No. 367, April 26, 2006
ACF Olympiad Appeal
Please help support our teams at the 2006 Olympiad!
Professor Robin Stokes: $100
One anonymous donor has generously donated
$1000 to the Olympiad appeal.
The ACF Olympiad Appeal Organiser is Brett Tindall. Individual donations may
be made to the Appeal Fund by cheque made payable to the Australian Chess
Federation and posted to Brett at:
Olympiad Appeal
Please indicate if you want your donation to
be anonymous.
More details on the the ACF website.
The 2006 Stratagem Young, Junior & Girls Masters have just been held in Canberra. Full details here. The events are being organised by Jenni Oliver and are sponsored by Stratagem Computer Contractors.
Report by DOP Charles Zworestine:
The Atomek Bomb got off to a flying start on the first day in the Young
Masters, winning both his games with a powerful rook on the seventh against
Shannon Oliver, then two beautiful bishops against Michael Morris. But he
was challenged by the Junta Juggernaut, as the little Japanese tank sacrificed
a rook on spec but then played beautifully in Round 1 against Ilia Zvedeniouk.
After sacrificing two pawns unsoundly, a similarly fierce attack was met with
much more stout resistance from Gareth Oliver in Round 2; but in the end,
time pressure and some tactics in a wild position got Junta the point in that
one too.
The other games had rather less incident, with Gareth Oliver v Vincent Suttor
always drawish in Round 1 and Hu-Lin sharper but still ending up with both
players maintaining the balance to draw. Michael Morris was better against
Michael Yu, but allowed the latter to complicate and went down in a flurry of
tactics. Mr. Yu was not so lucky in Round 2, falling victim to Zhigen’s kingside
attack, while Shannon was doing fine against Ilia until she misplayed her
equal knight v bishop ending and lost horribly.
Tomek and Junta conceded points today in the Young Masters, leaving
Tristan the only player on a perfect score. Not so in Round 3, as Tomek
sacrificed a piece to win 4 moves later after Ilia’s inaccurate response, and
Junta exploited an incorrect rook move by Jason to win an exchange and
eventually the game. Gareth splattered Shannon after an even position
exploded in her face due to one loosening pawn move; Vincent ground down
Michael Yu positionally (and finished him off tactically); and Michael Morris
exploited weak pawns to win a long ending against Zhigen.
The conceded points came after a couple of shocks in Round 4 where Tomek,
despite being White, could not crack Zhigen’s solid play and drew; while
Michael Yu was even more rock solid in taking material, then repelling Junta’s
attack. Vincent, a pawn up for much of the game, missed chances and drew a
long ending against Michael Morris. Jason scored his first win after Shannon
wrecked a perfectly good double rook ending by getting her king in a mating
net; and from a better position, Ilia’s last 11 moves got him tactically smashed
by Gareth.
Clearly the Young Masters players were a bit more bloodthirsty in Round 5, as
Shannon registered her first win after she and Michael Yu had castled on opposite
sides, and her attack broke through first; and Tomek stayed in the lead after his queen
gradually outplayed Gareth’s rook and bishop. Both Ilia and Junta were down two
exchanges, but somehow generated strong attacks as counterplay; Ilia won back
material and eventually the game after Jason misplayed the defence, while Junta’s
queen and two bishops crashed through to mate in Michael Morris’ time pressure.
Only Vincent and Zhigen drew in a slow manoeuvring game. Round 6, however, saw
the Young Masters catch the draw bug much more, as Ilia and Michael Yu’s exchange
French drew very early; Shannon and Michael Morris drew a very locked position;
and Gareth missed a winning 28. g3 and could thereafter do no better than draw with
Jason. Tomek was having none of this, as he sacrificed a piece and played a beautiful
attack to beat Vincent; and Junta showed he could attack even without queens, as he
broke through in a queenless middlegame to beat Zhigen.
Yes, the fourth day emphasised just how wide open these events are, with perhaps one
exception – but we will get to that later! For now, note that two of the Young Masters
games had already happened last Tuesday, as Vincent Suttor went back to Sydney on
Saturday but planned to be back for the Sunday round. The first of these games was
significant for the minor placings, as Vincent’s Benko pawns (as White) beat Junta by
queening faster than Junta’s attack; and Vince then joined Junta in second place by
drawing a quick game with Shannon. Tomek meanwhile rolled on, taking care of
Jason in the morning round when the later overlooked a knight fork in a difficult
ending, then outcalculating Junta in a flurry of captures to emerge an exchange ahead
and win. This left The Bomb 2.5 points clear of his nearest rival, and the new Young
Masters Champion - congratulations Tomek!
The other morning games in this event saw Zhigen outplay Shannon in a rook and
pawn ending, while Michael Morris won an exchange for a pawn early to a bishop
fork, then allowed enough counterplay for Ilia to force a very frustrating drawn
ending of rook and pawn versus bishop and pawn! He did not end up frustrated,
however, as Ilia misplayed it and went on to lose. Gareth Oliver was also frustrated,
as he could only draw with Michael Yu after Michael’s pawns proved enough of a
match for Gareth’s extra piece. Then in the afternoon, Zhigen’s pawn fork began a
tactical slugfest from which he emerged two knights up to beat Ilia; Jason won a
critical centre pawn to a tactic to beat Michael Yu; and it was a bad round for the
Michaels after Michael Morris resigned prematurely (according to Fritz) when Gareth
was about to win a pawn against him.
