Charity chess tournament held to aid Fanconi Anemia research
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012


Hi everyone,

Do you remember this post from last year? It is about Benjamin Morrison, a teenager who organises a chess tournament in memory of his sister Nina. Nina passed away due to Fanconi Anemia, a rare disease.

Help 14-year-old who holds chess tournament for medical research

The third annual Chess for FA tournament was organised this year too with great success. This year’s tournament was attended by eighteen participants from eight different schools throughout the Portland metro area. The tournament raised over $800 for the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund. The Fund will use the money to support research to find better treatments – and a cure – for Fanconi anemia, a rare genetic disease.

The tournament was, once again, NWSRS rated. The pairing program required for rating was donated by SwissSys. Prizes were donated by Jazzy Bagels, Off the Charts Games, iCandy, and Coldstone Creamery and food & beverages were donated by Wall Street Pizza and Odwalla Juice. Corbett School District donated the use of the tournament space.The tournament received publicity from the Outlook newspaper, Chess for Success and the Oregon Scholastic Chess Federation.

The tournament consisted of five rounds with Swiss system pairings. The tournament ended with four players all having four out of five possible points, Nathan Smith, Joshua Wentzel, Blaise Gilbride (the winner of the first Chess for FA tournament), and Dan Perry. One game in the first round, between Spencer Gilbride, Blaise’s older brother, and Austin DeWolfe, ended in a stalemate after Spencer promoted two pawns to knights. “I was having fun,” Spencer said after the game. “I wanted to have a giant army of knights.”


You can read the tournament website here.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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