The benefits of fine weather

Despite some claims to the contrary, Canberra has very good weather. A typical winters day in the nations capital starts with light frost, followed by clear blue skies and a sunny day. Of course you have to accept that waking up to -3 temperatures is the price to pay, but live here long enough and you get used to it.
Occasionally it does turn nasty , and sometimes this has an effect on chess tournaments. For example the first round of the ANU Chess Club's Winter Swiss event had a smaller than expected field, but this may have been due to the typhoon raging outside. While the cold is something Canberran's live with, combining it with sheeting rain is enough to send everyone scurrying indoors.
However this week saw a return fine weather, and as a result the field for round 2 of the Winter Swiss was up by almost 50%. The sudden influx of players caused a degree of scrambling for extra tables and space, but once everyone was sorted out, some good chess was on offer.

Bliznyuk,Andrey - East,Bill [B87]
ANU Winter Swiss, 21.07.2010

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.a3 Be7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Kh1 Qc7 11.f4 Nc6 12.f5 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 e5 14.Qd3 Bb7 15.Bg5 Rac8 16.Rad1 Rfd8 17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Rf2 Qc5 19.Qg3 Qc7 20.Bd5 Kh8 21.Rfd2 Rb8 22.Bxb7 Rxb7 23.Nd5 Qd7 (D)
24.Nxf6 gxf6 25.Qh4 Qe7 26.Rd3 Rbd7 27.Rh3 1-0