2011 Winter Tournament

Santa Claus kicks off the Winter Tournament

Sleigh bells were jingling as eleven Blaine County School District students competed in the Winter Tournament.  It appears that our little tournament was also in competition with the numerous activities and holiday warm ups as many of our usual chess suspects were not available.  Despite the chilly turn out, the Winter Tournament attracted Santa Claus and some very interesting games.

Santa inspects Round 1 games

In the first round, Tyler Avila produced an upset victory against Desmond Porth.  Tyler is new to chess and Desmond is an experienced player.  I have had this happen in my own games where I was certainly the favorite, but failed to bring home the point.  It is very difficult to describe how one feels when this happens.  Desmond was certainly more serious in his subsequent games and scored the necessary point in each.  The last game against Chase Hutchinson was an exciting game and everyone in the tournament room gathered around to watch.

Darwin has got the chess player groove going on!

Because there were only three competitors in the elementary section and the middle school sections, players and parents agreed to create one open section so that the younger players could get used to playing tougher games and become comfortable playing outside their age group.  I was happy to notice one boy was very independent by the time the last round was finished.  In the first round he needed mom to be near him and did not in the end.

Emmett is focused on the candy cane and saving his king.

I usually have a prize drawing at tournaments and place all the players names in a chess bag.  For this tournament, a 22 inch mouse pad board and pieces were given away to Tyler Avila.

Quentin and Collin learning about "touch move" and other tournament rules.

Results
High School

1. Desmond Porth (4.0)
2. Chase Hutchinson (4.0)
3. Emmett Say (4.0)
4. Kalen Moffett (3.0)
5. Tyler Avila (2.0)

Middle School

1. Dylan Porth (3.0)
2. Victor Saldivia (2.0)
3. Connor Manning (2.0)

Elementary School

1. Darwin Porth (2.0)
2. Quentin Van Law (2.0)
3. Collin Young (1.0)

A tournament first:  three first places for my kids in one tournament. - Good job!

The WRHS Chess Club will sponsor a RR G/5 Christmas Blitzkrieg on Thursday, Dec. 15 beginning at 4:30 pm in Room C214 at WRHS. It is open to all students.  A Family Chess tournament over Christmas Break will pit teams of a parent-student against each other in an afternoon tournament (RR G/20).  I hope more are able to take advantage of these chess opportunities.  Please see the WRHS Chess Club website for flyers.


This weekend, the ICA is hosting the Western Idaho Open in Boise at the Student Union Building.