2017 O2C Doeberl Cup - Day 1

The first day of the 2017 O2C Doeberl Cup saw the Premier section get off to a relatively smooth.  start. There were a couple of last minute additions and subtractions from the field, but once that was sorted, 64 players began the first of the days 2 rounds.
Top seed is Indian GM Surya Ganguly, with GM Michal Krasenkow and GM Bartlomiej Heberla second 2 and 3. GM Zong Yuan Zhao is the top Australian player in the field, with GM's Moulthun Ly and Darryl Johansen also taking part.
The first round provided few obstacles for the top seeds, but not all of them came away unscathed. Fred Litchfield continued his recent tradition of being a tough first round opponent by holding  Heberla to a draw. Peter Grinyer went one better with a win over WIM Heather Richards, and Sean Goh scored a smashing win over Neil Wright. The other 'highlight' of the round was a fire alarm at the venue, although an evacuation was not required (unlike 2 years ago).
Round 2 saw some tougher pairings, but most top seeds powered on. FM Dusan Stojic held GM Zong Yuan Zhao to a draw (in the last game to finish), as did Gary McNamara against IM Irine Sukandar. There are still 9 players on 2/2, including Ganguly, IM ANton Smirnov, IM James Morris and Johansen.
Day 2 will see rounds 3 and 4 of the Premier, and Round 1 of the Major, Minor and Under 1200. An almost capacity field of 280 players is expected to be on deck today, so if you want to see the order and chaos of a really large chess event, you are most welcome to drop by.


Litchfield,Frederick (2037) - Heberla,Bartlomiej (2580) [E00]
2017 O2C Doeberl Cup Canberra Australia (1.3), 13.04.2017