PNG Players in Action

A couple of recent events saw Papua New Guinea chess players in action.
Following on from the George Trundle Masters in Auckland New Zealand, was the NZ South Island Championship. The tournament finished in a 3 way tie between GM Darryl Johansen, GM Murray Chandler and IM Stephen Solomon. The title of South Island Champion went to Roger Nokes, who was a former member of the Belconnen Chess Club here in Canberra. Also playing in this 9 round swiss was former PNG Olympiad player Helmut Marko, who scored 5/9, finishing in a tie for 14th.
On the other side of the world the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) got under way for the 2008/9 season. One of the new teams in the top flight was the White Rose team, managed by current PNG Olympiad player Rupert Jones. White Rose have started the season with 2 wins from the first 2 rounds defeating Guilford-A&DC 2 5.5-2.5 (despite being outrated by an average of 100 points) and the Sambuca Sharks 5-3. Playing for the White Rose team are a couple of well known players and authors in GM's Gawain Jones and Peter Wells, and IM Richard Palliser.
And speaking of Rupert Jones, he has informed me that www.chesscube.com are also doing extensive coverage of the Anand v Kramnik World Championship match. Chesscube is probably the most advanced multi-media chess site at the moment, and their ChessCube Cinema is certainly worth looking at. If I can stay awake long enough I'll see how the coverage goes and report back tomorrow.