GM Anton Smirnov

By scoring 7/9 (finishing equal first) in the Anogia GM tournament,  16 year old Anton Smirnov has scored his third GM norm, which is enough for him to earn the GM title. Canberra born Smirnov needed to win his last round game against FM Antoine Favarel (FRA) and for a lot of the game it looked very touch and go. Smirnov decided to launch a kingside attack, and while trying to defend Favarel misplayed the position (36. ... Rd3??) allowing Smirnov to secure the point, and the title.
Smirnov now becomes Australia's 7th Grandmaster, and the third in recent years. Already a mainstay of the Australian Olympiad team, he may even be challenging for the number 1 spot in Australia;s 2018 team, which may be an all GM outfit for the first time in history.


Smirnov,Anton (2508) - Favarel,Antoine (2357)
2nd Capablanca Memorial GM Anogia (9.1), 19.09.2017

Congratulations to GM Max Illingworth

Congratulations to Max Illingworth who has now been officially awarded his Grandmaster title. Having fulfilled the requirements for the title late last year, Illingworth's title was confirmed at the most recent FIDE Presidential Board meeting. This makes Illingworth Australia's fifth Grandmaster (not counting Walter Browne or CC GM's), after Ian Rogers, Daryl Johansen, David Smerdon and Zong Yuan Zhao.

Interestingly there were also two New Zealand players listed for the IM title, Luke Li and Aleksei Kulashko. However the final list of approvals their names seem to be missing (and their player cards remain unchanged) so I'm not sure what has happened there.

Illingworth scores final GM norm

IM Max Illingworth has scored his 3rd Grandmaster norm, after beating IM James Morris in the 7th round of the 2015 Australasian Masters. The win by Illingworth moves him to 6.5/7 and he currently has a TPR of over 2800. With Illingworth playing GM's Papin and Neiksans in the last two rounds interest now turns to see if he can hang on to first place.
His closest rival is another GM aspirant, IM Kanan Izzat. Izzat also won today and only needs 0.5/2 to secure a GM norm. He also has a slightly easier run to the finish, facing IM's Dale and Morris in the final two rounds.
In the IM tournament that is running alongside the Masters, IM Igor Bjelobrk is dominating the event, starting with 7 straight wins. He holds a 2 point lead over FM Chris Wallis, and with 2 rounds to play, looks like a certainty to win this event.


Morris,James (2407) - Illingworth,Max (2499) [D38]
2015 Australasian Masters GM Norm Event Melbourne Chess Club (7.2), 18.12.2015

On the topic of titles

Like swallows returning to Capistrano, the discussion of "cheap" titles always comes up around the top of the Oceania Zonal. Usually it is the same characters returning to the debate as well, proving that some people will never be happy.
In the case of the 2015 Oceania Zonal (Open), there was 1 IM (International Master) title, 3 FM (FIDE Master) titles and possibly 38 CM (Candidate Master) titles awarded. In the case of the IM and FM titles, the Australian Chess Federation (all players were from Australia btw) pay the fees for these titles. For the CM title it is up to the player to pay the 50 euro fee.
In the distant past the angst was about players receiving the FIDE Master title. Up until the turn of the millennium a player needed to score 50% in a zonal for recieve the title. This was fine until Zonal's became large swisses (as opposed to smaller Round robins), when events were awarding a large number of titles. As a lot of players received their FM title by getting their rating above 2300, and a lot of newer FM's did not have this rating, there was a lot of argument about who really deserved to be an FM. But given that the FM title was (at the time), the lowest title you could achieve, I never understood why some FM's felt that 'their' title had been devalued by this process, given that it was designed to cover a whole range of strengths.
Nonetheless FIDE introduced a lower title, the Candidate Master title. One change to the title system saw the qualification level for FM's at a zonal (50%) become the new requirement for the CM, while the FM was moved up to the old IM mark (65%). I would have thought this would have made the previously aggrieved FM's happy (and note, I am referring to a couple of specific and well known FM's in Australia), but it seems that the notion that anyone below a certain strength receiving a title somehow devalues their own title. All this shows to be me is a certain fragility of ego, as I don't see how this effects their own achievements.
My take on the whole matter of CM titles is that they are a good thing. For some players it will obviously be a stepping stone to higher titles, but for others, it will be the highest title they are likely to achieve. In both cases it makes sense to take the title, although I understand the reasons why some may not. Personally I would like to see more CM's in the region as it would combat the snobbery that works against taking the title, a snobbery that comes from people, who as I said previously, are never going to be happy anyway.

