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.