2013 Idaho Closed

Yep, that about sums it up for many

This last week featured the Idaho Closed chess tournament and Barry's picture summarizes my and others tournament experience.  After playing strong openings, I succumbed to end game shenanigans.  Numerous others had surprises and upsets including Lucas Knoll's win over Kurt Douglas and draw against John Carr (over 600 rating difference in each game!), Carmen Pemsler overpowering Caleb Kircher (over 400 rating difference!),  and Jacob Nathan drawing against Barry Eacker (over 600 rating difference!).

Newcommer Lucas Knoll beats down high rated players.

Larry Parsons wins 2013 Idaho Closed

Larry Parsons against John Carr

Larry Parsons (2000) is the new Idaho State Chess Champion for the eighteenth time.  Definitely it is our new state record, but maybe a record for any state championship.  Mr. Parsons scored 5.0 of 6 points with no losses.  I think the USCF should sponsor a "State Champions" event that brings all the state champions together to play in a tournament.  They could call it the "State of the Union" or the "State of the Nation" chess tournament and I bet that we would rank better than the 43rd state (Idaho became the 43rd State on July 3, 1890).

Jeff Roland receives 2nd place from Barry Eacker.  Jeff is also the new ICA President.

Jeff plays long in each round (30/120 G/60)

Jeff Roland has a lot to be proud of this weekend and I was cheering for him.  Jeff trimmed nearly 60 pounds of weight this past year from an extreme diet and has also been Idaho's greatest chess enthusiast.  Both Larry and Jeff went into the last round with four points and I really thought that the tournament might end with a 5 point tie for first.  For Jeff, the 2nd place is one of his best placements in this tournament and probably one of his strongest performances at a tournament of this magnitude.  Jeff received an appreciation award from the ICA and also became the ICA's new President.

Desmond wins 1st place Class E and below

My games were slightly different.  In round 1, I played Caleb Kircher, a much stronger and experienced player that has been playing very strong games at tournaments as of late.  He even scored a draw against Josh Sinanan in a simul at the Western Idaho Open.  My best game was against another highly rated and experienced player, Kurt Douglas - I scored a draw.  During the third round, I played an interesting and dangerous game against Jared Arp.  I tried the Wayward Queen Attack as a surprise and to have some fun (not recommended against a Sicilian opening).

Round 4:  I am slightly favored in this position, but I moved Re5?? and this changed the course of the game after Rxe5. 

Shane Taylor takes down both the Porth's!

Round 4 was a game that I will remember a long time against Shane Taylor.  He proved to be as slippery as an eel and eventually played a much stronger endgame than me.  After nearly five hours, I lost my head and the game.

Round 5:  Not looking too good for me (black)

Round 5 pitted me against Nedzad Imamovic, an unrated player that plays as strong as an expert.  Last year he won the MVCC and was featured on the cover of Northwest Chess.  I played a good game but was unable to hold off one of his two advancing pawns on the queenside.  This is the third game that I lost to an isolated pawn along the a- or h- file.

Round 6:  Black to move, and obviously Qxa8.  Next, I played exf6??  The game continued, 1. ..Qxg7 1. Qg3?? Qxh1+ 3. Kd2 Rd8+ 4. Kc3 Qc1+?? (Happy Birthday!).

In Round 6, I received a birthday present using the Wayward Queen attack against a first-timer, Alise Pemsler, who came to life while I was set up for a mate in two, and essentially had a forced mate in five, but missed it.  By the end of the tournament, I earned 2 1/2 points and 17th place.  Though I wanted to perform better, I felt good about my game choices and discovered where to emphasize my studies - the endgame.  Some interesting positions and games are presented below.

The tournament included 21 participants, significantly lacking many familiar faces, but none-the-less a very challenging and competitive tournament.  This  was also one of the few tournaments dominated by young faces with more than half the participants younger than twenty-five.  Also, six players were first-timers.  Tournament numbers are usually lower when the Idaho Closed is held in Twin Falls but the centralized location seems to draw a number of participants from eastern Idaho that might not play otherwise.  The ICA has alternated venues each year between Twin Falls and Boise.

Jay Simonson presents me with an award for service

The Idaho Closed is also the event that features the annual business meeting of the ICA.  Elections are held, financials disclosed, and issues and ideas are discussed.  As Secretary/Treasurer of the ICA, it was my duty to record minutes, but Jeff and Jay decided to tape the meeting, and that freed me from frantically writing everything down.  Jeff Roland and myself received service awards.  With only eleven voting members present, Jeff Roland became our new President, myself as the new Vice President, and Patrick Abernathy was elected as Secretary/Treasurer.  Additionally, Hugh Myers was granted Trustee for Web Maintenance and Development and Alise Pemsler was nominated to finish out the term as a Trustee for Tournament Development.

Happy Birthday to me! (new ICA Vice President)

I treated everyone to my birthday cake as Monday was my 45th.  I am happy to play chess for my birthday and I look forward to doing it again next year.

##

Player

Residence

S/J

USCF

1

2

3

4

5

6

Score

Prize

1

Larry R. Parsons

Boise

2000

W13

D12

W15

D2

W10

W5

5

1st Overall

2

Jeffrey T. Roland

Boise

1700

W19

W4

W11

D1

D7

D3

4½

2nd Overall

3

Cody Austin Gorman

Eagle

Jr.

1712

W16

D10

W8

L7

W15

D2

4

3rd Overall

4

Caleb Paul Kircher

Nampa

1845

W17

L2

W18

L10

W13

W7

4

1st A

5

Alex James Machin

Boise

Unr.

L10

W16

W20

W11

W12

L1

4

1st Unrated

6

Nedzad Imamovic

Twin Falls

Unr.

L11

W14

L7

W21

W17

W10

4

7

Fred Bartell

Twin Falls

Sr.

1711

W14

L11

W6

W3

D2

L4

3½

1st B

8

Barry D. Eacker

Twin Falls

1645

W18

-H-

L3

D9

D16

W15

3½

2nd B

9

Kurt P. Douglas

Boise

1751

L15

W21

D17

D8

D11

W16

3½

10

Carmen Pemsler

Eagle

Jr.

1465

W5

D3

D12

W4

L1

L6

3

1st C

11

Gary Hollingsworth

Pocatello

1407

W6

W7

L2

L5

D9

D12

3

2nd C

12

John B. Carr

Victor

Sr.

1700

W21

D1

D10

D15

L5

D11

3

Top Senior

13

Shane Taylor

Boise

1389

L1

L18

W14

W17

L4

W20

3

1st D

14

Desmond Porth

Bellevue

Jr.

924

L7

L6

L13

-B-

W19

W18

3

1st E

15

Lucas Knoll

Boise

Jr.

1060

W9

W20

L1

D12

L3

L8

2½

Top Junior

16

Jacob Ari Nathan

Idaho Falls

Jr.

963

L3

L5

W19

W18

D8

L9

2½

2nd E

17

Adam Porth

Bellevue

1308

L4

W19

D9

L13

L6

W21

2½

2nd D

18

Drew Anthony Machin

Boise

Unr.

L8

W13

L4

L16

W21

L14

2

19

Jared Lee Arp

Twin Falls

Jr.

Unr.

L2

L17

L16

W20

L14

-B-

2

20

Jay L. Simonson

Idaho Falls

Sr.

763

-H-

L15

L5

L19

-B-

L13

1½

21

Alise Pemsler

Eagle

570

L12

L9

-B-

L6

L18

L17

1

Top Woman

Thank you, TD Barry Eacker and Assistant Jay Simonson for an excellent and fair tournament, as usual.