Castling very short

 I've only been back two and a half days, and I have already been the arbiter at 2 events. Yesterday was my normal Street Chess event, while today was the ACTJCL Spring Rapid.

As it was a junior event (with some new players), I was trying to keep a close eye on the games, in case anything weird happened. So when I wandered past a game where it was still in the opening, and the White King was on f1 and the White Rook was on e1, I began to suspect something had gone wrong. However the two players seemed unconcerned (despite the rook on e1 pinning a piece to the Black King) so I waited until the end of the game to check what had happened.

It turned out I as right not to involve myself, as the game actually began 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5 Qd4 6.Nf3 Qxe4+ 7.Qe2 Qxe2+ 8.Kxe2 Nf6 9.Re1 Be7 10.Kf1 , which matched the position I saw

Sweet home Amaroo

 I am now back in Canberra, and looking forward to running Street Chess tomorrow. The 3 months away certainly had a number of highlights, but to spend the next 3 weeks writing them on this blog would be a little boring. Nonetheless, if you run across me in person, I'm always happy to share a story or two.

Topics may or may not include:

• Sharing a flight to Warsaw with Magnus Carlsen and Hans Neimann
• Running into Hikaru Nakamura and Kris Littlejohn at a London railway station
• Making around 240 chess players very happy at one time
• Making 1 FIDE President unhappy at another time
• Being asked 'Did you used to be a FIDE Master?'
• How I thought I was going to be murdered 'Jonathan Creek' style?
•   How I made an elderly lady's day when discussing Australian immigration policy
• Why there are teeth marks at St Martins Theatre
• How to win $1000 writing about chess

The end of the tour

 After 3 months away from Australia, it is time to head home. Most of my chess activity was related to being an arbiter, as I worked on or ran 5 events over the last 3 months. However I did squeeze in some actual games, playing both tournament and casual chess as I went.

If my memory hasn't failed me I played 18 tournament games during my time away. I managed to win 8, draw 7, and lose 3. I probably played another 10 or so casual games, where I think I won 5 and drew 5. So while not on the same scale as Capablanca's first tour of Europe, I was happy with the results I achieved.

Overall I spent around 30 of the 90 days away engaged chess activities, most of them as a tournament arbiter. While working at the Olympiad was the centerpiece of the trip, playing in the event at Appletreewick was definitely the highlight as a player.

After I get back, I will be straight back into arbiting and playing, with Street Chess this coming Saturday the first event on the calendar.

Stroud Rapidplay

 As I am coming to end of 3 months away from Australia, I thought I would get a little bit more chess in.

Today's event was the Stroud Rapid, played in of all places, Stroud (UK). It was a single section event played with a time limit of 15m+5s. There were around 56 players taking part, and it was a 6 round tournament.

I was seeded 11th in the event, and played to about my seeding, at list in terms of finishing position. In terms of opponents, it was a slightly different story, as all my opponents were rated below me. I started off with a draw and a win, but 3 more draws followed, as I was unable to grind out wins from pretty equal positions. A final round win in a dynamic position lifted me to 4/6. which was enough for a tie for 7th.

The tournament was well run, and played in a pretty relaxed manner. The time control meant there was around and hour between rounds, and with a lunch break thrown in, went for around six and a half hours. Interestingly, the prize structure was pretty flat, with 90 pounds for first, but a lot of 30 pound rating prizes.

If you want to see the final standings you can do so at https://chess-results.com/tnr986767.aspx?lan=1

Road tripping

 Absolutely nothing to do with chess.

I had a great time yesterday taking a road trip with my brother and my niece up to Liverpool to visit the Cavern Club, Strawberry Fields, St Peter's Church Woolton, and various other locations related to the early years of The Beatles.

The weather was dismal, and it was tempting to rush into the barbers shop at the top of Penny Lane, but I resisted the urge to do something so cliched!

A win for the team

 Quite unexpectedly I was called up for a league match in the Woodhouse Cup (Yorkshire) today. One of the reasons it was unexpected as I was enjoying my holiday in London, and the venue was Harrogate which is a good 3 hours by train away.

Nonetheless I fronted up for Leeds, against the home team, for a match which was to be played over 8 boards. I landed on board 6, although my opponent was rated about the same as me. In the end we were the last to finish, and I recorded the only win form Leeds. It was a tough day our for the rest of the team, as we went down 1.5-6.5. 

My game was typical of the tough English chess I've come across in previous visits, and I had to work hard for the win. I thought I was better for most of the game, but one poor move threw the result into doubt, although in mutual time trouble, my opponent made one poor move which allowed me to set up a mating attack. I would like to show the game, but the weird time limit of G/110m+10s meant that the last 30 moves are missing. I have attempted to reconstruct them (to find the numerous missed mates) but I have been unsuccessful.

The spectator experience

 Watching live chess normally involves just wandering up to a board and standing next to it for a while. That of course is most common in weekend or casual events. It is a bit harder to have a similar experience when watching the worlds top players.

In the case of the Global Chess League, spectators could follow the games from the stands, while watching the moves displayed on a screen hanging from the roof. Unfortunately in both cases, if you were seated too far back it was a little harder to follow the action. The ban on phone usage during the round, as sensible as it was, meant you couldn't follow the moves on a personal device, which might have been better. 

Despite this I was able to follow enough of the action with my aging eyes to at least get a feel for what was happening. Fortunately the top boards were closer to the spectators so I was able to witness games such as this.

Anand, Viswanathan v Firouzja, Alireza
2024 Global Chess League

2024 Vikings Weekender

 An early call for entries for the 2024 Vikings Weekender. One of three major Canberra weekend events, this years tournament will be from the 15th to17th November at the Vikings Club Erindale. The complete details are

15th to 17th November 2024
6 round FIDE Rated Swiss*
Vikings Club, Erindale, ACT
Time control: 60m + 30s

Open and Under 1600 sections (Both FIDE Rated)
Round 1: Fri 7:00pm Round 2: Sat 10:15am Round 2: Sat 2:15pm Round 4: Sat 6:15pm Round 5: Sun 10:15am Round 6:Sun 2:15pm

1st Prize Open $1000, 1st Prize Minor $500 (All other prizes dependent upon entries)

Entry fee: $65 ($45 Junior/Concession) GM, IM, WGM, WIM free

Maximum of 60 players - Max 24 players in Open, Max 36 players in Under 1600

Erindale Vikings is a Licenced club.  Players under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult at all times in the upstairs gaming and bar areas.  Please also note that bar/meals service will not be available until 11am.

Online booking: https://www.trybooking.com/CWDSG

Lost skills

 One of the 'highlights' of Day 2 of the Global Chess League were a couple of games decided by time scrambles. With no increment for the games (G/20m being the time limit), flagging the opponent was part of the game strategy. This was combined with pieces being knocked over, players 'pre-moving' and the onsite spectators not being sure exactly what happened at the end. Online comments were generally negative, with a number of posters arguing that this wasn't 'real' chess. But I would argue that the problem isn't the format, but the age of the players.

Since the late 1990's, most chess has been played with increments, and this isn't a bad thing. But on the other hand, chess prior to that did not involve increments, and players just coped with this. Certainly the arbiters had to work a lot harder, but at the same time, the players also knew what the process was. In fact I still organise sudden death blitz and rapid events, and by and large, every (a) knows the process concerning illegal moves and positions and (b) accepts the outcome. So much so, that when it has been suggested we change to increments at Street Chess (13m+2s) this has rejected by the majority of regular players, on the well grounded reasoning of 'where is the fun in that'

Global Chess League 2

 I took the opportunity to drop into the Global Chess League event, which is currently being held in London. As I had no official role in the event, I donned my invisible tourist hat, and watched the action from the spectator gallery.

Borrowing heavily from T20 cricket (both in format and coverage) the event has a couple of interesting rules. Each team plays the other teams twice. However the colour for the first match is decided by coin toss, and then reversed for the return match. All gamed for a team are played with the same colour during the match (unlike the Olympiad), and wins with black are worth 4 points, while winning with white earns 3 points (1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss). To win a match a team just has to score more game points. And finally, there is no increment, with the time limit being G/20m.

This last point was particularly important when the Triveni Kings beat the Alpine Pipers where the games on the tops boards were decided by the Alpine players losing on time.

There are a number of other events alongside the main show, including changes to play GM's in blits, and take part in impromptu simuls. I witnessed one of these, which had the most unusual format of a clock tandem simul (G/5m!) across 6 boards. Even the GM's (including Gawain Jones) thought end in disaster, but in the end strength won out with a 6-0 win for the GM's

Zenon Franco Ocampos

 The well known author and GM Zenon Franco Ocampos has passed way at the age of 68. For a long time he was the No. 1 player from Paraguay, and there only GM. Although I first came across him as the author of some high quality chess books, I later discovered his exploits as a player (especially at Olympiads) were equally impressive.

But it was at one Olympiad he did have a remarkable escape. Papua New Guinea were paired against Paraguay in round 1 of the Dresden Olympiad (2008). On Board 1 Franco misplayed the opening an was soon down a rook against Stuart Fancy. Even after recovering a piece he was still in a position where he would have resigned against a higher rated opponent. But luck was on his side after Fancy donated back a rook to a bishop fork, giving Paraguay their expected point.

