Spokane Chess Club

Ryan Ackerman won his second consecutive City Championship by defeating challenger Dave Rowles in a tiebreaker 2-0. Rowles won the first match game before Ackerman took the next two. Dave then took game four to force the tiebreaker. The rapid tiebreak format favored the champion who gets to keep the trophy for another year. Congratulations, Ryan!

Dave had topped a five player field with a 3-1 score to win a return to the championship match. The USCF cross table results for the Contenders event is found here: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for 2023 CITY CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS (Event 202308051032)

August 24 saw the final round of the annual Ajeeb Quads, and the winners of each section were determined by the final four games of the night. Jack Johnson bested Pat Kirlin to win Quad C in a hard fought game that was next to last to finish. Jack finished 3.0, while the other members of the section finished tied for second with a point a piece.

Just prior to the conclusion of that game, Griffin Herr topped Walter van Heemstede Obelt in hard fought endgame to win Quad B with 2.5 points. The winner of the mini-Swiss (section D) was Matt Goodale, who prevailed over Johnny Buckner with a pretty queen sacrifice that led to a checkmate via pawn promotion. The position had been challenging with both sides having mate threats. Buckner, Nathan Garza, and Pat Nance tied for second with 2.0 scores. All four of the top finishers are comparatively new to over the board play.

The top quad featured the last game of the night. Michael Cambareri and Ryan Ackerman engaged in a slug fest, with each having opportunities for mate in two when the game ended with Ryan flagging in the complex position. The conclusion was entertaining for spectators as the two young men kept finding defensive moves that simultaneously threatened to win. The victory left Cambareri alone in first place with a score of 2.5.

The USCF cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for AJEEB23- 23AAJEEB (Event 202308314442)

James Stripes prevailed in a back and forth final game against Michael Cambareri to win the 2023 Inland Empire Open with a score of 4.5. Second place (4.0) was shared by Cam Leslie and David Rowles.

The tourney featured numerous hard-fought games, with the top boards being challenged every round before they started playing each other. Since your editor got to play this year, he didn’t have quite the time to watch all of the action, but it was an entertaining event for spectators! The top four seeds — Cam Leslie, Michael Cambareri, Ryan Ackerman, and David Rowles — typically constitute the top of the charts at Thursday night club meetings. Andrew Rankin of Helena , MT, ventured over from Victoria, BC, to continue his climb toward class A, and was joined by Stevens County teenager Ben Patterson and Neal Bonrud at the top of the charts. The fur began to fly when they began tangling with one another.

Although the upper seeds generlaly prevailed, the contests were lengthy and hard-fought. The first crack in the upper board armour occurred in round two, when Ackerman and Rowles yielded draws, leaving five perfect scores standing. With Stripes taking a third round bye, Rankin and Leslie squared off while Cambareri had to face Patterson. The board one contest drew, leaving Cambareri the lone perfect score at the end of the first day.

Round four featured an entertaining contest on board one with Cambareri having a rook and two minor pieces against Leslie’s queen and knight. In the ensuring mutual time scramble, Michael was forced to try and mate with a bishop and knight, but ran out of time and had to settle for the draw. Stripes prevailed against veteran Steve Fabian in another hard fought contest, while yours truly let a winning position against Ben Patterson slip into a draw. Rankin and Ackerman had the last game of the round, with Ryan playing dozens of moves with less than a minute to go; he was at two seconds when a draw was reached. Heading in to the final round, Stripes (3.5) and Cambareri (3.5) topped the field, with a host of 3.0 scores waiting to pounce in the event of a board one draw.

Stripes prevailed in a comeback to claim the IEO crown. Meanwhile, Leslie and Rowles disptached Ackerman and Rankin, respectively, to finish in second, with Rowles also claiming the class A prize. Class B was shared by Fabian and Korsmo with 3.5 scores, while Steve Brendemihl and Ben Shedlock won the class C prizes with 3.0 scores. The same score gave Michael Byrne first in the class D and under category. Stanley Deng of the Tri-Cities, Declan Pham of Missoula, and Alex Rosenkratz each scored 2.5 to share the second class D prize. Declan and Stanley continued their climb up the ratings list with strong performances. Stanley’s two victories also won the two largest upset prizes!

