Johansen Loses a Drawn Position

Just got to Parramatta in time for the postmortem of Johansen - Sales. Pinoy chess fans will be glad to know that FM Jesse Sales has just defeated Australian grandmaster Daryl Johansen. In an error filled duel, Johansen actually had opportunities to draw, if not to win, the game.

(NOTE: Comments made in this game are based on those in the postmortem session and especially Jesse Sales)
Australian Chess Championships 2008
Johansen, Daryl
Sales, Jesse
C54

1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 e5 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. g4 Bg6 13. Ne2 a6 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Rc1 f6 16. Nf4 fxe5 17. Nxe5 Rxf4 18. Bxf4 Qf6 19. Be3 Ba5+ 20. Kf1 Rf8?

Position after 20...Rf8

21. Rxc6? (21. Nd7) 21... Qh4 22. Rh2? Qg3 23. Nxg6 hxg6 24. Qb3 Nd2+ 25. Bxd2 Qxh2 26. Qxd5+ Kh8 27. Be3 Qxh3+ 28. Kg1 Qxg4+ 29. Qg2 Qd1+ 30. Kh2 Rf5 31. Rc1 Rh5+ 32. Kg3 Qd3 33. Rc5 Bb4 34. Rxh5+ gxh5 35. Qd5 Qg6+ 36. Qg5 Bd6+ 37. Kh3 Qxg5 38. Bxg5 Kh7 39. Kh4 Kg6 40. d5 Be5 41. b3 Bd4 42. f4 Bf2+ 43. Kh3 Bc5 44. Kg3 Bd6 45. Kf3 Kf5 46. a4

Position after 46. a4

46...h4? (46... g6! is better and winning according to both players) 47. Bxh4 Bxf4 48. b4 Bd6 49. Bd8 Ke5 50. b5 Kxd5 51. bxa6 Kc6

Position after 51...Kc6

52. Kg4?? (52. a5! would have drawn. Johansen was actually reaching out to play this move but, for whatever reason, changed his mind!) 52... Kb6 53. Kg5 Kxa6 54. Kg6 c5 55. Kxg7 c4 56. Kg6 c3 57. Kf5 c2 58. Bg5 Ka5 59. Ke4 Kxa4 60. Kd3 Kb3 61. Bh6 Kb2 62. Bg5 Kb1 63. Kc3 Ba3 64. Kb3 Bc1 65. Be7 Bd2 66. Ba3 Ba5 67. Kc4 Be1 68. Kb3 Bd2 69. Kc4 Ba5 70. Kb3 Bc7 71. Bb2 Bd6 0-1

Other results:

Hamilton - Rej, 0-1
Lazarus - Boyd, draw
Hacche - Chow, draw
Oliver - Lane, draw
Ikeda - Atzmon-Simon, draw
Bjelobrk - Broekhuyse, 1-0
Booth - Morris, M. 1-0
Pecori - Hu, draw
Bird - Pyke, 1-0
Suttor - Morris, J. 1-0
Charles - Capilitan, 1-0
Stojic - Wei, draw

And just before I left the venue a small argument broke out between Johny Bolens, who is playing in the major section, and the arbiter Charles Zworestine. Bolens seems to believe that the just published round 11 pairings for the major is completely wrong. He also made some rather controversial claims that we're not able to print at this moment.

Fast Juniors

While I'm temporarily stuck here at work, away from the action in Parra, I just thought I'd share these with you. I just can't help myself.

That the playoff in the Australian Blitz championships was eventually fought out between two young guys should come as no surprise. These dudes are just way too fast. Take this little exchange between a couple of juniors, one male and one female. I've removed the names of the guilty in order to protect the innocents.

For whatever reason, I suddenly made the remark that so-and-so female player was a WGM. Here is what happened next.

(Female Junior 1): She's not a WGM; she's only 1900.

(Male Junior 1): Yeah, well, that's a WGM!

Loud laughter all around.

(Female Junior 1): That's OK, he's only a got a small dick!

Checkmate!

Less witty and fast but definitely deep is an observation made by Victoria's Richard Voon. Observing the blitz tournament, Mr Voon said, "I don't know why players wish each other luck. There is no luck in chess".

Too true Dick, too true.

Round 9 Update from Parramatta

Ah, the disaster that is City Rail! I was careful to complete my normal daily rituals this morning in order to make it to the venue on time. But, sadly, and as usual, the train system was against me. There was a blackout at Lidcombe and the trains were some 15 minutes late. As a result I couldn't take photos of round 9.

