Despite attempts to make at least one blog post per day, I am once again falling short. Surprisingly the cause of this is that I am quite busy with of all things, chess! It is the middle of the Canberra Interschool season, and some of my days are taken up running events.
One thing I'm pleased to report on is that the understanding of the game has improved among Canberra school students in recent years. Previously I have more than my share of bizarre rule interpretations, but they seemed to have disappeared recently.
One example was in a game today when a player said his opponents fingers bumped his king, but he then moved another piece. When I explained 'touch move' applied when a player touched a piece 'intending to move it' he was happy to tell me that his opponent didn't touch his piece on purpose. Of course there were a few illegal moves played, but even then they were corrected without much stress. Probably the greatest surprise for the 60 odd players who took part was that in competition chess, you don't have to say "check"!
Showing posts with label Junior Chess. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Junior Chess. Show all posts
Monday, 24 June 2019
Sunday, 4 November 2018
Showing real class
This weekend saw the playoffs for the ACT Schools Championship to decide which teams will take part in the Australian Schools Teams Championship. The most closely contested event was the Primary Open section where 3 evenly match teams took part. With one match left to play (Radford v Garran), any of the three teams (Radford, Turner or Garran) could qualify, depending upon the result.
Garran needed an unlikely 4-0 win to finish in first place, while Radford only needed 2 points. Any other result would see Turner go through, as they had already played all their games. After the first 20 minutes, it began to look as though Garran was in with a chance, as they stood better on all boards. But a win for Radford on board 3 changed that equation, with only Turner or Radford now in the running. However Garran scored two wins and with a superior position in the remaining game, it looked as though Turner was off to Adelaide. Then in a finish reminiscent of a more high profile junior event this week, dogged defence by the last Radford player paid off, as his opponent faltered, and he pulled off a miraculous win to see Radford qualify by the narrowest margin.
A tragic loss for Garran, a missed opportunity for Turner, and a fortunate outcome for Radford, but most importantly, the whole event was played in good spirits and with good sportsmanship. No complaints or appeals (which occurred in the World Youth), just sincere congratulations to the winning team.
In the other sections Canberra Grammar will be representing the ACT in the Open Secondary, while Turner won the Girls Primary playoff against Caroline Chisholm, earning the chance to defend the title they won last year.
Garran needed an unlikely 4-0 win to finish in first place, while Radford only needed 2 points. Any other result would see Turner go through, as they had already played all their games. After the first 20 minutes, it began to look as though Garran was in with a chance, as they stood better on all boards. But a win for Radford on board 3 changed that equation, with only Turner or Radford now in the running. However Garran scored two wins and with a superior position in the remaining game, it looked as though Turner was off to Adelaide. Then in a finish reminiscent of a more high profile junior event this week, dogged defence by the last Radford player paid off, as his opponent faltered, and he pulled off a miraculous win to see Radford qualify by the narrowest margin.
A tragic loss for Garran, a missed opportunity for Turner, and a fortunate outcome for Radford, but most importantly, the whole event was played in good spirits and with good sportsmanship. No complaints or appeals (which occurred in the World Youth), just sincere congratulations to the winning team.
In the other sections Canberra Grammar will be representing the ACT in the Open Secondary, while Turner won the Girls Primary playoff against Caroline Chisholm, earning the chance to defend the title they won last year.
Saturday, 13 October 2018
2018 ACT Junior Championship
Congratulations to Joshua Lee for winning the 2018 ACT Junior Chess Championship. He scored an impressive 8/9 to win the FIDE rated tournament, a full point ahead of Lachlan Ho, Yizhen Diao and Ruofan Xu. He only looked in difficulty against Ho, and a quick last round draw against Dexuean Kong was enough to capture the title.
Athena Hathiramani was the best placed female player, in an event which had a female entry of a little over 25% Erin Milne tied with Hathiramani and won the Under 12 Girls trophy.
It was interesting to see the difference in results between players with a FIDE rating and those without. The FIDE rated players beat all their non rated opponents (with the exception of a single draw), even if they had worse positions during the game. Clearly the experience at playing at a higher level comes in handy in situations like this, as the 'saves' were often due to their opponents eventually losing concentration and blundering back.
