The final day of the 2015 Oceania Zonal saw a surprising and dramatic end to the Open Zonal, with Brodie McClymont beating IM Max Illingworth in the final round. The result allowed McClymont to catch Illingworth on 7.5. IM Anton Smirnov had a chance to join them, but could only draw with Pengyu Chen leaving him on 7, along with FM Malcolm Stephens.
As a result of the two way tie, there was a playoff match between Illingworth and McClymont. Following the playoff format from the World Cup, the players played 2 25m+10s games. In the first game McClymont missed a couple of drawing lines, and two queens (against knight and rook) was enough for Illingworth to go one up. In the second game McClymont had a clear advantage, but failed to capitalise on having queen and rook charging down the h file and after Illingworth set up a successful defence, Brodie offered a draw, conceding the match.
Illingworth is now the Zone 3.6 representative for the World Cup which is being held in Baku later this year. As a consolation, McClymont received a share of first prize, as well as earning the International Master title for sharing first place. FM Malcom Stephens capped a fine tournament with a win over IM Junta Ikeda, therebye finishing third on countback and earning a 9 game IM norm. Chen, Zachary Loh and Kevin O'Chee all earned the FM title (for scoring 6 or above), while there were around 40 player(!) who scored 50% or above, earning the Candidate Matster title (if they wish to claim it).
In the Women's Zonal, WIM Emma Guo beat WFM Layla Timergazi to win the tournament on 7/9. WIM Nancy Lane was outright 2nd on 6.5, while WIM Biljana Dekic and Katherine Quek tied for third on 6. Quek missed out on Bronze on countback, but does become a WFM from this tournament.
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1 comment:
Undefeated too in the main time control!
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