29 players took part this year. The USCF cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for INLAND EMPIRE OPEN 2023 (Event 202305218732)

The club met May 18 to select officers for the next year. Michael Cambareri was re-elected President, Jeremy Burnett is the new Vice President. Kevin Korsmo was retained as Treasurer. Ben Shedlock was chosen to be the new Secretary. The officers will serve until the annual election in May, 2024.

Two newcomers topped the field in the Greater Spokane High School team championship played March 3, 2023, at Gonzaga Prep. Cheney, fielding its first teams since the late 1990s, and University High School, making its first appearance, fought to a final round draw to finish with respective scores of 3.5 in the four round event. U-High took home the first place trophy on the basis of tiebreak (15-12). Third place was shared by Gonzaga Prep and West Valley, with the Bulldogs finishing third by virtue of defeating the Titans in their head-to-head competition.

The top individual performances were turned in by U-High first board Michael Coe and West Valley first board Hasan Al-hakeem. The two seniors won their four match games. They met in a blitz playoff for the outstanding individual performance trophy, with Hasan claiming the hardware.

Twelve teams competed this year, making it the largest team tournament since 2001. Congratulations to all of the schools and players that made the event the largest in recent memory!

Michael Cambareri won the final Collyer Memorial with a perfect 5.0 score to claim undisputed first prize and also win a donated $300 prize for a perfect score. Cambareri emerged the sole winner from a record-sized field of 112 players at the 30^th, and final, Dave Collyer Memorial tournament in Spokane February 25-26, 2023.  His 5.0 score finished half a point ahead of a trio who shared second place: Geoff Gale, Brian Lee, and Cam Leslie.

Tournament rating was delayed by USCF computer issues related to membership renewals. The event was finally rated late Tuesday afternoon. The cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for COLLYER 30 (Event 202302268162)

The complete story is found on our Dave Collyer Memorial page.

The evening of quick chess on October 27 drew 16 players, and 11 of them ended up winning prizes! Michael Cambareri was a perfect 4.0 to take undisputed first place. Every other prize was shared by multiple players! Cam Leslie, Dave Rowles, and Dakota Wickel all scored 3.0 to take second in the class A/B category. The C/D prizes were shared by Jeremy Burnett, Ethan Rowe, and Devin Wolford. Similarly, the E/F category saw four players tie for the two prizes: Sam Bethman, Chris Bruceri, Tiernan Waggoner, and Buster Wagner. Congratulations to all of the winners!

The event cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for OCTOBER QUICK SWISS (Event 202210276052)

Ryan Ackerman defeated Michael Cambareri three games to one to win the City Championship and end Michael’s streak at six consecutive titles. The event was played on the weekends of October 15-16 and 22-23, 2022. The white player won each game the first weekend, but that streak ended in game three after Michael sacrificed a pawn for an attack that Ryan ably fended off to win the ensuing endgame. Ryan gained an early advantage in the fourth game and wrote that Michael “showed great sportsmanship by resigning in epic style: without saying a word, and with a big smile on his face held up the trophy, walked around the table and handed it to the new Champion of Spokane. “

Congratulations, Ryan!

Ryan Ackerman is the club’s Fall Champion, topping top seed Michael Cambareri to grab first place with a perfect 5.0 score. Second place went to Kevin Korsmo and David Rowles with scores of 4.0. David Griffin (2.5) won the class C prize, while Jordan Fischer and Ben Shedlock shared class D with score of 3.0.

The cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for FALL CHAMPIONSHIP (Event 202210222412)

The 2022 Eastern Washington Open was won by teenager Ben Patterson and Spokane veteran Dave Rowles, each of whom scored 4.0 to top the 20-player field. The two drew in their round four encounter, and then held serve by defeating higher seeds in the last round. Patterson’s performance was particularly strong as he beat both top-seeded Michael Cambareri and second-seeded Ryan Ackerman to raise his provisional rating to1705.

Ackerman (3.5) shared third place with Jack Johnson, who claimed the class C prize. The class B prize went to Dakota Wickel, while Tito Tinajero finished second in that class. Adam Porth (2.5) finished second in class C. The under 1400 prize went to Jordan Fischer (2.5), with Ben Shedlock and Buster Wagner, both 2.0, finishing second in that category. The biggest upset prize went to Karen Schmidt, who claimed a 773 point first round upset that helped raise her rating by 162 points! Congratulations to all of the winners!

The tournament was held September 24-25 at the West Central Abbey. The USCF cross table link can be found here: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for EWO 2022 (Event 202209255202)