Another tough day for the Street Chess Canberra team, although once again a couple of changed results could have lead to a more triumphal post. The main issue for the last day was under performing (but highly seeded) teams dropping down to play them. This included a couple of teams who were seeded mid field at the start, but had not quite performed to the seeding.
A 4-2 loss in round 9 was followed by a 3-3 result against a strong Spanish team in round 10. Both Rounds 11 and 12 could be described as matches of 'missed chances' especially the last round where losing 5.5-0.5 belied the fact that there were at least 2 positions winning for Street Chess, and at least 2 drawn positions late in the round.
As one of the lowest seeded teams (45 from 48) the last place finish was not totally unexpected. With 4 matches decided by a single game (2.5-3.5) it is always possible to say that with a little luck things might have looked better, but this only goes to show how every game counts, especially in team events.
As for the team it looks as though everyone performed as expected (based on rating, and taking into account the make up of the opposition). Now is the time to highlight Harry Press and FM Fred Litchfield, who were given the task of holding down the top 2 boards. Not an enviable job, but they fronted up each day (12 games for Harry, 11 for Fred), and managed to clip some players along the way. 5 draws for Harry (including 2 against GM opponents) and one win plus 5 draws for Fred, gave the rest of the team a little breathing space for their games.
Tomorrow is the Blitz portion of the tournament. Each team is placed in a pool of 12 teams, with the top teams from the RR qualifying for the finals. Street Chess is in the pool with Dragon Chilling, and assuming that they pick Ding for that match, a third Press v Ding match-up is on the cards. Hopefully Harry can avenge his fathers 2-0 loss from the 2019 World Cup
Litchfield,Frederick (2107) - Kavin Mohan (2266) [D30]
FIDE WRBTC 2026, Hong Kong, (11.20), 19.06.2026
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