2016/17 Hastings International - Day 3

Icelandic IM Gudmunder Kjartansson has taken the outright lead after three rounds of the 2016/17 Hastings International. Kjartansson was the only winner on the top 5 boards, beating English FM Ravia Haria.
Australian IM Bobby Cheng drew with English GM Mark Hebden on board 2, while compatriot Justin Tan had a nice win a little further down.
The leading pack is starting to sort themselves out, although there are a few dangerous players floating around the lower groups. Top seed SP Suthuraman scored his first win of the tournament to move up to 1.5, while the group of players on 2/3 contains no fewer than 6 GM's.
As this event has no rest day, there is both a New Years Eve, and New Years Day round. Players are able to take a bye (half point) on request, but surprisingly few have availed themselves of this option.


TAN,Justin (2451) - FOO,William J (2145) [A00]
Hastings Masters 2016/17 Horntye Park Sports Complex, B (3.8), 30.12.2016

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. c4 c6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O e5 6. d3 Ne7 7. Nbd2 h6 8. Rb1 f5 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. e4 Be6 11. Re1 Nbc6 12. b4 dxe4 13. dxe4 Bxa2 14. Rb2 fxe4 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Rxa2 Nd3 17. Nxe4 Nxe1 18. Rd2 Qc7 19. Nd6+ Kf8 20. Qxe1 Rd8 21. Qe6 Nc8 22. Ba3 Rxd6 23. Rxd6 Qxd6 24. Qxc8+ Kf7 25. Qxb7+ Kg8 26. Bd5+ Kh7 27. Bb2 Qf8 28. g4 1-0

If you wish to see the results, or follow the live games, then visit the tournament website at http://www.hastingschess.com/

2016/17 Hastings International Day 2 - A good day for the Australians

Day 2 of the 2016/17 Hastings International saw the 3 Australian players all end up with good results. IM Bobby Cheng defeated GM Deep Sengupta on the top board to go to 2/2, while IM Justin Tan had a quick win over IM Robert Bellin. Harry Press scored his second draw of the tournament, holding on despite being a pawn down against Alan Byron.
Top seed SP Sethuraman had another tough day, drawing with English FM Robert Eames. GM Danny Gormally was another upset loss, with FM Ravi Haria finding a nice win in a Q+2 Minors v Q+R position.
Currently 9 players are on 2/2, including GM's Allan Rasmussen (DEN) and Mark Hebden (ENG). Tomorrows round is the last accelerated round as well, with the top half getting a bonus 0.5 for this round (as defined in the new Baku rules). So far the acceleration seems to have worked well, with the pairings not being too problematic. In round 4 everyone will be paired using their 'natural' scores, but even then I don't expect too many unbalanced pairings.

2016/17 Hastings International - Day 1

It is tough at the top. The first day of the 2016/17 Hastings International saw a number of upsets on the higher boards, with seeds 1 and 3 losing, and the third second seed being held to a draw. The acceleration of the pairings obviously resulted in tougher first round opponents than usual, but it was still a surprise to see the carnage unfold.
After that there were more 'normal' results, although a number of higher rated opponents conceded draws to lower rated opposition. and there was still the odd upset victory. Nonetheless there some of the higher rated opponents still handed out the chess lesson to their opponents including the following quick win by Danny Gormally.


Gormally,Daniel W - Teh,Eu Wen Aron [E54]
2016/17 Hastings Masters, 28.12.2016

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. exd4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b6 10. Bg5 Bb7 11. Rc1 Be7 12. Re1 Nbd7 13. Ne5 h6 14. Bf4 Nxe5 15. dxe5 Nd5 16. Bxd5 Bxd5 17. Qg4 Bg5 18. Rcd1 Bxf4 19. Qxf4 Rc8 20. Ne4 Rc4 21. b3 Rc2 22. Nf6+ gxf6 23. Qxh6 fxe5 24. Rd3 1-0

