Round 6 Update from Parramatta

Thankfully, the 2008 Australian Chess Championship has ran fairly smoothly so far. But this afternoon our chief arbiter had to deal with a potential bombshell.

Joshua Christensen, playing against Bill Egan, was quite convinced that he had some 40-50 seconds left on his clock when he played 45. Rg1+. But to his dismay his time had struck zero just as he played the move. Charles Zworestine was called over to investigate to see if the clock was faulty. No problem was found. In the absence of any evident defect, Christensen had no choice but to accept that he'd lost on time.

By the way, Bill Egan informed me that his book on the history of the Doeberl Cup is coming along quite nicely. The original publication date was to be this year's Doeberl edition but we'll now have to wait until 2009. But even aiming for next year will still be quite tight, Bill tells me.

In another time-related issue, Andrew Furst, who had less than 60 seconds left against Victoria's Richard Voon (who had 25 minutes), suddenly got up from the board to request that the arbiter temporarily stop the clocks. His reason? He was absolutely dying to go to the toilet. Charles agreed to this request. Mr Voon, on the other hand, seemed unhappy but not too concerned except to query Charles' decision. The arbiter calmly explained that he was exercising his discretion to stop the clock and allow Mr Furst to relieve himself. We agree with Charles.

Some guys, though, just have enough trouble keeping on or with time either OTB or even away from it. Take David Hacche. This afternoon David settled for another draw. By his own admission, he just can't seem to win another game further adding, "But that was my own fault as I started 40 minutes late".

For our first featured encounter we have Gareth Charles trying out the Trompowsky. The opening didn't exactly turn out too well for Gareth and by the middle game it was all over.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Charles, Gareth
Morris, Michael
A45

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 The Trompowsky. He'd already played this against Greg Canfell in the State Championships and won. 2...c5 3. d5 d6 4. Nc3 h6 5. Bf4 Qa5 6. Qd2 g5 7. Bg3 Nh5 8. e4 Bg7 9. Be2 Nxg3 10. hxg3 a6 11. Nh3 Qb4 12. O-O-O? Bxh3 13. Rxh3 Nd7 14. Re1 c4 15. Nd1?? Bxb2+ 16. Nxb2 c3 17. Qe3 cxb2+ 18. Kb1 Qxe1+ 19. Kxb2 Qb4+ 20. Kc1 Rc8 0-1

One of the best things about these kinds of big events is that they often attract the attendance of legends whose exploits some of us have only read about. For instance, I'd not previously seen a certain Douglas Hamilton in action, although I'm sure most of us have heard about this guy. Here is Mr Hamilton facing one of today's young talents Ronald Yu.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Hamilton, Douglas
Yu, Ronald
D08

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. a3 Nge7 6. g3 Ng6 7. Bg2 Be6 8. b3 Qd7 9. O-O O-O-O 10. Nbd2 Be7 11. Bb2 h5 12. h4 Ngxe5 13. b4 Nxf3+ 14. Nxf3 Bxc4 15. Rc1 Qe6 16. Re1 Bf6 17. Qc2 Bb3 18. Qd3 Bd5 19. Rc5 Ne5 20. Nxe5 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Bxe5 22. Rec1 Rd7 23. b5 Re8 24. R1c2 g5 25. hxg5 h4 26. f4 Bd6 27. R5c4 hxg3 28. Qxd4 Qg4 29. e3 f6 30. f5 Qxf5 31. Qxf6 Qd5+ 32. Qf3 Qxg5 33. Bf6 Qxe3 34. Qxe3 Rxe3 35. R4c3 Rxc3 36. Rxc3 Rf7 37. Bh4 Rf2+ 38. Kg1 Rb2 39. Bxg3 Bxg3 40. Rxg3 Rxb5 41. Kf2 Re5 0-1

In the next game, ex-ACF man Paul Broekhuyse scores another point courtesy of NSWCA councillor Jason Hu. Quite a horrible game by the latter. "Couldn't be bothered" is how he characterised it.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Broekhuyse, Paul
Hu, Jason
A44

