DUNLAP IS 2006 STATE CHAMPION  --  AGAIN!

by Jim Gray

        The 61st Oklahoma State Championship (5-SS) took place June 24-25 in Tulsa at the Best Western Airport Motel.  Participating were 48 players in three sections:  12 in the Open, 17 in the Reserve (U1800) and 19 in the Booster section (U1400). 

        From the Open, heartiest congratulations are in order to John Dunlap (1944), our 2006 Oklahoma State Champion, who joins an elite group of repeat Champions, having also won the title in year 2003.  But in all candor John's win was not without difficulty, due in large part to the strength and good play of James Mills (2200) of Indiana and Neil Anderson (1844) of Kansas.  Mills actually finished first in the Open with 4.5 points, carting home the $300 top cash prize; and Andrews had an excellent 4.0 performance and earned First Class A honors.  But since out-of-staters are ineligible for our Oklahoma titles, Dunlap earned and received the State Champion title and plaque on tiebreaks over Judson Temple (1943) and Jeff Colbert (1477), all of whom scored 3.0.  Temple retained his title as State Senior Champion; and Colbert, a C class player who again elected to play up in the Open, also repeated himself as our State Junior Champion. 

        Not incidentally, I am compelled to comment that Jeff Colbert just seems to be getting stronger and more solid with almost every game he plays.  Although he suffered losses to Master Mills and in a scintillating endgame thriller to Dunlap, he came away with wins over Temple (1943), Andrews (1844) and Chuck Unruh (2140), our defending State Champion, and according to USCF increased his rating from 1477 to a startling 1629!  What an outstanding performance, Jeff!

        The Reserve section finished at the top in a tie at 4.0 points between David Flinchum (1563) and Jeff Lloyd (1650P).  They shared the $200 top cash prize for this section but, based upon the tiebreak systems in effect for this tournament, the plaque and title of Reserve State Champion were won by David Flinchum.  Both played quite excellent chess!  David went undefeated throughout, with 3 wins and 2 draws; and Jeff, in only his second rated tournament, scored 4 straight wins after a 1st round loss and increased his provisional rating from 1650 to a whopping 1803!  (So watch out, folks, as this so-called "provisional" player named Lloyd is surely going to present a clear and present danger to all of us from here forward.) 

        Also in the Reserve section, First Class B prize went to our dear friend, oldtimer Joe Barnard (1600) who scored 3.0 and who, from what I observed, frankly, didn't play like an oldtimer at all!  Class C honors were shared by Jason Winters (1565) and Msgt. Jim Rairden (1459).  Both scored extremely well with 3.5 points and, strangely enough, the only loss each suffered was to an obscure newcomer named Lloyd! 

        In the Booster section we witnessed the only perfect performance of the day  -  5.0 by Charlie Arbuckle (1154) of Kansas, who thereby took home (and away from our state) First E & Under honors along with, undoubtedly, a bunch of those Oklahoma rating points.  Congratulations, Charlie.  Hope you'll come back with a slew of your Kansas komrades and honor us with a chance at the proverbial recapture. 

        And then came Albert Rine!  At 4.0 and with a disappointing loss only to Arbuckle, Albert (1248) is our new Booster State Champion and also the winner of First D Class honors.  An outstanding performance, Albert  -  and by the way, I trust we'll see you in the Reserve section a year from now. 

        After all results were in and a name was drawn from the hat for K-12 players rated 900 and above, the special Sponsored 529 Scholarship of $500 was awarded to Alec Wilson.  My understanding is that Alec and his mother were exceedingly thrilled by this award  -  and even more so because Alex (1008) finished the tournament in style with 3.0 points and thereby also shared in the cash prize for Second E Class.  Congratulations, Alec!   

        Felicitations go out again to State Champion Dunlap, the other titlists and all the winners of plaques, door prizes and $1960 in cash prizes.  Very special thanks are extended to Senior TD Mike Swatek for, as always, a great job in directing the tournament  -  and of course to our special, special donors.  For the readers' reference, visit the OCA website (www.ochess.org) for the Final Standings and to play interactively through literally hundreds of games from this as well as other tournaments.  And lastly, thanks to all the players, helpers, parents, spouses and spectators for showing your support by simply being there or by allowing the rest of us to be there for this historical 61st annual State Championship.  I know it must seem that I say this following each and every one of our tournaments  -  but it's gospel that a grand time was had by all!  Hope to see you for the 62nd.