2016 Women's World Championship

The 2016 Women's World Championship begins tomorrow in Lviv, Ukraine. It sees two times World Champion Hou Yifan against Mariya Muzychuk, who won the 2015 knockout version of the title.
Unlike to open World Championships, the Womens version is often a little more one-sided, and I suspect that this one will be as well.
Yifan outrates Muzychuk by a little over 100 points, and this is the main indicator for me. Add to this Yifan's experience in these kinds of matches and I can see Yifan wrapping it up by game 8.
The tournament website is here, and you can follow all the action (with commentary etc)  from there.

That Quantum Chess thing

Quantum Chess seems to be the new, next exciting chess variant, and it seems to have a bit of star power behind it. The Paul Rudd v Stephen Hawking youtube video certainly helped, and there have been a number of other celebs connected with it.
Over at Huffington Post AJ Steigman has a long interview with the creator of the game, Chris Cantwell. It covers a lot about the game, from its creation through to the underlying concepts, and has a couple of videos embedded as well.
So if you want to see what the hype is about (Kickstarter!) then it is well worth a read.

A Presidential chess player

This is a slightly old article but an interesting one given current events. Bernie Sanders, Chess Master? Written just before he decided to run for United States President, it shows Sanders participating in a simul in his home state of Vermont. Although the article did not say how ell he played, he did last over an hour, and at least the picture in the article doesn't show anything too stupid.
Given his background and history, I would be a little surprised if he did not play chess, but I also assume that pesky things like politics and public service were a priority. Nonetheless, it would be nice to have a semi-serious chess player in the White House.

Batavia Chess 2016

IM Moulthun Ly is on the hunt for his GM title, and is currently playing in the Batavia 2016 event in Amsterdam. The event is a 10 player round robin and after 6 rounds Ly is tied for third on 4/6. As the GM norm is 6.5, he needs a big finish, including scoring at least half a point against tournament leader GM Sabino Brunello.
If you want to follow his performance, the tournament website is here. There are live games from the event, with the rounds beginning at midnight Canberra time.

Pawn Sacrifice - DVD Give Away

"Pawn Sacrifice", the dramatic retelling of the Fischer v Spassky Match from 1972, has just been released on DVD in Australia. As it did not get a cinema showing in this country, getting it on DVD is your first chance to see this highly regarded film. And to make it easier for one lucky reader I have a DVD of the movie to give away, courtesy of Entertainment One (the Australian distributors).
To have a chance of winning the DVD you need to answer the following question about Bobby Fischer

Between 1972 and 1992 Fischer played no tournament chess. But during that time he allegedly played a blitz match against a GM and crushed him 19-1. Who was the alleged GM?

If you know the answer, email me at shaunpress@gmail.com and put "Pawn Sacrifice Competition" in the subject (Please don't answer in the comments btw). I'll take entries up until midnight on the 29th February and then choose at random from the correct answers.
(NB This competition is open only to Australian residents)

2016 ANU Masters Week 4

Three decisive games saw the field in the 2016 ANU Masters spread out a bit. At the halfway of the tournament Fred Litchfield and Andrey Bliznyuk now lead on 3/4, and their individual game may decide who finishes as champion.
Bliznuk defeated Harry Press, when the latter overlooked a knight being trapped on the queenside, and lost on time trying to work out a way to extricate it. Litchfield won a nice attacking game against Dillon Hathiramani which also featured an interesting opening plan.
Alana Chibnall scored her first win of the tournament, choosing 1.d4 against Victor Braguine, although it wasn't until Braguine missed a tactic in a block position that the game turned against him. Miles Patterson looked to have a slight edge against Adrian De Noskowski, but De Noskowski gained control of the open h file, and Patterson had to go on the defensive, although this was enough for a draw.


Litchfield,Frederick (2061) - Hathiramani,Dillon (1828)
2016 ANU Masters Canberra, Australia AUS (4.3), 24.02.2016

1. e4 c5 2. b3 Nc6 3. Bb2 e6 4. Bb5 Nge7 5. Qh5 a6 6. Bd3 Qc7 7. Nf3 Ng6 8. g3 d6 9. O-O Nce5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Be2 Nc6 12. f4 b5 13. d3 Bb7 14. Nd2 Nd4 15. Bd1 g6 16. Qh3 Bg7 17. c3 Nc6 18. f5 Qe7 19. fxe6 Qxe6 20. Bg4 Qe7 21. Bd7+ Kd8 22. Bxc6 Bxc6 23. d4 cxd4 24. cxd4 Qa7 25. Nf3 Bxe4 26. Qh4+ Qe7 27. Ng5 f5 28. Ne6+ Kd7 29. Qxe7+ Kxe7 30. Nxg7 Bd5 31. Rae1+ Kf7 32. Nxf5 gxf5 33. Rxf5+ 1-0

