2016 Australian Championship begins

The 2016 Australian Championship began today at the Fitzroy Town Hall in Melbourne. The Championship event attracted a strong field of 34 players, with 2 Grandmasters (one from Russia) and 12 IM's. In the field there are 4 non-Australian players, although with the exception of Russian GM Vasily Papin, they are currently resident in the country.
The first round saw a few of the top seeds held to draws. Top seed Max Illingworth drew with FM Karl Zelesco, IM Anton Smirnov drew with IM Mirko Rujevic, and IM Justin Tan drew with FM Zachary Lo. Otherwise the results went to seeding, although a number of games went right down to the wire.
Alongside the Championship is the Reserves event which has attracted a very large field of 149 players. At the top end are a few players who wouldn't embarrass themselves in the Championship proper, so the likely winner of this event could come from anywhere.
The tournament website is http://2016.chesschampionship.org.au/ and from there you can follow the links to results, coverage and downloadable games.


Hu,Jason (2121) - Wallis,Christopher (2327) [D11]
2016 Australian Championships Fitzroy Town Hall, Melbourne, (1.13)