Rasul Nazriev took home the top honors to win his first MT Chess Championship! Rasul got off to a slow start, losing a miniature (20 move) Sicilian to Dan Mattson (Bil). Rasul then went on to rattle off 4 straight victories to secure the win. Rasul had a very dominant season, winning several tournaments as well as a very respectable showing at the National Open (Vegas) in the U2100 section.

Dan was not slowed down in Rd 2 as he overcame Darren Stacey with the Black side of an Italian. Darren had a good position, but after an ill-advised pawn recapture he was dropping a piece due to a knight fork, so resigned on the spot. Unfortunately for Darren, he had a slow start and finish, leaving the Closed with all losses, without a doubt a first for him over many appearances. Dan lost to Matteo (Boz) in Rd 3, and then drew (3-fold repetition) current champion Ben Vogel (Boz) despite being short on time and on the brink of losing. Had Rasul drawn and Dan won in Rd 5 they would have been co-champions. Since Dan was winning for some time, Rasul was careful to take care of his own business to secure the championship.

Former champion Wilton Strickland also had a slow start, losing to Matteo in the tourney’s only other miniature. He then lost to Rasul, before righting the ship and winning 3 straight against Ben, Darren, and Dan. Despite having to give up his queen for a rook and knight in the early middlegame against Dan, he fought resiliently and ended up winning!

Matteo did well for his first Closed scoring 3/5. He likely has many championships ahead of him.

The chess was interesting and easy to follow via a Facebook Livestream as well as a featured game on a DGT Board, which relays moves and clock times to the internet. Many Montana players and fans were tuning in to the action throughout the weekend. The Facebook page had over 600 engagements in the past week.

This championship is in the books, and we look forward to next year’s in due time. The new season kicks off September 17-18 in Billings, MT.