One more game from PCC Centennial

A good time was had by all, including l. to r. GM Susan Polgar, Portland Chess Club Centennial TD Frank Niro and Natasha Niro. (photos courtesy of The Susan Polgar Foundation)

Recap of the extensive coverage of the 2011 Portland Chess Club Centennial:

View the summary of the Portland Chess Club Centennial, with a complete list of prize winners and links to each of my blogs during the tournament (sincere thanks to Jeff Roland and Idaho Chess Association for making this coverage possible).

And see the extensive coverage on the Northwest Chess web site (thank you to Eric Holcomb).

The USCF cross tables reflecting rating changes as a result of the PCC Centennial are located here.

The Portland Chess Club main page is here (thank you to Grisha Alpernas).

Photos of the clock simul are located here, courtesy of the Susan Polgar Foundation.

Susan Polgar's blog entries at Chess Daily News about the Portland Chess Centennial:
August 15, 2011
August 14, 2011
August 13, 2011 (1)
August 13, 2011 (2)
August 13, 2011 (3)
August 11, 2011
July 31, 2011 (1)
July 31, 2011 (2)
July 30, 2011

It is rare to find a score sheet from one of FIDE Master Nick Raptis' games. Following is his winning effort from Round 2. Thank you to Brian Esler for graciously sharing the results of what must have been a painful struggle against one of the Portland Chess Club's strongest members. Raptis finished at 5-1, tied for first with IM Georgi Orlov, Canadian Junior Champion Loren Laceste and FM Bindi Cheng, also of Canada. Incredibly, Brian could have won the game with if he had played 21.Kb1 with a forced mate for White!

The 16-round blitz side event was also won by Nick Raptis with 13 points, 1/2 point ahead of Bindi Cheng. John Donaldson was third in the 24-player side event. Click here to see the final blitz crosstable.

Brian Esler vs. Nick Raptis
2011 Portland Chess Club Centennial
Round 2, August 12, 2011
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. Ne5 Be7 8. Bd3 Nd5 9. Be3 Bf6 10. Qf3 O-O 11. O-O-O c5 12. h4 Nb4 13. a3 Nxd3+ 14. Rxd3 Qd5 15. Qg3 c4 16. Bg5 Bxe5 17. dxe5 cxd3 18. Bf6 g6 19. Qe3 Qc4 20. c3 Qa4 21. Qxd3 Qf4+ 22. Kd1 b6 23. h5 g5 24. h6 Bb7 25. Rh5 Be4 26. Bxg5 Bxd3 27. Bxf4 Rad8 0-1

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Reigning Oregon co-champion Brian Esler vs. GM Susan Polgar in last Saturday's 10-board clock simul.

Note that my article for Northwest Chess will be added here as soon as it is available.

Susan Polgar with Steve Pettengill, maker of giant chess sets including a full 32-piece set made of Port Orford Cedar, a rare type of Cedar native to Japan and Southern Oregon.

These pieces were hand-carved from a stand of timber burned in a forest fire, so no trees were harmed to build this set! The king is over 4‘3” tall. The recycled metal set (pawn shown here) uses various types of metal for a lightweight, durable and attractive chess set.