Saturday 19 November 2022

2022 Vikings Weekend - Day 1

 The Vikings Weekender has always been a bit of a hidden gem on the Australian Weekend circuit. Run in 2 sections, it usually attracts between 50 to 70 players, has a fairly strong set of regular players (1 or 2 IM's, plus assorted 2000+ players), good prize money ($3000+) and an excellent venue. Unlike the more crowded events elsewhere, it always has a somewhat relaxed feel about it, even when players are striving for prizes and rating points.

This year event has attracted 50 players, which might have been more if some of the players who had entered early had not pulled out. The top section is larger than the Under 1600 section (!), with IM Junta Ikeda and IM Stephen Solomon the headline acts. Both players won in the first round, although Solomon had to find a nice finish to secure his point. FM Michael Kethro played the longest game of the round, winning a tricky rook and pawn ending against David Esposito on Board 3. There were a couple of upsets and one draw, which shows how difficult events like this can be. The Minor event (Under 1600) saw fewer upsets, although Linda Qiang beat local player Roy Teymant. 

Round 2 starts at 10:15 am tomorrow, with 3 rounds (at 60m+30s) being played on Saturday. At this stage the top 2 boards are being broadcast, although that should be increased to 4 (assuming I can source some replacement hardware). The full results, parings and links to live coverage can be found at http://tournaments.streetchess.net/vikings2022/ 


(** I am a paid arbiter for this event **)

No comments: