Montana State Championship 2025

I was the oldest player at the 2025 state championship in Bozeman. Three of the other five players were teenagers, one was 23, and the only one close to my age was 42. It blows me away that I've been at this for so long; indeed, the youngest player (13) was born right around when I competed in my first Closed in 2012! I look forward to July because I will be going to Wisconsin to compete in the National Tournament of Senior State Champions, where I'll be one of the youngest people there (the age threshold is 50, and I'm 51).

The Closed was a warmup for that event, which will be even harder because I'll be going up against masters, IMs, and even GMs. I will surely get destroyed if I play as poorly as I did in Bozeman, where I scored 2 measly points. One reason for the bad result is that I got stuck playing black three times, and two of those times I foolishly played the dubious Owen defense and lost. It used to be very effective against my opponents and was how I broke 1900 the first time; however, in recent years it's just not working for me. My insistence on playing it was the triumph of hope over experience, so I'll have to put it on the shelf or just save it for blitz.

Anyhow, I still had a good time and enjoyed seeing everyone. In the first round I faced John Julian, who was itching for revenge after I scored a win against him at the Open in April. As in all my previous games against John, I played black, but I'm happy to say that I held him to a draw by using an offbeat response to his four pawns attack.

In the second round I faced Matteo Nero, who is always a tough opponent and went on to become the new state champion. I defeated him last year, but I was playing with white back then and was stuck with black for this game. Ever the eccentric, I chose to use the Owen defense and had winning chances until I blew it in a time scramble. Matteo launched a rapid blitzkrieg down my king side that took me far outside my comfort zone and forced me to use too much time. 

The third round was interesting because it paired the oldest player (me, 51 years old) against the youngest player (Chase Rands, only 13 years old). Chase had a phenomenal Open tournament, where he defeated everyone he played except for me because we agreed to a draw. We chatted for a while before starting this game, and he told me that I blog too much because it lets everyone know what I'll play. I responded that perhaps I would use a different opening than usual, and he shook his head while saying that he knows everything I play. I had to chuckle, not only because he's probably right, but also because his extreme studiousness is amazing and reminds me of how I was when I first started playing. I played the exact same opening that I did against him at the Open, and his defense was notably stronger this time. We reached a stale position and agreed to a draw. It would not surprise me to see him become champion in the near future. 

What happened in the fourth round was quite amazing, both on the board and off. I was playing the defending champion, Ben Curtis, who was also having a rough tournament. I figured he would be happy to face me because I always blunder and lose against him. Playing white, I got off to a strong start and had a material advantage with some initiative. I knew from experience that I couldn't count Ben out, and sure enough, he put together an extremely menacing and complicated attack that forced me into a deep time deficit. In the ensuing scramble, I blundered badly but got out of trouble and was on the verge of winning with only seconds on my clock. Ben lifted his king in the air and said something that I thought was a resignation, so I exhaled and stopped thinking. However, then he said he wanted to keep playing, so I apologized for the misunderstanding and rushed to move without analyzing because of my low time. I promoted a pawn by grabbing a rook near the board (I couldn't find the queen), but then I saw that by doing this it was a stalemate! I couldn't believe it. The real surprise happened next, as Ben said that I could keep the win. This showed a level of maturity and class that I'm not accustomed to seeing, especially in a highschooler. I accepted it because I honestly had believed that the game was over and had mentally detached at that point, which is why I screwed up when I rushed back into it with only seconds left. Ben did the right thing even though he knew it meant losing, and by doing so he proved himself a true winner.   

In the final round I faced Brandon Arensmeyer. Although I never had played against him before, I knew he was a strong player who already had taken some impressive scalps. Little did I know that mine was next! I stubbornly played the Owen defense again and paid the price for it, as I missed some opportunities and ignored some dangers in order to pursue a fruitless attack down the king side. I look forward to our next game.