Tuesday 29 March 2016

IM James Morris wins 2016 O2C Doeberl Cup

IM James Morris is the winner of the 2016 O2C Doeberl Cup, after drawing his round 9 game with IM Anton Smirnov. Although Morris was only half a point ahead of GM Surya Ganguly at the start of the round, a draw between Ganguly and GM Zong Yuan Zhao cleared the way for a similar result between Morris and Smirnov. The win by Morris halted the run of overseas victors (after 9 years), although the lack of overseas players crueled his chance for a GM norm. His performance rating of 2689 was well above the required 2600, but he fell one short of the number of overseas players. A similar fate befell FM Jack Puccini, who would have scored an IM norm, but for the same problems.
GM Hrant Melkumyan tied for second with Ganguly, grinding down IM Igor Bjelobrk in the last game to finish. The win for Melkumyan was especially profitable as he was the only player to qualify for a share of the Fighting Fund bonus prize, and so pocketed the entire $1000.
The Major (Under 2000) section was won by David Cannon with 6/7, ahead of a big group of players on 5.5. The Minor was won by Mark Stokes who beat CM Bill Egan in the final round to finish on 6.5/7.
Full results can be found at www.doeberlcup.com.au and there will be a larger collection of games upload to the site in the next day or two.
 

No comments: