2015 NSW Open - Day 3

The final day of the 2015 NSW Open once again saw an unpredictable tournament throw up more unpredictable results, with the final results resting on the last game to finish. After a dismal round 5 loss to IM Richard Jones, very few would have put money on IM Anton Smirnov to recover on the final day to grab a share of 1st place. He did this in part by beating top seed GM Hrant Melkumyan in an interesting game where an out of play rook proved the difference. With this win, Smirnov moved to 6 points, where he was joined by IM Max Illingworth, who beat Pengyu Chen in his round 7 game. Third place was taken by GM Zong Yuan Zhao, who capped off a stuttering event with a win over CM Blair Mandla, in a sharp, but brief game.
The Under 200 prize was shared between Bruce Murray (despite a disastrous loss to Illingworth on round 6) and Harry Press, who went from 0/2 to 4.5/7 by "submarine-ing" his way through the field. The Under 1800 prize was shared by Glenn Ingham, Hennig Muller, Chris Ball and Kamal Jain, with 4 points.
The Under 1600 event (with its $1000 first prize) was won by Ranganathan Parunithan, who jumped out in fron with a win over Thomas Johnston on board 2. Tim Pearce and Albert Winkelman had a chance ti join him in first, but could only draw their final round game on the top board.
The 110 player event (run in two sections) was certainly an enjoyable tournament, from an arbiters point of view. There were only a few (minor) incidents, most of which were sorted out with a kind word and a smile. The venue was also a surprise, with the Chatswood Club proving to be a bit of a hidden gem in the hustle and bustle on commercial Chatswood. Based on the feedback I received most players found the tournament to be a worthwhile activity and are looking forward to the 2016 edition.
(Results and a selection of games from the top boards can be found at nswopen.nswca.org.au)


Smirnov,Anton - Melkumyan,Hrant [C91]
2015 NSW Open Sydney NSW (7.1), 08.06.2015