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$3.95 orthwes N t C h April 2020 e s ARGUING ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF THE CURRENT VIRUS, s THE MEMBERSHIP OF BERNARD‛S “DOUBTER‛S ANONYMOUS CHESS CLUB” COULD NOT AGREE ON WHAT “SOCIAL DISTANCING” MEANT. On the front cover: Northwest Chess April 2020, Volume 74-04 Issue 867 Chesstoon by Brian Berger. This month it is an oil painting with vivid colors! Check it out online at ISSN Publication 0146-6941 http://www.nwchess.com/ Published monthly by the Northwest Chess Board. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Office of Record: Northwest Chess c/o Orlov Chess Academy 4174 148th Ave NE, On the back cover: Building I, Suite M, Redmond, WA 98052-5164. Luke Wei, First Place Class E at the 2020 Idaho Closed State Championship. Photo credit: Jeffrey Roland. Periodicals Postage Paid at Seattle, WA USPS periodicals postage permit number (0422-390) NWC Staff Chesstoons: Editor: Jeffrey Roland, Chess cartoons drawn by local artist Brian Berger, [email protected] of West Linn, Oregon. Games Editor: Ralph Dubisch, [email protected] Publisher: Duane Polich, Submissions [email protected] Business Manager: Eric Holcomb, Submissions of games (PGN format is preferable for games), [email protected] stories, photos, art, and other original chess-related content are encouraged! Multiple submissions are acceptable; please indicate if material is non-exclusive. All submissions are subject Board Representatives to editing or revision. Send via U.S. Mail to: Chouchanik Airapetian, Eric Holcomb, Jeffrey Roland, NWC Editor Alex Machin, Duane Polich, Ralph Dubisch, Jeffrey Roland, 1514 S. Longmont Ave. Josh Sinanan. Boise, Idaho 83706-3732 or via e-mail to: Entire contents ©2020 by Northwest Chess. All rights reserved. [email protected] Published opinions are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor or the Northwest Chess Board. Northwest Chess is the official publication of the chess governing bodies of the states of Washington and Idaho. Northwest Chess Knights Please donate today to help Northwest Chess! Event Announcement Rates Patrons, 2018-2020 (Upcoming Events listings) Ralph Dubisch, Washington Chess Federation, $40 for three consecutive listings of the same event. $30 for Josh Sinanan, Murlin Varner, Stephen Buck, Dale Wentz. two consecutive listings of the same event. $20 for one listing, or $20 per month for events held every month (may include Subscriptions / Memberships dates for current month and next month). Individual residents of Washington only. Grand Prix events must be advertised in an Upcoming Events Washington residents please add sales tax. listing or in a ¼-page or larger display ad. Idaho residents see https://www.idahochessassociation.com/ Please arrange payment for ads and Grand Prix fees of $1.00 Rate per player with the Business Manager. Adult 1 year $ 30.00 Advertising & Copy Deadline 3 years $ 80.00 Ads and submissions must be received by the 5th of the month Junior 1 year $ 24.00 for the items to appear in the next issue (e.g., April 5 for the Age U/21 at expiration 2 years $ 43.00 May issue; May 5 for the June issue). Scholastic 6 months $ 14.00 Senior 1 year $ 25.00 Submit all ads, donations, payments, changes of address & Age 65 or over 3 years $ 65.00 subscriptions to: Additional Family Members 1 year $ 10.00 Business Manager, Northwest Chess Residing at same address 2 years $ 18.00 Eric Holcomb 3 years $ 25.00 1900 NE 3rd St, STE 106 PMB 361 Tournament/Trial 1 month $ 12.00 Bend, OR 97701-3889 Non-Member Subscriptions [email protected] Check online for any U.S. promotional rates. www.nwchess.com Rate U.S. addresses 1 year $ 30.00 3 years $ 80.00 Judged Best Magazine/Newsletter for 2009 and 2014-19 Canada 1 year $ 40.00 by Chess Journalists of America! Foreign 1 year $ 60.00 Page 2 April 2020 Northwest Chess Chess During The Pandemic Table of Contents By James Stripes Chesstoon by oil painting Schools are closing, large gatherings are banned, and Brian Berger ................................................Front Cover social distancing is the new norm. COVID-19 is disrupting life as we have known it. What happens to chess? Chess During The Pandemic James Stripes ..................................................................3 The day before the March Madness tournament in Spokane, one school canceled the tournament that would Idaho Closed State Championship follow it two weeks later, the governor ordered all schools Jeffrey Roland .................................................................4 closed before Tuesday, and the decision was made to Michael Schemm (1947-2019) cancel Saturday’s tournament. Nonetheless, there had been John Donaldson ..............................................................9 discussions