Toth Wins Ryde-Eastwood

IM Andras Toth won the 3-day long Ryde-Eastwood Open this afternoon with a score of 6.5 points. Presently engaged in Canberra as a chess coach, the Hungarian breezed through the event conceding a single draw to FM Igor Bjelorbk in the seventh round.

One of Andras' victims was top seed GM Ian Rogers. The final position was so shocking that it is hard to believe that the losing player is one of the most theoretically knowledgeable GMs around. We can only wonder where GM Rogers went wrong. 12...0-0-0 maybe?

Ryde-Eastwood Open
Toth, Andras
Rogers, Ian
C64

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 f5 5. d4 fxe4 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. Nxe5 Bd6 8. Qh5+ g6 9. Qe2 Qh4 10. Nd2 Bf5 11. h3 (11. g4 is the main line.) 11... Bxe5 12. dxe5 O-O-O 13. g4

After 13. g4

13...e3 14. Qxe3 Bd3 15. Nf3 Qe7 16. Qxa7 Qf7 17. Bg5 Qxf3 18. Qa8+ Kd7 19. Qxd8+ Ke6 20. Qe8+ Kd5 21. Qd7+ Kc5 22. Be3+ Kb5 23. Qxd3+ 1-0

I arrived at the venue just in time to observe this exciting last round duel on board one. Toth looks to be winning but happily accepted a draw offer by Igor. He was worried about his time as well as the possibility of e4-e3 plus a check with a Queen on e4. The Hungarian thought it quite "dangerous".

Ryde-Eastwood Open
Toth, Andras
Bjelobrk, Igor
B47

1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. f4 a6 7. Nxc6 Qxc6 8. Bd3 b5 9. Qe2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Bc5 11. O-O-O Ne7 12. Qh5 g6 13. Qh4 f5 14. a3 b4 15. axb4 Bxb4 16. Kb1 Rb8 17. Nd5

After 17. Nd5

17...Bc5 18. Bc3 exd5 19. exd5 Qa4 20. Bxh8 Bxd5 21. c4 Bxg2 22. Rhe1 Be4 23. Bxe4 fxe4 24. Qxh7 Qxc4 25. Be5 Rb4 26. Qh8+ Kf7 1/2-1/2

And just in case you think that we always feature a won game by FM Greg Canfell, this one is a lost effort to the eventual winner. Greg, however, has promised that he will soon publish a game he played against Kevin O'Chee, in the fourth round, wherein he sacked a whole Rook on the way to victory. We can't wait for that one.

Ryde-Eastwood Open
Canfell, Greg
Toth, Andras
B25

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. f4 e6 7. Nf3 Nge7 8. O-O O-O 9. Bd2 b6 10. Rb1 Bb7 11. a3 Rc8 12. g4 f5 13. exf5 exf5 14. Ng5 Qd7 15. Nd5 h6 16. Nxe7+ Nxe7 17. Nh3 Bd4+ 18. Nf2 Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Bxf2 20. Rxf2 fxg4 21. h3 gxh3+ 22. Kh2 Rce8 23. Qf3 Rf5 24. Rg1 Kh7 25. Rg3 Rh5 26. Bc3 Nd5 27. Bd2 Nf6 28. Rf1 Qf7 29. Rfg1 Rg8 30. Bc3 Rf5 31. Qc6 Qd5 32. Qc7+ Rg7 33. Qd8 Rxf4 34. Kxh3 Qh5+ 35. Kg2 Qe2+ 36. Kh3 Rf2 37. R3g2 Qh5+ 38. Kg3 Rf3# 0-1

Top scorers (provisional)
6.5 - Andras Toth
6.0 - George Xie
5.5 - Ian Rogers, Igor Bjelobrk, Greg Canfell