There were 42 players in the tournament which was a healthy number for an event like this. The majority of players were aged under 12, so hopefully this group will provide the next generation of ACT champions.
Athena Hathiramani was the best placed female player, in an event which had a female entry of a little over 25% Erin Milne tied with Hathiramani and won the Under 12 Girls trophy.
It was interesting to see the difference in results between players with a FIDE rating and those without. The FIDE rated players beat all their non rated opponents (with the exception of a single draw), even if they had worse positions during the game. Clearly the experience at playing at a higher level comes in handy in situations like this, as the 'saves' were often due to their opponents eventually losing concentration and blundering back.
There were 42 players in the tournament which was a healthy number for an event like this. The majority of players were aged under 12, so hopefully this group will provide the next generation of ACT champions.
Friday, 17 August 2018
One man wrecking crew
The ACT Interschool events use a restricted swiss system for our qualifying events. Players are grouped by schools (or subsets) and aren't paired against players from the same school/set. Team scores are then based on the top 4 scores from a school (and the next 4 for team 2 etc). The intention of this system is to make events a little more competitive, as in a strict team of 4 system, only board 1 players player other board players etc
On the other hand, a different set of issues arrive, when one school is clearly stronger than the rest. In both Secondary Schools events this year, the top three places were taken by single schools (Canberra Grammar and Lyneham High). It also made the event tough on the other players, as the leading players couldn't take points of each other in a lot of cases, and ended up playing finding opponents on lower scores (which isn't normal in swiss pairings).
The other issue is that we award trophies for perfect score (7 wins from 7 games). In yesterdays event, it was looking as though I might have to hand out 10 such trophies, to players from the same school. Fortunately I was saved by Ricky Luo (Radford) who ended up playing all the top players from Lyneham High. Each round he was paired against someone on a prefect score, and each round he saved me one trophy! By the last round he had taken out 6 Lyneham players and as a result only Yizhen Diao and Manjot Melli ended up on 7/7. Despite his hard work Luo missed out on a perfect score himself, falling just short after a hard fought draw with Safron Archer in round 6.
On the other hand, a different set of issues arrive, when one school is clearly stronger than the rest. In both Secondary Schools events this year, the top three places were taken by single schools (Canberra Grammar and Lyneham High). It also made the event tough on the other players, as the leading players couldn't take points of each other in a lot of cases, and ended up playing finding opponents on lower scores (which isn't normal in swiss pairings).
The other issue is that we award trophies for perfect score (7 wins from 7 games). In yesterdays event, it was looking as though I might have to hand out 10 such trophies, to players from the same school. Fortunately I was saved by Ricky Luo (Radford) who ended up playing all the top players from Lyneham High. Each round he was paired against someone on a prefect score, and each round he saved me one trophy! By the last round he had taken out 6 Lyneham players and as a result only Yizhen Diao and Manjot Melli ended up on 7/7. Despite his hard work Luo missed out on a perfect score himself, falling just short after a hard fought draw with Safron Archer in round 6.
Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Making my life easier
I spent today running a small interschool competition in Canberra. As the field wasn't very large, the rounds tended to finish quite quickly. To make sure we stuck to some sort of sensible schedule, I used the time in between rounds to do a bit of coaching.
The first lesson I gave was on the 'Electric Fence' checkmate (Mate with Q+R or R+R). Fortunately for me the players were quite attentive, as it seemed that the lesson sunk in. Over the next few rounds, this became the 'go to' method of winning the game, especially by players who had never checkmated this way before. As a result, there were very few games that were dragged out by kings being unsuccessfully chased around the board. This meant the rounds finished even quicker(!), giving me more time to do even more coaching.
So if you are running a school event, showing a few basic checkmating ideas (Electric Fence, K+Q v K) might make the event run a little more smoothly.
The first lesson I gave was on the 'Electric Fence' checkmate (Mate with Q+R or R+R). Fortunately for me the players were quite attentive, as it seemed that the lesson sunk in. Over the next few rounds, this became the 'go to' method of winning the game, especially by players who had never checkmated this way before. As a result, there were very few games that were dragged out by kings being unsuccessfully chased around the board. This meant the rounds finished even quicker(!), giving me more time to do even more coaching.
