Belanoff sweeps, Julian and Murray score 4
Submitted by Dan McCourt on 11/15/2011

Ted Belanoff scored the 1st 5-0 Turkey sweep in over a decade as he took clear first at the 2011 Turkey Open. The Missoula stop on his year-long chess adventure earned him $140 cash and also a $10 pizza in the Saturday morning raffle. He said the pizza was good, Missoula and the UM campus were nice and he enjoyed the competition. He was also keen on the snowfall that left a lot of the regulars reassessing their travel plans Sunday morning.
John Julian and Mike Murray, regular names at the top of the Turkey, were in good form again as they shared 2nd place with 4 points. Bob Phillips and David Griffin each scored 3.5 points to finish just short of the place money but taking the top prize in A and B classes respectively. 3 points earned Bob Rajala best C/D and Larry Singleton was best in E/below with a 2.5 score.
A logjam of players shared 2nd in classes A and B but they earned enough for a gallon and a half of gas. Three members of the Shultz family shared 2nd in class E/below. Only Frank Miller in the C/D group won a clear 2nd.
There weren\'t many upsets in this event but Conrad Lee had the best one as he was a 313 point underdog in his 2nd round win. Conrad also finished with the biggest rating gain at 97 points.
Another well-done Turkey is the books--almost 30 years now. The paychecks will be in the mailstream in the next couple of days. Winners will have to eat macaroni until then.
Thanks and a big tip of the UCCC hat to all who risked bare-knuckle driving to show up and \"push wood\" in Missoula. See you next year!

Tournament Reports
Submitted by Spencer Olmsted on 11/20/2009

This feature is now active, though there are a few other things I still need to fix.

Skovron/Duke finish atop a small heap at GF Invitational
Submitted by Dan McCourt on 10/27/2008

Attendance was sparse at the Great Falls Invitational October 11-12. A snowstorm, opening day for antelope, and an unwelcome observer all contributed, no doubt. It was the biggest October snowfall in memory so folks were justified in staying home. Antelope and hunting seasons always get in the way of chess in October. The unwelcome observer was somewhat expected and the Higher Powers of the Elks Club capably handled the situation. No objects flew about but there was a lot of noise.
The Elks Club proved out to be a very nice setting for chess. Jim Skovron and David Duke led the pack with 3.5 points. The Game/40 setup left time for an double RR of Speedo Saturday evening as well as some kind of Texas style card game at the poker table. A good time was had by all.