(Now for a couple of disclaimers: I have received both the CM and FM titles. Both were achieved for performances at the Chess Olympiad earning the CM title in 2008 and the FM title for my performance in the 2002 Olympiad, although it was awarded much later. I recognise that the FM title I earned is a distinct over achievement based on my actual chess strength, but I did score an undefeated 6/9 at a Chess Olympiad to earn it. And while I may have had concerns about taking it at an earlier time, the whole debate about who was a "real" FM actually made it a simple decision for me!
The second is that my son earned the CM title at the 2015 Oceania Zonal. At the time of writing this he has indicated he will not be claiming the title. He feels that as the FM title is an achievable goal, this is what he is aiming for)

2014 Chessexpress Player of the Year

Sometimes when trying to decide who is going to be the Chessexpress Player of the Year, I find a player who may have done well in one half of the year, does not do so well in the other. Or that they do well in a couple of events, but badly in others.
This year I am pleased to say I did not have this problem with my eventual choice. This years winner started the year with a high placing in the Australian Championships, and finished the year with as the best placed Australian player in the Australasian Masters. Along the way he became an International Master, beating Danish Champion Allan Rasmussen to score his final IM norm. He then had an impressive debut on the Australian Olympiad team, scoring an undefeated 7.5/9 on Board 5. He also won a number of important events in 2014, including the 2014 Australian Junior Championship and the George Trundle Masters in New Zealand.
Based on the overall quality of his results for 2014, I am pleased to announce that IM Anton Smirnov is the 2014 Chessexpress Player of the Year.

Three new IM's (all from Canberra!)

It is a rare day for Australian chess when 3 players become International Masters at the same time. Despite what was a shambolic FIDE General Assembly, the subsequent Presidential Board meeting at least ratified the titles earned in the previous 3 months, and the list of title holders included 3 young Australian players.
Junta Ikeda earned his title with his final norm at the 2014 O2C Doeberl Cup,with an extra one at the 2014 SIO for luck. Anton Smirnov was a little more suprising, getting his third norm at the 2014 Politiken Cup just before the Olympiad, although FIDE seems to have used his IM performance at the 2014 Olympiad in its place, and accepted his rating will top 2400 on the September 2014 Rating List. The third title has been awarded to Rishi Sardana, who like Smirnov and Ikeda was born in Canberra, but mainly plays his chess away from Australia, and currently lives in India.
With both Smirnov and Ikeda playing on the Olympiad team, and Sardana not far off, it is looking like the next decade of Australian chess will see they, and a number of up and coming players, be the new force on the local and international scene.


Baramidze,David (2612) - Smirnov,Anton (2334) [D85]
41st Olympiad Open 2014 Tromso NOR (11.4), 14.08.2014

3rd IM Norm for Anton Smirnov

Showing very promising form going into the Olympiad is young FM Anton Smirnov. Playing in the Politiken Cup (along with most of the Australian team), Smirnov finished with an impressive 7.5/10, and scored his third IM norm. In the last round he was paired with the current Danish champion GM Allan Rasmussen, and despite the pressure of needing a win, scored a nice tactical victory to leave him with a 10 game norm and a PR of 2462. Looking at the results it paradoxicly did not seem to be an easy norm, as Smirnov seemed either be playing strong GM's (including the tournament winner Bu Xiangzhi) or untitled 2100 players. Somtimes it can be difficult to shift gears when playing such a field, but Smirnov seemed to do it well (1.5/4 against the GM;s, 6/6 against the rest)
GM David Smerdon and IM Moulthun Ly also finished on 7.5/10, performing at about their current ratings. FM Junta Ikeda finished on 7 points, but played above his rating, with an IM norm performance, which of course is not needed at this stage, as he has already earned the title.

