May 23-25, 2009 in Spokane, Washington

$8,000 in guaranteed prizes!! - See the list of prize winners (PDF file)

The annual Washington Open drew 103 players in three sections over Memorial Day weekend. It was held at the Red Lion Hotel in Spokane, WA, the first WA Open held in Spokane since 1956. IM John Donaldson of San Francisco (photo at left) 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 Nick Raptis 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. See the Spokane Chess Club website for cross tables and more photos. – Report by Russell Miller.

Anyone who signed up for the Washington Open by May 1 had his/her name placed in a drawing for a brand new Chronos chess clock given away during the Open. The prize was donated by the University Community Chess Club of Missoula, Montana.

Selected games will be published in Northwest Chess magazine.

See photos of the event by Russell Miller.