40 players turned out to participate in this tournament, including IM John Donaldson, a former PNW resident now residing in San Francisco. When the dust had settled from all the upsets, in the end Oregon champion Radu Roua finished clear first with 4 1/2 points, drawing his last game with IM Donaldson. Now, let's mention some of the upsets, starting with round one. Portland Chess Club member Nathan Porter managed a draw against John Donaldson. Other first round surprises included George Petersen defeating Steve Buck, and Mike Terrill's victory over Larry Ball. Round two results were somewhat more normal. In round 3 Matt Dalthorp won over Bill Gagnon. Also, Steve Breckenridge defeated Nick Raptis, but is this an upset? Ratings of young on the way up players often trail their actual playing strength.

Rounds 4 and 5 again returned to relative normalcy. Trailing the winner, four players scored 4 points each: John Donaldson, Nick Raptis, Mike Morris, and Steve Breckenridge. Ethan Peake took the U-2000 prize with 3 1/2 points. The U-1700 prizes were split 3 ways, with 3 points each among John Walton, Brett Becker, and Jeff Lehman. The top honors in the U-1400 section went to Bill Stites, also with 3 points. Also, in regards to proper chess etiquette, one should notify the TD instead of forfeiting the game. Luckily that only happened once. The Portland Chess Club extends its thanks to all who came to play, and thanks to John Donaldson for donating his latest book to the club library.

The TD crew consisted of Mike Morris, Grisha Alpernas and Neil Dale. Let's hope for a succesful tournament next year. Neil Dale