Big Sky Country Chess Tournament – Butte – Sept 2018

 

Brad Bodie – Champion   5-0

 

Dan Mattson – 2nd   4-1

 

Thomas Walthall – Junior Champion  4.5 – 0.5

& Open Biggest Upset (539 pts)

 

The Big Sky Country Open tournament launched the Montana Grand Prix season with a firecracker start September 15-16. Twenty-four participants and tough competition established this tournament as a great success.

Included in the event was a six-player round-robin junior contest which brought in two new Montana players from Bozeman and two new faces from Idaho. “Old timer” Thomas Walthall topped the game/30 scholastic with a 4.5 score. Thomas and two of the Idaho juniors also moved on to play in the Open taking half-point byes for missing round one.

Brad Bodie of Coeur d’Alene brought his 1898 rating over to Butte for top billing and he played accordingly, knocking off all comers to finish at 5-0. We expect Brad will join us again soon — with the understanding that he knows he will arrive wearing a big bullseye. Lots of Montana players now have him on their “short list”.

Dan Mattson also scored big, coming in at 4-1 for a clear second. A resurgent Darren Stacey came third on tie-breaks at 3.5 losing only to equally resurgent Scott Caldwell.
Dean Drake essayed the biggest return-to-chess story with super-solid play and zero losses on his way to a 3.5 finish. Jesse Driscoll’s come-back 3.5 points in the final four rounds earned him 4th on tie-breaks, just ahead of Drake, along with an event best 77 point rating gain.

Thomas Walthall followed his junior triumph with another finish in the money landing a 539 point biggest upset. This upset was somewhat unusual as it came in round 5 instead of the more typical 1st or 2nd round.

Michael Abron of Ohio scored 2.5 as he added Montana to an epic 50-state odyssey. Exiting Montana with only Wyoming, Alaska, and South Dakota remaining, Michael is well-set to become the first Afro-American to notch rated events in all fifty of the United States during a one-year stretch.

Thanks to Mr Abron and the five Idaho players who also traveled great distances to play chess with us and give us a nice boost in attendance and camaraderie.
Special thanks to Gary Solomon and Dan Mattson for enthusiastically promoting Butte as a chess destination with an extra tip of the MCA hat to Gary for “above and beyond” organizing efforts.

Venue? Stellar!!
Player friendly? Most excellent!!
Preparation?? Superior!!
And so begins the 2018-2019 Grand Prix!

(Thanks to Dan McCourt for writing this summary)

2018 Big Sky Country Open Standings