So if you are running a school event, showing a few basic checkmating ideas (Electric Fence, K+Q v K) might make the event run a little more smoothly.
Tuesday, 16 January 2018
2018 Australian Junior
The 2018 Australian Junior Chess Championship is up an running in Melbourne, and it looks like there is a record field on hand. The main event is the Under 18 championship which has attracted a pretty solid field of 22 players, although typically missing the very top Australian juniors.
The older age groups (open) run the entire length of the tournament, while the majority of events start on Wednesday. The ACT is represented by 8 players this year, with Sulia Van Sebille probably the best hope of taking home a title, in the Under 14 girls.
The older age groups (open) run the entire length of the tournament, while the majority of events start on Wednesday. The ACT is represented by 8 players this year, with Sulia Van Sebille probably the best hope of taking home a title, in the Under 14 girls.
Friday, 8 December 2017
2018 Australian Junior Championships
The 2018 Australian Junior Chess Championship is being held from the 13th to the 21st January 2018, at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. The event will be run across a number of age groups, with specific schedules for each. The Junior Championship itself is open to all eligible players Under 18 years of age (on the 1st January 2018) and will be a 9 round FIDE rated event. There is also events for Under 16, 14, 12, 10, and 8 years players (along with girls events for Under 18's down to Under 8's).
Players from the ACT have an extra incentive to take part in this event, as the ACT Government is providing a grant of $2000 for travel assistance. This is will be shared by all ACT players taking part in the tournament, with the grant being handled by the ACT Junior Chess League.
Details of the tournament can be found at the tournament website.
Players from the ACT have an extra incentive to take part in this event, as the ACT Government is providing a grant of $2000 for travel assistance. This is will be shared by all ACT players taking part in the tournament, with the grant being handled by the ACT Junior Chess League.
Details of the tournament can be found at the tournament website.
Thursday, 23 November 2017
2017 World Junior
Two notable stories are coming out of the 2017 World Junior, which is currently being held in Italy. Firstly R Praggnanandhaa is on track to become a GM at the age of 12, although he does need to finish 1st to gain it automatically. After 9 rounds he is in third place, half a point of the lead, and has already earned a GM norm (with a 2700+ TPR).
Secondly, Australian representative Kevin Willathgamuwa is performing well over his pre tournament rating (1996), with a 2300 TPR. He was on 50% after 7 rounds, and although he has fallen back a bit, he is still gaining over 100 rating points, having played 8 IM's in his first 9 games. His brother Rowan is also playing in the tournament and is also picking up points, reaching 3/9.
There are 2 rounds left to play in this tournament, and the results (plus some games) can be found at chess-results.com
Secondly, Australian representative Kevin Willathgamuwa is performing well over his pre tournament rating (1996), with a 2300 TPR. He was on 50% after 7 rounds, and although he has fallen back a bit, he is still gaining over 100 rating points, having played 8 IM's in his first 9 games. His brother Rowan is also playing in the tournament and is also picking up points, reaching 3/9.
There are 2 rounds left to play in this tournament, and the results (plus some games) can be found at chess-results.com
Tuesday, 25 July 2017
From little things big things grow
A nice chess story hit the national media in Australia this week. A small Western Australian primary school has inspired the local council to fund the carving of some giant chess pieces to celebrate their success in state and national junior chess competitions. However, these pieces aren't your normal large pieces. These are carved out of the trunks of old Jarrah Trees, which the council had originally planned to remove completely. The Kendenup Council instead decided to leave the trunks in place, and a local wood carver had gone to work with his chainsaw. The pieces, some as large as 4 metres high, will stand in the towns main street, to greet visitors to the town of 1000 people.
The full ABC story (including pictures of some of the pieces) is here.
The full ABC story (including pictures of some of the pieces) is here.
Monday, 27 June 2016
Under 8 years and degrees
Last year I reported on the ACT Under 8 championship and this year was not any warmer. I'm pretty sure that the temperature didn't get above 8 degrees, and the situation wasn't helped by a lack of power in the hall (no heaters!). However, everyone seemed to have dressed warmer this year (forewarned is forearmed) and with my relaxed rules about running in the hall in play, everyone seemed to cope with the cold.
