IM Donaldson wins 2009 Washington Open

The annual Washington Open drew 103 players in 3 sections over Memorial Day weekend. It was held at the Red Lion Hotel in Spokane Washington. First time for this event to be held in Spokane in about 60 years.

IM John Donaldson of San Francisco won the Open with 5 points from 6 after Curt Collyer of Spokane forced a draw by repetition shortly after the parties made the first time control in round 6. Josh Sinanan of Seattle and NickRaptis of Portland drew their 6th round encounter to tie for second with 4.5.

They were joined by Steve Breckenridge and Howard Chen who won their last round games. There were 29 players in the Open section. The Premier section was won with 4.5 points of 6 by Daniel Copeland, Ethan Gottlieb, and Robert Herrera in a 32 player section.

The Reserve section was won by Ryan Ackerman with a 5.5 score. Siva Narayanan was second with 5.0. The Booster section was swept by Shanglun Wang with a perfect 6.0.

The cross tables are posted on http://www.spokanechessclub.org plus the USCF website.

Above information from a report made by tournament director Kevin Korsmo of Spokane Chess Club and Gary Younker Chess Foundation the sponsoring groups along with the Washington Chess Federation.

Photos of the event by Russell Miller at http://www.flickr.com/photos/27748810@N03/sets/72157618763434113/

Russell (Rusty) Miller

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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