Schoolboy Tops Newcastle Open

I'm more than a little late on this one, but it's worth posting about nonetheless. A couple of weekends ago, Sydney junior Max Illingworth achieved the most remarkable victory in his chess career by coming outright first in the 2009 Newcastle Weekend tournament with a score of 6.5 points from seven games. His run included wins over IM Gary Lane and FM Vladimir Smirnov. Only the Sydney-based Pinoy FM Jesse Sales was able to inflict a slight blemish with a draw against the eventual champion.

Below is Illingworth's win over Smirnov, courtesy of GM Ian Rogers' column in last Sunday's Sun Herald.

2009 Newcastle Open
Smirnov, Vladimir
Illingworth, Max
B56

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Nf5 d5 7. exd5 Bxf5 8.dxc6 bxc6 9. Qf3 Qd7 10. Bg5 e4 11. Qd1 Nd5 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 13. Qxd5 cxd5 14. O-O-O f6 15. Be3 Be6 16. Bb5+ Kf7 17. Bc6 Rd8 18. Bxa7 Bd6 19. Bb6 Bf4+ 20. Be3 Be5 21. c3 Rd6 22. Ba4 Rc8 23. Bd4 Bxd4 24. Rxd4 f5 25. g3 g5 26. h4 h6 27. hxg5 hxg5 28. Rh6 Rcd8 29. Bd1 Kg7 30. Rh5 Kg6 31. a4 f4 32. gxf4 gxf4 33. Kd2 f3 34. Rh1 Kf5 35. b4 Rc6 36. Bb3 Rdc8 37. Rc1 (Rogers gives 37. Bxd5 Rxc3 38. Bxe6+ Kxe6 39. Rxe4+ Kf5 40. Re8 as winning for White.) 37... Ke5 38. b5 Rxc3 39. Rxc3 Kxd4 40. Rc6 Rxc6 41. bxc6 Kc5 42. c7 Kc6 43. Ke3 Kxc7 44. Kd4 Kd6 45. a5

Position after 45. a5

45...e3 46. Kxe3 d4+ 47. Kxf3 Bxb3 48. Ke4 Kc5 49. f4 Bd5+ 50. Kd3 Bc4+ 51. Ke4 d3 52. Ke3 Kd5 0-1