2016 Chess Olympiad

2016 is of course an Olympiad Year, and although official details have not been released, a number of countries are already getting organised. New Zealand seems to be one of the first off the mark, with their selection application period closing towards the end of last year! PNG is already sorting out its team, and I suspect a number of Oceania countries are in the process of picking and.or organising qualification events.
Of course one of the games that is fun to play in the lead up to the Olympiad is to see how close the bid that was accepted 4 years ago matches the conditions actually offered. On a number of occasions venues have changed (eg Spain 2004) or budgets cut (Dresden 2008) and what was agreed to earlier is no longer the case. To help out anyone interested in making a comparison,  FIDE have helpfully posted the successful bid document from Baku. Of major interest to developing countries is the $1,500,000 travel fund which will go a long way in assisting countries sending teams. It was certainly a big help in 2014 and contributed to the record field that played in Norway.

Sevan Muradian RIP

Sad news in the the world of chess arbiting, with Sevan Muradian, Secretary of the FIDE Rules Commission passing away. He was very young (early 40's) and his death has come as a great shock.
I first met Sevan at the 2012 Chess Olympiad, where he attended a number of FIDE Commission meetings, both to record the proceedings on camera, and to participate in the discussions. He was a well known US event organiser and arbiter in the Chicago area, and had been appointed Rules Commission Secretary in 2014. Although my term ended when his started we still remained in contact, sharing information and observations about the state of FIDE and world chess.
He will be missed by his colleagues in the chess world.

IM Junta Ikeda wins 2016 ACT Championship

IM Junta Ikeda has won the 2016 ACT Championship, with an almost perfect 8.5/9. After drawing with Victor Braguine in round 2, Ikeda reeled of 7 straight wins to finish 1.5 ahead of IM Andrew Brown in second place. Brown had been chasing Ikeda through the second half of the event, but a loss to third seed Andrey Bliznyuk left brown stuck on 7 points, and allowed Bliznyuk to take outright third on 6.5.
In the other rating categories, Tim Pearce and Albert Winkelman shared the Under 1700 (ACF) rating prize, while James Sheehan performed well above his pre tournament seeding to win the Under 1000 prize. Josh Walker continued his successful return to chess, winning the prize for highest scoreing FIDE unrated player.
Final tournament results are here, and you can also download the complete set of games from the tournament from the same page.


Ikeda,Junta (2393) - Chibnall,Alana (1884)
2016 ACT Championship Canberra (9.1), 21.02.2016

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ c6 6. Qxc4 b5 7. Qc2 Bb7 8. a4 b4 9. d3 Nbd7 10. O-O c5 11. Nbd2 Be7 12. Nc4 Rc8 13. a5 O-O 14. e4 Nb8 15. Be3 Nc6 16. a6 Ba8 17. Qe2 Nd7 18. d4 cxd4 19. Nxd4 Nxd4 20. Bxd4 Nc5 21. Rfd1 Qc7 22. Bxc5 Bxc5 23. b3 e5 24. h4 Qe7 25. Bh3 Rcd8 26. Bg2 Bd4 27. Ra5 Rfe8 28. Kh2 Bc6 29. Rc1 Bc3 30. Bh3 f6 31. Bg2 Rd4 32. Ne3 Qd8 33. Ra2 Bxe4 34. Bxe4 Rxe4 35. Rd1 Qb6 36. Rd7 Rc8 37. Rxg7+ Kxg7 38. Nf5+ Kh8 39. Qxe4 Qc6 40. Qg4 Qd7 41. Ra5 Rc7 42. Qf3 Qe6 43. Rd5 Rc8 44. Qg4 Qf7 45. Nh6 Qxd5 46. Qxc8+ Kg7 47. Nf5+ Kf7 48. Qc7+ 1-0

2016 ACT Championship - Day 4

The second of the 2016 ACT Championship saw tournament favourites IM Junta Ikeda and IM Andrew Brown extend their leads over the rest of the field.   Junta Ikeda beat Fred Litchfield and Andrey Bliznyuk, whie Andrew Brown had a couple of long games against Alana Chibnall and Wenlin Yin. The round 6 games ran even longer than expected as their was a 45 minute break caused by a fire alarm at the venue.
Battling it out for the minor places are Fred Litchfield, who bounced back with a win in round 7, and Willis Lo. However both are up against the leaders in tomorrow mornings round, giving a couple of other players the chance to catch up.
Further down a number of players are still performing well above their seedings, including Tim Pearce, Matt Radisich and Athena Hathiramani. The final two rounds take place tomorrow, at Campbell High School, Trealor Crescent. The first round starts at 10:30 am, with the final round starting at 2:30 pm.
Results and games can be found here.


