 3.5. The remaining class prize winners all scored 3.0 to share their respective class prizes. The class C winners were Steve Brendemihl, Caleb Courtney, and Loyd Willaford. Matt Goodale, Lane Wicks, and unrated player Daniel Yermakov won the class D prizes. Daniel posted a 1703 initial provisional rating with his performance! Rob Harder scored the largest upset prize. Congratulations to all the prize winners!

The event drew 35 contestants and was played September 30 and October 1 at the West Central Abbey. The USCF cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for 2023 EASTERN WASHINGTON OPEN (Event 202310013232)