Fancy, Stuart vs Zenon Franco Ocampos
2008 Chess Olympiad, Round 1, 2008

The joy of train travel

 Post Olympiad I've been traveling back towards the UK via train. Although I have been to Europe plenty of times (for various chess olympiads and meetings), I haven't taken a proper holiday in Europe. So with that in mind, I decided to extend my stay for another month.

The itinerary was Budapest-Vienna-Prague-Berlin-Amsterdam. Each trip was by train, with each journey being longer than the previous one. For example, it is only around 2 hours between Budapest and Vienna, while my trip from Berlin to Amsterdam (today) took almost 12 hours from hotel to hotel!

Traveling by train in Europe is certainly more relaxed than flying. There is less hassle when boarding the train, and you get a better view from the windows. On the other hand it is certainly more chaotic, and often you are left on your own to work out where you need to be.

Today's journey involved changing trains 3 times, and a late arrival meant a missed connection. One of the changes was when we were told that the train we were on was being split in half at the next station, and I found myself in the wrong half. It turned out that almost everyone else was in the same predicament, as the platform was filled with two mobs of people heading in opposite directions, trying to find a seat on the right carriage.

But overall it has been an enjoyable way to see Europe. If the price is right, I do recommend going first class, although I will point out, that on a couple of occasions, no one checked my (or the other passengers) train tickets, so If your willing to risk it, then a self upgrade might work for you.

Stranger Chess - Street Chess Berlin Style

 My journey through Europe continues, and having passed through Vienna and Prague, I've now reached Berlin. Continuing my attempts to find small chess events along the way, I came across Stranger Chess, which is a social chess meetup in Berlin. Located here , it meets every evening from 7pm , with an emphasis on non competition chess. This is a deliberate strategy, as the goal is to get as many people playing chess, not just competition chess.

I had a couple of enjoyable and challenging games. Like Street Chess, rapid chess is the go, with the time limit of 10m+5s being standard. Also like Street Chess, it is played outdoors (along the footpath), but I wonder how they go during winter. 

After I finished I manage to explore more of Berlin than I planned to. I jumped the wrong tram and began to head in a direction I did not plan to go. Fortunately Berlin has a spoke and ring style public transport layout, so I was able to reach the next ring and take the train to where I am currently staying. I doubt I would have been so lucky if I was in Canberra.

2024 Chess Olympiad - Games of Interest

 One of the tasks I did not manage to complete at the 2024 Chess Olympiad, was the compilation of 'interesting' games. Of course what makes a game 'interesting' is quite subjective, so instead I was planning to look at statistically interesting games. These were things like the shortest played game, longest win, longest draw, longest match (in terms of moves etc). Unfortunately other duties got in my way, so while I made a start on generating a list (by processing the pgn files), it was by no means complete.

So instead I'll show you a game from round 9 played by Fiji Bd 1, Manoj Kumar. It was played in the same match where his team mate Yash Maharaj won in 9 moves, but that game saw a piece blunder and a quick resignation. This game a little more meat to it.

CM Manoj Kumar vs Joshua Solomon
2024 Chess Olympiad, Round 9, 2024

2024 Chess Olympiad - Womens event

 Unlike the Open Olympiad, the Women's event was a lot closer. India did win to make it double gold, but they had to beat Azerbaijan in the final round to make sure. They did so 3.5-0.5, making the result from the USA - Kazakhstan match academic, although the 2-2 draw allowed Kazakhstan to take silver, and the USA 3rd.

The Australian Women's team had a fantastic Olympiad, finishing tied for 22nd, with 6 match wins, 2 draws, and 3 losses. Along the way they beat both Israel and Cuba, and had the experience of playing China. Zhiyuan Shen scored 7/10 to earn a WFM title, while WGM Jilin Zhang scored an impressive 6.5/9 on board 2. The New Zealand team also had a great tournament, finishing well ahead of their seeding on 13 points, with every member of their team gaining rating points, and Yolanda Chang qualifying for the WFM title. 

Guam finished on 9 points, with Carmina Ramas and Ruth Nacarion earning WCM titles. Fiji finished on 8 points (a WCM for Makayla Sukhu), Guam on 7 (WCM for Angelil Sisior) and Vanuatu (in their first Olympiad) on 6 pointds (2 wins and 2 draws). Ela Milfirer earned their 1st female title with a WCM title.

2024 Olympiad Day 12.0

 Having accidentally put the wrong day on yesterdays post, I've labeled this one to reflect the correct day (but differently).

As expected, India wrapped up the 1st place, but they did it style, with a 3.5-0.5 demolition of Slovenia. They finished on 21 match points (out of a possible 22) a full 4 points ahead of USA (2nd on tie-break) and Uzbekistan (3rd on tie break). They also scored 35/44 in game points, losing only 1 game, and a full 4.5 game points ahead of the next team. In my time attending Olympiads, this is probably tho most dominant performance of any team I have seen.

Australia won their last match against Kosovo 3.5-0.5, to tie for 41st (45th on tie-break). I guess they would be disappointed with their performance this time round, as they were seeded a bit higher than that. The inability to score points against a couple of lower rated but quite solid teams (Ireland, Andorra, Faeroe Islands ) cost them when winning a single game could have turned a loss/draw into a win.

On the other hand New Zealand was probably pleased with how their tournament went. The beat Guatemala in the last round 3-1 to finish on 12 points (1 behind Australia) and tied for 57th (but 70th on tie break). This was ahead of their seeding, with IM Sravan Renjith having the best performance on the team.

PNG had a chance for a category medal if the could beat the Isle of Man, but starting the match one player down did not help. This did affect the mood/performance of the other players, and they went down 0.5-3.5. Still 4 match wins was a good performance for a team that had to draft 3 last minute replacements after the Hungarian organisers completely failed in the fundamental task of providing the correct information on visa applications.

Guam won their final match against Djibouti 3.5-0.5 to finish on 9 points, and once again finish at the top of the Pacific Island countries. Fiji went down to San Marino 0.5-3.5 to finish on 6 points, Palau narrowly lost to Cambodia 1.5-2.5, Vanuatu went down to Antigua 1-3, with both Palau and Vanuatu finishing on 4.

2024 Chess Olympiad - Day 12

 India defeated the USA 2.5-1.5 to *almost* secure 1st place in the 2024 Chess Olympiad. The result caused a degree of premature celebration from Indian fans online, as there is a possibility that a freak set of results (incredibly unlikely though they are) could result in a change at the top. The only team that can now catch them is China, who beat Uzbekistan 2.5-1.5 in Round 10. In third place is the real surprise of the tournament, Slovenia, who are on 16 match points after a win over The Netherlands. They do play India today, but if the games are all drawn after 30 moves (which secures a guaranteed 1st place for India) then they may hang on for a bronze.

Australia had another poor result, losing to the Faeroe Islands 1.5-2.5. After a good start to the tournament (8 points after 6 rounds), they have struggled in the 2nd half, only scoring 3/8, against much lower seeded teams. They do however remain a point ahead of New Zealand, who lost 0.5-3.5 to Hungary C (their Under 25 development team). However the last round pairing is a little kinder to NZ than to Australia, so the destination of the imaginary Oceania Cup is still to be determined.

PNG scored their 4th win of the tournament, beating Eritrea 2.5-1.5. There were wins on the top 2 boards, but in the ultimate safety play, Rupert Jones took a draw on board 3, despite having a forced mate in the final position. Guam lost to Barbados 1-3, to remain on 7 points, Fiji stay on 6 after losing to Mauritania 1-3, Palau lost to the Cayman Islands 1-3, and are on 4 points, where they have been joined by Vanuatu who drew 2-2 with Comoros Islands.

The final round is underway as I type this, although PNG is already 1 game down due to the PNG board 4 being 'unwell'. The closing ceremony is quite late this evening (Hungary time), although early risers in Australia may be able to catch the end of it on the Internet.

2024 Chess Olympiad - Day 10

 India has kept the lead in the 2024 Olympiad, after a 2-2 draw with defending champions Uzbekistan. All 4 games were drawn, although at least a couple of them had plenty of fight in them. They still hold a 2 point lead over 2nd place, but with 2 rounds to play, they still need to be careful.

The chasing pack on 15 points has now grown to 3 teams. USA beat Hungary 2.5-1.5 and now play India in Round 10 (Seeds 1 & 2 finally meet). Uzbekistan gained a point from the draw, while a 2.5 - 1.5 win by China over Iran also saw them join the group. A win for India pretty much secures them overall victory, as their tie-break is well ahead of everyone else's. 

Australia bounced back from some poor results with a win over Angola. However this wasn't without drama, as they were only ahead 2-1, with one game in progress. Zong Yuan Zhao was pushing for a win in a R+2p v R+p ending, with his opponent trying to claim a draw by repetition not once but twice. Although both claims were incorrect, the absence of the players from the board while checking the 2nd claim, convinced the venue that the game was finished. As a result the main lights in the venue were turned off, plunging the game into semi-darkness. The game had to then be moved to a location with better lighting, and another 30 moves were played until the draw was achieved.

New Zealand beat Nicaragua 3.5-0.5, and now play Hungary C. This has some importance as IM Sravan Renjith has slim chances of a GM norm, but needs to finish with 2 IM/GM opponents. Papua New Guinea must have used up all their luck in the previous round, going down 0-4 to Bahrain. As a result Guam has moved ahead in the unofficial Pacific Islands league, after they beat Granada 2.5-1.5. Fiji had a 4-0 win of Antigua, Palau lost to Bahamas 1.5-2.5, while Vanuatu lost by the same score to Niger.  