If you wish to see the results, or follow the live games, then visit the tournament website at http://www.hastingschess.com/

Hastings - First Impressions

I am starting to settle in at Hastings, with the 2016/17 Hastings International Chess Congress starting this afternoon. Despite the stories about trudging through 4 feet of snow, or the see freezing over, it is quite pleasant at the moment. I am staying on the sea front, with a nice view across the English Channel.
I spent yesterday evening helping the organising team set up at the venue. A lot of hard work goes into an event like this, especially as there are a couple of different events being held at the same time. Apart from the 97 player Masters events, there is a Christmas Congress, which is split into 4 sections. The top 24 boards from the Masters will be covered live via DGT boards, and you can follow the action from the tournament website.
One interesting feature of the Masters is that they are using Accelerated Pairings. The new Baku System is going to be tried although it is not clear if the pairing software ISwiss Manager/JavaFo) is able to handle it yet. So the first few rounds will be paired by hand (apparently a Hastings tradition anyway) before moving over the computer pairings.
Round times for the Masters is 2:15 pm local time, which is 1:15 am Canberra time. As the time limit is a very generous 40 in 100m followed by 50m with a 30 second increment, you may be able to catch the tail end of the games in the morning.

Rapid and Blitz in Qatar

For the last few years the Qatar Masters has been a big event this time of year, but for 2016 it has been replaced with the FIDE World rapid and Blitz Championship. 120 players in the Open and 36 in the Womens event are playing a 3 day 15 round Rapid, and a 2 day 21 round Blitz. Magnus Carlsen is the top seed, but plenty of the worlds top players are also taking part.
After the first day Anton Korabov is the only player on 5/5. Lev Aronian is on 4.5, with a number of players on 4. Carlsen had a very shaky start, drawing with SS Ganguly (with Ganguly missing a forced mate), and losing to Pantsulaia in the 2nd round. 3 straight wins kept him in touch with the leaders, but he now has some work too do.
The official website is here, while you can follow the games at Chess24

Christmas Cracking

It is Christmas Day here in the UK, so I've just enough time to throw in a late Christmas present. This was an online game played earlier today, where an early deviation from theory met with an untimely end. For those looking to repeat this line (with either colour), taking the knight on b4 was not sound, but neither was Na6 for Black (O-O!), The final big mistake was 15. ... d4 as White has a forced win after that.


Press,Harry - Saint,Nick [C17]
Xmas Blitz, 25.12.2016

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. Qg4 c5 6. a3 Qa5 7. axb4 Qxa1 8. Nge2 cxd4 9. Nb5 Na6 10. Qxg7 Rg8 11. Nd6+ Kd7 12. Qxf7 Nxb4 13. g3 Nxc2+ 14. Kd2 d3 15. Nc3 Nb4 16. Bh3 d4 17. Bxe6+ Kc6 18. Ncb5 Kc5 19. Bxc8 Qb1 20. Qc4+ Kb6 21. Qc7+ Ka6 22. Bxb7# 1-0

Rapidplay Revisted

Having seen the success of big Rapidplay in the UK, I am still wondering why it didn't catch on in Australia. There was a push in the 1990's to make it a 'thing', including the Australian Rapidplay Open in Sydney, which had some big sponsorship, and an appearance by the Polgar Sisters. However it seemed to fizzle out after a couple of years, and hasn't really been tried since.
One obvious reason is the market for it. Players seem happy with weekend events with longer time controls (especially FIDE rated ones), or faster events like Street Chess. A single day rapid falls between the two, and so does not attract travellers from afar, or players willing to sacrifice an entire day.
Having said that, when I get back to Australia I may try and test the market, at least in Canberra. A single day 6 round Quickplay (as the ACF now calls it), with a time limit of G20m+10s per move, with a minimum prize pool of $900. $50 flat entry fee (sorry, no concessions) with 6 to 9 prizes on offer, depending on the size of the field. As it is a serious event, FIDE rating it is a given. I'd also use the English method for awarding category prizes, which is based on Score Achieved minus  Score Expected, so as to reward good play and avoid the luck of the last round draw.
To make it work properly I would need to run at least 2 events, to see how it performs as a concept. The only other issue I need to work around is the somewhat crowded Canberra chess calendar. ACT Champs and Doeberl are to big events early in the year, but possibly I can squeeze it in somewhere.