Pearce,Tim (1716) - Winkelman,Albert (1751)
2016 ACT Championship Canberra (6.6), 20.02.2016

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 exd5 8. e3 O-O 9. Bd3 Re8 10. Ne2 Nc6 11. O-O c4 12. Bb1 Na5 13. Ra2 Bd7 14. Ng3 Bc6 15. Re2 b5 16. e4 Nb3 17. Bg5 h6 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. e5 Qd8 20. Qc2 g6 21. Nh5 Kh8 22. Nf6 Rf8 23. h4 Bd7 24. g4 Kg7 25. h5 Be8 26. Rh2 a5 27. hxg6 fxg6 28. g5 h5 29. Rxh5 Rxf6 30. gxf6+ Kg8 31. Rf2 Bf7 32. Rfh2 gxh5 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Qh8+ Bg8 35. Qg7+ Ke8 36. Bg6+ Bf7 37. Qxf7# 1-0

Park hustling

I remember an article I read a number of years ago, where Yasser Seirawan used to describe how he would hustle the hustlers who played chess for money in New York. While he was stronger than his opponents, he wouldn't try and win too easily, instead finding a way to win by a tempo, or with a lucky check that led to mate.
Well GM Maurice Ashley did the same thing the other day, but this time it was caught on film. At first his opponent is very talkative, but as the game terms the chirping stops (at least from the hustler). Then there is one great moment where a pawn tries to capture not one but two knights at once, but Ashley spots it (of course) and after that the result isn't in doubt. It isn't until right at the end that Ashley properly introduces himself, at which point the hustler realises what has just happened.

2016 ANU Masters - Week 3

The third week of the 2016 ANU Masters once again saw 2 wins and 2 draws from the 4 games. Miles Patterson took advantage of an off-side piece belonging to Harry Press and won after avoiding any resultant tricks. Alana Chibnall looked to have an easy pint against Dillon Hathiramani but under pressure lost on time while being an exchange and pawns ahead. Adrian De Noskowski had the opportunity to win material against Fred Litchfield, but with his king a little exposed chose not to do so and eventually the game was drawn.  Andrey Bliznyuk and Victor Braguine did not veer to far from equality in their game, although an attempt by Braguine to liven up the action with an exchange sacrifice in the late middlegame did not change the eventual result of a draw.
After 3 rounds there is now a 5 way tie for first, with Braguine, Bliznyuk, De Noskowski. Litchfield and Patterson all on 2/3. After his win Hathiramani is on 1, while Chibnall and Press are back on 0.5


Braguine,Victor (1875) - Bliznyuk,Andrey (2093)
2016 ANU Masters Canberra, Australia AUS (3.4), 17.02.2016

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d6 5. Nc3 e5 6. e4 O-O 7. O-O Nc6 8. h3 Nd7 9. d3 Nc5 10. Nd5 a5 11. Rb1 Nb4 12. Nxb4 axb4 13. a3 bxa3 14. bxa3 Bd7 15. Be3 b6 16. Bxc5 dxc5 17. Qb3 Qf6 18. Ne1 Ba4 19. Qc3 Qd6 20. Qc1 Rfd8 21. Kh2 Qe7 22. f4 Bc6 23. f5 f6 24. g4 g5 25. Rf2 Ra5 26. Bf1 Rda8 27. Rb3 Qd8 28. Rc3 Bf8 29. Ra2 Be8 30. Nc2 Bf7 31. Rb2 Be8 32. Rb1 c6 33. Ne3 b5 34. cxb5 cxb5 35. Nd5 Bc6 36. Bg2 Kg7 37. Rbb3 Ra4 38. Rxc5 Bxc5 39. Qxc5 Bxd5 40. exd5 R8a6 41. Rxb5 Qd6 42. Rb7+ Kh6 43. Qc7 Qxc7 44. Rxc7 Rxa3 45. Be4 Rd6 46. Rc5 Ra7 47. Kg3 Kg7 48. h4 h6 49. h5 1/2-1/2

Dubbo 2016

The very enjoyable Dubbo Open is fast approaching once more, with only 3 and bit weeks before the 2016 edition starts. It is being held on the 12th and 13th of March at the Dubbo RSL Club. It is a 6 round swiss with a time control of 60m+10s.
First prize is a guaranteed $350, and entry fees are very inexpensive at $45/$35/$25. Alongside the main tournament, their will also be the tournament dinner on Saturday night, followed by the popular blitz event. Further information about the event can be found by visiting the Dubbo Chess Club homepage

(NB: I am a paid official for this event)

Zurich Chess Challenge

I caught a couple of news reports covering the first round of the 2016 Zurich Chess Challenge, and figured  I would catch up with it later in the week. Turns out I missed the whole thing, as it only ran over 3 days.
On the one hand it was a very strong event (Anand, Kramnik, Nakamura, Giri, Aronian, and Shirov), but on the other hand, it felt more like an exhibition than a contest. This was due to the change of format to Rapid+Blitz, with the Classical time controls being pushed aside.
After all the excitement had finished, Hikaru Nakamura and Viswantahan Anand had tied for first place. This is kind of fitting, as Nakamura is probably the fastest player in the world (based on the amount of bullet he plays), while Anand used to hold that unofficial title (at least when he was younger). Oddly enough for a tournament of this type, they decided the winner on tie-break (which was Nakamura), rather than have a fast money sudden death no holds barred steel cage death match playoff.

How good is your Street Chess?

A few years back I posted an entire archive of Street Chess results, going back to 2009. At the time the scripts I wrote to do this only processed Swiss Perfect files, and when I switched to using Vega, the updating of these pages was put on hold.
Last weekend I managed to add the extra code to handle Vega files (both old and new formats) and so I took the opportunity to bring the records up to date.
If you visit streetchess.net/archive you can see the results of most events, going back to 2009. The output is a little messy (as sorting is based on filename), but if you can't see an event, either search on the page (Ctrl-f) or the event was not recorded (due to it not being held that weekend, or missing for another reason). At the top of the page is also a link to player statistics where you can find lots of interesting data. (NB There are still some duplicated players, due to some data issues, which I will clean up shortly)
For example, there are 4 players who have played over 1000 games. Miles Patterson tops the list (just short of 1300), with Erik Jochimsen, Mark Scully and Oscar Hellman also in this exclusive group. In terms of tournament wins FM Endre Ambrus is way out in front, with 61 first places (either outright or shared) from 75 events. IM Andras Toth is the only player with 100% (1 event, 7/7) although IM Junta Ikeda's +53=3-0 (with 8 wins from 8 events) is just as impressive.
If you want to easily see some of the more interesting stats (most points, least draws over the most games etc) you can click on the column headings to sort each column (in ascending or descending order)

2016 ACT Championship - Day 3

At the end f the first half of the 2016 ACT Championship, IM Junta Ikeda has taken a half point lead over IM Andrew Brown and Fred Litchfield. Ikeda, who had drawn his round 2 game against Victor Braguine, overtook Brown after winning their round 5 game. Litchfield kept pace with the leaders with wins over defending champion Adrian De Noskowski and Wenlin Yin.
There is a larger group of players on 3.5, including Dillon Hathiramani and Josh Walker, who are both performing above their initial seedings. Of the younger players Benjamin Gianquitto has scored a couple of good wins, and James Sheehan and Elliot are also doing well.
With the Ikeda v Brown pairing out of the way, the next four rounds will see them try and hold off the rest of the field. Fred Litchfield is well placed, although he is yet to play the 'big two', while Andrey Bliznyuk is always a dangerous opponent.
Full results and game can be found at chess-results.com. The final 4 rounds will be held next weekend (20-21 February)


Ikeda,Junta (2393) - Brown,Andrew (2181)
2016 ACT Championship Canberra (5.1), 14.02.2016

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. Be3 e5 9. Qd2 h6 10. O-O Qe7 11. Nh2 b6 12. a3 a5 13. f4 exf4 14. Bxf4 Ne5 15. Rae1 Be6 16. Kh1 Rd8 17. Qe3 g5 18. Qg3 Qf6 19. Bc1 Qe7 20. Ne2 O-O 21. Qe3 f5 22. exf5 Bxf5 23. Bd2 Bg6 24. Bc3 Qd6 25. Rxf8+ Rxf8 26. Ng3 Re8 27. Ne4 Qd5 28. Qf2 Rf8 29. Qg3 Rf4 30. Nxg5 Rf5 31. Ngf3 Nxf3 32. Qxg6 Re5 33. Nxf3 1-0

2016 ACT Championship - Day 2

Unlike the first day, there were plenty of surprises in rounds 2&3 of the 2016 ACT Championship. Top seed IM Junta Ikeda ran into a very solid Victor Braguine, and could not manage more than half a point. Third seed Andrey Bliznyuk faced Dillin Hathiramani for second time in 4 days, and Hathiramni reversed their result from the ANU Masters. Alana Chibnall chose the wrong moment to miss the right move, and a plus turned into a loss against Matt Radisich.
Hathiramani then continued his excellent form, beating Fred Litchfield in the 3rd round to finish day 2 on 3/3. The only other player to join him was IM Andrew Brown, who dispatched his opponents with some crisp attacking play. Ikeda scored a 3rd round win the get to 2.5/3, along with Wenlin Yin, Matt Radisich and Willis Lo.
Full score from this tournament can be found here, and all the games from the first three rounds are available for download.


Hathiramani,Dillon (1828) - Litchfield,Frederick (2061)
2016 ACT Championship Canberra (3.2), 13.02.2016

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 Bc5 5. e5 Nfd7 6. d4 Be7 7. Bd3 c5 8. c3 Nc6 9. O-O Qb6 10. Re1 cxd4 11. cxd4 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Qxd4 13. Nf3 Qb6 14. Qa4 Qb4 15. Qc2 Qc5 16. Qe2 a6 17. Be3 Qa5 18. Rac1 Nc5 19. Bb1 Bd7 20. Ng5 Rc8 21. Qh5 Bxg5 22. Qxg5 O-O 23. Qh4 h6 24. b4 Qa3 25. bxc5 f6 26. exf6 Rxf6 27. Qg3 Rf7 28. Qg6 Qb2 29. Qh7+ Kf8 30. Bg6 d4 31. Rc2 Qb4 32. Bd2 Qa3 33. Bxf7 Kxf7 34. Qe4 Rxc5 35. Rxc5 Qxc5 36. Qxb7 Ke8 37. Qxa6 Qd5 38. Qd3 Kf7 39. Qf3+ 1-0

2016 ACT Championship - Day 1

There were no surprises on the first day of the 2016 ACT Championship, with wins by the higher rated players. Nonetheless there were a few lucky escapes, with the blunder quotient unusually high for a tournament first round.
Probably the player with the greatest sense of relief was defending champion Adrian de Noskowski. He was down a pawn in an ending against junior Yizhen Diao, but after digging in in the position, was rewarded when Diao lost the pawn, then a piece before walking into a mate in 1. Benjamin Gianquitto put up a long hard fight against Victor Braguine, taking the game into the 5th hour, before Braguine eventually found a winning plan.
On the other hand the top seeds had less trouble against there opponents. Junta Ikeda had a straightforward win over Cam Cunningham, while Andrew Brown played the game of the round with his win over Oskar Hellmann.
Tournament results are available at chess.results.com and games from the first round will be upload tomorrow.


Hellmann,Oskar - Brown,Andrew (2181) [D04]
2016 ACT Championship Canberra (1.2), 12.02.2016

1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 c5 3. Nf3 g6 4. Bd3 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. Nbd2 d5 7. c3 Nc6 8. Re1 Nd7 9. Bb5 Qb6 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Nf1 f5 12. Ng3 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. Ne2 a5 16. Qc2 a4 17. Rb1 f4 18. Qd2 f3 19. Nf4 fxg2 20. Nxg2 Rf3 21. b4 Bf5 22. Nh4 Bxh2+ 23. Kg2 Be4 24. Nxf3 Rf8 25. Kxh2 Qc7+ 26. Kg1 Rxf3 27. c4 Qd7 28. bxc5 Qg4+ 29. Kf1 Rh3 30. Rb8+ Kg7 31. Qd4+ Kh6 32. Qxe4 dxe4 0-1

