During the bleak days of winter, when you get up in the dark, go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, what could be more delightful than a double round robin chess tournament the day after Christmas?

Six players from three states assembled at the Obenchain Insurance Building Community Room in Twin Falls to feed their chess sickness with the Winter Solstice Round Robin. The event was won by David Eacker of Davis, CA with a 6.5/10 score, followed closely by chessaholic Garrett Reynolds of Twin Falls, also 6.5/10, with Eacker winning on tie-break. Former Idaho resident and current Iowa occupant Don Bloomquist Jr was a half point off the leaders with 6.0/10. Bloomquist was set to win the event, but a surprising loss in round 7 to Twin Falls resident Aleksander Veryschagin (originally from the Ural mountain range in Siberia) put the proverbial wrench in the works.

Every player lost at least two games, most of those resulting from the G/15 brutality known as time control. David Eacker picked up 138 rating points while Reynolds added a whopping 170 points, both players raising their deflated ratings to a more realistic level. Eacker, Reynolds, Bloomquist and Fred Bartell (Twin Falls) all had five wins apiece.

As usual, MANY THANKS to Obenchain Insurance in Twin Falls for providing the quality site and also to the players who took time from their busy holiday season to analyze 64 squares for five hours in the middle of the winter. What could we have possibly been thinking.......

Respectfully submitted,
Barry Eacker
Tournament Director
Twin Falls ID