1. d4 c5 2. d5 d6 3. e4 e5 4. f4 exf4 5. Bxf4 Qf6 6. Qc1 h6 7. Nf3 g5 8. Bg3 g4 9. e5 Qe7 10. Bb5+ Bd7 11. Bxd7+ Nxd7 12. Nh4 dxe5 13. O-O Qg5 14. Qe1 f6 15. Nc3 O-O-O 16. Ne4 Qh5 17. Qa5 Nb8 18. Rad1 Qf7 19. Bxe5 b6 20. Qc3 Rxd5 21. Qb3 Rd7 22. Qxf7 Rxf7 23. Bxb8 Kxb8 24. Ng6 Rhh7 25. Rd8+ Kc7 26. Rxf8 Rxf8 27. Nxf8 Rf7 28. Ng6 Kc6 29. Ne5+ 1-0

As I was walking around I happened to stop by the Bleicher - Escribano match. The former Sydneysider Escribano (he now resides in Melbourne) was just resigning and he did so with a smile. Once upon a time, he would have just abruptly leave the board and looking all grumpy. Today, however, he described the loss as a "humbling experience". Bleicher, you see, has apparently just had a quadruple heart bypass.

Here are a couple more interesting tidbits about our friend Jose Escribano. He once seriously aspired to becoming a grandmaster and also once abandoned a Victorian tournament for a woman!

Below are a rundown of today's results.

Main section
Pyke - Atzmon-Simon, draw
Suttor - Capilitan, draw
Charles - Morris, M - 0-1
Broekhuyse - Hu - 1-0
Booth - Oliver, draw
Hamilton - Yu, 0-1
Bjelobrk - Xie, 0-1
Lane - Boyd, draw
Lazarus - Illingworth, draw
Wei - Hacche, draw

Major
Viswanath - Jule, 1-0
Sheldrick - Korenveski, 1-0
Mandla - Fry, draw
Stojic - Eccles, 1-0
Hare - Watson, draw
Descallar - Viner, 0-1
Tulevski -Kim, 0-1

Keep an eye on the official site for further updates. Chief arbiter Charles Zworestine has actually been writing excellent daily summaries which are printed and displayed in the tournament venue. So far I've not seen these on the site but they should be available soon.

Zong Yuan Zhao Bags Norm

Australian chess fans are celebrating this morning after hearing the important news that international master Zong-Yuan Zhao has just secured his second GM norm in Spain. We have confirmation here and here.

The Australian will now head off to Sevilla** followed later by a stint in the 6th Gibtelecom Chess Festival in Gibraltar.

** Note that this is the first link I found that pertains to a Sevilla event. We're awaiting confirmation if that is, indeed, the correct one.

REMINDER: Blitz and Fischerandom

A quick post to remind our local Sydney readers that there is a blitz tournament this Sunday, 6 January, at the Australian Championship venue. There will be no regular play that day as players take a rest from the hard work.

Then on Monday, 7 January, the Australian Championships Fischer Random Allegro will take place from 7PM.

Take my Queen! No, take mine!

If I had a complaint about the RSL venue, it is that the light is a tad too low for my liking. It's not so bad in the top section, but the major and minor players must be suffering. Light comes mainly from light bulbs and with the ceiling so high, there's just not enough light hitting the boards. Even Malcolm Tredinnick, who was visiting this afternoon, quipped that perhaps the organisers should provide candles for each board.

Seasoned chessers will know the problem with low light: you can sometimes fail to see things or, worse still, see something that it isn't there. Just look at white's twenty-seventh move in the following game. It's a total stunner. But something isn't quite right.

Australian Major 2008
Cohn, Jason
Sheldrick, Kevin
B05

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 c6 6. O-O Bxf3 7. Bxf3 dxe5 8. dxe5 e6 9. a3 Nd7 10. Qe2 Bc5 11. Rd1 a5 12. c4 Ne7 13. Bf4 Ng6 14. Bg3 Qg5 15. Nc3 Ndxe5 16. Ne4 Qe7 17. Bh5 Nd7 18. Bxg6 hxg6 19. Qd3 Nb6 20. Bd6 Bxd6 21. Nxd6+ Kf8 22. b4 Rh5 23. bxa5 Rhxa5 24. Rdb1 Nd5 25. Qg3 e5 26. Nxb7 Rxa3