The winner of the event was Lucas Leung on 6/7, just ahead of Oscar Ho on 5.5 There was a little bit of luck for the winner in his final game as his opponent missed a back rank mate which would have changed the final standings significantly. The best scoring Under 6 was Charles Huang who scored a creditable 4.5/7, and may turn out to be a future talent.
As an arbiter is was pretty smooth sailing, although there is one issue that is becoming common in junior events. Every round there were one or two incidents of the DGT clocks 'mysteriously' resetting during the game. Both players would simply say 'it just happened', and claim they did nothing wrong. Having reset the clock and restarted the game, the fact that the next move involved someone slamming the clock pretty hard provided a simple explanation for what had gone wrong. For some reason this is occurring with greater frequency, so the next tournament may start with a lecture on proper clock etiquette.
The winner of the event was Lucas Leung on 6/7, just ahead of Oscar Ho on 5.5 There was a little bit of luck for the winner in his final game as his opponent missed a back rank mate which would have changed the final standings significantly. The best scoring Under 6 was Charles Huang who scored a creditable 4.5/7, and may turn out to be a future talent.
As an arbiter is was pretty smooth sailing, although there is one issue that is becoming common in junior events. Every round there were one or two incidents of the DGT clocks 'mysteriously' resetting during the game. Both players would simply say 'it just happened', and claim they did nothing wrong. Having reset the clock and restarted the game, the fact that the next move involved someone slamming the clock pretty hard provided a simple explanation for what had gone wrong. For some reason this is occurring with greater frequency, so the next tournament may start with a lecture on proper clock etiquette.
Monday, 25 January 2016
Perfect scores at Australian Juniors
The Australian Junior Chess Championships finished today, and both the Open winner and Girls winner scored a perfect 9/9. IM Ari Dale took out the title of 2016 Australian Junior Champion, finishing two points ahead of 2nd place Tom Maguire. Dale also won the Australian Junior Lightning with 10.5/11, so over 20 games of chess he dropped a single half point.
In the Girls Championship Zhi Lin Guo also scored 9/9, 2 points ahead of Alanna Chew Lee. The lower age groups were more closely contested, with a number of dramatic final round games, at least based on the score tables.
The numbers for the event were comparable to last years tournament in Canberra, and I'm assuming that the organisers were happy with how it went. I'm not sure where next years event is scheduled to be held, but wherever it is I expect another large and enthusiastic turn out.
In the Girls Championship Zhi Lin Guo also scored 9/9, 2 points ahead of Alanna Chew Lee. The lower age groups were more closely contested, with a number of dramatic final round games, at least based on the score tables.
The numbers for the event were comparable to last years tournament in Canberra, and I'm assuming that the organisers were happy with how it went. I'm not sure where next years event is scheduled to be held, but wherever it is I expect another large and enthusiastic turn out.
Sunday, 17 January 2016
2016 Australian Junior
The Australian Summer of chess continues with the 2016 Australian Junior Championship starting today in Adelaide. Last years event in Canberra had a big entry and it looks like a similar sized field has entered this year.
IM Ari Dale is the clear favourite for the Under 18 Open event, being rated almost 200 points above the second seed in the 13 player field. As is the trend in previous years, the field for this years event bears little resemblance to last years tournament (Thomas Johnston seems to be the only player to return from last years tournament).
The Under 16, Under 10's and Under 8's Open events have also started, with another 100 players in those tournaments. Full coverage of the tournament, crosstables and standings, plus some live games, can be found at the tournament website.
IM Ari Dale is the clear favourite for the Under 18 Open event, being rated almost 200 points above the second seed in the 13 player field. As is the trend in previous years, the field for this years event bears little resemblance to last years tournament (Thomas Johnston seems to be the only player to return from last years tournament).
The Under 16, Under 10's and Under 8's Open events have also started, with another 100 players in those tournaments. Full coverage of the tournament, crosstables and standings, plus some live games, can be found at the tournament website.