2016 ANU Masters Week 2

Week 2 of the ANU Masters saw a couple of missed opportunities, and 2 decisive finishes. Alana Chibnall won a pawn against Adrian de Noskowski in the opening, but with more than enough compensation, it was more a gambit than anything else. With her king in the centre Chibnall always under pressure and once de Noskowski's queen got active, the game did not last long.
Harry Press had a very strong position against Victor Braguine, and a force win didn't look that far off. However appearances can be deceiving, and while Press won Bragunes queen, it was for Rook, Bishop and Pawn, and after that, neither could claim an advantage.
Dillon Hathiramani chanced his arm against Andrey Bliznyuk with a piece sacrifice in the early middlegame, but once the main follow up had been prevented, the material advantage was enough for Bliznyuk to win. Fred Litchfield had Miles Patterson under pressure for most of the game, but Litchfield's attack was always a tempo short, and eventually the players agreed to a draw in a double rook ending.
After 2 games Litchfield, Bliznyuk, Braguine and de Noskowksi are all on +1, with Patterson half a point behind.


Chibnall,Alana (1884) - de Noskowski,Adrian (1876)
2016 ANU Masters Canberra, Australia AUS (2.3), 10.02.2016

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Bc4 Bg7 6. c3 Nf6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. e5 Nd5 9. Bxd5 cxd5 10. Qxd5 Ba6 11. f4 O-O 12. Na3 Rb8 13. Kf2 d6 14. exd6 exd6 15. Rb1 Qh4+ 16. g3 Qh3 17. Qd1 Bb7 18. Qf1 Qh5 0-1

2016 ACT Championship starts this Friday

The 2016 ACT Championship begins this Friday, but it is not too late to enter. At this stage there are 30 players in the 9 round FIDE rated event, with IM Junta Ikeda top top seed, and IM Andrew Brown second. There is a minimum prize pool of $1200, but given the good entry list so far, this will possibly increased.

Full details are

2016 ACT Championship
Venue: Campbell High School, Trealor Cres, Campbell ACT (next to War Memorial)
Dates: 12,13,14,20,21 February
Rounds: 7:30pm on Friday 12th, 10:30am and 2:30 pm on the other dates
Time control: 90m+30s

Further details are available at the ACT Chess Association website including an list of current entries.

(Disclaimer: I am a paid official for this event)

Playing Dracula

A few years ago I mentioned the TV show "Da Vinci's Demons", and how it used Go rather than Chess as a dramatic device. Well, as it reaches the end of its run, chess has now made an appearance.
In a slightly far fetched set of circumstances, a young Niccolo Machiavelli found himself imprisoned by Dracula (aka Vlad the Impaler) and his friend Zoroaster has to play a game of chess to save his life.
Fortunately for the future author of "The Prince", Zoroaster seems to have access to some 19th century trickery, and was able to win the game in very short order. Although there were some pauses for dramatic effect (and at least one set of moves were missing) after I spotted Black play 3. ... Nd4 I knew that Dracula was going fall victim to the Blackburne Shilling Gambit*. And whether this was coincidence or clever design by the authors, the scene ended with Zoroaster returning a gold coin he had stolen on a previous visit.

(* The moves were 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.Nxf7 Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3#)

Outsmarting yourself in blitz

I spent today helping run the 2016 ACT Junior Blitz Championship (won by Albert Winkleman) and was pleased by both the quality of play, and the behaviour of the players. No one cried during the 11 round event (always a good sign) and while a few players ended up less points than they should have (due to failing to report results), even they realised that it was something they should have been on top of.
The only new arbiting issue that I came across this year was application of the rule about when you can press your clock. One player was very short of time, and so was 'pre-moving', in that he had picked up the piece he planned to move before his opponent had completed theirs. (Oh don't be shocked. Blitz players do this all the time!)
Unfortunately for him, he had an opponent who either knew the rules too well, or maybe too little. With two seconds left on his clock, his opponent moved, and then he moved before his opponent pressed their clock. He then began to anticipate his next move, when much to his surprise, his opponent simply pushed the clock without moving. Stunned by this, he let his clock run down to zero (from not much more than zero). I was called over to adjudicate the finish of the game, and after asking the right questions, realised what had happened. He thought his opponent had pressed the clock without moving, while I explained his opponent had simply pressed the clock after his previous move (as he is entitles to do). He did accept this explanation with good grace, but I suspect he is now thinking of better ways to avoid losing on time.

Who needs 10 GM's?