Position after 26...Rxa3

White can simply now proceed with 27. Rxa3. But Jason saw in his mind's eye something spectacular. 27. Qh3?? A visually stunning move! But it's all an illusion. Sheldrick uncorks an equally stunning reply but one which has aheluvalot more venom. 27...Qb4!! 28. Qh8+ Ke7 29. Qxg7 Nf6 30. Nd6 Qxd6 31. Rb7+ Nd7 32. Rxd7+ Kxd7 33. Qxf7+ Kd8 34. Qg8+ Kc7 35. Qg7+ Kb6 36. c5+ Kxc5 37. Rc1+ Kb6 38. Rb1+ Ka5 39. Qb7 Ra6 40. g3 Qc5 41. Qc7+ Ka4 42. Qc8 Rb6 43. Qa8+ Qa5 0-1

But some players don't need any fancy explanation. For these guys, it's got nothing to do with low light, too much light or no light at all. Take my mate Greg Canfell. As I was having my afternoon beer I asked if he'd be having one also. The reply took me aback.

"I'm off the piss. That's why I'm playing so bad".

In my post last night I mentioned Jose Escribano's lost game to Canberran Sherab Guo-Yuthok. Here it is, the Schliemann line of the Ruy Lopez. The variation is a fave of Aronian and Radjabov, but almost exclusively for rapid games only.

Australian Major 2008
Escribano, Jose
Guo-Yuthok, Sherab
C63

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 Nf6 6. Qe2 Qe7 7. O-O d5 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. Nxf6+ gxf6 10. Nh4 Qf7 11. d4 Bg7 12. dxe5 fxe5 13. Be3 O-O 14. Bc5 Re8 15. Rfe1 Re6 16. a4 Bd7 17. Ra3 Rh6 18. Nf3 Rh5 19. Re3 e4 20. Nd4 Be5 21. Rg3+ Bxg3 22. fxg3 Rh6 23. h4 Rf6 24. Qe3 h6 25. Ne2 Kh7 26. Nf4 Rg8 27. Kh2 a6 28. Bd4 Rf5 29. Qe2 Rxf4 30. gxf4 Qxf4+ 31. Kg1 Bg4 32. Qf2 Bf3 33. Be3 Qg4 34. Kf1 Bxg2+ 35. Kg1 Qh3 0-1

Before we end this post, check out another one that I quite liked. Morris may have lost out on the fight but we do like his attacking style.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Morris, James
Wei, Michael
E04

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 e6 5. g3 dxc4 6. Bg2 b5 7. Ne5 Qb6 8. a4 Bb7 9. a5 Qa6 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Nxd7 Nxd7 12. Bf4 Nf6 13. e4 Be7 14. Re1 O-O 15. Bg5 h6 16. Bh4 g5 17. e5 Nh7 18. Qh5 c5 19. d5 Bxd5 20. Bxd5 exd5 21. Nxd5 Bd8 22. e6 fxe6 23. Qg6+ Kh8 24. Rxe6 Qb7 25. Qe4 Qf7 26. f4 gxh4 27. Ne7 Bxe7 28. Rxe7 Qf5 29. Qc6 hxg3 30. Qxh6 gxh2+ 31. Kh1 Rg8 32. Rd1 Rg1+ 33. Kxh2 Rg4 33... Qc2+ 34. Kxg1 Rg8+ 35. Kf1 will lead to mate. 34. Kh1 Rag8 0-1

Preliminary results from round 5.

Main
Malik - Atzmon-Simon, 1-0
Chow - Bjelobrk, draw
Yu - Canfell, draw
Broekhuyse - Pyke, 1-0
Xie - Pecori, 1-0
Goldenberg - Hamilton, 1-0
Hu - Yadao, draw
Hacche - Suttor, draw
Illingworth - Charles, 1-0

From tomorrow the tournament decelerates to one game a day. There will be plenty more time for our combatants for proper preparation. So I'm looking forward to some more exciting duels, shocked faces as they encounter strange novelties and plenty of action.

Round 4 Update from Parra

Just a quick short update at the close of round 4. To begin with, the following are some preliminary results in both the main and major sections.