2024 Chess Olympiad - Day 9

 Round 8 of the 2024 Chess Olympiad saw India extend their lead with a crushing 3.5-0.5 over Iran. They are now 2 points ahead of host Hungary, and defending champions Uzbekistan. A round 9 win over Uzbekistan is probably enough to secure 1st place (even with 2 rounds to go), but a loss would throw the event wide open.

The Australian team had another tough day at the office, drawing 2-2 with Ireland. All 4 games were drawn, with the Irish team defending a couple of difficult endings. New Zealand lost to Canada 1-3, but would be pleased with draws on the bottom 2 boards. 

Having thrown away a couple of good positions the round before, the PNG benefited from their opponents doing the same in Round 8. Having started with a forfeit loss on Board 4 to Mauritania (due to illness), Stuart Fancy won on the top board, but board 2 looked drawn, and board 3 looked losing. But both opponents over-pressed, and suddenly it was 1.5/2 and a 2.5/1.5 win for PNG. 

Vanuatu drew 2-2 against St Vincents to pick up another match point. Guam lost 0.5 - 3.5 to Saudi Arabia, Fiji lost 1-3 to Jersey and Palau narrowly went down to Lesotho 1.5-2.5

2024 Chess Olympiad - Day 7 & 8

 Day 7 of the 2024 Chess Olympiad was a rest day for players and arbiters. It was also the first day of the FIDE Congress, although the morning sessions seemed pretty quiet, and after a brief visit I went off to do some site seeing. On place I did check out was the banks of the Danube, although this is now off limits as a rise in the river levels has seen the roads and footpaths along the shore covered in water.

Later in the day I caught up with former FIDE Executive Director Nigel Freeman, and well known arbiter and organiser Hal Bond. Along with Rupert Jones, we shared a number of drink and exchanged war stories well into the evening.

Day 8 saw the players return to the boards, and for some, it was a pretty rough day. The first shock of the round was China resting Ding Liren for the match against India, depriving the viewing public of a preview of the upcoming World Championship match with Gukesh. The strategy did not pay off as India beat China 2.5-1.5 to maintain their lead in the event. In outright 2nd is Iran who beat Vietnam and are 1 point behind the leaders.

Australia suffered a shock loss top Andorra, losing on board 1, and drawing the other 3 games. Despite the small population size, Andorra is still a very strong country, benefiting from its close proximity to major Spanish and French chess events. New Zealand had a better round, beating Malta 3-1, to join the Australians on 8 points. Papua New Guinea had a round to forget, losing 0-4 to Ghana. the match looked pretty even on paper, but 3 playable middle games collapsed pretty quickly, leading to a complete rout. Guam benefited from 2 forfeits to draw their match with Liberia, Palau beat Grenada 2.5-1.5, Fiji lost to a higher seed Namibia 0.5-3.5 and Vanuatu lost to USVI 1-3. In one piece of good news, Jeremy Ellison (Vanuatu) earned enough points to qualify for his CM title, which is great news for a federation who only joined last year.

2024 Chess Olympiad - Day 6

 At the end of the first week of the 2024 Chess Olympiad India is the outright leader on 12 points. Tied for 2nd are Vietnam, China and Iran, who have 1 point less. India kept up its winning run, beating home team Hungary 3-1. Vietnam and China drew 2-2, while Iran beat Norway 2.5-1.5. 

Australia bounced back from its narrow loss to England in round 5 by blanking Kyrgyzstan 4-0, and are tied in 21st place with 4 wins and 2 losses. New Zealand moved back to 50% with a win over Malawi. PNG had a tough day against Pakistan, losing 3.5-0.5, with FM Rupert Jones the only player to draw. Fiji had a big win over fellow Oceania team Palau 3.5-0.5, Guam beat BVI 4-0, while Vanuatu went down to Mauritius 3.5-0.5.

Today is a rest day, with most teams using it to see the sites, or simply recover from a week of hard fought chess. The Bermuda party (sans Bermudan organisers) was well attended, with players taking the chance to socialise away from the chess board. Also starting today is the 2024 FIDE Congress, although it was off to a slow start, with mainly administrative meetings today. The more interesting stuff happens later in the week.

 

2024 Chess Olympiad - Day 5

At the end of the 5th round of the 2024 Chess Olympiad only 4 teams remain at the top. India, Vietnam, Hungary and China. In terms of game points, India are well in front, having scored 18/20. These 4 play today (in fact are playing right now), with Hungary v India being the most watched game.

There was an Ashes pairing further down with England v Australia on board 11. England emerged as the narrow winner 2.5-1.5 although Bobby Cheng defeated David Howell in the last game of that match to finish. New Zealand went down in a disappointing loss to a lower ranked Puerto Rico 1.5-2.5. On the other hand PNG scored it's second win of the tournament, beating traditional opponents San Marino 2.5-1.5. Guam, Fiji and Vanuatu were roughed up by their opponents, while Palau lost by a narrower margin of 2.5-1.5 against Saint Lucia. 

Today is the last round before the rest day. The timing of tomorrows post is entirely dependent upon the result of the 'B' Olympiad, which is being played at the Bermuda Party this evening.

Grassi, Enrico vs Jones, Rupert
2024 Chess Olympiad, Round 5, 2024

2024 Chess Olympiad - Day 4

 Day 4 of the 2024 Chess Olympiad saw some tough games, and some significant upsets. Board 1 saw the USA get clipped by the Ukraine team, with the Ukrainians winning 2.5-1.5. The other big upset was Vietnam beating Uzbekistan 3-1, with 2 wins and 2 draws for the lower rated team.

The trans-Tasman clash between Australia and New Zealand ended in a narrow win for Australia 2.5-1.5. Felix Xie beat GM Temur Kuybokarov on board 1 while a draw between GM David Smerdon and Daniel Gong in the last game to finish secured the win for the Australian team.

PNG lost 1.5-2.5 to Afghanistan, which wasn't bad considering the rating difference. Stuart Fancy had a good win on board 1, while Rupert Jones drew on board 3. Palau drew 2-2 with Tanzania, while Guam, Vanuatu, and Fiji all went down.

The most interesting match up today (from a Pacific point of view) is the Ashes clash between Australia and England on Board 11. On Board 1, Azerbaijan will be hoping to slow the Indian juggernaut,   with the Indian team only dropping 1 game point (out of 16) so far.

2024 Chess Olympiad - Day 3

Day 3 of the Chess Olympiad saw a number of strong teams come together. Australia faced Ukraine in a match that saw Ivanchuk and (super) Ponomariov turn out. After a tough match Ukraine won 2.5-1.5, although GM Bobby Cheng scored a memorable win over Ivanchuk. At the very top most of the favoured teams on, although Italy beating The Netherlands 3-1 was definitely an upset.

 PNG scored their first win of the tournament, beating Guernsey 2.5-1.5. Stuart Fancy and Tom McCoy won on boards 1 and 2, while Terry Stuart scored his first Olympiad draw, having his higher rated opponent under pressure for most of the game. Guam and Fiji also won their round 3 matches, Palau drew and Vanuatu lost against a tough Tunisia.

The other exciting incident (apart from the PNG win) involved Magnus Carlsen almost being defaulted after deciding to ride to the venue. Due to heavy rain, and an unfamiliarity with the venue, he missed the start time and only made it to the board after the round had started, but before the default time.  After this, he may reconsider his travel plans.

2024 Chess Olympiad - Day 2

 The 2nd day of the 2024 Chess Olympiad was a pretty smooth affair, with a number of closer matches on offer. At the top of the table in the Open there were a few 2-2 results (Canada v Norway, Israel v Ireland) that raised some eyebrows, but the real rating upsets haven't started yet.

Australia picked up another win, 3-1 over Zimbabwe. New Zealand went close against the higher seeded Argentina, losing 2.5-1.5, with a win by IM Sravan Renjith being the highlight for the Kiwi's.

The other Oceania teams had a harder time, all losing to higher ranked opponents. PNG has the best chances for an upset, with a win by Tom McCoy on board 2, and winning, and then drawing chances for Rupert Jones on board 3. Jones missed a win in the middle game, and then bailed out to an ending where he left his opponent with a K+2N. Unfortunately he had a pawn left , and his opponent was able to avoid any stalemates, eventually finding the winning method for these types of positions.

2024 Chess Olympiad - Day 1

 The 2024 Chess Olympiad got off to a pretty good start, especially in terms of the pairings. For the first time in my memory, there were no forfeited matches in either event (although there were a few no shows in individual games). The PNG team was the beneficiary of one of those no shows, with Tom McCoy scoring an early (forfeit) win on board 2. Unfortunately the rest of the Bolivian team did show up, resulting in a 3-1 win to them.

Across both events all matches went according to seeding, with one small exception. Vanuatu were originally given the bye in the Open, but the late arrival of the team from the Democratic Republic of Congo meant we could pair these teams. Although DRC was nominally the favourite  on rating (in that Vanuatu players did not have ratings), the debutantes defeated the DRC 2.5-1.5.

Another great result occurred in the Fiji v Ireland match. Although Fiji lost 0.5-3.5, CM Rudr Prasad drew with GM Alexander Baburin on board 2. A real confidence booster for young champion.