I was having a discussion today with a fellow chessplayer about IM Moulthun Ly's stellar performance at the 2016 Gibraltar Masters. I remarked that Ly is now very close to the GM title (1 norm and few rating points away), and that would mean that Australia would have 6 GM's (including the retired Ian Rogers), and good chances for a few more (ie George Xie comes out of retirement, and the next wave of young IM's comes through).
It is entirely feasible than in the next few years Australia will have 10 GM's, and it was this thought that made me remember something from around 25 years ago. In the early 1990's the Australian Chess Federation (ACF) was presented with a draft strategic plan (authored by Brian Jones I think) and part of the plan was a number of goals. One of these goals was the number of titled players, specifically 10 GM's and 20 IM's within the life of the plan. Of course to achieve this goal, the ACF would need to commit resources and energy, both through the organisation of activities to help players (tournaments and training), and by increasing the funding levels in Australia (through increased income sources).
Unfortunately when it was presented, it was shot down on the spot, with comments like "10 grandmasters. That will never happen". It was explained that falling short by a few GM's is still not a bad outcome, but I do recall that even this was rejected, with another comment about whether the number of GM's in Australia really meant that much.
So 25 years later, some of the goals of the plan have happened anyway, although not through any co-ordinated decision making. It is true that the ACF is more willing to fund development in the country (eg GM tournaments), although it is still on a case by case basis, rather than as part of a specific policy. But I do wonder if the plan had been accepted at the time, how much further along Australian chess would be.

Waste less of your life with facebook?

I thought this was already a well know facebook feature, but it seems people are just waking up to fbchess. If you want to play a casual game of chess against a friend on facebook, no need to activate an app, just open the chat box and type @fbchess play The you can send moves to each other with the @fbchess tag (eg @fbchess Pd4). It doesn't matter ig you end the chess session or log off facebook, the game will be right were you left it next time you logg back on.

2016 ANU Masters Week 1

The ANU Chess club's traditional Masters event began this evening, with a field of 8 evenly matched players (who to be accurate, are not actual masters). For a while it looked as though all 4 games might end in draws, after Adrian De Noskowski held top seed Andrey Bliznyuk, and Alana Chibnall recovered from a bad position to draw with Miles Patterson.
However Victor Braguine managed to go up a pawn in a R+N v R+N ending against Dillon Hathiramani (in his tournament debut), but stern resistance from Hathiramani  meant that Braguine still needed some work before wining the game.
In the final game to finish last years winner Fred Litchfield beat Harry Press in a game where fortunes fluctuated throughout. For a while Press was better, but after missing a tactic with 26. ... d4! drifted into a worse position and despite having a passed pawn on f2, was cut down by a mating combination.


Litchfield,Fred - Press,Harry [B40]
ANU Masters, 03.02.2016

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 a6 4. g3 b5 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. d3 d6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Re1 Be7 9. Bg5 Nbd7 10. h3 Qc7 11. Ne2 O-O 12. g4 Rfe8 13. Ng3 Rac8 14. c3 Nf8 15. Nh2 Ng6 16. Qc1 h6 17. Bd2 Ne5 18. Bf1 Nfd7 19. g5 hxg5 20. Bxg5 Bxg5 21. Qxg5 f6 22. Qe3 d5 23. Be2 Ng6 24. Bh5 Ndf8 25. Nf3 Re7 26. e5 f5 27. Qg5 Nh8 28. d4 Nh7 29. Qf4 g6 30. Kh2 Rg7 31. Rg1 Nf6 32. Ng5 Re8 33. Bf3 Ne4 34. Bxe4 dxe4 35. Ne2 Bd5 36. Qd2 Qe7 37. Nf4 Nf7 38. Nxf7 Kxf7 39. Nxd5 exd5 40. Qf4 cxd4 41. cxd4 Qb4 42. Rgd1 Qxb2 43. Rac1 Kf8 44. Rc6 Qe2 45. Rg1 e3 46. Rgxg6 exf2 47. Rcf6+ Ke7 48. Rxg7+ Kd8 49. Rd6+ Kc8 50. Qc1+ 1-0

Quick update from Gibraltar

IM Moulthun Ly has just (in the last minute or so) drawn with English GM David Howell, to move closer to scoring a GM norm. He is now on 5/8, having played 5 Grandmasters and his TPR is now around 2600. The pairings for the next round are obviously important, as an opponent over 2600 will mean a draw should be enough, but someone below that level may require Ly to win his round 9 game.

2016 Gibraltar Traps

A big open like Gibraltar is fertile ground for spotting opening traps/disasters. I found a few last year, so I thought I'd go hunting again. Here are a few games from the early rounds where the game was finished almost before it started

In this game White needed to look to the left, and to the right.