Ikeda makes 2nd IM Norm

Congratulations to FM Junta Ikeda on making his 2nd IM norm. In the 9th round of the Australian Open he was up against fellow Canberra player, and friend, IM Andrew Brown. While a draw would have been enough for the norm (and I result I predicted prior to the game), a very sharp line against the Sicilian meant that a draw was looking like the least likely outcome. Ikeda offered a pawn in the opening, in return for greater board control. A temporary exchange sacrifice increased his advantage, forcing Brown to return material with interest. After that it was a matter of navigating time trouble, before Ikeda found a nice win, with the game finishing with both his queens(!) en pris.
FM Bobby Cheng continues to lead the tournament after beating FM Gene Nakauchi on the top board. The win for Cheng also earned him an IM norm although he has to go through the formality of playing Ikeda tomorrow (even a loss will still give him a norm). IM Moulthun Ly shares second place with Ikeda, after he escaped from a lost position against GM Igor Khenkin. Khenkin built up a crushing attack but missed an important tactic, and let his advantage dissipate, eventually taking a perpetual in a position where he had a small edge.


Ikeda,Junta - Brown,Andrew [B31]
Australian Open Sydney, 11.01.2013

2012 Australian Player of the Year

Once again there were a number of worthy contenders for the Chessexpress Australian Player of the Year. Both Moulthun Ly and Max Illingworth lead the way for the younger brigade with good performances for Australia at the 2012 Olympiad. Anton Smirnov showed he is also likely to join them in the near futire with a win in the 2012 Australian Masters, while Brodie McClymont won a number of weekend events to confirm his obvious promise.
But I look back to the start of the year for a set of performances for this years winner. GM Darryl Johansen started off  by winning the Australian Championship for a record 6th time. He then followed this up with a win on tie-break in the 2012 Queenstown International, scoring 7.5/9 against a very strong field. He also won the 2012 Fiji International Open with a perfect 9/9.
So congratulations to GM Darryl Johansen for being the 2012 Chessexpress Player of the Year.


Jones,Gawain C B (2653) - Johansen,Darryl K (2403) [B21]
Queenstown Classic Queenstown (9.3), 23.01.2012

Congratulations Irine

WGM Irine Sukandar was the surprise winner of the 2012 Asian Continental Women's Championship which has just finished in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam. She started the event seeded 19th, but managed to hang on to the lead until a loss in the second last round put her half a point behind Mary Ann Gomes. However Gomes lost her final round game while Sukandar scored the point she need to finish outright first, on 7/9.
Not only will this victory be a popular one in Indonesia, but also here in Australia. After scoring an IM norm at the Queenstown International earlier this year, Sukandar returned to play in both the O2C Doeberl Cup and the Sydney International Open. She was a popular visitor at both events, and I hope she is able to return for next years events (along with any other female players looking for that extra boost in performance!)

Queenstown - the norm watch

We're just about to reach the halfway point of the Queenstown International, which is the traditional time to start the 'norm watch'. These is where the possibility of players earning title norms starts to excite serious discussion. Of course it is possible to go too early on this, for example where a 2/2 start is being talked up, only to end in rapid disappointment. At the moment there are a few players who are already well placed for norms. Chris Wallis, Trevor Tao and Irene Sukandar are already performing above the IM performance level. In fact they are all performing above 2500, as are IM's Akshat Khamparia and James Morris. As both of these don't need the IM title, there eyes are set on the more difficult to achieve GM norm. But such is the cruel nature of chess that one unfortunate reverse can dash any hope of earning a norm. Even worse is when two aspirants are paired together, meaning that one may well be put out of the running. However for know, both the size and the strength of the field seems to have stopped this from happening.

It's raining titles

Congratulations to all the Canberra players who earned titles at the 2011 Oceania Zonal. The titles have now been officially confirmed on the FIDE website.

The new title holders are IM Andrew Brown, WIM Emma Guo, FM Gareth Oliver and WFM Megan Setiabudi. Also earning titles from that tournament were FM Moulthun Ly (AUS) and WFM Nicole Tsoi (NZ).

All the players are still quite young, with Gareth Oliver the oldest at 23. They also were home grown Canberra players, all coming through the ACT Junior Chess League development program. They join the growing list of titled players in Canberra, although the departure of GM David Smerdon for overseas study has left us short 1 GM. However Andrew Brown and Junta Ikeda are planning a overseas chess adventure for the second half of the year, so more (and improved) titles may be not that far away.

2010 ACT Lightning Championship

Roger Farrell made another brief visit to the local chess scene, and walked away with the title of ACT Lightning Champion. In a field of 26 players Farrell cleaned up the field with a perfect 9 wins from 9 games. Interestingly the tournament may well have been decided by the end of round 1, as top seed Farrell defeated 14th seed Mario Palma, who then went on to tie for equal second on 7/9. Also second was Elwyn Teki, one of the many Queensland chess players who are unable to resist the lure of the nations capital.

