The 2008 ACT Lightning Championship was held yesterday, on a glorious Canberra spring day. Although the field might not have been as strong (or as large) as the Moscow Lightning Championship (also held as an outdoor event), I suspect we were warmer than Morozevich et al.
In the end the field was more about quality then quantity with the event held as a 9 player round robin. (Normally at this point I'd go off about the size of the field and what is says about chessplayers in general, but I've decided that if I get angry about everything I'm heading for an early grave, and anyway I've probably blogged enough on this topic already).
The results went pretty much in ratings order with David Smerdon (seen in picture) winning with 8.5/9. He dropped half a point to Lee Forace (a repetition in a worse position), but defeated his closest rival, Endre Ambrus, to secure the title. Ambrus finished second (8/9) and Roger Farrell finished in third with 7/9.
I finished in 4th place but did have a chance to alter the standings with my final round against David Smerdon. Defending the White side of a Dragon(!) I even managed to get to a position where I was a piece ahead. Unfortunately by that stage the clock was the dominant feature of the game and I lost on time (while David still had a minute on his clock).
So while the tournament may not have been huge in terms of numbers, I'm sure those that did turn up to play felt it was a worthwhile way to spend a Saturday lunchtime.
2 comments:
Hey Shaun,
My brother and I would have loved to have been there. Lightning is always fun. I think that we would have been in some serious trouble if we missed our sister's wedding to play chess :)
I would also have loved to play. The problem is when it's being run as a round robin, me missing a bus and thinking that you were going to be at coaching so I was not able to call ahead to say I'd like to latejoin, it's impossible to play.
Well done Stephen for becomming the ACTCA President.
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