Hastings in a few days

The Hastings International Chess Congress begins a couple of days after Christmas, and after years of saying I've wanted to attend this event, I am actually going to attend this event. I'm going as an arbiter rather than a player, and given my recent form, this looks to be the smart choice.
The Masters event has the usual mix of UK and OS GM's, and there will be at least 3 Australian players in the field. IM's Justin Tan and Bobby Cheng will be looking for GM norms from this event, while Harry Press is hoping to pick up more rating points.
Looking back at previous events I came across the following game, which is of some interest. It is between veteran Hastings player Bernard Cafferty and Maris Cekulis, from Australia. It was played in 2012, and was a win for the local champion.


Cekulis,Maris (1811) - Cafferty,Bernard (2105) [A62]
Hastings Masters 88th Hastings (1), 28.12.2012

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. O-O a6 10. a4 Qe7 11. Nd2 Nbd7 12. Nc4 Ne5 13. Nxe5 Qxe5 14. Bf4 Qe7 15. Qd2 Rb8 16. a5 b5 17. e4 Nd7 18. Rae1 Ne5 19. Bxe5 Qxe5 20. Qc2 Bd7 21. Nd1 Qd4 22. Nc3 b4 23. Nd1 Bb5 24. Re3 b3 25. Qc1 Bh6 26. f4 g5 27. Rf2 c4 28. Nc3 Bd7 29. Qe1 Rfe8 30. Nd1 gxf4 31. gxf4 Bg7 32. Kh1 Re7 33. Nc3 Rbe8 34. f5 Qf6 35. Qf1 Re5 36. Rg3 Kh8 37. h3 Rc8 38. Ne2 Ree8 39. Nf4 Qh6 40. Rgf3 Rxe4 41. Ne6 Bf6 42. Rc3 Rh4 43. Qc1 Bb5 44. Qd1 Rg8 45. Nc7 Be5 46. Rcf3 Rd4 47. Qf1 Rd2 0-1

Not an appealing tournament

It seems that the Victorian Lightning Championship started as one of the strongest state blitz championships in Australia, but ended as one of the most controversial. On paper an event with 3 GM's, 5 IM's, 1 WIM, 5 FM's and 1 WFM in a 54 player field should be considered a success for the organisers, but the heavy hand of the arbiting team saw it run off the rails.
The main issue was a the announcement of a new rule that prevented players from starting their move (by touching a piece) before their opponent had pressed the clock. The punishment for this was loss of game. As a result a number of games were decided in this manner, including games between the top seeds.
It is not clear why the arbiters thought such a rule was either valid or necessary. There is no such rule in the FIDE Laws of Chess that prevents a player from moving immediately after their opponent has made a move. Of course some players find this tactic annoying (including myself), but it is not illegal. Indeed the rules (6.2.A in the FIDE Laws of Chess) explicitly describe the case where an opponent has moved while his opponent has not pressed their clock, and simply state that the first player can complete their move by pressing the clock. (NB I was on the FIDE Rules Commission when this rule was discussed and it was decided that there will be no rule change to prevent players from moving before the opponent has pressed their clock)
To introduce such a rule is also asking for trouble. In my experience the best run events require as little involvement from arbiters as possible. For example the 2 day 10 round 475 player LCC Super Rapidplay had only one issue that I saw (an incorrect draw offer involving raised voices), in part because the arbiters only involved themselves at the request of the players. There was a brief explanation about the application of A.4 (Rapidplay Rules), but otherwise the arbiters left the players to manage their own affairs.
The other reported issue from this event was involving appeals. IM James Morris lodged a formal complaint after losing a game in this manner, but the appeals committee included the arbiter who had made the initial ruling. This is not how appeals committees are supposed to operate, and I am surprised that the VCA (the organising body) would allow this to stand.
As a consequence the whole event is now under a cloud. There is talk of not submitting it for rating (either with FIDE or with the Australian Chess Federation) while the predictable debate about the quality of arbiters (and the suitability of their titles) has begun. This issue might run for a while, as I'm sure the organisers might feel aggrieved if such an action was taken, although how they balance this with the actual conduct of the event remains to be seen.