Bobby Cheng wins Australian Junior

World Under 12 Champion Bobby Cheng is the new Australian Junior Champion, the youngest in the tournaments history. He scored 10/11 finishing ahead of Andrew Brown on 9/11. The decisive game between the 2 players was in round 6, which Cheng won, as both players finished the event with 4.5 points over the last 5 rounds.
In the under 12 Championship, top seed Andrew Pan totally dominated the event with a Fischer-esque 11/11. Second placed Joshua Behar finished a full 2.5 points back. The girls championship was won by Leteisha Simmonds after defeating Abbie Kanagarajah in the playoff for the title, after both finished on 8/11. The under 12 girls championship saw another perfect score after Savithri Narenthren scored 9/9 in the 10 player event.
Full standings and title winners in the other age groups can be found at the tournament website.

Zhao wins Australian Championship

GM Zong Yuan Zhao has one his first Australian Championship with a phenomenal 10/11. This is a record score in this event, tying the mark previously set by GM Daryl Johansen. He scored 9 wins and 2 draws (to GM Gawain Jones and FM Vladimir Smirnov), while playing every player who finished in the top 10. He had a performance rating of 2772, which moves his FIDE rating close to the 2600 mark.
In second place was IM George Xie on 9/11, achieving a GM norm. In fact he scored the norm as soon as the round 11 pairings were officially announced, as his opponent Stephen Solomon had a high enough rating to lift the average rating of opponents for George above 2380. This was a good thing as Xie repeated a line that brought him success against IM Gary Lane in round 9, but against Solomon it had the opposite result.
GM Gawain Jones took outright third on 7.5/11 after defeating Canberra junior Yi Yuan. This left Yi back on 50% (5.5) but as in any swiss, there are 50%'s and there are 50%'s. In Yi's case he played 4 IM's and a GM and performed at 160 points above his rating.
The best performed Canberra player however was Junta Ikeda. He went very close to his first IM norm, but a last round draw with GM Daryl Johansen still left on 6/11 (+5=2-4) and a performance rating of 2400.
And another ex-Canberra player also had reason to celebrate. FM Vladimir Smirnov scored his second IM norm (from his first 10 rounds) and finished in a tie for 5th with 6.5/11

The problem with norms

As any title norm tournament gets up to 9 rounds, furious calculations begin to see which players may make an IM/GM norm, and what they need to do to achieve it. While modern tournament management software (Swiss Manager or Swiss Perfect) kind of does this, it does so after the fact. So to know if you are playing for a norm usually involves diving into a copy of The Chess Organisers Handbook and hoping the numbers add up.
For this years Australian Championship, the focus is on 3 players. Both Junta Ikeda and FM Vladimir Smirnov are both on track for IM norms (with TPR of just above 2450), but they actually play each other in round 9! So it should be a norm for the winner, and more work for the losr (the tournament is 11 rounds).
IM George Xie would ordinarily have his GM norm already sewn up, but for one pesky rule. Although his TPR is over 2600 (he is on 7/8) the average strength of the field he has played is below the minimum 2381 required for a valid norm. This is to prevent players achieving the norm by having a phenomenal percentage against a relatively weak field. Of course George can get the average rating of the field over 2380 over the next 3 rounds, assuming the right opponents and the right results.
Ironically this was also the rule that prevented then IM Zong Yuan Zhao's outstanding performance (9.5/11) at the 2006-7 Australian Open being a valid GM norm. The problem at the time was that despite the event attracting 4 GM's, the Australian IM's stayed away in droves, with only Zhao and IM Mirko Rujevic making the trip to Canberra for the tournament. Oddly enough, 3 days after the tournament finished, at least 7 IM's* did find their way to Canberra for various duties at the Australian Junior Championship. (And yes, IM George Xie was one of those players).
(*One Australian IM has put it to me that a prior and long standing engagement prevented him from playing, and for the record, I am happy to accept this explanation)

Junta Ikeda wins Australian Lightning title

Junta Ikeda has won the 2010 Australian Lightning Championship, after defeating Moulthan Ly 2-0 in a playoff match. The playoff was actually between the 2 players who tied for 2nd in the tournament, as the tournament winner, GM Gawain Jones, is ineligible for the title. This is the 2nd national lightning title for Ikeda, who previously won the lightning event at the 2006-07 Australian Open (as well as winning 2 Australian Junior Lightning titles).
Round 3 of the Championship saw Canberra junior Yi Yuan defeat IM Aleks Wohl, making it successive losses for Wohl against players from the ACT. The win pushed Yuan up to 2.5/3, half a point behind the 3 leaders (Zhao, Johansen and Xie)

