Unexpected Finishes at Zonal

This being Queensland you do tend to see a few strange things. Like yesterday at lunch time, for instance, I spotted some bloke who was dressed all in pink! From head to toe. As if that wasn't bad enough he sported some serious VPL. For the uninitiated that's "visible panty lines".

Over the board there were a few, let's say, unexpected outcomes but not quite as strange as a pink-clad fellow. In round 1 the Stevens - Xie contest clearly had the white player holding the advantage after he nabbed 2 pawns by the 37th move. But in time trouble, Stevens opted for suboptimal moves and the situation abruptly turned sour for him.

The game is worth a look

2009 Oceanic Zonal Open
Stevens, Tristan
Xie, George
D00

1. e4 d5 2. d4 dxe4 3. Nc3 e5 4. dxe5 Qxd1+ 5. Kxd1 Nc6 6. Nxe4 Nxe5 7. Bf4 Nf6 8. Nxf6+ gxf6 9. Nf3 Ng4 10. Bg3 Bf5 11. Bb5+ c6 12. Re1+ Kd7 13. Nd4 Bg6 14. Be2 h5 15. h3 Nh6 16. Bc4 Bc5 17. Nb3 Bb6 18. Bh4 Rhe8 19. c3 Nf5 20. Bxf6 Bxf2 21. Rxe8 Rxe8 22. Kd2 Be3+ 23. Kd1 Bf4 24. Bd4 h4 25. Bd3 Kc7 26. Kc2 Ng3 27. Bxg6 fxg6 28. Bf6 Re2+ 29. Kd3 g5 30. Nd4 Re3+ 31. Kc4 c5 32. Nb5+ Kc6 33. Nxa7+ Kb6 34. Nc8+ Ka6 35. Rd1 Re6 36. Be7 Nf5 37. Bxc5 b5+ 38. Kb3 Kb7 39. Ne7 Nd6 40. Nd5 Nc4 41. Nxf4 gxf4 42. Rd7+ Kc6 43. Re7 Rg6 44. Kb4 Nxb2 45. Bd4 Nd3+ 46. Kb3 Rxg2 47. Rh7 Nc1+ 48. Kb4 Rb2+ 0-1

Round two's match up on board 1 for the women, Reid - Berezina, looked set for a massive upset for the white player. Commentating on that encounter via Chess Theatre, GM Ian Rogers was impressed with Reid. Then at a crucial moment, just when Berezina was eking out a fightback, came an unexpected draw offer. So, a draw!

But how about Norris - Ford on board 20 of the Open section? After a long, long struggle Norris finally found himself in a winning position. With both players holding 2 Queens each, all Norris had to do was deliver check with the right Queen. He didn't! Instead, he accidentally produced a stalemate.