The journey continues

As I am currently on a chess holiday in the UK, this blog is a little more travelogue than usual.
With the London Chess Classic out of the way, Harry and I have travelled down to Gloucestershire to spend Christmas with family, before moving onto the Hastings Chess Congress a few days later. Although this part of the trip is a little chess-lite, trips to this part of th UK usually involve excursions to second hand book shops, looking for additions to my chess library. If I have the time, Hay-on-Wye is on the agenda, but if not, Gloucester and Bath may provide some decent alternatives.

2017 Oceania Zonal - 14th to 20th January 2017

Entries for the 2017 Oceania Zonal are coming in, and the Open is starting to look quite strong. Up for grabs is a spot in the 2017 World Cup in Georgia, as well as the opportunity to earn titles for good performances.
IM Anton Smirnov is currently the top seed, with GM Max Illingworth, IM Gary Lane and GM Darryl Johansen at the top of the field. There are 2 GM's and 6 IM's entered so far, with 28 players rated above 2000.
The Women's Zonal currently has a smaller field, with 11 players entered at this time. IM Irina Berzina is the top seed, with Layla Timergazi the big hope for host country New Zealand.
The tournament runs from the 14th to the 20th January 2017 in Auckland New Zealand.

LCC Super Rapidplay - Valentina Gunina wins

Russian GM Valentin Gunina has won the 2016 LCC Super Rapidplay with an impressive 9/10. A last round win over GM Luke McShane gave her outright first and the 5000 GBP first prize. Seeded 33rd in the tournament she played seeds 2,3,4,5,6 and 8 and scored 5/6 against them. Eltaj Sarfali finished in second place on 8.5, while 11 players finished in a tie for 3rd.
Of the Australian players taking part, WIM Arianne Caoili finished with the best score of 6/10. Harry Press scored 5.5, and Chris Skulte finished with 5. David Guthrie, formerly of New Zealand, but now based in London, also finished on 5.5, drawing with Harry Press in the final round.

LCC Super Rapidplay day 1

Day 1 of the London Chess Classic Super Rapidplay saw around 470 take part in the UK's largest ever rapid event. As someone who is used to arbiting somewhat smaller events, I was impressed by both the organisation of the tournament, and the general vibe of the event.
There are 10 arbiters for the tournament, including a dedicated pairing arbiter, plus other helpers. This helped the tournament stick to the published schedule, as arbiters weren't involved in managing games, and then running off to do pairings, like in Australian events. Also each game has a result ticket at the board, which players fill out and hand in at the end of the game, resulting in less confusion about results. Also, from an arbiters point of view, the players seem to be a bit more serious about their chess than in Australia, meaning that their were no disputes in my section, and hardly any problems in the rest of the tournament.
As for the actual chess, there are still 7 players with a perfect 5/5. English GM David Howell is waving the flag for the host country, but with GM's filling the next 33 places, the likely winner is still hard to predict.
Interesting there are a number of players with a Canberra connection. GM Hrant Melkumyan  is on 4.5 (drawing in round 1!), while Arianne Caoili is on 4. Canadian player Daniel Abrahams (formerly at the ANU) is on 3/5, beating GM Abhijeet Gupta in round 2, while Harry Press is on the same score, drawing with GM Benjamin Bok in the opening round.

