2024 St Patrick Open
Youngster Tarquin Bennion (SID) took home top honors from the 2024 St. Patrick Open with a perfect 5/5 score! Second place (4/5) was shared by Wilton Strickland (MIS), Ben Curtis (BZN), and Dan Mattson (BIL). The event took place this past weekend (3/16-17) on the 20th floor of the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Billings, MT. Thirty-eight players made this the largest field ever for the March St. Patrick, with $650 being distributed in prizes (another record). The cities represented included Billings, Bozeman, Casper, Sheridan, Helena, Great Falls, Missoula, Sidney, and FT Peck. Three women also joined the competition this year, as well as 6 unrated players playing in their first tournament.
Notable games had Tarquin and Matteo (BZN, 3rd seed) doing battle in a closed then open Sicilian on Saturday night. Both players seemed to be winning at some point, but in the end when all of the pieces came off, Matteo’s king was just too far away from the pawns in which black would soon create a passer. This appeared to be a very well-played game. Board 1 also saw Chad Engan (GF) holding John Julian (BIL, top seed) to a draw in a closed and congested position. Ultimately, both players showed good endgame technique, keeping matters level in a 2 B v. N&B ending.
Dan Casey (SHER) won 1st place for the U1600 crowd with 3.5/5, while 6 others tied for 2nd with 3/5.
The Biggest Upset prize was awarded to Elizabeth Scott (Cas) for her 4th round victory over Dr. Charles Wittnam (284 point spread). Dan Mattson (BIL) was a close 2nd for his 283 point upset of John Julian in the same round.
The largest ratings gain by software estimate go to Dan Mattson (90), Tarquin (77), and Dan Casey (72). The time control was game in 1:30 with a 30s delay. Despite the long delay, at least one player lost on time, and several others were under 10s, and even one player down to 1s! Several players gave positive feedback for this time control.
The venue, as usual, was outstanding with great views of the city. Players did have to contend with raucous street noise this year as the event coincided with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
The final standings can be viewed here.
Thanks to all the players who came and competed!