Main
Xie - Stojic, 1-0
Hamilton - Oliver, 1-0
Booth - Chow, 0-1
Pecori - Broekhuyse, 1-0
Suttor - Yu, 0-1
Rej - Goldenberg, draw
Capilitan - Atzmon-Simon, draw
Yadao - Bird, draw
Lazarus - Sales, 0-1

Major
Sheldrick - Jens, 1-0
Fell - Harris, draw
Tulevski - Jule, draw
Ninchich - Huynh, 0-1
Bolens - Ali, 1-0
Fry - Stojic, draw
Low - Oliver, 0-1

Today's featured game has plenty of attack by black but all that came to nothing. He just ran out of steam in the end and fell to a series of nice tactical blows by white.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Pecori, Ascaro
Broekhuyse, Paul
A46

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Qb6 5. Qc1 Nc6 6. c3 d5 7. Nbd2 Be7 8. h3 Bd7 9. Bd3 Rc8 10. Qb1 cxd4 11. exd4 Na5 12. b4 The first new move according to my database. 12...Nc4 13. a4 Nh5 14. Bh2 Nxd2 15. Kxd2 a5 16. b5 Nf6 17. Ne5 Bb4 18. cxb4 Qxd4 19. Ke2 axb4 20. Rd1 Nh5 21. Kf1 Nf4 22. Nf3 Qf6 23. Bxf4 Qxf4 24. Qb2 O-O 25. Rab1 Ra8 26. Bc2 Rfc8 27. Rd4 Qc7 28. Bb3 e5 29. Rxd5 e4 30. Nd4 Bxh3 Only Caissa knows what Paul was thinking. All this seemed to achieve was to make Ascaro think for a long time, but that was about it. 31. gxh3 Qh2 32. Rh5 Rc3 33. Ne2 Rd8 34. Rd1 Rcd3 35. Rxd3 exd3 36. Ng3 g6 After this, I thought that 37. Qf6 was best. But Ascaro finds something better and plays it almost instantaneously.

Position after 36...g6

37. Bxf7+ Kxf7 38. Rxh7+ Ke6 39. Qb3+ Rd5 40. Qxb4 Rh5 41. Re7+ Kd5 42. Rd7+ Ke6 43. Qd6# 1-0

And in one of the last games to finish, Canfell lost to Western Australian Tristan Boyd. The final stages was on a knife edge, with both players' Bishops playing key parts in the attack. Sadly for the local man, it was Boyd who managed to coordinate himself pinning Canfell's rook to his King. Canfell was forced to surrender his Queen and finally the point.

IM George Xie Drops Point

As the dark clouds approached Parramatta and brought with them a light sprinkle of rain, players in the main section must have thought it to be a bad omen. For when the third round got under way all of them took it slow and steady. The first finishes were draws. Hacche and James Morris shook hands early and were the first pair to complete their game peacefully. A couple more games ending in draws followed, and then the decisive ones later on.

IM George Xie isn't having the best of starts. Instead, he seems to be finding his bete noire: Canberra juniors. After his shock loss in round 1 to Gareth Oliver, in round 3 this afternoon he fell to yet another boy from the capital, that giant killer, Junta Ikeda. The game is not one for those with weak hearts and it's another demo of why I have pretty much abandoned competitive play. For who knows what crazy lines your opponent can choose and cause so much stress? Games like this used to drive me nuts OTB.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Ikeda, Junta
Xie, George
A33

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 c5 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Ndb5 d5 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bf4 Bb4 9. Nc7+ Kf8 10. Nxa8 Ne4 11. f3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bxc3+ 13. Kf2

Position after 13. Kf2

13...g5 14. Bg3 f5 15. Kg1 f4 16. Bf2 Bxa1 17. Qxa1 d4 18. h4 g4 19. g3 Qd6 20. Kh2 Bd7 21. Bg2 Rg8 22. Rg1 Ke7 23. Qb1 d3

Position after 23...d3

24. exd3 Rxa8 25. d4 Qg6 26. Qb3 Rg8 27. d5 gxf3 28. Qxf3 fxg3+ 29. Bxg3 Nd4 30. Re1+ Kd8 31. Qf4 Qxg3+ 32. Qxg3 Rxg3 33. Kxg3 Kc7 34. Bh3 Nf5+ 35. Bxf5 Bxf5 36. Kf4 Bd3 37. Ke5 b5 38. d6+ Kd7 39. Rg1 Bg6 40. Rc1 a5 41. Rc7+ Kd8 42. Ra7 1-0

