Howdy! It’s the Chess Friends!

Hope you're all doing well. We may be a few days late, but we want to wish you all a very

Happy National Chess Day!

This day is celebrated on the second Saturday every October (so October 10, 2026) in our USA, since President Gerland Ford made it official in 1976. Of course for us, every day is chess day! We hope you celebrate with fun chess games full of tactics, brilliant moves, and chess reading, like this!

Today we want to shout out to the US Chess Federation and share the article we wrote for the October issue of Northwest Chess magazine, where we recap adventures of the Northwest chess players at the 2026 US Open!

Howdy! It’s the Chess Friends!

In August, we traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to play in the 126th edition of the US Open Chess Championship! We love this bustling tournament, full of people of all ages and rating levels, from all walks of life, coming together to play chess, talk chess, read chess, reconnect with their chess friends, and make new ones!

The very first US Open, held in 1900 in Excelsior, Minnesota, was won by Louis Uedemann. Back in the day, the tournament was small and played as a round robin. As participation grew, the tournament was transformed into an open format in the 1950s, where everyone could play in one Swiss-paired section.

The largest ever US Open was in 1983 in Pasadena, CA with 836 participants, including a noteworthy name GM Viktor Korchnoi, who also played in the World Championship. In 1966, the US Open was hosted in our hometown of Seattle and won by GM Pal Benko and GM Robert Byrne. In 1987, the US Open came to Portland, OR, where GM Lev Alburt took the first place. In 2012, the tournament returned to Washington, this time to Vancouver, where GM Manuel León Hoyos, GM Dmitry Gurevich, and IM John Daniel Bryant shared the first spot!

This year, the US Open featured 533 players, including 9 GMs and 7 IMs. GM Grigoriy Oparin claimed first place after winning an Armageddon against GM Jianchao Zhou to break an 8-way tie with 7.5/9 points. Congratulations! You can read the coverage of the event on the USCF website here, but in our article, we want to focus on our Northwest players, who ventured into the Midwest to spend one week to play and celebrate chess!

The Man Benji will cover the Invitationals and share his experience. The Legend Vivaan will be our correspondent for all the fun side-events, while The Myth Sarang will cover the Open section.

The Man Benji

Invitationals and Surprises-Surprises

For the US Open, I was scheduled to play the main event with the 5-day schedule. On Tuesday afternoon, one day before my first round, I landed in the Detroit airport. We rented a car and drove for hours (two to be exact), past cornfields, and soybean fields, and Dunkin’ Donuts, until we reached our destination: Grand Rapids, Michigan!

Think of a city on a river (similar to Portland in that regard), instead smaller, but still with many nice areas to walk and eat; that is Grand Rapids! The tournament site, DeVos Place Convention Center, situated right on the river, was spacious and bright:

That place was so big that there was another event happening there, parallel to the US Open: King of the Jungle National Boxing Championships, one of the largest USA Boxing Events! Imagine two completely different crowds, walking the same halls, but all with a similar goal: striving to do their best!

The chess playing hall was enormous, with a calm atmosphere during the rounds, and most importantly: the bathrooms were clean! Yay!

It was my third US Open event, so I knew what to expect: Good games and a good vibe between the rounds, with chess people discussing theoretical endgames, or how they blundered, or what books they bought in the chess store, or simply what they had for lunch.

What I didn’t expect was the opening I faced during one of my rounds… That fateful game started at 7 pm, and I was paired down. Earlier that day, I lost a 5-hour marathon game, so I was ready to strike back, even though I was playing Black against the Scotch game:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4

But then… my opponent played the Göring Gambit: 4. c3 

Exclamation points!!!  Not for the move, but for the surprise I felt. Not going to lie, I panicked a little at first. What in the world? Who even plays the Göring Gambit in classical chess these days? Then, I calmed myself down, and re-examined it. I knew about two different lines to play as Black. One is 4… dxc3, accepting the gambit, while the other is 4… d5, declining it, which is the safer option.

While I was deciding what to play, I got a flashback from a recent tournament. In one of the rounds there, in the board next to me, I observed that White had played either a Göring Gambit or a Danish Gambit (The Danish Gambit is 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3, similar to the Göring Gambit). After the player with Black accepted it, White got a strong attack and soon thereafter won their game.

That decided it: I immediately declined the gambit (4… d5), but what my opponent played next surprised me again.

Normally, White’s main move would be 5. exd5, and after 5… Qxd5, they would play 6. cxd4, and Black’s position would be slightly easier because White would have an isolated d-pawn.

Instead of 5. exd5, my opponent played 5. Bd3!? 

Now I was really confused. Once again, I calmed myself down, and continued developing normally. Eventually, we reached an even double-rook endgame. After one of my rooks invaded my opponent’s territory, I felt that there were chances for me to press for a win, but I wasn’t sure how. After some shuffling, at around 12:00 am, my opponent made a decisive mistake (45. Ke4??), and after some more calculation, I found the way to win!

