The 86th Montana Chess Open, played in Helena on May 22 and 23, drew 49 players from a 4-state region including 17 unrated individuals, and an Expert (2000) and a Master (2202) rated players. A half point separated the two top finishers with 4.5 points – Scott Caldwell (1752) and Ben Vogel (1823) – from the three second place finishers 4.0 points – Rasul Nazriev (1780P), Dan Mattson (1691), and Andrew Rankin (Unr). None of the top five finishers chose to take a ½-point bye.
The first surprise of the tournament was Christian Fink (1541) defeating William Wenz (2000). Wenz, who resides in Wisconsin, is attempting to play a tournament in each state. The second upset was even a larger rating spread. Dan Mattson (1691) defeated Viktors Pupols (2202) from Seattle. Pupols defeated Bobby Fischer in a Junior High tournament in their youth. Andrew Rankin’s impressive performance included wins over Darren Stacey (1784) and Datri Freitas (1621) in his first rated tournament. Rasul Nazriev drew with Scott Caldwell on the last round and did not lose a single match of his second rated tournament. Another individual, Nicholas Sweeny was playing in his first match and finished with 3.0 points.
The Scholastic Tournament was held in conjunction, with 7 students joining the Open after the first round. Fort Benton and Highwood School Districts sponsored their players making the trip. Additionally, players came from the Bitterroot and Gallatin Valleys.