Portland Memorial Open

Hi everyone,

I thought I would share some fantastic news and hopefully some inspiring games. This past weekend I drove from Helena, Montana to Portland, Oregon to play in my first tournament of 2024--The 8th Annual Neil Dale Memorial Open. Although things began with a rough start, non chess wise, as my car window was smashed in Friday evening and some car prowl stole my chess set and disc golf discs, it could only go uphill from there. I ended up finishing first place with a 4.5/5 score and an 80 point rating gain. 

Feeling quite flustered and torn between playing in round one and trying to deal with my car problem, something I had only found out less than an hour before the event was scheduled to start, I sat down against Ravi Mathews. Ravi is about a decade older than me and a genuinely nice guy. Unfortunately for him, he was a little too nice to me on the chess board. 

Game 1: Ravi Mathews (1216) - Rankin -01

To both of our surprise, in game 2 I was paired against one of the top seeds, Dave Murray. I got a lovely attacking game as white. I hope you find the move f5 particularly brilliant!! I was happy to find it and even more elated when I saw the engine doesn't list it as a top move until you run it on a much deeper depth. 

Game 2: Rankin - Dave Murray (1953) 1-0

Game 3 was a rough battle. I was quite fatigued before even starting the round as 3 games in one day is crazy! I'm not particularly proud of my lackadaisical opening development, but things got interesting as the middle game unfolded. 

Game 3: Rankin - Michael Swearingin (1902) 1-0

Game 4 was by far my toughest opponent. He is rated 2400 rapid on chess.com and had already rolled through the 2000 and 2200 rated opponents in the tournament. So don't be fooled by his provisional rating, as it is increasing by hundreds every tournament. We played a near-perfect game and played all the way until we had seconds on the clock. Unfortunately I missed a win in the rook and pawn endgame, but with mere seconds, I don't blame myself. Joel is also a stand-up guy and I wish all the luck to him with his future studies in Korea. 

Game 4: Joel Fruit (1832p) - Rankin 1/2-1/2

Game 5 was a rematch against William Nobles, whom I had played in the Portland Open in September. I had a nice win as black that time and another win as black this time. 

Game 5: William Nobles (1740) - Rankin 0-1