2016 Australian Championship begins

The 2016 Australian Championship began today at the Fitzroy Town Hall in Melbourne. The Championship event attracted a strong field of 34 players, with 2 Grandmasters (one from Russia) and 12 IM's. In the field there are 4 non-Australian players, although with the exception of Russian GM Vasily Papin, they are currently resident in the country.
The first round saw a few of the top seeds held to draws. Top seed Max Illingworth drew with FM Karl Zelesco, IM Anton Smirnov drew with IM Mirko Rujevic, and IM Justin Tan drew with FM Zachary Lo. Otherwise the results went to seeding, although a number of games went right down to the wire.
Alongside the Championship is the Reserves event which has attracted a very large field of 149 players. At the top end are a few players who wouldn't embarrass themselves in the Championship proper, so the likely winner of this event could come from anywhere.
The tournament website is http://2016.chesschampionship.org.au/ and from there you can follow the links to results, coverage and downloadable games.


Hu,Jason (2121) - Wallis,Christopher (2327) [D11]
2016 Australian Championships Fitzroy Town Hall, Melbourne, (1.13)

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 Bf5 5. O-O e6 6. Nbd2 h6 7. c4 Nbd7 8. b3 Bd6 9. Bb2 Qb8 10. c5 Bc7 11. b4 a5 12. a3 O-O 13. Qb3 a4 14. Qd1 Bh7 15. e3 Re8 16. Nb1 e5 17. Nc3 exd4 18. exd4 Qa7 19. b5 Qa5 20. b6 Bd8 21. Re1 Rxe1+ 22. Nxe1 Be7 23. Rc1 Nf8 24. Bf1 Ne6 25. Na2 Ne4 26. f3 N4xc5 27. dxc5 Bxc5+ 28. Kg2 Qxb6 29. Qe2 Re8 30. Kh1 Nc7 31. Qg2 Be3 32. Ra1 Bd4 33. Nc3 Qb3 34. Qd2 Be3 35. Qg2 d4 36. Ne4 Qd5 37. Bd3 f5 38. Qc2 Kh8 39. Bc4 Qe5 40. Nd3 Qe7 41. Nef2 f4 42. Nh3 b5 43. Ba2 fxg3 44. hxg3 c5 45. Qd1 c4 46. Nb4 Qd7 47. Kg2 d3 48. Qh1 Bd2 49. Nf2 Re2 50. Bc1 Qd4 0-1