The NQ Open 2017 was run from the 5th to 6th of August, and the club continued to experiment with the annual event by increasing the prize money to $3,500 (more than doubled from last year) due to our fundraising activities with Bunnings, but also with support from the Chess Association of Queensland and Gardiner Chess. Once again a number of players travelled to Townsville, and we had competitors arriving from Charters Towers, Cairns, Mackay, Dysart, Brisbane, Canberra, and Sydney; so thanks to all those players who travelled to get here! The tournament was again won by Stephen Solomon making it back to back championship wins, but even though he had a perfect score of 6/6, his run was not quite as smooth as it was at the Mackay Open earlier this year.