Mountain Home Open Results

Round 5.  Shane Taylor vs. Barry Eacker, Board 1 (left)  and Christopher Pentico (Left)

Morning came early for our trip to Mountain Home for the tournament.  We were slated to leave at 7:30 am and I found myself sitting on the bus in front of the school still waiting for players at 7:45.  Our valley is not known for punctuality, especially the teens which will also show up to classes just as late.  The roads were typical of mountain country this morning with fog, ice, blowing snow, and very little traffic.  I was feeling pressed to get to Mountain Home (nearly 1 1/2 hours on good roads) because I was running the loosely put together tournament.

While at a coffee shop in Hailey playing chess with a former student during winter break, I heard a neighboring table critiquing my experimental Sicilian opening and looked up to see Christopher Pentico.  After some "nicety" exchanges, I suggested that Mountain Home should hold another tournament like last summer.  Chris agreed.  Many Mountain Home players don't travel to tournaments and the air-base oriented community is half-way between Boise and Twin Falls where most of Idaho's tournament players reside.  We whipped out a date only a few weeks away and hammered out a flyer for the local schools and sent out e-mails to the usual suspects. Barry Eacker and Jeff Roland, Idaho Chess Union organizers allowed for a joint sponsorship:  The BCSD Chess Rage and the ICU present . . . the Mountain Home Open.

We arrived a bit late, but Idahoans are quite relaxed toward life and chess players are patient, so nobody was getting too upset.  The event was going to be a full day endeavor, anyway with 4 rounds of G/60 d0.  Meaning, each game could approach two hours and many did.

Round 5.  Wesley Brimstein vs. Chris Pentico.  I can't wait to see the scoresheet for this endgame.  Wesley came back from the brink and promoted just before Chris did.  The game ended in a draw and provided Wesley with 1st place for the scholastic section.

Round 3.  Jeff Roland (right) vs. Shane Taylor (left) plays to full time and draws a large crowd as the time ticks away.  Shane Taylor scored a perfect tournament score and won this game.

Darwin starts to wane as the endgame battle ensues between Jeff Roland and Shane Taylor.  You have to stay alert in the endgame!

The Wood River contingent included my two boys, Desmond and Darwin, and my standard chess clubbers, Andre Murphy, Wesley Brimstein, and Keegan Crowson.  Jose Blanco is a student in the chess class and decided at the last minute to play in his first chess tournament with classical time controls.  Barry Eacker and Fred Bartell traveled from Twin Falls and Jeff Roland, Shane Taylor, and Jamie Lang traveled from Boise.  Mountain Home locals included Thomas Westcott, Nathanael Winchell, and Christopher Pentico.  Dena Marchant came from Glenns Ferry to her first tournament, too.

Dena Marchant plays Darwin Porth in Round 2.

The Mountain Home Library and the Stage Coach Cafe hosted us and it was nice to dive into coffee or lattes whenever I needed a fix.  Jose drank nearly four Frappucinos and two or three Italian Sodas!  The hostess, Jennifer Preuss also made sure food was readily available and after my game with Jeff, sauer kraut on a sausage really hit the spot.  Darwin finished his games early and participated in the library program that had a book reading and a movie with many other kids, "Despicable Me II."  Library patrons were highly interested in "what's going on?" and I was surprised to see how busy the library was compared to ours.  With the Cafe embedded in the library, people came just to hang out, use the computers, participate in the programs, or get lost in the stacks.

Scholastically plugged in!

The games were really enjoyable and I found some really interesting positions that had me on the edge of my seat.  In one such game against Jeff Roland,  we were both running out of time (about 2 minutes to 4 minutes) and it very much looked like Jeff was going to win.   After 27. ..Kxf2, my offer was accepted.

Porth vs. Roland (2014).  Move 25.  Black to move.  It is not looking good for white, however the Qd8+  and Qe7 threat kept Jeff on edge too.  I didn't really see 1. Qd8+ Kg7 2. Qf8# until after the game when Jeff and I were wiping the sweat off our brows.