Yuan,Yi (2129) - Wohl,Aleksandar (2458) [C56]
Australian Championship NSLCC, Cammeray, NSW (3.4), 04.01.2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.e5 Ng4 7.Bf4 d6 8.exd6 cxd6 9.Nxd4 0-0 10.Nc3 Nge5 11.Bd5 Qb6 12.Nb3 a5 13.Be3 Qb4 14.a3 Qh4 15.h3 Be6 16.Nd2 Rad8 17.f4 Nd7 18.f5 Bxd5 19.Nxd5 Bg5 20.Bxg5 Qxg5 21.Ne4 Qh6 22.f6 g6 23.Nxd6 Nc5 24.b4 Rxd6 25.Ne7+ Nxe7 26.Qxd6 Qe3+ 27.Kh2 Ne4 28.Qxe7 Qg3+ 29.Kh1 Nf2+ 30.Rxf2 Qxf2 (D)
31.Rd1 Qb6 32.Rd7 axb4 33.Rxb7 Qd8 34.Qxd8 Rxd8 35.axb4 h6 36.c4 1-0

2010(?) Australian Championship

The Australian Championship begins tomorrow in Sydney. I'm not quite sure whether it is the 2010 Championship (as the website has it) or the 2009-2010 Championship, as historically this event used to start between Christmas and New Years Day, until organisers realised that it made more sense to start it in the new year.
In fact the organisers have done an excellent job of attracting a large field with 186 players entering the major events (Championship, Reserves, Minor and Classic). This is big increase over the size of the fields for the last three Championships and Opens. Three GM's are in the field (Zhao, Jones and Johansen), although Jones is not eligible for the title. Live coverage of the games will also be available from the website.

Bobby Cheng wins World Under 12 Championship

Australian Junior Bobby Cheng has become the World Under 12 Champion, finishing outright first in his division in the World Youth Chess Championships in Turkey. Cheng secured the victory with a win over the tournament top seed in the final round. Although representing Australia, Cheng started his chess career in New Zealand, a point not missed by their media.
Almost as good was in the Under 8 Championship where Anton Smirnov finished in a tie for second place, although he missed a medal on countback.
Of the Canberra juniors who played, Yi Yuan scored 7/11 in the Under 14's, Emma Guo scored 6 in the Under 14 Girls, while in the Under 18 Girls Tamzin Oliver scored 4.5 and Alana Chibnall scored 4.

Vaibhav,Suri (2344) - Cheng,Bobby (2202) [C05]
WORLD YOUTH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 (U1 Antalya (11.1), 22.11.2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ndf3 cxd4 8.cxd4 a5 9.Bd3 a4 10.a3 Nb6 11.Ne2 Na5 12.0-0 g6 13.Qc2 Nb3 14.Rb1 Bd7 15.g4 Rc8 16.Nc3 Nc4 17.f5 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 Bc5 19.fxg6 Bxd4+ 20.Kh1 hxg6 21.Bxg6 Nxe5 22.Bh5 Bc6 23.Qe2 Bxc3 24.bxc3 d4+ 25.Kg1 Qd5 26.cxd4 (D)
26. ... Rxh5 27.gxh5 Nd3 0-1

A pre-emptive strike

I've decided to get in early on the topic of 'Zonal' titles. By the end of the week I am sure another round of name calling and denigration will be in full swing on the various Australian chess bulletin boards, although it probably depends on who earns the IM title. I'll avoid that debate, both now and when it really kicks off.
Doing some back of the envelope calculations I believe their will be between 12 and 20 players who will score 6/9 or more. This figure is higher than normal, but is simply because there are 72 players in this years Oceania Zonal, clearly a record field. So while in previous years there were only 1 or 2 players who reached the target score of 6, this year 6 or 6.5 may not be enough to secure the title. While this seem to make the title harder to achieve the larger field may result in some easier games in the first couple of rounds.
So my predictions for the zonal are: 8 to win outright, 7.5 on tie-break between 3 players. IM Title to the first non IM/GM player to reach 7. As for who I think will win the event, I'll play it safe and tip Zong-Yuan Zhao (unless he loses to Smerdon during the event, when I'll shift my tip to David).