The variation that instantly wins is…

45… Rxd4+ 46. Rxd4 cxd4 47. Kxd4 Rg4!

Now, no matter what White plays, the King and Pawn endgame for Black is winning, thanks to the majority on the queenside, which grants Black an outside passed pawn!

It was nice to get a win after playing for 10 hours of chess that day… It reminded me of my first US Open in Norfolk in 2024, where one of my games started in July and ended in August.

The next day, to clear my head, we drove to Lake Michigan, near Holland, MI, to visit Ottawa Beach. As they say, the sand in Ottawa Beach is the finest!

Another surprise from the US Open (not the Göring Gambit type but a good one) was learning that The Chess Friends won the Chess Journalists of America Award for the Best Humor via Northwest Chess magazine!

But enough about me. Let’s give the spotlight to the best of the best from the Northwest: those chess players who came to the US Open to proudly represent their states in Invitationals!

Invitationals are run alongside the US Open main event, where chosen representatives from each state compete in different sections:

Rockefeller Championship (National Tournament of Elementary School State Champions)

Barber Championship (Dewain Barber National Tournament of Middle School State Champions)

Denker Tournament (Arnold Denker National Tournament of High School State Champions)

Haring Tournament (Ruth Haring National Tournament of Girls State Champions)

Irwin Championship (John T. Irwin National Tournament of Senior State Champions)

This year, another invitational section was added for the first time, for K-3 players:

Ashley Tournament (The GM Maurice Ashley National Tournament of K-3 State Champions).

To represent your state, to play next to the state flag, is a big honor! It’s no easy feat for anyone to compete in such tough national-level tournaments! Shoutout to our bravest Northwest players from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Thank you all!

When all Invitationals were finished, each state added the scores of its representatives across all the sections to get the grand total to determine which state had won the Team Award. The state of Illinois won first place, with a score of 25.5/36. Our Washington Team got 8th place with 23.5; the Oregon Team claimed 32th with 16.0 points, and the Idaho Team occupied 50th with 7.5 points.

On the individual pedestal, congratulations to Washington’s young legend FM Ted Wang who shared 2^nd place (3^rd on tiebreaks) in the Barber Championship for Middle School State Champions with 4.5/6!

…and to FM Stephen Willy who shared 1^st place (2^nd on tiebreaks) in the Denker Tournament of High School State Champions with 5.0/6.

What’s more, Stephen also won the Invitationals blitz event, the Weeramantry Blitz Tournament of State Champions, in the Championship section, scoring 7/8! What a performance!

In that Invitational Blitz, in the 1200–1499 section, Rihaan Rahul of Oregon also got 7/8 and an undisputed first place! Vivaan will cover Rihaan’s strong performance in the Scholastic side event.

Now, let’s look at an instructive position from the Irving Senior Tournament, where Leonid Gavrysh of WA found himself in round 5 playing against David Friedman of OH.

Playing White against The Old Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nf3 Nbd7 4. Nc3 e5 5. e4), Leonid got a slightly better position, eventually achieving an endgame where he was up a pawn. Seems breezy? Except, there’s a catch. Leonid’s opponent had just played 39. …Qd1, which looks like a dangerous move, attacking b3 and potentially threatening annoying checks.

But no worries for the endgame technique master that is Leonid!

Qd1 actually turns out to be a mistake, for one simple reason: White’s e-pawn is too fast! Can you find the winning idea Leonid played?

It’s 40. Qf5! After 40… Qxb3, he can play 41. Nxg5.

The game went: 41… Bxg5 42. Qxg5+ Kh7 43. Qh5+ Kg7 44. e6 Qxc4. Even though this may look scary as Black’s winning all the pawns on the queenside, it doesn’t matter, as Leonid’s going to push his e-pawn down the board!

The game continued 45. Qf7+ Kh6 46. Qf6+ Kh7 47. e7 Qe2+ 48. Kh3 Qe4 49. Qh4+. Here, Black resigned because Leonid is forcing the exchange of queens, and his e-pawn will promote on the next move.

Thank you, Leonid, for representing our state for the third time at the Irving Senior Tournament!

The Legend Vivaan

Cruising Through the Side Events

Hey Friends,

It’s the Legend Vivaan here. I’m going to highlight the Northwest chess players who participated in the side events at the US Open, namely the rapid Quads Monday–Friday, Blitz, the Weekend Swiss, and the Scholastic Championship.

I am 8. I prefer faster time controls and playing with adults. When my brother (The Myth Sarang) said he wanted to play in the US Open, I decided I’d join for some faster side events instead, specifically a couple days of quads and blitz. My Dad joined me.

Results for all the Northwest players I could find in the side events are shown below. Bolded and italicized players had particularly epic performances, and I’ll include some notes about what made them epic!

Monday Quads

David Murray (OR) 1843 2^nd place, 1.5/3, Quad E

Tuesday Quads

Mihir Kopalle (OR) 1292 1^st place, 2.5/3, Quad H

Mihir, though the lowest rated in the quad at 1292, started strong winning against Jay Stark, 1424. He followed it up with another dub over Cyrus Serrette, 1455. He finished with a draw against Bill Broich, 1400, a new friend of mine and renowned arbiter who I played twice (more on that soon), to finish with 2.5/3. Bravo Mihir!

Wednesday Quads

Ethan Neff (ID) 1743 1^st place, 3/3, Quad D

PNW Legend Ethan swept the field for 3/3 in his Wednesday Quad, besting Benjamin Forsythe, 1763, Diwakar Rana, 1700, and John Hartmann, 1700. Ethan wasn’t done yet!

Thursday Quads

Ethan Neff (ID) 1743 1^st Place, 2.5/3, Quad F

He’s back a day later to win another one, besting Nicolas Francisco Davila Hernandez, 1773, drawing Benjamin Forsythe, and beating Rick Massimo for 2.5/3.

Vivaan Krishna Sankrithi (WA) 1411 1^st Place, 3/3, Quad J

Oh hey, that’s me! I started with a dub over Bill Broich who you met earlier, coming back in a worse endgame with a clever queen trade and good tempi calculation. I then beat another kid named Max Meng, 1500, and finished with a dub over Yundi Lin, 1429, a chess Dad! 3/3!

Siva Sankrithi (WA) 1400 1^st Place, 2.5/3, Quad K

Speaking of chess Dad’s, that’s mine! He beat Kyle Conradson, 1395, then Prateek Gopisetty, 1373, and finished with a draw against James O’Neil (1388) to win his quad with 2.5/3.

Pi Nouveau (WA) 974 2^nd Place, 1.5/3, Quad N

Friday Quads

Carl A Haessler (OR) 2200 3^rd Place, 1.5/3, Quad A

Weg Shukla (OR) 1727 3^rd Place, 1/3, Quad G

Vivaan Krishna Sankrithi (WA) 1411 1^st Place, 3/3, Quad L

Hey, that’s me again with another 3/3! This time I beat Anish Bhargava, 1406, then our buddy Bill again, then Joshua White, 1444, in a crazy game where I went down a queen for a rook and a bishop, fought hard, and won with my opponent in time pressure.

Siva Sankrithi (WA) 1400 2^nd Place, 2/3, Quad M

Blitz (Sat)

Stephen John Willy (WA) 2297, 11/14, 5^th Place

Fellow WA homeschool legend and our good buddy Stephen played great in Blitz, earning 11/14, including a 1-1 split with International Master Julian Colville, 2447!

Hayul Lim (WA) 2100 8.5/14, 40^th Place

Ethan Neff (ID) 1743 8.5/14, 52^nd Place

Weg Shukla (OR) 1727 8/14, 66^th Place

Vivaan Krishna Sankrithi (WA) 1411 7/14, 107^th Place

Siva Sankrithi (WA) 1400 5/14, 156^th Place

Mihir Kopalle (OR) 1292 6/14, 141^st Place

Ved Dixit (WA) 1233 4/14, 171^st Place

Pi Nouveau (WA) 974 4.5/14, 166^th Place

Weekend Swiss (Sat/Sun)

Stephen John Willy (WA) 2297 3^rd Place, 4/5

Stephen’s back! He took two half point byes to start this event then won his final three rounds to take an undefeated third place.

Scholastic Championship (Sun)

Weg Shukla (OR) 1727 9^th Place Elementary, 2/4

Rihaan Rahul (OR) 1401 1^st Place Elementary, 4/4

Young Oregon legend Rihaan swept the Scholastic Elementary field! He bested several strong players, including three 1700s! Bravo!

This was the critical moment in the game for Rihaan on board 1 in the final round after move 27.

White might be ok if they play 28. Rd5 but instead they opted for 28. Be3, a natural looking move, but Rihaan found the EPIC 28... Qd6+, 29. Kh1 Rxe3! (SACRIFICE THE ROOOOOOOOK!), 30. fxe3 Ng3+ for the win! Bravo! Thanks for sharing, Rihaan, my fellow 8-year-old champ!

Reyansh Upadhyay (ID) 1197 8^th Place HS/MS U1200, 2.5/4

Vihaan Rahul (OR) 1106 20^th Place Elementary 1/4

Pi Nouveau (WA) 974 T-1^st Place Elementary U1000, 4/4

Shoutout to our good buddy Pi, who swept the U1000! He had an amazing US Open across all the events and he jumped from 974 to 1137! Sky’s the limit for Pi!