Even with first place already decided yesterday, the Young Masters continued to
provide shock results right up until the end! First Vincent, a little late getting back
from Sydney, was totally outplayed by Ilia’s best game of the event. Although Ilia
eventually won on time, he was winning the final position anyway: his heavy pieces
got in to force mate or win of material… As if that was not enough, Shannon also
saved her best for last, defeating Junta in the last game to finish in a very tough
ending after Junta, with the two bishops and looking better, omitted to take a key
pawn with check and then found himself two pawns down and losing! All this
allowed Gareth to leapfrog into second place with a winning mating attack against
Zhigen, while Vincent and Junta had to be content with equal third. Of course Tomek,
who already had first wrapped up, made it even more convincing with a grinding
endgame win against Michael Yu. His final winning margin of three points was a
record for this event so far. Michael Morris and Jason Hu rounded off the event with a
draw that was fairly even the whole way through.
I cannot close without thanking some wonderful people who made this event possible,
top of the list undoubtedly being our fantastic Chief Organiser Jenni Oliver! Without
her tireless efforts, including looking after five hungry little girls (OK, one of them
was hers), the whole thing would not have been possible - and she and her company
(Stratagem Computers) sponsored the event too… Thanks too to all those who
provided billets, too numerous to name here (but you know who you are!); and to all
the canteen helpers, headed by Mirabelle Guo, and other sundry helpers with the
setting and packing up including Shun Ikeda, Paul Dunn and others. Not to forget the
players, who all seemed to have fun and made it a most enjoyable and dispute free
event. And on that note, this is your arbiter and bulletin blurb writer Charles
Zworestine signing off for now; hope to see many of you again next year.
(This is an abridged version of Charles Zworestine's daily bulletins. A fuller version, including commentary on the Jiunior Masters and Girls' Masters, can be seen on the ACF website - Ed)
Lin, Zhigen Wilson -- Yu, Michael 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Bc5 5.O-O Nge7 6.c3 O-O 7.d4 exd4
8.cxd4 Ba7 9.Nc3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.h3 Nce7 12.Re1 Kh8 13.a3 f6 14.Nxd5
Nxd5 15.Bc2 Bd7 16.Qd3 g6 17.Bh6 Re8 18.Nh4 Rxe1+ 19.Rxe1 Qg8 20.Qf3 Qf7
21.Qg3 Bxd4 
Rej wins Stratagem Masters
MCC Anzac Day Weekender
City of Melbourne Open starts
MCC Championship
Doeberl Cup - lost property
Henry Greenfield Cup
Aussies overseas
Gold Coast Active Championships
Queensland Open Report
See your games on the Internet
Aussie Internet Chess
World News - Unzicker dies
Grand Prix
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International
Gardiner Chess Centre: $150
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Jean Watson: $100
PO Box 463
Strathfield
NSW 2135
2006 Stratagem Australian Young Masters
1 Tomek Rej 2215 g + 10 g + 7 g + 6 g = 5 g + 2 g + 4 g + 8 g + 3 g + 9 8½
2 Gareth Oliver 2005 g = 4 g - 3 g + 10 g + 6 g - 1 g = 8 g = 9 g + 7 g + 5 5½
3 Junta Ikeda 2054 g + 6 g + 2 g + 8 g - 9 g + 7 g + 5 g - 4 g - 1 g - 10 5
4 Vincent Suttor 2078 g = 2 g + 8 g + 9 g = 7 g = 5 g - 1 g + 3 g = 10 g - 6 5
5 Zhigen Wilson Lin 1904 g = 8 g + 9 g - 7 g = 1 g = 4 g - 3 g + 10 g + 6 g - 2 4½
6 Ilia Zvedeniouk 2002 g - 3 g + 10 g - 1 g - 2 g + 8 g = 9 g - 7 g - 5 g + 4 3½
7 Michael Morris 1910 g - 9 g - 1 g + 5 g = 4 g - 3 g = 10 g + 6 g - 2 g = 8 3½
