A Dream of Many Years

Over President’s Day weekend, I played at the annual Oregon Closed chess championship. “Closed” refers to the fact that it is an invitational tournament, with only players winning certain tournaments or with a high enough rating qualifying. Besides possibly the Oregon Open, the Oregon Closed is the most prestigious chess tournament in the state. The winner becomes the state chess champion for that year.

The Oregon Closed was a tournament that I knew of almost since starting chess. When going to the club for various G60 tournaments, I would stare longingly at the historic champion’s trophy (dating back several decades!). I remember tracing my finger over the engraved names of each year’s winner, and wondering if any of the blank faces would hold my name. The bulletin board contained pictures (some also dating back a few decades) of previous groups of Closed players, sitting or standing in the old PCC building.

My admiration of the tournament would increase seasonally when I saw the cover image of the coveted Northwest Chess Magazine, a proud winner holding up the trophy in the traditional handoff picture. Each year, I would come back to the club and see a new name engraved, another victor preserved for Oregonian chess enthusiasts to ponder for much time later.

My first time playing the Oregon Closed was in 2019, where I played in the Challengers section (the Closed is usually split into two sections, a stronger Championship section and the next-strongest Challengers section competing for a spot in the next year’s Championship section). Finally, I was a part of the ceremonial picture, albeit not for the strongest section.

I watched players including my previous coach Carl battle it out in the top section, wondering if and when I would get to play alongside them. Though I had always wanted the title of Oregon Champion, 2019 was the first year I realized it was an achievable goal.

In 2020, I seemed to be on track to meet my goal. I was invited to the Championship section, and I got to play against many strong players. I performed ok, but not great. I had several winning positions but failed to convert them, including against the eventual top-scorers of the tournament. Next year, I told myself.

Then, of course, Covid hit. 2021’s edition was cancelled, but with the gradual return of OTB tournaments near the end of the year, I was hopeful for a chance to play the Closed in 2022.

Alas, it was not meant to be. The 2022 Oregon Closed championship conflicted with the US Junior Girls championship, so I was not able to attend.

This year, the Closed date conflicted with the Southwest Class, so my family and I ended up making the tough decision to not play in Dallas. The field at the Closed was the strongest it has been in a while, with 6 out of the 8 players having a rating of over 2200.

Before the tournament, I received a great piece of advice. Don’t think of this tournament as a “big deal”. Play how you always play. Even though I had wanted to win this tournament for a long time, it was important to keep a calm mind and utilize what I had learned in practice.

This strategy mostly worked, and I ended the tournament with a 6/7 score. There were two scary games where I had losing positions, but ended up winning because of a combination of luck, time pressure, and counterplay. It helped that I didn’t catastrophize upon receiving bad positions, and that I was able to play confidently without doubting myself. You can see my annotated games in an edition of the Northwest Chess Magazine coming soon (it’ll probably have my face on the cover)!

6/7 was enough to give me the title of undisputed Oregon chess champion, the first female to do so and possibly the youngest (not fact-checked yet). But my journey doesn’t end here. There are still many great dreams to come true! As of now, I hope that maybe some day years into the future, another child will walk into the Portland Chess Club and find motivation for their chess journey hidden in a trophy with many names engraved on it.