Another fun side event at the US Open this year was books signing, simul, and casual games with WGM Jennifer Shahade, who was giving away her book for free:

Thinking Sideways: How to Think Like a Chess Player and Win at Life (2026)

As always, my favorite part of the event was making new friends and having fun. Chess wise, I went 6/6 in rapid, and 7/14 in blitz (paired up every game). I felt I was able to dominate in many games using my tactics and prep and in games I was behind, I felt confident I could comeback and win. Oh, there was also a basketball court on the roof of our hotel parking lot, so playing there every day was pretty sweet!

The Myth Sarang

Crushing the Open Section

Hi Friends!

It’s The Myth Sarang. Today I will be looking at the main event. For those unfamiliar, the US Open has three different schedules, a 7-day option, a 5-day option, and a 4-day option, all of which converge for rounds 7–9. I loved Grand Rapids overall, and the venue was nice. It was nice to see all my friends from the Midwest, but this is Northwest Chess, so we are focusing on the Northwest (Washington (WA), Oregon (OR), and Idaho (ID). I will highlight every Northwestern player I could find (apologies if I missed anyone), who played the tournament, as well as some extra highlights for some players.

FM Ted Wang, 18th place (WA)

Leading the Northwest in this year’s main event with an undefeated 7/9, tying for second and finishing podium in the Barber, we have Fide Master and good buddy Ted Wang, putting up a great showing finishing in the top 20!

GM James Tarjan, 36th place (OR)

The top player from Oregon!

Linus Wannamaker, 75th place (ID)

The top player from Idaho!

FM Stephen Willy, 82nd place (WA)

Another buddy of ours, Stephen started the tournament 5/5, with notable wins over IMs Joshua Posthuma who finished 17^th overall, and Julian Colville who finished 6^th overall, tied for first.

Veronique Joseph, 83rd place (WA)

Hayul Lim, 106th place (OR)

Weg Shukla, 144th place (OR)

Caleb Kircher, 147th place (ID)

Easton Ren, 151st place (WA)

This dude is only in third grade and finished with a really strong 5/9. He had one of the biggest rating gains in the event, which I’ll highlight soon.

Sarang Sankrithi, 162nd place (WA)

I think I might have played one of the best tournaments of my life. I beat a 2000, had another upset win, and upset draws, ultimately finishing with 5/9 with only two losses to 2100+ level players. I ended up clearing 1700 and this tournament definitely motivated me to try to go for the big 2000. Road to 2000 starts now! If you want to see more about my reflection, go to my blog at prodigystrats.com and scroll down to the 126^th US Open Recap! Also tune in to that blog Monday Wednesday Friday for new blogs & experiences!

Karthik Bimod, 163rd place (OR)

Ethan Neff, 164th place (ID)

Benjamin Frederick, 233rd place (WA)

Here we have The Man Benji, finishing with 4.5/9. I saw him play and he was playing some really good chess! Great job!

Harvey Wang, 241st place (WA)

Laasya Lanka, 255th place (OR)

David Murray, 265th place (OR)

Mihir Kopalle, 290th place (OR)

Merrick Liu, 335th place (OR)

Luke Wagner, 367th place (OR)

Vihaan Rahul, 389th place (OR)

Henry Yan, 397th place (WA)

Rihaan Rahul, 427th place (OR)

Ved Dixit, 429th place (WA)

Pi Nouveau, 465th place (WA)

Reyansh Upadhyay, 467th place (ID)

Kiaan Upadhyay, 482nd place (ID)

Our buddy Pi Nouveau of Washington, a seriously underrated 900-player, had the biggest upset out of everyone in the Northwest, winning with Black against a player over 700 points higher rated!

Before I let you go, let’s shoutout some of the biggest rating gainers between the August and the September USCF supplements, which includes the US Open, all the Invitationals, and all the side events. This was just by brute force so apologies again if I missed someone.

Rihaan Rahul (OR) 1401 to 1658 (+257)

Vihaan Rahul (OR) 1152 to 1384 (+232)

Mihir Kopalle (OR) 1292 to 1495 (+203)

Vivaan Sankrithi (WA) 1411 to 1582 (+171)

Pi Nouveau (WA) 974 to 1137 (+163)

Sarang Sankrithi (WA) 1580 to 1724 (+144)

Easton Ren (WA) 1647 to 1788 (+141)

Kian Upadhyay (ID) 883 to 984 (+101)

Luke Wagner (OR) 1203 to 1303 (+100)

Ethan Neff (ID) 1765 to 1861 (+96)

Merrick Liu (OR) 1580 to 1676 (+96)

Congrats to all the Northwest chess players on a great tournament! Watch out, Dallas! The Northwest is coming back to the US Open 2027 for more!

Three Cheers, Fellow Future Master Chess Friends!

The Man Benji, The Myth Sarang, The Legend Vivaan