However, it wasn't all a success for Canberra players. Michael Wei, white against the powerful Igor Bjelobrk, appeared to be in a safe position with his extra piece. I actually thought it to be won for Michael. I walked away for a bit and the next time I looked, he was already in big trouble and resigned soon after that. Bjelobrk, I think, got lucky.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Wei, Michael
Bjelobrk, Igor
B49

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 a6 7. Be3 Nf6 8. O-O Bb4 9. Na4 O-O 10. c4 Bd6 11. g3 Nxe4 12. c5 Be5 13. f3 Nxg3 14. Nxc6 Nxe2+ 15. Qxe2 dxc6 16. Nb6 Rb8 17. Rad1 Qe7 18. f4 Bc7 19. Qf2 e5 20. f5 f6 21. Qh4 Re8 22. Rf3 Bxb6 23. cxb6 e4 24. Rf4 Bd7 25. Qh5 Rbd8 26. Rh4 Bxf5 27. Rxd8 Qxd8 28. Qxf5 Qd1+ 29. Kf2 g6 30. Rg4 Kf7 31. Qf4 Re5 32. Kg3 g5 33. Qf2 h5 0-1

Also disappointed is Gareth Oliver. After excellent performances in the first two rounds, he ran into German player Felix Klein. The foreigner netted Gareth's Queen but the Australian refused to resign til the very end choosing, instead, to fight on. But it wasn't long before the Canberra university student had to finally give it up; Klein had too much firepower aimed at the King. Sadly, I don't have the game score for that encounter.

Some results:

Malik - Capilitan, draw
Booth - Pyke, 1-0
Illingworth - Yadao, 1-0
Bird - Morris, M. 1-0
Wei - Bjelobrk, 0-1
Klein - Oliver, 1-0
Ikeda - Xie, 1-0
Stojic - Rej, 0-1
Broekhuyse - Hamilton, draw
Hacche - Morris, J. draw
Van Riemsdijk - Pecori, 1-0

In the major section, Arthur Huynh's very bad day continued (remember that he forgot this morning's start time which led to his loss on forfeit). His game against Lloyd Fell was the first to finish. Reason? Arthur just simply blundered a piece. "A whole bloody rook", said Lloyd.

I should also mention my old friend Jose Escribano. The guy really needs no introductions. In round 3 he lost to Sherab Guo-Yuthok. I asked Jose what happened and he answered: "Fucked up. Played the wrong move at the wrong time". Yes, I think we all know the feeling!

Partial list of results from the majors:

Waterman - Russell, 1-0
Mejzini - Greenwood, 0-1
Viner - Bleicher, 1-0
Korenevski - Selnes, draw
Hare - Low, 1-0
Egan - Choi, draw
Stojic - Kim, 1-0
Sanghoon - Barisic, 1-0

Finally, let me apologise for not covering the minor section. But I point you to fellow blogger Trent Parker who's playing in that event. His blog, Blog of a Chess Nut, should have regular updates of happenings in the minor throughout the tournament.

See also the official site.

Gareth Oliver Holds IM to Draw

Thank the heavens I don't have to play in this championship. I could barely drag myself out of bed this morning for that 11.30AM start. But at least I knew the starting time. Arthur Huynh, on the other hand, thought it was 12.30PM, turned up at exactly that time, only to discover that he'd lost on forfeit. That's one wasted point right there.

Round 2 has a few games finished already. Here are some results:

Pecori - Boyd, draw
Capilitan - Sales, 0-1
Xie - Broekhuyse, 1-0
Canfell - Illingworth, 1-0
Morris, M - Hacche, draw
Rej - Lazarus, 0-1
Goldenberg - Bird, 1-0
Morris J - Chow, draw
Oliver - Van Riemsdijk, draw

Fresh from a big win yesterday over IM George Xie, Canberra player Gareth Oliver must have woken up this morning determined to score back-to-back upsets. He had to face Brazilian visitor Herman Van Riemsdijk. Van Riemsdijk, who I last encountered in the Queenstown Classic, proved to be in the attack mode himself playing the Benko Gambit. It's a complicated stoush that I thought the local man might win, but it all ended in a peacefully.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Oliver, Gareth
Van Riemsdijk, Herman
A57

