Spokane Chess Club

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)

by Ben Shedlock

Michael Cambareri (4.0) alone topped the Spokane Chess Club’s late-August quick Swiss, which provided a night of exciting and unpredictable chess. With 9 entrants of 14 rated in the C & D classes, 8 players ended the evening with scores between 2 and 3. Two unrated players made their rated debuts with scrappy showings of 2.0 each, splitting the U1400 prizes while shutting experienced regulars out of the money. John Dill, Tito Tinajero, and Jeremy Burnett tied for 3 points apiece, splitting the remaining overall prizes and the U1700 kitty for the four-round game 15/d3 event.

While the middle of the field struggled to find any daylight to separate them, it was the bottom half of the cross table that shone bright. Jordan Fischer—the lowest-rated player of the evening—tallied a whopping 530-point upset against Jeremy Burnett—who shared the second-place prize—to start off his campaign. Not to be outdone, the top-seeded U1400 player, Logan Faulkner, scored the evening’s second biggest upset with perhaps the night’s most brilliant find—a quiet bishop move deep in time trouble that earned him a 339-point upset over Dakota Wickel. Logan’s bishop set up the impressive back rank checkmate in game-winning style, supporting his rook to trap the king Wickel had hoped to use to support a pawn promotion. The closely rated competition led to another first round surprise, with unrated J. Carper gaining tempo early against Devin Wolford and staying a move and a piece ahead for the rest of the game. 

Though things began to settle in Round 2, several games continued the excitement. Unrated Aspen Seiver converted a challenging win against Dave Griffin, earning the win while up time but down material. In the hunt for a repeat upset, Fischer pushed a brutal queen-side pawn squeeze on John Dill, who converted a 7-pawn endgame with a promotion, taking the win in a hotly contested endgame.

The third round brought more thrillers. The unrated Carper went up a piece with a passed pawn early against Griffin, converting a rook advantage to dominate a 5-pawn endgame. Taking his revenge on the unrated, Wolford forced Seiver’s white king to take a lonely walk back to the 7th rank with no other pieces in sight, winning when white ran out of room to roam.

While the fourth round still failed to separate the middle of the field in several deliberately played games, Cambareri and Dill blitzed out a couple dozen moves in the winner-takes-all match up, resolving to an endgame that favored Cambareri’s two passed center pawns. 

At the bottom of the cross table, Carper earned his way into the second highest scoring group with an odd number of players, pitting him against the tournament’s second seed, Dakota Wickel. Carper played an aggressive opening, dropping only an exchange before losing several middle-game pawns on the way to a tough loss. The game was a fitting coda to the evening, with the young unrated player equaling Wickel’s overall score.

The local chess scene looks forward to more explosive play from these newcomers and intense battles from our strong crop of experienced, intermediate regulars.

The USCF cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for AUGUST QUICK TOURNAMENT (Event 202208250112)

The Lou Gehrig quads, held August 20 on the 86th anniversary of Lou’s final grand slam home run, drew 12 players to the West Central Abbey. Michael Cambareri handily won quad A with the only perfect score of the day. Kellogg’s Adam Porth scored 2.5 to win quad B, while Missoula’s Declan Pham topped Quad C with the same score. Congratulations to all the winners!

The USCF cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for LOU GEHRIG QUADS (Event 202208209752)

The annual August Ajeeb Quads, first played in 1992, drew a record number of participants — 24. The event began August 4 and was nearly completed August 18 except for two make up games. The winners of the six sections, with their winning score in parentheses, were: Top Quad, Michael Cambareri (3.0); Second Quad, Logan Faulkner (2.5); Mid Quad, Casey Bruner and Devin Wolford (2.0); Low Quad, Jack Johnson (3.0); New Quad, Jordan Fischer (3.0); and the Late Quad, John Frostad (3.0). Congratulations to the seven winners!

The USCF cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for AJEEB QUADS (Event 202208180942)

Ryan Ackerman continued his club winning streak, extending it to nine games in a row, by topping Jeremy Burnett in the final round to claim the Spring Championship with a perfect 4.0 score. Jeremy (3.0) tied for second with Michael Cambareri and claimed the u/1700 prize. Logan Faulkner (2.5) won the u/1500 prize and newcomer Ben Patterson (2.5) took the u/1300 prize. Ben’s performance rating for the event was 1740!

The USCF cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for JUNE ’22 (Event 202206239452)

The club’s experiment with a one day Quad format event was a big success, with 20 players taking part in the inaugural Dad’s Day Quads, held June 18. As is typical, the tightly packed rating groups led to many tight games that were fought to the wire — Indeed, the final game ended with four seconds on Michael Cambareri’s clock when Dave Rowles flagged!

Ryan Ackerman won the first quad with a 3.0 score. Jeremy Burnett (2.5) won the second quad, while Dave Griffin won the third quad with the same score. Ben Shedlock in the fourth quad and Collin Cremers in the fifth quad also both finished with perfect 3.0 scores. Congratulations to all of the winners!!

The USCF cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for DAD’S DAY QUADS- NEW DADS (Event 202206187322)

This was the first event played at The Hive on East Sprague. The venue is lovely and I recommend folks consider checking out a room with their library card to play casual games.

The club’s annual meeting drew 15 members to the May 19 meeting. The four current officers — President Michael Cambareri, Vice-President Tito Tinajero, Treasurer Kevin Korsmo, and Secretary Ted Baker — were returned to office and the club’s future plans were discussed. The club’s schedule was set through the end of August.

Ten players then participated in a blitz tournament that was, quite surprisingly, won by your editor with a score of 8-1. James Stripes (7-2) was second and Michael Cambareri (6.5-2.5) finished third.

Michael Cambareri won the two-week g/40 tournament that kicked off at club on May 5 with the only perfect 4.0 score among the 14 players taking part. Dave Rowles, Kevin Korsmo, and Frederik van Pallandt tied for second with scores of 3.0. Dave and Kevin split the over 1499 prize, while Frederik took the under 1500 prize.

The USCF cross table link: US Chess MSA – Cross Table for 554X40D5 (Event 202205120102)