Porth vs. Roland (2014).  Move 26.  Black to move.  When Jeff took f2, I was really nervous and then I thought to move a5.  I figured I'd lose a bishop and a pawn but gain one of the rooks.  I really expected Jeff to take on a5 or Rxf6+ on this next move.

Porth vs. Roland (2014).  With Jeff's 26. ..Qa7, I think he expected me to take his rook with my queen, but his bishop would have pinned it (absolutely), so I took with my king and offered a draw and at this point it was accepted.

Dog Pile!

In this game against Fred Bartell, I struggled with his opening but fought back and threatened 3 move repetition in a couple of different places during the endgame.  Can you find them?  Fred was very alert and avoided this like a computer engine!  This game displays the hazards of an exposed king . . .my king!

Jeff Roland shows off one of my lithographs, Stonehenge.

Barry Eacker brought three excellent artist prints to donate as prizes and I submitted three of my own, as well.  Winners were able to choose what they wanted.  Dan Looney, artist and chess player, occasionally donates unsold prints to the ICU to use as prizes.

Dan Looney is an artist from McCall and donates prints to chess players at tournaments.

Tie-breakers

Place	Name/Team	Rate	Score	Solk	CumOp	MMed	Cum	Prize
1	Taylor, Shane (6)	1374	4	8	21.5	8	10	Looney Prt.
2	Bartell, Fred (1)	1772	3	10.5	26.5	8.5	7	Porth Prt.
3	Eacker, Barry (3)	1634	2.5	11.5	29.5	9.5	8	Porth Prt.
4	Roland, Jeff (2)	1690	2.5	10	25	9	6.5
5	Pentico, Christopher (5)	1455	2.5	8	20.5	7	5.5
6	Brimstein, Wesley (12)	1000	2.5	7	17	6	5.5	Looney Prt.
7	Porth, Adam (7)	1262	2.5	7	15.5	6.5	6.5
8	Lang, Jamie (4)	1494	2.5	4.5	14	4.5	8
9	Porth, Desmond (8)	1058	2	9.5	22	4.5	6	Looney Prt.
10	Marchant, Dena (14)	1000	2	6	17	3	4
11	Murphy, Andre (15)	1000	2	5	11.5	2.5	3	Porth Prt.
12	Westcott, Thomas (10)	1013	1	8.5	20.5	5.5	4
13	Crowson, Keegan (13)	1000	1	8	20	5	2
14	Winchell, Nathanael (9)	1015	1	6.5	16	4	3
15	Banco, Jose (11)	1000	1	5.5	12.5	3	0
16	Porth, Darwin (16)	1000	0	9	19	5	0

Thomas Westcott works against Jamie Lang in Round 2.  

Cross Table

No.	Name	Rate	Pts	Rnd1	Rnd2	Rnd3	Rnd4
1	Taylor, Shane	1374	4	W16	W2	W3	W4
2	Bartell, Fred	1772	3	W10	L1	W7	W9
3	Roland, Jeff	1690	2.5	W8	D7	L1	W12
4	Eacker, Barry	1634	2.5	W6	W9	D5	L1
5	Lang, Jamie	1494	2.5	W15	W13	D4	-N-
6	Pentico, Christopher	1455	2.5	L4	W11	W13	D8
7	Porth, Adam	1262	2.5	W14	D3	L2	W15
8	Brimstein, Wesley	1000	2.5	L3	W15	W12	D6
9	Porth, Desmond	1058	2	W11	L4	W10	L2
10	Marchant, Dena	1000	2	L2	W16	L9	W13
11	Murphy, Andre	1000	2	L9	L6	W14	W16
12	Winchell, Nathanael	1015	1	L13	W14	L8	L3
13	Westcott, Thomas	1013	1	W12	L5	L6	L10
14	Banco, Jose	1000	1	L7	L12	L11	-B-
15	Crowson, Keegan	1000	1	L5	L8	W16	L7
16	Porth, Darwin	1000	0	L1	L10	L15	L11

Andre and Wesley

Desmond, Jose, and Keegan.  Keegan is a pool shark!