8 Jason Hu 2009 g = 5 g - 4 g - 3 g + 10 g - 6 g = 2 g - 1 g + 9 g = 7 3½
9 Michael Yu 1923 g + 7 g - 5 g - 4 g + 3 g - 10 g = 6 g = 2 g - 8 g - 1 3
10 Shannon Oliver 1726 g - 1 g - 6 g - 2 g - 8 g + 9 g = 7 g - 5 g = 4 g + 3 3
2006 Stratagem Australian Junior Masters
1 Tristan Stevens 1855 g + 7 g + 2 g + 6 g + 5 g = 8 g = 3 g + 4 g - 10 g = 9 6½
2 Alex Mendes da Costa 1935 g + 3 g - 1 g + 10 g + 9 g - 7 g + 4 g + 6 g - 5 g + 8 6
3 Max Illingworth 1840 g - 2 g = 6 g + 5 g + 8 g = 4 g = 1 g - 10 g + 9 g + 7 5½
4 Nicholas Chernih 1774 g = 5 g + 9 g - 8 g + 7 g = 3 g - 2 g - 1 g + 6 g + 10 5
5 Thomas Donaldson 1788 g = 4 g + 8 g - 3 g - 1 g = 10 g = 9 g = 7 g + 2 g + 6 5
6 Zhengbo Wang 1745 g + 8 g = 3 g - 1 g + 10 g = 9 g + 7 g - 2 g - 4 g - 5 4
7 Sherab Guo-Yuthok 1721 g - 1 g + 10 g = 9 g - 4 g + 2 g - 6 g = 5 g + 8 g - 3 4
8 Andrew Brown 1672 g - 6 g - 5 g + 4 g - 3 g = 1 g + 10 g + 9 g - 7 g - 2 3½
9 Eliot Hoving 1770 g + 10 g - 4 g = 7 g - 2 g = 6 g = 5 g - 8 g - 3 g = 1 3
10 Robert Hvistendahl 1705 g - 9 g - 7 g - 2 g - 6 g = 5 g - 8 g + 3 g + 1 g - 4 2½
2006 Stratagem Australian Girls Masters
1 Jessica Kinder 1357 g + 7 g + 10 g = 4 g - 3 g + 5 g + 9 g + 8 g = 6 g = 2 6½
2 Deborah Ng 1255 g + 5 g = 9 g + 8 g = 6 g = 3 g + 7 g = 10 g = 4 g = 1 6
3 Tamzin Oliver 1206 g = 8 g = 4 g - 6 g + 1 g = 2 g + 5 g - 7 g + 9 g = 10 5
4 Emma Guo 1240 g - 10 g = 3 g = 1 g + 5 g = 9 g - 8 g = 6 g = 2 g + 7 4½
5 Luthien Russell 1324 g - 2 g + 7 g = 10 g - 4 g - 1 g - 3 g + 9 g + 8 g + 6 4½
6 Sophie Eustace 1195 g - 9 g - 8 g + 3 g = 2 g + 7 g = 10 g = 4 g = 1 g - 5 4
7 Sally Yu 1264 g - 1 g - 5 g + 9 g + 8 g - 6 g - 2 g + 3 g + 10 g - 4 4
8 Kayleigh Smith 1195 g = 3 g + 6 g - 2 g - 7 g + 10 g + 4 g - 1 g - 5 g - 9 3½
9 Miona Ikeda 1278 g + 6 g = 2 g - 7 g = 10 g = 4 g - 1 g - 5 g - 3 g + 8 3½
10 Sarah Behne-Smith 1072 g + 4 g - 1 g = 5 g = 9 g - 8 g = 6 g = 2 g - 7 g = 3 3½
2006 Australian Young Masters (2) 2006.04.19
1-0 A00
22.Nxg6+!! hxg6 23.Bxg6 Qg8 24.Bd2! Bxf2+ 25.Kxf2 Qg7 26.Kg1
Kg8 27.h4 Bf5 28.h5 Bxg6 29.hxg6 c6 30.Qg4 f5 31.Qxf5 Rf8 32.Qe6+ Kh8 33.
Re4 Qf6 34.Qh3+ 1-0
Suttor, Vincent (2129) -- Hu, Jason (2073)
2006 Australian Young Masters (2) 2006.04.19
1-0 A40
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 Ng6 5.dxe6 fxe6 6.Nf3 Bc5 7.Bd3 Nh6
8.Qe2 O-O 9.g3 Qe7 10.Nc3 Ng4 11.Rf1 a6 12.h3 Nf6 13.e5 Nd5 14.Ng5 Nb4 15.
Bxg6 hxg6 16.a3 Nc6 17.Qg4 Rf5 18.Nce4 Kf8 19.Qh4 Ke8 20.Qh7 Kd8 21.g4 Rf8
22.Qxg6 Nd4 23.Kd1 d5 24.Nxc5 Qxc5 25.Be3 Qc4 26.Rf2 Bd7 27.Qxg7 Re8 28.
Rc1 Bb5 29.Qg6 Kd7 30.Ke1 Re7 31.Qd3 c5 32.Bxd4 cxd4 33.Qxc4 dxc4 34.Rd1
Kc6 35.Rxd4
Kc5?? 36.Rd6 Rae8?? 37.Ne4# 1-0
Ikeda, Junta -- Oliver, Gareth
2006 Australian Young Masters (2) 2006.04.19
1-0 B85
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 e6 7.a4 Nc6 8.
Be3 Qc7 9.Be2 Be7 10.O-O O-O 11.Bf3 Re8 12.g4 Bf8 13.g5 Nd7 14.h4 Na5 15.
h5 Nc4 16.Bc1 Qc5 17.Kh1 b6 18.e5 d5 19.g6 fxg6 20.hxg6 Ra7 21.gxh7+ Kh8
22.Bh5 Re7 23.Nce2 g5 24.Bg6 gxf4 25.Bxf4 Bg7 26.Rg1 Ndxe5 27.b4 Qxb4 28.
Qf1 Qc5 29.c3 Nxg6 30.Rxg6 Re8 31.Qg2 Qf8 32.Rg1 Rf7 33.Bh6 Ree7 34.Nf4
Ne5 35.Ndxe6 Bxe6 36.Nxe6
Rf5 37.Qh3 Rf3 38.Qh2 Rf2 39.Nxf8 Rxh2+ 40.Kxh2
Nf3+ 41.Kh1 Nxg1 42.Rxg7 Rxg7 43.Bxg7+ Kxg7 44.Kxg1 b5 45.axb5 axb5
1-0
Zvedeniouk, Ilia -- Rej, Tomek
2006 Australian Young Masters (3) 2006.04.20
0-1 A00
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.
cxd5 exd5 9.dxc5 Bf5 10.Qd2 O-O 11.e3 Nc6 12.Nd4 Be4 13.a3 Bxc5 14.Nb3 Bb6
15.f3
Qg5!! 16.fxe4 Bxe3 17.Qxd5 Ne5 18.Qd1 Rad8 19.Nd5 Qh4+ 0-1
Zvedeniouk, Ilia -- Oliver, Gareth
2006 Australian Young Masters (4) 2006.04.20
0-1 A00
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.a4 Nc6 7.Bc4 e6 8.
