Spokane Chess Club

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)

Brian Lee, a WSU freshman by way of Napavine, won the Inland Empire Open with a perfect 5.0 score. Brad Bodie finished second with a 4.0 score. Brian defeated Brad in their round four matchup of the first day’s only perfect scorers. Brian then topped Spokane veteran Dave Rowles in the final round to clinch outright first place.

Dave Rowles and James Stripes each finished with 3.5 to tie for the class A prize. Jeremy Burnett, 3.0, won the class B/C prize. Unrated newcomer Dakota Wickel, who arrived in Spokane only a month earlier, won the class D/unrated section with a score of 3.0 on his way to earning a provisional rating of 1695. Second place in the section was shared by Owen McDevitt and Arnav Wadikar with scores of 2.5.

Although the field of 18 who turned out for this year’s edition was small, the competition was decidedly strong! Six of the players were rated 1845 or higher, and they are augmented by a pair of underrated 1300s and two strong online players making their OTB debut. In all, it made for a very competitive event.

The annual Taxing Quads are underway April 7-14-21. A total of 16 players are taking part. The first round saw upset results in the top three quads, with only the fourth quad seeing the top two players win their games.

The Jepson building is locked at all time, so the club will have people at the northeast door (the one closest to St. Al’s) from 6:30 to 7:00 to admit players. Gonzaga is no longer requiring masks.

Eleven hardy souls skipped the sour 16 Gonzaga game in favor of competing in a night’s blitz tournament on March 24. Ryan Ackerman was a perfect 10-0, topping the field by two games. An evening of free play will be held March 31 before the club’s annual Taxing Quads begins on April 7.

The club’s return to Gonzaga continued in fine fashion, with 18 taking part in a two week, g/45 tourney played March 10 and 17. Michael Cambareri won the event with a perfect 4.0 score, defeating Jeremy Burnett in the final round. Cambareri edged Ryan Ackerman in round three, mating Ryan in a time scramble with both players under 5 seconds.

Second place and best in class prizes were shared by Ackerman, Griffin Herr, Burnett, and Arnav Wadikar, all of whom finished at 3.0. Second place in the under 1450 section was shared by Casey Bruner and Devin Wolford with 2.0 scores.

The club’s return to Gonzaga on March 3rd was a huge success, with 20 players turning out. 18 players took part in the night’s g/15 tournament, which was won by Michael Cambareri with a perfect 4.0 score. It was a well-balanced event, exemplified by the fact that there were four and five-way ties for the u/1600 prize and the u/1300 prize. The turnout bodes well for the two week g/45 event beginning March 10.

[For a preview of the Northwest Chess article and a link to the cross table, read the complete article on this year’s tournament on our Dave Collyer Memorial page.}

The 29th Dave Collyer Memorial tournament was “an instant classic” in the language of ESPN and will be remembered for numerous hard-fought games and spectacular results from seriously underrated newcomers. Although many newcomers shined, first place still went to IM John Donaldson who won the tournament once more with a perfect 5.0 score.

The biggest story of the event was 10-year-old Finnegan Flavin of Wenatchee. He entered the tourney with a rating of but 887 and raised it 420 points to 1307 before returning home. Wow. The youngster finished with 4.5 to tie for second place overall with Dave Rowles. In addition, Finnegan won both of the Jim Waugh biggest upset prizes. He was held to a second-round draw by Jeremy Younker, who in his youth had quite a reputation himself for upsetting higher rated adult opponents. Finnegan had the largest upset in the first round and kept raising the bar each succeeding round before defeating the legendary Viktors Pupols on board 3 in the final round.

He had lots of competition for those prizes. Newcomer Owen McDevitt, a graduate student at WSU, sported a provisional rating of 663 entering the event and left with a provisional rating of 1070 after scoring 4.0, including a 2-1 record against class A players in the final three rounds. WSU freshman Brian Lee won his first four games before battling Donaldson on board one with the tournament title at stake.

There were numerous class prize winners. The Expert prize was shared by David Arganian and Michael Cambareri with 4.0 scores. Brian Lee, Steve Merwin (who lost to Donaldson in round 4), and Jeremy Younker all scored 4.0 to win the class A prizes. A score of 3.5 result in a three-way tie for the class B prizes among Neal Bonrud, Griffin Herr, and Andrew Rankin. Niall McKenzie won the class C prize with a similar 3.5 score, while four players shared the second prizes with 3.0 scores: Jess Driscoll, Tayseer Khalil, Murlin Varner, and Jeremy Wohl. Casey Bruner, who recently returned to chess, was first in class D with a score of 2.5; second place in the class was shared by Patrick Kirlin and Arnav Wadikar with 2.0 scores. The class E/unrated category was won by McDevitt with his 4.0 score, while Garrett Thompson finished second at 3.0 in his first tournament.

Congratulations to all of the prize winners and to each of the 72 entrants who made this an entertaining tournament to watch.