CM Rudr Prasad vs GM Alexander Baburin
2024 Chess Olympiad, Round 1, 2024

2024 Chess Olympiad - Day 0.5

 I normally make these posts at the end of the day (after the round) or the following morning. However, while there is a bit of lull, I thought I would sneak in a quick report about start of the first report.

As with all Olympiads, the first round does throw up some interesting challenges. The main one is making sure all the teams are present, so the round can start on time. Also normal is that the first round *never* starts on time. In this case the round did start a little late, in part due to transport issue for a few teams. Nonetheless the round only began 20 minutes late, with the exception of a few games, which started a bit later.

One thing the organisers did do well is to handle the large crowd of players trying to enter the playing hall. I have seen some absolute chaos at previous Olympiads, with queues well out the door, but this wasn't the case this time. I did have some issues finding some teams we needed to deal with (in terms of pairings), but overall it was a smooth start.

On bizarre occurrence was one team staging a boycott as their flag was printed incorrectly. The solution involved an arbiter drawing the missing colours on the player cards (with a texta), which satisfied the team concerned.

2024 Olympiad Day 0

 It turns out I am already losing track of the days. Today is the main arrival day for the Olympiad, and my main task is seeing which teams have/will arrive in time for the first round tomorrow. This task has been compounded by the visa difficulties that a number of teams have faced, which is either being semi-solved by appealing visa rejections, or by simply replacing team members with players who don't need a visa (aka the PNG method).

On the plus side, everybody is getting a Rubik's Cube (in the welcome pack). Hopefully these will be banned from the playing hall during the rounds, otherwise the Olympiad runs the risk of looking like a NSW Junior Chess Championship.

2024 Olympiad Day -2

 There are still 2 days to go before Round 1 of the Olympiad. Tomorrow is the arrival day (and opening ceremony) with play starting on Wednesday. I've been in and out of the venue over the last few days, helping get my part of the tournament set up (pairings and team registrations).

One piece of good news is that soft drinks/water/juice will be provided to the players (always a good sign). The venue lighting also looks good, so there will be no complaints about that. And the other good idea for players/spectators who are here, the Budapest 15 day metro/bus pass is only around 15 euros, and is well worth the investment. There is a metro stop right outside the playing hall, while you can also use it to ger around the city during your free time.

In Hungary

 I've now reached Hungary, to prepare for the 2024 Chess Olympiad. While for players and match arbiters, the hard work begins with round 1, for the Technical Administration Panel (aka the pairings team), hard work starts a few days out.

The main issue is making sure all the teams have arrived. For this year this is especially tricky, as a number of countries have had visa issues (including PNG). So at some point I will be camped at the Airport, trying to catch teams as they come off the plane, to establish if they have all turned up.

Fortunately we have a few days to confirm team arrivals, although in some cases, teams are cutting it very fine in terms of arrival. This isn't that unusual in some cases, including (iirc) my own Olympiad debut in 2000, where I think I arrived on the morning of the first round.

The 1st round for the Olympiad isn't until the 11th (a Wednesday) so you have plenty of time to get prepared. Rounds start at 11pm Canberra time, so you can either choose to stay up late, or catch the summaries the next morning before school/work/coffee!

League

I ran another club rapid last night at the Leeds Chess Club, and we had a good turnout of 24 players. Such events are not that usual, as most club nights are filled with League chess, something that isn't that common in Australia. In fact I pitched event as a 'warm up' for the league season, although everyone played with a little more intensity than someone going for a training run.

One of the first events of the season is a 6 team blitz event. Due to the popularity of the event (and the small size of the venue), only one team per club is able to play. And it is a traditional lightning tournament as well, with a 10 second buzzer being used, instead of chess clocks. The talk at the club was that Leeds CC were looking to win the trophy, having not won it for a number of years (like Leeds United I guess)

Sadly I will not be here for it, as I am off to the Chess Olympiad in a few days. I am arriving a few days early, to help sort out the usual chaos of team arrivals (or non arrivals) as part of the Technical Administration Panel. I assume I will have time to manage the odd post to this blog, but I cannot guarantee it!

Appletreewick International

 I've just finished playing in one of the more interesting international events I've ever been part of. The Appletreewick International was held in a converted schoolhouse in the Yorkshire Dales, and consisted of 14 players from various corners of the world. Apart from myself (Australia/PNG) there were players from USA, Norway, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ireland and of course the UK. The majority of players were also Chess Set Collectors (https://chesscollectorsinternational.org/) although a number of local players also took part.

The brainchild of John Jordan , the tournament consisted of a 9 round qualifying event (G/15m) followed by a semi final and final on the 2nd day (G/45m). I stumbled into the finals on 5.5/9, and then winning a blitz playoff against Robin Browne who tied with me. In the semi-final I lost to Colm Barry, repeating my loss from the preliminary rounds. I was slightly cheered by the knowledge that my opponent had played board 1 for Ireland in the 1984 Olympiad and is still a strong player. In the Final Barry played Jon Crumiller (the other player to beat me). In a very tense game Barry had a clear material advantage but running short of time, missed a mating attack which decided the game in Crumiller's favour. In keeping with the tournaments setting the first place prize was a flat cap and a set of braces, plus a jar of humbugs.

The tournament was a brilliant idea and very enjoyable. Despite the convivial setting, the quality of chess was quite high, with most of the players in the 1800-2300 range. Alongside the event were a number of social activities, including a tournament dinner, late night walks, and the hunt for mobile phone reception. Even the accommodation was top notch, with most of the players staying at  Parcevall Hall. While the lack of internet was annoying for those of us wedded to their devices, the rest of the stay could not be faulted.

Overall it was a great event. The only downside is that John Jordan is retiring as an organiser (after 10 years), so a new organiser will need to step up for next year. The good news is that this is likely to happen, with the event continuing in both the same format, and at the Parcevall Hall venue.

Leeds Chess Club

 Continuing my visits to various chess clubs in the UK, I went to the Leeds Chess Club yesterday evening.  It isn't the first time I have been there, having also visited in 2017.

The club meets at the West Riding Hotel in the centre of Leeds, and normally plays league chess plus casual chess when there are no league games. As the new league season has not started, the club arranged a 5 round rapid event (10m+2s) for the members. I was the arbiter, and 16 players took part. In a scene familiar with Street Chess players, we actually started with 10 players, and another 6 turned up after the first round had started.

The club is undergoing some rapid growth as a number of players were either new, or very recent sign ups. A couple were quite good, continuing the trend of online players moving to the over the board scene. Oliver Gill won the event with 5/5 (he was top seed), although he was made to work hard in a number of games.

So if you are in Leeds on a Wednesday evening (from 7pm) drop into the West Riding, for a pint, a plate of Pork Sausages and Mash, and an enjoyable evening of chess.

Wrong move, wrong moment

 For a long time the Sicilian Dragon was considered a 'brave choice', with all the implied risk that 'brave' denotes. One of the reasons is that white's attacking plan is fairly straightforward (at least according to Fischer) while Black has to avoid getting mated before their strategic goals can be realised.

That is, unless you misplay your opening prep ...

Nepomniachtchi, Ian vs Caruana, Fabiano
Sinquefeld Cup, 2024

No chess, only cricket

 The last few days have been spent watching cricket, at Scarborough and various village grounds in Yorkshire. I've had a number of interesting conversations (including with the father in law of the current Central Coast Mariners manager), but very few about chess. Nonetheless it has all been very relaxed and calm, almost in the same way that a weekend chess tournament might be.

For cricket historians, the Scarborough ground was the venue for Sir Donald Bradman's last game played in England. He scored a century, although the game finished in a draw.

Gloucester Chess Club

 I have just finished a pleasant evening of casual chess at the Gloucester Chess Club. I was made to feel very welcome, and the quality of players was at the upper end of club players back in Canberra. There were about 20 players at the club, with a mixture of adult players and older (teenage) junior players. I did uphold the honour of Canberra chess by winning a few games, although all of them were quite tough and could have gone in another direction.

And like clubs around the world, the conversations are strikingly similar. From the "I misplayed my opening and it was downhill from there" , "I'm not sure this will work, but why not!" to "C'mon brain, work!", chessplayers seemed to make the same observations. And the other ting the club had in common with chess clubs in Canberra, wonky tables. At least one game was in danger of a premature finish as the board was about to capsize.

If you are in Gloucester, the club meets on a Tuesday evening from 7:15pm, upstairs at the New Inn, Northgate, Gloucester. (And yes, in typical English style, it is named the New Inn to differentiate itself from all the other Inns founded in the 15th Century)

Classic Keith

 As yet I have not played any organised events while on my travels. I did play a few casual games with members of the Gloucester Chess Club (both drawn), but my plans to visit a weekend event or two in the UK hasn't got off the ground. One event I did see was the Manchester Open, but it was a little too far from where I am staying. 

I did look at few games from the tournament, including this classic comeback from GM Keith Arkell. He is well known for his ability to grind out wins in rook endings, which did happen here, but this also had the added twist of a nice swindle, starting around move 52.

Lee, Daniel - Arkell, Keith
Manchester, 2024

More lost treasures

 I picked up another interesting book today, one that covered the history of chess in Cambridge (the UK town, university and shire). Although it is a slim book, it does contain a number of interesting games, especially from significant figures in UK chess from the 1960's and 70's.