On the other hand I did still arrive at the venue much earlier than Gareth Charles. The poor bloke lost on forfeit after one hour. That was an easy point for his opponent Stewart Booth.

But it wasn't so easy on board 1, Solomon - Illingworth. That game ended a draw, a toughie which had a large crowd entertained. No less than two past Aussie champions were there to watch. Three-time champ Ian Rogers was there accompanied, of course, by Cathy and so was Alfred Flatow who won the title for the first and only time in 1970. Also showing interest was a special visitor, none other than Evelyn Koshnitsky.

Doug Hamilton, twice champion himself (1965 and 1982) might have been interested to watch the stoush on board 1 but he was quite busy against Western Australian powerhouse Tristan Boyd. They drew their game. According to Tristan, he was lost by move 17 but already drawing just eight moves later.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Boyd, Tristan
Hamilton, Douglas
D34

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. Qa4 Bd7 13. Rad1 Nb4 14. Qb3 a5 15. Nxd5 Nbxd5 16. Bxd5 Nxd5 17. Qxd5 Bh3 18. Qxb7 Bxf1 19. Rxf1 Bf6 20. Nc6 Qc8 21. Qxc8 Rexc8 22. Rc1 Kf8 23. b4 axb4 24. Nxb4 Rxc1+ 25. Bxc1 Be7 26. Nd3 Rxa2 27. Kf1 Bd6 28. Be3 Ke7 29. f3 h5 30. Kf2 Ke6 31. Nf4+ Bxf4 32. Bxf4 Kd5 33. h4 g6 34. Bg5 Kc4 35. g4 Kc3 36. gxh5 gxh5 37. Ke3 Ra4 38. Kf2 Kd4 39. Bf6+ Kd5 40. e4+ Ke6 41. Bd8 Ke5 42. Bb6 Rb4 43. Bc5 Rc4 44. Ba7 Rc3 45. Kg3 Rb3 46. Bc5 Ke6 47. Kf4 Kd7 48. Bd4 Kc6 49. Bf6 Kc5 50. e5 Kd5 51. Kg5 Rxf3 52. Kxh5 Rg3 53. Kh6 Ke6 54. h5 Rh3 1/2-1/2

Goldenberg - Oliver on board 6 was a win for white. Gareth just wasn't in it, completely misplaying his KID. A total disaster! FM Greg Canfell observed that Gareth's plan of f7-f5 just made the situation worse. Sure enough opening up that a2-g8 diagonal just made Goldenberg's victory that much easier.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Goldenberg, Igor
Oliver, Gareth
E69

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. c4 Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. e4 c6 9. h3 Qc7 10. Be3 Rd8 11. Rc1 Ne8 12. b4 f5 13. Qb3 Kf8 14. c5 exd4 15. cxd6
Nxd6 16. Ng5 Nf6 17. e5 dxe3 18. exf6 exf2+ 19. Rxf2 Bh6 20. Nd5 Qd7 21. Ne7 1-0

I also liked this game between Rej and Michael Morris. By the time black captures the passed d-pawn, it was already too late.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Rej, Tomek
Morris, Michael
A69

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. Nd2 Nbd7 8. e4 Bg7 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O a6 11. a4 Re8 12. f4 Qc7 13. Kh1 Rb8 14. e5 dxe5 15. Nc4 e4 16. f5 Qd8 17. Bf4 Ra8 18. a5 b5 19. axb6 Nxb6 20. fxg6 hxg6 21. Bg5 Nxc4 22. Bxc4 Qd6 23. Qe1 e3 24. Bf4 Qf8 25. Rf3 Bb7 26. Rxe3 Ng4 27. Rxe8 Rxe8 28. Qg3 Ne5 29. Bxa6 Bxa6 30. Rxa6 Qe7 31. Ra1 Qb7 32. Re1 f6 33. Qf2 Rf8 34. Qc2 Nf7 35. h3 f5 36. Qd2 Rd8 37. Re6 Bxc3 38. Qxc3 Qxd5 39. Rxg6+ Kf8 40. Qe3 1-0

Other results are:

Ikeda - Yu, draw
Broekhuyse - Canfell, 0-1
Atzmon-Simon - Hacche, draw
Hu - Lazarus, 0-1
Lane - Pecori, 1-0
Pyke - Bjelobrk, 0-1
Wei - Bird, 0-1
Malik - Suttor, draw

And I might make special mention of that last white player, Hani Malik. I was quite stunned to find out the other day that the guy is a singer-songwriter. We're not talking covers here. He writes his own stuff! Check him out at www.hrking.com.au.