Sunday, 1 November 2015
2015 ACT Interschool chess wrap
The final event of the 2015 ACT Interschool Series was held today, with Lyneham High qualifying to represent the ACT at the 2015 Australian Schools Teams Championship. They are joined by Radford College (Secondary Girls), Kaleen Primary (Primary Open), and Caroline Chisholm (Primary Girls) as representatives from the ACT.
The ACT Junior Chess League Interschool events ran over the last 8 months, in 4 divisions. The preliminary events attracted 180 teams (of 4 or 5 players), with 70 teams going on to the finals. The list of winners for each division and zones are:
Girls Primary
Girls Secondary
Open Primary
Open Secondary
Full results can be found at the ACT Junior Chess League web page.
The ACT Junior Chess League Interschool events ran over the last 8 months, in 4 divisions. The preliminary events attracted 180 teams (of 4 or 5 players), with 70 teams going on to the finals. The list of winners for each division and zones are:
Girls Primary
- Caroline Chisholm (South Canberra)
- Turner (North Canberra)
- Turner (ACT Champions)
Girls Secondary
- Radford College (ACT Champions)
Open Primary
- Kaleen (Belconnen)
- Rosary (Gungahlin/ North Canberra)
- Caroline Chisholm (Tuggeranong)
- Turner (Central Canberra)
- Curtin (Woden/Weston)
- Grammar (ACT Champions)
Open Secondary
- Grammar (South Canberra)
- Lyneham (North Canberra)
- Lyneham (ACT Champions)
Full results can be found at the ACT Junior Chess League web page.
Wednesday, 27 May 2015
Not another stalemate
One thing I always keep my eye on are interesting stalemates. There seems to be a formula that is unconsciously followed by many young players to ensure the game that should be one ends in a draw. Step 1 is to capture lots of material. Step 2 is to then start checking the king in the hope that something comes of it. Step 3 is to *not* check the king the moment the king is finally trapped and has no escape squares. Step 4 is to shake hands with the opponent, as though what happened is perfectly normal!
Unfortunately I did not see that many egregious examples of players drawing while ahead large amounts of material. As a result I only have the diagrammed position to show you, where despite being a Queen, Bishop and 5 pawns ahead, White managed to trap the Black king in the corner, but failed to finish him off.
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Falling a long way from home
During the week I helped run a couple of local interschool events in Canberra. As with a lot of these events the quality of play can vary, but on the upside, you get to see a lot of positions that probably have not occurred in 500 years of organised chess.
In one game I saw a Black King on a1, being checkmated by a white queen on h8, despite the board still having a reasonable amount of material on it. Wondering how common this might be, I did some searching of my database, but came up empty handed. Even with colours reversed (WK on h8) I found nothing, so I thought I would simplify my search.
Looking for White kings mated on h8 I came up with a few examples, mainly between lower rated players. But I did find one gem, from early in Gary Kasparov's career. It looks as though it was played in a simul, but in this case Kasparov was not giving the simul. He was playing Oleg Romanishin, and after around move 20 he was already winning. With his king exposed, Romanishin tried to use it as a fighting piece, but instead it was dragged up the board to h8, where it was mated in good junior fashion, with an 'electric fence' checkmate.
Romanishin,Oleg M - Kasparov,Garry [A03]
Romanishin-Junior sim Leningrad, 1975
In one game I saw a Black King on a1, being checkmated by a white queen on h8, despite the board still having a reasonable amount of material on it. Wondering how common this might be, I did some searching of my database, but came up empty handed. Even with colours reversed (WK on h8) I found nothing, so I thought I would simplify my search.
Looking for White kings mated on h8 I came up with a few examples, mainly between lower rated players. But I did find one gem, from early in Gary Kasparov's career. It looks as though it was played in a simul, but in this case Kasparov was not giving the simul. He was playing Oleg Romanishin, and after around move 20 he was already winning. With his king exposed, Romanishin tried to use it as a fighting piece, but instead it was dragged up the board to h8, where it was mated in good junior fashion, with an 'electric fence' checkmate.
Romanishin,Oleg M - Kasparov,Garry [A03]
Romanishin-Junior sim Leningrad, 1975
Monday, 26 January 2015
2015 Australian Junior Champion - Yi Liu
Yi Liu is the new Australian Junior Champion, after finishing the Under 18 section with 8/9. He went through the tournament undefeated, conceding draws to 2nd seed Pengy Chen and 3rd seed Max Chew Lee, while beating everyone else. Despite going into the final round with the title already confirmed, he still played a very sharp game against Chew Lee, the game ending with a repetition.