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. b6 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. e4 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Be2 Qxb6 10. O-O Bg4 11. Nd2 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 a5 13. a4 Nfd7 14. Nb5 Na6 15. Nc4 Qd8 16. Bd2 Nb4 17. Bc3 Nb6 18. f4 Nxc4 19. Qxc4 Bxc3 20. Qxc3 Qd7 21. f5 gxf5 22. Rxf5 f6 23. Qh3 Kh8 24. Ra3 Rg8 25. Rh5 Qxh3 26. Raxh3 Rg7 27. Nc7 Rag8 28. Ne6 Rf7 29. Kf2 c4 30. Nf4 Rg5 31. Ke3 Rxh5 32. Rxh5 Kg8 33. Ne6 Nd3 34. b3 Ne5 35. bxc4 Nxc4+ 36. Kd4 Nb6 37. Rh3 Nxa4 38. Rg3+ Kh8 39. Ra3 Nc5 40. Nxc5 dxc5+ 41. Kxc5 Rg7 42. Rxa5 Kg8 43. Ra2 Kf7 44. g3 Rg4 45. Re2 h5 46. Kd4 h4 47. gxh4 Rxh4 48. Ke3 e6 49. Rd2 Ke7 50. Kf3 Kd6 51. dxe6+ Kxe6 52. Ke3 1/2-1/2

Oliver's victim yesterday, George Xie, wasn't about to lose another game. True enough, he won his second game, but not before Paul Broekhuyse determinedly fought on despite being a piece down. A disappointing loss for Paul whose Queen was left isolated on the Q-side while the action hotted up on the K-side of the board. Lacking firepower on around his King's sector, Paul's position just about collapsed leading to a loss of piece.

One game that surprised me was Morris, J - Chow. That ended a draw, but the position looked still alive to me for plenty of fireworks. I wondered why black couldn't simply capture the Bishop on g5. En route to lunch I asked James about this and he assures me that he'd have a big advantage in case of hxg5. You decide.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Morris, James
Chow, Sam
D80

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. h4 dxc4 5. Bg5 c6 6. a4 Bg7 7. e3 Be6 8. Nf3 Nd5 9. h5 h6 10. hxg6 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Qa5 12. gxf7+ Bxf7 13. Bf4 Qxc3+ 14. Nd2 b5 15. axb5 cxb5 16. Rc1 Qa3 17. Ra1 1/2-1/2

Very impressive, though, is Goldenberg's (white) victory over Andrew Bird (black). I don't have the game score but it's worth looking at especially after Bird captures on the f1-square with one of his Rooks. He probably miscalculated Igor's response which led to a R+R+B, for Igor, versus lone Q for Andrew.

Finally, Canfell scores another point by beating fellow Sydneysider Max Illingworth.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Canfell, Greg
Illingworth, Max
A46

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. g3 b5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O c5 6. c3 Na6 7. Bf4 Be7 8. Qd3 Qb6 9. a4 bxa4 10. Nbd2 d5 11. Rxa4 cxd4 12. Qxd4 Bc5 13. Qd3 Ne4 14. Nd4 f5 15. Be3 O-O 16. b4 Bxd4 17. Bxd4 Qd6 18. Rfa1 Nc7 19. Nxe4 fxe4 20. Qe3 Nb5 21. Bc5 Qc6 22. Bxf8 Rxf8 23. Qc5 Rc8 24. Rxa7 Nxa7 25. Rxa7 Qxc5 26. bxc5 Bc6 27. Bh3 Re8 28. Rc7 Bb5 29. e3 Kf8 30. Rb7 Bc4 31. Bg4 Ra8 32. h4 Ra3 33. c6 Rxc3 34. Bxe6 Ba6 35. Rf7+ Ke8 36. c7 Bc8 37. Bxd5 Rc5 38. Rxg7 Bf5 39. Rg5 1-0

A couple of results from the Major are below:

Guo-Yuthok - Sanghoon, 0-1
Mandla - Aly, draw
Choi - Ghobrial, 1-0

Note that we don't have photos today.

Australian Chess Championships Photos

Wow! What an opening day. We've already got a couple of upsets. Regrettably, I had to make a quick dash to Sydney to meet up with some folks, so I missed all the action. Anyhow, we've got the first few photos up on flickr.


Igor Goldenberg, on the right, fell victim today to Sydneysider Max Illingworth. The FIDE Master from Victoria will want to quickly get back on track, but he has a tough assignment tomorrow against another Sydneysider, Andrew Bird.

