Out of Sydney

TCG will not be at the SIO today. Gotta pack and get ready for a long flight. Lucky the weather where I'm heading to is a little warmer these days. I hope you guys enjoyed both our Doeberl and SIO coverage. It was fun to do for me. Over the last week or so traffic to the blog has increased some 100% - still nowhere near the numbers I hit during the Turin incident, but the sudden spike has been remarkable. It was also very nice to be approached by some people who said they read the blog and enjoyed it. That's great.

Our good "success" in the past few days can be partly credited to the event organisers in Doeberl and the SIO. They pretty much let me have access to information like scoresheets, for example. I think these guys realise that bloggers these days can really do their events a big favour by generating interest and excitement. The best thing about blogging, net access permitting (preferably cheap), is that it is very immediate and sometimes offers a different perspective to the usual. I rather hope that more chessers in the Australian chess scene will take up blogging. I'd be especially interested in regular tournament goers who can provide first hand reportage from other states. Trust me guys, blogging is cheap and easy.

Before I forget, and speaking of generating interest for events, I should take time to mention a new chess tournament. Phil Bourke and his club mates over at the Blayney Chess Club will host the inaugural Blayney Open on 8-9 September, 2007. For more details, you can email philwillb at bigpond dot com.

Good luck to all players in the SIO. It's a great event that I hope can become a regular fixture in the local scene. The best thing about this kind of tournament, with strong opposition, is that it seems to bring out the best of our future stars. You only need to look at the likes of Ikeda, Oliver and recent twin IM-killer Tomek Rej to realise this. And as for Shipov, well, he seems to have had too much weight placed on his shoulders. Here's a guy that many probably thought would give our boys a lesson. Publicity Officer for the SIO Cathy Rogers describes Shipov's performance here as a "dismal showing". Note that the SIO actually has its own blog hosted here.

That's all for now. I'll be back to Sydney next weekend. See you across the board somewhere!