Pengyu Chen finished second on an undefeated 7/9, but conceded too may early draws to challenge for first. The best local player was Michael Kethro who finished in outright 3rd with 6/9.
Patrick Gong was the winner of a competitive Under 16 event, needing 8.5/9 just to stay half a point ahead of Tom Maguire who chased him all the way to the finish. Kristine Quek hung on to win the Under 18 Girls title, after stumbling in the 2nd last round. Her last round win kept her half a point ahead of Denise Lim who also finished the tournament with a win. The Under 14 Girls event was won by Cassandra Lim, who only dropped half a point on her way to 8.5/9.
The Under 14 Open saw another 8.5/9 winner, in this case Haran Salasan, whose round 3 win over Ray Yang turned out to be the deciding game of the tournament.
The Under 12 event was the only tournament requiring a playoff, with Matthew Clarke and Jason Wang tied on 7.5/9. They drew the 15m playoof games 1-1, and the 5m playoff games with the same score. In the final 'Armageddon' game, Ray Yanf (White) knocked back a cheeky draw offer from Clarke to win the game, and the title.
Full results from the tournament can be found at www.ajcc.org.au, along with photos and games from the event. Although the organisers (including myself) are totally exhausted from running the 9 day championship, we hope to have more pictures, and game scores posted to the website in the next few days.
Pengyu Chen finished second on an undefeated 7/9, but conceded too may early draws to challenge for first. The best local player was Michael Kethro who finished in outright 3rd with 6/9.
Patrick Gong was the winner of a competitive Under 16 event, needing 8.5/9 just to stay half a point ahead of Tom Maguire who chased him all the way to the finish. Kristine Quek hung on to win the Under 18 Girls title, after stumbling in the 2nd last round. Her last round win kept her half a point ahead of Denise Lim who also finished the tournament with a win. The Under 14 Girls event was won by Cassandra Lim, who only dropped half a point on her way to 8.5/9.
The Under 14 Open saw another 8.5/9 winner, in this case Haran Salasan, whose round 3 win over Ray Yang turned out to be the deciding game of the tournament.
The Under 12 event was the only tournament requiring a playoff, with Matthew Clarke and Jason Wang tied on 7.5/9. They drew the 15m playoof games 1-1, and the 5m playoff games with the same score. In the final 'Armageddon' game, Ray Yanf (White) knocked back a cheeky draw offer from Clarke to win the game, and the title.
Full results from the tournament can be found at www.ajcc.org.au, along with photos and games from the event. Although the organisers (including myself) are totally exhausted from running the 9 day championship, we hope to have more pictures, and game scores posted to the website in the next few days.
Sunday, 18 January 2015
2015 Australian Junior Championship - Day 2
So far the 2015 Australian Junior Championship is running pretty smoothly, and based on the feedback I've seen, everyone seems happy with how it is going. Today was the only double round day for the Under 18 and Under 16 tournaments, but even then it wasn't that taxing on either the players, or organisers.
Given the small size of the Under 18 section (14 players), the important match ups are starting early in this event. Top seed Yi Liu played Fred Litchfield (4th seed) in the morning, and Michael Kethro (6th seed) in the afternoon. He managed to beat both players, and kept up his policy of sacrificing something in every game. Pengyu Chen and Willis Lo are tied for second, after they drew an up and down game in the third round.
The Under 16 Open is also sorting itself out, with Tom Maguire leading with 3/3. In second place are Rebecca Strickland, David Cannon, and Patrick Gong. Top seed Sean Gu suffered an accident in round 2, dropping a Queen to a tactic against Strickland, and is in the group of players on 2.
The Under 10, Under 8 and Under10/8 Girls are already two thirds of the way through their 9 rounds. Dashiell Young leads the Under 10 Open with 5.5/6, but there is still a sizable group of players close behind. Jason Yan leads with 5.5/6 in the Under 8, and having played a couple of players just behind him is favourite to win the competition. In the Under 10/8 Girls Jennifer Zhang is on a perfect 6/6, 1.5 points ahead of second place. Having already played most of the other leaders, she should also finish this event in 1st place.
