George Trundle Masters

The 2009 George Trundle Masters, hosted by the Auckland Chess Club, has reached the halfway point. The leader of 5 rounds is Australian IM Stephen Solomon on 4 points, ahead of GM Darryl Johansen, GM Gawain Jones, and tournament organiser Michael Steadman, all on 3.5
Steadman proved that organising isn't always detrimental to your chess results, with an upset win over Jones in round 2.



Steadman,Mike (2252) - Jones,Gawain (2553) [E70]
George Trundle NZ Masters 2009 (2.5), 27.09.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nge2 Nd7 7.Be3 e5 8.d5 Nd4 9.Nb5 Nxb5 10.cxb5 0-0 11.Ng3 h5 12.Qc2 b6 13.f3 h4 14.Ne2 Nc5 15.Bc4 f5 16.b4 Nd7 17.Bd3 Rf7 18.Rc1 Nf8 19.Qc6 Rb8 20.h3 Bf6 21.Qc2 Bg5 22.Qd2 Nh7 23.a4 Ra8 24.a5 Bd7 25.Nc3 Qf6 26.Ra1 Bf4 27.Bxf4 exf4 28.Rc1 Re8 29.Kd1 bxa5 30.bxa5 Qd4 31.Ra1 Ng5 32.Ra4 Qe5 33.exf5 Bxf5 34.Rxf4 Bxd3 35.Rxf7 Kxf7 36.Qxd3 Qf4 37.Qd2 Qb4 38.Kc2 Nh7 39.Ra1 Nf6 40.Ra4 Qc5 41.Rxh4 Re5 42.Rd4 Qa3 43.f4 Re7 44.Ra4 Qc5 45.Kb2 Qg1 46.Rc4 Qf1 47.Kb3 Qa1 48.a6 Qf1 49.Qd4 Qa1 50.g4 Nd7 51.Rxc7 Nc5+ 52.Rxc5 dxc5 53.Qxc5 Qh1 54.d6 Re1 55.Qxa7+ Kf8 56.Qb8+ Kf7 57.Qc7+ Kf8 58.a7 Re3 59.Qb8+ Kg7 60.a8Q Qb1+ 61.Kc4 Qd3+ 62.Kc5 Qxc3+ 63.Kb6 Qd4+ 64.Kc7 Qc4+ 65.Qc6 Qxf4 66.Qd7+ Kh6 67.Qh8+ Black resigns 1-0

Coverage of the event can be found at the New Zealand Chess website.

The Semi-Slav for the totally clueless

The title of this blog post is the title of an opening book I would be well qualified to write. Having decided to broaden my opening repertoire in the lead up to last years Olympiad, I thought the dynamism of the Semi-Slav would suit my style. However failing to learn the ins and outs of the sharpest lines meant that my results have been pretty poor. It turns out I know just enough theory to get to a position where the wrong move, which I invariably choose, causes the maximum damage to my position.
My game against Kerry Stead, from the SI International, was the latest example of this problem. I knew that 10. ... Nbd7 was theory in the position, but thought that 10. ... Be7 was also playable. It resulted in an unhappy position for me, saved only by the fact that Kerry didn't finish me off when he had the chance. It turned out that the position was such that I was able to generate some counterplay, to the point where I was actually ahead material. But given my position in the tournament I was happy to to agree to a draw, rather than play it out (and cause Kerry to miss his flight back to Australia!)

