In 2019, Michael Cambareri of Coeur d' Alene (2032) won the first North Idaho Championship and he defended his title against 14 competitors in the second offering, but succumbed to Kenneth Erickson (1846) of Athol, Idaho in the final game of the four round tournament held in the Coeur d' Alene City Park. The time controls were G/45 with a 5 second delay and attracted a flock of crows and five players from Boise.
It was a notable surprise to see the strength of some of the unrated newcomers to chess tournaments and demonstrated that the Covid pandemic did not shut chess down. The now provisional players said they played on online platforms and decided to try tournament play. Well three of them came out above 1500 after the tournament!
The city park has become a pleasant venue to host tournaments and get folks playing outside in the beautiful Idaho weather and scenery. The laughter and frolicking of kids and birds and the smell of charcoal grills with hamburgers and hot dogs mixes with the thoughtful moves of chessmen. I feel that it is important to occasionally bring chess out of the silent and sequestered rooms that chess usually endorses and into public view. On-lookers and pedestrians alike gawked in awe and uttered words of assurance that this is a "cool" event. I am sure that many went home and pulled their boards out after their day at the city park beach.
[Event "North Idaho Championship"] [Site "Coeur d'Alene, ID"] [Date "2021.07.10"] [Round "4"] [White "Cambareri, Michael (2032)"] [Black "Erickson, Kenneth (1846)"] [Result "0-1"]
e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d4 Bd6 13. Re1 Qh4 14. g3 Qh3 15. Be3 Bg4 16. Qd3 f5 17. Qf1 Qh5 18. f4 Kh8 19. Nd2 Rae8 20. Bf2 Nxf4 21. Bd1 Nh3+ 22. Kh1 Rxe1 23. Qxe1 Nxf2+ 0-1
Commentaires