2023 ACT Chess Championship - 10th title for Ikeda

 IM Junta Ikeda is the ACT Chess Champion for the 10th time, after finishing on 7/7 in the 2023 Championship. He completed his perfect score with wins over CM Hui Li in round 6 and Terrence Tang in the final round. A point behind was FM Michael Kethro who finished his event with a nice attacking win over Malik Amer. CM Hui Li tied for 3rd place on 5.5, along with up and coming junior player Thomas Gatzen-O'Keefe. Seeded 15th in the tournament Gatzen-O'Keefe won his last 4 games to pick up a share of the third place prize, as well as some rating points.

Michael Rolph finished on 4.5 the win the best FIDE Unrated prize, while Olamide Fasakin had the biggest rating gain in the tournament. Gatzen-O'Keefe was the winner of Rating Group 1, while Jonah gear was the best scoring player from Rating Group 2.

Full results from the tournament can be found at http://tournaments.streetchess.net/actchampionship2023/

Junta Ikeda - Hui Li [D36]
2023 ACT Championship (6), 29.05.2023

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Be7 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Nge2 O-O 9. Qc2 Re8 10. O-O Nf8 11. f3 Be6 12. Rad1 Ng6 13. Kh1 Rc8 14. a3 a6 15. Na4 Nd7 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. b4 a5 18. Nc5 axb4 19. axb4 b6 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Rb1 Ngf8 22. f4 c5 23. Qd2 ( 23. dxc5 ) 23...  Nf6 ( 23... c4 ) 24. h3 N8d7 25. g4 Rf8 26. Ng3 Ne8 27. g5 Nd6 28. h4 ( 28. bxc5 bxc5 29. h4 c4 30. Bc2 Nf5 31. Nxf5 exf5 32. Kg2 Qe6 33. Ra1 Rb8 34. Kf2 g6 ) 28...  c4 29. Be2 Nf5 ( 29... b5 30. Ra1 Nb8 31. Bg4 Nc6 32. e4 Nxe4 33. Nxe4 dxe4 34. Rae1 Nd8 35. d5 c3 36. Qg2 ) 30. Nxf5 Rxf5 31. Bg4 Rff8 32. b5 Rfe8 33. Qc3 Nf8 34. Kg2 Ra8 35. Ra1 Rec8 ( 35... Qd7 36. Qb4 Ng6 37. Kh3 Ne7 38. e4 Rxa1 39. Rxa1 Rf8 40. Kg3 h5 41. gxh6 gxh6 42. e5 ) 36. Kg3 g6 37. Bf3 Qb7 38. Rxa8 Rxa8 ( 38... Qxa8 ) 39. Qxc4 Rc8 40. Qd3 Qa7 41. e4 dxe4 42. Bxe4 Qa5 43. Bc6 Rd8 44. Rd1 Qb4 ( 44... Qa4 ) 45. Qe3 Qa4 46. Rd2 Qc4 47. Qd3 ( 47. d5 ) 47...  Qb4 48. Kf3 ( 48. d5 ) 48...  Qd6 ( 48... e5 49. Qc2 exd4 50. Qa2+ Kh8 51. Qf7 Qxd2 52. Qf6+ Kg8 53. Qxd8 Qe3+ 54. Kg2 Qd2+ ) 49. Qc4 Qa3+ 50. Qd3 Qc1 51. Rd1 Qb2 52. Kg3 Qb4 53. d5 Qd6 ( 53... h5 54. d6 ) 54. Qe3 Qc7? Mistake. h5 was best. ( 54... h5 55. gxh6 ) 55. Qe5 ( 55. dxe6 Rxd1 56. e7 Qd6 57. Qb3+ Kh8 58. exf8=R+ Qxf8 59. Qxd1 h5 60. gxh6 Kh7 61. Qa1 Kxh6 ) 55...  Qxe5 ( 55... Qa7 56. Qc3 ) 56. fxe5 exd5 57. Rxd5 Rc8 58. Rd6 Kf7 59. Bd5+ Ke7 60. Rxb6 Rc5 61. Rb7+ Kd8 62. Bc6 Rxe5 63. Rb8+ Ke7 64. Re8+ 1-0