UPDATE: Our anonymous correspondent is correct. FM Douglas Hamilton did win the event on 3 occasions: 1965, 1967 and then in 1982. Grandmaster Rogers also won the event four times; the last one was in 2006.

Christian Bauer: Anna Didn't Cheat

One of Anna Rudolf's opponents in the Vandoeuvre Open has come out in her defense. Chessdom has an interview with Christian Bauer, the tournament top seed and one of Anna's victims, in which the French grandmaster says:

At the end it was failry evident that Anna Rudolf didn't cheat, a general opinion that was expressed at the prize-giving by Gerard Simon, the president of Vandoeuvre chess club. She deserved her norms and result after playing such a good tournament.

For those still with some doubts, you can check Anna's moves yourselves. Here are our all her games from the tournament.

War Within Philippine Chess

The National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) is headed for a split. As we reported here last month, there were rumours of a rebel faction that, at that time of my post, was still unknown in composition. Now, we can say that this is no longer just a rumour and we can even name the rebels' leader.

The Manila Bulletin has the details:

One faction, headed by NCFP secretary-general Abraham Tolentino, will hold an election on Jan. 19 in Tagaytay City. Tolentino is currently Tagaytay mayor.

Another group, spearheaded by NCFP executive director Sammy Estimo, will hold its own election on Feb. 2 at the multi-purpose hall of the Amoranto sports complex.

The 15-man NCFP board is divided on the issue with Estimo’s group enjoying the support of eight directors.

Read more in Chess War Brewing.

IM Gary Lane Posts Second Straight Loss

Four years ago, world famous author IM Gary Lane was his adopted nation's new national champion. This time, however, in the ongoing championships his campaign has been dogged by upset losses to lesser seeds. Yesterday he lost out to junior Max Illingworth. Today, relying on the same system with the black pieces, he lost to Doug Hamilton.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Hamilton, Douglas
Lane, Gary
E27

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 O-O 6. f3 d5 7. cxd5 exd5 8. e3 Nh5 9. Qc2 f5 10. Bd3 c5 11. Nh3 c4 12. Be2 Qh4+ 13. Nf2 Nc6 14. g3 Qf6 15. O-O Qg6 16. Kg2 Na5 17. Rb1 Nb3 18. Rxb3 cxb3 19. Qxb3 Qf7 20. Nd3 Nf6 21. Ne5 Qc7 22. c4 Be6 23. c5 Nd7 24. Nd3 Bf7 25. Nf4 Nf6 26. Bd2 Rfe8 27. Bb5 Re7 28. Rc1 g5 29. Nd3 a6 30. Ba4 g4 31. Ne5 Rxe5 32. dxe5 gxf3+ 33. Kxf3 Qxe5 34. Qb4 Ne4 35. Bc3 Nxc3 36. Rxc3 Rd8 37. Qd4 Qe4+ 38. Qxe4 fxe4+ 39. Kf4 d4 40. exd4 Rxd4 41. Bc2 Bg6 42. Ke3 Rd7 43. Rc4 Rc7 44. Bxe4 b5 45. cxb6 Rxc4 46. Bd5+ Bf7 47. Bxc4 1-0

Our favourite author, though, can be happy that he's not alone among those whose talents have temporarily escaped them. Take Igor Bjelobrk. At this stage of the event the normally very solid FIDE master has only collected 3 points! Today he was outplayed in the endgame by Jason Hu.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Bjelobrk, Igor
Hu, Jason
D12

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Be4 7. f3 Bg6 8. Qb3 Qc7 9. Bd2 Be7 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. O-O-O dxc4 12. Bxc4 b5 13. Bd3 a6 14. g4 c5 15. dxc5 Nbd7 16. Kb1 Nxc5 17. Qc2 Nxd3 18. Qxd3 Rxh2 19. f4 Rxh1 20. Rxh1 Rd8 21. Qe2 Qd7 22. Rh8+ Bf8 23. Bc1 b4 24. g5 bxc3 25. gxf6 gxf6 26. b3 Qd6 27. Qc4 Kd7 28. Qxc3 Rc8 29. Qd2 Qxd2 30. Bxd2 Bd6 31. Rh1 e5 32. Kb2 Ke6 33. b4 exf4 34. exf4 Rc4 35. Rf1 Rd4 36. f5+ gxf5 37. Bc3 Re4 38. Kb3 Be5 39. Bd2 Rd4 40. Kc2 f4 41. a4 Kd5 42. b5 Rxa4 43. b6 Ra2+ 44. Kd3 Rb2 45. Bxf4 Rxb6 46. Bxe5 fxe5 47. Rxf7 e4+ 48. Kc3 Rc6+ 49. Kd2 Re6 50. Ke3 Kc4 51. Rf1 a5 52. Ra1 Ra6 53. Kxe4 a4 54. Ke3 Kc3 55. Rc1+ Kb2 56. Rc8 a3 57. Rb8+ Kc3 58. Rc8+ Kb3 59. Rb8+ Ka4 0-1

Other results in the open section are as follows.

