Spokane Chess Club’s annual Spring Championship tournament kicked off Thursday, April 24 with two dozen contenders. The five-week event will continue with one game 90 round each Thursday through May 22.
This year’s 24-player field is well distributed, with four Expert/A-Class players, eight B-Class players, 9 C-/D-Class players, and three F-Class players. The Club usually has few entrants at the C-Class level, and the large B-Class suggests we will see some strong competition for class prizes.
A couple Swiss surprises rankled the first round results. Newcomer Josh Maulolo (1220 (p)) played to a draw against Joe Ong, achieving a 200+ rating point upset. Nick Guerra, with a rating below 1000, scored an even more impressive result, notching a draw versus B-Class player Craig Moore. A third game looked headed for a split result when the chronically underrated C-Class player Khai Le battled third seed Nikolay Bulakh to a drawish endgame, with a rook and a bishop halting the progress of Bulakh’s two pawns supported by a lone rook. In the end, Bulakh’s patient and precise play slowly ramped up the pressure, and Le resigned when the conversion became inevitable.
With two draws and a first-round bye resulting in 5 half-point players for Round two, the rest of the tournament promises interesting pairings. Come and check out the action this Thursday to see the anticipated mid-field battles unfold.