Chinook Open 2025
This year's Chinook Open in Great Falls did not go as well as last year's, where I scored 4 points and won $600. Instead, I racked up another loss and finished with only 3 points, the bare minimum to gain Grand Prix points for the new championship cycle. So it goes, but I accomplished my primary goals of having fun, visiting old friends, and making some new ones.
In the first round I sleepwalked into playing a Colle (which I used to play all the time) and found myself in a very drawish position when I decided to use a cheap tactic with a poisoned pawn that, miraculously, worked. It just goes to show that old tricks can still be the best ones.
In the second round I faced Declan Phamm, a young man who got sweet revenge against me for beating him at the St. Patrick's Open last March. In that game I played my Budapest Defense against his Queen's Gambit. I could have done the same thing this time, but I chose not to because I figured he had studied that game and would be even more prepared this time. Unfortunately, I played a King's Indian in such a poor and aimless manner that it allowed him to swarm my king, so he earned a very nice win. I see no value in sharing this atrocious game here, so I will preserve it for myself as a reminder to give all my moves a real purpose.
Even though I had only one point after two rounds, I chose to take a bye for the third round because I knew I would be facing someone very tough (there were several upsets in the first two rounds, not just my own). So, I relaxed and spectated the other games, but I got a bigger surprise than I bargained for. Some local teens crashed the tournament by entering the room in a loud manner, which sent one of the players (who shall remain nameless here) into a rage. He yelled and chased them out of the room in a very entertaining manner. It reminded me of my first Closed tournament in 2012 when the cops were summoned to eject an unwelcome spectator.
Anyhow, on Sunday morning I hunkered down to play against someone I'd never met before, but who had held Luke Miller to a draw in a previous round (better than I've done against Luke). This game was the opposite of my one again Declan, as I was firing on all cylinders and scored a very clean checkmate.
So, after four rounds I had only 2.5 points (two wins, one loss, and one bye). I would need either a draw or a win in the final round to obtain a plus score for the tournament, which is necessary for gaining Grand Prix points. It turned out that I would be facing none other than my good friend and fellow 1973er Daniel Mattson, who's done a better job at maintaining his rating than I have. He also had 2.5 points and was in the same predicament I was. I had black but decided to play something off the beaten path, a Philidor, which confused Daniel at first and left a free pawn that I chose not to take because of the risks. We drew shortly after that and decided to hit the road to fight another day, both of us driving home with 3 points.