Illingworth - Rej, 1-0
Canfell - Klein, 0-1
Pecori - Sales, 0-1
Yu - Boyd, draw
Oliver - Broekhuyse, 1-0
Lazarus - Pyke, draw
Charles - Ikeda, 0-1
Hacche - Booth, 1-0
Atzmon-Simon - Stojic, 1-0
Morris - Malik, 1-0
Bird - Suttor, draw
Capilitan - Wei, 0-1

UPDATE: I had it confirmed by the winner this afternoon. Last move was, indeed, 47. Bxc4.

Illingworth Defeats Gary Lane

Of course when I wrote my post earlier today, I had no idea of what was about to happen. But just a couple of hours later, Max Illingworth vanquished international master Gary Lane!

For your enjoyment.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Illingworth, Max
Lane, Gary
E58

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Qc7 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Bb2 Bg4 12. Qe1 Rfe8 13. Nd2 Rad8 14. h3 Bc8 15. Rc1 h6 16. Qe2 Rd7 17. a4 b6 18. Ba3 c4 19. Bc2 Rdd8 20. Rfe1 Ne7 21. f3 Ng6 22. Qf2 Bb7 23. e4 dxe4 24. fxe4 Nf4 25. Re3 a6 26. Rce1 Ng6 27. e5 Nd5 28. Rg3 Ndf4 29. Ne4 Bxe4 30. Rxe4 Nd3 31. Qf5 Qc6 32. e6 Nh8 33. Rxg7+ Kxg7 34. Rg4+ Ng6 35. Qxf7+ Kh8 36. Qf6+ 1-0

And then in a further coincidence, that other player whose name I mentioned earlier today, Ascaro Pecori, then also scored an upset win over the more fancied giant-killer Junta Ikeda. For the Chilean-born Pecori, his performance here is nothing short of amazing especially considering his 7-month layoff until last week.

Other results in the main section at the time of this writing are:

Chow - Lazarus, 1-0
Wei - Charles, 0-1
Yu - Broekhuyse, draw
Hu - Booth, draw
Klein - Bjelobrk, 1-0
Morris, J - Atsmon-Simon, 0-1
Malik - Bird, 1-0
Morris, M - Canfell, 0-1
Suttor - Pyke, 0-1
Rej - Ly, 0-1

On board 4, Xie beat Sales. How often have we seen this? One player, victorious and happy; the other, defeated and morose, remaining seated long after the game's end, still contemplating over his errors. It's torture for the beaten player and for we who bear witness to this scene. That is exactly what transpired after Sales' resignation.

Way down the order on board 13, chess legend Douglas Hamilton posted only his third win in the event, this time against Dusan Stojic.

Australian Chess Championships 2008
Stojic, Dusan
Hamilton, Douglas
B33

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 O-O 12. Nc2 Rb8 13. Be2 Bg5 14. O-O Ne7 15. Ncb4 Nxd5 The first deviation according to my database. 16. Nxd5 Bb7 17. b4 Bxd5 18. Qxd5 Qc7 19. c4 bxc4 20. Bxc4 Rxb4 21. Bxa6 Qa7 22. Bb5 Rc8 23. Rad1 h6 24. a4 Rb2 25. Rd3 Rcc2 26. Rf3 Qc7 27. Be8 Bf6 28. g3 Rc5 29. Qd3 Qd8 30. Bb5 d5 31. Qa3 Rbc2 32. exd5 e4 33. Re3 Qxd5 34. Re2 Rxe2 35. Bxe2 Rc2 36. Qe3 Bg5 37. f4 Be7 38. Rd1 Qc6 39. Bb5 Bc5 40. Bxc6 Bxe3+ 41. Kf1 Rxc6 42. Rd8+ Kh7 43. f5 Ra6 44. Ke2 Bg1 0-1

Below are prelim results of the major.

Watson - Bolens, 1-0
Rose - Cohn, draw
Lee - Mandla, 1-0
Dizdarevic - Sheldrick, 1-0
Fry - Voon, 0-1
Kim - Viswanath, 1-0
Mendes da Costa - Guo-Yuthok, 1-0
Korenveski - Lilly, 0-1
Jule - Lau, 0-1
Eccles - Brockman, draw

Tonight is the Fischerandom event. That might be a little too late for me as it starts at 7PM. Note that tomorrow, TCG will not be covering the championships as I have another engagement. Normal business will resume on Wednesday.