Off and Rockin' in Parra

"We're ready to rock n' roll", said ACF boss Gary Wastell. And so with that, the 2008 Australian Chess Championships began. One-hundred and thirty-eight players are here, not particularly strong (so said a 2200-rated player to me anyway), but considering that this tournament was near-death just few months ago, the organisers can only be very happy.

Some regulars are here. I spotted Jesse Sales who is up from Melbourne. The poor fellow looked nowhere ready to play as he'd just literally got off the bus. It seems that he's moving to Sydney and will be looking for a job. He's not sure exactly what he'll do, but Sydney-based chess coaching concerns should drop him a line.

Another ex-Pinoy is also competing. The last time I saw Israel Yadao was in the 2001 Australian Open in Canberra, I think it was. Little did I know that he actually moved to Oz years ago and is now a citizen. Good to see him back.

Of the large local Sydney Pinoy chess crowd, sadly, their turnout isn't positive. As far as I can see, the strongest attendee amongst these guys is my old friend Romy Capilitan. Even that famous TCG himself can't be bothered with competitive play these days. Too much stress! (And oh, what's this? The even more famous Gary Wastell has just been introduced to TCG, just a short sharp 90-second meeting. Already the ACF boss has a job for the blogger. How could I refuse? My God, what an honour).

As usual, those chess fanatics from Victoria are visiting in good numbers. There's about twenty of the lot led, of course, by GM Johansen. I almost didn't recognise that young talent James Morris; his hair is much longer these days. Pyke, Goldenberg, Dizdarevic and Pecori are here too. My friend Ascaro Pecori is making a comeback after months of layoff. He's here, he says, to take his mind off things.

Also caught up with locals IM Gary Lane and FM Brian Jones. I might as well give them a plug. Gary tells me that his latest book "Improve Your Chess in 7 Days" has been his best seller so far. I haven't read it myself but I'm sure some of us could probably do with that book. A better story from the friendly IM is that apparently some folks in England actually think that TCG might be a real grandmaster! What the? No ladies and gents, yours truly ain't Ian Rogers! And Brian Jones was busy showing off a new clock. The DGT2010, an updated version of the DGT2000, is a sexy-looking beast. Even the new levers feel much smoother. Australian Chess Enterprises sells them for $99.

That's all for now. We hope to bring you regular reports including photos from the venue. I was going to post first round photos but silly me completely forgot my cable for the damn camera. You'll have to wait til late tonight.

Below is our first featured game. Good finish by Arthur albeit aided by Mejzini's cooperation.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Mejzini, Jack
Huynh, Arthur
B90

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nf3 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. Bg5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. a3 O-O 12. Nh2 Nd7 13. Ng4 Nb6 14. O-O Rc8 15. Qf3 Bg5 16. Rad1 Qe7 17. Ne3 Bxe3 18. Qxe3 Nc4 19. Bxc4 Rxc4 20. Rd2 f5 21. Qb6 Rc6 22. Nd5 Qf7 23. Qe3 fxe4 24. f3 Rc5 25. Nb6 exf3 26. Rxd6 Rxc2 27. Rd7 Rxg2+ 28. Kh1 Qg6 29. Rf2 Rg1+ 0-1

NSWCA Scrap Big Events

By now NSWCA members would have already received their latest mailout from their state association. Mine includes the usual ads, a membership form, as well as a list of tournaments for 2008. That list has a couple of interesting omissions which I hadn't noticed until the now councilman Peter Parr, who won the position of Publicity Officer in last November's AGM, mentioned it to me yesterday.

Look closely at your list and you'll notice that the main City of Sydney (not the rapid CoS which will be held on 5 April) and the NSW Championships are missing! After last year's twin disasters when both events resulted in only dismal attendances - with the state championships, especially, being quite farcical - I wouldn't be surprised if Council now moves to dump these tournaments completely. However, my understanding is that the state championship might still be held as a round-robin but without the usual supporting events. So perhaps the NSWCA is just taking their time to determine how best to run these events. Well, here's hoping anyway.

Of course there is one big reason to remove two costly events from the calendar: save money.

I'm sure some folks out there will immediately want to point the finger of blame if, indeed, the main CoS and the state championship will hit the scrap heap. But who should we blame? Players who no longer bother, and some who actually sign-up to play but never turn up? Or the organisers?