Stead,K (2087) - Press,S (2076) [A00]
Solomon Islands International Honiara, Solomon Islands (8.1), 28.09.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 c6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Be7 11.exf6 Bxf6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.g3 Bb7 14.Bg2 Qe7 15.0-0 b4 16.Ne4 Nd7 17.Rc1 Nb6 18.Qf3 Nd5 19.Nc5 c3 20.bxc3 bxc3 21.Rb1 Bc8 22.Qd1 Qc7 23.Qa4 Kf8 24.Rfc1 Rb8 25.Nd3 Rxb1 26.Rxb1 Kg7 27.Ne5 Bd7 28.Qc4 Rd8 29.Bxd5 exd5 30.Qxc3 f6 31.Nf3 Re8 32.Re1 Rxe1+ 33.Qxe1 Qd6 34.Kg2 c5 35.Qa5 c4 36.Qxa7 Qe6 37.Qc7 Kf8 38.Qf4 c3 39.Qc1 Qc6 40.Ng1 Qc4 41.Qe3 Bb5 (D)
42.Ne2 Qxe2 43.Qxc3 Qe4+ 44.f3 Qe2+ 45.Kh3 Bd7+ 46.g4 Qf1+ 47.Kg3 Qg1+ 48.Kf4 Qxh2+ 49.Ke3 Qg1+ ½-½

Solomons Islands International - Day 5

The final two rounds of the 2009 Solomon Island International were played today, and I managed to hang on to my lead to win the tournament on 7.5/9. It was a close run as I managed to play a dodgy opening against Kerry Stead and was worse for most of the game. However I managed to generate some counterplay and was even material ahead when we agreed to a draw. The in the final round I played the top Solomon Islands player Fernando Aguilar, and another draw was enough for outright first.
Brian Jones finished on 7/9 to take second, while Lee Jones, Kerry Stead and Fernando Aguilar all scored 6/9. They were followd by Brandon Tangaibasa on 5/9, Scarden Tesua 2.5, Price Tepuke and Takika Tuata on 2, with Budds Maruia on 1.
The good news is that all the Solomon players will get FIDE ratings from this event (which was tha main aim of the tournament), with Brandon and Fernando likely to be rated above 1900 on the next list.

Solomons Islands International - Day 4

With 2 rounds to go in the 2009 Solomon Islands International I have managed to jump out to a full point lead (6.5/7). I was helped by Brandon Tangaibasa who defeated former joint leader Fernando Aguilar in round 7. Despite the loss Aguilar is still in second on 5.5/7. Kerry Stead is also on 5.5, but has played an extra game, due to an early return to Australia.
Today saw a couple of crucial games in terms of tournament standings, with Lee Jones beating Kerry Stead, before losing to me an a quick game where he missed some tactics.
Tomorrow sees me play the next two players in the standings, Stead and Aguilar, while Aguilar also has to play Lee Jones. The tournament should be decided by the results of these games.

Jones,L (2117) - Press,S (2076) [D45]
Solomons Island International Honiara, Solomon Islands (7.5), 27.09.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 a6 7.b3 Bb4 8.a3 Ba5 9.Bd3 dxc4 10.bxc4 c5 11.0-0 0-0 12.Rb1 Bxc3 13.Qxc3 b6 14.Qc2 Bb7 15.Qe2 Ne4 16.Bb2 Qc7 17.Rfd1 Ndf6 18.Ba1 Ng4 19.Rf1 Nc3 20.Bxh7+ Kh8 21.Qb2 Bxf3 0-1

Solomons Islands International - Day 3

After 5 rounds of the 2009 SOlomon Islands International, local player Fernando Aguilar is the sole leader on 5/5. In second place is myself on 4.5/5 followed by Brian Jones, Kerry Stead and Lee Jones on 3.5.
The big result for the local team was in Round 5, with Brandon Tangaibasa defeating FM Lee Jones in a 72 move game. Lee made it hard for himself by dropping a cold piece early one, but set enough problems to win it back. He then got tangled up in the ending and Brandon played good technical chess to bring home the point.
That result is the second win by a Solomon Island player over one of the visitors. The first was by Fernando Aguilar against Kerry Stead.