Tomorrow sees the final 3 rounds of the Under 10, Under 8 and Under 10/8 Girls. It is the 4th round of the Under 18 and Under 16's, and the last before the rest day on Tuesday. Of course even on the rest day there will be plenty of chess, with the Problem Solving Competition, and the Australian Junior Lightning Competition. If you wish to follow any of these events, you can do so at the tournament website www.ajcc.org.au
Chen,Pengyu - Lo,Willis [E42]
AUS jr U18 Open Canberra (3.2), 18.01.2015
Given the small size of the Under 18 section (14 players), the important match ups are starting early in this event. Top seed Yi Liu played Fred Litchfield (4th seed) in the morning, and Michael Kethro (6th seed) in the afternoon. He managed to beat both players, and kept up his policy of sacrificing something in every game. Pengyu Chen and Willis Lo are tied for second, after they drew an up and down game in the third round.
The Under 16 Open is also sorting itself out, with Tom Maguire leading with 3/3. In second place are Rebecca Strickland, David Cannon, and Patrick Gong. Top seed Sean Gu suffered an accident in round 2, dropping a Queen to a tactic against Strickland, and is in the group of players on 2.
The Under 10, Under 8 and Under10/8 Girls are already two thirds of the way through their 9 rounds. Dashiell Young leads the Under 10 Open with 5.5/6, but there is still a sizable group of players close behind. Jason Yan leads with 5.5/6 in the Under 8, and having played a couple of players just behind him is favourite to win the competition. In the Under 10/8 Girls Jennifer Zhang is on a perfect 6/6, 1.5 points ahead of second place. Having already played most of the other leaders, she should also finish this event in 1st place.
Tomorrow sees the final 3 rounds of the Under 10, Under 8 and Under 10/8 Girls. It is the 4th round of the Under 18 and Under 16's, and the last before the rest day on Tuesday. Of course even on the rest day there will be plenty of chess, with the Problem Solving Competition, and the Australian Junior Lightning Competition. If you wish to follow any of these events, you can do so at the tournament website www.ajcc.org.au
Chen,Pengyu - Lo,Willis [E42]
AUS jr U18 Open Canberra (3.2), 18.01.2015
Saturday, 17 January 2015
2015 Australian Junior - Day 1
The first day of the 2015 Australian Junior Championships was both a hectic, and rewarding, exercise. Five sections started today, Under 18, Under 16, Under 10 and Under 8 Open's, and the Under 10/8 Girls. The events all got off to a good start (with minimal crying in the younger age groups), and everything ran on schedule.
Canberra Grammar School is the venue, and so far has been an excellent facility. The playing halls are quite spacious, and there are analysis areas for the plethora of chess coaches that have descended on the tournament. The school has opened its canteen for the tournament, and with plenty of space, the players have enough to keep them occupied between rounds.
The older age groups played their first round today, while the younger sections got in 3 rounds (with a 60m+10s time control). Each event is 9 rounds, so the younger players only have 2 more days to play.
The main event is the Under 18 section, and today's round went according to script (ie top half beat bottom half). Nonetheless there were some interesting games, with board 1 and board 2 producing attractive finishes. With a small field of 14 players, and the rating spread between top and middle not that great, there should be tough games in almost every round.
Full results from the event, as well as all the bells and whistles, can be found at www.ajcc.org.au. Live coverage of the top boards from the Under 18 and 16's is also available from this page.
Chen,Pengyu - Koh,Cedric [D35]
AUS jr U18 Open Canberra (1.2), 17.01.2015
Canberra Grammar School is the venue, and so far has been an excellent facility. The playing halls are quite spacious, and there are analysis areas for the plethora of chess coaches that have descended on the tournament. The school has opened its canteen for the tournament, and with plenty of space, the players have enough to keep them occupied between rounds.
The older age groups played their first round today, while the younger sections got in 3 rounds (with a 60m+10s time control). Each event is 9 rounds, so the younger players only have 2 more days to play.
