2nd Tri-State Championship

The Idaho chess team handily won the 2005 Tri-State Championship in Jackson Hole. Idaho fielded a larger and higher rated team (team average 38 points higher) that won every round. Each Idaho player added to the winning total of 21 game points. Fifteen games points were won by Wyoming and Montana was unable to field a chess team.

Barry D. Eacker and Hugh S. Myers (Chess Olympiad player), two very solid players from Idaho, voluntarily stayed out of the tournament. William B. Mabry and Donald L. Shouse also volunteered to play each other in an extra game to help balance round 2. Barbara Fortune, from Wyoming, volunteered to play only the last day. These efforts helped balance the teams.

Barry D. Eacker, the Idaho Team Captain and Barbara Fortune helped develop the tournament, recruited and maintained players, arranged transportation, and provided a grand tournament hall with free refreshments and fine lodging at the base of the world famous Teton mountains.

Idaho players Karl T. Disher, Victor G. Watts, and Donald L. Shouse led the tournament with three games points each. Brian L. Walker lead the Wyoming chess team as captain and lead scorer with the tough Wyoming competitor John B. Carr (a former Idaho champion). Janos Fucsko was the only other player to win 2.5 game points helping cinch the Idaho win.

Two young players with interest in computer science played some of the strongest chess at the tournament taking home 2 wins against each other. Claudiu Iosifescu, a 2172 FIDE rated Romanian native who works in Idaho part of the year for his software firm, and Andrew M. Smith, a former Wyoming Champion, chess expert, and University of Wyoming freshman in the College of Engineering.

Local chess player Shira L. Evans added beauty and a friendly dog to the tournament with two wins for Wyoming while matching Shane A. Kennedy's two solid wins for the Idaho chess team. Larry R. Parsons put in a convincing one-day performance winning a game and a half. Kurt P. Douglas, Ronald A Matous (a former Wyoming Champion), Jeffrey T. Roland, and Timothy M. Fisher retained a game and a half over a two-day course of play. James E. Kulbacki and William B. Mabry each took home a win in the face of very demanding pairings.

Many fine chess games were played during the tournament and the conduct and sportsmanship of the competing teams were exceptional. The 2nd annual contest between Idaho and Wyoming was hard fought and thoughtful. Brian L. Walker has offered to analyze some of the games and I hope to submit some of the games to chess base. The USCF and Rocky Mountain Chess rated the chess tournament. Thanks to all participants for making it a pleasant and stimulating contest.

Championship

 1  Karl T Disher     2012  2014  D14  W14  W17  D17   3.0
 2  Victor G Watts    1566  1590  W11  W11  W16  L16   3.0
 3  Donald L Shouse   1231  1234  X--  U--  W19  W19   3.0
 4  Brian L Walker    1747  1749  W15  D15  W6   L6    2.5
 5  John B Carr       1732  1744  W13  D13  D15  D15   2.5
 6  Janos Fucsko      1624  1656  D9   W9   L4   W4    2.5
 7  Claudiu Iosifescu 2247  2229  L8   L8   W8   W8    2.0
 8  Andrew M Smith    1981  2003  W7   W7   L7   L7    2.0
 9  Shira L Evans     1740  1726  D6   L6   W10  D10   2.0
10  Shane A Kennedy   1619  1622  W16  D16  L9   D9    2.0
11  Jonathan Fortune  1516  1505  L2   L2   W18  W18   2.0
12  Larry R Parsons   2095  2096  W17  D17  U--  U--   1.5
13  Kurt P Douglas    1785  1770  L5   D5   D14  D14   1.5
14  Ronald A Matous   1775  1777  D1   L1   D13  D13   1.5
15  Jeffrey T Roland  1700  1694  L4   D4   D5   D5    1.5
16  Timothy M Fisher  1565  1557  L10  D10  L2   W2    1.5
17  James E Kulbacki  1912  1907  L12  D12  L1   D1    1.0
18  William B Mabry   1310  1291  X--  U--  L11  L11   1.0
19  Barbara Fortune    683   678  U--  U--  L3   L3    0.0

Extra Games

1  William B Mabry    1310  1326  W2   1.0
2  Donald L Shouse    1231  1213  L1   0.0