Northwest Chess

The 2012 Dr. Ralph Hall
Northwest Chess Grand Prix
by Murlin Varner, King o’ Numbers
It’s over. Not that you can tell by the standings below, but unless this reached you before the last weekend of December,
then the contest is quite over. And it is just beginning, as well. My statistics below include all events through December
9 th . That leaves four more to be added, all single point events. Only the closest of races could be affected. If your
lead is more than 13 points, you should be pretty safe. There is always the danger of having to back out an event for
non-payment, but that doesn’t look too likely this year. One event, the PCS Rapid from last May, has already been
removed, but the rest should be safe. As soon as the last results are in and the last checks clear, we will be posting the
final standings to the NW Chess website. If results and payments come in quick enough, we’ll be able to include the
final results in the February issue (historically, March is more likely). Then it will be time to look ahead again.
As I said, this is the end, and the beginning. The first Grand Prix events start with the very first weekend of January,
and the Gresham Open that weekend is the first multiplier event of the year. So, regardless of where your points
ended in December, you are tied for the lead in January and can get a good head start on your class competitors by
visiting Gresham in early 2013.
The most significant perturbations to the standings below were the effects of the Washington Class Championships,
November 23-25, and the Western Idaho Open from December 8-9. These events guaranteed large prize funds and
carried 4x and 3x multipliers, respectively. The Washington Class had 151 entries and the Western Idaho Open had
40 players in attendance. Many changes in the Washington and Idaho leaders occurred as a result of these two. In
contrast, Oregon leadership changed very little as there was only one event in the past month and it was sparsely
attended.
Prize amounts will be announced in the magazine with the final standings. If this year is like usual, the winners will
have already received their checks by that time. Sponsorship donations were rather sparse this year, but there was
enough so that each state’s fund is receiving $50 in added money. We are currently soliciting donations for 2013, to
name the Grand Prix in memory of Elena Donaldson Akhmylovskaia , who passed away last November. If you wish
to help contribute to this memorial fund, please contact the NWC business manager, Eric Holcomb.
Now, to the standings, as they were the first week of December:
Northwest Grand Prix Standings
Idaho Oregon Washington
last first pts. last first pts. last first pts.
Masters
1 Raptis Nick 178.5 1 Feng Roland 135.5
2 Haessler Carl A 50 2 Pupols Viktors 122
3 Gay Daniel Z 35.5 3 Sinanan Joshua C 97.5
3 Movsisyan Movses 24 4 Collyer Curt D 73
5 Prochaska Peter 4.5 5 Bragg David R 69
M/X/Class A
Experts
1 Leslie Cameron D 45 1 Saputra Yogi 87.5 1 Bartron Paul R 142.5
2 Kircher Caleb P 36 2 Esler Brian J 56.5 2 He Samuel F 99.5
3 Havrilla Mark A 33 3 Tezcan Yaman 50 3 Lee Nathan Y 98
4 Joshi Kairav 27.5 4 Janniro Mike E 47.5 4 He Daniel M 84.5
Page 44 January 2013 Northwest Chess