Allies defeat Montana master ‘Octopus’ in Missoula simul after clock battle

A group of local players identified themselves as the Allies beat Greg Nowak — the 11‑time Montana champion known as the “Octopus” — when his clock ran down during a simultaneous exhibition in Missoula.

Paul, one of the Allies players and the group’s on‑board commentator, introduced the match by saying, “Greg is the 11‑time Montana champ, he’s a nationally recognized master,” and described the event as a public simul played in Missoula. The Allies operated on a longer clock than Nowak: at one point Paul noted, “Greg has a total of 45 minutes for all of his moves, whereas we have 2 hours and 15 minutes.” Later timing counts shown in the transcript put Greg under greater time pressure (down to around 20 minutes, and then to under a minute) before his flag fell and the Allies called victory.

The game followed opening themes the players described as a Sicilian‑style structure in reverse — commonly called an English opening when colors are inverted — with repeated references to a…