for several weeks about trying some online competition, and John Dill had run a trial event with students Oregon Chess News whom he coaches. On Friday, those who had registered for Frank Niro ....................................................................10 the March Madness tournament were notified both of the Singer Hill Sunday Update cancellation, and of the opportunity to participate in an online Brian Berger .................................................................14 event. Sixteen players signed up to play. A four-round event Harmon Memorial Chess Tournament Half-Page Ad ensued on Saturday. Online via Chess.com ...................................................15 I paired the event in the usual manner, but from home. 9th Annual Larry Evans Memorial Full-Page Ad Then, I emailed the pairing chart in html to John, and he Reno, NV Apr 10-12 (Canceled!) ................................16 posted the pairings on a webpage set up for the event. Prior to the event, students registered on Lichess and let us know 5th WA Corp and Collegiate Team Full-Page Ad their user names. A few had accounts of long-standing,but Seattle, WA Apr 18 .......................................................17 most created new accounts. When the pairings were posted, Dave Collyer Memorial each player with White sent a challenge to their opponent Kevin Korsmo ...............................................................18 for an unrated game/30 battle. I followed the games as they were played, as did other coaches. As the games completed, I Presidential Scholastic entered the result in SwissSys and downloaded the game. Josh Sinanan .................................................................20 Washington President's Cup There were hiccups. One student created two Travis Olson ..................................................................20 correspondence games with his opponent before he got the time control correct. Each round, some games were over Washington Girls Championship before others began. Everyone played much too fast. Some Jacob Mayer ..................................................................20 players underperformed in the unfamiliar format. Mouseslips Yermo Annotates MLK Games and touchpad errors may have affected results. John and I Alex Yermolinsky .........................................................20 wondered how much we could trust everyone to play without unfair help. Washington Senior Championship Half-Page Ad Apr 19-20, online via chess.com ..................................23 It was not perfect. Social interaction is part of the appeal of youth chess tournaments. The online format tempts those 45th Annual Keres Memoriala Half-Page Ad inclined to seek an edge through nefarious assistance. We May 16-17, Richmond, BC (Canada) ..........................24 heard no accusations, but were aware of the possibility. I ran Washington Open Full-Page Ad Lichess’s Stockfish analysis on games that had surprising May 23-25, Bellevue, WA ............................................25 results. Chess Vignette "Peter's Story" Inland Chess Academy plans to host another online Karen Schmidt ..............................................................26 tournament March 28. We are holding meetings via Skype Northwest Chess Grand Prix and responding to one another’s emails as we discuss the way Murlin Varner ..............................................................28 forward. In time, the pandemic will run its course and face-to- face events will resume. In the meantime, we are working to SCC Full-Page Ad ............................................................30 keep children engaged in chess. Upcoming Events .............................................................31 Congratulations to Ben Barrett who won all four games. Luke Wei Lucas Mortensen, Justin Clark, Tiernan Waggoner, and Cole Jeffrey Roland ...............................................Back Cover Knapton each finished with 3.0/4 (listed in order of tie-breaks). The top three players received trophies. Coming Next Month! Megan Lee triumphs at Washington State Championship. Look for the full story and games in the next issue of Northwest Chess. Northwest Chess April 2020 Page 3 Idaho Closed State Chess Championship By Jeffrey Roland Boise, ID — February 15-17, 2020 The 2020 Idaho Closed was the 74th Annual Idaho State Championship and was held in Boise, Idaho at the Red Lion Riverside Inn over the February 15-17 President’s Weekend. Thirty-six players attended this event, which despite the name “Idaho Closed” is open to all chess players who reside in Idaho. Adam Porth was Chief Tournament Director with Jeffrey Roland as Assistant Tournament Director. Jacob Ari Nathan (1990-1984— 5.0/6), 16, was first-place overall, losing only one game to Andrew