Aguilar,F - Stead,K (2087) [E10]
Solomons Island International Honiara, Solomon Islands (1.1), 24.09.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.d5 e6 4.c4 b5 5.Nc3 b4 6.Na4 d6 7.Bg5 Nbd7 8.b3 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 exd5 11.cxd5 Bb7 12.e3 Bxd5 13.Nd2 Qe7 14.Nb2 Nb6 15.Nbc4 Rd8 16.Nxb6 axb6 17.Bb5+ Nd7 18.0-0 Bg7 19.Rc1 0-0 20.Re1 Ne5 21.f4 Ng6 22.f5 Ne5 23.e4 Bc6 24.Bxe5 Bxb5 25.Bxg7 Kxg7 26.Qf3 Rfe8 27.Re3 Ra8 28.Nc4 Bxc4 29.bxc4 Rxa2 30.Rf1 f6 31.h4 Rc2 32.hxg5 hxg5 33.Qg4 Rxc4 34.Rh3 Rh8 35.Rxh8 Kxh8 36.Qh5+ Qh7 37.Qe8+ Kg7 38.Ra1 Kh6 39.Ra7 Rc1+ 40.Kh2 Rc3 41.Qf8+ 1-0

Solomons Islands International - Day 2

Rounds 2&3 of the 2009 Solomons Island International were played today. Due to the drawing of lots, most of the matches so far have been between local players and the visitors. Having played 3 SI players each, Lee Jones and I share the lead with 3/3, along with local player Fernando Aguilar. Kerry Stead has made a recovery from yesterdays start with a draw in Round 2 against FM Brian Jones, followed by a win in the third round against Scarden Teusa.
The last few Round 3 games were rather tricky, when a city wide blackout left the players completing their moves by torchlight. This resulted in Brian Jones checkmating his opponent, but failing to realise it as he overlooked his bishop operating along the dark squares!

Press,S (2075) - Tepuke,P [B00]
Solomons Island International Honiara, Solomon Islands (2.4), 25.09.2009

1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e6 3.Nf3 h6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.e5 Nh7 6.h4 a6 7.a3 b6 8.Bd3 g6 9.g4 Bb7 10.Be3 d6 11.Rh3 Bg7 12.Qe2 Qe7 13.exd6 Qxd6 14.Ne4 Qe7 15.g5 h5 16.c3 0-0 17.Ng3 f5 18.gxf6 Qxf6 19.Ng5 Nxg5 20.hxg5 Qf7 21.Nxh5 Ne7 22.Nxg7 Kxg7 23.d5 e5 24.Bd4 Rg8 (D)
25.Rh7+ Kxh7 26.Qh5+ Kg7 27.Qh6# 1-0

Solomons Islands International - Day 1

The 2009 Solomon Islands International started this afternoon, with everyone making it to the venue except for one crucial person. Tournament organiser Gary Bekker missed his early morning flight from Melbourne to Brisbane, meaning he then missed the connection to Honiara. He hopes to catch another flight tomorrow and make it time for the start of round 3.
The rest of us received a fantastic welcome at the tournament venue, the Red Mansion Comfort Inn. There was a brief opening ceremony, followed by the drawing of lots and then round 1. This evening there will be an official welcome, with a number of local dignitaries in attendance.
The tournament itself consists of 4 overseas FIDE rated players, and 6 local players. The first round saw the visitors up against the local players with the Shaun Press, Lee Jones and Brian Jones all recording wins. The unlucky visitor was Kerry Stead who lost to the SI Zonal representative Fernando Aguilar. However Kerry did have a small excuse in that he was up until 3am last night winning a Poker tournament at the Sydney Casino.
Here is my first round game, which resulted in a quick win after my opponent allowed a killing check with my queen.

Teusa,S - Press,S (2075) [A00]
Solomons Island International Honiara, Solomon Islands (1.2), 24.09.2009

1.a3 e5 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Nxd5 Qxd5 6.c3 Nc6 7.d3 Bf5 8.Be3 0-0-0 9.c4 Qd7 10.b4 Bxd3 11.Bxd3 Qxd3 12.b5 Qc3+ 13.Bd2 Rxd2 14.Qxd2 Qxa1+ 15.Ke2 Nd4+ 16.Ke3 Qxa3+ 17.Ke4 f5+ 18.Kxe5 Qd6# 0-1