Scaling up

My usual experience with Rapidplay events is the regular Street Chess tournaments I run. It happens every Saturday and the average size if the field is around 16 players. Occasionally there will be a bigger field for a special event like the ACT Rapid Championship, where 30 to 40 players will normally play.
Today I'm helping out at the London Chess Classic Super Rapidplay. This is an incredibly popular event and attracts a field of over 400 players. It runs for 2 days, with a slightly longer time control of 25m+10s. One of the reasons for its popularity is almost all the strong GM's playing in the LCC FIDE Open back up for this event, and it gives everyone a change to mix it with the heavy hitters.
There will be a large team of arbiters handing the event, and it will be interesting to see how it all gets managed. So far I've only heard positive things about previous tournaments, so I'm guessing that the organisers have it down pat.

Prepped to death

One of the differences between club chess and tournament chess is the level of opening preparation you face. In almost every game I have played so far, my opponents have prepared a specific opening line against me. Sometimes it works for them, and sometimes it doesn't.
I lost a horrible game in round 2 after missing a opening tactic, but for some reason my round 4 opponent avoided playing the same line. Instead he thought he would avoid my previous opening choices, but instead played into a Gruenfeld, which is an opening I have played for about 15 years.
But rather than show that game (which ended in a draw) I'll show an example where prep worked to deadly effect. Harry Press noticed his opponent played the same line of the Veresov, and after some investigation found a nice idea involving Ba3!!. His opponent started to go wrong straight away, and after another 5 moves resigned a he was about to lose a rook.


Salewski,Bernd - Press,Harry [D01]
London Chess Classic Under 2050, 15.12.2016

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5 Nbd7 4. f3 c6 5. e4 dxe4 6. fxe4 e5 7. dxe5 Qa5 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. exf6 Ba3 10. bxa3 Qxc3+ 11. Kf2 Nxf6 12. Bd3 Qd4+ 13. Ke1 Ng4 14. Be2 Qc3+ 0-1

Do I have a generous looking face - redux

I'm not to sure whether my recent play has been unconvincing, but I seem to be having a difficulty in convincing my opponents to resign. Twice in the last three games at the LCC Under 2050, I've managed to be up a rook for a couple of pawns, but have needed to play another 20 moves or so before the point has been conceded. Possibly I have been a little over cautious in converting, giving my opponents some hope, but better safe than sorry. To be fair to my opponents I don't begrudge them playing on, but there is only so many late dinners I can handle, before hunger overwhelms my good nature.

Wisdom of the ageing

On thing that I have noticed on my various trips to the UK is that the average age of the players is significantly older than in Australian events. The generation that began playing as part of the "Fischer boom" is well represented, as is the next wave of players who followed the "English Chess Explosion" of the late 1970's and 80's. What is less prevalent is the hordes of primary aged children we do get in Australian events, with most junior players at the LCC being teenagers.
That is not to say there isn't a strong primary school chess scene in the UK, as there were large numbers of school groups visiting the London Chess Classic, but they were there as spectators, not as players.
Conventional wisdom might be that the lack of active primary players might be detrimental to the future of UK chess, but the numbers indicate that this might not be the case. Where the UK chess scene has it over Australia is in retaining active players. While Australia has a large junior pool, keeping them active beyond their late teens is the challenge. As a personal example, I began playing tournaments as a 16 year old, but in any event I play (or run), there would be very few players with careers as long as mine (35 years). On the other hand, I suspect a much larger percentage of UK players have been playing for that long, a figure that I would place as high as 50%
That is not to say that chess in the UK is just for oldies. But certainly they have succeeded in both developing new players,but more importantly, turning them into life long supporters of the game , something that Australia has been less good at doing.

