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.
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