UPDATE: The Illingworth - Lane game above has been slightly adjusted. I changed 2 moves, black's 30th (from 30...Nd5 to 30...Nd3) and white's last (from 36. Qxg6 to 36. Qf6+).

Short Update from Parramatta

Quick update from Parramatta. If you were watching the Boyd - Antic game online and noticed a slight disruption, it was because their clock had to be substituted. The original one was faulty.

Among the other games, the only one of particular interest to me so far is Illingworth - Lane. But this is only because I happened to speak to Max earlier in the day during his preparation. At the time, he was looking at the Dutch Defence. Lane, in fact, opened with the Nimzo. The choice may turn out to be a bad one.

About 30 minutes ago, Mrs Illingworth asked me what opening Max and Gary are playing. I said it was the Nimzo. She said, with a big smile on her face, "Oh good!" It seems that Max has been studying the system and, Mrs Illingworth assures me, knows it quite well. Perhaps she's right. At this time of writing, Lane is already 30 minutes behind on the clock.

Briefly joining me and Mrs Illingworth was my friend Ascaro Pecori. The guy gave me my quote of the day so far. Chess, he said, is "such a heartbreak". I think I understand perfectly what he meant.

Off to lunch for now. Before I go, here's a photo I took just before the start of play this morning. I'm afraid that it's one of only two that I managed to take. My damn batteries expired!

Solomon - Van Riemsdijk

And news just in. Gareth Oliver wins on forfeit while David Hacche has beaten Romeo Capilitan.

Hungarian WIM in Lippygate

My friends over chessdom.com just emailed me about this. We'll call the story "Lippygate".

Twenty year old Hungarian WIM Anna Rudolf (rated 2242) recently competed in the Vandoeuvre Open, in France, where she scored both an IM and a WGM norm. One of Anna's victims was none other than the event's top seed GM Christian Bauer (rated 2634). After three rounds, Anna was on 3/3.

But now it seems that a big question mark has been placed over Anna's achievements after three players from the tournament accused her of cheating. Here's a remarkable quote from chessdom.com's correspondent.

The three players claimed that Anna was going too much to the bathroom and that her bag had a secret internet connection. To be more precise, they said that "the secret internet connection was transmitting the best moves with the help of Anna's lip balm.

Read more in chessdom's report. An interview with the accused is also available where she describes some near unbelievable shenanigans. Her opponent played an anti-engine opening system (e6-d6-b6-g6) apparently in an effort to thwart her secret weapon!

Moulthun Ly Wins Blitz Title

Queenslander Moulthun Ly this afternoon won the lightning event after beating Victorian player Sam Chow in a 2-game playoff. Both players scored 9 points from their eleven regulation games.

Sydney's international master George Xie placed third overall with 8.5 points. The top placers are as follows:

9.0 Ly, Chow
8.5 Xie
8.0 Illingworth, Sales, Bjelobrk, Wright, N.
7.5 Solomon, Yu, Pearce
7.0 Smirnov, Antic, Bolens, Ikeda, Mandla, Tan

Seventy-two players attended the event.

In the playoff, Moulthun defeated Chow with seeming ease. Commanding the white pieces in the first match, the young Queenslander, who holds 2 IM norms, slowly invaded the centre before turning his attention to the enemy king. Chow, with a smile, and himself a powerful lightning player (winning the 2006 Doeberl lightning event), opted not to wait for the inevitable and resigned.

The second playoff match saw a more determined Chow. He must have surely fancied his own chances when Moulthun castled king-side already missing his protective cover of f and g pawns. Chow castled in the opposite wing. But again, Moulthun outwitted the Victorian; the tactics just fell in his favour this day. Chow finally surrendered the second game before heading to a lost endgame the exchange down.

A good afternoon overall for everyone. Some normally quiet players came out to play. Ricky Lopis and Justin Tan were there. The latter was doing a little show of his own playing "transfer" all by himself against the duo of Bjelobrk and Wright. Vladimir Smirnov kept telling me to "take a picture, take a picture". Apparently, Justin Tan is a world champion at the game.

And in a first for yours truly: Victorian junior James Morris thanked me for losing a game (against another player) as it meant that I'd be out of the picture for the U1800 prize. Sure enough, he later won it.

That's all for now. Normal action resumes tomorrow at 11AM.