One such figure was Stewart Reuben, although unfortunately for him, his only game in the book was a loss to the author, R.G. Eales. I hope he does not mind me publishing it here.

Reuben, Stewart - Eales, R.G.
Middlesex v Cambridge, 1968

How long, has this been going on?

 By the time you read this, the game I am linking to may be over. But then again, it may not be ...

https://lichess.org/broadcast/iii-kingston-invitational-2024/round-7/HSXjB2Zl/FDC1XPQc

I'm in the Matrix

 A weird collision of media sources. One of the books I purchased yesterday was "What it takes to be a Grandmaster" by Andrew Soltis. The very first chapter is on the 'Extended Luft' and features a game by Berliner v Fischer. The game was played in Bay City, Michigan in 1963. While reading it, I was also watching a documentary on the Scottish music scene. And while they my not say this bit out loud, one of the biggest band of the 70's was the 'Bay City Rollers'. And to close this loop, they were of course named after 'Bay City, Michigan'

Berliner,Hans - Fischer,Robert
Western Open, 1963

Hay on Wye

 Whenever I am in the UK, I try and make the effort to visit Hay on Wye. This is renowned as a 'book town' with a large number of new and 2nd hand bookshops lining the streets. Today was the day I made my regular pilgrimage.

While coming home with a pile of chess books is often desirable, just doing some book hunting is a reward unto itself. In the end I only picked up a couple of books, although I could have probably spent another 3 hours just wandering about. For some shops there were books I already had, while others were a little out of my price range (the antiquarian collections). Sadly a few shops were all out, so I assume other collectors had been there ahead of me. 

But overall it was a worthwhile excursion, and one I plan to repeat if I am ever in this part of the world again.

Seniors Chess in August

When planning my trip I did try and fit in a couple of events which ultimately proved impossible to schedule. One was the 2024 Asian Seniors Championship which is currently running in Mongolia, and the other was the NZ Seniors Championship, which would have coincided with the 100th FIDE Anniversary torch relay, which visited New Zealand this weekend.  So instead I am reduced to watching them from afar, while enjoying the late English sun, drinking the odd pint, and listening to Handbags and Gladrags on guitar.

 

 Ha, Timothy - Booth, Anthony
NZ Seniors Championship, August 2024

Lichess Documentary

 If you are interested in the story of Lichess, there is now a 30 minute documentary about it. You can wath it at https://youtu.be/H39AHPSBcGc

World Blitz Teams Championship

 The 2024 World Blitz Teams Championship was full on, both for teams, and organisers. The qualifying section consisted of 5 pools of 8 teams (40 in total), with the schedule only allowing 20 minutes between games. The action was both fast an exciting, but at the end of the 7 rounds, almost all the top seeded teams made it through to the knock out stage.

After a break 16 teams played a KO 'Duel' where they faced each other twice, and a team had to win both games, or win and draw, to advance (total game points did not count). In the case of a draw (one match win each or both drawn) a single match was played (and 3-3 meant another match etc). Fortunately there were only replays required for 2 rounds.

At the end of a long day, WR Chess Team (top seeds) were the champions. This made up for their disappointing 3rd in the Rapid section and earned them 40000 euro. 

For me it was hard work (especially at the start), but as I was working in the playing hall for the day, I did get to see more of the action. One of the more interesting things I noticed was the increase in noise from clocks being hit as games reached their conclusions. At the start of the round it was very quiet but by 5 minutes in, it was like a clogging convention.

With that event, the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz comes to an end. It was a very hard 4 days of work for me (and the entire arbiting team) so I'm of the the UK for a couple of weeks of sightseeing and rest.

Sanity has returned, for now

 After the hectic start to the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Teams Championship, days 2 and 3 have run a lot  better. As I type this, round 11 (of 12) is in progress, with the team from Al-Ain looking well placed to win. With a small-ish field of 38 teams, all the top teams have played each other, so it is a question of avoiding any banana peels in the last 2 rounds.

However, tomorrow may well be the toughest chess day I've ever had to face. The Blitz section of the tournament has 5 sections of 8 teams, played as a RR, before the top 3 finishers (and 1 wild card) make the final. Seems to be fairly straightforward, except that there is only 20 minutes between each round. So it is likely to be non-stop collecting results, producing pairings, downloading team compositions and updating data, with no time to spare. If we (the arbiting team) get through this on schedule, we might be getting another GBoWR certificate in the post!

It's been a long time

 Sorry for the delay in posting an update. A combination of travel, a bust start to the World Rapid and Blitz Teams event, and no idea how to navigate the ins and outs of Kazakhstan language web pages left me struggling to even log in to blogger.

But I am here in Astana, having arrived on Wednesday afternoon. The reason for my current location is to be an arbiter at the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Teams event. This is an event for non-national teams, where players (or sponsors) can form their own teams. The only restriction is that for each match of 6 players, a team must have 1 female player and 1 recreational player (some who has never been rated above 2000 on Standard, Rapid or Blitz). The restriction of the format has caused some small issues for myself, as I am handling the tournament pairings, and the rules do effect how teams are seeded.

For the Rapid section (played over 3 days), 38 teams have entered. At the top are some real heavy hitters like WR Chess Team, Chessy, Decade China Team and Al-Ain ACMG UAE. At the other end are the more social, or junior heavy teams, who are here to embrace the fun of the event.

After the first day, Chessy have taken the lead on 8 points (4 match wins). They scored a big win in round 4, beating the top seeds WR Chess Team 5-1, with Richard Rapport beating Magnus Carlsen on the top board. In equal second are Decade China and Al-Ain. Chessy and Decade China will face off in Round 5 as will WR Chess and Al-Ain.

Yesterday was non stop for me. I went over to the venue at 8:30am, assuming that I would have time to get changed and have lunch before the event started at 2:30. I didn't leave the playing hall until after 9pm, once the last round was completed. The arbiting team I am working with are very efficient, making my job a lot easier. As with most events of this type, the short turnaround between rounds can leave little room for error, but in the end we managed. The real test will be on the last day when we are running the Blitz event. With 20 minutes per round (3m+2s being the time limit), it will be interesting to see how we go.

Time to fly

 Today I start a 12 week working holiday, with stop being the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Teams event in Astana. After that a bit of a holiday in the UK before heading the Chess Olympiad in Budapest. Before and after I will probably play a few chess events, while doing a bit of a tourist run at the same time. If all works out I will be in Canberra by the end of October.

Hopefully there will be plenty of chess content to report on during my travels, so I will do my best to keep this blog ticking along. 

2024 ANU Open - IM Ikeda wins again

 IM Junta Ikeda has won the 2024 ANU Open, winning both his final round games to finish on a perfect 6 from 6. A quick round 6 win over CM Hui Li was enough to secure outright first, leaving the other players battling for the minor placings. FM Fred Litchfield eventually finished on 5/6 after beating Thomas Gatzen-O'Keefe, although Gatzen O'Keefe still finished on enough points to collect the 1600-1999 rating prize. Young Sydney junior Vu Ky Anh Nguyen finished in third place on 4.5, while Kamal Jain and Thomas Eleutherios shared the remaining rating prize.

 The Minor (Under 1600) section saw a 3 way tie for first place. Daniil Yelkhovsky started the day on 4/4, but 2 drawn games allowed Jerry Cheng and Connor Amoore to catch him on 5/6. The other prizes were shared fairly generously, with a number of ties in each rating section. There were good performances by local junior players, although a few 'grown ups' also took home some cash.

73 players took part across both sections, and the event was pretty easy to run. Once again the ANU provided us with a good venue, with plenty of room for the players, and good access for the spectators. The increase in prizes (up to $4000) also saw an increase in the size of the field. Now that the event looks to be back on a secure footing, hopefully next year will see the event move towards attracting an even larger turnout. 

Full standings can be found at https://www.vegaresult.com/en/event.php?id=2715 while game from Rounds 2 to 6 in the Open can be found at https://lichess.org/broadcast/2024-anu-open/round-6/DUcjk3Eg

2024 ANU Open - Day 2

 With 4 rounds played, IM Junta Ikeda is now the clear favourite to win the 2024 ANU Open. He defeated 2nd see FM Fred Litchfield in Round 4, in a game basically defined by a single tactical sequence. Litchfield had to surrender the exchange and after that it was a matter of technique for the tournaments top seed. Ikeda is on 4/4, a full point ahead of 6 players on 3. Ikeda plays Julius Clegg in round 5. Clegg, who does not have a standard rating as yet, has proved to be the real surprise of the event, going undefeated so far, including a round 4 draw with CM Hui Li.

In the Minor event (Under 1600), top seed Daniil Yelkhovsky is on 4/4, half a point ahead of Lohit Hegde and Padma Gyalpo. Gyalpo plays Yelkhovsky in the morning round, while Hegde is up against Jerry Cheng. 

2024 ANU Open - Day 1

 The first day of the 2024 ANU Open saw a significant number of upsets, both in the Open and in the Minor. This was mainly due to the closeness in rating between the top and bottom halves of the pairings, at least for the middle boards. 

