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

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. e3 d5 4. Nf3 a6 5. Nc3 dxc4 6. a4 b6 7. Bxc4 Bb7 8. O-O Nbd7 9. Qe2 Bb4 10. Rd1 O-O 11. Ne5 Nd5 12. Na2 Bd6 13. e4 Nb4 14. Nxb4 Bxb4 15. Nd3 Be7 16. f3 Bg5 17. Be3 Bxe3+ 18. Qxe3 a5 19. Rac1 Rc8 20. Nf4 Qe7 21. e5 Rfe8 22. Re1 Nf8 23. d5 exd5 24. Bxd5 Bxd5 25. Nxd5 Qd7 26. Qe4 Red8 27. Red1 Qe8 28. f4 Rd7 29. Rd3 Qd8 30. Rcd1 c6 31. Ne3 Rxd3 32. Rxd3 Qe7 33. Rd6 Ne6 34. g3 Nc5 35. Qd4 g6 36. Ng4 Nb7 37. Nf6+ Kg7 38. Ne4 Rd8 39. e6+ f6 40. Rd7 Rxd7 41. exd7 Qe6 42. Ng5 Qe1+ 43. Kg2 1/2-1/2