One in a row

The chess part of my 2 month holiday started this afternoon at the London Chess Classic Under 2050 event. This 5 round event is running alongside the LCC Open, and has attracted a field of around 50 players. I started in the top half of the field, but even then had to work for my point.
My game started well after my opponent missed a tactical trick out of the opening, forgetting that the f pawn was pinned after he castled. After swapping off some material my opponent then dropped a piece, but in return a trio of passed pawns looked menacing. Despite being downa rook he found some clever moves, but eventually I was able to win a pawn and swap queens, at which point he resigned.
It is always good to get a first win out of the way, but I suspect tomorrow I may have a much tougher opponent, as there were a number of draws between top half and bottom half players.


Press,Shaun - Patel,Rishi [C48]
London Chess Classic Under 2050, 12.12.2016

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bc5 5. O-O Qe7 6. d3 h6 7. Be3 Nd4 8. Bc4 d6 9. h3 a6 10. Bxd4 Bxd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Ne2 c5 13. Nf4 O-O 14. Ng6 Qd7 15. Nxf8 Kxf8 16. f4 d5 17. Bxd5 Nxd5 18. exd5 Qxd5 19. Qf3 Qe6 20. a3 Qb6 21. b3 Bd7 22. Rae1 Bc6 23. Qf2 Qa5 24. a4 Qc3 25. g4 b5 26. axb5 axb5 27. Re2 Bd5 28. Qe1 Qb2 29. c4 Qxb3 30. cxd5 Qxd3 31. Kh2 b4 32. d6 Qb5 33. Re7 Qc6 34. d7 Ra2+ 35. Re2 Rxe2+ 36. Qxe2 Qxd7 37. Qc4 Qd6 38. Kg2 Qc6+ 39. Kg1 Qc7 40. Rc1 Qxf4 41. Qxc5+ Kg8 42. Qc8+ Kh7 43. Qf5+ Qxf5 44. gxf5 1-0

2016 Australasian Masters

The Melbourne Chess Club is the venue for the 2016 Australasian Masters. The top event is a 10 player GM norm event, while there is also an IM norm event running alongside.
IM Anton Smirnov is off to a good start, beating GM Vasily Papin in round 2. He needs 7/9 to score his second (and final) GM norm, while the rest of the non-GM's need 6.5. FM's Chris Wallis and Karl Zelesco can also score IM norms, needing 5/9. In the Masters event, the IM norm score is an equally tough 7/9.
The tournament runs until the 18th of December, with most rounds starting at 4pm. Live coverage of the GM event can also be found on chess24.com


Smirnov,Anton - Papin,Vasily [B42]
Australasian Masters, 11.12.2016

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Bc5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. Nc3 Qc7 8. Bd3 Nf6 9. O-O d6 10. Be3 Nbd7 11. f4 b6 12. a4 Rb8 13. Kh1 Bb7 14. a5 bxa5 15. Rxa5 Nc5 16. Bxc5 dxc5 17. e5 Nd7 18. Ra3 g6 19. Be4 Bxe4 20. Nxe4 Rb6 21. Nbd2 O-O 22. Rb3 Rxb3 23. Qxb3 Rb8 24. Qc3 Rb6 25. b3 Nb8 26. Qe3 Rb7 27. Nf6+ Bxf6 28. exf6 Nd7 29. Ne4 Qb8 30. Qd2 h6 31. h4 Kh7 32. Rf3 Qh8 33. Qc3 a5 34. h5 Qb8 35. hxg6+ fxg6 36. f7 h5 37. Ng5+ Kh6 38. Nxe6 1-0

London Chess Classic

I manged a quick visit to the London Chess Classic this afternoon, and was able to experience the shear size of the event. Apart from the 10 player Classic, the FIDE Open had a field of over 200 players, while the weekend events have attracted another 300 players. Apart from the playing areas, the foyer was filled with analysis boards, and the large commentary room was 80% full.
I didn't stay for too long, but I did get to see one of the playoff games from the British Knockout Championship (another innovative event). Nigel Short was paired with Luke McShane and played a line against the Pirc which he said served him well against Yasser Seirawan about 25 years ago. Once Short played e6 McShane had to find the right defensive moves, but it was on move 12 that McShane played to wrong move. After that Short was always better, and won both the game and the playoff.


Short,Nigel - McShane,Luke [B00]
British Knockout Ch'ship Olympia Conference Centre (9.1), 10.12.2016

1. e4 d6 2. d4 g6 3. Be3 Bg7 4. Nc3 a6 5. h4 Nf6 6. f3 b5 7. g4 h5 8. e5 Nfd7 9. gxh5 Rxh5 10. e6 fxe6 11. Bd3 Nf8 12. f4 Bb7 13. Bxg6+ Kd7 14. Bxh5 Bxh1 15. Bf3 Bxf3 16. Nxf3 Qe8 17. Ng5 Qg6 18. Qf3 Nc6 19. O-O-O Rb8 20. Nce4 b4 21. Nc5+ dxc5 22. dxc5+ Bd4 23. Bxd4 Qe8 24. Bg7+ Kc8 25. Bxf8 Kb7 26. Nxe6 Qg6 27. Nd8+ Rxd8 28. Rxd8 Qg1+ 29. Rd1 Qg8 30. Bxe7 Qxa2 31. Bf6 Qc4 32. b3 Qxc5 33. Kb1 1-0

2016 Lidums Young Masters - 2 new IM's

The 2016 Lidums Young Masters finished with FM's Ziangyi Liu (SGP) and Li Tian Yeoh (MAS) tieing for first place with 6/9. Not only was this score good enough to win the event, but was also enough for both players to score their final IM norms. Yeoh lead by half a point going into the final round (along with IM Bobby Cheng), but only drew with Patrick Gong (AUS). Cheng lost to IM Kanan Izzat (AZE) to stay on 5.5, and a win by Liu over FM Yi Liu (AUS) enabled him to join Yeoh at the top of the table.

Top seed GM Adrien Demuth tied for third with 5.5 alongside Izzat and Cheng, while early leader IM James Morris defeated IM Andrew Brown to finish on 5/9.

Hughston Parle (AUS) won the Junior Masters event with 7/9, and Gavyn Sanusi-Goh won the Under 1600 event with 8.5/9


Yeoh, Li Tian (2432) - Morris, James (2457)
2016 Lidums Australian Young Masters (Adelaide, South Australia), 08.12.2016

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O c6 7. a4 O-O 8. Qe2 Qc7 9. Rd1 b6 10. d5 Bb7 11. Bg5 Rac8 12. dxc6 Bxc6 13. Ba6 Rcd8 14. Bb5 Bb7 15. Bxd7 Rxd7 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. Nd5 Qd8 18. Qb5 Be7 19. Nxe5 dxe5 20. Nxe7+ Rxe7 21. Rxd8 Rxd8 22. f3 Re6 23. a5 a6 24. Qc4 Rc8 25. Qd3 bxa5 26. Qd7 Rb8 27. Qc7 Ree8 28. Rd1 Ba8 29. Rd7 g6 30. Qa7 1-0

Normal service being resumed

I have touched down in London, but getting back online took me a little longer than I thought. Throwing a little money British Telecoms way seems to have done the trick, and hopefully this will keep me socially connected for the next month or so.
Yesterday was spent settling in to where we (my son and I) are staying for the next week and a half, as well as overcoming the urge to fall asleep at random moments. This problem may persist for the next few days, but hopefully will be conquered by the start of out first chess tournament.
For now it is a bit of sight seeing and exploration. Might drop in to see the early rounds of the London Chess Classic as well, and if I do I'll be sure to report it.

Heading out

Of to England tomorrow morning, spending the usual 36 or so hours going from door to door. I touch down just as the London Chess Classic starts, but as I will still be in recovery mode for a few days, I might not drop in until Sunday or Monday.
In the meantime I squeezed in one last game at Belconnen Chess Club before I left. It was a useful warm up before I go, but both myself and my opponent missed an import nuance on move 40, which would have turned my single tempo win into a single tempo draw.