O-O Qc7 9.Bb3 Be7 10.Kh1 O-O 11.f4 Na5 12.Ba2 Nc4 13.Qd3 Nb6 14.Be3 Nbd7
15.b4 Re8 16.h3 Nf8 17.g4 N6d7 18.Nce2 b6 19.c4 Bb7 20.Kh2 Rac8 21.Rac1
Qb8 22.Nf3 Qa8 23.Nc3 Kh8 24.g5 f5 25.Nd2 fxe4 26.Ndxe4 d5 27.cxd5 Bxb4
28.dxe6 Nc5 29.Bxc5 Bxc5 30.Nxc5 Rxc5 31.Qe3 Qb8 32.Kg1
Nxe6!! 33.Bxe6
Rxe6!! 34.Qxe6 Rxg5+!! 35.Qg4
- ( 35.fxg5 ( 35.Kf2 Qxf4+ 36.Ke2 Re5+ ) 35...Qg3# )
Yu, Michael -- Oliver, Shannon (1956)
2006 Australian Young Masters (5) 2006.04.21
0-1 A00
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Qd2 O-O
8.f3 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.O-O-O Rb8 11.Bb3 Na5 12.g4 b5 13.h4 Nc4 14.Bxc4 bxc4
15.Nce2 Qb6 16.c3 Qa5 17.a3 Rb7 18.Ng3 Rfb8 19.g5
Qxa3!! 20.Qc2 Rxb2 21.
Kd2 Ne8 22.Rc1 Rxc2+ 23.Rxc2 Rb2 24.Rc1 Ba4 25.Rxb2 Qxb2+ 26.Ke1 Bxd4 27.
cxd4 Bc2 28.Ne2 Bd3 29.Nf4 a5 30.Rd1 a4 0-1
Morris, Michael (1910) -- Ikeda, Junta (2054)
2006 Australian Young Masters (5) 2006.04.21
0-1 A00
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O Nge7 7.c3 d5 8. Nbd2 O-O 9.Qe2 e5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Rd1 h6 12.Nb3 b6 13.d4 exd4 14.cxd4 Re8 15.Qb5 Ndb4 16.Be3 Ba6 17.Qa4 c4 18.d5 b5 19.Qa3 Qc8! 20.Nc5
- ( 20.dxc6 Nc2 )
Bc7!! 37.Qxc7 Qf3+ 38. Kh4 Qf2+ 39.Qg3 g5+! 40.Kg4 f5+ 41.Kh5 Qxg3 42.Re7+ Kf6 0-1
Oliver, Gareth -- Rej, Tomek
2006 Australian Young Masters (5) 2006.04.21
0-1 A00
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.Bg5 h6 4.Bh4 c5 5.e3 b6 6.Nbd2 Bb7 7.Bd3 Be7 8.
O-O O-O 9.c3 Nc6 10.Qe2 cxd4 11.exd4 Nd5 12.Bg3 d6 13.Rfe1 Qd7 14.Rad1
Rfe8 15.Bb1 a6 16.Qd3 g6 17.h4 b5 18.h5 f5 19.hxg6 Rac8 20.a3 Bg5 21.Ba2
Nce7 22.Nxg5 hxg5 23.Nf3 g4 24.Nh2 Kg7 25.Qd2 Nxg6 26.f3 Rh8 27.fxg4 f4
28.Bf2 Rh6 29.Nf3 Rch8 30.Kf1
Ne3+! 31.Bxe3 Bxf3 32.gxf3 fxe3 33.Qxe3 Rh1+
34.Ke2 R1h2+ 35.Kd3 Rxb2 36.Rd2 Ne5+!! 37.Qxe5+
- ( 37.dxe5 dxe5+ 38.Ke4 Qxd2 )
Hu, Jason -- Zvedeniouk, Ilia
2006 Australian Young Masters (5) 2006.04.21
0-1 A00
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 f5 4.d4 e4 5.Ng5 Nf6 6.a3 a5 7.e3 Be7 8.f3
h6 9.Nh3 O-O 10.Nf4 Bd6 11.Ng6 Re8 12.c5 Bf8 13.Bc4+ Kh7 14.Bf7 exf3 15.
gxf3 Re7 16.Nxe7 Qxe7 17.Ba2 Nh5 18.O-O d6 19.f4 Nf6 20.cxd6 Qxd6 21.Qf3
b6 22.d5 Ne7 23.Nb5 Qc5 24.Nxc7 Qxc7 25.d6 Qxd6 26.Qxa8 Ne4 27.Bb1 Nc5 28.
b4 Qg6+ 29.Kf2
Bb7! 30.Qxf8 Qg2+ 31.Ke1 Ba6! 32.Bxf5+ Nxf5 33.Qxf5+ Kh8
34.Qf8+ Kh7 35.Qf5+ Kg8! 36.Rf2 Qg1+ 37.Kd2 Qxf2+ 38.Kc3 Qe1+ 39.Kb2 Qe2+
40.Qc2 Nd3+ 41.Kc3 Qf3 42.Qb3+ Kh8 43.Bd2 Qc6+ 44.Kd4 Qf6+ 45.Ke4 Qxa1 46.
Qf7 Qh1+ 47.Kd4 Qa8 48.Bc3 Qd8+ 49.Ke4 Qa8+ 50.Kd4 Nf2 51.Qd5 Bb7 52.Qd6
Qe8 53.Kc4 Qc8+ 54.Kb3 Qxc3+!! 55.Kxc3 Ne4+ 56.Kd4 Nxd6 57.bxa5 bxa5
0-1
Rej, Tomek -- Suttor, Vincent
2006 Australian Young Masters (6) 2006.04.21
1-0 A00
1.d4 b6 2.c4 Bb7 3.Nc3 e6 4.Qc2 Bb4 5.e4 Nf6 6.Bd3 d5 7.Qa4+ Nc6 8.
cxd5 exd5 9.e5 Ne4 10.Ne2 O-O 11.O-O Nxc3 12.bxc3 Be7 13.Qc2 h6 14.f4 f6
15.Bd2 Na5 16.f5 c5 17.Nf4 c4
18.Ne6!? cxd3 19.Qxd3 Qd7 20.Bxh6!! Rf7 21.