In the Open CM Hui Li recovered from a lost ending to draw with Kamal Jain on board 3, while Donghoon Shin upset 4th seed Oladoyin Fasakin on the next board. Overall the bottom half picked up 5.5 points across 15 games in the 1st round. In the Minor (Under 1600) it was a similar story, starting with drawn games on boards 2 and 3. While the top half did a little better than in the Open, 2 wins and 4 draws was still a good result for the lower rated players. Tournament standings can be found at https://www.vegaresult.com/en/event.php?id=2715

On of the most interesting games from round 1 was played between two junior players in the Open. Dev Raichura played an Evans Gambit and after his opponent lost control of the centre, Dev steamrolled his way to victory.

Raichura,Dev - Verma,Rudra [C51]
ANU Open (1), 26.07.2024

They must do things differently in Canberra

 Another year of interschool chess, another set of weird rule interpretations.

At yesterdays interschool event I 9and the other arbiters) were overwhelmed by a hug number of illegal move issues. This in part is caused by our '3 strikes' policy, in which the first illegal move receives a warning, rather than a penalty, thereby increasing the number of illegal moves we have to handle by 50%. In on case a player tried to castle through check and when told that this was not allowed simply said "They must do things differently in Canberra". And apart from the use "both kings in check" situations, one case involved a player dealing with a check by moving their king 5(!) squares away, although this was only to another square where the king was still in check.

The other strange situation involved the non reporting of a result. Due to the tight schedule, if a player did not report a result they ran the risk of receiving a double forfeit. This happened in 3 separate rounds. But in one case this led to a bizarre situation. Having always recorded such results a double forfeit (0F-0F) the pairing program simply paired the same opponents against each other in the next round (this is allowed under the Swiss Pairing Rules, as it assumed the game had not been played). To heap further pain on the player who had one the previous round, he then lost the return bout, thereby scoring 0/2 against the same opponent. Of course my mistake was recording the game as a forfeit, when I should have used 0-0.

World Record washup

 If the numbers quoted on various news feeds are correct, there were 5.4 million games of chess were played in a 24 hour period on July 20 2024. I suspect the vast majority of these were played online although a significant contribution did com from the 820+ OTB events that were also held on that day. In this part of the world there were events held in most capital cities, while Auckland also put on a couple of quite  large tournaments. I was asked what the pervious record was, and while I don't know for sure, I assumed it was 0. Not because no games of chess have ever been played, but because I think this is the first time it has been officially counted.

By all reports everyone (worldwide) seemed to really enjoy being part of something global, and so I suspect this will become an annual event.

Street Chess - In the news

 As part of yesterdays International Chess Day, Street Chess Canberra contributed to setting a record for the most number of recorded games of chess played in a day. The regular Saturday event attracted 55 players, which was one of our biggest fields evet. As a special event, we even attracted a large amount of media interest with coverage on local and national radio, newspaper interviews and even a live cross on Australia's national news network (ABC). 

There was a larger story broadcast on ABC in the evening, which you can see here

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x92kcc8

Off to set a World Record

 Today is International Chess Day. As part of the 100th anniversary of the founding of FIDE, there will be an attempt to set a record for the most number of games of chess officially recorded in a 24 hour period. Street Chess is part of this attempt, so if you wish to be in it, just get along to Street Chess at 10:45am at King O'Malley's City Walk, Canberra City. It runs until 3pm ad open to anyone who wants to take part (NB $10/$5/$1 entry fees)

2024 Olympiad Team Lists

 The first set of team lists for the 2024 Olympiad have been posted. You can see who is currently registered at https://chess-results.com/tnr967173.aspx?lan=1 (and there is a link to the Women's event as well) 

Points of interest - USA is seeded 1st in the Open, and Georgia is seeded 1st in the Women's Olympiad. China makes a return after missing Chennai, but Russia and Belarus are still excluded. Australia is 40th in the Open and 44th in the Women's.

However, as there is a possibility of late team changes, these seedings may change. 

Biel 2024

 The Biel Chess Festival starts this evening (Canberra time) with a number of large events. Apart from the 2 GM events right at the top, there is a couple of big swisses, for amateur players and for aspiring masters. A couple of Australian players are in the entry lists for these events. FM Albert Winkelman is in the Masters Open, seeded 62nd out of 128 players. Walter Wolffs is in the Amateur section, seeded 100th out of 129 players. 

You can follow all the action at https://www.bielchessfestival.ch/Homepage.html (Just as I clicked on the link, it looks like the games in the GM event have just started!)

2024 World Rapid and Blitz Teams Championship

 In a couple of weeks I will be of to Astana for the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Teams Championship. This 4 day event has already attracted some pretty strong teams from around the world (listed here). Indeed, although it is designed as a kind of Rapid Olympiad for all sorts of teams, the large prize pool seems to have left the event rather top heavy. Great news for he spectators, but a little tough on teams at the lower end. 

If I'm not involved next year as an official, I may even try and get a Street Chess team organised (depending on the venue of course!)

I have a theory ....

 Although i have spent most of this year *not* chess coaching, I still get asked to a little from time to time. One of the questions I often asking myself when working with groups, is "who will develop into a strong chess player?" This isn't as easy as looking at results, or even games, as promising players often disappear at an early stage of their careers.

So thinking a little outside the board, and based on little more than my own observations, it is the kids that enjoy talking about chess that often bloom. And not just about the moves, but about the history, about recent tournaments at the top level, and even questions about the rules. I guess it shows that there is a real motivation to go further in chess, which results in putting more effort in improving your game.  

Is it possible to win without any captures?

 Is it possible to win without any captures? Of course it is. 1.f3 e5 2.g4?? Qh4# being one such example. But in a serious game, it is significantly less likely. Even building up a winning advantage before the first capture is made is quite rare, although the following games shows it can be done. Nothing was captured up until move 26, when the first Black capture was essentially the winning move.

Fan,Chloe (1907) - Litchfield,Frederick (2191) [B51]
Round 5: Sydney Championship , 08.07.2024

2024 ANU Open 26-28th July

 

2024 ANU Open

ANU Open/Minor 2024

26th, 27th, 28th July
ACF Rated and FIDE rated*
Room 2.02, Marie Reay Teaching Centre, University Ave, ANU, ACT
Time control: 60m + 30s

Open and Under 1600 sections (Both FIDE Rated)
6 round swiss (Round 1 Friday 26th July 7pm, Rd 2 10am Sat 27th, Rd 3 2pm, Rd 4 6pm, Rd 5 10am Sun 28th, Rd 6 2pm)

$4000 prize pool ($1100 1st prize Open, $600 1st Minor)
(* Games involving players FIDE 2400+ will not be rated as per FIDE Rating regulations. )
Friday 26 July 2024 7:00 PM - Sunday 28 July 2024 6:00 PM (UTC+10)

LOCATION

Room 2.02 Marie Reay Teaching Centre
University Ave, Acton ACT 2600

Entry link: https://www.trybooking.com/CTFVB

Why don't people actually quit chess?

 At no stage in my chess life have I actually quit playing chess. Possibly the longest I have gone without playing was about 6 months when I was in 1st year uni, but after that I've always tried to play. So I find it funny when I see people announce that they are quitting chess, usually for the 4th or 5th time. And it is often strong players who I seem to notice, although I guess the fact that they are strong players makes it noticeable. Even Bobby Fischer made a couple of comebacks (if you count his match against a chess computer in the mid 1970's). 

So why tell everyone you're quitting if you don't follow through?

Some lucky scheduling

 From the end of July I plan to be travelling for around 12 weeks. My trip starts in Kazakhstan, with the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz  Teams event. The onwards to the UK, before attending the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Hungary. A bit of sightseeing across Europe afterwards, before a possible excursion to play in the 2024 Guernsey Open, before heading home.

There was a 10 day gap in early October to fill in, but the announcement of Season 2 of the Global Chess League looks to have solved that issue. it slots neatly in the gap of the 3rd to the 12th October, and will be held in London. Last years event attracted a lot of interest, and I expect this years tournament will be even more popular. Not sure I can organise media access, but if you don't ask, you don't get!

Helmut Ackermann

 The ACT Chess community has lost another of its veteran chess players, with the passing of Helmut Ackermann. He was a former ACTCA President and tournament organiser, as well as being a regular club competitor for many decades. 

He was involved in running the Woden Chess Club when I first started playing club chess, and he was always helpful in telling me what I needed to know as a new tournament player. We would have played together in various rapid and blitz events, but I do not seem to have any record of facing him at longer time controls. 

He also took part in the very first Doeberl Cup in 1963, and made sure he attended the event as often as he could, including earlier this year. Having moved on from tournament chess as he grew older, he still was a regular participant in the casual chess meetings at the Canberra Southern Cross Club. 

His passing breaks a link with the Canberra chess scene of the 1950's and 60's and he will be missed.

Play it like you sac'ed it

 If you find yourself down a pawn in the opening, a good piece of advice is to play it like a gambit. Aim for quick development and open lines, as way of making up for your oversight. Just sitting back and letting the game proceed normally doses not usually work

Radisich,Matt - Sengstock,Steven [B01]
Belconnen Cup (5), 25.06.2024

Not a chess puzzle

 Can you work out what day of the week Abby was born on, based on the following conversations?

Abby and Barry know the day of the week they were born on, but not the day of the week the other was. Both know that Barry was not born on a Monday, and they are told (by someone who knows both birthdays) that they were born on consecutive days of the week (eg Tue, Wed), although not necessarily in a specific order. 

They are then asked alternately whether they know the day of the week the other was born on, starting with Abby. "No", "No", "No" "No", "No", "Yes!" (3 No's by Abbey, 2 No's and a final Yes by Barry). What day of the week was Abby born?