Pearce,Tim - Press,Shaun [D20]
Swiss Festive Fun, 06.12.2016

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. d5 Nf6 5. Nc3 c6 6. Bxc4 Bb4 7. f3 O-O 8. Bg5 Be7 9. Qd2 Nxd5 10. Bxe7 Nxe7 11. O-O-O Qxd2+ 12. Rxd2 Nd7 13. Nge2 b5 14. Bb3 Nc5 15. Bc2 b4 16. Na4 Nxa4 17. Bxa4 Be6 18. Rhd1 c5 19. Kb1 Rab8 20. Bd7 Rb7 21. Bxe6 fxe6 22. Rd7 Rfb8 23. Nc1 c4 24. Rd8+ Rxd8 25. Rxd8+ Kf7 26. Kc2 Rc7 27. Ne2 Nc6 28. Rd2 Ke7 29. a3 a5 30. h4 Rd7 31. Rxd7+ Kxd7 32. Ng3 Nd4+ 33. Kd2 Kc6 34. axb4 axb4 35. Nh5 g6 36. Nf6 h5 37. Nh7 Kb5 38. Nf8 Ka4 39. Nxg6 Kb3 40. Kc1 c3 41. bxc3 bxc3 42. Nxe5 Ne2+ 43. Kd1 c2+ 0-1

2016 Lidums Australian Young Masters

Adelaide is hosting a strong IM event, as well as a couple of junior tournaments for up and coming players.
The Australian Young Masters is being held at Adelaide Uni, and is offering IM norms in the top section. GM Adrien Demuth (FRA) is the top seed, with IM Kanan Izzat, FM Li Tian Yeoh, and FM Ziangyi Liu making up the overseas contingent. However it is IM James Morris (AUS)  who leads the event with 3.5/4. He is being closely followed by FM Liu on 3.0, with IM Bobby Cheng the only other player above 50%. Results for this event are being posted here.
Alongside this event are the Junior Masters, and Junior Masters Under 1600 tournaments. These events have just begun (2 rounds today), so it is too early to predict a winner.

The Grand Tour

Apologies for the somewhat sporadic blogging recently. Apart from work keeping me busy, an upcoming overseas trip is also taking up my time. Starting on Wednesday (7th December), I, accompanied by my son, will be off on a 9 week trip to the UK. Unsurprisingly, there will be a heavy chess component to the trip, with the London Chess Classic, Hastings International, a 4NCL weekend (and weekender), plus Gibraltar Masters all on the schedule. For some events we will be playing, while for a couple of others I will be an arbiter.
I will be blogging on the trip, so hopefully I can provide some on the spot coverage of these events. Given my current form I suspect my rating might take a bit of a hammering, but as most of these events have been on my to-do list for a number of years, I'm pretty sure the loss of ratings points will be worth it.
 

Carlsen wins World Championship after playoffs.

The 2016 World Championship Match ended today with Magnus Carlsen winning the playoffs 3-1 over Sergey Karjakin. The final two games of the playoffs were both won by Carlsen, after Karjakin blundered in time trouble in game 3, and rolling the dice in game 4, got mated with a nice queen sac.
While the final day had plenty of excitement, the match itself was fairly dull. A narrow choice of openings and strategy by both players resulted in fairly risk free chess, with Carlsen trying to convert small advantages, while Karjakin seemed happier to defend. Of course if Carlsen had converted some advantageous endgames earlier in the match Karjakin may have been forced to change his approach to stay afloat, but as it was, this situation only occurred in the very final game.
This is Carlsen's third World Championship win, and his narrowest. The cycle to determine the next challenger starts anew, and while I still hope for a Carlsen v Caruana match, there may be a number of other players trying to change that.