Spokane Chess Club

Kevin Korsmo's report on the Inland Classic:

Linus Wannamaker, a high school sophomore from Moscow, ID, won the Inland Classic for the second consecutive year! Linus and IM John Donaldson, who trailed by one half point due to a third round bye, agreed to a draw in their final round game to leave Linus with 4.5 and awaiting the results of a board two encounter between Ken Erickson and David Rowles to see if anyone would share the title. The two Spokane veterans fought late into the game before settling with a draw and leaving the title to Linus. Seven players tied for second with 4.0 scores: Donaldson, Erickson, Rowles, Drew Bunch, Michael Cambareri, Eshan Reddy, and John Frostad. That group split the second and third place prizes, as well as the class A prizes and first in class B.

Four people had finished the first day’s action with perfect scores: Wannamaker, Drake Wilson, and two class C players: Daniel Amado and Caleb Courtney. With Amado taking a Sunday morning bye, Courtney had to face Donaldson on board two while Wannamaker and Wilson, newly returned to Spokane after concluding his education, battled on the top board. The IM quickly picked up the pointon board two, but the battle for first board supremacy was fought until the final seconds of time control. Despite being down a pawn much of the contest, Wannamaker displayed strong endgame skills and was able to pull out the victory, settting up the rematch with Donaldson in the final round.

The sixty player field featured closely packed classes that saw quite a few hard fought contests and every round saw multiple games played to the end of the time controls. When the dust settled, there were quite a few ties for class prizes. The second class B prize was shared by Jo Ong, Nikolay Bulakh, John Wheaton, and Francisco Lopez with scores of 3.5. Daniel Amado won the class C first prize with the same score, while four players achieved a 3.0 score to share the second class C prize: Caleb Courtney, Chris Gilbert, and Steve Brendemihl. The Class D/unrated section was won by newcomer Joseph Freedman with a 3.0 score. Second in class (2.5) was shared by Oregon’s Eric Spletstoser, Montana’s Lane Wicks, and Shancie Wagner.

Wes Marburger captured the Jim Waugh award for the largest upset, scoring a 605 point upset victory in round. The second upset prize saw Ben Shedlock overcome a 475 point rating differential to secure his first round victory. There were a half dozen upsets greater than 200 points, including a 450 point upset that just failed to win a prize.

The tournament was held at the gymnasium of St. John Vianney School in the Spokane Valley. The same venue is being considered for future use, so feedback from tournament players is greatly appreciated.

The weekend kicked off with a well attended lecture form IM John Donaldson that addressed the recent Tata Steel tournament, the world championship contender candidates, and his latest book, Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer. The IM then played a ten person simul, scoring 8-1-1.

Photos by James Stripes

Join us for Chess in the Courtyard, Saturday July 26!

If you’ve played at the Spokane Chess Club’s current home, the West Central Abbey, you know that our playing hall has that perfect church basement vibe that always seems to bring out the best in club chess. But you’ve also walked through the beautiful courtyard to get there. Our Chess in the Courtyard event will give you the chance to play in that al fresco environment.

On Saturday, July 26th, we’re bringing the Washington Square Park experience to Spokane! In partnership with our friends at Blitz & Blunders, you can participate in either a USCF-rated tournament or an unofficial tournament open to the community. Both tournaments will be 5-round rapid time controls of G/10;d5. That means each player will have 10 minutes and there will be a 5-second delay before your clock starts for each move. This means games will be up to about 25 minutes max. It’s a perfect way to try out tournament chess in a low-pressure environment without giving up your whole weekend!

More details to come, but show up at 4pm for a 4:30 start time. No advanced registration required. Rain/Smoke/Heat site will be inside the fellowship hall at the same location.

Spokane Chess Club: chess worth hydrating for