The 2014 Australian Championship began today, with good numbers in all the tournaments. The Championship attracted a field of 42 players, which is probably one of the largest in recent memory. As with any restricted field event, upsets are more common, and there were a few today. Eddy Levi and David Castor dispatched IM's Goldenberg and Wohl, while IM Andrew Brown last to 2012 Reserves Champion Justin Penrose. There were also a few draws, the most notable being Domagoj Dragicevic drawing with GM Tu Hoang Thong, and Laurence Matheson drawing with GM Darryl Johansen.
The Reserves event has attracted a very impressive 93 players, including FM Doug Hamilton, who won his first Australian Championship 50 years ago. The shorter Challengers event has 57 players, meaning that the entire event has a total of 192 players.
Tomorrow sees rounds 2&3 of each of the tournaments and you can keep up with the action (including live coverage of the top boards) from the tournament website.
The Australian championship is also broadcast at chessbomb with analysis on all games: http://chessbomb.com/o/2014-aus/
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