December Tournaments: WIO

The Western Idaho Open is one of the earliest tournaments in December and draws all the usual Boise suspects, and of course, the Porth's.  This time however, there were some new faces.  I counted eight that have never played in a tournament that I have attended.  It was of great interest to everyone that David Lucky attended as he is rated upwards near a master (2375).  The next highest rated player was Caleb Kircher (1882), Boise and H.G. Pitre (1879), of Seattle.

One of the coolest chess names ever - Dave Lucky!

 This is a great tournament for us because we can complete our Christmas shopping and Darwin can spend time in the pool as we stay overnight near the mall every year before Chrismas.  With Desmond, Dylan, Darwin, and me possessing ratings under 1400, we all qualified for the Reserve, which we happily entered.  I would like to play up, however, 'tis the season that demands lot's of cash and the lure of the prize money stopped me.

Could someone please make a decision?  Looks a bit tied up to me,

Twenty-two players were in the open section and I was surprised when the tournament commenced and there were only 7 players in the reserve section - more than half are the Porth's.  I was expecting the four more U1400 players in the open section to go for the cash, but some players prefer harder games and the chance at increasing their rating significantly, so they played up. Jeff Roland was an outstanding tournament director and also played at or near the top boards in the open section.  It is very difficult to be a director and a player at the same time.  Time trouble is usually common.

Miss Carmen

In fact, I was impressed with the performance of #4, 5, 6 (Carmen Pemsler, Jeff Roland, and Shane Taylor).  As I walked around in between my moves, their games looked great and there moves very solid.  I suspect that any of these players might enjoy the State Championship coming up in February as they are capable of earning the title.  It is clear that they can beat anyone in the state.

In the last round, Caleb Kircher earned a point from an early blunder by James Inman on move 11!  James and Caleb both usually play at a much higher level in tournaments, so I suspect that they were distracted . . .or something.

Caleb's nasty pin against veteran player, James Inman.

cxd5??

It was a group effort with the Porth's that brought home for the first time 1st - 3rd place.  Also, there were three teachers battling with 2 being of the math persuasion and one of science. After driving from 5 am and arriving just in time for round 1 to start, I played a miserable game that resulted in a draw between Mike Healy and myself (see below).  4. ..Qa5+ would have won a piece!  6. ..Qa5+?  What's wrong with Kxf7?  N...O...THING!!  As the competition neared a close, it was with great joy that I collected money (prize winnings) that paid for our entry fee and our hotel.

Aerial from the Goodyear Blimp

Crosstable

Open Section
##	Player	Residence	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	Score	Prize
1	David Lucky	Eagle	2375	W19	W21	W9	W3	W5	5	$180.00
2	Graeme K. Faulkner	Boise	1329	L10	W6	W11	W12	W9	4	$90.00
3	H.G. Pitre	Seattle, WA	1879	W6	W10	W5	L1	D4	3½	$33.75
4	Carmen Pemsler	Eagle	1610	W18	-H-	W15	D9	D3	3½	$33.75
5	Jeffrey T. Roland	Boise	1703	W17	W15	L3	W16	L1	3
6	Shane Taylor	Boise	1473	L3	L2	W19	W15	W17	3
7	Chris Amen	Boise	1594	W20	L12	D13	D14	W16	3
8	Dale R. Bowden	Boise	1621	W22	L9	-H-	D18	W10	3
9	Eric Woro	Ontario, OR	1761	W14	W8	L1	D4	L2	2½
10	Jarod N. Buus	Nampa	1671	W2	L3	-H-	W13	L8	2½
11	Kevin Yang	Boise	1487	L15	W17	L2	W21	D14	2½
12	John Carr	Victor	1745	D16	W7	-N-	L2	W20	2½
13	Corey Kenneth Longhurst	Boise	1410	L21	W20	D7	L10	W18	2½
14	Jamie Lang	Meridian	1470	L9	W22	-H-	D7	D11	2½
15	Caleb Paul Kircher	Nampa	1882	W11	L5	L4	L6	W21	2
16	David Allen Zaklan	Twin Falls	1442	D12	D19	W21	L5	L7	2
17	Jacob Ari Nathan	Idaho Falls	1391	L5	L11	W22	W19	L6	2
18	Justin Siek	Boise	925	L4	-B-	-H-	D8	L13	2
19	Kenneth Sanderson	Boise	1577	L1	D16	L6	L17	W22	1½
20	Joetta Faulkner	Boise	847	L7	L13	-H-	W22	L12	1½
21	James Inman	Nampa	1724	W13	L1	L16	L11	L15	1
22	Matthew William White	Boise	1203	L8	L14	L17	L20	L19	0

Reserve (U1400) Section
##	Player	Residence	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	Score	Prize
1	Desmond Porth	Bellevue	1308	W3	W4	L2	W5	W6	4	$78.75
2	Adam Porth	Bellevue	1363	D5	W7	W1	W4	D3	4	$78.75
3	Dylan Porth	Bellevue	818	L1	W5	W6	-B-	D2	3½	$45.00
4	Roger Hunter	Nyssa, OR	1112	W6	L1	W7	L2	-B-	3
5	Michael Healy	Boise	833	D2	L3	-B-	L1	W7	2½
6	Oliver Eli Nathan	Idaho Falls	462	L4	-B-	L3	W7	L1	2
7	Darwin Albert Porth	Bellevue	432	-B-	L2	L4	L6	L5	1

Standings

Open Section
##	Player	Rating	Score	Solk	Med	MMed	CumOp
1	David Lucky	2375	5	11½	7	10½	41½
2	Graeme K. Faulkner	1329	4	13½	8	11	38
3	H.G. Pitre	1879	3½	17	9½	14½	51
4	Carmen Pemsler	1610	3½	9½	6	9½	33½
5	Jeffrey T. Roland	1703	3	14½	7½	12½	46
6	Shane Taylor	1473	3	13	7½	11½	36½
7	Chris Amen	1594	3	11½	7	10	31
8	Dale R. Bowden	1621	3	6½	4	6½	23
9	Eric Woro	1761	2½	18	10½	10½	50½
10	Jarod N. Buus	1671	2½	13	9	9	37
11	Kevin Yang	1487	2½	11½	6½	6½	32½
12	John Carr	1745	2½	10½	6½	6½	29
13	Corey Kenneth Longhurst	1410	2½	9½	5½	5½	29½
14	Jamie Lang	1470	2½	8	5	5	25
15	Caleb Paul Kircher	1882	2	13	8½	9½	39½
16	David Allen Zaklan	1442	2	11½	7½	8½	35
17	Jacob Ari Nathan	1391	2	10	7	7	26½
18	Justin Siek	925	2	9	5½	5½	25½
19	Kenneth Sanderson	1577	1½	12	7	7	33½
20	Joetta Faulkner	847	1½	8½	5½	5½	22½
21	James Inman	1724	1	14	7	9	41½
22	Matthew William White	1203	0	10½	6	7½	25½

Reserve (U1400) Section
##	Player	Rating	Score	Solk	Med	MMed	CumOp
1	Desmond Porth	1308	4	13	7½	11½	39
2	Adam Porth	1363	4	12	7½	11½	38
3	Dylan Porth	818	3½	11½	7½	11½	34½
4	Roger Hunter	1112	3	10	6	10	33
5	Michael Healy	833	2½	11½	7½	7½	36½
6	Oliver Eli Nathan	462	2	10	6	6	32½
7	Darwin Albert Porth	432	1	10	6	6	30½

I always thought Jamie Lang looked like a beardless me.