Tarr,Steve F (1779) - Gulamali,Kazim (2379) 
Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2016  Gibraltar (1.118), 26.01.2016

1.d4 d6 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.e3 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Na3 Be6 6.c4 Qxb2 7.Nb5 Ne4 8.Rb1 Qxf2# 0-1

Here is another classic, which I am surprised Black did not recognise

Bellon Lopez,Juan Manuel (2376) - Kristinsson,Magnus (1776) 
Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2016  Gibraltar (1.119), 26.01.2016

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.e4 Be7 4.Bd3 d5 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Nh3 a6 9.Bxh7+ 1-0

Even at 2300 some players forget to look at *all* checks and captures

Lazarne Vajda,Szidonia (2359) - Ganguly,Surya Shekhar (2660)
Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2016  Gibraltar (2.59), 27.01.2016

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.Bd3 c5 5.c3 cxd4 6.cxd4 dxe4 7.Nxe4 Nf6 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Be3 Nb4 11.Nxf6+ Bxf6 12.Be4 Nd5 13.Qb3 b6 14.Bxd5 exd5 15.Ne5 Be6 16.Rac1 Bxe5 0-1

And for the final game, it's just tactics, tactics, tactics by White

De Rosa,Mariagrazia (2088) - Winter,Kevin (1825)
Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2016  Gibraltar (3.117), 28.01.2016

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.g4 e5 5.g5 Ng8 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Rg1 g6 8.Bc4 c6 9.Bb3 b5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Nxb5 Qa5+ 12.Nc3 Ba6 13.Bd2 Rd8 14.Nd5 Qb5 15.Nc7+ 1-0

Ly bags GM

Speaking of converting in the ending, IM Moulthun Ly had a very good win in the 5th round of the Gibraltar Masters, beating Indian GM SS Ganguly. Despite playing Black (and the Sicilian), Ly built up a strong kingside attack, before reaching a rook ending a pawn up. Ly then showed good technique to convert the position, as rook endings are difficult things to play, especially if all you have left are rook pawns.  The final moves of the game are well worth studying, as it shows the winning idea if you have a rrok pawn block by your own king on the 8th rank.
The win by Ly has him on 4/5 with a performance rating well over the 2600 level required for a GM norm.


Ganguly,Surya Shekhar (2660) - Ly,Moulthun (2474) [A00]
Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2016 Gibraltar (5.17), 30.01.2016

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qf3 d6 8. Be2 Nf6 9. O-O Be7 10. Qg3 O-O 11. f4 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. a3 Bb7 14. Rad1 Rad8 15. Bf3 Kh8 16. Rfe1 Rg8 17. Kh1 Nd7 18. Bh5 Rdf8 19. e5 dxe5 20. fxe5 Bc5 21. Qe3 Bxd4 22. Rxd4 f6 23. exf6 gxf6 24. Bf3 Bxf3 25. Qxf3 Ne5 26. Qh3 f5 27. Qh4 Qg7 28. Qg3 Ng4 29. Rd6 f4 30. Qf3 Ne5 31. Qe4 Nc4 32. Rd4 f3 33. g3 Nxb2 34. Nd1 Nc4 35. Rd3 f2 36. Rf1 Ne5 37. Rd6 Ng4 38. Rxe6 Nxh2 39. Rxf2 Nf1 40. Qe5 Nxg3+ 41. Kh2 Qxe5 42. Rxe5 Rd8 43. Re3 Rxd1 44. Rxg3 Rh1+ 45. Kxh1 Rxg3 46. a4 bxa4 47. Rf4 Rg6 48. Rxa4 Kg7 49. Kh2 Kf7 50. Rh4 h6 51. Ra4 Ke7 52. Kh3 Kd7 53. Kh4 Kc7 54. Kh5 Rf6 55. Kg4 Kb6 56. c4 Kc5 57. Kh5 Kd4 58. Kg4 Kc3 59. c5 Rc6 60. Kf3 Kb3 61. Rd4 Rxc5 62. Rd6 a5 63. Rxh6 Re5 64. Rb6+ Ka3 65. Rb8 a4 66. Kf2 Ka2 67. Rb4 a3 68. Rb8 Ka1 69. Rb3 a2 70. Rb6 Rh5 71. Ke2 Rh1 72. Kd3 Rb1 73. Rg6 Kb2 74. Rb6+ Kc1 75. Rc6+ Kd1 76. Rg6 Ke1 77. Kd4 0-1