Day 2 of the NSW Open is always the toughest for the players, as it usually involves playing 3x4hr+ rounds, with very little downtime in between. Of course some players are happy to avoid this punishment by taking a half point bye in the 5th round, but despite the temptation, a large percentage of players decided to play all day.
At the end of the 5th round, the outright leader in both events are from the ACT! IM Andrew Brown scored two good wins in rounds 4&5, beating IM Gary Lane in the afternoon, and IM George Xie in the evening. He is half a point ahead of FM Max Illingworth and GM Zong Yuan Zhao, who both conceded draws in round 4. Tomorrow mornings round sees Brown up against Zhao, while Illingworth will play Xie.
In the Under 1600 tournament, Tomson Qin leads with 5/5, half a point ahead of Matthew Stewart. The two are paired tomorrow, and as Stewart took a half point bye in the 5th round, it may provide a data point in the debate about whether a half point bye is a hindrance or a help.
As for the technical issues on Day 1, most of those have been resolved. You can follow the live games and see the results at nswopen.nswca.org.au while the pairings for the Open are available at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr74946.aspx?lan=1
Another James Morris 'meltdown' after his loss to Zelesco.
ReplyDeleteArms flailing, legs kicking, swearing, chess pieces flying. Brilliant!..it was probably his best performance so far. 9.5/10 !!!