Qg3 Bf8 22.Rf4 Re8
- ( 22...fxe5 23.dxe5 Nc4 24.Nxg7 Rxg7 25.Bxg7 Bxg7 26.f6 )
Final Standings
1 Baron, Michael VIC 2271 5
2-3 Partsi, Dimitry VIC 2070 4
Lovejoy, David QLD 1748 4
4-6 Pecak, Mariusz OS 1919 3.5
Schon, Eugene VIC 1675 3.5
Ly, Thai VIC 1852 3.5
7-11 Raine, Marcus VIC 1874 3
Stojic, Svetozar VIC 1895 3
Davis, Tony J VIC 1838 3
Potter, Matthew VIC 1637 3
Kara, Barbaros VIC 1758 3
12-16 Frost, Peter VIC 1764 2.5
Reid, Bill VIC 1552 2.5
Stone, Ian 1600 2.5
Potter, Daniel VIC 1273 2.5
Cameron, James VIC 1205 2.5
17-23 Ruzeu, Emanuel VIC 1355 2
Wertheim, Stephen VIC 1524 2
Pyke, Malcolm L VIC 2080 2
Simutanyi, Kozo VIC 2
Potter, Christopher VIC 1485 2
Manawadu, Pasan 1250 2
Qin, Tomson VIC 573 2
24-26 Potter, Michael VIC 1374 1.5
Thornton, Andrew VIC 1271 1.5
Kostrzewa, Jake VIC 1364 1.5
27 Yim, Vymala 1200 1
28 Manawadu, Dmithri 1000 0.5
29 Lau, Aaron VIC 360
The City of Melbourne Open is under way with 38 entries. Guy West produced the following brevity in round 1:
Nawzad Elias 1609 - -Guy West 2376
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.e3 Bb7 5.Nf3 g6 6.b3 bxc4 7.bxc4 Nxd5! 8.cxd5 Bg7 9.Qb3 Qb6 10.Nd4 cxd4 11.Bb2 Qa5+ 12.Nd2 Bxd5 0-1
Melbourne Chess Club Championship - report by Thai Ly
The 140th edition of the Melbourne Chess Club Championship has been run and won. And the winner is a young, yet familiar face: Sam Chow.
In what turned out to be a three horse race, Sam Chow won his first Club Championship by finishing outright first with 8/9 points (+7, =2, -0). Club stalwarts Guy West and Mirko Rujevic both finished equal second on 7½/9 points. The tournament was ACF and FIDE rated.
The 9 round Championship began on 9 February 2006 with a field of 33 players. Reigning (and multiple-time) champion, IM Guy West returned as top seed, a position he had in his pocket now that the most recent rival for the top seeding, IM Peter Froehlich, has moved to Queensland. IM Mirko Rujevic has also returned, still looking for his first Club Championship. Sam Chow was third seed, making his return to the Club and, more generally, his chess comeback after a few years away from the board. Other top seeds included Malcolm Pyke, fresh from a fair run took at the most recent Australian championship, and Domagoj Dragicevic.
The Melbourne Chess Club extended a warm welcome to all participants in its first major tournament for the year, particularly those players debuting in the Club Championship: ex-Queenslander Leon Bowen, Peter Wolf, Judd Niemann, Jean Watson and Daryl Prasad. Also notably was the return of Gary Lycett to the Club, who has managed to fit in time in addition to his hectic job and play and organising down at the Dandenong Chess Club.
There were only two upsets in the first round: Pyke draw with Alex Kaplan, where Malcolm overlooks perpetually check in an otherwise advantageous endgame, and Richard Voon's shocking blunder of his queen in losing to Adel Ghobrial.
The top four boards followed the script in round 2, but immediately below were surprise results: Bob Krstic losing an exchange and then the game to Felix Wyss; Thai Ly allowing the win to slip in his encounter with Adam Lovegrove; and Marcus Raine losing quickly with his king in the centre and under attack from Peter Wolf's forces. Notably, the only woman in the field, Jean Watson recorded a good result in holding Roger Beattie to a draw.
Round 3 saw the top three consolidate their lead over the remaining field. Guy West convincing beat Dragicevic in the endgame, with a superior minor piece and pawn-structure leading to a win of a pawn. Wyss was no match for Rujevic, while Chow slowly but surely ground down Wolf, in an un-flashy fashion. Richard Voon continued his poor form, this round losing to Richard McCart. Watson again had a creditable result, this time holding Nick Ivanov, in great form prior to this tournament, to a draw. Judd Niemann won his first game in his postponed encounter with Alec Knox.
The first of the crucial encounters between the top seeds occurred in round 4, with West with white against Rujevic's black forces. Honours were shared after a long tussle. Sam Chow had little trouble dispatching Kaplan, while Pyke's chance of winning the tournament took a severe blow with defeat as white against Dragicevic. Conceding 1½ points after round 4 surely could not have been on Malcolm's agenda with potentially Chow and the two IM's still to await him. Lovegrove had a good result in drawing with Beattie. Daryl Prasad recorded his first tournament win against the esteemed former Club president (and Appeal Court judge) Bob Brooking.
The top board for round 5 was Rujevic versus Chow. Sam had little trouble holding the draw with his favourite French Defence, an opening he knows well. The draw left Chow on 4½ points going into the Labour Day long weekend (and the Begonia tournament, in which some members also played in). Guy West won as expected against Krstic on board 2 and was also 4½ points. Mirko was equal third with 4 points with Dragicevic, who kept his hopes alive by beating Raine. Ghobrial had another good win on top of his win against Voon, beating George Zileski.
