Monday 13 April 2015

2015 Thailand Open - Puccini crushes GM

Melbourne Junior FM Jack Puccini has got off to a good start in the 2015 Thailand Open, crushing GM John Paul Gomez in 19 moves. Puccini offered a knight on move 11, while the players were still in theory. Gomez initially declined the offer, but took it a move later. 14.d6!! was the real crusher, and Gomez only lasted another 5 moves, before resigning.
In round 3 Puccini is paired against GM Abhijit Kunte on Board 10, although he will have plenty of company  from the other Australian players on 2/2. IM Ari Dale is playing GM Josef Horvath while IM Anton Smirnov and IM Junta Ikeda are also on the top boards. Slightly further down is IM Max Illingworth who skipped this years Doeberl Cup to concentrate on this event, although a second round loss clearly was not part of the plan.
Tournament coverage can be found at the Bangkok Chess Club webpage, while chess24.com is doing live coverage of the top 6 boards.


Puccini,Jack - Gomez,John Paul [B21]
Pattaya Thai Open (2), 13.04.2015



4 comments:

Unknown said...

Consistent play by Junta Ikeda to be at 2.5/3 so far. Ari Dale lost to GM Horvath and is at 2/3, Guy West lost easily to an English club player rated 2155 FIDE in Rd 2 and was drawn against an untitled Chinese expert in Rd 3, fortunately West won.
I am surprised that undistinguished club players Sean Watharow, Peter Frost and Tony Davis have spent thousands of dollars in order to play in this tournament.
After three rounds playing opponents in the bottom half of the draw Frost is 0.5/3, Watharow is 1/3and Davis is 1/3, hardly earth shattering results.

Anonymous said...

Some of us 'undistinguished club players' actually like playing chess in interesting and pleasant locations - especially events with sensible schedules. Certainly beats spending 'thousands of dollars' to go somewhere just to get drunk and sun-burned...
heligan

Unknown said...

Bangkok Open 2015: Rd4 report - Davis employs 'Swiss Gambit' and gets forfeited (I hope he wasn't getting drunk and sunburned!) currently on 1/4. Neil Markovitz loses again and is at 1/4 and Peter Frost is on .5/4
Watharow won and is at 2/4. Guy West draws and has a plus score 2.5/4 but stuck in the middle of the field.
Puccini gets smashed by an ageing GM in his mid sixties. Dale wins against a WIM rated 2132. Congratulations to Junta Ikeda who is among the leaders!

Anonymous said...

Hi Theodore.
The (unintended) Swiss Gambit worked and I finished on 4.5 gaining 38 rating points! Yay!
Actually I didn't get drunk, but was busy getting hammered (with water) at the water festival when I rocked up wet and 61 minutes late to my Round 4 game. Boo!

Tony Davis