2014 Sydney International Open - Day 1

The 2014 Sydney International Open and Challengers began today with close to 120 players taking part. The Open has a field of 72 players while the Challengers has 46 competitors. The top seeds of the Open look very similar to the top seeds of the recently completed Doeberl Cup (Nisipeanu, Van Wely, Melkumyan, Vajda), although below that some new players have joined the field.
The first couple of rounds went mainly to seeding, although the effects of a second week of '2 game a day' chess was beginning to show on some of the competitors. FM Luke Li and GM Luke Van Wely played a draw in the second round, while WIM Heather Richards battled sickness to score an upset win over IM Igor Bjelobrk.
Coverage of the tournament can be found at sio.nswca.org.au with the top games being broadcast live, If you wish to see the tournament in person, round 3 starts at 10:00 am at the Parramatta Town Hall, just up from the Parramatta railway station.


Atzmon-Simon,Barak - Melkumyan,Hrant [D97]
2014 Sydney International (1.3), 23.04.2014