If you can't find a solution, or the question was simply worded badly, then you can see the answer below.

But chess is already cool

 

Surprise Opening, surprise player

 While there is no rule that says that players of a certain style must play a certain style of opening, it is always a little surprising when a well know player breaks that rule. Reading about Akiba Rubinstein, I discovered that in a tournament organised shortly after the end of World War I in Sweden, be basically played the Kings Gambit as White whenever he had the chance. It did not do him any harm, as he finished in 1st place, albeit against a fairly weak field.

But when facing stronger opposition, he did not seem to shy away from this opening choice other, as the following slashing win demonstrates.

Rubinstein,Akiba - Hromadka,Karel [C30]
Maehrisch Ostrau International Masters Maehrisch Ostrau (4), 05.07.1923

Disturbing image of the day

 I was looking through my newsfeed when I glanced at an articled concerning Assisted Dying. What was more concerning was the accompanying photo was of two elderly gentleman playing chess. No idea why.

 

The Top Ten

 I've just received an email from the FIDE Historical Commission, asking me to nominate the 10 best male and 10 best female players in history. This is part of the celebrations for FIDE's 100th Anniversary.

I've probably attempted this a couple of time previously on this blog (at least for the list of male players), although I will have to go searching. The actual deadline for submissions is very short  (1rth June), but if you think you can help me out here, I'm willing to listen to suggestions in the comments section. NB The request is the 10 'best' players, which indicates that playing strength is the overriding consideration, which may rule out 'significant' players, who may have had an impact on chess greater than their results would show.

2024 NSW Open - Final Day

 The final day of the 2024 NSW Open ended with a couple of surprise winners, after a very tough day of chess. Going into the final round there were 7 players tied for the lead on 5/6. The top board pairing saw IM Igor Bjelobrk and FM Gary McNamara reach a rook and pawn ending which ended in a draw when McNamara won a rook, but had to return it shortly afterwards to eliminate the last pawn on the board. On Board 2 IM George Xie was unable to break down CM Reyaansh Chakrabarty's solid play, and that game was drawn as well. Board 3 saw Willis Lo have the best of it for most of the game against Terrence Tang, until an attempt to avoid a bishop and wrong colour rook pawn finish blew up in his face, resulting in an unexpected win for Tang. And on Board 4 WCM Bayasgalan Khishigbaatar defeated Zhiyuan Shen to join Tang as the only players on 6 points. There was a 5 way tie for third, with the players on the top 2 boards joined by FM Michael Kethro, who defeated Yifei Hu on board 5. 

The Under 1600 section had an even stranger finish, with first prize being shared by the players who finished 5th! This was due to ACF unrated players being ineligible to win cash prizes (apart from the unrated prize). Edward Rust won the event on 6.5/7, followed by Vu Ky Anh Nguyen and Bumbayar Khurtsgerel on 6, with Matthew Ottley on 5.5. However, each of these players did not have an ACF standard rating meaning that Steve Hemsley, Arav Callan, Terry Gao, and Winston Yuan picked up the cash with 5/7 (with another 4 unrated on the same score also missing out!)

The tournament attracted a field of 176 players, an increase over the last few years. The new venue was looked upon favourably by the players, and the change of schedule to a maximum of 2 rounds per day was very popular. The BSW Chess Association are looking to expand the event next year, with additional prizes and possibly an extra section being added to the weekender.

2024 NSW Open Day 3

 The third day of the 2024 NSW Open ended with a couple of surprises at the top of the leaders board. Young CM Reyaansh Chakrabarty defeated FM Michael Kethro in round 4 and drew with IM Gary Lane in round 5 to reach 4.5/5. He was joined by FM Gary McNamara and Willis Lo, levaing the 3 of them half a point ahead of the chasing pack. he group of players on 4 includeds IM's Lane, Igor Bjelobrk and George Xie, along with a number of other top seeds.

Today's 6th round will see Chakrabarty and McNamara meet on board 1, with Lo facing off against fellow Canberran Michael Kethro on board 2.

Steve Hemsley holds a half point lead in the Minor, having won his first 5 games. Unrated player Edward Rust is on 4.5 and the two are playing in this mornings round. 

The final round of the tournament begins at 3pm this afternoon, and the top games of the Open can be followed at nswopen.nswca.org.au

2024 NSW Open Day 2

 The 2nd day of the 2024 NSW Open ended with 5 players still sharing the lead. A few quick draws in the days third round contributed to this, although a number of hard fought battles were also a factor. 

IM's Igor Bjelobrk and Gary Lane were held to draws by their CM opponents (Kendrick Zhang and Yifei Hu) on boards 1 and 3. IM George Xi picked up the full point against Kye Walls, as FM Michael Kethro and FM Gary McNamara. CM Reyansh Chakarabarty and FM Clive Ng were the other 2 players to reach 3/3. 

In the Under 1600 event, 2nd seed Steve Hemsley was joined by 2 unrated players (Edward Rust and Cory Yang) along with Lucas Lin, Kamal Jain and Arav Callan. A few strong player who stumbled early are still close behind, setting up a tight finish for this event.

2024 NSW Open - Day 1

 The 2024 NSW Open started with a new innovation, a Friday night round! As a result the event is now held over 4 days, with a slightly easier schedule for players, with 2 rounds on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. 

The new tournament venue (Novatel @ Rooty Hill) has seen a record turnout of 176 players across two sections (Open 96, Minor 80). There was some concern that the Friday night round might result in increased bye requests for that round, but the number of byes on Friday, matched the number of byes that were requested for the previous Sunday night round.

As for the tournament, 15 players have started with 2/2. Most of the top seeds are in this group, although a first round loss by one of the pre-tournament favorites precipitated his early withdrawal from the event.  The Minor (Under 1600) also has a big tie on 2/2 (12 in total) but in that tournament, likely winners can possibly come from anywhere. Among the regular participants in this section are a few unrated/stale-rated dark horses, which makes finding a likely winner quite difficult.

   If you want to follow the live games from the top 8 boards you can do so at https://lichess.org/broadcast/2024-nsw-open/round-1/DDq3VORN#boards Up to date results and pairings are  at http://nswopen.nswca.org.au/ noting that issues with the vegaresults sight may require you to click the alternative results link instead.

2024 NSW Open

 The 2024 NSW Open is being held across this coming long weekend (All hail King Charles). It looks like here will be around 180 players across the Open and Under 1600 section. This is an increase over last year, due in part to a new venue. The old Russian Club could only accommodate 150 players (at a very tight squeeze) while the new venue (Novatel at Rooty Hill) has a lot more room. The other change is extending the schedule to 4 days, meaning Sunday only has 2 rounds, rather than 3 as in previous years.

If you want to check out the results you can follow the tournament at https://www.vegaresult.com/event/2551 Other cool stuff like a lnk to the live games will come later

(I am a paid official at this event)

Half remembered opening theory

 I guess half remembered opening theory is better than none, at least under certain circumstances. Facing a Goring Gambit in a very recent game, I remembered a recommendation from George Botterill where Black plays Bb4, follows up with d6 and then takes on c3 with the bishop at the correct moment.  So far so good, but I could not remember what happens next. Fortunately my opponent chose a line that Botterill did not recommend,  although I then chose a response that wasn't good either. But the long and the short of it was that I seemed to have the better of the opening, my opponent sacrificed material for play, and after3 hours, I managed to grind out a win in a R+B+N v Q position (I had the bits, not the queen)

If you are interested the line is supposed to be 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Bb4 6.Bc4 d6 7.Qb3 (7.O-O Bxc3 8.bxc3 Bg4! is given by Botterill as best) 7. ... Qe7 (and 7. ... Qd7 is better) 

What is up with Ding?

 The short answer, is that I have no idea. His poor run of form has continued, losing his last 3 classical games at 2024 Norway Chess. The most common explanation is a combination of recent poor health, and the psychological letdown after winning the World Championship. This may be so, but then again ...

When I played him in 2019, he had just flown in from St Louis, where he had beaten Magnus Carlsen in a playoff to win the 2019 Sinquefield Cup. He was clearly unwell when he played me, and at one point I was convinced he was going to fall asleep at the board. Nonetheless, he went all the way through the tournament, only losing in the Final. Of course the level of opposition is slightly below what he is currently facing, but at least in 2019 he was still able to win while suffering from poor health.

Aged like sour milk

 Having suggested that the format of the 2024 Norway Chess event was contributing to overly drawish play, the next 2 rounds of the Open section saw 5 decisive games out of the 6 played. What really kicked things off seems to have been Prag beating Carlsen in a very simple and stylish manner. Carlsen then bounced back with a 4th round win over Caruana, while Prag went down to Nakamura. In the mean time Ding's struggles continue, losing to Caruana and Firouzja in successive rounds. At this stage Firouzja leads by half a point over Carlsen. The Women's event is a little more clear cut, with Vaishali leading by 2.5 points!