A quirk of the Swiss draw meant that Chow again had black against his closest rival for round 6, Guy West. However, as in his game against Rujevic, Chow had no problem holding a draw, indeed being slightly better at stages after the opening (a Torre Attack) of the game against West. Rujevic and Dragicevic tried hard to get a result against one another, but both had to settle for a draw - a result that helped neither. Peter Wolf had a great tournament, and round 6 was another pinnacle for him, beating former championship Krstic.
Round 7 had a number of intriguing match-ups as the tournament entered its third Act. Pyke, now recovered to 4½ points, had white against West who was on 5. Malcolm had previously beaten Guy with White before. However, on this occasion the higher rated West prevailed. Chow and Dragicevic had a real ding-dong battle. Domagoj, with black, created an imbalance right out of the opening, exchanging a piece for three pawns. The position was dynamically balanced with Chow somewhat less well developed. However, Sam released much of the tension in the position by exchanging the queens. He then displayed better technique by first exchanging more forces and then exploiting Dragicevic's mistakes in an endgame where Chow's two bishops outweighed black's lone bishop and three pawns. Rujevic quietly lurked behind both West and Chow, winning against Raine. Voon beat Bowen to dent the latter's chance at a rating prize. Wolf could have put Ly under real pressure in their major-pieces endgame, but had to be satisfied with a draw (still a reasonable result) after misplaying the endgame. Ghobrial had a third great result, beating Jim Papadinis in their postponed game. Manny Ruzeu caused the biggest boilover of the round, beating veteran Felix Wyss.
Round 8 proved to be the pivotal round of the tournament. On the top board, West played as white against Thai Ly and could only manage a draw. A surprising result, but not one that was totally unexpected - this was Ly's third draw with West in about the past year. The game was tense, as West allowed the game to meander into a position worse for white. Worse still, he fell behind badly on the clock. However, with game in his control, Ly did not fully exploit his pressure, instead allowing West to counterattack. In the final moves, it was clear that West was in no danger of losing as he had a draw by repetition. But did he have more? Maybe, but with only about a minute plus increments left on his clock, he took the draw.
Meanwhile, Chow was observing this and playing his game as white against Pyke. Chow played the opening quietly and slowly but surely ground down black's position. Eventually, Pyke capitulated to give Chow a ½ point lead over West and Rujevic, who won against Voon going into the last round. In other results, Dragicevic effectively lost all touch with the top three, only being able to draw with his pet Scandinavian opening against Wolf. Beattie kept his consistent second half of the tournament going with a win against Tom Kalisch, as Ghobrial drew with Bowen. Junior, Jean Luc Tambasco had a good win against Lovegrove.
The final round was the end of a long and successful journey for Chow. His was one the later boards to finish. Playing his favourite French again, he won a pawn against Krstic's gambit sideline (the Wade Variation). Eventually, he would be a rook up against his opponent and from that moment on the title was his. Chow's win was well received by the various non-playing members present.
West and Rujevic also won to ensure that they would share equal second with 7½ points. West won his game relatively easily and early against Voon, but he knew that the fate of the title was out of his hands. Thai Ly won his game and the A group rating prize, finishing on 6/9 points (4th overall) with a 9 move miniature in the Spanish Opening against a tired Marcus Raine. Beattie was for a major part of the game a pawn up and had the better of his draw against Domagoj Dragicevic to eventually run out as winner of the B group rating prize with 5½ points. Steve Wertheim beat Paul Kovacevic to finish on 4½ points and winner of the C group rating prize.
Sam Chow - quick profile
Born in 1987 in Malaysia, Sam has been playing chess since the age of five. Very soon after his first appearance on the chess scene at Melbourne Chess Club, other more experience players quickly identified Sam as a phenomenal natural talent, with a sharp eye for tactics and great vision of the board. He also quickly acquired a very sound positional understanding. He won the Melbourne Chess Club Junior Championship, was 6 years old when he became Victorian under 10's champ and came 2nd to Bob Krstic in the 2001 Club Championship. Further, he was the leading junior Victorian chess player of his generation and participated in the 2002 Australian Championship.
Surprisingly however, Sam never won the title of Australian Junior Chess Champion, as non-chess activities, particularly education, became a priority. Educated at Scotch College, he has effectively been on a chess hiatus for the past two year in order to complete his year 11 and 12 schooling (although, he did play in the 2005 Australian Juniors). In that time, Sam's chess talents have been somewhat forgotten, as other younger stars such as Moulton Ly, Raymond and Angela Song and Chris Wallis have taken the limelight.
Now with the pressure of year 12 passed (he now studies Commerce/Science at the University of Melbourne), Sam has been able to make a welcomed return to chess this summer and has shown that he has lost none of his skills. In addition to winning this tournament, he has also shared equal first at the recent Box Hill Chess Club Autumn Cup.
The Melbourne Chess Club congratulates its new champion and looks forward to more great chess from Sam in the future.
Final Standings
1 Chow, Samuel VIC 2192 8
2-3 West, Guy VIC 2378 7.5
Rujevic, Mirko VIC 2252 7.5
4 Ly, Thai VIC 1866 6
5-7 Dragicevic, Domagoj VIC 2129 5.5
Pyke, Malcolm L VIC 2079 5.5
Beattie, Roger VIC 1688 5.5
8-15 Wolf, Peter VIC 1758 5
Raine, Marcus VIC 1862 5
Voon, Richard VIC 1885 5
Krstic, Slobodan VIC 1928 5
Kalisch, Thomas VIC 1801 5
McCart, Richard VIC 1697 5
Ghobrial, Adel VIC 1569 5
Lycett, Garry VIC 1693 5
16-17 Bowen, Leon QLD 1787 4.5
Wertheim, Stephen VIC 1523 4.5
18-24 Wyss, Felix VIC 1730 4
Papadinis, Jim VIC 1778 4
Kaplan, Alex VIC 1640 4
Kovacevic, Paul VIC 1683 4
Ruzeu, Emanuel VIC 1355 4
Renzies, Elliott VIC 1481 4
Knox, Alec VIC 1531 4
25-27 Niemann, Judd 3.5
Ivanov, Nikola VIC 1517 3.5
Tambasco, Jean-Luc VIC 1054 3.5
28-30 Zileski, George VIC 1760 3
Watson, Jean VIC 1094 3
Prasad, Daryl 3
31 Lovegrove, Adam VIC 1439 2
32 Wright, Jim VIC 1601 1
33 Brooking, Robert VIC 1471 0
Selected games will be posted on the Melbourne Chess Club website.
The following items were left at Italo-Australia Club after the Doeberl Cup Tournament. Please contact Shun Ikeda (Shun.Ikeda@anu.edu.au or 02-6125-4030(W)) if you are the owner.
(1) a pair of black gloves with "MANZELLA" brand tag attached. (found in the Major/Minor/Senior section)
(2) a blue cap (half-meshed) with "VonDutch TM" embroidery in the middle of front part (found in the Premier section)
The recent Henry Greenfield Cup at Hakoah Club, Bondi in Sydney was won by I.Zirdum half a point ahead of J.Bolens. - Peter Parr
GM Rogelio Antonio (Philippines) won the 72 player Bangkok Open with 7.5/9. Sydney players scores: FM T.Reilly 6, M.Drummond 5.5, Watharow 5, J.Attwood 4.5. - Peter Parr
Dubai Open: Stojic and Yachou from Australia are playing i9n this event. GM Izoria is top seed. Stojic and Yachou from Australia are playing. Site
Sign up for the the 2006 Junior Internet Championship here.
Just a reminder to everyone who has not done so already to register for the Australian Junior Internet Championships by this weekend - either the Open, which as the name implies is open to everyone under the age of 18 (at the start of January!) or the Candidates for players who are inexperienced at chess and/or the Internet. Both events start on Sunday 7th May - just Sunday week - and it would be great to get a healthy number of competitors in both tournaments. The tournaments go for 6 weeks and start at 6.30pm EST - please check http://www.ausnetchess.org for further details.
The cost is just $20 and you will get a free 2 month membership of ICC - along with the opportunity to win lots of prizes.
Also, we have decided to delay the Individual Adult competition until later in the year - after the adult clubs competition - more details later.
All the best
Alan & Alex
PS Apologies - there was a hiccup with the entry form for the Championships and we did not pick up the name of the event that players have entered. If you have already entered - and you may be receiving this newsletter for the first time - can you please reply to this email and let me know again which event you have decided to play in - either the Open or the Candidates. Many thanks.
Gold Coast Active Championships: The winner of this event which was held at the Gardiner chess centre was IM Peter Froehlich, from WIM Arianne Caoili and Jonas Muller. 78 players took part.
Queensland Open Report: What a fantastic event. 66 entrants and 25+ from outside Brisbane.
Venue was The Gap High School Assembly Hall and proved to be a very good venue indeed. Spacious, roomy, plenty of parking and generally very quiet.
First three rounds were held Saturday and the juniors generally ran amuck for their rating.
Sunday morning and time for round four. Six players remained on 3/3, with two others on 2.5.
Most attention was centred on the board one pairing of Wongwichit v IM Froehlich. Wongwichit was holding his own and offered a draw late in the game, but was forced to resign a few moves later, with a dominant passed c pawn for Froehlich being one of the main features.
On board 27, Menham and Kinder was agreed drawn on move 110 as Kinder attempted to convert Rook and Bishop v Rook into a win. There were plenty of discussions afterwards about whether the ending could have been won. Tablebases are probably the only real way to know.
At 2:45pm, round five started with three players still on a perfect score. The top two boards saw Froehlich v Duxbury and Pardoen v Wongwichit. Draws on both boards allowed the chasing pack to catch up and make the title a real contest.
Monday morning and time for round six. Due to the pairings and colours, the board one clash was Duxbury v Pardoen. Board two: O’Brien v Froehlich.
Duxbury v Pardoen was drawn. Froehlich won to regain a half point lead going into the final round.
Round seven: Froehlich leads by half a point from three chasers, Pardoen, Lester and Duxbury.
Lester and Duxbury decide that second place is good enough for them and agree a draw in 12 moves. This left the tournament up to board one: Froehlich v Pardoen.
Froehlich managed to get both rooks on to the seventh rank. Combine this with other positional pressures and Pardoen resigned. This ensured that Froehlich won by a full point from four players.
While all these games were going on, Ross Lam (1410) was steadily moving up the boards and managed to tie for second overall. Good performance Ross.
Sixty-six entrants is certainly a good sign for the future and now onto Rothwell for the Peninsula Open. Would love to see similar numbers for their tournament. See everyone there and at the Qld Championships on the Queen’s Birthday Weekend.
Cheers,
Garvin Gray
2006 Queensland Open Arbiter.
See your games on the Internet:
Rooty Hill Chess Club (NSW) have had a request from a couple of players who would like to display their games on the Internet, even though they're not club members.
No problem!
Because we realise other people might enjoy doing the same thing, we have set up a special page for grass-roots Australian chess games. It's open to any Australia-based club or tournament player and the games don't have to be masterpieces: this is intended to give ordinary mortals the opportunity to share in the fun.
We won't accept photo copies of your score sheet, it's too time-consuming, but will take any games that can be copied and pasted into Chessbase.
We've seeded the list with a few games scrounged from odd places.
Check it out at http://www.rootyhillchess.org/gameOZfrm.html or email your games to davidevans@rootyhillchess.org
The well-known German Grandmaster Wolfgang Unzicker died this week, aged 80. A lawyer/judge by profession, he was one of the world's strongest amateur players for many years.
Russian Club Championship: Players include Morozevich, Grischuk, Akopian, Bologan, Volkov, Ivanchuk, Radjabov, Dreev and Ponomariov.
Site :
View games
Dubai Open: Players include Izoria, Sadvakasov and Sargissian.
Site
Neckar Open: Leading final scores after 9 rounds: Pavasovic, Szoen, Delemarre, Gelashvili, Halkias, Miezis, Zysk, Kalod, Jaracz, Zeller, Bromberger, Likavsky 7.0.
Site
Foxwoods: Loek Van Wely won a playoff after a three-way tie for first.
View games
Full details at the 2006 Grand Prix site
41st Peninsula Open: Cat 2; 7 round Swiss; Sat 29 April to Mon 1 May; E-Block, Grace Lutheran College, cnr Buchanan St, Rothwell Qld. www.caq.org.au . Mark Stokes Phone (07) 3205-6042 or email tournament@crcchess.com.
Laurieton May Open: Cat 1; 6-7 May; NSW; Laurieton Services Club, Seymour St. Contact: Endel 6559 9060 endellane@bigpond.com
May Weekender: Sydney May 20-21; More
Perth Open: May 20-21; More ANU Open: July 22-23; Cat 3; 7 round Swiss, 1hr + 10s/move; Total prizes: $3000; First $1000. $70/$50 entry fee. Details
Hakoah Chess Club events:
May 1st - Hakoah Cup - 2006 starts. This 9 round Swiss event will be held on consecutive Monday evenings. Starts 7.30 p.m.
Enquiries: To Vladimir Feldman 0414798503 or visit Hakoah Chess Club web page.
Australian Games Expo: Albury, NSW; June 10-11; Albury Convention & Performing Arts Centre, Swift Street, Albury. Details
Hobsons Bay - Yarraville Chess Tournament: May 27-28; 5 Round Swiss; Entry $50/$40/$30; 1st $500 2nd $250; 3rd $120; plus rating prizes; http://hobsonsbaychess.info/idx.htm Contact Grant Bultman; President Hobsons Bay Yarraville Chess Club; grantbultman@hotmail.com 0422 744 743
World University Chess Championship: Details here
Hungarian events:
4. 6th-18th of May GM-IM-FM Budapest,
5. 20th-30th of May, Elekes memorial GM-IM-FM - Budapest.
Nagy Laszlo, International Chess Organizer, e-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net website
Znojmo Open: 13-21 May; Czech Republic; Dr. Jan Mazuch j.mazuch@avekont.cz
Zemplin Tower FIDE Open: Slovakia; May; e-mail radoslavo@yahoo.com. Details
2nd World School Chess Teams Championship: U12, U14 and U16. Teams need national federation endorsement. 12-20 July. Entries close on 1 July. Part of the 17th International Festival of Chess, Bridge and Games at Pardubice, Czech Republic.
RC Sport Open: http://sachy.rcsport.info
Politiken Cup: Copenhagen, 22-30 July; 9 round swiss with more than 200 participants. Details
3rd South Wales International: 8-13 July; 9 round FIDE rated event. http://www.southwaleschess.co.uk/SWI
Battle of Senta Open: July 21. http://www.chess-senta.org.yu/
Penang International Open: Website
Czech Tour - International Chess Festivals Series - http://www.czechtour.net
6th Bangkok Chess Club Open: April 11-16; Century Park Hotel; www.bangkokchess.com; Email: Kai Tuorila
Singapore Masters: For more details, click here.
Correspondence chess players over the board: July 1-9; Karviná, Silesian University, Czech Republic; Preliminary applications to: Ing. Petr BUCHNÍCEK, Svážná 22, CZ-634 00 Brno, Czech Republic. Phone: 605 578 666. Email: buchnicek@skscr.cz
Best wishes till next time
- Paul Broekhuyse
broekhuysep@bigpond.com
19 Gill Avenue, Avoca Beach, NSW 2251
02 4382 4525
0408 824525
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In 2001 the ACF introduced a Public Liability Insurance Scheme for Australian chess bodies. The scheme offers competitive rates of insurance for the ACF, ACF-affiliated State and Territory Associations and Clubs affiliated with those Associations. More details here. Clubs wishing to join should contact Ian Gammon of John Bernard & Associates Pty Ltd tel: (03) 9568 4822.
Correspondence Chess on the Web
The Giant Games specialist selling life-sized Teak and Plastic chess and checkers sets. Set sizes up to a massive 2m in height.
On the Sunshine Coast
Queensland's Leading Club for the past 20 years.
So why not come to The Sunshine coast for your next holiday?
For details of upcoming events, chess products, and all things 'chess' in Queensland, please go to www.gardinerchess.com.
Books, coaching and more. Email
Chess Kids has a full-time chess coaching position available starting in 2006. Must be FM strength or above. Salary $40,000 per annum plus superannuation. Please apply to cordover@chessworld.com.au with your resume.
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Australian Chess magazine: Keep up with the latest news and views. Subscribe here or telephone Brian Jones on 02-9838-1529
Coaching with IM John-Paul Wallace:
Former Australian Open Champion and experienced coach, IM John-Paul Wallace
is available for email and live coaching over the Internet. He will also provide
a special service with daily preparation for your individual games during tournaments.
If you are interested send John-Paul an email and state chess coaching in the subject line.
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While on the web visit our web page,
http://www.sunchess.org.au
We invite all visitors to play in our club night events.
Email Bill Powell wpo32528@bigpond.net.au