The main event is the Under 18 section, and today's round went according to script (ie top half beat bottom half). Nonetheless there were some interesting games, with board 1 and board 2 producing attractive finishes. With a small field of 14 players, and the rating spread between top and middle not that great, there should be tough games in almost every round.
Full results from the event, as well as all the bells and whistles, can be found at www.ajcc.org.au. Live coverage of the top boards from the Under 18 and 16's is also available from this page.
Chen,Pengyu - Koh,Cedric [D35]
AUS jr U18 Open Canberra (1.2), 17.01.2015
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Puccini's Brilliancy
Young Australian player Jack Puccini is representing his country at the Under 16 World Youth Chess Olympiad, currently taking place in Hungary. For the first half of the tournament he has been holding down top board, while IM Ari Dale finished playing in the London Chess Classic FIDE Open. But despite being outrated in almost all his games, he has started the event with 3/4, and is performing at 2400+. Along the way he picked up a brilliancy prize for his destruction of the Serbian Board 1 in round 3.
Puccini,Jack - Radovic,Luka [B87]
World Under 16 Olympiad, 15.12.2014
Puccini,Jack - Radovic,Luka [B87]
World Under 16 Olympiad, 15.12.2014
Thursday, 4 December 2014
The School Chess Championship
I am not sure how many schools do this, but Amaroo School gives students a day off school to play in their school's Chess Championship. This has been held for the past 3 years and it normally attracts a field of between 60 and 80 players. In fact it would attract more players, but space an equipment limitations restrict the total number of entries.
The 2014 edition was held today, with 66 players taking part. Amaroo is a K-10 school, but entry is restricted to 4th grade and above. While the bulk of the entries came from the 4,5 and 6 graders, there was still a healthy entry from the high school students. My role at the event was the arbiter, and it was one of the easiest school event I have ever run in my 30 years of chess. A lot of the credit must go to Belinda Robertson, and the chess program she has run at the school over the last 6 years. All the students who took part who both familiar with the laws of chess, and more importantly, familiar with how chess tournaments are run. Before we started there was a thought we might only have time for 5 rounds, but due to the knowledgeable field, we played the full 7 rounds by 1pm, leaving plenty of time to pack up and hand out prizes.
Rarely for a school event there were no disputes, no one cried, and I only had to answer a couple of queries. I was a little bit gentle with the new FIDE 'Illegal move' loses Rapidplay rules, by implementing a '2 strikes and you're out' system, and even then players had the option of not reporting the first illegal move to me. I did get suckered by one player who innocently asked me if you could mate with K+B v K. Thinking he was about to make a draw claim I said no, but he then used this information to sacrifice his bishop for his opponents last pawn, before claiming the draw!
The winner of the event (on countback after a 3 way tie) was Vivian Lam, who also won last year. In fact each of the 3 editions of the championship have been won by a female student, which is another reason it is a rather special event.
The 2014 edition was held today, with 66 players taking part. Amaroo is a K-10 school, but entry is restricted to 4th grade and above. While the bulk of the entries came from the 4,5 and 6 graders, there was still a healthy entry from the high school students. My role at the event was the arbiter, and it was one of the easiest school event I have ever run in my 30 years of chess. A lot of the credit must go to Belinda Robertson, and the chess program she has run at the school over the last 6 years. All the students who took part who both familiar with the laws of chess, and more importantly, familiar with how chess tournaments are run. Before we started there was a thought we might only have time for 5 rounds, but due to the knowledgeable field, we played the full 7 rounds by 1pm, leaving plenty of time to pack up and hand out prizes.
Rarely for a school event there were no disputes, no one cried, and I only had to answer a couple of queries. I was a little bit gentle with the new FIDE 'Illegal move' loses Rapidplay rules, by implementing a '2 strikes and you're out' system, and even then players had the option of not reporting the first illegal move to me. I did get suckered by one player who innocently asked me if you could mate with K+B v K. Thinking he was about to make a draw claim I said no, but he then used this information to sacrifice his bishop for his opponents last pawn, before claiming the draw!
The winner of the event (on countback after a 3 way tie) was Vivian Lam, who also won last year. In fact each of the 3 editions of the championship have been won by a female student, which is another reason it is a rather special event.
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