Praggnanandhaa, R vs Carlsen, Magnus
Norway Chess 2024

Quick easy practice

 If you are looking for some easy practice, then Youtube might have the answer. I'm not talking about instructional videos, but a fairly easy chess engine you can play through their website. Under the new heading of 'Playables' Youtube have added a whole pile of web based games. One of the games is 'Chess Classic' While it isn't very good (at least the lower levels) it does provide a quick way to play some casual online chess. As for the practice bit, if you are just learning chess, then beating easy chess engines is one way top get better. It helps you sharpen your basic tactics without getting crushed later in the game. As per an earlier recommendation, start at the easiest level and play until you can win 3 games in a row. Then move up to the next level. It worked for me when I first started playing chess, and it is a good way to get to the 'not dropping pieces' stage of your game.

Fighting against draws

 The 2024 Norway Chess event started a few days ago, with a strong group of players in both the Open and Women's sections. As in previous years, they are using a scoring format (3,1,0) that is designed to create a winner and loser for each pairing, even if the games themselves fail to do so. If the normal game is drawn, an Armageddon game is played, with winner getting an extra half point (so drawn games always score 1.5-1.0)

While it might make the scoreboard look interesting, this hasn't necessarily carried over to the board. All 6 games in the Open section have been drawn, with 5 of the 6 in the Women's section also going that way. And while there is a restriction of draw offer before move 30, Ding v Carlsen in Rd 1 still ended in a 14 move draw, after a repetition occurred out of the opening.

Hopefully the action will heat up as players work out what they need to do to finish at the top of the field.

2024 ACT Championship - Final Day

 IM Junta Ikeda has won his 11th ACT Championship, repeating his 7/7 score he also achieved in last years tournament. His round 6 game against FM Michael Kethro left him a point in front with 1 round to play, but a win over NSW junior Reyaansh Chakrabarty in round 7 kept his 100% record intact. 2nd place was shared between FM Michael Kethro, CM Lalit Prasad, and ACT junior, Masaki Horikawa, on 5.5. Horikawa started the tournament seeded 20th, so his 2nd place finish was quite an achievement. 

Oladoyan Fasakin and Somon Vos shared the Under 2000 prize, while the Under 1600 prize was shared between Simon Louie, Jerry Cheng, Lohit Hegde, Aarav Rawat and Olamide Fasakin. Padma Gyalpo was the best FIDE unrated player,

While the first 3 days went pretty smoothly, day 4 was filled with drama. On opening the venue, it became apparent there was no power. Round 6 was started, while the cause was investigated. It turns out that there was an 'unscheduled power outage' in the suburb, which not only meant no lights in the playing area, but no live game broadcast as well. Fortunately there was enough natural light in the venue to allow the round to proceed. The promised repair time (by EVO Energy) came and went, and further enquiries were made. Power was then restored to the suburb, but not, it turned out, to the small area where the venue was located. Another promised repair time was missed, followed by a more general 'sometime between 1pm and 4pm'. With round 7 starting at 2:45pm it soon became clear that if the lighting was not restored, the games would finish in darkness. 4pm passed by without EVO delivering on their promise, and games were moved to areas closer to the windows. Even this proved unsatisfactory and the organisers were reduced to trying to light the inside of the venue with car headlights from the outside. I even added a new arbiting skill to my toolbox, walking through the bush to where the workman were located to either (a) get an estimated time of repair or (b) a supply of industrial strength torches to light the venue. Just as I reached the worksite I was told it had been fixed and the lights would be back soon. At 5:35pm (35 minutes past sunset) the lights did in fact come on, 8.5 hours after they went out. There were half a dozen games still in progress, and the tournament eventually finished under playable conditions.

As the Chief Arbiter, I would like to thank all the players for their understanding in what turned out to be very difficult conditions. While I am sure some players last round results were impacted by the poor (non-existent) lighting, they recognised that this was outside the control of the organisers and arbiters.

2024 ACT Championships - Day 3

 IM Junta Ikeda has taken the outright lead in the 2024 ACT Chess Championship, after another 2 wins on day 3. He beat CM Lalit Prasad in the morning round, and then CM Hui Li in round 5. Li had drawn with FM Michael Kethro in the 4th round before being outplayed by Ikeda in the days 2nd round. Kethro defeated Harry Johnson in the 5th round to move to 4.5, and will now play Ikeda in Round 6 tomorrow. Reyaansh Chakrabarty recovered from his round 3 disaster to win both game today and is tied for 3rd alongside Prasad, Thomas Gatzen-O'Keefe and Tim Pearce.

2024 ACT Championships - Day 2

 The 2nd day of the 2024 ACT Championship saw the top seeds having a much tougher time of it, than on the first day. Both IM Junta Ikeda and FM Michael Kethro had to convert drawn rook and pawn endings into wins, while 2nd see Reyaansh Chakrabarty blundered into a mate against Ian Hosking after 16 moves.

The Round 3 game between Oladoyin Fasakin and Ikeda saw the evaluation needle swing back and forth, including a missed mate in 2 for Oladoyin when both players were in time trouble. Eventually Ikeda was able to pose enough problems and a misplaced rook spelled the end for Fasakin. It was a similar story in the Kethro Vos game where an over pressing Kethro gave Vos a brief chance to win material in a Rook and Bishop ending, before Vos failed to defend the R+P V R ending.

After 3 rounds there are still 5 players on 3/3. With another 2 rounds tomorrow, a likely winner should emerge, although in prevoius years, this tournament has often been decided by final round results.

 

2024 ACT Championship - Day 1

 The 2024 ACT Chess Championship has started with a large field of 56 players. As an open event it does have a significant 'tail' but the top end of the event still has a number of strong players. IM Junta Ikeda and FM Michael Kethro are the two favoured local players, with Reyansh Chakrabarty (NSW) checking in as number 2 seed.

The first round went according to seeding, with one exception. Tim Pearce dropped an exchange to local junior Louis Chen, who then methodically reduce material until Pearce was left in a lost king and pawn ending. Paul Dunn held out the longest against a stronger opponent, until walking into a game ending tactic against CM Lalit Prasad.

You can see the tournament results at https://www.vegaresult.com/vega/index.php?id=3848 and live broadcast (top 4 boards) at https://lichess.org/broadcast/2024-act-chess-championship/round-1/zOf7gMV2

2024 ACT Championship begins tomorrow

 The 2024 ACT Chess Championship starts tomorrow, running across the Reconciliation Day long weekend. As of this evening here are 52 players entered, with IM Junta Ikeda and FM Michael Kethro as the top seeds.  As it is an open event, there are also a bunch of interstate players taking part, noting that while they are eligible for prizes, they are not eligible for the Championship title. 

The first round is at 7pm tomorrow (Friday) and and has 2 rounds on each of the following days. It is not too late to enter, and you can do so via https://www.trybooking.com/CRNMU

Let's start at the start

 There is an interesting chess event running across the weekend in Morocco. The Morocco Chess Week is featuring Casablanca Chess which is a fixed opening variant. At the start of each round the players are given a famous game, and the move on which they can vary from the given move. They have a couple of minutes to study the game/position and then they play a 15 minute game. 

At the end of Day 1 Carlsen leads with 2.5/3, ahead of Nakamura on 1.5, with Anand and Amin on 1. Of most interest from this event is that the Evan's Gambit was chosen in Round 1, and White (Carlsen and Nakamura) both won. Carlsen then defeated Nakamura in round 3, in a g4 Sicilian.

Someone on the internet did ask if such games could be rated, and I said no. If people are confused as to why (as a lot of people seemed to be), rated games must be played according to the FIDE Laws of Chess. And in 2.3, the initial position of the chessboard is given. These games do not start in the defined position.

Nakamura, Hikaru v Amin, Basem
Casablanca Chess 2024

Milan Ninchich (1957 - 2024)

 It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Milan Ninchich. Milan was an active player on the Canberra chess scene for over 30 years, having moved here from Perth after taking a government job in the nation's capital. On arrival he became an active member of the Belconnen Chess Club, participating in numerous club and weekend events. A player who enjoyed attacking chess, he proved to be a challenging opponent, and the games he produce (win or lose) were always enjoyable to play through. 

I played him at least 20 times (not counting offhand games) going back to the early 1990's. It was one of our early games that was the most memorable, as it was a game that I still consider my best ever. But without Milan's attempt to refute my opening as early as move 7 (an idea prepared in advance) the game would never have existed. As a result I have always considered him the 'co-author' of this brilliancy.

In later years his involvement in the chess scene was curtailed by health issues, but we would stay in touch, discussing computer chess (of which he had an avid interest) and other chess topics. He was also a prolific contributor to this blog, either in the comments section, or via emailed links to articles he found interesting. To me, Milan was the type of player any chess club or community needed, always cheerful and always welcoming to new players.

For local chess players who wish to remember Milan, his funeral will be at Serbian Orthodox Church of St Sava, Lambrigg Street Farrar at 1:30pm 23rd May 2024. He is survived by his wide Biljana and children Doug and  Nada. I'm sure I speak for the Canberra chess community in offering our sympathies at this difficult time.

A Recreational Player

 While reading through the regulations for the 2024 FIDE Rapid Teams Championship, I cam across a new chess term. In the document, there is a reference to a "Recreational Player". This is defined as a player whose rating has never been above 2000 on any of the FDIE Rating Lists (Standard, Raid or Blitz). 

The reason for defining such a players is that each team playing in the 2024 FIDE Rapid Teams Championship is required to field at least 1 Recreational Player per match (which in this case is over 6 boards). Given that 1st prize in the event is 100K (US) now might be the time to recruit your friends uncle who was apparently "a chess grandmaster, but before they had ratings"