King O'Malleys was the venue for an exciting start to the 2013 ANU Chess Festival. The Canberra Club Challenge saw teams of 2 players play a RR blitz event, to see which was the strongest club in Canberra. As the scoring was on game points, each game was important and there were a number of significant upsets and near upsets.
Based on ratings the Canberra Crushers and the ANU Scholars were clear favourites, and so it turned out. Going into the final round both teams were on 6.5/8 (having split the match against each other 1-1) and both were looking for maximum points. With under 2 minutes to play, ANU had scored its 2-0 win, and the Canberra team needed 2 points to tie for first. It all came down to one game with William Booth staring defeat in the face, having 1 rook versus 2, and only 2 seconds left on the clock. However his opponent missed a check and with 1 second remaining Booth was able to claim an illegal move, and the vital point.
This meant a playoff game was required between ANU and Canberra. After all the excitement of the previous round, the playoff was a little one sided, with ANU winning both games and the title.
Thanks to King O'Malley's for providing the venue, and to the ANU University Co-op Bookshop for providing the prizes for the tournament.
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