Henry finishes 3^rd in Chess Tournament

First place: Aveniya Subedi, second place: Mighty Marius Gabriel Lucan, and third place: Henry Doktorski.

August 25, 2026: Henry finished in third place in the the Temecula Chess Club Tournament No. 155 in a field of 17 players. Henry explained, “What a surprise! After six rounds I was rather low on the totem pole with only 3.5 points. But I had a lucky day playing rounds seven and eight, winning both games against strong players. Totally unexpected. Although Jeremy Farr and I both finished with 5.5 points, he took a half-point bye in Round 3, and I took no byes, so I won the prize money. I’m currently ranked No. 600 out of 3,704 United States Chess Federation players in California. My final game, against Temecula Chess Club Tournament Director Paschal Gay lasted 80 moves! A record for me.”

Final standings for the first eight players.

Round 7 Game.

Following is the position in my game against Khai West in Round 7 after 27. Bxf3. I am black. I will capture the bishop, but which knight should he use? Hint: black has a forced mate in 6 moves! Can you find the checkmate sequence? During the game, I didn’t see it, and I used the wrong knight, but I evened the game up and won in the end. Show me the forced mate in 6!

Khai West (white) vs. Henry Doktorski (black) after 27. Bxf3.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Nf3 Bc5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Nc3 Ngxe5 7. a3 a5 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O d6 10. b3 f5 11. Bb2 Be6 12. Qc2 Qe8 13. Nb5 Qf7 14. Nfd4 f4 15. Nxe6 Qxe6 16. Nxc7 Qf7 17. Nxa8 Rxa8 18. Qe4 Rf8 19. Bd4 Bxd4 20. exd4 Ng6 21. Bg4 Re8 22. Qc2 Nxd4 23. Qb2 Qf6 24. Qb1 Ne5 25. Bd1 f3 26. g3 Qe6 27. Bxf3 Ndxf3+ 28. Kg2 Nd2 29. Qc2 Nxf1 30. Rxf1 Nf7 31. Qd2 Qe4+ 32. Kg1 b6 33. Rd1 Kf8 34. h4 Qf3 35. Rb1 Qe4 36. Rd1 Re6 37. Qd5 Qxd5 38. Rxd5 Re1+ 39. Kg2 Rb1 40. Rb5 Ke7 41. Rxb6 Ne5 42. a4 Nxc4 43. Rb5 Ne5 44. Rxa5 Rxb3 45. Kh3 Nc4 46. Ra7+ Kf6 47. a5 Rb2 48. f4 Ra2 49. a6 Nb6 50. g4 d5 51. g5+ Kg6 52. Kg4 h5+ 53. Kf3 Ra3+ 54. Ke2 d4 55. Rb7 Rxa6 56. Kd3 Nd5 57. Ke4 Ne3 58. Kf3 Nf5 59. Ke2 Nxh4 60. Kd3 Nf5 61. Rb5 h4 62. Ke4 Nd6+ * White resigns as his rook is gone.

This is the mate I mentioned earlier: 27... Nexf3+ 28. Kg2 Nh4+ 29. Kg1 Ndf3+ 30. Kh1 Qh3 followed by mate.

Round 8 Game.

I am white. I had just played 80. Qe2+ and Paschal played Ka3 and Paschal's clock ran to zero. He had been in time trouble for 30 or 40 moves already! I was very impressed that he played on for so long, only thinking 8 seconds between moves.

Although I have never played the Queen vs. Rook endgame before in a tournament game, I think I might have eventually captured his rook and mated him before 50 moves. After 50 moves without a pawn move or a capture, you can declare the game a draw. As it was, in 14 moves I was able to push his king to the side of the board. I will definitely study this endgame soon. Stockfish says I can mate in 16 moves.

Henry Doktorski (white) vs. Paschal Gay (black) after 80. Ka3.

Perhaps my longest tournament game ever! 80 moves! It was an exciting battle, I thought. I played 1 d4 and Paschal played the Dutch Defense. This win gave me 5.5 points, and third place. I won the prize money of $40! If you are interested, here's the moves.

1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 Nf6 3. h4 e6 4. h5 Be7 5. h6 g6 6. Nf3 d5 7. Ne5 Nbd7 8. f4 Ne4 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nd2 Ng3 11. Rh3 Nh5 12. e3 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Bd7 14. Nb3 O-O-O 15. g4 fxg4 16. Qxg4 Qb4+ 17. c3 Qb6 18. O-O-O Rhf8 19. Qh4 Ba4 20. Be2 c5 21. Bxh5 gxh5 22. Rd2 Be8 23. Qe7 Bg6 24. Qxc5+ Qxc5 25. Nxc5 Rde8 26. Nb3 Kc7 27. Nd4 a6 28. Rf2 Kd7 29. Rg3 b5 30. Rg5 Rc8 31. Kd2 Rc4 32. a3 Rf7 33. Ke1 Rc5 34. f5 Bxf5 35. Nxf5 exf5 36. Rgxf5 Rxf5 37. Rxf5 Ke6 38. Rf6+ Kxe5 39. Rf7 Rc6 40. Rxh7 Kf6 41. Ra7 Re6 42. Kf2 Kg5 43. h7 Rh6 44. Rxa6 Rxh7 45. Rd6 h4 46. Rxd5+ Kg4 47. Rxb5 Kh3 48. Rg5 Rd7 49. Ke2 Kh2 50. Rh5 h3 51. e4 Rb7 52. b4 Ra7 53. Kd3 Rxa3 54. e5 Ra1 55. Rxh3+ Kxh3 56. c4 Kg4 57. Ke4 Rc1 58. Kd5 Kf5 59. b5 Rd1+ 60. Kc6 Kxe5 61. c5 Ke6 62. b6 Rc1 63. b7 Rb1 64. Kc7 Kd5 65. c6 Rc1 66. b8=Q Rxc6+ 67. Kd7 Rc4 68. Qd6+ Ke4 69. Ke6 Rd4 70. Qe5+ Kd3 71. Kf5 Kc4 72. Qe2+ Kc5 73. Qf2 Kc4 74. Ke5 Rd5+ 75. Ke6 Rd3 76. Qc2+ Rc3 77. Qe4+ Kb3 78. Kd5 Kb2 79. Kd4 Rb3 80. Qe2+ Ka3 Black runs out of time.

For more about the Temecula Chess Club, go to: Temecula Chess.Com.

For more about the United States Chess Federation, go to: US Chess.Org.